Official CycleChat Jersey's Relay - Journal

jersey handover

meet up with fnaar and graham56 at newcastle this morning 10-30ish.. took handover pic then we had a rideover the milennium bridge and graham with his excellent local knowledge lead us south of the river on the ncn14 to the pedestrian tunnel..then back to newcastle on ncn72 and part of hadrian cycleway was amost excellent day out... thanks to graham and fnaar.

LtoR graham56-fnaar-theloafer

Started off as a foggy morning in Northumberland, and I needed lights on as I headed towards Newcastle. Ended up nice 'n' sunny, though. As Loafer said, nice ride heading east along south bank of Tyne, to cyclist/pedestrian tunnel. As Loafer's pic shows (see below) it was used by 20,000 people a day at one time... blimey... Headed beack west along north bank of Tyne to start point at Millennium Bridge (the blinking eye one). Good to meet Graham56 (again) and The Loafer... cheers fellas!

1st Pic: Graham 56 and the Loafer
2nd Pic: Fnaar and Graham 56
3rd Pic: the tunnel

Onwards to Scotchland

The jersey had languished in my wardrobe for long enough, and so the day came for it to continue on its journey north. It was warm enough for me to wear my short-sleeved Cycle Chat jersey as I headed out from home, passing through some of Northumberland’s finest scenery, and through or past places with such wonderful names as Dyke Neuk, Netherwitton, Nunnykirk, Snitter, Lorbottle, Callaly, Weetwood and Doddington. One wrong turn added half an hour to my journey, but I was soon back on track, and the “rolling” scenery provided enough entertainment and hilly challenge.
Just out of Doddington, now heading north-west towards the border and Coldstream itself, a call from behind alerted me to Graham56, who’d been at work that morning, got a lift some of the way, then caught me up; and so we headed on, through Fenton and Milfield. Milfield is eight miles from Coldstream, and there’s a bit of a climb before you roll down towards the Tweed. We stopped to put on waterproof tops, and it was at this point that the gathering dark clouds threw their worst at us; I can only describe that last section as bloody hard work, with sideways wind and sideways rain. We arrived at Coldstream freezing cold and very wet, and headed for a caff to warm up. The caff was hosting a kids’ birthday party (either that, or it doubled as a nursery) and the much-needed tea was a while coming!
I checked into my hotel (more on this later) and put on something warmer. A quick phone call to Hairy Jock later, and we met (also Mrs HJ and Scoosh) by the bridge over the Tweed; HJ arrived in kilt, which was a nice touch (if you see what I mean!)
After the handover and photo-opportunity on the bridge, we said goodbye to Graham (who was heading off home) and I arranged to meet the others later for dinner. My hotel was a typically British vaguely grubby place, with a lingering smell of feet, and ominously, a board outside proclaimed that evening’s “disco party” in the public bar… at dinner, the others told me of their idyllic B&B, with shoes drying by the Aga, bowls of sweets lying around, rose petals drifting through the air, piped easy-listening music and tame baby rabbits to sleep in your slippers and keep them warm (I may have jazzed up the details here, but it sounded a lot nicer than my place )
Dinner was good (Scrumpy Pork, Moroccan Chicken, you know, typical Scottish fare), and it was good to meet/have a chat with people who had hitherto been just names on a forum.
Back to the hotel… disco party in full-swing below, till about 1am, so not the best night’s kip. It was sort of countered by possibly the biggest fry-up breakfast I’ve ever had. I have a feeling I was the only guest… Journey home was good, weather was actually sunny and warmish most of the way (two brief rain showers) and I took it easy, as I was a bit knackered.
Mrs HJ was official photographer for the event, so HJ will no doubt provide some pics, but I can offer you this fibreglass cow at Doddington, and this humpty-back bridge at Weetwood.

Personally i would have said "absolutely numb and effing soaked,with enough water in my shoes to float a carrier". Still, i enjoyed the ride and better still the company.

Well so far I have managed to write a blog post of the first part of our bimble in the Borders to pick up The Jersey. So it is time to give a summary of the first part here.

