The Day We Went To Brighton – The Sequel
Following my little piece in the last magazine, about our participation in the London to Brighton Cycle Ride some years ago, I contacted a member of the West Kent DA, via the CTC Forum. I wondered if, against a lot of odds, anyone still active there would have been our ‘Kentish Man’. My approach led to a friendly exchange of correspondence with Gary Outram, a West Kent member, and he had the article published in the West Kent DA magazine Winged Words.We didn’t find ‘Kentish Man’, but their magazine was interesting on other matters that we would identify with.
Generally, West Kent appears to be quite an active group, with plenty of variety. Winged Words contains reports from several sections – Hardriders, Intermediate and Moderate sections, a Saturday section, a Sittingbourne Section and a ‘Medway Diary’, although whether that represents another section, I don’t know.An amusing side to a ride in July is recorded : “We were looking for a suitable spot to have our picnic lunch when, arriving at the village hall, we found that the adjacent field was hosting a “Pugs Garden Party”. Judging by the number of cars, several featuring “PUG” in their registration, this annual event attracts dogs (and owners) from all over”. The PUGS’ human attendants seem to have been very friendly, making cyclists welcome and proffering tea, sandwiches and buns, but the report continues : “Sitting on the ground at ‘PUG’ height was not a good idea, as the mini monsters roamed amongst us hoping for food!”
West Kent’s clubroom attendance seems to be in the region of 12-13, whilst we are currently (November 2009) running at about 30, but a familiar comment at the start of their Hardriders’ report says : “We have gained a new regular rider.Wow, that is something I haven’t been able to say for a while.”
One exciting feature of their diary is an occasional “Simon Legg’s Friday Night’s run to the coast”.The run reported left Hyde Park after 11.00 pm riding to Rochester on the Kent coast, to a local café which opened specially at 4.00 am to serve hot bacon sandwiches. The report records “There were over
60 cyclists with lights on looking forward to the ride ... unlike a CTC Club Run the average age was well under 60 ... with at least 8 to 10 virgins”.
Presumably a ‘virgin’ is a novice cyclist, not someone who’s travelled to the start on one of Richard Branson’s trains. There is food for thought with this ride, in that it attracted new riders, whilst, in common with us in Calderdale, normal club runs don’t seem to be attracting youngsters.
Finally – relevant to just a couple of us (so far) there is an article about life after a joint replacement operation – in this case a hip. It has changed the writer’s life - very much for the better she tells us.
I still have the copy ofWinged Words; if anyone wants to borrow it, just ask me next time you see me out on one of our rides.
As I write this in early March, one of our more memorable winters is hopefully on its way out. It’s been eventful – two of our friends from Huddersfield have experienced seriously hospitalising accidents – John Radford with a broken femur and Adrian Midgley with a broken ankle – and Chris Crossland and Simon Whitehead abandoned an Audax after 10 miles because of dangerous roads. Mileages were curtailed – I did less than half the mileage in January and February that I did in 2009, and at least one of our number didn’t turn a wheel at all in February.
We’ve had a few memorable winters. I have just read a book about the Rainhill Trials, a competition organised in 1829 to find the best locomotive for the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. After Stephenson’s “Rocket” won the competition and before the opening of the Railway in 1830, the winter was bitterly cold. The book describes how pitchers of water froze and cracked in houses in Cambridgeshire, and how the saliva of draught horses froze into six-inch icicles. “The frost and snow continued into March and much of the Thames became completely frozen. There was some respite later in March, but the sleet and snow returned for much of April, and unsettled May was followed by four months of rain.”
The author also tells us that the appalling weather was as “dismally depressing” as the political situation. No change there then.