Easter Weekend Ride Report – Part 1.

Part 1.

With a long weekend in early April, the Easter break provides the perfect opportunity to log a few days in the saddle.

This year, we here at ColVelo decided to base the weekend around the classic spring races of Northern France and Belgium. And a homage to one race in particular, our favourite monument, the Tour Of Flanders. Monday saw the running of Ronde Van Anglia. A long distance ride though some of the best countryside Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk have to offer. More on that later.

Perhaps the story of this weekend was the vastly increased attendance for our Friday and  Saturday rides. Knowing Monday would bring a full day in the saddle and be attended by a select group, opening the weekend with a pair of shorter rides, with some forecast better weather proved the right decision. While the forecasted “better” weather wasn’t to materialise, and we were met with leaden skies, gusty winds and drizzle. However the mood was lifted by a great turn out and a group of 16 for Friday and similar on Saturday.

Maybe the prospect of hitting the road for just a few hours was more of an attractive proposition for this early stage in the season.  Whatever the reason, it was brilliant to see so many new faces and to fill the coffee shop with folks wanting to get involved with the riding that the ColVelo Collective is offering.

So a big thanks for coming to ride with us, and hopefully we’ll see all you again soon.   The routes were run on some familiar loops to regular ColVelo riders, and provided a nice opportunity to stretch the legs and open the taps on a few sections.

We’ve already warned Mr Evans that if we carry on at this rate we’ll be needing him to have extension built to cope with the ever increasing number of riders?! No other club in the area has such a great meet spot as we have in Velo! It’s not only our ride hub, but becoming our social hub too. Members of the Collective can often be found loafing around the café on days when we’re not racking up the miles. So if you’re still to visit Velo! Cycling & Coffee or want to find out about The ColVelo Collective from some of our members, head down to the café for a coffee and a chat. I’d suggest all of our members are ambassadors for the Collective and will be more than happy to tell you what being involved with ColVelo is all about.

And on to Ronde Van Anglia…