Sunday April 27th – ride to The Woodman Inn

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Our April 27th outing includes an aviation link, as ride leader Phil Duffy explains in his route description. Phil is joined by tail-ender Paul Norman on a loop into Hertfordshire, with breakfast at The Woodman Inn, Nuthampstead

The ride starts at Tesco Royston. We head north along the A1198 at first, before turning just before Arrington onto fairly fast minor roads taking us through a few villages. Eventually reaching Potton, we turn to Edworth & Ashwell & continue south, crossing the A505 at Slip End and joining the A507 at Rushden. We follow the A507 to Buntingford, cross the A10 & join the old Cambridge coaching road at HareStreet. Heading north to Barkway, we then turn right to Nuthampstead and our breakfast stop at the The Woodman Inn
Used now only by light aircraft, during WWII Nuthampstead Airfield was home to Flying Fortresses used in bombing raids over Europe, as commemorated on a memorial stone outside The Woodman and in the museum behind it.
After breakfast, we head south on a twisty road to Anstey, then on to Great Hormead. We then head east through Furneux Pelham & Manuden, cross the M11 near Newport, and turn west at Wendens Ambo to follow the ‘road of doom’ back to Barley. We re-join the coaching road and head north to Trumpington P&R where the ride ends

Photo by Matias Luge on Unsplash

Depart               Tesco Extra, Royston SG8 5UA    what3words
Breakfast          The Woodman Inn, Nuthampstead SG8 8NB     what3words
End                     Trumpington Park & Ride, Cambridge CB2 9FT     what3words

Riders must arrive fully fuelled & in time for the 9:20am briefing
Limited to 12 participants in total

Sunday ride to Boxwood Café near Oundle

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Our Group-organised ride-out on Sunday April 6th will be led by Mark Fox and tail-ended by Barry Dickinson. Mark describes the route –

The ride commences from the McDonaldsat Caxton Gibbet. We take the back roads to St. Neots and travel on to Eaton Socon, where we pick up one of my favourite local roads via Bushmead to the B660. We take a relatively uninteresting section to Kimbolton & then the more interesting section north to Old Weston. We then head up through Clopton and a short blast up the A605 for breakfast at The Boxwood Café
Leaving Barnwell it’s across to Winwick to continue across country, over the A1 & south through Abbots Ripton to St. Ives. We then head through Conington & Knapwell to BP Childerley Gate where the ride ends

The ride totals 74 miles – with plenty of “progressive” roads you should be back well in time for your Sunday lunch ”

Depart               McDonalds Caxton Gibbet CB23 3PE     what3words
Breakfast          The Boxwood Café, Oundle PE8 5PB     what3words
End                     BP Childerley Gate, Cambridge CB23 8AY   what3words

Riders must arrive fully fuelled & in time for the 9:20am briefing
Limited to 12 participants in total. Click here to request a place

Briefing  9:20am           Ride departs  9:30am          Total distance  74 miles  

Members Evening: Bike Security & Masterful Riding!

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Our Members Evening on March 20th has two speakers to entice you along: Julie Emmitt from BikeTrac, and our own Roger Taylor.

Photo by Jason Hafso on Unsplash

Julie will be discussing bike security and the part that tracking devices such as those offered by BikeTrac can play. Julie will cover all the information you need to make the best choice for your circumstances if you’re considering installing a tracker, and will answer your questions on both electronic & physical security. She’ll also offer  tips & tricks to ensure that your bike does not end up in the wrong hands!

Roger will be familiar to many of you from one or more of his roles as Ride Leader, National Observer & CAM Secretary. He recently completed his IAM Masters and will be sharing his experience of the highest challenge on offer to civilian riders. Is it worth your investment of time & money? How does it differ from the Advanced Rider course? Hear directly from CAM’s newest Masters Rider.

Location          Over Community Centre
Date & time    Thursday 20th March, 7:30-9:30pm

Click here to let us know if you’ll be coming    Guests welcome!

Sunday ride to Shuttleworth

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Our next Sunday ride takes place on 16th March, led by Ian Dunckley & tail-ended by Steve Rowdon, has a new twist with Ian will be trialling an optional WhatsApp group for participants!

The ride departs from BP Childerley Gate and heads west into Bedford through Longstowe, Blunham & Cople on the way to breakfast at Shuttleworth Café (menu). The return journey first retraces a couple of short sections before branching off to Great Barford and heading cross-country to Riseley and on to the B645. It’s then east through Hail Weston, Toseland & Boxworth to finish at the A14 Cambridge Services

The WhatsApp group is entirely optional. Those joining the group will have the option of contact others during the ride should the need arise. Appreciative commentary & images posted to the group will be used (with permission!) in a Newsletter article. The group will be deleted after the ride

Departs        BP Childerley Gate, Cambridge CB23 8AY     what3words
Breakfast     Runway Café, Shuttleworth , SG18 9DT     what3words
Ends              A14 Cambridge Services,  CB23 4WU    what3words

Briefing 9:20am. Ride departs 9:30am. Limited to 16 riders in total

Sible Hedingham with Mark Fox & Keith Curtis

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Catherine & Nigel send special thanks to Mark Fox for stepping in to fill a gap in the Sunday ride rota. With Keith Curtis as his tail gunner, Mark leads on 2nd March. Mark writes…

Departing BP Cambridge we head to Six Mile Bottom & Bartlow, then east to Steeple Bumpstead & south to Wethersfield before turning east again to Sible Hedingham for breakfast at the Corner Café. After breakfast we head north to Clare & Stradishall, then meander westwards to Stetchworth, picking up the A1303 at Newmarket for a quick blast to the ride’s end at Stow-cum-Quy

The 77-mile ride features a good selection of country roads, with everything very suitable for an enjoyable early spring ride – whatever the weather! Due to space constraints at the breakfast stop – limit is a maximum of 10 riders including lead & tail

Thursday rideout – two places up for grabs!

