The Fridays Tour
- Thread starter dellzeqq
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puncture! Never had one of those before..........
those who needed to catch trains all managed to do so. The van is completely unloaded. All is well, or, all would be well, if Adrian had not crashed in to the neighbours van. 1350 miles, and we prang the b***er three yards from home.
those who needed to catch trains all managed to do so. The van is completely unloaded. All is well, or, all would be well, if Adrian had not crashed in to the neighbours van. 1350 miles, and we prang the b***er three yards from home.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
That was one hell of a ride.
Random Highlights (from a very long list) ; Becca's Zipp legs that match her Zipp wheels (how can I get a pair?), the 35 mile Ross train to the Lakeside Cafe, Xi and Jacob's constant lust for life, Sahar's understated determination, Simon's inexhaustible patience, Mice's lust for learning, chasing a 'bent trike up Carter Bar, Claudine's collection of chainring tattoos, the cycle path up Drumochter, big ring riding, the unspeakably picturesque Yorkshire villages, in which we took caffeine and pies, the 'Hell of the North' which was easier than the preceding afternoon's 'Hell of the North-East', the waitrose bag on my saddle, Morecombe & Wise'ing it with Adrian, Stephen and Rachel aboard their cruise missile in the rain north of Wick, Gorgeous George's idea of 'clear', French Michael making it look piss easy, Big Michael smelling so good at the end of the day at Derwent Manor, the rebels ride to Kinross (thanks Titus, French Michael, and Marcus), the drop from Slochd to Tomatin, the smell as we went past the clynelish distillery, Ian's big thumbs ups from the cab of the van, Alex, the happiest man in the world, who runs a B&B in Jedburgh long may you stay in your element, letting the badger free on the run into Tain and just screaming at the sky, the climb up Helmdale into the clouds with Jim, the descent into Berriedale Braes where I decided to look at the road and not the GPS when it passed 77kph, the taxi ride back to Wick with the three hot chicks. No 6. The Flat Cat. The bath in Wick. The table of the poltergeist. Brown Beer. Turkish Delight and Tablet, the cafe at Dalwhinney, Glenfarcas 105, Talisker.
Lowlights (from a very very short list); the red transit on the A9 north of Inverness, who tried quite hard to kill me, you sir are a **** of the first order. Derwent Manor Hotel; no one ****ing needs a fake ****ing Christmas celebration in ****ing June you sad ****ing ****s. Crook Lodge man, if you hate people so much why run a B&B? Amanda in Newtonmore; porridge is possible, entirely possible, you mad ****ing psycho loon and I don't care about your ****ing wild cat trail. Everyone who asked "Are you doing it for charity?"
Random Highlights (from a very long list) ; Becca's Zipp legs that match her Zipp wheels (how can I get a pair?), the 35 mile Ross train to the Lakeside Cafe, Xi and Jacob's constant lust for life, Sahar's understated determination, Simon's inexhaustible patience, Mice's lust for learning, chasing a 'bent trike up Carter Bar, Claudine's collection of chainring tattoos, the cycle path up Drumochter, big ring riding, the unspeakably picturesque Yorkshire villages, in which we took caffeine and pies, the 'Hell of the North' which was easier than the preceding afternoon's 'Hell of the North-East', the waitrose bag on my saddle, Morecombe & Wise'ing it with Adrian, Stephen and Rachel aboard their cruise missile in the rain north of Wick, Gorgeous George's idea of 'clear', French Michael making it look piss easy, Big Michael smelling so good at the end of the day at Derwent Manor, the rebels ride to Kinross (thanks Titus, French Michael, and Marcus), the drop from Slochd to Tomatin, the smell as we went past the clynelish distillery, Ian's big thumbs ups from the cab of the van, Alex, the happiest man in the world, who runs a B&B in Jedburgh long may you stay in your element, letting the badger free on the run into Tain and just screaming at the sky, the climb up Helmdale into the clouds with Jim, the descent into Berriedale Braes where I decided to look at the road and not the GPS when it passed 77kph, the taxi ride back to Wick with the three hot chicks. No 6. The Flat Cat. The bath in Wick. The table of the poltergeist. Brown Beer. Turkish Delight and Tablet, the cafe at Dalwhinney, Glenfarcas 105, Talisker.
