2012-06-23 Sat - The Maths Geek Ride 0001.5 - London to Bletchley to London

So, this was a really nice ride. I hadn't been on a proper ride in ages and it was wonderful to get going again. The speed of the group was just right for me, and I loved the stop in St Alban's, with complimentary fruit from Bellaccino's and being buzzed by 6pt and Friday just after we had got going again, in St Alban's town centre.

The way out of London that Object had chosen I thought was much superior to the long, straight slog along the A1000 that I'd done so many times before. Hillier, yes, more up and down and less steadily rising, but much more varied and interesting. It got us out of built-up areas much more quickly, too.

There were eight of us at the start: Object, skydancer, Skully, vunugu, bothwell, fussballclub, habbi, and I. We met ian (conker) at the top of Hendon Wood Lane, and femtonatt joined us just after St Alban's after catching up--she'd been slightly late to the start--, so there were ten.

As mentioned, in St Alban's the two fastmen overtook us after we'd had a half-hour break, and the other three from the fast 'group', AirTime, mountaingoatmatt, and zanda, caught up with us on Gaddesden Row, asking 'how far ahead are they?', proceeding to set off in pursuit.

Gaddesden Lane and Gaddesden Row was just one of several continuous sections of lanes which gave the ride structure and ambience. The others were some of the lanes we used to get out of London, and especially the Brickhill Lane area. A really well-researched route that makes me feel I know the area up there much better now. The only bit I didn't enjoy was the descent of Bison Hill, but that was because my brakes were worn down and I need to readjust them.

Riding into Bletchley, Skully first demonstrated his local knowledge/traumatic memories by refusing to take any risks on the Lakes Estate. We arrived at the pub, the Eight Belles, about an hour and a quarter (I think) later than 6pt and Friday, and had a nice session there. Some then rode back, while quite a few went to the entrance to Bletchley Park, only to learn that there was now a £12 charge for admission, when three years ago we had gone around the grounds for free.

A nice volunteer back then had explained to us that up to that point it had only been volunteers working on maintaining the estate, and there wasn't enough money, so that they were aiming to put Bletchley Park on a better economic footing. This had now clearly begun.

Following this, all except for Skully, Object, vunugu, ian (conker), and I took the train back to London from Bletchley, while the four of us followed Skully around Milton Keynes on a trip down memory lane with the specific intention of exploring the 'cityscape'.

I've attempted to map our route here:

http://www.bikemap.net/route/1664202

This may not be completely accurate, and corrections would be appreciated.

Needless to say, it was very interesting to visit a failed experiment in urban development. I could go on about it forever. Suffice to say that, as much as I'd read about it, I hadn't expected it to be quite so low-density and wasteful, but I found all other assessments in the literature confirmed. The 'network' of Redways was pitiful; as footpaths many sections were quite attractive and sheltered away from roads, but for transportation purposes all of it was absolutely useless. (This is obviously widely known and not exactly a new finding.) The parklands were nice, and especially the Peace Pagoda, beautifully situated, where I could have stayed for longer.

I found Skully's story of people's attempts to have pagan ceremonies, and parallel disruption of them by Christians, very interesting. Whatever you may think of specific religious ideas, right in the centre of a supposedly ultra-modern city, people still found ways of more or less indirect protest against the ideas behind their surroundings. Not the most articulate protest, to be sure, but I suppose there's only so much you can do. :)

Shortly after we left the parklands and went through the centre of Milton Keynes on our way to the station, we saw a fresh car crash (no-one seemed injured, just slight damage to the cars). Even there, there wasn't really any evidence of a city apart from levels of motor traffic. All development turned away from streets and access was only possible by entering specific estates, e.g. shopping centres. As is well known, it all looked more like a silly science fiction vision of a spaceport, and it was depressing to see firsthand what awful 'visions' modernist city planners had at the time.

Thankfully, these are now thoroughly obsolete in many parts of the world, but there is still development activity which repeats these mistakes in aspirational countries which will only understand them through their own experience in the future. We'll also be stuck with Milton Keynes as it is now for the foreseeable future, and it will take a long time to change it--if that ever happens.

Cities can't be 'planned' on the drawing-board. They must grow organically, over a long time, or fail to acquire any character or distinctively urban qualities of their own. Too rapid a rate of development only causes problems and results in environments devoid of the qualities we need.

I enjoyed all of it immensely, hence the long ride report. Thanks to all for great company, and I look forward to doing this ride again!