Did the Earth move for you? Beddington Beginners, 19th February

Report by Paul on the shortest Beddington Park ride in living memory

Storm Eunice had done its worst on Friday and the world was still a very windy place in which to be cycling at Saturday lunchtime when the latest weather front was sweeping in from the Atlantic.

Still, it was Beddington Park Saturday and a promise is a promise, so Maggie and I saddled up in the expectation of finding Colin on his own, clinging on to a lamp post, and the three of us agreeing that a ride was unwise, supping a coffee in the Pavilion Cafe and going home.

After circumnavigating the fallen tree branches and feeling the first of the horizontal drizzle we approached Beddington Park Pavilion and, lo and behold, there was Colin, sheltering near the wall.  But what was this?  The cafe was shut; alleged power cut, so no coffee there.  And, amazingly, we had a new first timer, Henna, walking her bicycle towards the rendezvous.  We could not refuse to offer a ride but she was a real Beginner, unsure of her balance in the wind and a bit rusty on timely gear shifts, so Colin suggested Carshalton, where Dotty's offered the nearest decent coffee and that was where we went.

Dotty people who had cycled to Dotty's

The damage was nothing compared to the 1987 hurricane but the River Wandle was a foaming torrent and there were at least a dozen trees either uprooted or, literally, torn in two by the storm.  The wind gusts were interesting for experienced riders, so must have been challenging for someone so long off a bike, but we made Dotty's Tea House in Carshalton without mishap, spent a lot more time in there than on the road, and went back to Henna's car near the Pavilion, once we had worked our way around the only tree which had fallen so that we could not cycle round it.

An obstacle, one of many in Beddington Park