I am very proud of MsCharly! She came out with her dad back in mid-march on a social ride (cafe lunch, my mum's for afternoon tea then the pub on the way home. With added cake stops and pooh sticks!) and that was her first 50 mile ride. Friday/saturday she ticked off the list both metric and imperial centuries!
FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast York to Hull 9th September 2011
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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Moodyman
Legendary Member
Lovely ride with lovely people. I can now see why these rides are so popular.
Thank you Simon and the marshals for a very well organised ride.
Shaun - great to finally meet you.
Crinklylion - wish you speedy recovery. Tremendous commitment in meeting us all in Hull. Oh...your cake in York was delicious.
Vernon - well done for persevering with a dodgy rear wheel.
MsCharly - well done on completing your first century.
How about the pub and cafe stops? Well organised and tremendous food. Exceeded expectations.
Went to sleep at 4.30pm yesterday and woke at 8.30 this morning - 16 hours!!
Thank you Simon and the marshals for a very well organised ride.
Shaun - great to finally meet you.
Crinklylion - wish you speedy recovery. Tremendous commitment in meeting us all in Hull. Oh...your cake in York was delicious.
Vernon - well done for persevering with a dodgy rear wheel.
MsCharly - well done on completing your first century.
How about the pub and cafe stops? Well organised and tremendous food. Exceeded expectations.
Went to sleep at 4.30pm yesterday and woke at 8.30 this morning - 16 hours!!
Last week I wrote the Martlett was my best FNRttC ever so, to be honest, this was only the second. But what a second!
Beautiful & vibrant York. The girls out for the night even more delicious than the chocolate. For most of the ride to the halfway stop we rode as a single pelaton. Maybe not at TdF velocities but as a single cohesive group ready to combat all the forecast southerlies could throw at us. The wind gave up and the moon filled the gap. Bright, we hardly needed lights - I kept mine on half power for the duration - we sped along open roads through villages I would like to see more of in daylight.
Remarkable, for a Londoner, was the behaviour of the few motorists around. My panicky shouts of `car-up` were hardly needed. Cars held back till they were sure the road was clear a long way ahead and passed carefully on the rhs of the centre line. Textbook overtaking.
Goole was an interesting and surprising place. Bridges, docks but perhaps not the coolest nightclub on the planet. And so to the halfway stop and possibly the best ever? That was really nice. We rolled on along the flatness of the road - a massive sea wall keeping the Humber/Ouse from most of Lincolnshire.
This was the point I got my first, and possibly last, advantage over Adrian. He was totally flummoxed by how the river could be flowing in two different directions. The topography was totally confusing to us southern cissies. First easterly along the Ouse, south along the Trent, over and back north back along the Trent before turning easterly again along the Humber. Oh and some gradual climbs and descents to the eponymous bridge.
72 exhilarating miles. We could have done more but for the traditional end of ride food and drink, and drink, and ... That Italian beer was very nice but I fear had more gravity than I`m used to. Finally four of us were decanted onto the 1330 to London. There was much talk of G&T but we were sensibly treated us to hot coffee. Good call Del. But that`s what you do - innit? Ride in, ride out ...
Beautiful & vibrant York. The girls out for the night even more delicious than the chocolate. For most of the ride to the halfway stop we rode as a single pelaton. Maybe not at TdF velocities but as a single cohesive group ready to combat all the forecast southerlies could throw at us. The wind gave up and the moon filled the gap. Bright, we hardly needed lights - I kept mine on half power for the duration - we sped along open roads through villages I would like to see more of in daylight.
Remarkable, for a Londoner, was the behaviour of the few motorists around. My panicky shouts of `car-up` were hardly needed. Cars held back till they were sure the road was clear a long way ahead and passed carefully on the rhs of the centre line. Textbook overtaking.
Goole was an interesting and surprising place. Bridges, docks but perhaps not the coolest nightclub on the planet. And so to the halfway stop and possibly the best ever? That was really nice. We rolled on along the flatness of the road - a massive sea wall keeping the Humber/Ouse from most of Lincolnshire.
