The Fridays Xmas Tourette - 29th December. London's Finest.

[sbird]

It's not often that myself, Mrs Bird and fledgling daughter Bird get the opportunity to ride together but this Friday's event provided both perfect timing and an conjunction of interests to make it possible. And for Mrs B to put faces to names that I'd mentioned from previous FNRttCs showed that I wasn't making it all up - a lot of nice people really do go riding at night as well as during the day.

Thanks to dellzeqq for the ride and the wealth of knowledge. And to the TECs who's sole job, from my perspective, was to cojole me into buying socks for my under-dressed daughter from over-priced shops - of which we passed more than a few. Where's Sockshop when you need it (did it close down some time ago?).

 

[ianmac62]

srw - someone in the group found an Oyster card. I think they planned to mention it on here so they could be contacted - rather than leave it behind the bar.

You should hear soon!

 

[ianmac62]

Big thanks to Simon! Lovely route, great company on ride and in bar. Thanks to you all!

Looks like easier journey home. I'm on a train just about to leave Euston. No snow reports for the line.

 

[subaqua]

was a damn fine ride. I enjoyed waymarking in places , specially my turf hackernee. Simon made things interesting with the talks at stopping points. I hope somebody has the GPX of the ride from HPC to ABO so i can put it into Strava.

good to put a few names to faces . and people can see that i am not as grumpy in real life

 

[TimO]

Here is the route, as recorded today, not dramatically different from the planned one, but a few more wiggly bits.

Overall a successful ride, with the normal fine company, and interesting locations.

Things went slightly the wrong way for me on the way home. When overtaking a parked bus near the new Streatham Tesco's, I hit small sharp pothole at speed, in a part of the road that I don't normally cycle on, so I didn't "know" that pothole (the darkness didn't help either). This gave me a complete front wheel snakebite flat, which I repaired there, and a slow puncture in the rear wheel, which I managed to coax home by filling it with CO2 immediately before I continued, and once more before I got home.

At home I also discovered that whilst the rear, clip part of one rear light was still attached to the rackpack, the majority of it was somewhere else, presumably at the point where I hit that pothole. I decided it wasn't worth the ten mile roundtrip to search for the remains of a light which has probably been run over a couple of hundred times by now.

 

[User10571]

Didn't do the ride
But it was damned fine to meet up with those who did.
Albeit briefly, for some....

 

[User10571]

Good to see you

Good to have been there.

 

[StuAff]

That was a good one. Lovely to see so many peeps, especially @ttcycle (hopefully it won't be another year till we see each other). And thanks Vernon, Pi=VeryNice

 

[slowmotion]

That was fun. Thank you to Simon and the TECs and scarecrows at junctions, brilliant work. The Hawksmoor church was particularly welcome, not least because of its warmth. I was severely under-insulated. Great fun to be at ABO for some extensive rehydration. The ride back home was really enjoyable. The Great Oyster Card Mystery looks like it might be solved by pm.
Happy New Year.

 

[robjh]

A very good day - thanks Simon for organising it and pointing out so many gems large and small that I would never have seen or noticed otherwise. Tops for me were the Michelin building and the School of Organists, and seeing the interior of Christ Church, Spitalfields (of which more later).
The weather played no small role too, a brighter, sharper winter's day would be hard to imagine, although a degree or two warmer would have been nice.
The last part of the day passed very quickly in All Bar One, good to chat to people and put a few more faces to names.

Here are some of the gang in a sunny Exhibition Road :

 

[TimO]

There are a small handful of images here, although with the panoramic shots people had a nasty habit of moving!

 

[Aperitif]

I took a flask of cognac...it seemed to last forever - then I realised Claudine wasn't there.
I looked after Vernon like an eskimo child would look after a polar bear.
There were some generous folk in the bar tonight, and the peloton rumbled forward throughout. If anyone has lost anything then a) suspect Frank or b) Slowmotion will have the answer.
The evidence: Hmmm later - I'll upload the pics
I suspect there will be a lot of 'back view' photos of cyclists, so I'm going to come over all religious and include some god shots.

 

[Aperitif]

Boring old Dutch Embassy

One of those nice, informative illuminated boards that are often telling you something you already know...with poseur reflection in a jersey that holds its worth.

That spooky religious building

and more

Vernon, God little in comparison, was drinking in the surroundings. (He wasn't allowed to drink in the main chamber)

Meanwhile, Adrian was carefully blending with the architecture, even allowing his initial to come out and play while he stood around.

Of course, no ride would be complete without its share of idiots

and then the mainstream dealing started to be cut in 'All Oink One'

Sample photo for quality control purposes - not for consumption (because you're too late!)

And, finally, all the woes of AVB - late of Tottingham Hotspurs - pale into insignificance compared to the trio of AVK - CycleChat's finest troubadours.
Adrian, Vernon, Kevin

Happy New Year to all that ride in it!
x

 

[Aperitif]

And yes, don't bother...I know it isn't the Dutch Embassy...it's a joke - although we did 'clog up' the pathway opposite.

 

[vernon]

That was a good one. Lovely to see so many peeps, especially @ttcycle (hopefully it won't be another year till we see each other). And thanks Vernon, Pi=VeryNice

You have been elevated to the rank of true believer. You and @Aperitif were the most pieous of the worshippers.

I'm tempted to bring a full gala pie next time. I reckon it will just fit in my saddlebag.