Time for a smoke break
Caz indulges the inner city girl with a London ride
ON ONE OF the hottest days of the year, rather than the wide open, sweeping roads of the Lincolnshire countryside I decided to head for the claustrophobic, congested and hot streets of London on the Honda CB1000R+
Why? I’m a child of the city and not only did I want to get a ride to the Smoke but I was also hankering after a burger to beat the poor offerings of my carnivorous colleagues and to add another good café GBRO waypoint.
Forget the blast down the A1; that’s just a means to an end. Google Maps found me a great route along the Old Great North Road, the A111 towards Cockfosters taking in what can only be a classed as a Millionaires’ Row. It’s tricky to rubber neck at the amazing houses perched on top of a powerful bike while negotiating the suburb’s cavernous potholes. I stopped to change the engine mode from Sport to User to reduce the amount of engine braking, as it was a bit too aggressive for my liking. Apart from that the bike shrugged off the oppressive heat of the City. I can’t say the same for the rider though and my destination of The Gallery Café in Bethnal Green couldn’t be reached soon enough. Parking in London is a nightmare but I managed to squeeze the bike into a space two minutes’ away
thanks to the poor parking of a van driver.
I was just in time for lunch — a southern-fried Seitan Burger, which beats everyone else’s on flavour and no animals harmed in its making. It was then time to plot a route to the Ace Café before the tedious slog back up the A1.
I feel the Ace has lost some of its charm and character these days — but it was nice to see there were youngsters ready to show off. So, job done as far as I’m concerned. The London itch scratched, a good amount of miles on the bike and the tastiest burger from a fantastic local community café. Can’t beat a Sunny Sunday ride. CAROLINE BARRETT