This was the point I got my first, and possibly last, advantage over Adrian. He was totally flummoxed by how the river could be flowing in two different directions. The topography was totally confusing to us southern cissies. First easterly along the Ouse, south along the Trent, over and back north back along the Trent before turning easterly again along the Humber. Oh and some gradual climbs and descents to the eponymous bridge.
72 exhilarating miles. We could have done more but for the traditional end of ride food and drink, and drink, and ... That Italian beer was very nice but I fear had more gravity than I`m used to. Finally four of us were decanted onto the 1330 to London. There was much talk of G&T but we were sensibly treated us to hot coffee. Good call Del. But that`s what you do - innit? Ride in, ride out ...
this is the ride that slid on to the calendar - and wouldn't have done had it not been for the Greg M.'s prompting and his and Andrew B's enthusiasm.
I'd settled for two out-of-London rides, thinking that three would be pushing people's patience and would add to the pressure on my Fridays in the run-up to the Martlets ride, but Greg sent me e-mails suggesting routes and halfway stops, offering to check out both. I suppose, what with his 12 hour races, PBP preparations, PhD studies and cramming for UC he was at a bit of a loose end.....
I found the Bay Horse less by accident than by elimination. For the start, York picks itself. For the finish Hull seemed only right and proper given Shaun's support for the ride. The Humber Bridge was a must. Throw some 70 mile loops over Google Maps and the apparently empty stretch between Goole and Scunthorpe looks good for the halfway stop. Go in to all the parish council sites for the Isle of Axholme, e-mail all the cafes (there was one), all the parish councils and all the pubs and sit back..........I had one reply from a village hall committee, and, after some to-ing and fro-ing they decided it was all a bit too weird. One pub didn't have an e-mail address, wasn't in the phone book and appeared on the internet only as a site for a recycling bin. I called the parish council, they gave me a mobile number, I got through on the third attempt, then wrote them a letter, followed up the letter with a phone call, got a yes, and we had a ride....
......without knowing much of the route. My thought is that if you go to a different part of the country you have to make a ride that is exemplary; it's no use going to Lancashire and avoiding mill towns and hills, and, equally, a ride around the Humber estuary should be as flat as possible. The first half down to the Trent crossing was pan flat, and I was pretty confident it would be deserted at night, but the second half looked bitty and hard to manage. Streetmap gave up a means of bypassing Scunthorpe using three short climbs and three gentle descents. Andrew and Greg joined me on a recce ride, and, yes, it was flat, but it was also pretty darn windy - Andrew and I taking full advantage of the slender break in the wind afforded by Greg as he set about tearing our legs off. We'd originally intended to take the ride via Melbourne and stop off for coffee, but, over time I decided that getting to the Trent bridge against a strong southerly wind was going to be tough enough and I didn't want to be riding in to Hull an nine in the morning.
The recce was a vindication of the route. I've never done an FNRttC on the back of one recce before (Whitstable took five) but it was so straightforward there didn't seem to be the need to go back. What you don't know is that as a daytime ride it's a bit dull - the stretch down to Goole is ordinary with no views of note, and the stretch from the Trent bridge to the Humber Bridge is heavily trafficked, but night time rides on the flat are not about landscape - they're about the road and the sky, and here we had chances.
And so it turned out. The sky played a blinder. The silver harvest moon lit up the clouds so wonderfully it seemed as if we were shooting the thing in 'day for night'. We slipped out of York and on to the B1228 easily, and formed a tight little train, giving those at the back an easier ride as the breeze stiffened against us. We stopped briefly in Howden and didn't get our first puncture until we were coming in to Goole, there to meet Peter who had escaped the railway in Leeds and covered the thirty four miles required at such a rate that he arrived two minutes before us - indeed, if we hadn't had the puncture we might have collided on Boothferry Road.
Goole by night is quite the thing. You'd want a bit of fog for the full L'Atalante, but the steel bridges, the docks, the warehouses and the plumes of vapour rising from behind high brick walls screamed for a Jean Vigo fashion shoot. Pass the dungarees! http://www.youtube.c...feature=related
On then, in to the pasture retrieved from the sea by the great Vermuyden three hundred years ago. To our left the dyke kept the dull flat water at bay, as our elevation hovered just above, and very occasionally below sea level. The moon, sinking to the west was just plain showing off. We were now in Howard Hawks territory
I increased the speed at the front, seeking to stagger our arrival at the Bay Horse, and our little bunch spread out over half a mile or so. Looking back over the unhedged roads the line of lights taking lefts and rights according the Vermuyden's plan, all moving with purpose and a good heart, one thought that while the Dutch could keep their cycle paths and their ghastly bikes, we would be forever grateful for their engineers. And thus, after thirty nine remarkably straightforward miles in just over three and a half hours we arrived at our halfway stop.
