England : Greater Manchester M'cr - Southport - M'cr Night Ride

[Pumpkin the robot]

I expect I was first home, but only because I had to get a taxi from St Helens when my chain snapped. I was struggling after we left Southport and middleagedcyclist stayed with me and the rest of the group carried on at their pace (thanks for staying with me Darrell, very much appreciated) The weather was as good as we could have hoped for, it was cold, but once we were moving it was ok.

 

[tubbycyclist]

Sorry to hear that. We landed at Victoria at 0845 - saw the group in the distance near the East Lancs but would have been a difficult chase to catch up

 

[middleagecyclist]

Well. That was interesting.

Had a great night guys. Sorry we had a closed, fenced off road. Still getting the mud out of my cleats from the field! Shame we lost two at S'port to make thier own way back but understandable. The rest of us set off at a good lick but Martin found the pace a bit much (no surprise. first century. at night. very cold) and wanted to go back alone. We split the group again and I stayed with Martin. Easy for everyone else to find the way back to Mcr as we were only a few miles from the A570 i thought. I really hope you all got back OK? The directions I gave we as per the road map but I found the priorities were different when I followed you and there should have been an extra left turn. I did ring Cheshire Celt and Markymark but to no avail. My apologies. When Martin and I got to the A580 we stopped for a drink and as we set off his chain snapped and he sensibly decided to ring for a taxi. So I cycled the last 20 odd miles by myself. Not prepared to tackle the A580 alone, I had to use the crap, crap cycle farcilities - 8-10 mph average moving speed, raised kerbs, mud, slime, puddles, glass, leaves+++, lots of give ways. Bike looks like it's been sprayed with mud and how I didn't pick up a p******e I don't know!

Anyway, who's organising the next ride?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Cheers darrell. Big thanks for riding at my pace tubbycyclist, very much appreciated. 120 miles on an mtb with slicks, I'm quite chuffed, but a road bike next time!

 

[Cheshire Celt]

Great night out and climbing two six foot fences just added to the fun

 

[Markymark13]

Was a great night out. Bit of an adventure as well. Thanks for organising it Darrell. Looking forwards to the next one!

 

[Cheshire Celt]

Hi mark big respect to you mate for getting me home the last 15 miles been on pain killers all day I owe you a beer

 

[Markymark13]

Hi mark big respect to you mate for getting me home the last 15 miles been on pain killers all day I owe you a beer

No problems mate, wouldn't have liked anyone riding alone down that road. Don't know how you managed a drive after all that, I couldn't keep my eyes open when I got home.

 

[Cheshire Celt]

The drive home was bad m8 but I still cleaned my bike before I went to bed lol

Go on Facebook and look for ssg Oldham cycling club. And join plenty going on over the winter

 

[Markymark13]

That's good going! I only managed to get mine done last night in the end.

Will take a look now, see whats going on cheers.

 

[mcshroom]

Glad everyone enjoyed it.

What always amazes me, however wet, cold or windy the ride is, or whatever detours are made they are always enjoyable. The non-cycling public really don't know what they are missing!

 

[Cheshire Celt]

Hi mark the boy Chris that was on the tri ban 3 had it stolen today. From inside the Manchester velodrome while he had a coffee after a ride

 

[Markymark13]

Hi mark the boy Chris that was on the tri ban 3 had it stolen today. From inside the Manchester velodrome while he had a coffee after a ride

That's disgraceful, especially in a cycling venue. Cant believe that. Just shows that nowhere is safe :-(

 

[middleagecyclist]

Hi mark the boy Chris that was on the tri ban 3 had it stolen today. From inside the Manchester velodrome while he had a coffee after a ride

That's a bastard. Hope he gets sorted with something else soon.

 

[middleagecyclist]

Reflecting on the Ride

I had a great time planning and doing the ride. Thanks to all who came. It was my first time organising a group ride so it was certainly a learning experience.

Good things:

• Meeting at the train station - easy to find, park cars, shelter, get drinks, etc.
• Having the hills at the start.
• Knowing we could sit inside at McDonalds.
• Providing a route sheet and contact info (made me feel better anyway).

Things to do better:

• If not able to ride all the route in advance at least check for road closures.
• Be suspicious of short cuts on the map - particularly if it forms part of the National Cycle Network.
• Don't route along fast A roads/dual carriageways/wannabee motorways. Even if it is early on a weekend day they are never nice places.

I wanted to do this ride after doing the recent BHF Mcr-Blackpool night ride and return as I found it fun. Also, I wanted to practice more night riding as preparation for long audax rides which will inevitably include some night hours. So some things I learnt about my own kit:

• Clothing choice effective.
• Planning a route on Bikehike and loading to the Edge 705 as a GPXX works well and is relatively painless to do.
• My new Carradice Super C Audax saddlebag with Bagman 2 is just about perfect for me.
• A Hope Vision 1 (2013) makes a great night riding light but I miss the ease of dynamo lighting. The HV will be a back up.
• A bike with guards is better for all weathers (I knew this anyway!).
• I want a triple for the big hills at the end of a 300 km ride.
• A Brooks is not essential.
• CO2 is much easier than pumping
• Carry some chain links and tool.
• Get a cheap, simple mobile and ditch the smartphone.

The decision to get a dedicated audax/fast all weather tourer is now even more firmly made - Paul Hewitt here I come. I will also splash out on a dynamo hub (Shimano) and front light (B&M Luxos) as well. I will use the Edge 705 for navigation.

Just need the Cycle to Work chap to open the next order window now...