9th February A Ride to the Ace Café

Steve's ride last week had good weather, so I asked him if he could arrange some more for this week. He didn't disappoint. It was mild and sunny in the morning, and the rain held off long enough for us to take tea outside at Richmond.

Here is the planned route - 

Dave V led the first group away and here is his report - 

It must be the weather, or the hint of spring in the air, but my select group of David & Jennie, Sue F, John B and Fixie Dave were bright and early. Which meant that I could achieve a career first by leaving on time.

Neil’s Harrow/Ace route has now been refined to perfection, and thankfully secured in Garmin memory, so the rider needs only to pay attention to the sundry beeps and squawks which indicate progress or deviation.

Of course there can always be operator error, but when the Garmin autopilot indicated that we were in danger of omitting the loop round Vale Farm, I calculated that my group might thank me for a deviation which replaced an uphill upwind stretch along East Lane with a downhill downwind approach along the same road. Well, nobody complained.

I think everyone appreciated the challenge of Music Hill - Football Lane, the only “imperfection” in the route which has not yet been ironed out. Due to different climbing speeds we arrived at the top in some disorder so missed the memorial on Grove Hill to the first fatal motor crash which happened here in 1899. My group requested a scenic diversion to the Lord Byron grave and viewpoint, perhaps before realising it required a further climb. But once there all appreciated the inspirational effect of Byron’s view which extended to distant Basingstoke.

 Lunch at the Ace was as expected, proper food, swiftly served and back on the road within an hour.

The afternoon route required concentration, and thankfully I only failed once, so we all met up under Richmond Bridge for tea. We were the last group back after starting first, but I’m sure we all enjoyed ourselves. There was even talk of a further recce to find a rideable route round the Music Hill gate. Oh No!

Thanks to David (am) and Jennie (pm) for patiently back marking. It was a great comfort that you both had the route loaded. And thanks Neil, excellent route, thoughtfully organised.

Next away was Dave W, hot on the heels of those ahead - 

Apart from a contretemps with a bollard (the theme for the day) in Twickenham, everything went to plan for Ged, Fiona, Patrick, Hans until we reached the Grand Union Canal at Southall and the first group, led by Dave Vine, hove into view in front of us.    We trailed behind them as far as Greenford where we left the towpath and managed to slip deftly in front, or so we thought!   We twisted and turned round Neil's fiendish 'Harrow' loop in the pleasant sunshine with that smug sense of being first on the road.    All smugness vanished coming towards Northwick Park and the notorious 'gap in the hedge' - Dave and group had once again appeared in front of us!   How did they do that?    We somehow managed to edge in front again on Football Lane, and after that I thought we'd better step on the gas on the next towpath section as Patrick needed to be back home by 3.00 pm.   

We arrived at The Ace Cafe just before 1.00 pm.   The indefatigable Patrick sped straight off while the rest of us sampled the various delights on offer at The Ace.   Suitably refreshed we set off again under what were by now rather threatening skies.    Neil's route cunningly dodged busy areas and twisted and turned between bollard after bollard, bringing us surprisingly quickly to St Margarets where we took our separate ways home.   Many thanks to my group for your company, and to Neil for masterminding the whole thing.

Then Steve D set off a while later - 

I left with Dave B, Nigel, Neil W, Richard and Steve W at 10.50. We followed Neil C's finely adjusted route and had a really interesting ride with a mixture of quiet urban and towpath cycling. The ride through Osterley Park was a nice touch and we took advantage of an early loo stop there. Despite being only six in our group we got detached often, because of traffic lights and traffic. We caught up with Dave Vine's group as we finished the North loop and went ahead of them to the Ace via the Grand Union canal. It was very sunny which set off the various colours of the pretty canal boats to good effect.

After lunch we were surprised to see so many electric scooters on the cycle path. It was grey and cloudy, by now, but we managed to complete the ride in dry conditions.

Thanks to Neil C for meticulous planning and two pre-ride recce's which made a nice ride into a great one for everyone. Thanks to Dave B and Neil W for corner marking and watching out for other riders. Yes I saw you both helping out. It was much appreciated.

Then finally at exactly eleven o'clock I set off with Gina,Clive, Brian and Simon. We were out for a good time, not a fast time so didn't see any of the others until we got to The Ace Café.

After a leisurely lunch we set off for Richmond where we sat outside with the other groups until the increasing gloom sent us scurrying for home.