Today's ride is the sort that
Lewis Carroll may have devised for Alice. You could only be upright on a
Brompton - a culmination of The London Brompton Club joining up with The London
Recumbents. What a sight we were as we headed out of various parts of Liverpool
Street Station.
Although our Brommies and
Recumbents caused a stir, one of our group (well, two actually) had brought a
set of wheels that was so spectacular people were actually stepping back from
it, in disbelief. A recumbent trike tandem. I have never seen one in the flesh
before. A fantastic piece of engineering. Apparently it has 107 gears! I have
no idea what it's top speed is - riding that down Ditchling Beacon would be
terrifyingly fast. To think it has exactly 101 more gears than my Brommie.
The Route of 12 Bridges took us
over every one from Tower to Battersea. Our host, Ben, had arranged the most
beautifully clear blue sky which acted as the most spectacular backdrop to
display London's sights. As with all the London Brompton rides I've been on,
they are always well organised with great routes, vistas and company.
Bromptonites seem to be very kind and friendly people.
I met many new faces and caught
up with others I haven't seen for a while. We all chatted our way over
the bridges - I had to do a double take as I realised that although I knew all
the bridges, to quote the late, great Eric Morecambe in the Andre Previn sketch
"but not necessarily in the right order"!! Ha! Southwark Bridge is
east of Blackfriars - how'd that happen??!!!
We did walk over the wobbly
bridge, not entirely cleat friendly, but the views certainly made up for it.
By the time we reached
Battersea Park we were all ready for a cup of tea so sat by the pond taking in
the view. Unfortunately I hadn't clocked the temperature and was lacking in
warmer clothing so once we had cycled over the 12th bridge I left the ride and
headed home. Basic error on my part!
A few other pics are here: pics
21 miles in 2hrs 20 - Thank you peeps I can't wait for the next one!
