Like all good ideas it was simple, and like the best laid plans of mice and men… The men (as it usually is) were members of The Moulton Bicycle Club – the plan was to meet in London and ride round all the streets on the Monopoly board – I’ll blame the mice in a moment.
So this morning, one disassembled Moulton was put into four bin bags and taken on the 06:55 train from Manchester to London. At Stockport I was joined by Mr Mark Taylor with one slightly more expensive Moulton, similarly disassembled and put into two ballistic nylon bin bags.
We got to Euston on the dot and began to put the bikes back together, watched and inspired by the statue of the great engineer George Stephenson. The plan was to ride to Liverpool Street Station, in time to meet up with a dozen or so more Moultoneers and do the Monopoly board before joining tens of thousands of other people on bikes in the ‘Ride London’ festival. And then it all went wrong…
Somewhere, somehow, someone (probably – well definitely – me) lost the little metal clamp that holds up the seat post. Never having had a BMX, there was no way I could ride up or down the Old Kent Road without sitting on a saddle set at a height befitting someone with my knees.So, I came up with another plan – “Oi Siri, where’s the nearest bike shop?” I set off one way down Euston Road and Mr Taylor set off the other way – well at least Euston Road was one of the squares on the Monopoly board. Cycle Republic had a look and apologised for not having one in stock and suggested Evans Cycles just near King’s Cross, so at least that meant another square on the board ticked off. Evans went through every clamp they had and huffed puffed, fettled and fiddled, and concluded that my bike has one of those special non-standard features that make Moultons so Moultonish.
I put the push into push bike and pushed my bike along Pentonville Road (another square on the board) and found a branch of Cycle Logic – They liked Moultons. They didn’t have a clamp that would fit, but they did suggest Velorution – they sold Moultons – but were on Great Portland Street, which isn’t on the Monopoly boar – But the Angel Islington is – and my niece lives there – so I went and had a cup of tea or two with her. Then I joined hundreds of other people clogging up the pavements pushing their bikes back to Euston Station and the train home.
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