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Nice blog, +Shannonball. I have just about warmed up.

As for the gloves, if only there was a category for riders wearing tweed...

The thought of you riding that 25 in your Crocs is the stuff of nightmares.

Great day out.

Next time on the tandem.

Nice report, +Sir_Shannonball

So what did we learn? Well, for one thing I should probably outsource signing duties to Rachael Elliott, and riding duties to Remco Evenepoel, and just focus on the cake.

Good day out. The bike was clearly determined to not allow even a momentary breach of Rule #90. Those who live by the big ring,...

If you want to try one of these rides:

• Berkhamsted Spring Classic is this Sunday. HQ is at Musette, Aldbury. Entries close on Wednesday. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/275552/Berkhamsted-Spring-Classic

• Finsbury Park Reliability Ride is the following Sunday. HQ at Potters Bar. See: https://forum.islington.cc/events/8079/#comment16865821

A search on the forum unearthed the "Photos of ourselves in action" thread (in Club Matters) from mid-2014.
It includes a number of photos from the first year, including those below.

Love the photos of the first club run. I was riding the same bike that I will be riding this coming Sunday, which is not bad for longevity (the bike, not me).

Ha! I am very glad that you do not bear grudges. You were spared a sartorial horror show.

+ShauNuff - Your role in the development of the club (and of its kit) is impossible to overstate.

Regarding kit, do I recall correctly that you were also involved in/responsible for the infamous Ugly Kit Ride, when members were challenged to come along one Sunday wearing their most ghastly items of club clothing? I am glad that any photos of that episode seem to be absent from +Sir_Shannonball's album.

More generally, good blog, +Sir_Shannonball

"Richard May, who, it turned out, lived in Islington and was a lawyer, which sounded useful."

Really? To expect any lawyer to be useful surely represents a major triumph of hope over experience.

Anyway, subject to that lawyerly quibble, a nice blog +Sir_Shannonball.

Find at least one café that’s open

One advantage of indoor rides at Christmas is that one always has a plate of mince pies close to hand.

Thanks +Sir_Shannonball. Great photos.

One for 2023.

Nice blog. And it is, of course, comforting to know that there is at least one form of bike racing where age is performance enhancing.

Nice blog.

Like Mr Johnson's recent resignation, being caught by that infernal machine was less a question of "if" and more one of "when".

Great fun (and superb post-ride millionaire's shortbread at HQ).

Very nice.

We were very much roadie pilgrims in an unholy mountain biking land but it still huge fun anyway, or perhaps because, of that.

The coffee cup incident should however be passed over in silence.

Incidentally, if 42s were a "lemon" for this imagine what it was like for me. I was on 35s...

Nice blog, +Sir_Shannonball. Leaving aside the shotcomings of the event, cruising round on a tandem was certainly a fun, if eccentric, way to do it.

On gearing, you are probably right (which, it should be noted, is not something I say that often regarding gearing, or more generally). The Calfee's 58t chainring would have been useful.

That said, R100 does not really strike me as a day for watt watching and stem chewing. If we had done the National 100 instead, which as you know was on the same day, it would have been a different story...

Indeed. Comedy of errors +Sir_Shannonball.

Lots of lessons.

Arrive early and don't get distracted.

Assume that any technology won't work, but at the same time don't rely on marshals and signs.

And finally, recognise just how brutally hard tandems are on any compenents.

That said, we were shifting! Illegally on a motorway perhaps, but we were shifting. Reasons to be cheerful.

+MikeMC - Thanks.

+StephendS - The tandems were last off so we probably got a sense for how busy the traffic tends to get during events of this sort. Other than a couple of cars passing us on the slip road as we waited to start and a slight hold due to one car at the first roundabout it seemed pretty quiet to me. Perhaps as important the main road is relatively wide, straight and the sight lines are good. Having ridden the course a couple of times now my main memories regarding traffic are more "It was a shame we were held up at roundabout xyz", rather than "OMG! That lorry was close!". That probably gives you a sense.

One unrelated observation on the course. For those minded to make a morning of it Musette Cafe is on the doorstep of the HQ. It would therefore be easy to do an event and then head of for après ride cake. (NB: Which, of course, is the correct TT warm down protocol anyway.)

Nice write up, +Sir_Shannonball.

The structured warm up certainly helped. That said, my first thought when we finished (after "Crikey! 70kmh downhill on a TT tandem certainly tests the nerves.") was how to go faster next time. (I plan to inflict my ideas in that regard on you in due course.) For the first time, sub-21 minutes seems achievable.

As for your "inner Muttley", well, I recall that your outer Muttley seemed pretty pleased with the result too.

A special morning. To misquote Casablanca, "We will always have Tring".

Noted. Focus on pedalling rather than pedantry, +Sir_Shannonball.

Anyway, on the tandem, the main excuse is right in front of you...

So, if we have eight excuses for a 25 mile race (above) how many are we going to need for the Prudential Ride 100?
Better get on it +Sir_Shannonball.

Ah yes. The stoker satellite shifters.

Who on earth thought they were a bright idea?

"Top tandem pair Ian Greenstreet and Rachael Elliott hold the course record at 00:48:42. Their record is not in jeopardy from us..."

Indeed. Not even if we were to ingest a boat load of EPO between now and then.

Good photos, by the way.

As I recall you flagged my and +michool's ride on Strava.

Since then you have obviously learned to appreciate the merits of "mechanical doping"...