RIDE FOR THE
FALKLANDS
16th & 17th June 2012 - ride report by
Paul Harding; a 176 mile cycle ride round the M25 in memory of all
victims of the Falklands War.
Saturday; The Falklands Memorial, Potters Bar, Redhil; 92.43
miles
Apologies for the layout of this page. The pdf version here
looks far better!
The weather forecast for the third weekend of June sounded
threatening to a cyclist, especially the Saturday; strong winds
from the south west, with showers but brightening on the Sunday. So
it proved - though as our route was circular, we all secretly hoped
the good would outweigh the bad. We each had a banana (courtesy of
Martin, our logistics cha
p) then laid a wreath at 8:45 and set
off, gingerly threading our way through the one way systems of the
City of London; taking a detour from our planned route due to the
right turn onto the A10 being prohibited. Once on Bishopsgate, it
was clear we had a strong tail wind - I recall being overtaken by a
crisp packet more than once! So good was our progress that, despite
Richard's rear derailleur cable starting to fray (which locked up
his gear changing) we were able to reach our first refreshment
stop, TRBL Potters Bar, half an hour before we had planned to.
Margaret, the Branch Chairman and another lady had prepared ham
baguettes for us - with salad, tomatoes and pickle on the side and
we tucked in, while they put the kettle on. For myself, I hadn't
realised just how hungry I was. They really hit the spot! Richard
took the opportunity to take a lift with Martin and find a cycle
repair shop to have his cable replaced, so we set off on schedule
at 11:30 for Rickmansworth. This leg of the ride had some of the
prettiest country lanes with some of the deepest pot holes; though
thinking back now, these were very common.
We crossed the M25 four times before
reaching TRBL Rickmansworth, 24 miles later and a little behind
schedule at 12:40. Here, we were treated to a range of baguettes
and some bananas provided by my wife, Suzanne (at the Branch's
expense) who is also our PAO. Martin and Richard turned up a few
moments later, bike repaired and oiled. As the bar was open, some
of us took advantage of the 
facilities to take some of the Mark 1 muscle relaxant… which was
just as well, for the next leg was mostly into that promised head
wind. We took comfort in the gradient plot at the rear of our ride
guide, which showed this section to be relatively flat. Except it
wasn't flat; we had misjudged where we were on the gradient plot
and still had a few tough climbs ahead of us.Message to self; mark
gradient plots with rest stops!However, from Gerrards Cross to
Staines itwasflat - there are the Wraysbury, Queen Mother and King
George V reservoirs all round there; but it was fairly exposed -
that head wind was relentless, which forced me at least to focus on
good pace line discipline. Even so, by the time we reached
Sainsbury's in Staines I for one was 'running on empty'; we were
also half an hour late. It was here that Tania was to meet us, as
she had to take a yoga class in the morning in west London. By 4:00
pm, we were getting concerned for her, but she arrived a few
minutes later, relieved to off-load her rucksack (it must have
weighed as much as she did), take some welcome refreshments and
ride without that ballast... 
Setting off to Leatherhead 45 minutes late, we passed through
the old Brooklands race track on the A318 and glad were we that the
route began turning us away from the wind, when it started to rain.
Not heavily - and not for long, which was good. At TRBL Leatherhead
we were met by a host of Legionnaires who gave us sandwiches, tea,
coffee and cakes. They were keen to show us their support, and held
a whip-round of £51.21. We now had a collection!
On the last stretch of the day, we had expected to ride up the
notorious 'Box Hill', now well known for its part in the coming
Olympics Cycle Road Race. However, because only Richard and I had
Garmins and I was shadowing him (he was struggling a bit, as was I)
the rest were keen to get this hill 'under the belt', we became
separated and out of radio range. When Richard and I reached
Reigate, we stopped to call the others and find out where they
were; the time was 7:20 - and I saw I had a message from Rob; he
and the rest of the group had waited 10 minutes for us at the top
of Box Hill but would press on now to Reigate and wait for us
there. It was timed at 7:17 pm - we had "overtaken" them! Though we
thought we must have gone up Box Hill - we even passed a cottage on
one hill with a sign outside which said 'BOX COTTAGE' - it turned
out that our route did not include Box Hill after all. I responded
to Rob's message and we pressed on to Redhill - The Brompton Guest
House, Crossland Road; Richard and I arrived at about 7:45 - only
half an hour late - and the rest arrived half an hour later. Our
evening meal was booked in the Toby Grill, which had a carvery with
plenty of choice - and a better vegetarian restaurant than many
others in Redhill (Tania had called them to check).
Sunday; Redhill, Enfield, London; 78 miles
We had agreed an earlier start than was usual for our host, but
even so, we were 40 minutes later than we had planned when we set
off in the bright June sunshine. Within a few minutes, we came
across road signs warning of 'cyclists ahead'. We were to cross the
route of the BHF 'London to Brighton' bike ride - and the time was
only 9:00! There was fortunately well organised traffic control in
place and so, after a brief stop to watch the droves of cyclists,
we set off once more. The Surrey roads were much smoother than we
had come across thus far and, despite a wrong turn or two, we came
to our first rest stop of the day in Shoreham; 'The Crown', which
was just opening as we arrived. As we were still stuffed from our
feast the previous night, we couldn't manage any food - other than
a random banana - so stuck to the liquid refreshment. Running
a half hour behind time, we set off with hope that the Dartford
crossing would not turn out badly.
