It's a while since I went on any sort of forum ride, indeed, it's a while since I rode more than a mile and a half at a stretch. So when CrinklyLion mentioned the words 'potter' and 'Naburn' in a post, I thought it might just be within my grasp, and that of MFWHTBAB, with whom I'm spending my week off.
We arranged to meet at the Millenium Bridge, and MFWHTBAB and I turned up at the same time as Phantasmagoriana, who wondered if she should have brought a Brompton to make up a set of three. We hung about, looked at planets in the sky, and were passed by a mob of ninjas on BMX's, whose combined weight made the bridge sway under us - mind you, a daschund at a slow trot does that. Only one of them tried to play chicken as they passed, and he was on a scooter. If he had misjudged and hit MFWHTBAB's leg, I would have been compelled to blind him with my Alpkit headtorch, and then throw him in the river. It's the only language they understand.
CrinklyUncle turned up shortly after us, and then CrinklyLion, and we were off on the first leg of our arduous trek - forsaking the Bastard Hill cycle path for the gentler climb (about 1 in 1,000,000) of Butcher Terrace and Bishopthorpe Road. Thence onto the Racecourse, where it was suddenly a lot darker. Due, I suppose, to the lack of street lights...
Once we'd negociated the racecourse, and the blind bend alongside the A64, and the BMX ramps under the bridge, we were speeding out of the solar system - incuding negociating a Black Hole Dog Walker who loomed between Earth and Mars. Shortly after Mars, we took a celestial detour, thanks to some sewer works which have completely dug up the bike path.
And what a detour! It was wonderfully signposted I had to admit, but it needed to be, since it exchanged 0.38 mile of more or less straight line for 0.93 mile of convoluted surburban residential streets. As CL said, it covered 9 sides of a square... In daylight, apparently, the barriers at the start of the closed section are visible from those at the end - the closed section, I've mapped as a quarter of a mile...
Anyway, back on the straight and narrow, over the Fisher of Dreams bridge, past Saturn and Cassini, and keep an eye out for the little ride turn into Naburn, where the Pubbe, and dinner, awaited.
Beer was purchased, and photographed in order to torture Our Man in India, and then food likewise. We'd earned it. We'd ridden a gruelling 7.12 miles....
Stuffed with dinner, lightly roasted by the real fire, and a little sleepy, we set out on the return. Whereupon Phantasmagoriana found she had a flat rear tyre. In a Spirit of Optimism I pumped it back up and when it didn't immediately deflate, we decided to give it a try. We opted for the slight less silly detour on the return, and came off onto Acaster Lane, shaving a whole 0.19 mile off the outward distance....
Rejoining the Solar System at Mars, we ambled back into York, and went our separate ways, the tyre showing signs of flaccidity, but so near home as to not matter, with much self congratulation on our epic travail.
13.96 miles. Altitude gained, about 18". Time Taken: All evening.
