England : London Sunday London ride

[Mista Preston]

I'll be at the bottom of bromley hill-ish

I am sure you will see Ian and Andy wizz by so if you could wait for me at the bottom that would be great

 

[redjedi]

I'll see you all at HPC at 9.30ish

 

[zimzum42]

Sorry didn't make it out, was in a car crash last night so have been on the phone to insurers and allsorts all morning. Could do with a ide to clear my head right now!

 

[arallsopp]

Sorry didn't make it out, was in a car crash last night.

Blimey! Hope you're ok mate(?)

 

[ianrauk]

Another nice ride out for the Bromley Massive. Myself, Clive, New Martin at Bromley Dripping Tap, followed by Dave seen peddling in the opposite direction so we wheeled him in. Half way down Bromley Hill the whippet Andy ILB joined us. No one at Camberwell so on to Hyde Park. Luke Redjedi was found at the Wellington Arch.. so a lap of Hyde Park where Martin Aperitif joined us. So this was Dave's choice of direction today so Greenwich it was. We got all the bikes +1 other cyclist in the lift in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, but no lift the other side so a climb of the stairs. Coffee (and one tea) was had in Greenwich Park. Homewards.. Martin, Luke & Dave headed off elsewhere, New Martin headed back to Welling, myself, Andy and Clive headed back to Bromley over Blackheath and via the normal Lewisham, Bromley Hill Route, always playing catch up with Andy. Dropped Clive off at Elmstead Woods, myself and Andy headed for home via a sneaky pint at a pub. 51 miles, a little chilly but warmed up by the quick cadence. thanks all.

 

[Aperitif]

Sorry didn't make it out, was in a car crash last night so have been on the phone to insurers and allsorts all morning. Could do with a ide to clear my head right now!

Yep - hope you're OK Paul.

We only go for ides in March by the way...

 

[iLB]

welll worth dragging myself out of bed for, although some more sunshine would have been nice, next time. as i didn't leave the house until just after the time we were supposed to meet i wasn't surprised to get a text saying 'catch us up mate' from ian, so off i went. met up with people at HPC and by the loos of course... there was some pootling and some scalping of a muppet 'hammering' it on his tri bars along the embankment in heavy traffic, he was passed and dropped - too slow . had a chat with with aperitif and then we were in greenwich huh (?), fact for the day martin- 9 teams at the world cup are playing in shirts made from recycled plastic, why not all of them you have to wonder? much needed caffeine was had after the strenuous climb upto the greenwich observatory, and then it was time to go back home...

clouds in the capital

we ignored the sign

and there was a diversion for essential fluids on the way back, and some cyclechat of course...

 

[Aperitif]

That last photo is a death blow to our friendship...not invited

 

[martint235]

That last photo is a death blow to our friendship...not invited

Yeah I remember no mention of a pub!!!

Great morning though! Cheers guys.

 

[Aperitif]

Clive stopped in front of this waggon in Hyde Park and proclaimed the UPS motto:
"What's the Hare?"

Luke had his eye on some new wheels for his old fashioned coloured bike.

Then he started thinking about a respray after passing a Krishnawaggon that looked quick in proper green - even when stationary.

No words. A magnificent view. I had a brief chat with big Martin about painters who painted Greenwich- I thought Canaletto (He couldn't resist the perspectives I'm sure)

London motorists are often guilty of tunnel vision. here's our 'take' on it. Big Martin is obviously destined to be one of the lads - positioning himself to take advantage of the extra height he needs to burst forth in photos.

We ended up looking down on money, enterprise and aspiration. London City - with the Olympic Stadium nestling - I'll try and show another pic.

The vista beats even my little camera...St Pauls is but a pimple on the erupting landscape.

Zooming in on the stadium build.

We parted company, Ian, Clive, Martin and Andy departing for bandit country, while Dave, Luke and self headed for my beloved Borough, Tate and Embankment...ahhhh! I parted company at Parliament as I like to take in Speaker's Corner. Roy Rogers was there as usual, encouraging belief.

At Wellington arch - en passant - I was able to see Cameron and Clegg's new immigration policy being enforced by fine upstanding representatives of H.M. Government. People posing as tourists provided easy fare...

At once! The customs men aligned themselves to start a formal version of the 'Okey Cokey' - with a lot of left leg in action going on - before I made my way homeward.

Which leads me to another thing: I roll down the A5 before turning left towards Harrow etc...I stayed behind a tandem for a while because I noticed
a sign on the ruck sack of the 'stoker' saying 'Blind Cyclist'.
Underneath the announcement was a link, so (my memory is like Clive's bike - underused, and what I do use is overworked) I noted the URL and went there to complete this report. http://www.1blind1blonde.com/index.html

Check it out - I have already written in support and 'invited' them to make contact with a view to doing a night ride from HPC as per usual...
We are lucky. Thanks for a good tour Dave - plenty of Kms which were secondary to the company I kept.

 

[Aperitif]

I forgot.
There was a minor crisis on the way after a plane had flown through UK airspace last Tuesday. The turbulence had dislodged a tiny particle of dust (approx 00000.1 microm) which - during the next few days had descended to Earth / London / Greenwich - and attached itself to Ian's bike. After calling the cardiac unit (for Ian) the offending speck of dust was removed from his bike and the ride continued...

 

[topcat1]

What a day of laughs, leaving home with a flat tyre, having the wind push me all the way to bromley, meeting up with the massive

cruising along when iLB flys past

the elephants are gone

welcome to the sunday ride Martin

http://tinypic.com/a/23vpi/3

 

[Aperitif]

Dave beat me to it! This guy was emblazoned with 'I love Brazil' stuff. I was a bit puzzled as they don't have a rugby union team, a cricket team or indeed a rugby league team to the best of my knowledge. (Scant at best).
I think they have a half-decent Ladies Beach Volleyball team though:

 

[Mista Preston]

Great write "ups" all. Despite the below zero temperatures it was yet another ride that will hold in my memory. When people say to me why do you ride in London the photo's above tell the story. London is a great city and " the men i met on the internet " are great company.

Great to meet you Martin and look forward to you joining us again. 38 ish well paced miles for me, made it home just before deadline. Showered and had a big family fathers day roast.

Cant wait till the next one.

 

[martint235]

Despite the below zero temperatures

It was positively barmy out there!!! I'm sure you were wearing more layers than I actually own!

Good to meet you to and the rest of the guys. Will definitely be on the next Sunday ride. Not sure about FNRttC though..