Posted by Paul
The first two All Day rides have been arranged as follows, so put the dates in your diaries.
Saturday 8 April to Newdigate, let by Steve W; meet at Nonsuch Park at 10am
Saturday 13 May round London Parks, led by Madeleine; meet at Beddington Park, Pavilion Cafe, 10.15am.
By Paul
Saturday dawned wet; seriously wet. Duncan in the bike shop was investigating the fox on heat who lived in my crankshaft and offered to back me up if I wanted a (bike) sick note to avoid the ride, but hey, Nigel is still missing and we all have to muck in and the rain abated a bit, but only a bit and Maggie and I thought we'd go to Nonsuch, no normal person would turn up in this miserable weather, and then we could have a coffee with Colin and just go home again. Roger and Anna had already decided that the wind was too blustery and the rain was too wet.
We had forgotten that cyclists are not normal people. Colin was waiting, but not alone. Stuart and Rob were with him and did not take kindly to my surmise that a trip home might be sufficient exercise for the day. Then as we sheltered from the resurgent rain, Steve rolled up. Then Tony. Then Alan. We had us a convoy. Worse, we had a leader. Well, a leader of sorts. Soon he had lost Colin off the back (turned home), and then Rob (lost somewhere on the Sandy Lane pass: his cries unheard in the wind). Tony volunteered to go and find him, and did so on the scree slope they call Cuddington Way.
So off we set on the scheduled ride up the col du Tumblewood, buffeted by the gale, slowly but surely wetted by the rain, fingers and toes none too warm, only to discover when we summited that Pistachio's was closed. So we went across the road to the Lavender Kitchen (where the coffee is good, the Italian cakes are great, the place is warm and packed and the staff are friendly as ever), only to discover two truants, whose names I will not disclose but who for the sake of the story we will call Anna and Roger. These renegades had driven there and had the effrontery to look warm and happy in their dry clothes.
Renegades reconciled. The reconciliation will send tremors around the globe.
After they had gone we found out that Rob, whom we thought we were doing a favour by cycling to the vicinity of his home, had actually driven to Nonsuch and had to go back down for his car. There was really nothing to do but take severally our diverse descents down Mount Banstead, get indoors and batten down the hatches.
