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@itsbruce
Having stopped to see that you were aright, John, I found them waiting at the next major junction. Then, not long after that, I had a puncture, but the group did wait. You might have caught up after all ;) As it was, that left me as the only fixed rider.
Mostly, I really enjoyed the ride; it was challenging but doable fixed. I like hills and was often the first up, but don't like steep and unfamiliar descents in the dark quite so much on fixed, so I was usually near or at the back by the end of those.
The last couple of big hills took my reserves (possibly because we'd been told that we'd already done the last big hill ;) ) and I had to walk about twenty yards to the top of the very last one, so I was just cranking it out as we came back into South London, with no legs for a sprint. Still, I was out with an LFGSS group, even if they were all on gears last night, so I expected they'd realise the likely state of my legs after all those hills on fixed. What I didn't expect was for them to disappear out of sight round a double roundabout at Elmers End and not appear again or, as far as I could tell, look back.
I still had battery life on my smartphone (fortunately, because Croydon isn't an area I'm familiar with), so I was able to work out which road they'd gone down and plot the course back to Herne Hill. Didn't see anybody else on the route or in HH, so went on home.
Wasn't immensely impressed, after powering round all those hills with the group, to be dumped in Croydon like some nodder. Rather undercut the achievement, for me. I do appreciate the thrill of pushing out a final sprint at the end of a run, particulary when you're geared and can conserve some energy for it. I am old enough and ugly enough to find my own way home. But it was a group ride, lads; none of you will have known that I got home at all, till I posted here.