“What do you mean I need a ticket?!”
Panic in the group chat. Uh oh, that’s our ride gone.
“Jack joined the waiting list this morning and got one within the hour, just try it”
Anyone would have thought we were off to see Oasis.
“Why would you need tickets for a bike ride? I’ll just ride along side you” – technically, not wrong.
“There’s like token things. For drinks at the stop halfway round…”
Well, now, we were well and truly fuc-
“Hang on, I’ve just had an email…”
We were in fact, going on a bike ride in Cambridge. And fortunately, some dumb legend (me) booked two extra tickets though didn’t I.
“See you in the morning at 7, leaving for half past boys”
The state of us lot. Honestly – Worth every ounce of panic lol.
Looking back at the photos now, I’m a shite photographer (I never actually claimed to be one to be fair) but the only reason they’re terrible is because we had such a great day. I don’t know why but we were treating it like Christmas; I think I even went to bed early Friday, regardless of the fact we were riding on Sunday.
My Dad had given his B17 Carved a fresh coat of beeswax, Resident Riderz® Tom, Jack, Jamie and Jan all cushioned atop of a variety of Birmingham built cult classics: Swift, B17 Special, Team pro. We felt like a proper bunch of nerds off to ComicCon. We were.
I was excited to finally see the place that’d I’d sunk the remainder of my last pay checks before going full time on Hands® – Bicycle Ambulance (A.K.A Freshtripe). I’d bought enough niche Japanese bicycle parts from them in the last 8 months that I felt I knew these guys on a genuine, personal level.
Anyway, as per: Play it cool.
The title to this article is 100% fictional, but when we turned up – you could almost hear each other’s inner voices.
Other than Crusty Cruise last month, this was the second outing we’d had as the Hands® Engagement & Leisure Liaison (also known as H.E.L.L®) and this time, it was with the Big Bois™ (Not that Craig isn’t a Big Boi™ but he hasn’t had people sitting on him since 1866).
The ride was great, and beautiful. We stopped for scones and strawberries, rode some more. Stopped for a beer in a town with no off-license. Rode some more, tried to get ice-cream opposite Kings College. Rode some more and ended up back at Bicycle Ambulance where Stef (Boss man) made everyone an Aperol Spritz. Me, my Dad and Jan, chewed the ears off of Sam from BA and Simon who was shooting photos and surprisingly, we didn’t piss ’em off. I even left with a new pair of Albatrosses for the Diamondback. Wonderful bunch of dudes, and hopefully will be riding with them again, home and away, soon.
Leave a comment