The 2015 Night Ride thread

[w00hoo_kent]

An email the day after would have been the most effective response perhaps.

From either of us, yes. I'm sure it'll be ignored by all parties the next time I go in, the group rides are academic now anyway as they're new announcement for it also stipulates helmets are mandatory, I honestly can't remember if we were wearing them or not when we turned up but thanks to this place <points at Cycle Chat> I'm a bit more sensitive to that kind of decree now.

Are you hinting that there is a problem with the night rides?

No (I'm not actually sure if you are allowed to suggest that and get out without being tarred & feathered :-) ). The reason for my post was as I quoted initially the concept that a suggested ride was 'invalid'. In order to be invalid you need a set structure to test it against. As I can't see creating a set structure and then measuring suggested rides against it as being in keeping with the Fridays ideal I thought I'd throw in a suggestion to counter the idea of being able to state rides couldn't count.

If I think the rides might have a problem, then I guess I'm not sure they feel as inclusive as they want to feel. Kai and I have both told my wife we don't think that she is ready to try one based on our experiences. She needs more miles in her legs before she gives Southend a go basically. You've actually touched on the sense that the rides might not be as new to cycling friendly as they would like to be in the past in previous posts. This may of course be a self fulfilling prophecy, it's difficult to tell if someone is being seriously challenged by the ride if they are well looked after, it's possible that the sense that all the participants are of a minimum standard is an illusion but if it is it's a good one. I'm not seeing needing to get my wife cycling more before she gives a FNRttC a try as a problem with the rides, it's much more an issue of where she is with cycling at the moment.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Well, I don't think anyone said a ride was 'invalid'. It was more that an extreme distance is by definition less inclusive than a shorter one.

True, my interpretation. Not necessarily a fair one.

But that's what you seem to be saying too, about your wife. Perhaps 100 miles would be too much for her, although I'm sure she could speak for herself. It's not about minimum cycling 'standards', it's about experience, and the Southend ride is absolutely the ideal one for 'beginners', in that it's short and pretty flat. It would be great if your wife decided to give it a try.

I'd love her to do a Southend ride too, we're building up to it slowly, the commuting has fallen by the wayside a bit of late but will hopefully start up again soon and we'll do some ride outs and take it from there. At the moment the Southend ride would be a lot more than she's done in a 'single sitting' and if not actually too much for her, too much for her to enjoy doing. I know I can over think it and worry unnecessarily, which was why I checked with Kai that it wasn't the case. In fact, I asked Kai's thoughts before voicing mine. As an upside, she collected us from Whitstable and got to meet some people at the end of the ride for breakfast and the Fridays were given a thumbs up as a likeable bunch, which is a big step in the right direction. My hope is that I'll convince her to do a Southend (or possibly Whitstable) ride in 2015.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Your're not alone, TNM. Another Friday's essential that has not been mentioned so far is lack of red tape and bureaucracy.

Lack of visible red tape. As the serene swan that is the Fridays glided over the surface, I'm sure its legs were paddling frantically, powered by DZ.

 

[wanda2010]

@Ollie W

Sorry to hear about your bike and I look forward to meeting you on a ride (whatever it will be called) in the not too distant future

 

[velovoice]

At the moment the Southend ride would be a lot more than she's done in a 'single sitting' and if not actually too much for her, too much for her to enjoy doing.

May I respond to that bit?

I think quite a few of us who are now regulars really struggled and suffered on our first... second... third FNRttC. Maybe more.

A a ride doesn't have to be 100% undiluted physical pleasure to nonetheless be enjoyable, memorable, a source of price and something to be repeated. In fact, I'd say it's only in over-extending yourself, even "biting off more than you can chew" (by observers' standards) that confidence can grow.

So your wife hasn't done 60 miles before. Has she done 10? Has she done two rides over the course of one week, with each one being 10 miles? (A rule of thumb I've heard repeated many times is: take the longest ride you've done in the recent past - you can double it and do okay. Another one: take your weekly riding total - you can do that in a single ride without too much suffering.)

