A long-awaited return to The Rookery; Beddington Beginners 19 March

Paul writes......

Maggie had been in contact with several prospective newcomers in the preceding days but none of them turned up to the Pavilion in Beddington Park for the ride.  

We still had a good turnout; eleven altogether if you count Thomas in his trailer, and it was especially good to see Ray back after his serious stomach surgery.  Welcome back, Ray.  We had done shorter rides of late to accommodate newcomers (that, after all, is what we are there for) but it was a sunny day and there was no-one really inexperienced so this was our chance to enjoy ourselves over one of the slightly longer, slightly hillier routes and we all eagerly accepted Colin's suggestion of Streatham Common.  Well, some more eagerly than others.

The plan was to ride in two groups of five with a clear gap of a couple of hundred yards between us, so Colin led the first group and Paul followed on.

It worked quite well on the way there, though the two groups merged at the foot of Gibson's Hill, which was not a bad thing as there were "riders" and "pushers" in both groups.  So the riders rode; most impressively Matthew, pulling little Thomas in his trailer.  Impressive in another sense, Anna in her little paradise on her spanking new electric bike.  Paul and Ken were the others who rode up.

  Both groups outside the Nettlefolds' former home at Norwood Grove.  Missing from the photo are Colin, who took it, Thomas. fast asleep in his trailer, and Roger, who was taking a phone call! 

The cafe at the Rookery was busy and there was a bike exchange stall there, but nobody fancied trading theirs in. The way home was past Norbury Station and through Mitcham Common but three of us got left behind when we had a minor incident involving a road sign blown by the wind and at Norbury Police Station the lights delayed us again and we lost all contact.  Luckily we had Paul to lead us, and luckily he admitted as soon as he realised that he didn't know quite where he was.  In his defence the route was not available electronically and it had been over two years since he rode it; and he's getting on a bit, and he was suffering withdrawal symptoms because his tea had been decaffeinated.....Never mind, he found a route back to Beddington Park along Watneys Road and Therapia Lane and through the Asda car park and decided to celebrate such a pleasant afternoon with a second coffee, back at the Pavilion Cafe.  But we arrived there at that point where some were waiting for their drinks and they weren't serving anymore.  Doh!  So we left Matthew and Thomas in the playground and went home.

A perfect ride for a Saturday afternoon saunter in the sunshine.