Real Ale or Rambling
Posted on Tuesday 18 December 2007 by Ken Peters
Real Ale or Rambling with Kelvin Dane – 9th December 2007
A new pub lunchtime venue is on offer so I’m 2-starring with Kelvin. O.K. I have ridden past it several times so its not new just a pub that I have not visited so I was looking forward to lunch at The Viper. It is highly regarded and makes the Good Pub Guide so things look promising. 4 join me at Liverpool Street, Joanna; a newbie, so welcome, Paul Krebs, Michael Belcher, Richard Philpott. At Romford ride leader, Kelvin Dane is waiting with Sue and Simon who have ridden out from Bethnal Green so we have 8 and there is promise of more as it is rumoured that The Hon Secretary, Nick Bloom is riding out from Muswell Hill to join us later on. Romford town centre soon gives way to some nicer suburban streets which only slightly surprised me as we went through Gidea Park and soon after crossed the busy A12. Not long after we had, well for me anyway, an unusual occurrence, a stop for elevenses at Weald Country Park. It did allow me to increase my pre-Xmas mince pie consumption as well as play with a couple of well behaved dogs who were out for early walks. Rain came afterwards as we went towards Blackmore and not long after we were at Mill Green 10 minutes before opening time. It was worth the wait as The Viper is a fine pub with a good selection of ales and the food is unpretentious and filling. While eating I spotted John Snuggs arriving and eventually we had 3 more as John was accompanied by Linus Rees as well as the Hon Sec. It transpired that Nick and Linus rode out from north London and picked John up at Epping station before completing the ride to lunch. We may even have passed them as they said that they had stopped for a coffee and shelter at Jericho Antiques in Blackmore. The afternoon was easy after some lengthy discussions about where people wanted to get to. I say it was easy riding but I did have to chase Kelvin down to remind him that it was a 2-star ride as he temporarily got carried away chasing the rogue 3-star threesome. Eventually after some more rain almost everyone decided that Shenfield was a good bet for the return rather than more riding in dampish weather. Kelvin and myself were eager for a few more miles so continued to Romford at a slightly higher pace than we had been riding at with the group. The day came to an end at 15:00 which gave me just enough time to get on a fast train from Romford and then I was surprised to meet Nick, Paul and Michael, immersed in conversation, on the concourse of Liverpool Street Station. Overall the ride back to Romford was just under 60K and despite rain and some wind it was a pleasant enough winter ride.