On our way to Bridlington we did the usual thing of riding as a group.
But often we’d play at being professional cyclists too. Such as setting a stronger tempo on a climb, or bridging little gaps formed by ‘escapees’ up ahead, or pulling back onto the peloton those who drop off (the dropped become the team leader and you’re their loyal ‘domestique’).
Always safe in the knowledge that we’d be regrouping at appropriate times. Great fun.
Soon we rolled into Bridlington and stumbled upon a good cafe on the seafront called “Brid Bay Café” (with fish and chips next door). One to remember for next time.
Eating by the shoreline gave a real sense of reaching a destination and it was the highlight of the ride. Although we didn’t take a photo, the others would agree that this view captures what we saw:
After 5 minutes of soaking that up, we returned to the bikes and the little matter of pedalling home.
Jon G was the only one of us to bring a bike lock for the café stop (good on you Jon!). It’s a £4 special from eBay with a retractable 1 metre long thin wire cord, so calling it a “lock” is doing it a favour. But credit to the little blighter, it wouldn’t let go of our two bikes despite putting the correct code combination in.
We could have just cycled home side by side as a pair, like convicted bicycle thieves shackled to each other by the bike frame instead of the ankles. And nobody would know we were escaped convicts because the rest of us would be cycling side-by-side in pairs too. But instead we dismantled the lock with a Phillips screwdriver.
They’re good bike locks, it’s just that sometimes they don’t know who the owner is.
Stuart pulled us for quite a bit of the way home, with others chipping in when they wanted to. Punctures are a pain before 80 miles and personally a blessing after that distance, since they give you a chance to rest the legs. At the 93rd mile we enjoyed a very nice one (the classic pinch flat) along with a chat, breather and nibble.
We had some good laughs in the company of old and new hands at this Intermediates riding lark. And as we drew into York after 5 pm, it felt like the last of the summer rides before we tuck into arm warmers and Autumn.
101 miles in a little under 6 hours.
