Central London CTC blog

…is the only mass-start ride I’ve ever been on where I lost the entire field within 15 minutes and didn’t see them again until the pub at the finish!

I had carefully studied the route promulgated on the Rapha website and memorized it. West London is my patch and, apart from a little vagueness near Chelsea Harbour, I knew where I was going without referring to instructions. That meant I didn’t take the route sheet at the start at Smithfield, so I don’t know what was indicated for Hyde Park Corner. What I do know is that Grosvenor Crescent is mos def left, not right, so I was astonished, after reaching the top of Birdcage Walk at the head of a pretty untidy peloton and plunging into the roundabout, to look over my shoulder and see everyone streaming through the Wellington Arch. more »

As you may know, the Hon Sec has something of a fix-ation. And a fondness for audaxes. So what better than the ‘Fixed Wheel Challenge’? Target:25 fixed points, a point per 100km of audaxing completed sans derailleur. Sort of like a coffee-shop loyalty card, except no free coffee. Thermos of tea, maybe? After a very very long time, he’s done it, with the ‘West London 3/4’. A rolling Rocco special. Not flat. Ouch. And over-distance, natch (legit this time, it was 150km). When presented with his award by the men in white coats, Nick commented ‘I just couldn’t stop’.

Fortunately, we had no repeat of the problems of the 2007 ride. The trains were running normally and there was no need to find another ride quickly without proper reconnaissance. It was raining when the train arrived but the weather forecast said the weather would improve so we rode into Princes Risborough for a coffee. Sure enough, by the time we had finished coffee the rain had stopped. We rode on the Phoenix Trail, a Sustrans route along a former railway line, for about six miles to Towersey, spent half an hour at an art exhibition linked with the nearby Towersey Folk Festival and then rode on to Thame for lunch.

After lunch we visited the Thame Museum before riding via Moreton to Tetsworth on a route that started as a paved road but became an unsurfaced byway. Then it was via Adwell, Postcombe and Sydenham to a tea stop at the Inn at Emmington before returning to Towersey and the Phoenix Trail back to the station.

On Sunday Peter Turner led a two-star ride from Beaconsfield through the heart of the Chilterns, lunching at the Whip Inn (overlooked by the windmill at Loosely Row) and with afternoon tea at Great Missenden Church.

Here is a selection of photos by Elaine McKnight: more »

…a celebration of the Freedom Pass.

A simple 3* ride, from Chalk farm to Newton via Hertford North, with with an easy escape home from Cambridge. Or so we planned before checking the trains. No Hertford North service. No Cambridge service. Hum. Plan B, with an added C, and D on the return.

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Martin Hayman was the only Central London member to ride the Muswell Hills 200k on July 27th, his report follows:

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2* from Beaconsfield 27 July

11 people left the train at Beaconsfield and after a brief ‘find the leader’ moment we all joined up and set off riding north up the first of many ‘moderate’ climbs in the lovely morning sunshine.

Along the first of many lanes to Penn Bottom where we turned east and headed to Holmer Green and to the lovely village of Little Missenden. There we admired the Georgian Manor House and the St John the Baptist Church, a place of Christian pilgrimage which dates back over a 1000 years. A busy stretch of the A413 followed with a sharp right turn under the railway bridge and up Hyde Lane to Hyde Heath. We stopped at the
common in Hyde Heath for our first mini break and to take on some water supplies in the ever increasing heat of the day. Then it was down Copperkins Lane into the northern outskirts of Amersham where we dropped down the hill to meet the River Chess in Chesham. Riding along the Chess valley we turned north at Latimer and climbed up to Flaunden. more »

A few pictures from Bob Davis of his visit with Geoff Thomas to some Tour Climbs - just to make you jealous. Note the field especially grown in Central London colour to welcome them …