Friends of The Bike Show Ride: Sunday 6 November

The first Friends ride was such a success that we’re doing another one. Regular Bike Show guest Patrick Field, father of the Dunwich Dynamo, five time Paris-Brest-Paris finisher and three-times-distilled, 100% proof London bicycle guru, has offered to lead a ride to St Albans and back.

Patrick describes the St Albans as “an under-rated tourist destination”. In pre-Roman times the Celtic Catuvellauni tribe had a settlement here. Under the Romans, it was the site of the second largest city in the British Isles after Londinium. It’s still got a bit of Roman wall, a Cathedral and a pub that stakes a claim to be the oldest in the land. And a cycling campaign whose members promise a warm welcome to their patch.

We’ll set off at 10am from outside Jones Dairy, 23 Ezra Street E2, just off Columbia Road flower market. We will head north through Stoke Newington and Barnet by a nice mix of high streets, lanes and suburban/rural B roads. Lunch at St Albans where a train bail-out option will be available and the ride will continue via railway paths to Hatfield (another train option) then straight back down the old Great North Road. Less than 100 kilometres in total.

* location TBC.

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• Bruno Pearson

  Working on Sunday in Ezra Street, I noticed a couple of very nice bikes bobbing past on the cobbles. One of the chaps stopped for a coffee and told me what was occurring. As always working on a Sunday I miss so many rides, and to see one start right in front of you is even more galling.
  As the weather goes it was a good day for cycling. I do hope you all had a great day, a nice turn out, with the group just the right size.

  A rather forlorn

  Bruno Pearson

• alan ball

  bravo
  very clubbable ride. The countryside-to-heart-of-London Great North Rd was a bit of a revelation as was sharing a footbridge with 2 horses

  thanks Jack and thanks to Patrick – I got separated on the Holloway Rd so was unable to thank him in person

  More next year please

  Alan

• Denis

  Thanks to Jack & Patrick for providing a highly covivial outing for my first group ride. At just over 50 miles it was also my longest ride and I’m pleased that I don’t ache too much and applaud Patrick for leading at a sensible pace.

  I look forward to another in the new year and have asked Santa for a copy of TimeOut’s ‘Cycle London’.

  I recorded my ride on my iPhone with Cyclemeter and here are the GPS Trails

  There…

  …and back again!

  Cheers

  Denis

• Percespb

  Keen to join you on the next ride. I enjoy the podcasts.