Central London CTC blog

A Brrrrrrill ride

Shamed the previous week, a respectable crowd showed up shivering at Marylebone, to get as far as we could before the next tornado. The view from the train windows of heavily frosted fields was not promising, and High Wycombe was an obvious exception to the threatened global warming. Cold enough to make breathing painful, the first hill was a cruel but effective way to warm up stiff legs. While some applied the rule ‘keep moving = keep warm’, my kangaroo hopping tactic at the halts failed to save the feeling in my feet. We took the 2nd easiest way up the hill at Brill (thanks Mr S) and did not stop to admire the murky view from the windmill. The Pheasant was not just warm but welcoming, efficient, and fed us extra chips.

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Sunday 17th December - an Ugley ride with Phil Cordingley (**)

I’ve got lulled into a false season, so although I and a few others felt chill on arrival at Broxbourne, the fact that I was still exposing flesh in mid-December was more surprising - nor, as it turned out, was I particularly cold all day. Some of us had ridden out to meet the train, making 14 all told. Train problems had already diverted the ride from Bishops Stortford, so Phil was planning the route as we rode. Just as well, as this was a day punctuated by deflations. First in Bayford, then another before the Hertingfordbury turn. On through Hertford and Bengeo, then a quick discussion and on to Bennington for lunch, via a rather nasty bit of A road. Except we didn’t all get to Bennington together, Phil having to do his border collie imitation to find the flock. The Bell was very welcoming - a good, no-nonsense pub, to be recommended. Outside to another puncture, a mile later yet another. As 3 of the 4 punctures were on one wheel, and another on a partner wheel, said pair retired, somewhat hurt, to Watton for a train home. The rest pressed on, through Buntingford and Furneaux to Manuden and, in failing light, to Stortford.

The above might sound somewhat a catalogue of despair, but somehow it wasn’t. It was a very nice cycle ride, the sun shone, the company was good.

To quote the BBC, ‘It’s what we do’.

Two reports on truncated rides - one cut short due to illness and gross moral turpitude, the other due to mechanicals and lighting issues.

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On December 3rd, Charlie Keep led his first ride for us:

Sunday was a day on which one might have pulled back the curtain at seven AM and thought, “Hmm, its blowing a squally force nine south-westerly out there. I could stay in bed, drink cups of tea and read the paper, or I could go cycling on a particularly windy part of the Essex coast.” Four of us made the obvious choice and went out for a ride.

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