You are reading a single comment by @SimonBird and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
jonuxuk
@SimonBird
A night ride report from me for Reading CTC :-
There are only two things to get right as a ride leader.
The weather
and of course, not forgetting
the weather.
Route, refreshment stops, pace and general bonhomie are in the lap of the gods so I’ve found. I am now a master in weather-control. Does the club have an award for this? In between a down-pour at 9pm on Friday night and whatever precipitation Saturday decided to bestow I’d demanded a wet-free window for our ride to dip into Bath.
So anticipating another miracle from previous Moses-like behaviour there were 14 mustard-keen riders at the station for the departure.
Old friends like Suj V and Nick C made big journeys before the big journey to join up with David R, Sophie D, Martin S, Ian W, Zoe C, Al N, Graeme H, Rob W, Edwin R, Charles R and Tony R. The skills spectrum was wide from serious Audaxers and long-distance talent to some of us whose recent riding experience has been limited to pootling round a well known park in London. With this ride it’s easy to accommodate all tastes since the route is straightforward. Straight down the A4 and keep going forward. Kindly, Graeme had bought his recumbent which gave some of us a bit of relief when hanging onto his wheel.
The prologue was to run the gauntlet of night-life in Reading town centre which entertained some. A wiggle through town to the Bath Road, across the M4 and beyond Theale and we were off into the dark and quiet...except around Thatcham and Newbury where the incessant wagons delivering urgent internet shopping swarmed for a while.
But after Newbury it calmed down superbly. We had a clear sky with mists in the hollows, few of us had anticipated such low temperatures. Nick’s Garmin and mine continually disagreed about the temperature with his recording a record low of –0.9 degrees centigrade whilst mine was a balmy 1.9. Neither reading bothered the market-stall holders setting up in Marlborough at 3.30 am (yep same time as last year) whilst we all watched Tony and Al fix Charles’ puncture.
And then, Avebury. An absolute oversight on my part from last year’s route. With dawn breaking, the up-lifting song from the bird-chorus and the stones standing resplendent we absorbed the splendour.
However with the field full of slumbering sheep there probably was only one outcome.
We’ve all been there. New bike, shiny and clean. If only it could stay that way. Careful to avoid scratches from careless locking up with others we expend a great deal of energy to ensure our newly beloved keeps its sheen.
Sophie has a new bike. It was shiny and clean until Avebury. By the time we’d made it to Melksham for a re-grouping before the final stretch to Bath it wasn’t so much. Merde was a word I knew from O level French which together with the inspired suggestion from Tony of a brown jersey award suggested that walking around a field full of sheep with cleats meant you would be lucky to come out unscathed.
But the last bit is magnificent. A descent down Bathford and then on the flat through Bath Easton (via a path suggested by a newcomer local called Nick) and following the canal path alongside Bathampton is a wonderful entry into Bath via the Poultney Bridge.
And closed roads! With the Tour Series to be run on that Saturday we had a clear run through the city to breakfast at the Weatherspoons. Cyclists definitely welcome.
With Ian, Graeme and Al riding back there was only the 10 of us that needed train and bike space. Simple really. I’d managed this bit quite well. With a stack of tickets in my hand dispensed evenly to ensure all had a train seat and bike space home I was confident my plan was ending its execution well. Somehow though I’d left the Spoons without my jacket and despite some reckless and furious cycling from the pub to the station and then back to the pub and back to the station I could only watch my fellow cyclists wave as the train departed without me. Happily the IT systems at GWR have caught up with their renewed policy so I was able to book a place on the next train.