10:12 : Left turn after Cooden Beach - (waiting for others to catch up)
"It's pink, Darren", I exclaimed
"No, no, I can assure you it's purple"
"I mean I'm quite open minded and not in any way prejudiced against the colour , but it's definitely pink!"
With that an elderly lady walked past wearing a very pink puffa jacket.
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| The saddle |
"That's pink!", I then leaned the purple of my bike frame against his new saddle for contrast, "..and that's purple"
He had no choice, but to concede.
"Well it's only a prototype anyway", he said
07:42 Normans Bay Crossing
As the 07:43 pulled into the station, I waited in eager anticipation behind the barriers to see if anyone was joining me on the Pre BBR - the last carriage passed me and revealed that nobody was there. This, at first, seemed surprising, considering the record turnout last Saturday, but there was a lot of alternatives on offer this weekend.
"Oh, well", I thought "I'll enjoy the solitude"
Sometimes a solo ride makes a refreshing change from a group ride: you don't have to bother about pointing out potholes and other obstacles, you can go at your own pace and you can 'shoot snot' freely without fear of showering some other pour soul. Adding all these reasons together though, I must admit it didn't really compensate for the lack of banter and load sharing and I must admit I was glad to see some familiar faces when I arrived at Di Paoulos .
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| The newbie |
The 'Fun Chums' were there, Mal C (on his shopping bike and saving energy for tomorrow), Darren, Andy and newbie Gareth - who arrived with a puncture. Patrick and Andy gave assistance, whilst Pete B paced up and down waiting for the gents to be 'free'.
"I'm going to have to use the other one soon if he doesn't hurry up", he said
His face was beginning to contort and after a few minutes more he made a made dash into the 'Ladies'
Outside Pete immediately thrust his new bike into my face.
"Oh, its the same as Pat's - quelle surprise".
I must admit to feeling a pang of jealousy, those Canyons are a bit 'tasty'.
We set off on time and agreed we would do the 'BBR Classico' route.
After turning into Cooden Drive Pete spotted a really fat bloke on a bike and collapsed into hysterical giggling.
"Did you see him - blimey he looked like an elephant on a bike!"
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| The Fun Chums |
"I thought you were in a caring profession", I rebuked.
I think Gareth was having problems still, but whilst waiting for the rest of the group I took the opportunity to take a few snaps (after I had got bored with discussing the colour of Darrens saddle).
'The Fun Chums' immediately embraced and posed for the camera. Although I did have to keep 'shooing' Darren away who kept trying to get in the middle.
The ride was very sociable and most enjoyable, but I did have a couple of 'man-offs'. The first one was with Patrick who had the audacity to try and beat me on my favourite segment - I don't think it is actually a segment, but think it might be part of Kiln Lane - the up and down stretch before the right turn that leads to the B2095 and then into Horsewalk.
'Look out! - here comes The Baron"
Pete B shouted out to Patrick and alerted him to the fact that I was going to 'stealth' him. We raced up the final dip shoulder to shoulder but he just stole it. Still, not a bad effort from the older man.
The second 'man-off' was with the other 'Fun Chum', Pete. On the final stage (for me, anyway), I pulled alongside him at the foot of Spooky:
"I'm gonna do you, Baker!"
Try as hard as he might he couldn't prevent me from passing him and I eased past.
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| The Osmonds |
Our stop-off for refreshments was Chilley and I was pleasantly surprised to see Matt Schubert with his three siblings arrive shortly afterwards - what a fine looking bunch of young men - if they can sing they could definitely become the new Osmonds.
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| The sausage rolls |
This was all good clean fun and we all agreed that the BBR is without equal in terms of sociablity and banter and depending on who is taking part, quite a bit of serious riding.
Peter Buss
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