With the week we had been having we should not have been surprised that the weather refused to perform as forecast. It was grey and colder than of late and, despite digging a millimetre too deep in extricating a piece of grit from my tyre and thereby giving myself a puncture ten minutes before we were due to leave, I held everybody up by only a few minutes and there all the usual suspects were waiting at Beddington Pavilion ready to go.
We set out for Crystal Palace, for a change, in the knowledge that there was no club football this weekend (for the International break) so that the Selhurst Park ground, which we skirt, would be free to pass. But it was one of those days when progress was a bit slow and it was difficult to stay enthusiastic as the promised BBC sunshine stayed above the increasingly unpromising cloud cover. The Christmas shopping traffic and the road closure at East Croydon did not help, but at least the runners and walkers in South Norwood Country Park were all pleasant. Nevertheless when we got to the last point of choice we reassessed our options and voted unanimously for the warmer and closer and tastier Branching Out cafe at Elmers End.
There the Apple and Almond cake was a pleasant relief from the grey drizzle which was by now setting in. Trouble is, we had either to remount or negotiate overnight accommodation at the cafe (there's a nice Italian restaurant opposite). But Ken was keen to get back before dark to we saddled up and pedalled off, remembering to take a picture on the way.
It had been good for us to get out and get some exercise. And a lesson in bike maintenance. If I'm going to dig deep for gravel, I'll do it with plenty of time to spare in case of catastrophe.
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