Sunday 17th Ace Cafe

Sunday 17^th Feb

Ace Café bike day

It was a heavily frosted morning that greeted me as I pulled back the curtains.  It had been forecast and expected.  I was glad that I had decided not to commit to the early morning ride out that was advertised for this morning.  I had some work to do so a full day’s riding was really out of the question and I was content that I had just decided to go to the Ace Café for their bike day.

 

As I looked out of the window on to the frosty waking morning a distant aeroplane blazed across a very pale blue cloudless sky leaving a pure white vapour trail, this single thin white line soon however dissipated and the effect it left was like a very thin white feather like cloud hanging in the morning sky.

 

As the orangey glow of the lazy spring sun began warming the earth it was as though someone was pulling back a soft white blanket, the frost now only hiding in those shady places where the gentle rays of sunlight couldn’t reach.

I started to get myself ready for the morning’s foray, and after some consideration during the previous week I had arranged to ride down to the Ace Cafe with my brother, I had also suggested it on a forum that we would be there by around about 10am, so if anyone fancied to ride down, meet up, and have a chat we’d be glad to see them.  I had chosen the Ace Café because today was their official bike Sunday.  Although the Ace Café is known as a biker’s café it also holds various meets for all sorts of bikes and cars.

The ride wouldn’t take long around twenty to thirty minutes depending on the traffic and the route I might take.  By nine o’clock I was ready to roll but there was no sign of my brother.  I waited for a while but as the time ticked by I started to wonder if my brother was coming, after checking the bike over and letting it run for a while to warm up I called Ian to see where he was.  He had decided to stay indoors until the last moment before braving the cold, which was in fact quite a good idea.  He gave me an ETA of round 9.30am.  After my previous ride a week or so ago I made sure that I had the right clothing on, I don’t think my hands would take another freezing.  So the summer gloves were swapped for some nice thick and padded winter ones.  Ian arrived on time and we set off.  Due to the time factor I had decided to take the direct and most boring route straight down the motorway.

 

The ride started nicely the sun had risen into the pale blue sky its warmth had taken away the early morning chill.  This continued as we headed south along the M1 until we passed Watford.  Then the pale blue sky turned white, the sun now hidden behind a thin blanket of cloud this was joined with a slight drop in temperature.  As we continued on our way the thin white blanket had turned grey the sun now hanging in the sky like a white orb trying to burn its way through cold grey shroud and now fog was lying in patches across the countryside like fallen clouds.

We pushed on and by the time we had reach junction two of the M1 the sun once again had burnt through and the sky was now a lovely cloudless winter blue.  The ride around the north circular went without a hitch apart from the fact I had lost sight of Ian at the end of the M1 on the Brent Cross roundabout and the nightmare of a white van man who decided to tailgate me for a mile or so.  By the time we had gotten to the traffic lights by the Ace Café Ian had once again caught up and we finished the ride together.

At the Ace we parked up and walked around looking at the bikes that had gathered, it wasn’t heaving but there was a nice diversity of bikes to see and as I walked I looked to see if anyone from the forum was about.  I was also hoping that they might recognise me, as my avatar on my account is a picture of me where as others tend to put either pictures of their bikes or part of their bikes on, or simple cartoons.  We mooched for ten or so minutes then wondered into the café where we ordered a cup of tea and a nice bacon sandwich.  Whilst we were sat chatting a young lady walking in, I thought I recognised her and introduced myself.  She was from the forum, a lovely young bubbly person that put a smile on my face with her antics and stories, then another forum member arrived and we sat chatting and enjoying each-others company.  Although we had gone to the Ace for a simple chat and met, the others wanted to ride.  A third forum member turned up a while later and plans were drawn up for a last minute ride.

It was now time for my brother and I to leave, we had stayed longer than original planned, this added to the fact that we were now holding up the planned ride signalled it was time to go.  We said our good byes and went our separate ways. The trip back up along the M1 was uneventful so I decided to pull off and take a detour.  To add some spice to our return journey I took in some A and B roads to spare us from the monotony of the motorway.  The day was now glorious for the time of year with blue skies, warm temperatures and to cap it off open roads.