The Bay Horse has something of a Tolkien ring about it, but it's really an object lesson in hope. Two young women have taken on what seems to be an impossible task. There's no passing trade, and the only way to make something of a living is to pray for visits by the local Lambretta Club, or a bunch of nocturnal cyclists. As I left I said that we'd be back next year, and they said 'if we're still here...' We ate our ham rolls and cakes, drank coffee, Mark did the honours with the collection, and we left at about 4.20
Down then, for another seven miles or so to the Trent Bridge. There was a sprinkling of rain, and our second puncture, fixed thanks to Mr. Charley's toolkit - my one RLG (Ride Leader Grumble) of the night being 'if you need a spanner to take a wheel off, bring a spanner'. Adrian climbed the dyke to watch the Trent sweep in from the sea, pushing water up as far as Gainsborough, and the some of the waiting crew threw on jackets when a small shower swept up the road against us in the opposite direction. The Trent is a mighty river, big and burly as far south of Gunthorpe, and is the heart of our power stations, but rivers don't feature in our imagination as they used to, presumably because they don't present as great an barrier or as great a threat as they used to. That's a great shame, so here, in the hope of redressing matters in some small measure, is a scene from the River Trent of bygone years - a young Aperitif doing ferry service at Barton
We made the turn, crossed the river and headed up the opposite bank to Flixborough for the first of our three climbs, and then took a long, swinging descent down to Thealby before climbing again to the A1077 and our first view of the Humber Bridge. Another lengthy descent, to the shore of the estuary, and then the pretty little climb through South Ferriby which brought the Bridge firmly in to our sights.
Crossing the Humber Bridge is an awesome thing. It's a long way up. Those aircraft landings that come in over the sea give you a kind of diagram of the waves below, and looking down from the centre of the bridge, a hundred foot and more up in the air, gives you the same kind of diagram.
The Hulliddlians nixed my Clive Sullivan Survival Plan and promised us a route to our destination that was gentle and gracious, and this they delivered, with the added benefit of not being a foot longer than it needed to be. We rolled down a broad tree-lined boulevard, reaching Cafe Pasaz at a quarter to eight, none of us greatly out of breath, and set to one of the quickest and best breakfasts the FNRttC has ever had the pleasure to meet. Folk drifted away, to home, to the railway station or to sleep, but a hardened corps of beerboys and girls knocked back Peroni until about one in the afternoon before taking the train south.
It was, as ever, a pleasure. The ride is one of my favourites, but it is the people that make so, and, in particular, the smiles. Thankyou one and all for turning out on such an unlikely adventure. We really must do it again some time.
I'd settled for two out-of-London rides, thinking that three would be pushing people's patience and would add to the pressure on my Fridays in the run-up to the Martlets ride, but Greg sent me e-mails suggesting routes and halfway stops, offering to check out both. I suppose, what with his 12 hour races, PBP preparations, PhD studies and cramming for UC he was at a bit of a loose end.....
I found the Bay Horse less by accident than by elimination. For the start, York picks itself. For the finish Hull seemed only right and proper given Shaun's support for the ride. The Humber Bridge was a must. Throw some 70 mile loops over Google Maps and the apparently empty stretch between Goole and Scunthorpe looks good for the halfway stop. Go in to all the parish council sites for the Isle of Axholme, e-mail all the cafes (there was one), all the parish councils and all the pubs and sit back..........I had one reply from a village hall committee, and, after some to-ing and fro-ing they decided it was all a bit too weird. One pub didn't have an e-mail address, wasn't in the phone book and appeared on the internet only as a site for a recycling bin. I called the parish council, they gave me a mobile number, I got through on the third attempt, then wrote them a letter, followed up the letter with a phone call, got a yes, and we had a ride....
