Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
Right, now I'm back from Bognor, I can fill in a few gaps.
Last night's ride showed the FNRttC ethos at its best, with Dellzeqq's mastery of the roads, in rapidly changing the direction of the ride to cope with the road and weather conditions.
Setting off from HPC, the sky overhead was mainly clear, with the waning gibbous moon (86.7% of full if you're interested) hanging high above us and a few twinkling stars to encourage us. Everyone I spoke to, who'd arrived from points east, south and west of London had commented that all afternoon where they were, it had pissed down (I believe that's the technical term). Surprisingly, back home in Luton, we'd had a glorious day of sunshine, which is why, being the permanent optimist, I was thinking the Norwegians had got it wrong with their predictions of 2 cm of rain in Horsham. Following the usual route across Chelsea Bridge towards Clapham Common, the roads were however very wet, showing that lots of rain had recently been falling. And in fact, that was the theme as the ride carried on, with big puddles everywhere. At Mitcham Common, I decided to put on my waterproof trousers and overshoes, just in case..............
Aside from a few cars getting in the way a bit, which got Susie shouting "what's the rush?" at them, generally traffic wasn't an issue. Out in Coulsdon/Chipstead, we could stretch our legs a bit and zoom along on the swoopy downhills, which was nice. Once you get to Portnalls Road, you then start to leave the suburbs behind, meaning you have to switch your lights onto a higher level and concentrate on the road a little bit more due to potholes. It was a shame to lose Frank at the top of Portnalls Road, but he made a wise decision not to risk carrying on. It may be prudent to get a new wheel though! Following the specific risk warning on Reigate Hill, I made my slowest ever descent - I briefly touched 24 mph, but did most of it at 19 mph. Sadly at the bottom Stephen discovered he's got a puncture which ended up needing 2 inner tubes to sort out, as the valve got pulled out on the 1st replacement, and then there was an issue in the CO2 inflater as the cartridges didn't seal, resulting in a freezing fog cloud threatening to envelop us. Luckily we had old skool technology in the form of a pump to get him going again.
Heading out on the little lane past Salfords, we encountered whispers of fog collecting in small grey pools, making the beams of our lights bounce around and then revert to normal, and then we hit Horley, and for once at the A217 junction we went ahead towards Charlwood. I've been out on that road, skirting north of Gatwick quite a few times in daylight, but only once before at night, so it was nice to go down there again. In amongst all the parked residents cars on the left hand side, it was curious to note a number of them with a driver in, lights off and the engine running. Drugs deals or other nefarious arrangements possibly? Who knows? Onwards we pedalled, until all of a sudden we got to the cafe.
I deliberately didn't spend too much time inside as I knew I'd feel cold otherwise. Susie spotted that Simon's tyre was slightly flat, which turned out to be a very slow puncture, so I pumped that up. One of the Brompton riders also attended to a flat. At around 4:50 we headed off again. As soon as we passed the sign for Horsham, it started raining. Most of the time it wasn't really wet rain, just constant rain. Simon had wisely decided to re-route by going via the A29. Heading west from Horsham, I'd noticed a number of big lightning flashes south of us, but it wasn't until we stopped by the Audi garage in Five Oaks, that we also heard thunder.
The storm was 2 miles away, and above the dark rain clouds got even darker. It wasn't looking good........although my attention was briefly distracted by the odd sight of the cars inside the showroom all having their (LED) front and rear lights on.
Somewhere around Billingshurst/Pulborough (I'm not sure where), Captain Defect's bike sprang a defect in getting a puncture. Now, despite him assuring us it was a 700 wheel, bearing in mind it was steel, had a Schrader valve, and had an old design tyre, I'm farily certain it was a 27" wheel. This would explain why my metric spanner wouldn't fit on the nuts to release the wheel. And even when we found an imperial spanner, I reckon they'd been tightened up by a Halfords chimp using an air compressor as I nearly gave myself a hernia trying to undo them by hand, and ended up using my size 11 foot as leverage, which eventually undid them. However, this wheel was a cornucopia of delights in giving us more things to worry about, as Paul discovered that about 25% of the rim tape was missing. Now if Tim O was on the ride, I'm sure he would have been carrying a roll of rim tape, but sadly he wasn't so we just had to hope the inner tube would hold. Therefore we didn't inflate it to the maximum, although clearly it would end up being under some strain. It was at this point the rain got really heavy, and quite a bit went down my back.