Three of us, Skoosh, Mrs HJ and my self, set out with some little trepidation from Edinburgh. We had been watching the weather forecasts all week and knew there was supposed to be an area of high pressure moving in, but would it arrive in time? Well, it didn't. As we set out the wind seemed fairly benign, a light westerly. We headed off through Holyrood Park along the NCN 1 route south, which we left just before Whitecraigs and headed off across country towards Gifford, where we planned to make a cake stop.



As we approached East Saltoun, a car with an amber flashing light came the other way, being chased down by a crowd of roadies.



This turned out to be the Musselburgh RCC British Eagle 62 mile road race, which had just started from East Saltoun.

This early part of the ride was easy going and we were making good progress, so we dodged round Gifford and headed for the Lammermuir Hills without the cake stop. As we climbed above Danskine, we started to notice that the wind was somewhat stronger that we had been led to expect, over 20mph gusting over 40 mph. We stopped for a bite of lunch before tackling the first big climb of the day up Wanside Rig, a mere 17% gradient. Unfortunately on the steepest part of the climb the road turns westerly, straight into the wind, and we were all forced to stop. Even so we decided to stick with the plan and take the high route, so began a titanic battle with the elements.



The Lammermuir Hills might only be 500 m high, but there is a good reason why they are popular with developers of wind farms, as we were about to find out. As we cycled across the tops, we had to keep to the middle of the road, so as not to be blown off the side in the gusts. After crossing Herd’s Hill, the road drops on a 15% gradient. I set off at speed, half way down I was travelling at over 50 Km/h (>30 mph), but had the disconcerting experience of being hit by a gust of wind which reduced my forward speed to 10 Km/h!

Having successfully crossed the Heights unscathed, we dropped down into Longformacus, here we caught up with a weather front, also slowly making its way south. At first I thought it was just a passing shower, but the time we made Duns it was seriously heavy rain. Fortunately the front managed to get away from us a few Km south of Duns, and we mostly dried out again over the remaining 15 undulating Km to Coldstream, with only our shoes still wet.

Having arrived in Coldstream, we booked into our B&B, the very cycle friendly Haymount House. We were given the use of a garage to store our bikes, the landlady offered to dry our wet gear on the Aga in the kitchen, gave us slippers to wear in the house so we could dry our shoes and would have lit the fire in the guest lounge if we had wanted, typical Scottish hospitality. I tried to phone Fnaar who we had come to meet, only to find I had missed a digit when storing the number in my mobile phone. Fortunately two minutes later he phoned me to say that he and Graham56 were ready to meet us at the bridge and hand over the relay jersey.



So after a cup of tea (and some home baking, sweeties, etc...) we set off again for the bridge. There, standing mid way over the River Tweed, on the border between Scotland and England, the Jersey was handed over. We then went to the “Welcome to Scotland” sign (there are no Welcome to England signs) for some more photos, agreed to meet Fnaar for dinner (Graham56 having pedalled off back towards Newcastle), and returned to the B&B for a long hot bath to sooth the aching muscles, before dinner…



A map of the route we took can be found here,

and the Stats are:

• Distance cycled - 86.3 Km
• Time spent riding - 04:35:24
• Max Speed - 55.7 Km/h
• Ave Speed - 18.8 KM/h
• Vertical climb - ca. 930 m

From the border to Edinburgh

Having successfully picked up the CycleChat Relay Jersey the day before and had a good nights sleep, we rose to a splendidly sunny day. After a hearty breakfast we set off from Coldstream towards Edinburgh, as the weather showed signs of changing with clouds bubbling up and the wind in the east. We jinxed our way along a sequence of side roads to Duns, this was pleasant easy cycling. The Scottish Borders are often described as being a cycling paradise (mostly by the Tourist Board) due to the number of quiet wee roads. We were surprised by the number of big houses about, it seemed that everywhere you looked there was a castle here and a mansion there. Ok, so that maybe a wee bit of an exaggeration, but it was obvious there was a lot of old money about.

