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@Kifer[MK]
Neglected to post here but inviting any mad cyclists on here to join a Group ride I am organising this Friday evening at 10pm. Details below.
Date and Location
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2022
Distance: 160 km (100 miles for the uninitiated)
Climb: 1,086m (flat)
Start Time: 22:00 (late)
Starting from:
Victoria Station car park, London (meet opposite bike racks at car park entrance to Victoria Place mall - see Google Street view https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4943836,-0.1452069,3a,75y,279.55h,84.48t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIatozASroN-A0fOJ7u0DWQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DIatozASroN-A0fOJ7u0DWQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D189.26674%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656)
Route
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38655094
TLDR
Group DIY night ride around London. Starts at 10pm from Victoria Station (for pre-ride food, the 2nd floor McDonalds closes at 11). Post-ride brekky at Victoria Station Wetherspoons where I can confirm the taps turn on at 8am (opens at 6). A great ride to acclimatise to cold night riding, test lights/gear, all safe in the warmth of the city. This is an X-rated event - i.e. no manned controls.
Genesis
In late March 2020 we went lockies. Four weeks later the PM would announce “we are past the peak” of the pandemic. This ride seeks to replicate what it was like for the exercise-inclined during these unprecedented times. A bit weird, quiet streets, circuitous. Staying local was the (legal) order of the day. Non-essential travel was shamed. Hair grew long. We all know this so why am I saying it? Because it's sentimental!!
Accepting the guilt that if I rode outside the M25 I could be “hit by a car and take an ambulance from someone who needed it”, I set about creating and sourcing local London routes. If I were hit by a car locally, at least I could walk myself to a nearby hospital, the thinking went, or maybe the driver would take me if I were nice. The London Fixed Beers missions were a particular highlight for me—giving riders a curated tour of London’s boroughs while taking advantage of the empty streets (but for the ominous queues starting to form outside supermarkets).
I rode the first version of this “strava art” in April 2020, and one year later extended the route with the needle in commemoration of the vaccine. Ironically, as I rode down the Mall while tracing “the needle”, I went right through an anti-vaccine march.
Touring London’s boroughs on empty streets turned out to be actually quite nice. But daylight scenes reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later are unlikely—though not impossible—to return this year, and I don’t want to lose half a lung riding 160 km through London traffic, so this year I’m doing the ride at night.
Fee
There is no fee but I ask that you make a minimum £6 donation to the Lewisham Bank of Things (https://www.lewishamlocal.com/lewisham-bank-of-things/?fbclid=IwAR2SK-ZVIkmz3nLSO6a9zosCTa6zOidekBSToUJFYc7QEqJDCezWNfmN4Qk). An admirable project some of you may have seen on the news in recent weeks.
“The Bank of Things is a new Young Mayors Project working in partnership with Lewisham Local aimed at Young People aged 11 to 25 living in Lewisham. Former Young Mayors have used their budgets to develop the Bank of Things to address the issue of poverty and lack of resources for young people in the borough. We now supply everyday necessities to any young person facing hardship living in Lewisham.” - Lewisham Bank of Things
Upon donation, please message me at “ kowalskimark [at] gmail [dot] com ” to inform me of your intention to ride.
Finish
I would appreciate if you confirm back to me you finished (Strava/Komoot/ebrevet). I won’t be publishing a list of finishers anywhere but I will record you as having completed it for my own records. If the ride is popular enough, the idea would be to turn it into an annual Calendar event.
Riding in London
Be safe, bring a decent lock or bring your own food. Let me know your average speed and I can try and match people in groups. Though the Friday night streets of London may provide plenty of company!
YACF post here: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=122436.0