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Paul Norman’s mid-week rideouts have been proven popular, and predictably the places on this Thursday’s ride to Wells-next-the-Sea were quickly snapped up. But with two participants having just withdrawn there are now two places up for grabs… so email Paul directly now for a second chance to join him on a ~143 mile ride through Suffolk & Norfolk to a fish’n’chip lunch on the coast! Full details in the Events Calendar

2nd time lucky! Join Keith & Roger on a ride to GolfWorld

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With ice possible on country lanes, Keith Tremeer cancelled his ride to GolfWorld on 2nd February – but did lead those who had made it to the start point to an alternative breakfast location via safer main roads! Keith makes a second attempt to reach GolfWorld on Sunday 16th February, this time around with Roger Taylor in tail position. The route description is unchanged:

“  The ride departs from the carpark at Tesco Royston at 9:30, headed for Golf World Stansted near Bishop’s Stortford. The route initially takes us through Barley, then south through Dassels to Ware, where we turn eastwards through  Hatfield Heath before turning north to Takeley. We pass to the north of Stansted Airport before reaching our breakfast stop. There won’t be time for anyone to try out the driving range before we head back through Thaxted, Dunmow & Blake End, turning north towards our final destination at Fourwentways services, passing through Great Bardfield & Bartlow on the way

This ride takes us along predominantly country roads (a couple of which are single track with passing places), and there is a possibility that there will be some mud on the surface; depending on weather conditions in the preceding days. The total distance covered is 90 miles. The breakfast section of the menu can be viewed here ”

   Departs             Tesco Extra Royston, SG8 5UA    what3words 
   Breakfast          Golf World Stansted, Elsenham CM22 6FL​    what3words
   Ends                  Fourwentways Services, Cambridge  CB21 6AR     what3words

Riders should arrive fully fuelled and in good time for the 9:20am briefing
Ride limited to 12 participants in total

Africa, Asia & beyond with Blazing Trails

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We’re delighted to welcome guest speaker Damon l’Anson of Blazing Trails Tours: from despatch rider to adventure tour guide, few can have enjoyed such a varied motorcycling career! Damon became RiDE Magazine’s deputy editor before moving on to edit Performance Bikes. Freelance since 2002, Damon has ridden four continents and 30+ countries. In 2005 Damon made a 16,000km ‘lap’ of India on an indigenous 150cc bike and returned in 2006 to set a solo bike altitude record and win the seven-day Raid-de-Himalaya. He has worked with Blazing Trails ever since.

“Blazing Trails run a number of tours in Asia, Africa and occasionally Europe. From huge adventures like riding the world’s highest road at over 19,000ft, to the green mountains and tropical beaches of Kerala, the company offers routes to suit all levels of riding ability and adventurous intent.”

Members Evening with Damon l’Anson from Blazing Trails
Over Community Centre   |   Starts 7pm    |   Monday 10th February

Guests welcome – click here to request your place(s)

February 2nd – Join Keith & Steve on a ride south

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Photo by Splash Pic on Unsplash

Leader Keith Tremeer & tailer Steve Rowdon are not promising the weather for their rideout next Sunday, but participants can be certain of a challenging ride on country roads (and that their bikes will need cleaning afterwards)! Keith explains …

Departing Tesco Royston at 9:30, we’ll head for Golf World Stansted in Elsenham. The route heads through Barley and then south through Dassels to Ware, where we turn eastwards through Hatfield Heath before swinging north to Takeley. We pass north of Stansted Airport before reaching our breakfast stop
Unfortunately there won’t be time for anyone to try out the driving range or 9-hole golf course before we head back through Thaxted, Dunmow & Blake End, turning north towards our final destination at Fourwentways, passing through Great Bardfield & Moor End on the way

This ride takes us along predominantly country roads (a couple of which are single track with passing places), and there is a high likelihood that they will be somewhat muddy. This information is provided as a warning to those who are thinking of washing their bike prior to the ride that they’ll likely have to do it all over again afterwards!

Departs            Tesco Royston, SG8 5UA    what3words 
Breakfast         Golf World Stansted, Elsenham CM22 6FL​    what3words
Ends                  Fourwentways Services, Cambridge  CB21 6AR     what3words

Riders should arrive fully fuelled and in good time for the 9:20am briefing
This ride is limited to 12 participants in total. Click here to request a place

Helite presentation: postponed until April !

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The very wintry weather is the prime suspect, but whatever the the reason there’s been a low take-up and we have taken the decision to postpone the Helite presentation – and therefore there will NOT now be a Members Evening this Thursday (16th January). Everyone who had requested a place has been informed of the rescheduled date – Thursday 17th April. We’ll send out an email reminder nearer the time, but once again all will be welcome at the rescheduled talk!