From Duns we swung East along the A6112, which was quiet for an A road, here again the cycling was easy. After a couple of Km we turned off north onto the B6365 and left the traffic behind. Until this point we had been gently climbing, but the road now turned downhill, which was a wee bit disconcerting as we knew that there was a lot of climbing ahead. Still, there was nothing to do but enjoy the ride, so off we went and sure enough after a couple Km, at Milburn Bridge, the road started to go up again. The hill wasn’t steep but it was long climbing 100m over 2Km. Then another short downhill to Ellemford Bridge, here the road turns and follows the Whiteadder Water up stream. Passing Cranshaws, we lamented the fact that the tea rooms there have closed, as there was no chance for a cake stop before the big climb. At this stage we were climbing but it was gentle easy stuff.



As we approached the dam wall of the Whiteadder Reservoir, we prepared for the short steep climb up the Hungry Snout. This is then followed by a slightly shorter but equally steep drop down the other side. Then there was a gentle pedal along side the Whiteadder Reservoir, contemplating the big climb up to the top of Wanside Rig. Again this wasn’t a steep climb but a long one, gaining 190m in 3.5Km. I had come down it a couple of weeks before reaching a top speed of 69.4Km/h (43 mph in old money) and was fully aware that I wasn’t going to be doing anything like that speed on the way up. Ominously there were dark clouds gathering ahead, we had seen the odd rain shower in the distance, but so far nothing had hit us. So before starting the climb in earnest I stopped and put on a waterproof jacket, then about half way up I had to stop again and take it off again as I getting to hot. As I reached the top, the storm finally burst, throwing rain and hail at us, so there was a scramble to put waterproofs back on again.



The hill conquered, we were back on the road we had come on the way out, and we headed down the hill we had struggled up the day before. This hill is unfinished business and I heard Skoosh shout “I’ll be back”, just like the Styrian Quercus. The road being newly wet and there being a sharp bend half way down, no speed records were set. We then headed straight for Gifford, taking in the Danskine dip along the way, this is 17% downhill followed sharply by a 17% uphill, which is much more fun going north. Arriving in Gifford we took the opportunity for a cake stop at “Love Coffee and Food”.



Try as hard as we could, we couldn’t quite manage to finish the chocolate cake (and we did try hard), it was very nice. Talking to the owners of the café, they told us that cyclists were their favourite customers, as they were always the happiest people. Skoosh put forward a theory that cyclists, when they reach a cake stop, are on an endorphin high and therefore happier than the average member of the population. Cake stop over, we pushed on to Edinburgh following the mixture of wee roads and off road paths we had used on the way out. Then before the parting of ways, we had one last photo stop in Holyrood Park to celebrate the arrival of the Relay Jersey in Auld Reekie, the Athens of the North.



A route map of the journey is here

The stats:

• Distance cycled - 89.9 Km
• Time spent riding - 04:26:48
• Max Speed – 56.0 Km/h
• Ave Speed - 20.2 Km/h
• Vertical climb - ca. 860 m

So there we have it, the Relay Jersey cycled all the way, with none of that take the bikes in a car and go for a pootle round a country park for a few photos, malarkey. Not that anyone here would be wimpy enough to engage in that sort of behaviour would they?

The southern jersey has started its travels again , after languishing on my kitchen work surface; its been sitting there since last year when I picked it up from The Doctor.

I passed the jersey to stevevw yesterday evening.

There are no pictures; as neither of us cycled to the exchange and I, at least, was embarrassed not to have done , the exchange was hence conducted clandestinely, under the cover of darkness, in stealth mode.

Stevevw is hoping to pass it on at the FNRttC this evening. Perhaps he will feel more at ease as he will, at least, be on the bike.

SteveVW did bring it along with him and passed it onto me at the halfway stop on the FNRttc.

It was signed by SteveVW, myself, Sigsilverprinter, Redflightuk and Origamist. I'm afraid I forgot to take any pics as I was too busy eating and trying to warm up.

