Mice Log Star Date 96. (No detailed stats as the Cateye computer is only showing as it happens and not keeping logs!)
What a great day! I never
imagined when I woke up and discovered the temperature was zero degrees
that I was going to have so much fun. This was the perfect ride to start my
2013 cycling with my Boardman which hasn't been outside since November!
This was the ride of the
railways. An opportunity to see the proposed HS2 route from Euston to Banbury
in Oxfordshire. A friend, Adam, was in charge and being the fabulous cyclist, bike
mechanic, ride leader and all round good egg that he is, I knew it was going to
be a good day. He had reassured me earlier in the week that this would be my
perfect inaugural 2013 ride on my roadbike as there were so many bail out
points.
Bikes are funny things!
They are so different. Four months of riding the steel framed Brompton and the
aluminium Marin - both with racks meant that with one pedal push on the
Boardman I was half way down the street - I laughed out loud!
The weather was a bit
alarming, zero is zero and as I knew it would be colder in the countryside I
stuffed some spare kit into my Carradice saddle bag. As it turned out I could
have dressed three cyclists with the amount of extra clobber I was carrying!
At Euston I met up with
nine others. Unfortunately the 10th man was in Brixton fixing air loss in a
wheel (I daren't use the p word!) This 10th man goes by the name of Tim and he
is a bike mechanic and cyclist supremo on a par with Adam so we knew he would
be on his way pretty speedily. We did take advantage of cappuccinos from cafe
Nero and stood in the sunshine trying to stay warm (did I say it was zero
degrees?)! All the while rail travellers were looking at us out of the corner
of their eyes probably trying to work out the point of Lycra!
One of our numbers was
showing off his legs. Zero degrees and bare legged below the knee.
He is 'ard! Another great cyclist and the perfect All Up Call Up man on a
night ride! In no time at all Tim was with us and we were off! As a very kind
treat Adam had routed the route inside Regents Park so we could cycle past the
Giraffe House! Fantastic! And all three giraffes were outside!!
We weaved our way north
and west. St Johns Wood where we could have posed on the Beatles crossing, on
to Wembley, Park Royal and Eastcote (obviously I didn't have clue where I was,
I was reading road signs)!! It wasnt my favourite route - London drivers
can be so unpleasant - but we were following HS2 so no choice! One of our
number, Bob who was on a King recumbent, made me laugh when we cycled passed a
yellow warning sign. "Ha!" he said "I thought that said Warning
- Pootles" (it said Warning Potholes!! 20 somewhat traffic heavy
urban miles from Euston we were in the countryside. Huzzah!!
And then the pothole
avenues of the north. Shocking. It was ridiculous. It became a selection
process deciding which ones to end up in. The cold weather and lack of funding
has done done real damage.
We did some hills. Long,
short, sharp, OMG Seriously - they were all there. As I was busy berating Adam
later he said it was 3,800 feet of climbing which is higher than Bury Hill
- on the way to Felpham - that they rode last week! 3,800 feet! Horror!
But apparently it was all detailed in the blurb about the ride if only I had
paid attention to what 3,800 feet actually meant!
Once in the countryside
we saw lots of signs protesting about the HS2. It's one of those things that
it's potentially great for everyone who doesn't live near the route. We
saw many of the farms and houses that are going to be completely obliterated.
But not for many years so the current owners are stuffed. I don't know what the
solution is but I think it could have been handled much, much better.
37 miles from Euston and
when my energy levels were depleted found as at Lunch. The Full Moon in Little
Kingshill, Buckinghamshire http://thefullmoon.info/location.html The Full Moon in Little Kingshill, Bucks HP16 0EE. What a pub! Delicious food, excellent service
and a really great time. The food was so good that puddings came and rather
rapidly went!!
Our numbers changed like
a sort of knitting pattern - drop four gain one and our numbers were now 8.
The first part of the afternoon ride was a descent. Stunning! The
recumbent flew by at a wapping 40 mph and we met up at the bottom!
We cycled past the gates
to Chequers and caught the attention of the security cameras. I started waving
and the camera waved its windscreen wipers!!
The rest of the ride was
completely stunning. Gentle, gentle little climbs I hardly noticed. Sitting in
a bowl with hills on the horizon which quite frankly is the best place for
them! The sun was out and it was warm but there were still daffs in snow!
We made a minor diversion
to look at a steam railway - the sort of thing that W H Auden might have seen
to inspire Thomas. A classic example of how many things you see from your bicycle that you wouldn't see any other way.
Somehow my fitness level was hanging
on in there, no bail out options yet needed and I started to wonder if I might
actually make the distance. Often in rides of longer distances not cycled its
the very end of the ride when things go wrong.
Every ounce of energy,
adrenalin, stamina and strength has left and you just make it to the station
only to discover that the station is closed or the wrong one or something. And
you have nothing in the tank. I mentioned to Tim that if we happened to see a
tea shop about 10 miles before the end - that would be great.
Eight miles
later, 12 miles from the end of the ride we found The Butchers Arms Fringford.
Marvellous The Butchers Arms, Fringford, Nr Bicester Oxfordshire OX27 8EB Pints of beer and pints of tea - with biscuits! (Tea is really good
for dehydration - not sure I can wholeheartedly say the same about beer..!) But
a really welcoming place. We sat in the sunshine and learned about nearby
filming for Lark rise to Candleford. Definitely a place to go back to!
Refreshed and revitalised
we headed on to Banbury. 35 minutes to wait, a glance at the steam train
we'd seen earlier (which had apparently started a fire a couple of hours
earlier so had been replaced by a diesel) and we were heading for London. We asked the Guard whether there were refreshments on the train and he nearly fell over. "Refreshments? On the train to London? Absolutely not. Nothing. Not a hope."!!
The train was packed -
with Police! Transport Police and Football fans. They let us squeeze our bikes
on. Still somewhat affronted by the 3,800 feet of climbing I tried to
have Adam arrested for lying!! Absolutely hilarious! The policeman was fab -
and hopefully will be looking at taking up cycling! And no he didn't arrest Adam!
We managed to survive the
shoppers and their bags from Bicester and an hour later we were cycling through
Hyde Park. Tim's light was fantastically bright and guided us to Hyde Park
Corner where we said our Goodbyes. 40 minutes later I was in bed and about a
minute later I was fast asleep - feeling rather chuffed that I had cycled approximately 90 miles. If someone had said to me three years ago you will cycle to Oxfordshire I would have said they were nuts. It's amazing how much fun it is on a bicycle whether nine minutes, nine miles or the whole day.
Some say its all about
the bike. I say it's all about the peeps. Thank you guys, that was fab!
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