Lowlights (from a very very short list); the red transit on the A9 north of Inverness, who tried quite hard to kill me, you sir are a **** of the first order. Derwent Manor Hotel; no one ****ing needs a fake ****ing Christmas celebration in ****ing June you sad ****ing ****s. Crook Lodge man, if you hate people so much why run a B&B? Amanda in Newtonmore; porridge is possible, entirely possible, you mad ****ing psycho loon and I don't care about your ****ing wild cat trail. Everyone who asked "Are you doing it for charity?"
mmmmartin
Random geezer
Lots of pride for the way we held it together with good ride group discipline across Edinburgh. And Doncaster. and the A68. and the A9. And for Jen who simply will not give in when she's beaten 
. And Sahar. And Louise, for the lattes and who made the right decision to stop suffering for no good reason on Mille Alba - if she had what we had across the featureless moorland north of Wick, god help her. And to Greg for the perfect lump of fudge at the perfect time coming into Tain. And Big Michael for the shared companionship of a bus shelter near Wick as we ate in silence as the rain lashed down. And to Marcus for being good company in the luxury caravan and the terrible hostel in Newtonmore. And Mark for good company while sharing the exhorbitant cost of a beautiful hotel room. And Alan for his tales of the last time he did it, alone and with camping kit. And Titus for being A Good Bloke. And Rebecca for failing to allow me to draft her, despite trying, because she is Too F****G Thin. And lots of people for just standing there in the rain with an arm out to show me the way. and shouting All Up, and The Tandemistas for wine and cake and good humour. And Chris for the memorable phrase: "You've made your point. now shut up and go back in your shop." And Ross for being steady. And Adrian for his sense of humour, even while wearing plastic bags on his feet. And Mick for showing initiative and waving me on to the cycle path on the A9 at just the right time. And Olaf for his bike. and French Michael for being so very Not English. And everyone really, goes all emotional......
And Simon, for showing grace under pressure.
And everlasting gratitude to Ian for his indefatigable good humour and spot-on organisation and patience with exhausted idiots:
Ian "At lunchtime, or later today, can you write down on a piece of paper...."
Repy innumerable: "Oh, I'll tell you now."
Ian "No, I won't remember 38 postcodes please write it down and give it to me later"
Reply innumerable: "But it's....."
Ian "Sigh"
. And Sahar. And Louise, for the lattes and who made the right decision to stop suffering for no good reason on Mille Alba - if she had what we had across the featureless moorland north of Wick, god help her. And to Greg for the perfect lump of fudge at the perfect time coming into Tain. And Big Michael for the shared companionship of a bus shelter near Wick as we ate in silence as the rain lashed down. And to Marcus for being good company in the luxury caravan and the terrible hostel in Newtonmore. And Mark for good company while sharing the exhorbitant cost of a beautiful hotel room. And Alan for his tales of the last time he did it, alone and with camping kit. And Titus for being A Good Bloke. And Rebecca for failing to allow me to draft her, despite trying, because she is Too F****G Thin. And lots of people for just standing there in the rain with an arm out to show me the way. and shouting All Up, and The Tandemistas for wine and cake and good humour. And Chris for the memorable phrase: "You've made your point. now shut up and go back in your shop." And Ross for being steady. And Adrian for his sense of humour, even while wearing plastic bags on his feet. And Mick for showing initiative and waving me on to the cycle path on the A9 at just the right time. And Olaf for his bike. and French Michael for being so very Not English. And everyone really, goes all emotional......And Simon, for showing grace under pressure.
And everlasting gratitude to Ian for his indefatigable good humour and spot-on organisation and patience with exhausted idiots:
Ian "At lunchtime, or later today, can you write down on a piece of paper...."
Repy innumerable: "Oh, I'll tell you now."
Ian "No, I won't remember 38 postcodes please write it down and give it to me later"
Reply innumerable: "But it's....."
Ian "Sigh"
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Jen who simply will not give in when she's beaten
She wasn't beaten.
clarion
Guru
- Location
- Exiled from Hyperborea
Congratulations all!
What you need is a nice long rest.
Till about midnight Friday, when you can get back to that proper riding - night time, how it's supposed to happen.
What you need is a nice long rest.
Till about midnight Friday, when you can get back to that proper riding - night time, how it's supposed to happen.
THANKYOU LETTERS (to others)
here's my list
MaccyDs Hockliffe
Tesco Wellingborough
Wymondham Wheels
Yeung Sing
Piano Cafe, Bingham
East Bridgford Hill
Ococo Food Emporium
Lakeside Cafe, Askern
Raines of Helperby
The Village Shop in Scorton
Hownsgill Bunkhouse
No.6 Corbridge
Camien Cafe Rochester
Glenbank, Jedburgh
Flat Cat Gallery, Lauder
Ralia Cafe, Dalwhinnie
D+E Coaches
any more?
here's my list
MaccyDs Hockliffe
Tesco Wellingborough
Wymondham Wheels
Yeung Sing
Piano Cafe, Bingham
East Bridgford Hill
Ococo Food Emporium
Lakeside Cafe, Askern
Raines of Helperby
The Village Shop in Scorton
Hownsgill Bunkhouse
No.6 Corbridge
Camien Cafe Rochester
Glenbank, Jedburgh
Flat Cat Gallery, Lauder
Ralia Cafe, Dalwhinnie
D+E Coaches
any more?