I carried it the rest of the way to Brighton, before offloading passing it on to arallsopp. Hopefully he will be able to pass it on the next CC member sometime soon, any excuse for a ride

In the space of one night the number of signatures must have tripled. We've got some catching up to do on the northern one.

A couple of pictures of the hand over to Redjedi. As you can see my camra was very wet by this stage.

I have the jersey. As Jedi says, the handover was just after dawn, at the end of a very wet Friday Night Ride to the coast. I got home, fell asleep and *only just* rescued it from the wash. Phew... Almost lost the signatures!

Wife was feeling sorry for me so decided to wash my kit for today's commute. She couldn't understand why anyone would be out on a bike, on a night like that, with a long sleeved jersey, without wearing it.

On the plus side, she evidently believes us all to be extremely fresh smelling.

Home after an impromptou 'night ride' of small and wet proportions. Cold fingers and toes. I am now the relay person (read muppet) with The London Jersey. Will write the proper ride report soon, things to remember:

Do not shred jersey in paper shredder
Remember to take photos when you chuck it in the Thames -bye bye Jersey!
TheDoctor will miss his bike lock more than my bike and tdr1nka's bike in a theft attempt.

Attendees of jersey relay:
Arallsopp
TheDoctor
tdr1nka
Mista Preston
ttcycle

Will write more soon..honest this isn't the mad ramblings of a sleep deprived fool it will all makes sense!

Night all!

Ladies and gentlemen, after multiple aborted attempts, the jersey has been passed.

L to R: Mista Preston, Tdr1nka, ttcycle, TheDoctor.
Holding the camera but insisting one of them take ownership of the jersey: Me.

Despite darkness, delays, rains, peculiars of SE London, chills and clearly crazy peds, the evening was a startling success. I no longer have the jersey. All is well.


Acknowledging the onerous responsibilities of jersey signing, Grace drops to one knee.

20 odd miles, in the rain, and all very much worth it. So nice to see you all again.

Plus, the FNRttC crew are evidently doing something right, as a passing pedestrian asked "are you off to Brighton?" Henceforth, all groups of 3 or more cyclists meeting in the dark MUST target the coast. We have a reputation to maintain.

Brain cells engaged (well sort of..) let's write this up:

There were last minute plans made to pass on the jersey as arallsopp was feeling the pressure and was troubled by the weighty package in his care. The strategy of passing the jersey to andy the 'mile muncher' hadn't been successful, even after a desperate handover attempt on one of the Bromley Massive Sunday rides there was no person insane enough to take the jersey from Andy's sweating and nervous hands (see 'your ride today' for a report from ianrauk)- shame on you lot!! PMs flew from party to party and a last minute dash out plan was made for Thursday night on Wednesday.

Was a bit delayed coming out so was a bit late - felt a bit guilty as the rain was coming down and it was cold. Took the left out of the aerterial road and somehow went the opposite side of where I needed to be, made a call and turned round and pelted it down the road. Got off for the last bit and pushed the bike on the pavement (attempting to be good). A woman with her dog just standing on the corner of the street in the rain asked me as I pushed the bike past if we were heading out to Brighton and I said no we're just off for a ride- this made me chuckle! Finally got there to meet a slightly wet looking bunch which comprised of Arallsopp, Mista Preston, tdr1nka and TheDoctor. A round of hellos and handshakes later and recounting of the infamy/reputation of a FNRttC, we set off towards Greenwich with tdr1nka leading the way with that insanely bright red rear light blinking away. The woman asked Tdr1nka as he walked towards the main road again if we were going to Brighton.

Came through Peckham and wended our way through an array of little side streets getting rained on. Had some leisurely chats and catch ups - talked to Arallsopp about photography and his work at the moment. Found out about TheDoctor's amazingly unusual job and soon enough we were in Greenwich. Rode out up to the see the Thames and rumbled along the footpath, there was quite an impressive view of Canary Wharf lit up like a financial monster with a backdrop of syruppy treacle coloured sky without a hint of cloud. I'm a bit lax with photos -oh well.

