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Ride out west
3 February 2007
Oh dear, an early morning alarm call and even before I start my ride it is bike cleaning time. Why, you may ask? The answer is that I'm that sort of person and I know that a clean bike is a happy bike and as I had only collected the bike on Friday afternoon after having a new bottom bracket fitted I needed to clean it as I had beeen lazy the weekend before and had left it dirty before taken it to the bike hospital.
It was a cold start from north London on Saturday but gradually things improved as I rode down to The Green Bridge and by the time I got there I was feeling pretty good. Because I had ridden down briskly, in order to keep warm, there was plenty of time to spare and I had time to visit the convenience store under the bridge to get some last minute requirements.
As I rode round the corner by the estate agents I bumped into the first of my fellow riders Darren Tierney who I had not seen for a long time. Our conversation established that it may have been as long ago as mid to late 1994 when we last rode together. We did not have long to wait before Matt turned up and we were then off immediately as we had a lengthy ride across town to pick up people at Gunnersbury station before our ride into the nearest parts of the Chilterns could really begin.
The ride across town was brisk as initially led by Matt we sped across the relatively empty city streets and there was little to hold us up until Darren noticed a softening tyre which we stopped to pump up in The Mall but soon after as we reached Knightsbridge he decided that permanent action was needed so we stopped to allow him to change the tube. That halt gave me time to check my phone to find that another person who I had expected to meet at Gunnersbury was not coming on the ride so I called Angela and explained we were running late and agreed that we could go to her house to pick her up. People, don't expect that from me too often!!!
Once we got to Acton to pick Angela up we had a coffee stop and both Matt and Darren availed themselves of the opportunity to use Angela's track pump to get tyres up to full operating pressures and I did my usual wheel check for Angela to ensure her tyres were at the proper pressure.
The ride from there was a pit of a pain as there was a lot of traffic to negotiate to get out of the built up area but a combination of Angela's local knowledge and my map got us out to quieter roads. While we were travelling through Hanwell I was unfortunate enough to encounter a very inconsiderate motorist who tried to drive me off the road by cutting into to a petrol station and not leaving me any room. I just had to follow him in as there was nowhere else for me to go but that was the only real bit of car induced excitement that we had on the day.
Once out near Ruislip, Harefield and other places just outside the main urban area the rid ebecame very good and we even had the unusual occurence when we had to wait for a light aircraft to land at Northolt Aerodrome. I can't recall an aircraft crossing before but railway crossing waits are normal.
Just before we got to Harefield for lunch Angela displayed her remarkable talent to attract people as while I was waiting for the others to arrive and regroup she had gone across a main road and was waiting ata side turning and there was nobody else in sight. It cannot have been longer than a minute I was looking the other way when I noticed that she was chatting to a man who had appeared as if from nowhere. I don't know how she does it but she does seem to attract people as if she has a personality with magnetic qualities.
I will gloss over lunch and say that the Coy Carp, where we stopped has one of the most picturesque outlooks but is totally spoiled by the dead hand of corporate pub management. The food is also average which is unsurprising but we managed an enjoyable lunch as it is the company as much as the surroundings that makes an occasion. I almost forgot to say that despite the pub being disappointing the staff there appeared pretty friendly so it was not all doom and gloom.
Over lunch we agreed to cut short the ride as Matt was feeling tired and also needed to get back relatively early as did Angela so we headed for Northwood where three of us got the Metropolitan line and I left Darren with a map so he could continue to ride. He has said that by the time he got home he had done about 60 miles so he clearly had a good day.
On the ride we did about 55K which was a reasonable amount for a quiet day.
Thanks to Angela, Darren and Matt for joining me and look out for more rides with Ken in the near future. Oh, I almost forgot that as I had got back early there was time to clean the bike again as I was going out on Sunday on my regular CTC ride.
Ken
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