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
This ride deserves a great big report, and it's going to get one. In the meantime, just a few thoughts..
Rider of the tour: Everyone deserves acclaim for the part they played, be it leading, arranging, waymarking, TECing, just keeping going with a smile on your face or any and all combinations of the above. It just wouldn't have been the same without you. Any of you. But one person stands out for me. Sahar. A hybrid. Flat pedals. She could have done with more preparation for something like this, and it showed. But she kept going, and kept smiling, right till the end. And she made it, just like everyone else. Behind everyone else, but worth the wait for all concerned. Your triumph was our pleasure. Bravo, young lady.
Best day: the last one. Ian asked me at Derwent Manor what the best bit had been so far. My reply was, and I was clear about this, everything in the first three days. Day four was Heaven of the North as far as I was concerned. Days five and six were (relatively speaking) a comedown for various reasons, parts of both days being frustrating/difficult/dangerous, but I certainly wasn't ready to give up. JOG isn't exactly the most attractive of destinations at the best of times, but I was with the best of people....
So: 85 miles into a headwind. Mostly raining. To a bleak little town in a bleak part of the world. Was that fun?
Damn right it was. I felt motivated, energetic, ready to take on whatever the terrain and weather threw at me and beat it. There and back to Wick, and I could have done a few more miles if I felt like it. A century in those conditions, in under eight hours riding time, is pretty good going I think.
Triumph of man over machine: Mark on the Brompton. Smalled-wheeled scourge of roadies.
Gold Award for surviving a week in our company, cat herding services beyond the call of duty, and enduring the psychological trauma of having inferior components fitted to his bike: Simon. You are an artist, and despite the odd duff brush stroke, this was your masterpiece.
As I posted on bookface & Twitter: The Fridays do not MTFU. They are MTFU.
Rider of the tour: Everyone deserves acclaim for the part they played, be it leading, arranging, waymarking, TECing, just keeping going with a smile on your face or any and all combinations of the above. It just wouldn't have been the same without you. Any of you. But one person stands out for me. Sahar. A hybrid. Flat pedals. She could have done with more preparation for something like this, and it showed. But she kept going, and kept smiling, right till the end. And she made it, just like everyone else. Behind everyone else, but worth the wait for all concerned. Your triumph was our pleasure. Bravo, young lady.
Best day: the last one. Ian asked me at Derwent Manor what the best bit had been so far. My reply was, and I was clear about this, everything in the first three days. Day four was Heaven of the North as far as I was concerned. Days five and six were (relatively speaking) a comedown for various reasons, parts of both days being frustrating/difficult/dangerous, but I certainly wasn't ready to give up. JOG isn't exactly the most attractive of destinations at the best of times, but I was with the best of people....
So: 85 miles into a headwind. Mostly raining. To a bleak little town in a bleak part of the world. Was that fun?
Damn right it was. I felt motivated, energetic, ready to take on whatever the terrain and weather threw at me and beat it. There and back to Wick, and I could have done a few more miles if I felt like it. A century in those conditions, in under eight hours riding time, is pretty good going I think.
Triumph of man over machine: Mark on the Brompton. Smalled-wheeled scourge of roadies.
Gold Award for surviving a week in our company, cat herding services beyond the call of duty, and enduring the psychological trauma of having inferior components fitted to his bike: Simon. You are an artist, and despite the odd duff brush stroke, this was your masterpiece.
As I posted on bookface & Twitter: The Fridays do not MTFU. They are MTFU.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Seriously, that was fun......
I'm never going to forget the bad stuff from that, frankly I don't think I should. I cannot, and will not, ever believe any group ride, let alone a charity one, should have been organised and ridden the way that was.There were a lot of good bits as well, but they were too often on my own or shared with other riders and not the 'team mates'. The negative feelings have been put to good positive motivational use ever since. Hope it showed.
Sahar didn't get in the van because it was raining. Neither did anyone else. If anyone wants to talk about 'strong riders'...I've just spent a week with nearly forty of them.
The Big Red Truck?
And especially Ian ..
mmmmartin
Random geezer
I did because of the weather forecast. In the end, waiting around in the cold and rain for ages to hand out grub was probably harder than riding over Drumochter Pass (well it seemed like it to me - you all seemed to be enjoying yourselves...............)
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
I'd second the second of those. The duty manager was model of patience and grace under pressure when a lot of rather tired cyclists, many/most of whom weren't staying at his place, turned up, and was very reasonable over the use of the ballroom I thought.....
....and then turned up at 06:30 to serve coffee and get the toast on, and gave me most of the contents of his first aid kit to sort my fingers out.
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