If that was the last ever FNR (at least under present management etc), well (IMHO) we need to have last ever rides more often (though that would be somewhat reminiscent of those retailers who somehow have permanent sales). Glorious to see, and ride with,
@mikeee and Sig, and so many haven't-seen-you-in-ages peeps. Shame that even more were not there for whatever reason....
Finished work in good time to make the train of choice, but sadly not good enough to nip home and change first. Ho hum. Hop from Waterloo enlivened by my first sighting on the road of that ideal urban runabout, a Bugatti Veyron (at a rough guess, not the one that got vandalised recently). Over to the Arch in good time for the last safety talk of the year. And then, those famous words, 'we're on our way'. And so we went, past those Leggsian fish on Tooley Street, the delights of the tunnel (fumes! cough! fumes!, and is it me or is there a really nasty gradient in there? Probably me). On past the many churches of West Ham (probably less popular than the one with a pitch, I'd guess...), and that utterly stupid sculpture on the roundabout in Barking....a quick googling reveals this load of balderdash on the council website....
"The Lighted Lady of Barking is a sculpture by Dutch artist Joost Van Santen. It is situated at the roundabout where London Road and the Northern Relief Road meet the top of Abbey Road and at 20 metres high, forms a gateway into the Town Centre from the A406.
The Lady is constructed from steel with white coating and forms a silhouette that changes slightly as you move around it. The form is topped with a blue acrylic disc with light and contained to create an ethereal ellipse against the sky. The Lady is a reference to the protective maternal forces of nature and refers back in time to the existence of the Christian Abbey in the background
At night it is lit with multiple colours, reflecting on our current multi-coloured society and celebrating the benefits of this rich mix".
In other words, A Load Of..... It looks even worse in daytime. Barking (cashpoint/regroup stop) was busier than usual- though the nightlife seemed good natured enough. And on we went. Ford Prefects were not required on the route, but we were all glad to take Stock. The Tully family once again excelled themselves (bakewell tart was particularly fine). Simon's tale of Princess Margaret and Roddy Llewellyn was highly entertaining, though having heard the first two of these stories, their veracity does seem increasingly doubtful
The cinder path was a bit more 'interesting' than usual. And finally, the Rose. The full Biker breakfast hit the spot, as it usually does.
I considered the options for getting back to Waterloo. Weather did me a favour, sort of, in that it stopped raining. Options for getting this month's ton in were looking thin on the ground- last weekend's weather was ****, next weekend's forecast looks like ****, the following weekend is not an option.... So, despite that lovely head/crosswind, I decided it was time to take some MTFU and ride. I just missed Team Olaf, but I had the strong suspicion that I was better off plodding on solo rather than holding others up. I proved myself right, I neither caught up with them (just read Frank's post, they were clearly too quick for that!) nor saw Team Woolwich Ferry, though I did see Charlie on Tattersall Gardens. Had Olaf's intended route on the Garmin- first part worked out OK, but for some reason or other the turns were being prompted at the wrong times (the Garmin's map seemed to be misaligned with the track) which made navigation a little 'interesting'. With the benefits of hindsight, I'd have used the route from when I last rode back from this one, if only for extra familiarity. Ended up deviating from the track when part of it seemed to be a private road ending in a car park, briefly headed towards Thurrock, but got back on course. Stopped for a breather at Ockenden, noticed a used tyre (Conti GP something or other) in a bin. One of ours? Progress remained slow, but I decided to stick with it. Once I got to Barking I remembered most of the way anyway, traffic round the Roundabout with The Appalling Sculpture was heavy, though I seemed to be the fastest thing on the road, which is always nice. Once I got into the centre, progress slowed to a crawl. Made it back to Waterloo in a rather slow (bloomin' headwind) 4 1/2 hours, in time enough for the next fast service south. And usual lethargy.
I've
written in the past of the impact the FNRttC has had on my life. But, one way or another, this is the end of a very special era.
TECs, waymarkers, ladies and gentlemen in lycra, and most of all, friends, whether you turned up once or, like me, caught the bug and did every ride you could, thank you one and all for enriching my life in so many ways. And of course, thanks most of all to our leader. For being mad/sensible enough to come up with the idea in the first place, and mad/sensible enough to keep it going for so long despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. For doing so much Leggwork (couldn't resist that pun) in route planning and recces and finding friendly cafe owners. For having the patience of a saint, or at least giving the impression of having it on many occasions. For inspiring prose and occasional mild exaggeration on the ease of climbing certain hills. For entertaining and informative discourse on all manner of subjects at ridiculous o'clock. And for so much more.
@dellzeqq, a cycle shop warehouse worth of 'chapeaux', and then some.
And as I've posted on Facebook, this is most emphatically not the end. It's the start of a new chapter. There will be night rides next year (actually, there's still one this year, in a fortnight down to my home town, details over on YACF). Usual and unusual subjects welcome. Hope to see a certain couple on his and hers Colnagos.
And now, some music...this one seemed apt to me in so many ways. The brothers Hartnoll (aka Orbital) recently announced they were disbanding. This was the closing track on what proved to be (if they don't reform for a second time) their final album. Suitably uplifting, often enjoyed at stupid o'clock, those glasses would be ideal for TECs (
replicas available), and the title's a good question for our merry band. Where Is It Going? I intend to find out, and I think a lot of you do too. Be seeing you at HPC sometime. There are great breakfasts to be eaten, drunken clubbers to be bewildered, bollards to be dodged and roads less travelled to be enjoyed. Finished? No, we've only just started.
We will not be going quietly into the night. There's usually someone with a noisy freehub.