It was indeed, a lovely day. There were folk from far and wide in attendance, having heard about the ride from various sources: the local press, word of mouth, various places on the webby and the like.
It was lovely to meet up with faces familiar and new.
I recognised The Doctor immediately I saw him and greeted him with a happy huggle. Will - it was good to meet you too!
It's not often the The Unfit Family are sur velo en masse these days what with Wafflycat Minor being at university and Mr Wafflycat working long hours. So I delighted in the fact that the three of us were sur velo together. Indeed, one kind chappie took a photo of the three of us together and it is, I think, possibly the only photo of us together in cyclist mode, so I am treasuring it.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=739361&l=10473&id=619485718
The ride was very much a sociable ride and the pace reflected this. It was slow and steady with plenty of time to chat to friends old and new. This, of course, meant there was much time for double entendre and innuendo... many comments about a certain person's red dangly-bit, and his frequent blow-jobs on the ride (he can explain... if he wants to) and when a cyclist came up the rear, well... you can imagine. Of course, I had nothing whatsoever to do with such lewd comments
After 16km, a tea-break was had. I think Wafflycat Jnr took a photo of self & The Doctor with our teapots in full view. I shall have to get him to email it to me.
The weather was, largely kind to us, with cloud interspersed with a the odd bit of blue sky and there was even some sunshine. The wind was not bad at all, but over the day, it seemed to chill a bit. So I ended up adding layers rather than taking them off. Actually, this was probably a good thing, as me removing layers would have done naught for the sanity of the assembled
thong throng.
We passed a little waterfall, a house by a rail crossing that was engulfed with garden gnomes of all sizes and types as well as other sorts of tasteful figurines, got stared at by folk along the way who looked puzzled at the assortment of pedal cycles on view as well as the number (there were over 40 of us at the start), horses in fields along the way looked intrigued. We were a polite bunch, saying thank you to motorists who slowed as they passed us, and shouting a cheery 'hello' to folk we passed, joggers, ramblers, mums and dads with small folk in pushchairs along the quiet lanes.
We got to the pub for lunch at the right time. The weather changed and whilst in the pub stuffing our faces, the heavens opened. I felt for the Doc at this point, as he had left the pub to cycle back to Norwich & get back home. He probably got caught out in the torrential downpour. Luckily the rain did not last long and those of us who dined at the pub, left in dry weather as the rain moved off. We set off for the last bit of the ride, back to The Temple Of Delights, namely Mr Burrows's workshop.
Back at The Temple Of Delights, the great man himself let folk wander about his workshop, poking & prodding bits with many an "OOOH!" and "AHHHH!" being heard.
Then with curiosity satisfied, farewells given and hugs exchanged, we all departed our separate ways.
So, bottlemsher, many, many thanks for organising the event. It was greatly appreciated in many ways, not least because it gave a rare opportunity for the Unfit Family to get out on bikes *together* and it was a lovely chance to meet friends old and new. Besides which, I got a chance to grab your bright red dangly bit as we cycled along...
And I was reminded I am in need of a visit to Shooter's chocolate emporium to partake of some lime & chili chocs and also some tipsy tangerine ones too... *drool*