......without knowing much of the route. My thought is that if you go to a different part of the country you have to make a ride that is exemplary; it's no use going to Lancashire and avoiding mill towns and hills, and, equally, a ride around the Humber estuary should be as flat as possible. The first half down to the Trent crossing was pan flat, and I was pretty confident it would be deserted at night, but the second half looked bitty and hard to manage. Streetmap gave up a means of bypassing Scunthorpe using three short climbs and three gentle descents. Andrew and Greg joined me on a recce ride, and, yes, it was flat, but it was also pretty darn windy - Andrew and I taking full advantage of the slender break in the wind afforded by Greg as he set about tearing our legs off. We'd originally intended to take the ride via Melbourne and stop off for coffee, but, over time I decided that getting to the Trent bridge against a strong southerly wind was going to be tough enough and I didn't want to be riding in to Hull an nine in the morning.
The recce was a vindication of the route. I've never done an FNRttC on the back of one recce before (Whitstable took five) but it was so straightforward there didn't seem to be the need to go back. What you don't know is that as a daytime ride it's a bit dull - the stretch down to Goole is ordinary with no views of note, and the stretch from the Trent bridge to the Humber Bridge is heavily trafficked, but night time rides on the flat are not about landscape - they're about the road and the sky, and here we had chances.
And so it turned out. The sky played a blinder. The silver harvest moon lit up the clouds so wonderfully it seemed as if we were shooting the thing in 'day for night'. We slipped out of York and on to the B1228 easily, and formed a tight little train, giving those at the back an easier ride as the breeze stiffened against us. We stopped briefly in Howden and didn't get our first puncture until we were coming in to Goole, there to meet Peter who had escaped the railway in Leeds and covered the thirty four miles required at such a rate that he arrived two minutes before us - indeed, if we hadn't had the puncture we might have collided on Boothferry Road.
Goole by night is quite the thing. You'd want a bit of fog for the full L'Atalante, but the steel bridges, the docks, the warehouses and the plumes of vapour rising from behind high brick walls screamed for a Jean Vigo fashion shoot. Pass the dungarees! http://www.youtube.c...feature=related
On then, in to the pasture retrieved from the sea by the great Vermuyden three hundred years ago. To our left the dyke kept the dull flat water at bay, as our elevation hovered just above, and very occasionally below sea level. The moon, sinking to the west was just plain showing off. We were now in Howard Hawks territory
I increased the speed at the front, seeking to stagger our arrival at the Bay Horse, and our little bunch spread out over half a mile or so. Looking back over the unhedged roads the line of lights taking lefts and rights according the Vermuyden's plan, all moving with purpose and a good heart, one thought that while the Dutch could keep their cycle paths and their ghastly bikes, we would be forever grateful for their engineers. And thus, after thirty nine remarkably straightforward miles in just over three and a half hours we arrived at our halfway stop.
The Bay Horse has something of a Tolkien ring about it, but it's really an object lesson in hope. Two young women have taken on what seems to be an impossible task. There's no passing trade, and the only way to make something of a living is to pray for visits by the local Lambretta Club, or a bunch of nocturnal cyclists. As I left I said that we'd be back next year, and they said 'if we're still here...' We ate our ham rolls and cakes, drank coffee, Mark did the honours with the collection, and we left at about 4.20
Down then, for another seven miles or so to the Trent Bridge. There was a sprinkling of rain, and our second puncture, fixed thanks to Mr. Charley's toolkit - my one RLG (Ride Leader Grumble) of the night being 'if you need a spanner to take a wheel off, bring a spanner'. Adrian climbed the dyke to watch the Trent sweep in from the sea, pushing water up as far as Gainsborough, and the some of the waiting crew threw on jackets when a small shower swept up the road against us in the opposite direction. The Trent is a mighty river, big and burly as far south of Gunthorpe, and is the heart of our power stations, but rivers don't feature in our imagination as they used to, presumably because they don't present as great an barrier or as great a threat as they used to. That's a great shame, so here, in the hope of redressing matters in some small measure, is a scene from the River Trent of bygone years - a young Aperitif doing ferry service at Barton
We made the turn, crossed the river and headed up the opposite bank to Flixborough for the first of our three climbs, and then took a long, swinging descent down to Thealby before climbing again to the A1077 and our first view of the Humber Bridge. Another lengthy descent, to the shore of the estuary, and then the pretty little climb through South Ferriby which brought the Bridge firmly in to our sights.
