The night of the Sexy Beast.
We seem to have a further split within MEMWNS, this time it is inside the eastern chapter itself. Last night we had a Witham peloton and a Colchester peloton careering towards the Sun in Feering.
I met up with what, at first sight, seemed to be two old boys enjoying the evening sun on a village bench but turned out to be OD and the Lynx. The Lynx was obviously expecting a long ride as he had brought along his lunchbox. He was also sporting some very natty attire - a lightweight Rapha top (he always underdresses) and pink socks and matching base layer - irresistible to humans and animals alike.
We had an enjoyable meander through the lanes watching the distant speck ahead that was the Lynx showing off on his soot bike - that is until he blew up coming into Messing and "waited for us" 200 yards behind us
We were first to arrive at the pub and were soon tucking into an Early Bird by Shepherd Neame. In time, we were joined by the Hustler, Huggy, Hotblack, Captain Haddock, Tomsk and Oaky. The invalided Jiber arrived a little later being shepherded along by his carer - he received a suitably sympathetic welcome but resisted our offer to amputate his sore ankle.
As it was a Shepherd Neame pub, we also sampled Master Brew, Bishop's Finger, Whitstable Stout (Oaky) and a dry sherry (OD
). The Quaffers sub-committee had yet another contentious debate over their choice beer for the evening but I took the executive decision to award the Quaffers' Choice to the Shepherd Neame classic - Master Brew. It has a sensible ABV and a price tag to match and just tastes like best bitter, what's not to like ?
I am pleased to report that the fabled MEMWNS curry fund (now into its fourth year of saving) is continuing to prosper and at this rate we should be able to share a poppadum between us sometime next year.
Most of the conversation revolved around just how incredible the Lynx looked - I don't think our group facebook shot has ever received so much attention and we all knew why. If only he could find the time to join us more often, in no time our numbers would double and our average age would halve (or is that the other way round ?).
Everyone seemed very excited about The Huntingdon Trip, although OD was worried about the wine list at the local 'Spoons. He and Huggy have (been) volunteered to organise everything so we look forward to a mixture of mayhem and method.
For the first time this year it was a pleasant ride home in shorts and short sleeves. It will be sandals season before we know it