Sunday 16 December 2012

LBC Ride: London by Night 2012

One man had a dream, some would say madness had taken over his mind, saying his should be committed. But when others share in that dream what is it then?

Dear readers, this is the account of one man's dream given form, turned into reality & shared with others. My cycling partner in crime (Mr. Orange Brompton) had a dream and shared it with others of the FOLD!

LBC: London by Night 2012. (14th-15th December 2012)
Riding Bromptons though out the night in London, United Kingdom, seeing how people in London. When the idea for this ride was first suggested by my cycling partner in crime Mr. O it hit a personal cord with me. Working in London as a Bus Driver I have always seen how London changes when the darkness comes, the transition from the evening rush hour workers doing their best and sometimes worst to get home as soon as possible to get home and relax with their families or to go out cause its the weekend and they needed to blow off some steam.

Seeing this ride is taking place in winter I went out and got myself some cycling type thermals to wear,  I didn't get exactly what I wanted but had cheaper alternatives. Which in time I will find out if they any good for the task before me. I will put them though their paces and will be doing a few reviews of in later posts.

On the way to the meeting point there was an accident and I'm afraid to report a casualty. I dropped my water bottle while on the train and it fell directly on the nozzle. :'(

PAD: 14th December 2012
R.I.P my friend

I wanted to try and get a little nap before the ride but too excited I got maybe an hour tops. I was going to be meeting my cycling buddy Mr.O at Piccadilly Circus in Central London about 23:00hrs but in my excitement I kinda got there a little early, ok 90mins early >:D

The Legend waits
Finally met up with Mr.O & co founder of LBC Mick Blackman, we said our hellos and cycled off to The Lord Clyde, 27 Clennam Street, London, SE1 1E. This was the main meeting point for tonight's ride and after we had some great coffee and a briefing of how the ride was going to be we all started to make our way down to near the Thames just after 01:00hrs.


LBC: London By Night 2012
The Lord Clyde

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Lining up for group shot

LBC: London By Night 2012
Crossing the Millennium Bridge

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LBC: London By Night 2012

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Crossing Tower Bridge

LBC Ride: London by Night 2012
Waiting at traffic lights

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LBC: London By Night 2012
Our master map reader and route finder

LBC: London By Night 2012


PAD: 15th December 2012
New member wanting a photo with "The Legend!" first, me second >:D

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Sunrise over the Thames

LBC: London By Night 2012
On our way home

LBC: London By Night 2012
Another Brompton owner on the tube home

On our train home I saw another Brompton owner (Red M3) and got chatting to it's rider. He asked me about adding mudguards to his Brompton. I hope he doesn't mind me getting a sneaky photo but I did tell him its pretty easy to get a mudguard set and gave him my card with the club & my blog address on.

LBC: London By Night 2012
My Promised FULL English Breakfast
Seeing we finished in Central London its pretty hard to find a "Greasy Spoon" type cafe where you can get a proper full on English Breakfast, so before I got home I made sure I stopped off in my local cafe and refuelled properly ;)

I would like thank EVERYONE for coming on yet another AWESOME kicking LBC Ride, honourable mentions to The Lord Clyde, 27 Clennam Street, London, SE1 1E for being our staging area and giving us a great warm send off with coffee. Also like to thank the LBC members for stopping when people starting to asking about Bromptons on our ride & what we was all doing. I know i gave about a good few business cards with details of the club and blog on for sure.

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on completing another great adventure on the Legend! Looks like another epic event in a fantastic city, on superb bicycles!

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  2. Great stuff! Loved the report!

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  3. Love the article and the pics and above all, love and MISS the ONE and ONLY (brum roll).... FULL English breakfast.

    Now seriously, Andrew, I am really happy for you, seeing how you enjoy your Bumble Bee and its rides. So keep on doing so, every single minute when you can. The happy moments should be enjoyed and cherished, the bad ones come uninvited.

    Safe riding my friend.

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    1. I will keep on going, 2013 is going to be a busy year for me and "The Legend" lots of big rides planned, watch this space....

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