Crossing the Humber Bridge is an awesome thing. It's a long way up. Those aircraft landings that come in over the sea give you a kind of diagram of the waves below, and looking down from the centre of the bridge, a hundred foot and more up in the air, gives you the same kind of diagram.
The Hulliddlians nixed my Clive Sullivan Survival Plan and promised us a route to our destination that was gentle and gracious, and this they delivered, with the added benefit of not being a foot longer than it needed to be. We rolled down a broad tree-lined boulevard, reaching Cafe Pasaz at a quarter to eight, none of us greatly out of breath, and set to one of the quickest and best breakfasts the FNRttC has ever had the pleasure to meet. Folk drifted away, to home, to the railway station or to sleep, but a hardened corps of beerboys and girls knocked back Peroni until about one in the afternoon before taking the train south.
It was, as ever, a pleasure. The ride is one of my favourites, but it is the people that make so, and, in particular, the smiles. Thankyou one and all for turning out on such an unlikely adventure. We really must do it again some time.
Mark Grant
Acting Captain of The St Annes Jombulance.
- Location
- Hanworth, Middx.
I met Simon, Suzie and Adrian at Kings X for the 21.00 train to York. For brief period I thought that I may be having to re-think as I didn't have a cycle reservation but as the guard consulted his colleague we fitted 7 or 8 bikes into a space designed for 5 and the guards were OK.
We met others at the Minster and were off just after midnight.
Waymarking was a bit different, I barely had enough time to retrieve a choccy bar from my saddle pack before the 'All up', I think the longest I waited at a junction was 2 or 3 minutes.
The halfway stop was good, plenty to eat and big cups of nice hot tea.
The main road towards the bridge was taken in single file for safety but was fortunately not too busy. The bridge brought the cameras out, I took several over my shoulder at those behind me with varying degrees of success.
Shaun led us in to Hull
I think that he may have some experience of professional modelling as when a camera was pointed his way he was always ready with a smart sophisticated pose.
Breakfast was served efficiently, then after what was considered a polite pause Suzie got the beers in
At about 1.00 we left for the station, Mistral and I taking a local train to Doncaster then on to Kings X and the others getting a direct train.
I cycled the 15 miles home and on the way at HPC met Stu, Rich P, Ian, Clive, Dave, abs, Martok etc returning from the Olympic ride. 101 miles in all for me.
Thanks to everyone for a good ride.
More pictures HERE
We met others at the Minster and were off just after midnight.
Waymarking was a bit different, I barely had enough time to retrieve a choccy bar from my saddle pack before the 'All up', I think the longest I waited at a junction was 2 or 3 minutes.
The halfway stop was good, plenty to eat and big cups of nice hot tea.
The main road towards the bridge was taken in single file for safety but was fortunately not too busy. The bridge brought the cameras out, I took several over my shoulder at those behind me with varying degrees of success.
Shaun led us in to Hull
I think that he may have some experience of professional modelling as when a camera was pointed his way he was always ready with a smart sophisticated pose.
Breakfast was served efficiently, then after what was considered a polite pause Suzie got the beers in
At about 1.00 we left for the station, Mistral and I taking a local train to Doncaster then on to Kings X and the others getting a direct train.
I cycled the 15 miles home and on the way at HPC met Stu, Rich P, Ian, Clive, Dave, abs, Martok etc returning from the Olympic ride. 101 miles in all for me.
Thanks to everyone for a good ride.
