OGIL ride report 9th February 2022
As I sit here with the wind and rain lashing the windows of my humble study, and unexpectedly with some time on my hands, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on last week’s OGIL ride. It would also go some way to mitigating the criticisms I might justifiably incur about yet another late ride report.
Despite a number of apologies appearing on the WhatsApp OGIL group from a few of our usual participants (we were totally Steve-less), we still had a respectable number of riders congregating by the non-existent telephone box at Union Corner. Our numbers were swelled by the arrival of someone who looked vaguely familiar, sporting what looked like a downhill skiers helmet (yes, we had all been watching the Winter Olympics). Of course, this turned out to be John, back from his winter sojourn in the tropics or wherever he goes.
Glad to be reunited, we rode off towards TOP. On gaining the turn to West Country Foods we dutifully pulled over to allow the backlog of traffic to pass. I say we, but this did not include John who merrily sailed past us. Perhaps he has been away too long to remember how things work. Once the traffic was past, we resumed the ride and slowly caught up John, only to see him almost taken out at the Argal cross roads. I doubt John relished the prospect of examining his own X-rays. I believe the conversation between John and the driver included phrases such as “I didn’t see you”, amongst other things. Ian didn’t help by shouting out “Better luck next time” (presumably at the driver).
We pressed on to meet the others at TOP, noting that we numbered a round dozen. It was decided that we hadn’t visited Jenn’s Diner for a while, and so without further ado we set off on a meandering route through Troon, Penponds and Tehidy. When we got to Illogan we managed to take the right road at the double roundabout (not like last time!) and approached Sparnon Gate from the right direction to the obvious delight of Fred. A right turn and a brief downhill run brought us to Jenn’s Diner.
A peep through the door revealed that the diner was unusually full, including Simon who had ridden there under his own steam (coincidence?). Due to the press inside we opted to commandeer the outside smoker’s barn.
Our food and drink were delivered remarkably swiftly, with hardly any confusion over the orders. This included John’s enormous full breakfast, presumably required to steady his nerves after his earlier near miss.
When we were done we prepared to leave on the return leg when Martin turned up (coincidence?), another long lost member of the OGIL community. He decided to ride back with us, which gave us all a chance to catch up on the old chit-chat.
In Redruth we took the favoured alternative right turn after the railway viaduct up the hill towards St Euny church, then the usual route to Four Lanes, Penhalvean and Stithians. Here we bucked the trend and carried straight across at the crossroads to Longdowns, then back through Halvasso as usual.
A not too taxing ride in the dry, and an opportunity to catch up with old acquaintances. Also, an opportunity to gives thanks for the preservation of John’s life and to rail against the evil motorist. A nice 66km for me.