Once we were back on the road, the rain eased off and then stopped and we quickly caught up with everyone else. Despite its A road status, the A29 is quite benign, especially as there seemed to be far more traffic going the other way, and it's got some nice interesting ups and downs, although for some, the ultimate "up" in the form of Bury Hill did prove to be an obstacle. I remember the first time I climbed it, about 8 years ago, and ended up walking it almost from the start, which wasn't nice on a Sunday afternoon with loads of vehicles inches from your elbow. However, at 6:45 on a Saturday morning, it was quite pleasant, and I just spun away at around 6 to 8 mph until the top, and then we all re-grouped at the A29/A284 roundabout.
For poor Captain Defect though, his ride was over. Some thought he should be promoted, others felt a demotion would be more appropriate. What possibly would have been useful was a correct inner tube!
I'm not a big fan of the A29 towards Bognor (as I prefer the A284 descent towards Arundel), as in places the A29 is narrow, meaning some cars do get a bit close, and the last time we used it, some riders rode 2 or 3 across, oblivious to the cars zooming up behind them. Fortunately there weren't any issues this time, and we rapidly crossed the A27, slipped through Yapton, and all of a sudden we were in Felpham.
(They've had a bit of a storm).
And then probably the best breakfast. Followed by beer. Which is a nice way to end a generally excellent night, despite the rain.
I wasn't on the first few FNRttC events, but I think my first was either July or August 2005, and I've probably done 60+. Each one is different, but they all involve Simon's meticulous planning and ability to plan ahead and think of options, coupled with the cheery enthusiasm of those who muck in and help out to waymark or TEC. A merry band of brothers and sisters. Although it won't necessarily carry on in the same way as before, the Fridays are something to be proud of.
Other photos shown here.
Last night's ride showed the FNRttC ethos at its best, with Dellzeqq's mastery of the roads, in rapidly changing the direction of the ride to cope with the road and weather conditions.
Setting off from HPC, the sky overhead was mainly clear, with the waning gibbous moon (86.7% of full if you're interested) hanging high above us and a few twinkling stars to encourage us. Everyone I spoke to, who'd arrived from points east, south and west of London had commented that all afternoon where they were, it had pissed down (I believe that's the technical term). Surprisingly, back home in Luton, we'd had a glorious day of sunshine, which is why, being the permanent optimist, I was thinking the Norwegians had got it wrong with their predictions of 2 cm of rain in Horsham. Following the usual route across Chelsea Bridge towards Clapham Common, the roads were however very wet, showing that lots of rain had recently been falling. And in fact, that was the theme as the ride carried on, with big puddles everywhere. At Mitcham Common, I decided to put on my waterproof trousers and overshoes, just in case..............
Aside from a few cars getting in the way a bit, which got Susie shouting "what's the rush?" at them, generally traffic wasn't an issue. Out in Coulsdon/Chipstead, we could stretch our legs a bit and zoom along on the swoopy downhills, which was nice. Once you get to Portnalls Road, you then start to leave the suburbs behind, meaning you have to switch your lights onto a higher level and concentrate on the road a little bit more due to potholes. It was a shame to lose Frank at the top of Portnalls Road, but he made a wise decision not to risk carrying on. It may be prudent to get a new wheel though! Following the specific risk warning on Reigate Hill, I made my slowest ever descent - I briefly touched 24 mph, but did most of it at 19 mph. Sadly at the bottom Stephen discovered he's got a puncture which ended up needing 2 inner tubes to sort out, as the valve got pulled out on the 1st replacement, and then there was an issue in the CO2 inflater as the cartridges didn't seal, resulting in a freezing fog cloud threatening to envelop us. Luckily we had old skool technology in the form of a pump to get him going again.
