The Weekly Ride

The third weekly ride took place on a sunny and fresh Saturday, starting at the BikeShed and ending at the Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub next to the Roman Walls in the heart of St Albans. Invites had been circulated on London Cafe & Customs group (LCC)   on Facebook. I had arranged to meet with a friend and fellow LCC member, Miguel, at the BIkeshed and join other weekly ‘ rideouters ’ on whatever route had been planned this week.   Bikeshed is never empty, with groups sitting outside under the arches , chatting, eating, drinking, and smoking. Having caught up with Miguel we then commenced the infamous ‘ search for fellow weekly riders ’ hoping to see obvious tell-tale signs of potential riders (non-alcoholic drinks, discussions of routes, the obvious itch to ride).   Anxious to set off and realising that Miguel and I may be the two members for today, we planned to sit and have a quick drink then head out. Sitting there we got chatting to Isaac who was up for a ride

So the second weekly ride, again we were blessed with great weather, sunny, a tiny bit chilly, but ideal for a ride out. We meet at the Bike Shed at 2:30, after a fair amount of interest from the event posted on London Cafe & Custom group on Facebook there were 11 of us that turned up. There was no one - apart from me - that was there for the first week. I could of taken that in one of two ways - people didn't like the first one - or the fact that it was Easter weekend and that people were busy. For my own mental state I took the second option. As last week, I found myself a bit nervous. I arrived early and bought my (beginning to be) customary lemonade and sat outside and waited. It's strange not knowing anyone, looking around trying to make eye contact and pluck up enough courage to ask people if they were there for the ride out. The Bike Shed was busy, so it was hard to work out who was enjoying a leisurely coffee or who was waiting to go out on the ride. I saw a gu

So the first ever weekly ride. I must admit I was quite nervous as if anyone would turn up. I got told about a group on Facebook called London Cafe & Custom. I asked if I could join and they very kindly let me in, I spoke to a guy who was in charge and explained that I would like to create a weekly event where I could get like minded riders to meet up and go out for a ride. He was keen to help and put the invite out to his 400 or so members. It soon gathered interest and quite a few people confirmed they could come. The plan was to meet at the Bike Shed  in Shoreditch. I decided, as I had arranged this first one I would have to find a suitable route, difficult to do in the London area (too many speed humps). So after a bit of street view on Google, I settled on the idea of heading out to Epping forest, I tried to create a bit of a loop. So Saturday came, it was a blisteringly hot day in London, very unusual for April. I arrived at the bike shed at about 2:00, got myself a lemo

So here we are, my first post! I used to ride bikes mainly for commuting back in my early 20's, nothing particularly flash or cool. But as I started to approach my 40th the idea of getting a bike again began an itch that needed scratching, the wife didn't seem to mind, the kids thought it might be cool. So I started to think I actually might get away with this. I started to look around at what bikes may interest me, that is when I stumbled across the whole custom motorcycle scene, especially the Cafe Racer scene. Looking around all the different projects and really cool bikes, I realised I needed one, I fell in love with what people were doing with BMW R series in particular. I looked into the prices and were amazed at how expensive the really good ones are. I looked at bikes on Kevils Speed Shop and other BMW professional converters, the attention to detail, the design, the look was just amazing, I soon understood why they were so expensive. After reading more and more I st