StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Some good points all, thank you. I've just edited the OP to make it absolutely, positively, definitely clear that this is not an official Fridays ride. I thought, however, that there might be interest in a night ride, to a different destination than the official rides. Terms and conditions may apply, errors and omissions excepted, and please do not ask for credit…
My take on the inclusiveness thing is this. I'd agree that the club rides should stay catering for everybody. Some rides are harder than others, no two ways about it, even in good weather, let alone when it's wet and windy. Those veterans of the November 2009 Brighton run, or the one the following March, or Wetstable, will know exactly what I mean! I don't think there's an easy answer to that, else we'd end up cutting back the number of destinations massively, not looking at new ideas, and still end up upsetting people, because what's left is too challenging/awkward/easy/hard to get back from, and 'why are we going there AGAIN?'.....
On the other hand, we- by which I mean club members rather than the club per se- can still offer something for the lunatic fringe (says card-carrying member of said fringe). More miles, more climbing, different destinations, same ethos. Looking out for each other, waymarking, the works…just rather smaller. Like my IOW night runs, in other words. Not an official ride, never will be…but might be of interest to those who want to stretch themselves a bit further from time to time. If, like my IOW ride, they got a bit of a plug in the newsletters with the caveat that they weren't official rides, these are tougher…that would be very helpful.

My take on the inclusiveness thing is this. I'd agree that the club rides should stay catering for everybody. Some rides are harder than others, no two ways about it, even in good weather, let alone when it's wet and windy. Those veterans of the November 2009 Brighton run, or the one the following March, or Wetstable, will know exactly what I mean! I don't think there's an easy answer to that, else we'd end up cutting back the number of destinations massively, not looking at new ideas, and still end up upsetting people, because what's left is too challenging/awkward/easy/hard to get back from, and 'why are we going there AGAIN?'.....
On the other hand, we- by which I mean club members rather than the club per se- can still offer something for the lunatic fringe (says card-carrying member of said fringe). More miles, more climbing, different destinations, same ethos. Looking out for each other, waymarking, the works…just rather smaller. Like my IOW night runs, in other words. Not an official ride, never will be…but might be of interest to those who want to stretch themselves a bit further from time to time. If, like my IOW ride, they got a bit of a plug in the newsletters with the caveat that they weren't official rides, these are tougher…that would be very helpful.