Central London CTC blog

This ride nearly didn’t happen. I was ill before Christmas and was considering canceling the ride but, in the event, I was fit enough by the New Year to go ahead. I had my doubts if there was much of a demand for an urban ride on church architecture in the middle of the winter. I wouldn’t have been surprised if no one had turned up. I was wrong. We had ten on the ride.

The ride covers the five churches north of the Thames designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor [1661-1736]. He was from humble origins in Nottinghamshire. He was for many years Sir Christopher Wren’s assistant before becoming an architect in his own right as well as collaborating with Wren and Sir John Vanbrugh on Greenwich Naval Hospital, Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. more »

After several attempts that were rained off, Alison finally managed to lead a ride to Ware Museum. The route is almost ideal 1* ride territory being almost traffic free and flat. It starts with a complicated exit route on cycle paths from more »

Normally my in-house rent-a-mob boosts my attendance record and justifies the ‘family’ tag for the ride, but this year they absconded. However, our group of six bonded into a happy unit for a day’s spin in the Hertfordshire sunshine. Two St Alban’s residents, two from north London and two off the train.

Twists and turns through Victorian streets, a walk through the White Hart coaching inn yard and the Abbey grounds, and out of the city via St Michaels and the Gorhambury estate. A short stretch on the A4147 and then onto the lanes through Westwick Row and Buncefield, over the Ver at Redbournbury Mill and up the hill to Harpenden Common.
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Frustrated by the weather for weeks, this Sunday was the first opportunity for many to ride for some time and hence a large turnout for the January ‘Little Green’ was to be expected. Even so the group of 18 that assembled was probably a record for the month. Those Londoners who left the train at Knebworth were joined by several local riders and we climbed up Swengleys Lane under blue skies and helped by a useful tailwind. Large patches of snow were still lying in fields on the higher ground but thankfully even the smallest lanes were now free of ice. more »

Colin Wing’s ride was most erudite. It was a series of stops at statues and buildings in Central London that were based on the architecture of antiquity or in a couple of cases were the real thing. In most cases he had in his folder a picture of the classical original it was based on. The tour included the statue of ‘Achilles’, actually Castor or Pollux, commemorating The Duke for Wellington, the screen by Apsley House, The Duke of York’s column, Cleopatra’s Needle [in reality much older than Cleopatra], the remains of the Temple of Mithras discovered in 1954 and parts of the old Roman and medieval wall near The Museum of London where we had a welcome break for warm drinks. After thawing out we went on to St Pancras Parish Church and, a real curiosity this, an interwar office block in Egyptian style designed shortly after the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb.

Thanks Colin for such an interesting and well researched ride.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if no one had turned up. It was cold. It was two days after Christmas and Spokes had had a ride in the same area the day before. Normally, if you are leading a ride you tend to get a little flurry of phone calls and emails beforehand asking how long the ride is, how long will it take etc.. But this time there was nothing. However, to my surprise, there were seven on the ride — one from Spokes, five from the Central London CTC and one rider who belonged to both. more »

Some pictures from Fuzz Edwards’ Annual Mince Pie Ride on 13th December

Well it was supposed to be a one-star ride but I think we could only claim half a star. The weather was not kind – we even had hail before starting out. But nothing daunted, one hardy rider (Maria) set off from distant Chiswick and made it to Welwyn Garden City. With support from Barnet Cyclists (part of the London Cycling Campaign) we made a group of five.

Plan A was trip to the museum at Ware but the prospect of soaking up more and more rain didn’t really appeal so Plan B was a slightly shorter ride to Hertford for lunch. Much of the ride was along an old railway line so we were sheltered by trees, a bit, but we certainly went through enough puddles to give our wheels a decent wash. In all about 25km, it wouldn’t win us any prizes but we went out regardless and did enjoy ourselves in a funny sort of way. Better out than in as they say!