The jersey was handed over - there was no ceremony, no torches, no bodyguards at the attempted audience rushing of CCers (who am I kidding?!) and that was it- it was too wet to hang around getting a proper handover picture at risk of getting the jersey too wet; a few furtive photos were taken by Andy - as 'proof' that the jersey had moved on. It's alright, you can sleep at night now. I joked that I'd lose the jersey down the Thames but would remember to take a photo of it- apparently the jersey has had a history in it's two yearish existence of being misplaced and lost-ahem! tdr1nka said that two years ago he was in the same spot with the jersey- it hasn't made it very far then! We've been slacking! However, there's a nice feel of completion there for the jersey to 'come home' as some would say. A few stories were told about stolen bikes on CC rides, TheDoctor still feeling the pain and tdr1nka musing over his stolen bike.

As it was wet, cold and we were getting depressed thinking of the ones that got away, we headed on. Mista Preston and Arallsopp made their way home as they had far to go and families waiting. tdr1nka, TheDoctor and myself ambled on towards the Cutty Sark Pub near the Thames Barrier. Cycled along and saw the high tide - missing the beach that tdr1nka told me about. Cycled along some rails and cobbles - pretending we were in bone shaking Roubaix territory.

Got to the pub for a swift one, locked up the bikes outside and TheDoctor took his Brompton in with him. There was talk of 'accidentally' shredding the jersey in a shredder - tdr1nka said that the zipper really messes up the machine- it sounds like he's had experience of this before...He got up to check the bikes outside and TheDoctor mumbled something about missing his lock more than the bikes if they were stolen. CC is indeed a friendly place.

Well it was getting late so we made our move to head home. I peeled off on Jamaica Road and went through Bermondsey- the road I needed was closed so I had a bit of detour but got home in the end like a drowed rat but glad to have been on the bike.

I appear to be "in possession" of the Northern Relay Jersey now, attempted to take a handover photo, but the guys were too scared to touch it again, in case they were left with it .

TechMech brought the jersey south from Perth to Loch Leven, where I signed it with Scook and HJ as witnesses . Loch Leven's Larder is a great place for CC Ecosse meetings, plenty of space if you arrive early, no need to reserve tables, and lovely food and cakes!

The return journey to Edinburgh was "interesting", HJ and I thought we'd skirted past the worst of the "isolated showers" near Kinross, but another one caught up with us, and stayed with us until Crossgates, with flooded roads . On leaving Crossgates, it was like somebody had turned a tap off, and the roads were completely dry until Inverkeithing. We managed to create sizeable puddles when wringing out our socks, but the jersey stayed dry, safely tucked away, phew!


So who wants it next?

There are a few Edinburghers (old and new) who didn't get a chance when it first arrived here a year ago, + the Winchburgh & western contingent ... any offers? It didn't make any progress north of Perth, so maybe we should try and send it west ...

T

Oops, forgot to report ... the Northern Jersey is on the road again ...

Mcshroom made a heroic effort to collect it, all the way from Cumbria .
The evidence of the signing is here, photo courtesy of Magnatom during the legendary Pedal for Cake ride .
The Jersey also acquired viniga's sinature .
(other witnesses: HLaB, Scoosh, Seamab, HJ)
I'll nudge Mcshroom, hope he will be along shortly to tell his story .

T

Er yeah soon

Yes I am now the proud custodian of a shiny CC relay jersey, which has now been repatriated to England but I think it's first visit to Cumbria. I'm sorry the stuff below is going to look very like the Pedal for Cake write up but it was the PfC ride

The ride started at a sensible 8.30, but unfortunately that was north of Glasgow, so I started with a drive beginning just after 5am (which doesn't only exist on FNRttCs apparently) and driving through the heavy rain on the way up I was getting worried, but by the time I made it to Bishopbriggs it was cloudy but dry.


