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BareNecessities
clubman
Ride Report
I wonder if this year’s edition can be known as the Cold One. I’ve been colder during other HDIJ rides, and wetter, but I think the bitter air, frozen fog and frosty roads will mark it out in my mind. Believe the pictures.
I’ll be the first one to say that it was on the edge with the conditions. There was much too slippery frost for anyone’s liking, although very little layers of proper ice. The frost was also visible so we could actually see when it was going to get wild. This was pure luck. With good communication and steady riding we rolled through without any offs. It wasn’t until we were dragging up to Christmas Common that I had some doubts about whether this whole stupid thing was a good idea, but at this point it was a little bit late to turn back and better to push onto the café. Huge thanks to the group, I do think we looked out for each other and that kept us safe. I felt responsible/guilty for it so I tried to stay up front and forge a path for as long as possible, but I paid the price for this about mile 70 though and had to suck wheels all the way home, boo.
H Café has had a refurb! It’s lost a bit of beat-to-shit charm, but shouty grumpbags waitress kept the food moving and the heating must have been on at some point during the day so wasn’t brutally cold and I felt rested when we left. The H remains a worthy stop due to its mercenary food-first, customer-service-experience-at-some-point approach.
I enjoyed the Windsor Park section but we had to suffer some bad traffic to get in it. Before that section is run again someone with better routing skills than me needs to have a look because some I think there was a lot of needless suffering from punishment passes and straight-up dick moves in that section. And that Taproom at the end was ace for us. I think the beer was mostly above average but it was actually warm and we had our bikes inside. I felt comfy, happy and settled which is the sign of a good place to booze. Thanks to those who bought me those shandys.
@Po gets the most meritorious rider for this year, though I think we all worked hard. The route wasn’t too bad – the Staines Loop itself doesn’t have too many kickers and has that flat run in and out – but the wet cold just makes you leak energy. @ElGonzo also rode through a bad hamstring kertwang so he gets special mention for sticking in the group and rolling through some persistent pain. I hope you heal up soon.
However Po did his time at the front, is just all around strong and was first to the top of most hills. There is a little bit of aggregate effort here as well, as he put in great rides in last year’s HDIJ, in the Peaks last year where for example he was at the top of every climb, including Mamnick tapping his toes with camera out snapping pics as we winched to the top, and the fact he was up at 4:45am on Saturday fuckin with regional train in this day and age. Brave shit so well done.
And this the part where it’s basically a diary entry for shit fixie skidders say, but I just don’t care anymore. Tight group fixed riding is a genuinely one of my favourite things and you all know this so I don’t need to wax poetic about its idiosyncratic qualities any further, but it’s just not so easy to find these days. So I look forward to HDIJ a lot, and this year the group showed class. Especially after the café it was an instinctual fight or spin and in the fucking freezing mist we huddled together on the road and the miles fell away and it felt good. It fractured a little on the climb back to the Thames Valley but the mist broke at the top and in the pics you can see the woods the evening light which was like waking from murky dream. And on Drift Road all wheeled up with the last 40 mins of sun…it was just so
I loved riding with you lot. I felt like it was a reunion with some lovely faces from the late autumn rides, a time to make a friend or two with some new faces, and an opportunity exchange wordless nods and knowing smiles with some of my favourite hardass trusted roadmen of yore.
If I don’t see you in the Peaks I hope to see you next January, if not way sooner.