Raymond slowly raised his head above the parapet to check if the wind had died down after last weeks ‘hooley’. Feeling safe and confident he proposed a flat ride to go ‘duck hunting’ out east. “I’m sure the ‘forecasters’ had spotted daffy out on the inland hills” declared Matty strongly. Perhaps he was hoping the ride would head in his direction. Unfortunately for him everyone fancied a nice easy day in the saddle with the wind behind on the way back.
The ‘searchers’ gathered at Tickton to begin the foray into the east. It must have been the warming sun that brought the riders out of hiding like daffodils desperately seeking sunshine in spring. “Who are you?” asked someone facetiously when the rarely spotted Dave 💧🏠 and then Steve and Sharrin appeared
“Does everyone know where we’re going?” asked Raymond hoping we all knew the way to the Spotted Duck before outlining his preferred route. The ‘bakers dozen’ set off towards Routh at a leisurely pace however as we turned towards Meaux it was suggested to split into groups which seemed to happen quite naturally with some ‘pushing on’ while others tried to maintain a more leisurely pace.
” 🎶They seek him here, they seek him there🎶” we saw them daffies everywhere, glowing like golden globes, lighting our way to Skirlaugh then on to Old Ellerby and Burton Constable. It seemed like we were all on ‘autopilot’ as we ‘scoured’ left, right, left, right to Humbleton with nobody asking directions. “Anyone ‘spotted’ it yet?……Oh there it is” said no-one.
Arriving at the cafe ‘daffy’ asked “Do you want inside or outside?” With the slightly chilly easterly wind we opted to stay indoors. Following a pleasant break it was time to head back. “Which way are we going home?” Raymond asked the attentive crowd. “Well I’m going via Hornsea” stated Colin with a hopeful glance around for some ‘mile munching’ co-conspiritors. While everyone ‘swiped left’ back to Humbleton, Colin-no-mates ‘swiped-right’ to Garton on his way to Aldbrough.
With the wind firmly at our backs the pace began to creep up led by SteveG maintaining a strong pace. There was just no stopping him even with a shout from behind “There’s a gap at the back!”. Well if you can’t stop him.. join him as he held the front all the way to Sproatley. When we turned onto the back road round Burton Constable we were greeted by “ROAD CLOSED”. Fortunately we were able get through with the first section newly tarmacked while the rest was still being worked on.
At Coniston, Pugwash managed to take up the front spot as we rode through Swine but it was not long before SteveG took up the running again pressing on to Benningholme Lane and continuing without pause all the way to Meaux Lane. “Is he on a promise?” asked someone. “No, more like he’s worried about the wrath of Jen and being sent to the ‘naughty step’ for being too late home” suggested another.
After splitting into three separate groups we headed north to Routh where we returned together to Tickton to end a very pleasant ride in beautiful conditions and great company.