More pictures HERE
that was a shocker, wasn't it?
somewhere or other Hull Council has got it badly wrong. The road we came in on had style, but the town centre is a succession of ideas, some good, some really crap (like hiding the train platforms, so that people arriving in Hull by train have to burrow their way out of the station) but none joined up. Spending zillions on The Deep is fine, but where's the link, the ramblas, between The Deep and the railway station? Having new streetlights is fine, but why not get streetlights that will look good in ten years rather than buying the latest thing in the catalogue? As for that building. CPO it and and knock it down.
growingvegetables
Guru
- Location
- Leeds
- can I sign up please? Wot - and nobody went to the 
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
that was a shocker, wasn't it?
somewhere or other Hull Council has got it badly wrong. The road we came in on had style, but the town centre is a succession of ideas, some good, some really crap (like hiding the train platforms, so that people arriving in Hull by train have to burrow their way out of the station) but none joined up. Spending zillions on The Deep is fine, but where's the link, the ramblas, between The Deep and the railway station? Having new streetlights is fine, but why not get streetlights that will look good in ten years rather than buying the latest thing in the catalogue? As for that building. CPO it and and knock it down.
A truly beautiful image.
Reminds me of Brendan Neiland one time...
http://www.brendanneiland.com/
Soltydog
Legendary Member
- Location
- near Hornsea
that was a shocker, wasn't it?
That looks like Europa House. The company I work for moved their ofices into there. The interior is equally uninspiring
suits our managers 
Sounds like a great ride was had by all & one day I will get onto one of these
Mark Grant
Acting Captain of The St Annes Jombulance.
- Location
- Hanworth, Middx.
Here's another pic of the building, just in case people thought it was a random image.
vernon
Harder than Ronnie Pickering
- Location
- Meanwood, Leeds
The ride was a new experience for me. I have frequently ridden into darkness but have never ridden out of it.
Dellzegg's assertion: 'What you don't know is that as a daytime ride it's a bit dull - the stretch down to Goole is ordinary with no views of note' is a masterpiece of understatement.
There's a million square metres of land described as the blankest area of land in the entire United Kingdom that we rode past without being able to marvel at its dullness.
Dellzegg's assertion: 'What you don't know is that as a daytime ride it's a bit dull - the stretch down to Goole is ordinary with no views of note' is a masterpiece of understatement.
There's a million square metres of land described as the blankest area of land in the entire United Kingdom that we rode past without being able to marvel at its dullness.
A couple of miles short of the Bay Horse a spoke snapped in my rear wheel and some rubbing against the mudguard mount made me rather anxious. During the food stop a quick splaying of the mount and an examination of the rear wheel revealed that the out of trueness wasn't that bad and a quick check of the tension in the other spokes revealed that nothing else was amiss. I could relax. I was familiar with all of the territory the we cycled through with the exception of the southern approach to the Humber Bridge. Darkness removed that familiarity and one of the climbs that had never defeated me in the past saw me resort to getting off to push. Lack of fitness, not enough pre-ride calories or too many pies - who knows.
The ride into Hull was good. A moment of intense temptation occurred when I was brought to a halt outside a butchers and pie shop by a red light. Charlie be might have seen a flicker of indecision cross my face but the lure of a full english was greater and the moment passed quickly.
It was good being able to match faces with CC identities. Thanks to CharlieB, Mark and Adrian for hanging back when my legs lost the will to live on the not too challenging climbs. If anything the ride has re-awakend my intent to do as I used to do: a 100km ride every weekend.
Thanks for the organisation Simon. It was a great night out. It might not have appealed to the lasses parading around York but it was right up my street.
I'm actively considering making the effort to travel down for a London based ride. The flatter the better. Southend, I've been told, is the flattest of the bunch.
The ride into Hull was good. A moment of intense temptation occurred when I was brought to a halt outside a butchers and pie shop by a red light. Charlie be might have seen a flicker of indecision cross my face but the lure of a full english was greater and the moment passed quickly.
It was good being able to match faces with CC identities. Thanks to CharlieB, Mark and Adrian for hanging back when my legs lost the will to live on the not too challenging climbs. If anything the ride has re-awakend my intent to do as I used to do: a 100km ride every weekend.
Thanks for the organisation Simon. It was a great night out. It might not have appealed to the lasses parading around York but it was right up my street.
I'm actively considering making the effort to travel down for a London based ride. The flatter the better. Southend, I've been told, is the flattest of the bunch.
