Eco-bike? Is this carbon-neutral?

Homing Instinct

I do not have a satnav. I don’t generally carry a map book in South East England. Or chunks of the South West, for that matter. I can place Wisborough Green on a map, but not the Cricketers Arms. However, I get bored with the endless debate about leaving and leading and are we going to another pub, so I tend to leave. Follow me who will.

Really, folks, it’s not that heard. The A272 runs across SE England to Brighton and Lewes, and we know (or we should) that Wisborough Green and the South Downs are west of that.

So you head east, right? And in the UK, the sun is south of you. So if the sun is on your right, you’re facing east. No?

And sooner or later you meet a road sign with something recognisable and familiar on it: London, Dorking, A29, A24, Horsham, Beare Green, M25, Gatwick… London is signposted from absolutely everywhere, after all. And then it’s easy; you’re home and dry.

At least until the rain starts up again. 

Just Not Cricket

In the UK, there are various signs of the changing seasons which are a more reliable indicator of the year’s progress than the weather. You know summer’s here when pubs advertise beer gardens and barbeques, and people in white attempt to play cricket – with varying degrees of success – on village greens and commons up and down the country – all despite dismal skies, glowering clouds and days of constant rain. For me, the definitive sign is that the Chapter Runs begin. In early June, I had a working bike and relatively free weekend, so I went along.

The weather forecast was right for once, and the day dawned dry and clear, which automatically meant the number of participating bikes tripled. This is why we don’t pre-warn the final pub about numbers for lunch until the pre-ride briefing.

We meandered – all 43 of us – out of London and down through Surrey and over the South Downs, wending our way past several greens and commons dotted with cricketers and weekend footballers (well, it is the World Cup).  They tend to look skyward, confused, when they hear a rolling thunder approach.

We ended up at The Cricketers Arms in Wisborough Green, where we took over the pub and completely wrecked the locals’ plans for a quiet lunch. 

HD scooter

90 Years Young

In June 1924, a shop opened in London, with an undisclosed amount of fanfare. It was a Harley-Davidson dealership, and has somehow managed to survive, becoming the oldest one in Europe. So, on 1^st June 2014, it threw a party, with just about as much fanfare as it could manage. Nobody parties like a bunch of bikers, after all.

I, of course, was there, because we all know how much I like a) bikes, b) street parties, c) live music and d) museums. This was a convergence of them all, from the Silent Grey Fellow bikes from 1914, to the WW2 models complete with re-enactors and replica rations and weaponry.

There was also a scooter. (Harley built a scooter! Hehehe! I wonder if the Rockers knew that when they were mixing it up with the Mods?)