(your correspondent, motivated not one bit by the imminent arrival of massed in-laws in Wittering, has snuck out for a training ride, which, by coincidence, passes through his own front room, having completed the 71 mile journey in a not totally unrespectable 4 hours....)
first the apologies. If you're good at something, then you tend to get lumbered. That's TimO and Matthew's problem. Tim deals with punctures with elan, and Matthew's gentle shepherding of tail enders is much appreciated, so, once again, these two generous souls got stitched up. I promise you it won't happen next month.
And now the thanks - to all those TECs and wayfinders, Adam, Adrian, User10571, Andrij, Dan (I had the honour of sitting on Dan's front wheel through Stanford-le-Hope, which was a bit like being in 2 Fast 2 Furious), Simon, Des, Brian and anybody I've forgotten, not having the list in front of me - thankyou one and all. Alastair McB's complimentary remarks are very much appreciated, and he rightly highlights the team effort.
And, before I get completely luvvy about all this - the ride. Southend stays on the calendar because the Rose Restaurant does us proud, and it gives people who might not make Brighton the chance to to a night ride. I know it's not the greatest adventure in the world, but this month we did have the bonus of a bright moon, and a beautiful soft sunrise. Running along the A13, just before the right turn to Tatershall Gardens, Adrian and I seemed to be enveloped in a pink glow, the sky holding the very first rays of sun to be reflected off the sea, and the cloud seemingly passing it around, from one white puffball to another.
The view of Hadliegh Castle was even more Poussin than usual, but with the added bonus of entertainment. We saw the train, reduced to toy size, clattering off to Benfleet, and the sizeable fox bounding down a hill covered in winter wheat, part jumping, part body surfing, and, if I'm any judge, just for the heck of it.
Truth to tell, I was playing for time. At Junction 31 it all looked a bit iffy. Lesley was plainly exhausted, and talking about staying over at the
Travelodge. I thought that if we managed to keep it together until Fobbing we could then split the ride, with the bulk going on, and Lesley and I taking our time. In the event she brightened up considerably (hail the restorative power of bananas!) and, having taken a short cut to avoid Grays, and foregone the pleasures of Bataville, we were all at Fobbing at about ten past five. Which meant, far from running behind time, we were a little in advance...
Of course, not quite as advanced as Radius and Ilovebikes. Whether the trauma of being overhauled on the incline up to Fobbing by a 54 year old man with one knee had temporarily unhinged them, we'll never know. I did say 'we'll stop just here', and when we did stop Fatters and I yelled not once, but three times, but off they went, no doubt ensconced in that place young people call 'The Zone'.....be that as it may, our duty of care meant that we couldn't possibly let them freeze down in the valley, so, as an act of kindness, we brought them back to the safety of the peloton....
So - thankyou (he's off again) one and all for making it the fun ride it turned out to be, and congratulations to those hardy souls who did the return trip, and commiserations to aralsopp who we'll doubtless see again before too long.
I'll revive the May thread at the end of the week. If you've sent an e-mail and I haven't replied, please forgive me
