Oh what a night .... as the song goes ....
Fabulous, absolutely fabulous dahlings.
Firstly, big thanks to all those that helped organise, recce'd, waymarked and tec'd. My pal Peter made the point afterwards that people must put a lot of effort into making something run so smoothly and appear so effortless. He's right and we appreciate it.
So where to begin. I'd driven back from Orleans that morning (been away since Sunday night) and parked-up at the MIL's in Morden, freshened-up, ate some tea and around 1830 rode 'up town' to meet Peter at Paddington around 1930. The evening was pleasantly warm, heavy even. The traffic calm and weaving around London's streets was pure joy. My inner child was awaking. Apon our rendevouz, some whizzing around London, proper food and some brown beer was in order. China Town provided a fab takeaway and Trafalgar Square a suitable eating venue. Afterwards, more childish zooming around in the trafficto All Bar One at Shad Thames for a pint or two as we watched the sun goe down and the lights go on. Riding back towards HPC over Westminster Bridge, Parliment was resplendent in Red White and Blue stripes as was Charing Cross Station in honour of the Nice incident ....Chapeau!
We congregated, shouted stuff and gesticulated in the time honoured manner, set-off, watered the trees on Clapham Common and then down the Northern line to Morden, Cheam, Epsom, Tadworth, and beyond....
Apart from the fact that down to Morden was already tracing my earlier evening route, this first part of the Journey covers my personal history from 1982 to somewhere around 1993 or so. As such it's is very dear to me viz:
Started London life in Clapham in 1982 and South Bank Poly as the Heffalump and Castle
Went out with and Married a girl from Morden
Started work in Leatherhead and lived in a bedsit in Burg Heath road Epsom (the climb to the downs - we went the easy way)
Next job was at BOC Morden in Deer Park Road which we passed
Next Job was with Kelco in Tadworth .... which we passed
My Biochem Degree was done part time at NESCOT...which we passed
Memories, memories ahhhh....
On with the ride. I was on the recently modified Brompton (double chainring) and all was well until we we'd descended Pebble Hill* and rolled towards Faygate. I was starting to feel quite tired after a long week and the absolutely dreadful road surfaces were starting to take their toll. The Brompton's fine as long as the going is reasonably smooth, but rough tarmac makes for a rattly and jarring experience with an already tired body. I rolled-on buoyed by good company most often the TEC's with whom I spent a lot of my time riding at the back. I was ever happy to see a regroup, time to stretch and get to the front of the pack for the next restart to inevitably end at the back by the next.
The legendary Faygate Bread pud and 2 Mugs of tea refueled a stiff body and the lightness of the approaching dawn helped lift my spirits. After some 30 minutes or so, I seemed to get a second wind at last (pardon all). The light increased, the greyness parted and the scenery came alive. The road still parlous continued to batter me, but I reckon I had it beat now. I also made the good company of
@Shadow and another local gent on a hybrid. We chatted along nicely, the morning and scenery evolved and tips on the infamous Bury Hill were provided. The ribbon of blue beyond the hill spoke of a pot of gold beyond the rainbow.
What makes this such a great ride is how an increasingly spectacular landscape evolves as the sun rises and the route rolls on. Close to Bury Hill I manually transferred the chain onto the inner 34 tooth cog and practiced my spinning. Bury Hill was fab .... hard, but fab. The joy is the scenery to your left evolving with every new gap in the hedge that appears. The climb IS pretty hard, the road surface on a Brompton is absolutely unbearable, but this is more than compensated for by the views and then .... the descent! * Chapeau to John M on the standard geared Brompton for making it up without walking .... it was hard enough on my cheats version.
The last 8 miles into Felpham were an optimistic roll, we could smell the bacon, the challenge was over, the night was taken. And what a reward! Beautiful clear hot sun, brilliant blue and green ocean. The Lobster put a delight, good brekkie, relaxing by the seaside, chatting, sharing the rum ration. Beer was mentioned and a suitable Pub in Bognor found for several pints of liquid recovery product and bonhomie.
Finally we took the route home. Train to Victoria for Peter and me, him to Paddington, me the ride to Morden in very hot conditions, a shower and a cuppa.
Bugger Bognor? It nearly buggered me that's for sure.
Postscript: There were far fewer Bromptons on this ride. 3 in total. Mr Orange, Annie and David all sporting big wheeled bikes. I understand why now. For me it's not so much the distance or the extra work, but it's the paucity of the road surfaces which is making long rides on small wheels unpleasant now in the UK. This ride seemed atrocious. As we later discussed, a big wheeler is just more comfortable and relaxing ... I agree wholeheartedly. Sad. There's joy in a squadron of clown bikes in perfect formation. But it's a big wheeler for me next time too.
*Descents - I have finally witnessed the descending prowess of
@User13710 on her new little bike. Awesome! Pebble hill taken at an alarming rate and whilst as hard as I could I tried to keep with her off Bury Hill it was an impossible task. What's more her first ascent of Bury Hill too! Chapeau TMN! I only wished I'd recorded the victory celebration :-)
Style - is not
@topcat1 the coolest dressed dude on a bicycle?
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