England : London Sunday London ride

[ianrauk]

I'll meet peeps at 10 but can't go north as have to do a Mista Preston....

 

[topcat1]

i hope there's not too many hills, Frank tried to kill me today

 

[martint235]

i hope there's not too many hills, Frank tried to kill me today

It wasn't that bad today! Then again I'm not on the Sunday ride

 

[Becs]

Equally happy not to go north, always happy to avoid hills :-)

 

[Flying Dodo]

Hills - what hills?

(Whistles innocently and tries to change sig line shown below).


I don't mind where we end up - I'm from north of Watford anyway.

 

[Aperitif]

First on, to say "what a nice little ride on Sunday, with some of the original Sunday morning crew, some seasoned additions and Sandra too. It was scary at times, with one of our number shouting out the hazards - making us dozy types shudder at suddenly being woken from a Sunday morning reverie.
(This is good, Shaun. Well done & thank you - even if you changed the boards as slowly as DavyW rides a bike or drinks a beer. Ooo errr perhaps it wasn't that quickly! )

 

[Aperitif]

I was on a tricycle when I wrote the above! Good for the post count though innit?

 

[arallsopp]

Good to see you all. Sorry about the swift exit.

 

[ianrauk]

A jolly ride indeed. I think I am still recovering from the shout from behind.. damn near jumped out of my skin..

 

[ianrauk]

A jolly ride indeed. I think I am still recovering from the shout from behind.. damn near jumped out of my skin..

 

[Aperitif]

We set off for The Olympic Ville via The Mall, where we saw some Lifeguards (usually Dave is the official horse photographer, but
his hands were aching from having to change gear manually, so it didn't happen). The CycleChat vet, Becs (famous for treating Davy Walnuts for capped hock - she helped him uncork it! ) was looking on intently as the convoy (what IS a peloton of horses called
anyway?) clippety-cloppitied past.
Talking of looking on intently, our next stop was St Pauls - the Church of St Millets. What an abominable mess.

Even everyone's favourite architect would prefer to look at Hashish Kapoor's masterpiece, throbbing forth from the ground -

adding flair to an increasingly 'Wemblified' Olympic arena. Andy A. bought me a coffee while I chatted with Adam - perfect, thank
you both.

And then we risked the poxy Greenaway, where contractors had been practising their destructive skills on the riding surfaces.
Then CS3 was a blast, with accompanying super sunbursts through the mist...afraid my 'phone does not do the light justice, but it
was magical as the sun tried to burn through.

The topcat Dave was our pilot for the day (he led us past 'Simon's Railings' yet again - tittering all the way past ) and we split
towards Kings Cross, Regents Park etc...Dave, Luke and I went meandering along the Embankment toward Parliament Square, Dave left, Luke to the pissoir on the other side of Hyde Park, and me to Speakers Corner and more expresso. I listened for a while, went
round to see Mikey enthralling three young pupils with his skills...and Big Steev made a guest appearance - on a very neat Focus Cyclocross bike! "Too dry to get it muddy" he said!
I did another lap and clocked up an idle sixty miles in milky sun - it was nice to sit on that P-X again, the first time since a 202 mile jaunt to Harwich and back...and it felt quite strange to ride a light bike!
Thanks Dave - and all for the company.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Yup - a nice morning even if it was too foggy to see anything.

I'll post my photos once the forum settles down and it takes less than 5 minutes to open up a topic.

 

[ianrauk]

the sunlight and buildings through the fog was stunning looking.

 

[Mice]

It has been a while since I did one of these - they really are great fun! Excellent company, route and refreshments. Just what Sunday London Rides should be. Topcat1, Ianrauk, Ess, Arallsopp, Flying Dodo, Red Jedi, Becs and 'Teef. Brilliant! We headed down the Mall to Charing X, along The Strand and on to St Pauls to see the protestors and the cathedral. Then on to quite the foggiest London I have ever cycled in. So nearly a "Where are we?" "I haven't the foggiest" "Oh yes you have" kind of caper!!

Along to the Olympic Stadium and an erased Kapur monument (which may make some peeps happy). Teas, coffees and cake all round in a very green shipping container, then down to the CS3 via the Greenway (which is absolutely nothing like the Avenue Verte of Dieppe!) We cycled underneath the Bow flyover which was a sombre reminder of the recent and devastating loss of lives.

Heading westtwards along through Poplar (I thought it was Canary Wharf but it wasn't) and then to Rotherhithe. As we headed towards Limehouse we went over a bridge over the entrance to the Rotherhithe tunnel and stopped to look for Arallsopp who had shot off to avoid turning into a pumpkin.

Back to Tower Bridge, a hello to some fish (you know who you are!) and a goodbye to Ianrauk then over Blackfriars Bridge where we split into smaller groups. Flying Dodo, Becs and I headed North and the rest West. Becs and I had a cup of tea in Regents Park, then on home - we did see a giraffe pop his head out of his Zoo door.

A great day, 31 miles of pootling fun. Thanks peeps. Here are some pics (maybe as I cant work out how to use the link link!) https://picasaweb.google.com/108733...&authkey=Gv1sRgCLLXrZ-W0MnxFw&feat=directlink

M

 

[ianrauk]

Nice pics as always Mice.

What's with TC1 sticking his tongue out huh?