Velosolo Club

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anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
Here’s one from my “people you meet at 4am” file:

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I didn’t have the heart to tell him I don’t drink milk.
 
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anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
I’m calling this one ‘Loveseat in the time of Corona’

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PS. We seem to have a lot of new members all of a sudden.
 
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anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
Warmed up for today’s ride by digging out the stubborn gate

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which opens onto our lockdown pacing area, if down we must be locked. This is a large meadow right in front of our house normally used for photoshoots,

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populated only by sheep whose cousins have kindly donated their socks,

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and the occasional stag in search of a party.

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Had a lovely spin out to the nearest castle.

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"It's right across the road, you can't miss it."

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This is completely closed now after the Trust threw up its hands in despair.

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The plague pit is that way, I told them

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Carried on my way after illicit dawdling. Played a game of tune association with my ipod.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xK5YHU2-jY


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5G2orT2sjE


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS59-z3aE2c

Passed a couple rambling from the nearby Bruderhof community. (Think Amish who aren’t afraid to drive or run factories, in their case a toy factory. So think elves, too.)

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We exchanged pleasantries from across the road. I'm unsure how to count that in @nickyboy's social interaction survey.

It struck me, not for the first time, that my bicycle is serving as my perch for the coronapocalypse.
 

Randomnerd

Bimbleur
Location
North Yorkshire
All I want is a shirt. Are they knitted yet? Where do I send my money?
 
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anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
Yesterday’s club run had a utilitarian flavour. My car needed an MOT, so I threw a bike in the boot and used the ride home to satisfy my daily allotment of exercise. Anyone who went on last year’s Hastings to the Sea ride will remember this quiet stretch heading west from Roger Daltrey’s country pile as the bit where we got hailed on.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuLhcbY_08

For the trip back to retrieve the car I opted to use my folder (sticklers may count this as double rations), normally used for city miles but not likely to see much of that action for a while.

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All I want is a shirt. Are they knitted yet? Where do I send my money?

Still vapourware. But of course, you’re free to transfer funds to the club’s numbered Swiss account to reserve yours.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeVlsRubPWY&t=2m25s

I’m having a rethink of the rather plain design upthread. The Fridays jersey has always struck me as rather fetching:

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Beware knockoffs
 
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anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
How about the barter system? I'd insert a now very tired joke about toilet paper here, but on that score, my household is good, Ocado having just today delievered 24 rolls: actually more than we'd asked for, due to a substitution (of another brand of toilet paper, in case anyone is thinking we'd ordered Dom Perignon and they were looking for something of equal value). Will get back to you as our Brexit stash diminishes.
 
OP
OP
anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
My latest club run was an epic ascent of the hill up to Brightling.

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Mountain rescue would prefer not to be called in to refill your bidon

OK, not so epic; there’s much worse out there.

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The Lecht, in the Grampians - turned around for the pic

But it’s mine (I’m happy to share), and insofar as you can love a geographic feature, I'm more than a little fond of this one. It’s a pile of earth I’ve been scaling three or four or five times a week since settling here a few years after the last virus to stop the UK in its tracks.

The ‘classic’ route is King’s Hill Road. It’s of the stairstep design, unlike nearby Willingford Lane, my personal nickname for which is The Alpine Hill. I barely see the pyramid at the top anymore; on my last group outing I almost even forgot to mention it.

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It was a normalish ride, except for the scattering of pedestrians using the south of Burwash as an exercise yard for the lockdown.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H6l6-_elF0

If there’s an upside to all this, it’s seeing people out enjoying the sun who would usually be stuck at work. No shortage of smiles and greetings, keeping well away from each other of course, this event’s unique twist on conviviality.

Why climb hills? In part, to go back down them. To celebrate the beauty of the day and the pleasure of being healthily alive I made my descent no-handed for a spell, giving nodded greetings as and when. Then it suddenly struck me what this must look like to any critics observing my ode to joy: how irresponsible, do you want to end up in hospital?!?

This voice inside my head had a point. It did little good to argue that I’m probably safer riding this way than you are with all hands on deck, Mr Probably-Doesn't–Like-Cyclists-Anyway-Voice: God knows I don’t want to come off, so I chose my moments carefully, gauging road condition, windspeed, and likelihood of being attacked by magpies (a tough call, as I've never tried to punch a bird in the mouth). Still, it slightly dampened my spirits, and did serve as a reminder that yes, I’d damned well better be careful.

Also, does freewheeling count as exercise, or is a citizen’s arrest in the offing?

In Burwash I stopped for a selfie,

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a reminder that a) I'd decided to cancel my appointment last week, and b) collectively we’re going to be growing a lot of hair depending how long this goes on.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLiwzSFeDCw

Down the street Mr Kipling kept a bushy eyebrow cocked over the proceedings.

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Exceedingly nice bike

. . .

Ride reports from other Velosolo Club members welcome.
 
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