The 2015 Night Ride thread

[User10571]

I'm going to ramble, so humour me.

Even the things that appear beautifully casual (such as the FNRttC) will often have been orchestrated. However, it seems to me the trick is not to overthink things otherwise perspective can be lost. I'd hate it if that happened to the FNRttC and we lost the essence of the ride. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done properly. It should.

The FNRttC means different things to different people, and trying to capture that in a meaningful way for all of us through some kind of vision will be really challenging, if not impossible. I'd prefer it to remain a framework within which we all take our various and different meaning - whether we be hard-core regulars, or complete newbies.

@Trickedem I'm very happy to help with a Whitstable ride, and agree with @mmmmartin that we should name a date and get on with it, in tried and tested style.

The trick, IME experience, of banging these out, in the delightful company of the likes of DZ, Adrian, Adam and a few choice others, is to make it look like it has not been overthought.
The fact remains that most of the Friday Night rides anyone has been on, have been overthought to within an inch of their lives.
Which, I think, accounts for their success.

 

[rb58]

The trick, IME experience, of banging these out, in the delightful company of the likes of DZ, Adrian, Adam and a few choice others, is to make it look like it has not been overthought.
The fact remains that most of the Friday Night rides anyone has been on, have been overthought to within an inch of their lives.
Which, I think, accounts for their success.

Completely agree. I was referring not to the organisation of the ride, but their purpose.

 

[StuAff]

The trick, IME experience, of banging these out, in the delightful company of the likes of DZ, Adrian, Adam and a few choice others, is to make it look like it has not been overthought.
The fact remains that most of the Friday Night rides anyone has been on, have been overthought to within an inch of their lives.
Which, I think, accounts for their success.

I can only agree. For the IOW run I did two recces (one solo day, night in the company of Adam), plus needed to play close attention to road closures etc which could have meant last minute changes.

 

[User10571]

So what we need is one person to over think each one, so the rest of us can pretend it just occurs.

No.
I think it has been shown to take more than one person to over think.
The combined effort of several others (yourself included) has helped.
The remainder don't need to know.

 

[Trickedem]

Ok, after some offline discussion, we are going to claim 1st May for the Whitstable night ride. I will start a separate thread.

 

[mmmmartin]

Hurrah!
Am v keen to help this one and make it a success

 

[mmmmartin]

Um - a late thought gallops into my head......
Is the lovely @swarm_catcher going to want this for the really rather lovely Brussels to Ostend ride?
The date is fixed by her mum's birthday if I remember correctly.
The ride is wonderful and ought to be supported.

 

[DancingDad]

I'm a relative newbie, joining my first FNR just a year ago (to Southend, when we encountered that light shower along the way). After racking up a mere seven or eight rides since then, I was pretty dismayed when I discovered that next year's calendar was uncertain – though I certainly don't blame Simon for wanting a break. As a newcomer I may not know the gang so well and have not joined the conversation here before either but I've enjoyed the atmosphere on the rides as well as the routes taken, the care taken and the views taken in with the dawn. Each ride has been something to plan for and look forward to. I'd like to continue in the same vein next year too. I have no experience of planning or organising a ride but I'm more than happy to contribute in any way I can. And I do enjoy looking out across the sea while eating my breakfast bangers but I'll settle for anywhere that's congenial and involves a nice route. Onward and upward (but not too much upward and a bit of downward is also nice).

 

[ianmac62]

What about Reading to Northampton, @AKA Bob, @ianmac62 ?

I've been so busy hitting the "like" button at so many thoughtful contributions to this thread that I'd forgotten @redfalo's question.

Reading to Northampton would be very pleasant. I certainly know the roads from Aylesbury to Northampton; and doing a recce of that half would be a pleasure.

There would be no spires to aim for - Northampton is decidedly a town and not a city - but the town furthest from the sea in England (now there's a theme reversal) has a "lighthouse" which, at over 125 metres in height and overlooking both the football and rugby grounds, we would see through the early dawn.

There is a Wetherspoons in the town centre, The Cordwainer (shoemaker), with breakfasts from 8.00 a.m. with fast service, free coffee refills, and large toilets. It is near the Guildhall (the masterpiece of E W Godwin) and 78 Derngate (the only house in England with an interior by Charles Rennie Macintosh).

There are three trains an hour on Saturday mornings to Euston. Cycles are carried without the need for reservations.

 

[RhythMick]

That wouldn't tick the inclusivity box.

What would?

I've not done any of the FNRs so I've nothing to base it on except my desire to increase the number of imperial centuries I've done (currently 2 including the Exmouth Exodus). Overnight seems a good time to do them as it's pointless getting to the destination to easily and worrying around for a train. Or for a cafe to open.

That said I'm up for whatever. I liked the EE and like group riding.

 

[RhythMick]

May 1? Get it the diary now?
Thoughts?

Think May 1st seems to have been reserved for another ride but I wonder if that matters? How many people doing the other (southern) ride would also have wanted to head to Yorkshire?

So yeah I'm up for an overnight ride May 1st weekend. What distance?

 

[rvw]

May 1? Get it the diary now?
Thoughts?

I'd be disappointed as we'll be unavailable that weekend (for a work do for @srw so we shan't be able to get out of it) and I missed the last one. But if that's when suits most, so be it!

 

[User482]

That said I'm up for whatever. I liked the EE and like group riding.

I like the Exmouth Exodus too, but I think it's a different sort of ride to the FNRttC - it's more of an audax really with participants expected to find their own way from a route sheet, and definitely not a group ride. And the distance is challenging - by the time I'd ridden to the start, done the ride, and ridden back to the station in Exeter, I had nearly 140 miles on the clock, which is twice as far as the Fridays rides. I suggest the distances are about right as they are - those fancying some serious mileage have the option of SMRbtH...

 

[frank9755]

With one controlling mind behind the enterprise, the dates are a take it or leave it thing. It has now become a matter of negotiation, which changes stuff. I suggest that, as we don't really need to be setting dates in September for next year, people who are volunteering to organise rides or have any other interest, get together on Saturday morning 8 November to discuss it in person over a couple of slaggs.

I'll definitely come along for the beer, but I reckon you are on to a loser.

If people are organising things, that includes picking the date. So I suspect that, in the absence of the benign dictator, a system of people just fixing things up and announcing them, in the manner of the Whitstable crew, is more likely to prevail than an attempt by one of us mere mortals to impose a top-down calendar.

 

[swarm_catcher]

Hi all,

Martin contacted me - thank you Martin. I haven't been on Cyclechat much recently, and I haven't read through this thread yet. But I can say that I have Saturday 2nd May 2015 in the calendar for the Flemish NRttK. I will start a thread after Xmas.

Here are some pictures from last year:
FNRttK 2014 - Saturday May 3rd

Els