This ride was to be an 80 miler from Emsworth to Dummer an back. Why Dummer? Apart from the implication in its name as to our mental capacity and the potential reason why we decided to undertake the ride, that is. Well, Matt informed me that Dummer:
- Is the birthplace of his great-grandfather
- Is almost exatly 40 miles from Emsworth
- Has a pub.
Therefore, Dummer was the destination.
Choice of clothing was hard for this ride (the usual "Does my bum look big in this?" questions aside). The forecast was for rain, but it was very mild. Matt and Joe had managed to stuff their waterproof jackets into their shirt pockets, but mine's too big. Hence their turning up at my place (having agreed to meet at Matt's) to still find me fiddling around tying my jacket to the crossbar.
As Joe says, we were helped along by a strong SW wind - leading to thoughts of "maybe I should be windsurfing". The ride there went remarkably quickly - arriving after around 2 1/2 hours at an average of just over 15mph.
It was on arriving at the pub that we noticed that Joe seemed to be decidedly muckier than Matt and me. It wasn't only the fact that he was wearing white - in retrospect, not a good colour for a ride in the rain. Seeing as he'd spent about the same amount of time as the others behind (thus being splattered by the leaders) as in front, this was slightly inexplicable (if that's correct English). Post-lunchtime pondering (and believe me, there's plenty of time for pondering on these rides) led me to consider the Pigpen effect. Remember Pigpen in Charlie Brown? Is Joe our very own Pigpen. Now if he's Pigpen, what does that make me?
We performed a controlled trial on the drinking front. Matt had a pint of bitter, I had a bitter shandy and Joe had orange juice. Now, do we swap roles each day and perform a full double blind test? Watch this space. Setting off after lunch, we were definitely less enthusiastic. Probably something to do with trying to digest an extremely tasty steak ciabatta. Helen (she of the degree in nutrition and knows what I should be eating) has commented that this was a 'stupid thing to have for lunch'. Well, it tasted fantastic, and didn't take too long for me to get back up to speed, honest!
I think we probably need some lists for each day's run. So here goes with some initial thoughts:
People We Met (In the strangest of places?)
Andy Hales and Paul Flint - initially pretended they were off for a proper bike ride, then admitted they were just picking the cars up from where they'd abandoned them at the pub the previous night.
Strangest Road Signs
Salad Depot - luckily there were two in succession. I was just commenting to Matt "Did that sign say Salad Depot?" when another appeared. Matt commented, wisely, that we were passing through the watercress centre of Hampshire.
Gay Dog Kennels - yes, really. Sparked off a conversation of "how can you tell?".
Confusing Conversation Of The Day
James (leading): "Turning right at this T junction, Matt?"
Matt: "Yes, turn left."
James: "That'll be the other right, then?"
Matt: "But of course."
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