Does anybody know where the march is?

[hirez]

(Newtown Neurotics, from the 'Kickstarting a backfiring nation LP')

Here, here and here. I'd left the phonecam with the wrong white-balance, so it all looks a bit magical-realist.

It was a bit of an event, mind.

I'd been sent an email by those lovely Sustrans sorts to the effect that there'd be a mass potter up and down the Bristol-Bath railway path, and that part of it was starting more or less outside our front door. Well, opposite Morrison's anyway. (Which has turned into a really jolly nice shop) I looked at hailstorm out of the window, thought 'sod that' and resigned myself to painting the bog a different green, and maybe watching a bit of the track cycling.

As it turns out, today's being a bit special in re. weather and I've been itching to take the Road Bike out for a bit of a thrash. No, really. The poor bloody thing's been sitting there gathering plaster dust while Men installed the bog, the weather went crazy ape-shit and I came down with whatever set of bugs the pustulent hordes in the FGW isolation carriages could cough up. Bastards.

So I bed in the pig-dalek and then cycle carefully down to where the picnic benches are between the supermarket and the rocketry warehouse to discover the sort of thing that Bristol's famous for: a mob of people on random bikes with random hats, banners proclaiming random affiliations (Easton Allotment Holders Collective, Bristol Greens, Respect, etc), facepaint, fancy dress, a pink-clad brass band and a particularly fine set of drummers. Oddly enough, I was able to call this research.

Originally, I was going to gawp at the people and then sod off to do whatever, but I felt it would be a better idea to join the march and show some solidarity. Which is what I duly did. The centre of Bristol is relatively quiet on a Sunday, but the procession (I'd guess a couple of thousand people) jammed up the works splendidly. Off the end of the cycle-path, down Old Market and across the roundabout to Castle Green, down Baldwin street, then the wrong way around the one-way thingy (Horsefair?) and up to College Green. All very satisfactory, and only two fuckwit drivers decided they were far too important to wait and attempted to drive through the column. Both rapidly dealt with by the marshals and the pushbike polis. (One Beemer, of course, and a WRX)

Mainstream meejah coverage thus far as been exactly as shite as I would expect. However, there was some bloke wandering about with a video camera with promises to upload the result to Indymedia/YouTube. If anyone spots it, let me know.

Last night I got drunk and talked rubbish in splendid company. More weekends like the last couple, please.

Comments

[dghaem.livejournal.com]

And I enjoyed talking rubbish with. Thank you for coming and making it a splendid start to the season:-))

[janinemarriott.livejournal.com]

did he mean us?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

That would be an ecumenical matter.

[janinemarriott.livejournal.com]

So does this mean I can cycle directly to your house from mine? Interesting.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Sort of. If you can get to Temple Meads through the back of the various trading estates, steam past the KT, over the silver bridge and follow the signs.

There's a Saab specialist down near you and I keep meaning to potter over via whatever odd backstreets I can find. That route would be a bit lumpier, though.

[janinemarriott.livejournal.com]

KT?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Knights Templar. Bit of a barn, and fills up with some right nutters some weekends.