The day that the Raines came down

We were 15 going on 16 on Tuesday evening; as good as it gets for any OGIL ride; but Mystic Meg literally put a damper on things over night – “Its going to be Wet, Wet, Wet” and our fair weather friends found other more interesting things to do. Colin hasn’t quite worked out what a winter bike is for, and after last weeks comment about “light weights” made early use of his Wimp card. It was raining, there was no need to wonder where Ian was, whilst Kath, for some reason, chose today to get the water tank out of the loft. I just keep a suitcase or two up there. The result was that it was just three hardier souls that set out from Union Corner, Phil1, Jan and myself. There were 9 others waiting at the other place, who exactly I don’t know, as a combination of social distancing and rain splattered glasses blurred the view, but it was easy to divide us into two groups of six, Damien, Phil3 and a visiting rider, amusingly by the name of Raine, joining the UC group. Jan had suggested the Stithians Lake cafe as a suitable wet day ride. I was keen to emphasise this just incase the cafe was shut when we got there. My contribution was to suggest that we go via Gweek and Penboa, which we did. I shouted “turn right” when we got to Gays Hill, only because I never had, but then it was a left, passed a sign that said “No Through Road” and another that said “Ann’s Pasties”, coming out next to Table Table, the pub/restaurant on the Helston bypass. Muddy Lanes took us through to Wendron School where we considered the main road down to Poldark or Jim’s hidden lanes to Porkellis. However it was only 10.17, so accepted Jan’s, again, suggestion of a little detour via farms Common and Black Rock. We were making good progress so Phil3 decided we had time for a stop so that he could take off his back wheel and show us the inside of his rear tyre. I was more interested in the fact that someone had left a pound coin on a granite out nearby which was looking for a safe haven in my pocket. Twenty two minutes later we decided that there was an exemption to OGIL rule 4, no backtracking, that could be brought into affect on such an occasion and we returned to the main road and on down to Poldark Mine.
Strangely, Good Vibes Cafe has reduced indoor seating to just three tables, for two each, but at the sight of six cyclists dripping in the doorway one of the couples there made their excuses and left, and we managed to arrange ourselves around the two remaining tables. The cafe has seen a change in management since I last visited and the food scored well. After her Vegan breakfast, and no let up in the rain, Jan called it a day and headed straight home whilst we took the second quickest route, through Stithians, Deaf cat Alley and Halvasso. Raine had stayed with us throughout the ride but there was just sufficient lull to allow me to wash the bike down when I got home. A damp 34 miles for me. Dean