After confusing the security guard at Morrisons by standing outside waiting for it to open I met up with magnatom and Viniga at the station and after some talk about where Mad Doug Biker was and whether the GPSs were set we set off. The riding was good and very quickly I realised it was also a bit faster than I was used to. We kept a decent pace on flats and downhills (I kept them waiting on uphills - must work on speed up them) and except for discovering that GPSs are no substitute for actually knowing where you are going it was a pleasant ride mainly in nice countryside and sometimes with a strong if blustery tailwind.


We met Scooch in Avonbridge and moved on to Linlithgow where I was very patiently guided through the town centre traffic by Scooch and while magnatom and Viniga set off to meet up with Seamab and Sleekitcollie. We caught up a little later and stood opposite the pub while Sleekitcollie explained his accident and how the injuries were healing.


After Linlithgow we soon met up with HLaB coming the other way and he, Seamab, Viniga and magnatom promptly left me behind at the next incline, so I didn't see the acrobatics display just wondered why they were all sat in the bushes at the side of the road as I turned up. Apparently there is a bit of competition for injuring themselves on these rides, and trying to go one better than Sleekitcollie who managed to crash going downhill, Seamab, HLaB and magnatom decided to have a crash going uphill. Luckily the bikes and riders were in a condition to carry on so we rode on to Edinburgh where we met up with HJ and Telemark who treated us to some very nice cake and soup and tea (in some cases electrolyte loaded )


It was at this point that I found out about the CC Jersey, which I had somehow managed to miss completely on the forum :s. It was signed by Viniga and myself and as I was heading back on the train I agreed to look after the jersey, which is now safely stored on a shelf in my flat.


It was great to meet up with everyone , and I hope to get back up to Scotland again soon. There's far more about this ride (including pictures of the cakes!) on this thread



As for the next leg of the journey, there's a few people in the Cumbria/Northumberland/Lancashire who aren't yet on the shirt - so who wants it?

OMG!

Tynan and the rather dishy (and sadly spoken for) TTcycle have finally met over a nice coffee and cake, me a satisfactory but modest slice of yoghurt and lemon cake, TT a huge slab of banana bread that I inexplicably missed

jersey handed over and Tynan now scanning the horizon for anyone left in the SE of England that hasn't already had and signed this one, I have dim recollections of someone to the north of me and a slightly grand expedition to deep Essex to meet Auntie Helen

a shoddy picture well taken by a young lady from the coffee counter but degraded by my battered and grubby phone, those seats and table we had were excellent btw

Bad form, truly bad form- firstly for having the London jersey for over a year but i think under 1year 6 months and secondly for shirking an actual ride to hand it on. Tynan's posted in discussion but i think his post will be moved here eventually which shows a picture of us handing over the jersey. I could describe my mundane journey on the train, passing station after station but to be honest I think that would kill things a little! Yes, I know, I am a excuse for a cyclist but what the hell riding with a cold and my terrible immunityis only asking for trouble!

The offer of tea and cake really did whet the appetite and got out and off - Tynan and myself were very impressed with the plush 'thrones' in the cafe that were oddly vacant (maybe someone had wet themselves in the chairs unbeknown to us), coffee and cakes - a chat about life in general (mine helter skelter - Tynan's busy one with kids and wife) and of course bikes then we were off!

Dishy..hahah thanks!lol
Tynan- nice to meet you mate - thoroughly pleasant chap and no running over of peds at all whilst I was with him hope to see you on an actual ride soon!

In my defence, I have gotten a healthy number of signatures onto the jersey since it's been in my posession- it just hasn't been taken up by any willing forummer but finally, it has gone and has been taken up so up to you folks to get it moving again.

EDIT - I've had it for just under a year- Now I don't feel so bad!

and now, after lurking under my computer table for seven months, it went to Dunwich with me and was handed over to 4F so is somewhere up in Suffolk

i ask that the circumstances of us both being rather weary and steeling ourselves to ride to Ipswich in the early morning be taken into consideration regarding no photo, my phone had also retired hurt after somehow being soaked with sweat