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
Do Whitstable Vernon - I can ride it on s/speed, ergo you will find it a 'tap-in'. The advantage of Whitstable is that one can get a pint at 08:00-ish and the day begins in earnest. Whitstable Station is accessible from all directions, luckily, and should you wish to ride back into town via Shooters Hill, that too can be arranged! Bike, bimble, beer. Whitstable is the root of all frivolity. Andy's Café midway is a sanctum of sensibility. The plus factor for Whitstable is the enlightenment from the populace as the peloton wends its way through the East of Great Wen - priceless! 
ceepeebee
Veteran
- Location
- Some imaginary Flanders
Whitstable was my first fnrttc last year, and it's still my favourite. The end point is just blooming marvellous, and now I have got some miles under my belt, eminently doable.
vernon
Harder than Ronnie Pickering
- Location
- Meanwood, Leeds
Do Whitstable Vernon - I can ride it on s/speed, ergo you will find it a 'tap-in'. The advantage of Whitstable is that one can get a pint at 08:00-ish and the day begins in earnest. Whitstable Station is accessible from all directions, luckily, and should you wish to ride back into town via Shooters Hill, that too can be arranged! Bike, bimble, beer. Whitstable is the root of all frivolity. Andy's Café midway is a sanctum of sensibility. The plus factor for Whitstable is the enlightenment from the populace as the peloton wends its way through the East of Great Wen - priceless!
I'm not straying from Yorkshire and County Durham for the rest of this year's cycling activities having booked out some 100km Audax mesh and DIY rides. I will be doing some logistical dry runs to map out getting to London and back from the coast over the coming months.
I'll be with you in spirit this year and physically with you in the new year though not literally.
craigwend
Grimpeur des terrains plats
some sleep deprived thoughts post ride -
Again thank you to one & all
& to all the fab new people i met 
Also worth a look for the post ride banter
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=4a8nd4i13jibm8ip0s02t7alt7&topic=48412.180
PS - Shaun dont forget https://www.cyclechat.net/
- how do you lot do the regular sleep deprivation? I've still not recovered - not helped when I got home by three telephone calls & to top it off, the wonderful church of jehova knocking on the door to discuss 'the truth in the world today' - I pilotely pointed out 'the truth' - that they had just woke me up & then shut the door on them
- MsCharly - I hope my children end up with her spirit, smile & lust for life
, (not moaning about a two mile ride at center parcs - bah 8 years olds nowadays! the 4 year old is not so bad) nice mercian too! - weather - all the sothern softies mainly wore just cycling tees or long sleeves - were as this 'hardy notherner'
wore two pair of socks, two bib-shorts, base layer, cycling top , fleece long sleeve & when it rain'd an e-vent jacket 
perhaps I was swopped at birth with a child from a hotter country? - Humber Bridge - having grown up with it I forget how impressive it is - growing up a few miles away it is just something that was there, the ride helps put it in perspective
- Humber Bridge # 2 - the fabolous facts about the humber bridge quiz - how many mm's are the towers apart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Bridge - sureal moment - cycling along with dellzeqq whilst he calculated the formula to see if the 'tourist information' was correct
- Hulls architecture sadly a throwback to WWII - (Hull was the most severely bombed British city or town apart from London during the Second World War, with 86,715 buildings damaged and 95 percent of houses damaged or destroyed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_Blitz) this then coupled with many years of useless labour councils with no forward thinking e.g. why have a marina with no conection to the town centre? why have a major road cut through it's centre... (I used to live with student architects)
- Del's plan for cycling down Clice Sullivan Way* - Google it* with the word 'accident' and get - 1,480,000 hits : which we may have done!
- Leading the 'lead out train' from Hezzle to Hull City centre - though sadly being Renshaw to Admin's - Cavendish - though I suspect 'Cav' does not charge the last 100m for a BIG BREAKFAST
- Museum's worth a look if your there http://realcycling.blogspot.com/2009/09/hulls-bike-museum-shows-how-its-all.html
- my two longest rides, two years in a row, this year 82ish (computer fell asleep at one point) & last years 120, though I forgot how cold & wet it was last year- till shaun reminded me
Again thank you to one & all
& to all the fab new people i met Also worth a look for the post ride banter
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=4a8nd4i13jibm8ip0s02t7alt7&topic=48412.180
PS - Shaun dont forget https://www.cyclechat.net/
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