FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Whitstable 17th June 2011

[User10571]

Another endorsement here for what was a great night's riding.

As has been mentioned, the unlucky ones were those who bailed on account of the forecast.

Parts of last night were pregnant with anticipation - waiting for the rain - the rain which never really came.
I was tooled up for teh biblical, and given the measure of puddles in some places, I think teh biblical may've happened last night.

But not whilst we were there.

Thanks All.

 

[StuAff]

Well, what a night.....
Apart from that pair of freeloading idiots who could have invalidated all our insurance in the event of an accident (if we'd have known at the back, we'd have left them when they had flats...), that was, the multiple punctures notwithstanding, splendid. If you bailed on account of the weather, whoops....Wet air, nothing more. And a very helpful tailwind. In view of the conditions, the sheer number of stoppages wasn't that surprising- we came close to matching or breaking the record. Tim and Paul in particular proved absolute dab hands at getting people back on the road, and all things considered we kept moving pretty well. Whitstable's probably my favourite route, and I always enjoy those last few miles before breakfast. Particularly enjoyed it this time, having got the Viner back in action at last (too late for LeJOG, but most definitely better late than never). The Condor's a great bike, glad to have it (needed to have it, really..). But the Viner's in a whole different class.
Yet again, the Waterfront and Andy's did us proud (apart from Ian being kept waiting for his eggs on toast...!), and of course the company from friends old and new was delightful. Thanks everyone!

 

[actonblue]

"Unlucky" That will be me then I was looking forward to doing this but I am not a water baby.
Well done to everyone who decided to throw caution to the wind.

 

[srw]

Anyone who bailed on weather grounds, unlucky.

Oh bugger.

In the seven minutes between Charlie's posting from Chesham and mine from Amersham it did indeed dry up. The fact that I now have to break the habit of a lifetime and drink YELLOW beer when BROWN is available (any kind of brown, frankly) is proof, if proof were needed, that the divinity is not only a liberal but a cyclist. She probably reads the Guardian to boot.

I will certainly be in the Brighton peleton. I hope we will be a deux.

 

[itsbruce]

Since my TECcing consisted entirely of moral support, I'd feel guilty accepting any praise. I was probably more useful as a waymarker later on, when we were out of the urban sprawl and didn't need such strength in numbers to discourage drunks.

Very fun ride, indeed. Nice way to test a new build and nothing fell off my Gazelle, although I discovered that I'm going to have to adjust (or replace) the saddle if I want to be able to ride back, in future; caused me so much discomfort on the way back that I had to bail an hour in. Then again, I might just spend more time at the bar, next ride

 

[ianrauk]

I think I was the only one in shorts and short sleeves for the ride at the start.
I took a gamble on the weather being ok and thank bleedin' gawd it was. Apart from a short sharp shower in Gravesend the weather was good, it certainly wasn't cold. So to see Davy at HPC dressed up like a Dalek embarking on an Arctic expedition was a ridiculous sight to see

.
It was a great shame for the people who bailed due to the weather as they missed a very good ride. But it did make for a very quick moving, fluid ride, despite the punctures. And there were no huge queues getting served or having a waz at Andy's, marvellous. We were also spoiled by a very nice tailwind to Whitstable which in turn made the SMRbtH very tough indeed but as always it was made easier by having Cycle Chat's resident cycling machine that is Rimas and one of the usual SMRbtH's buddies Ross paving the way.

Here's a link to the route we took and my route home once we split at Rochester.
Just a tad over 122 miles for the day. I walked through the door at home just in time to miss a huge biblical sized thunderstorm.
Plenty of bike cleaning going on tomorrow and I hope others will be undertaking the same duty also.

Thanks to all the usual suspects for making these rides as enjoyable as they are. Sometimes though, there are also some right complete* tits...really. (*word changed as this is a family friendly forum).

 

[iLB]

I walked through the door at home just in time to miss a huge biblical sized thunderstorm.

about 2pm? I was not so lucky on my way back from my ride it absolutely smashed it down, braking in an inch of standing water was interesting! 3 days riding, 3 wet rides

 

[slowmotion]

I'm doing a Rumplestiltskin-style dance of frustration. I dipped because of the weather forecast, and I now regret it. Never mind. I'm glad you had fun. Well done, brave souls.

 

[Tim Hall]

"And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here"


Great ride. Relaxing. Stunning tail wind. Photos being sorted.

 

[zigzag]

I walked through the door at home just in time to miss a huge biblical sized thunderstorm.
Plenty of bike cleaning going on tomorrow and I hope others will be undertaking the same duty also.

i was 15min from home when it started hammering down. it seemed all night's forecasted and missed rain was in that cloud! thanks everyone for a great company and a very enjoyable night/day out. odometer showed 211km/132mi by the time i reached home at 1:50pm. still contemplating whether to do a bhf ride to brighton tomorrow..

 

[User10571]

"And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here"


Great ride. Relaxing. Stunning tail wind. Photos being sorted.

Egg.
Shell.
Ant.

Looking forward to seeing those Tim.

I'm out tomorrow with The Pluck for a second serving of this ride.

Diverting to the Hoo Peninsula once we've cleared Gravesend.

 

[Tim Hall]

Pics now here.

 

[Aperitif]

While Tim sorts ot his photos, here's one that shows London as a Monument. Hopefully, you the audience will get to see The Shard in the Mist.

What a lovely ride. Manageable and not a thing to do in the TEC department. Rain was disgusted by our insouciance to its efforts, and left early, to seek a more interested audience.
Kieran was smiles and welcome, The Waterfront was more smiles and a bigger welcome - and cooked breakfasts.

(Just got my PC back from cookieM, so will continue!)

Bar tendresse.

06:26 - clear, dry weather, to welcome us Whitstablewards...

Whatever floats your boat

Thanks all - a welcome diversion from work.

 

[Aperitif]

A pretty special sight on the Friday Night Ride... and a pig to photograph! Well done Tim - good effort. The poppies, beach huts, Ian's arm and shirt pic - you have been filling your boots up with tasty imagery! 10/10

 

[Nigel182]

Yet again another Great FNRttC

Am really enjoying these rides and being a TEC although next time i'll have to get my hands dirty but it is hard to fix a puncture once the others are on the case... Still i'd probably slow them down never seen wheels out and tubes replaced so quick....

Thinking of trying out for F1 Pit Crew Lads.

Also breakfast with a Brew or 2 or was it 3.... Pukka.


And the one thing that made me chuckle the most was having it pointed out to me that the wording on my Essex Roads Jersey was not saying Essex Roads when my jacket was undone....Priceless