Central London CTC blog

Fantastic bright cold and sunny weather greeted the large group that assembled at Embankment Tube and we set out at once to savour the statues of the great and good in Embankment Gardens.  Taking in the controversial Battle of Britain memorial and Boudicca on her chariot we pressed on through the tourists past Cromwell and Richard I to the Victoria Tower gardens to see the work of a Victorian ‘rogue’ gothic architect in the colourful shape of the Buxton fountain.  Back through Parliament Square for a well earned coffee in the Methodist Central Hall and a spontaneous guided tour of the building.  Then up Whitehall for the Cenotaph, Foreign Office, Haig and sundry others and through Horseguards to see “the best equestrian statue ever”.  After lunch the memorials came thick and fast down the Mall, up the Duke of York steps for more Boys Own heroes and onwards to finish triumphantly at Hyde Park corner in the gathering gloom of a January afternoon.  I didn’t count but it must have been 20-25 individual artworks in all in the space of about 2 miles.  They were in turn sad, pompous, eccentric, vainglorious, heroic, dignified, restrained and some frankly naff – all of them gave us something to think about.

The Spyride

I sometimes suspect that Network Rail has a specialist unit that monitors the CTC rides list and then plans engineering work to disrupt it. This time they pulled off a new trick. Due to timetable changes the riders arrived early! I’d planned on the basis that people would be arriving on the train from London at 10.24 and so arranged to a meeting time with Spokes of 10.30. However they arrived at 10.11 before most of the Spokes riders were there. The necessitated an impromptu coffee stop at the Junction Café near the station to keep people warm.

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Some of us remember the late lamented Hilly Chilterns 100 kms Audax – the “Chilly Hilterns” , a collection of numerous short and very sharp hills in the Chilterns between Amersham and Marlow. This ride was due to cover some of the second part of it.

The usual suspects gathered at Marylebone: Martin Hayman, Keith and Naomi, Matthew Wright, Damian, Roger and Kay and Phil Coleman. Elevenses and late lunch rather than a long stop were planned and I think worked out OK.

Super picturesque Hambleden has the village shop for cake and coffee, and an interesting insight into rural life provided as I sat inside. A pair of locals discussed the tribulations of the farming community: “It was a drive by shooting…”. more »

First of all the credits: this ride was a blatant rip-off of Colin Wing’s “Docks and Ducks” ride. He was very gracious when I rang him and asked if I could use it. He said that there was no copyright on rides and that he’s published it in The London Cyclist so that others could ride it. The only bit of the ride I can claim any credit for was the stretch from St Pancras to Southwark Bridge.

My thanks also to Tom and Ian for acting as backstops. Their job was essential as the route twisted and turned through the City and along the south bank of the Thames. Riders do need to get into the habit of looking behind at turns to check that the riders behind can see them.

For a 1* ride, it was well attended with over 20 joining the ride at either St Pancras or London Bridge. more »

Colin Wing’s rides have a following. I counted 14 on the ride, though somehow there were only 13 names in the attendance book. We left Enfield via the elegant Gentleman’s Row and the New River, built in the reign of James I to bring water to London.

The New River in Enfield

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Mikael Colville-Andersen, Cophenhagenize.com‘s committed advocate of cycling for Everyman (the word comprises women too), is pleased to refer to sporting riders, all right, ‘roadies’, as a ‘speed-obsessed subculture’.

OK, we own up, it does rather look like that to judge by this GPS trace of Thursday’s RP Tune-up and Social, downloaded from Damian’s Garmin.

Nice consistent pattern...pity about the red light at 20 km (click for full-sized version)

The sustained brisk progress over the course of the hour’s riding is rather pleasing, but I would point out that we were lapped on the Inner Circle by a hard-charging group of Phoenixes. Now they definitely are speed-obsessed.

In deference to Mr Snuggs, I would add that the Thursday evening club session is for pleasure. It is not training, no sirree! We can do slow cycling with equal pleasure. And in Copenhagen too.