The two Saints ride!
The BBC weather forecast predicted heavy rain & thunderstorms all day, so at 9:30 I approached the War Memorial with trepidation, expecting no-one to be at the start. To my surprise there were four riders already there. However Gary had only turned up to say hello and that he was going on another ride but would be out with us the following Sunday, So off the rest of us went, via Bedmond, Hunters Bridge & Chandlers Cross. A notable event occurred an the hill up to to Chorleywood, where I noticed that Philip’s back tyre was rubbing against the chain-stay and convinced him, after some effort, to stop and fix it. His Sun bike, which looked as though it had been extracted from a skip, had been given to him when a schoolboy as a reward for passing an exam. It was 50’s or 60’s vintage as it was second-hand even then. So it had what you might expect: screw-on block, auxiliary brake levers, down-tube shifters, horizontal drop-outs and all the rest of it, and, of course, a solid rear axle. Fortunately, he had remembered to pack a spanner for turning the rear-axle nuts, so with a bit of groaning and grunting he managed the loosen the bolts , re-centre the wheel and remount. After completing the climb, some drizzle appeared (the only rain of the day) and we all put on waterproofs, but shortly afterwards took them off again.
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| Philip's on his way to play golf? |
Arriving at the Madeira cafe, we found only one table for four unoccupied, and quickly ordered coffee & snacks. These took some time to arrive so it was nearly one o’clock by the time we left after a convivial chat. Our eyes lit up after Philip suggested he would get us each a Portuguese tart, so there was some initial disappointment when he returned with a plate of delicious made-on-the-premises Pastella de Nata, the best in the world after Lisbon's.
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| Delicious! |
So out of consideration for Philip, whose largest sprocket had only 24 teeth, I took the flattest and most direct route back, via Latimer, Flaunden, Rucklers Lane & Bunkers Lane.
Steve B
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