Colin injured, the brief Indian summer on the wane with the harvest moon and early warning from Karen that we might have a first-timer with us, which of our regular rides would the leader choose?
Crystal Palace were at home, so anything in a north easterly direction would be unwise and the Crystal Palace and Streatham rides, both of which pass Selhurst Park, were definitely out. It was the annual Wandle Weekend, so an easy option up the river to Morden Hall and beyond or to Lower Morden was also unwise. One regular does not like Oaks Park, another wants to avoid hills (ruling out Farthing Down), someone does not want to ride the broken glass path at South Norwood Lakes.....come on, girls and boys, give the leader a chance.
What about Coombe Woods? On the plus side a short, quiet ride to a pleasant tea room which we have not visited in ages, on the other hand a few busy road crossings and steep gravel tracks to suggest the risk analysis needs to be taken from the shelf and dusted down. And surely Haling Park Road is every bit as steep as Farthing Down, if you look at the right angle, only a bit shorter?
Beddington Park
Coombe Woods it was. We said goodbye to Ray who had come to see us off, and Paul, Anna, Roger, Alison (making a rare and welcome visit to Beddington), Maggie bringing up the rear, yours truly in the lead and a warm welcome to Jacqui, who turned up with such a nice road bike that we wondered if she would find us a bit tame.
Lloyd Park
It did not begin too cleverly, a wrong turn and then a heavy shower that had us hiding under a tree and changing into rain gear. But the sun-kissed boulevards of the London Borough of Culture had us stopping again to take the clammy waterproofs off and we had a pleasant afternoon negotiating the tree roots of Lloyd Park and Coombe Wood and the slippery, slidy steep gravel path out of the woods. I was a bit rusty on a route not recently ridden and sprung upon me at the start, but we found our way through and newcomer Jacqui sprinted past me up Haling Park Road.
We hope she comes again.
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