Come Out to Play (Now the Light Nights Are Here) 21/4/2011

22 Dreams may not be Paul Weller's greatest album; indeed some of the fillers sound like they were lifted from Pearl & Dean cinema ads, but, hidden amongst the also-rans is the excellent Light Nights (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGqDn00As0c).


The light, and un-seasonally sunny, nights certainly proved a great draw for our first official ride of 2011, and eight goodmen and true (Brian, Blunty, Mark the Fireman, Mick, Loren, Clive and Chedge) set out from the Old Sunon a warm Thursday. It's become something of a tradition that the first ride of the year heads out out to Haynes, via Clophill and Great Lane. All too often it's been a truncated affair with the elements convincing us to spend as much time in the pub as on the bike. This year was different and we added an extra loop through Silver End, along the A600 towards Shefford, picking up the surfaced bridelway behind Chicksands before rejoining our original route at Apsley Corner.


Spirits were buoyed by the glorious weather and the golden rape fields of the Bedfordshire countryside mirrored the the bright sunshine. Shorts revealed many pairs of knees that wouldn't normally be seen until well into May, but perhaps the most unusual thing was that Mick had cleaned and lubed his bike, had batteries in his lights AND a spare tube!

As we headed towards the Stone Jug, Mark the Fireman just happened to drop out the he would be celebrating his 50th birthday while on rugby tour over the weekend. I'd always thought that Mark was several years, rather than a few months, younger than me and kidded myself that that was the main reason for our relative fitness levels. This is clearly not the case. Nor can I blame the fitness gap on having had a harder paper round than him since he has spent much of his life chasing around putting out fires while I've been pushing a pen (or keyboard) for most of mine. Perhaps the clue lies at least in part in the fact that Mark left us outside the Stone Jug to pack for rugby tour while the rest of us went in to sample the local ales! Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mark- we drank a toast in your absence.

The welcome at the Stone Jug was as warm as the weather, and the beer up to its' usual high standard. It was very hard to drag ourselves away for the slog up Badger Hill and chase back to the Old Sun. Continuing the theme of warmth, most of the remaining crew partook of Paddy's extra hot curry, making the most of Friday being a bank holiday and staying for an extra pint or two.
A very enjoyable if not record-breaking 22 miles.