If she wants to do Southend, I'll bet she can do it. The challenges will be (a) sleep deprivation, and (2) time in the saddle. Sure, those have physical components, but in actuality they're mental challenges more than they're physical ones.

(Unless of course her bike is totally the wrong size and actually hurts her to ride. That's different. But whatever she's used to riding, she can ride on a FNRttC. Just ask me, @User13710 , @AnythingButVanilla what bikes we did our first FNRttCs with!!)

And it's always possible to make a Plan B - there are nearly always bail out options that nonetheless would give her an opportunity to take part, to taste, get a feel for whether she might like this kind of thing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't put limits on another person's ambitions. And I speak as someone who truly believed for at least my first 2 FNRttCs that I had absolutely no business being there. But Simon thought I did, or at least gave me time and further chances to prove to myself (not him, not anybody else) that I did.

Just my tuppence' worth.

 

[velovoice]

Just ask me, @User13710 , @AnythingButVanilla what bikes we did our first FNRttCs with!!)

Actually, I am thinking of doing the "last" FNRttC in November on that same bike. For old time's sake.

 

[StuartG]

Actually, I am thinking of doing the "last" FNRttC in November on that same bike. For old time's sake.

<---- There's mine from the 2009 Southend. I'll dig it out and polish it up to. It deserves it.
(A 1979 Dawes Galaxy for our younger readers).

 

[w00hoo_kent]

May I respond to that bit?
So your wife hasn't done 60 miles before. Has she done 10? Has she done two rides over the course of one week, with each one being 10 miles? (A rule of thumb I've heard repeated many times is: take the longest ride you've done in the recent past - you can double it and do okay. Another one: take your weekly riding total - you can do that in a single ride without too much suffering.)

When we ride we tend to do between 20 and 30 miles, with a good stop for lunch in there somewhere and average around 10mph, last year when we were doing this a couple of times a month the average crept up a bit, but this isn't anything with what a Fridays ride would consider hills in it. Her commute is about 6 miles each way on at worst rolling hills (but I think most people here would class it as flat) and she probably averages a little higher over it but she hasn't done it for a couple of weeks and I think has ridden once (around 20 miles) since the middle of August when we did the freecycle. So at the moment she isn't coming close to 60 miles a week.

That aside, we'll be celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary at the bike show (could end up expensive but as yet she isn't havering for an N+1 which is handy...) and I've got to know her pretty well over those two decades. If she's going to do two Fridays runs (and I'd like her to get the bug and come along for various reasons, not least because they are great) then she'll need to finish her first run. If she gets home having baled partway without a mechanical reason, or she gets home feeling that she's slowed everyone else down and held them back then that is likely to be that (note, feeling. It doesn't have to actually be having done any of that). Believe me, a little preparation at this end will pay dividends at the other.

I've tried not to slip off topic with my asides, but have firmly jumped there with this. I'm happy to continue chatting in a Conversation if people want to go further with this, but I don't want to derail an important discussion and I don't want to go any further with this particular diversion in the public domain.

 

[velovoice]

Well, to be fair, I may have been stretching it by saying "same bike"...

As per October 2010 FNRttC to Southend

As per 100 Mile Smile Ride last weekend:

 

[Flying Dodo]

Well, to be fair, I may have been stretching it by saying "same bike"...

As per October 2010 FNRttC to Southend
View attachment 57178
As per 100 Mile Smile Ride last weekend:
View attachment 57179

And next month, after adding new wheels, new front & rear dérailleurs, new handlebars, new shifters and new crankset, I think that leaves the frame and the mudguards as being the same as 2010.

 

[velovoice]

And next month, after adding new wheels, new front & rear dérailleurs, new handlebars, new shifters and new crankset, I think that leaves the frame and the mudguards as being the same as 2010.

sshhhhhhhhh!

 

[ianrauk]

I remember that bike

 

[rb58]

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.

 

[BalkanExpress]

And next month, after adding new wheels, new front & rear dérailleurs, new handlebars, new shifters and new crankset, I think that leaves the frame and the mudguards as being the same as 2010.

Mudguards

 

[StuAff]

Might I suggest May 8? Leaves previous weekend clear for Belgium (fingers crossed).