25/3 Friday Night Ride - Pass The Inhaler!

Watch out for those pesky rabbits Ricky

In the morning when I arranged to meet up with Ivan for the Friday night ride, I felt a tightening of the chest, was this the beginning of yet another chest infection?

By the time Ivan arrived I was buzzing with fever, wheezing like a 40 a day man and starting to cough up flem. I was so breathless cycling up to the lodge that I couldn't hold a conversation.

I was pleased to see a good turnout of five other riders. this meant that if necessary I could start the ride and peel off without leaving Ivan on his own.

Myself, Nigel and Ricky set off down Battery Hill  two minutes before the others. Nigel had a close shave when he narrowly missed a fox that darted out from the undergrowth straight into his path.

Near the bottom of the descent there were some very bright cycling lights. At first I thought it was Paul Baxter but there were three cyclists rather than one. I found out later the lights belonged to Peter Baker, Nigel T and Patrick who were on the last leg of their epic 140 mile Tour Of Kent.

The earlier spring weather must have energised the local wildlife as the Nature reserve was full of rabbits . Many of them seemed to have a death wish and were darting in and out of Ricky's wheels.

Ricky's flats will soon be consigned to history

The still cold air seemed to have helped clear my chest so I decided to see it through to the end. Despite being hindered by flat shoes and pedals (spds arriving soon), Ricky has made big improvements to his fitness and shot past myself and Derek to  join up with Sargent Grogans and the other faster riders.

This proved to be only temporary and by the halfway point Derek and I had reeled him back him. With Ricky to spur him on, Derek increased the pace slightly and I ended up being last man to Broad Oak.

Not wanting to hold the group up any longer I asked Ivan to lead on. The weather was so perfect, a cool windless dry night unlike the bad weather which would be on its way at the weekend.

On the Stonestile approach I noticed a sign about road closure due to road repairs but didn't spot what date this is due to start. This is surprising as I thought the road was in pretty good condition, although its good to know the council are taking such  care over our our 'Friday Night' route.

Steve C