But unfortunately, it did. I had contacted the Highways
Authority some months in advance but had failed to remind them of
our event. As we arrived, the HA car with one cyclist strapped in
(and his bike strapped on) was ready to go; it had a three-bike tow
hitch and space for 3 cyclists. I suggested Rob and Tania take the
available seats and we loaded their bikes on the back. On his
return, Richard, Darren and Paul (the other one) climbed aboard and
the driver repeated his circuit. He returned once more to collect
me and I took the opportunity to discuss what facilities they had,
had we been a larger group. He advised they have two Navara's,
having a three bike tow hitch and space on the flat bed for another
three and seating for six passengers. They also have another
(larger) vehicle, but it was currently out of action. We all met up
again at the north control centre and took the cycle path to the
Lakeside service area where Martin was waiting for (and waving at)
us.
Unfortunately, this had set us back a full hour and a half, so I
asked if we could bypass our next stop at Sainsbury's Brentwood,
which was unanimously agreed upon. Richard decided to take a
spell in the car to the next stop, suffering as he was after a hard
day on a hard saddle; he really helped Martin with the navigation.
We spent a little longer downing another banana and set off with
grim determination; after all, Paul had a train to catch to get
home to Preston at 6:30! Once again, we were blessed with a tail
wind and, what with "putting the hammer down", we had regained all
but 10 minutes of our lost time when we slipped past Brentwood
Sainsbury's. And that's with taking a few wrong turns, as well. As
we came out of Waltham Cross, I saw my route (on my Garmin satnav)
claim we had 'reached our destination' which was clearly a lie. I
realised that, just like the previous evening, my device could only
take so much data per route. Luckily, I knew that we needed only to
continue on the A121 and we would reach the same roundabout where
were the day before. As we did so, I led the cyclists onto a
pedestrian area, stopped and took hold of my water bottle. I
said "We've just cycled round the M25! Let's celebrate!" and we all
drank a toast.
We set off on the penultimate leg of our journey, turning left into
Nag's Head Lane (it was fortunate that we had stopped at the
traffic lights the previous day, and Richard pointed out it was the
road that TRBL Enfield was to be found, otherwise we may still be
looking for it! So we arrived spot on our estimated arrival time
(to the minute) 3:00 pm.
There to welcome us were Martin, Richard, Branch & Women's
Section Standard 
bearers, the whole committee and many of the
members, all cheering us in. We laid our bikes against a row of
tables near the entrance and paid our respects to our hosts, and
their refreshments. They also would not take payment at the bar,
which was very welcome. They told us they were but a small branch,
about 120 members, and that they were all volunteers there - even
the bar staff. We decided to put on our 'Falklands 30' tee shirts
for the 
last leg and, as
we had two spare, handed them to their Standard Bearers, and Judith
presented me with a cheque for £50 from their Club! Soon after, a
chap I was talking to dropped a fiver into our pot as well.
Outside, in the bright sunshine again, I presented Judith with our
certificate of thanks and we set off while the traffic was stopped
for us, with the Standard Bearers parading proudly! What a
spectacle we must have made, with a red London bus just there
waiting for us to go on as well.
With Richard taking the navigation on, we were easily able to
maintain our pace and direction. My concern only rose towards the
end - I had been asked not to finish the ride at the Argentine
Embassy, as to do so could be construed as a political statement -
and the Legion is not a political organisation. As it was, it
mattered not what plans we had as the one-way system around Brook
Street meant that we actually ended the ride on Davies Street, at
the junction with Brook Street.
In our adrenalin rush, we
hadn't noticed that our chief pace setter, Rob, was no longer with
us. Fearing the worst, I called his number - and he picked up. He
had a puncture, and was walking towards Davies Street and wasn't
sure which way to turn. I advised he was a few yards of us and that
if he turned north into Davies Street, then left at the lights, we
were 20 yards away. He replied that all he could see were road
works (Davies Street is full of them at the moment); within a few
moments he was at the junction. With some help from Paul's tyre
removal tool - (this was tremendous! We all want one of those!) We
had Rob back in action and made another call to Martin before
setting off walking to gather our belongings and head for home.
Martin gave me a lift home and we agreed we should call him
'Logistics Support Director'.
The cyclists were Tania Shillam, Richard Barsley, Paul Harding,
Paul Robinson, Darren Nichols & Rob Dennis; logistics by Martin
Pearce. Thanks to TRBL Potters Bar, TRBL Rickmansworth, Sainsbury's
Staines, TRBL Leatherhead, The Brompton Guest House and Toby Grill
in Redhill, The Crown at Shoreham, the Dartford Crossing Control
team & TRBL East Enfield. With the help of TRBL Leatherhead
& TRBL East Enfield, I have raised £372 for The Poppy
Appeal.
As all funds raised will be for the Poppy Appeal, I have set up
an 'esponsor' page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Ride_for_The_Falklands.
Please support our efforts and donate to this worthy cause!
Kind regards,
Paul Harding
Ride organiser
Rickmansworth TRBL Branch Secretary
