What a great night that was, Adrian's problems notwithstanding.
South West Trains did their all-too-frequent attempt to stop me getting to HPC on time (three minutes late tonight...). Charlie was already there, the Hall clan (Tim and Anne on the tandem plus The Boy) and Adrian followed soon after. Davy showed up eventually
If this had been an FNRttC he'd have missed out on the safety talk, tsk tsk...As it was, we all knew the score, young Brendan excepted- our advice to him basically being 'take it easy on Reigate Hill'. Which he and everyone else did, of course...!! Davy took his favoured job of Mr All-Up, at which he again excelled.
Progress was naturally somewhat quicker with six bikes, but we weren't exactly rushing either, no point getting to the coast before the Madeira (or anywhere else) was open, so my moving average was actually about the same as the Southend run. The wind wasn't too much of a problem, it was generally across our path but apart from the occasional gust it didn't have much of an effect. We reached Portnalls Road about half an hour earlier than we normally would. As his dad has already noted, Brendan promptly stormed up the climb in impressive style. Lonesome Lane was as delightful as ever, and then down The Hill. All negotiated safely. On we went to Chez Hall, where the catering and hospitality was fantastic. An amazing and delicious array of nosh, we tried to leave not too many leftovers
After a most enjoyable break, we bade our farewells, Tim guided us out of town, and the four of us continued. Turner's Hill was much easier that way round. Slugwash was the right name for the Lane, the newly-cleaned Viner was even dirtier than it had been before I washed it!
The Beacon was an interesting experience in the dark...Davy was first up, but then the rest of us paused at the car park for a breather. The climb wasn't too bad for me- I got the pacing right, remembered to think to myself at the false summits 'nope, that's not it', and made it up fairly easily with a gear to spare. Charlie decided to walk up partway, and Adrian suffered his unfortunate tumble. Self and Davy didn't have to wait too long for them though, and we were all heading down to Brighton soon afterwards, making the front at 7.40. After a leisurely and excellent breakfast courtesy of Glen and team, we made our way to the station in time for the 10.19 to Victoria....
Thanks one and all for a terrific ride and excellent company.
