Reply To: Sunday 23rd June 2013 Ride

[Sweaty Eds]

I woke to the shipping forecast..

‘…Lundy, West North Westerly 26mph gusting 38mph, Dogger..’

.. and seriously considered turning over and going back to sleep. However, the Beloved Chairman’s teacup throwing, hairdrier-style rebuke due to the poor turnout at the TT overrode any thoughts of this, and up I got. I dug out my winter wear and headed up to Bloomfield.

First to arrive was Diccon. He has obviously tired of waiting for all of us on club rides because he has handicapped himself by hand building a bike from old bits of plumbing salvaged from the tip, bailer twine, a cuckoo clock and duct tape. Dylan arrived, then Pete, Mike, the lad from Cardiff whose name I still don’t know, Gwen then Graham and Martin. Graham is obviously missing teaching because he took a quick register and made us all do our top buttons up. We had a chat about the absent Duvet Dynamos and Graham confirmed he had not received notes from anyone’s mum excusing them. The time reached ValleyRoad-o’clock and we were just about to leave when Ants roared up full of excuses. Headteacher Dumbledore was having none of it and our leaving was further delayed by Graham’s insistence that Ants write out a hundred lines of ‘Six pints of Magners on a Saturday is no excuse for tardiness in the morning.’

Without Maverick Matt to lead us astray we followed the prescribed route up through Molleston where the full force of the wind hit us. Headteacher Graham to the rescue again, he organised the bigger boys at the front of the group and us littler ones tucked in. I confess I was a little confused as to why Diddyman Mike though it necessary to steam ahead alongside Ants and Martin Mac, but he has just got new contact lenses so perhaps he is having difficulty with the relative size of things. Mind you, I couldn’t help but think that it isn’t quite the same without some Stag drafting or the Clover Train.

We headed towards Carew via Cresswell alternating between very very slow and very very fast depending on the relative direction of the wind. It was during a very very slow phase that I noticed how much water Martin Mac was carrying. Both bottle cages had bottles in and he had two, maybe three, more in his back pockets. I suppose he could have been using it for ballast in the hurricane force wind or maybe the latest medical research recommends drinking a litre of water for every three miles cycled, either way, it didn’t slow him down any and I was never close enough to ask him about it.

The group split in Carew, Headteacher Graham took the bigger boys, Ants, Dylan and Martin to Pembroke for detention and the rest of us headed for home. We picked up another Cardiff Ajax refugee, Rob, in Reynalton and were back in Narberth before noon.

Crap weather, lovely ride. Thanks everyone.