Heading out on the little lane past Salfords, we encountered whispers of fog collecting in small grey pools, making the beams of our lights bounce around and then revert to normal, and then we hit Horley, and for once at the A217 junction we went ahead towards Charlwood. I've been out on that road, skirting north of Gatwick quite a few times in daylight, but only once before at night, so it was nice to go down there again. In amongst all the parked residents cars on the left hand side, it was curious to note a number of them with a driver in, lights off and the engine running. Drugs deals or other nefarious arrangements possibly? Who knows? Onwards we pedalled, until all of a sudden we got to the cafe.
I deliberately didn't spend too much time inside as I knew I'd feel cold otherwise. Susie spotted that Simon's tyre was slightly flat, which turned out to be a very slow puncture, so I pumped that up. One of the Brompton riders also attended to a flat. At around 4:50 we headed off again. As soon as we passed the sign for Horsham, it started raining. Most of the time it wasn't really wet rain, just constant rain. Simon had wisely decided to re-route by going via the A29. Heading west from Horsham, I'd noticed a number of big lightning flashes south of us, but it wasn't until we stopped by the Audi garage in Five Oaks, that we also heard thunder.
The storm was 2 miles away, and above the dark rain clouds got even darker. It wasn't looking good........although my attention was briefly distracted by the odd sight of the cars inside the showroom all having their (LED) front and rear lights on.
Somewhere around Billingshurst/Pulborough (I'm not sure where), Captain Defect's bike sprang a defect in getting a puncture. Now, despite him assuring us it was a 700 wheel, bearing in mind it was steel, had a Schrader valve, and had an old design tyre, I'm farily certain it was a 27" wheel. This would explain why my metric spanner wouldn't fit on the nuts to release the wheel. And even when we found an imperial spanner, I reckon they'd been tightened up by a Halfords chimp using an air compressor as I nearly gave myself a hernia trying to undo them by hand, and ended up using my size 11 foot as leverage, which eventually undid them. However, this wheel was a cornucopia of delights in giving us more things to worry about, as Paul discovered that about 25% of the rim tape was missing. Now if Tim O was on the ride, I'm sure he would have been carrying a roll of rim tape, but sadly he wasn't so we just had to hope the inner tube would hold. Therefore we didn't inflate it to the maximum, although clearly it would end up being under some strain. It was at this point the rain got really heavy, and quite a bit went down my back.
Once we were back on the road, the rain eased off and then stopped and we quickly caught up with everyone else. Despite its A road status, the A29 is quite benign, especially as there seemed to be far more traffic going the other way, and it's got some nice interesting ups and downs, although for some, the ultimate "up" in the form of Bury Hill did prove to be an obstacle. I remember the first time I climbed it, about 8 years ago, and ended up walking it almost from the start, which wasn't nice on a Sunday afternoon with loads of vehicles inches from your elbow. However, at 6:45 on a Saturday morning, it was quite pleasant, and I just spun away at around 6 to 8 mph until the top, and then we all re-grouped at the A29/A284 roundabout.
For poor Captain Defect though, his ride was over. Some thought he should be promoted, others felt a demotion would be more appropriate. What possibly would have been useful was a correct inner tube!
I'm not a big fan of the A29 towards Bognor (as I prefer the A284 descent towards Arundel), as in places the A29 is narrow, meaning some cars do get a bit close, and the last time we used it, some riders rode 2 or 3 across, oblivious to the cars zooming up behind them. Fortunately there weren't any issues this time, and we rapidly crossed the A27, slipped through Yapton, and all of a sudden we were in Felpham.
(They've had a bit of a storm).
And then probably the best breakfast. Followed by beer. Which is a nice way to end a generally excellent night, despite the rain.
I wasn't on the first few FNRttC events, but I think my first was either July or August 2005, and I've probably done 60+. Each one is different, but they all involve Simon's meticulous planning and ability to plan ahead and think of options, coupled with the cheery enthusiasm of those who muck in and help out to waymark or TEC. A merry band of brothers and sisters. Although it won't necessarily carry on in the same way as before, the Fridays are something to be proud of.
Other photos shown here.
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