Another Northampton to London ride - Sat. 12th May

[User10571]

..... User10571, thanks for the lead into town.

Your kind words conceal my frustration with the fallibility of my in-built gyro-compass.

It was clearly having both the afternoon, and evening off, yesterday.

 

[BrumJim]

Wow!
Back home, in front of my computer and ready to write.
My day started in Birmingham. 50 miles later and I was at the meeting point in Northampton, and I knew that it was going to be a good day. The sun was shining brightly, the air was cool and refreshing, the clouds white and fluffy, and the birds singing joyfully.
Met up with various people at the station, only a few of which I can match up to their forum names. After a hearty breakfast top-up we left.

Nice pace, good company, and great route. Forgot to pick up my new car from the factory near Newport Pagnell, but the village was lovely:

Great stop for lunch - food filled a hole and the Lilley Arms coped admirably with 20 hungry cyclists descending on them in a bunch. And very welcome too after that big climb up the Chilterns.

A few wayward detours, and we finally made it to London.

Firstly sorry for the over-enthusiastic cheers at 100 miles. I didn't realise how much it meant to me in cracking my first imperial ton until it happened. It just felt like a tremendous weight of my shoulders, a blessed relief. The 200k was also celebrated, but with more joy than relief, and have confused several North London drivers and pedestrians, who are probably still wondering why a cyclist delivers a single fisted salute whilst otherwise pedalling nonchalantly down the A1.

Secondly, big thanks to those who organised the ride, set the route, led it where necessary, and looked after the rest. Big respect if you did it on a fixie, and even more so if you did it on a tandem whilst the bloke behind free-wheeled and smiled!

Rest of my photographs are here. Not many, and not great quality, but they are here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/116568...ptonToLondonRide?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6ylOfPwoT7Ug

 

[User10571]

Wow!
Back home, in front of my computer and ready to write.
My day started in Birmingham. 50 miles later and I was at the meeting point in Northampton, and I knew that it was going to be a good day. The sun was shining brightly, the air was cool and refreshing, the clouds white and fluffy, and the birds singing joyfully.
Met up with various people at the station, only a few of which I can match up to their forum names. After a hearty breakfast top-up we left.

Nice pace, good company, and great route. Forgot to pick up my new car from the factory near Newport Pagnell, but the village was lovely:

Great stop for lunch - food filled a hole and the Lilley Arms coped admirably with 20 hungry cyclists descending on them in a bunch. And very welcome too after that big climb up the Chilterns.

A few wayward detours, and we finally made it to London. Firstly sorry for the over-enthusiastic cheers at 100 miles. I didn't realise how much it meant to me in cracking my first imperial ton until it happened. It just felt like a tremendous weight of my shoulders, a blessed relief. The 200k was also celebrated, but with more joy than relief, and have confused several North London drivers and pedestrians, who are probably still wondering why a cyclist delivers a single fisted salute whilst otherwise pedalling nonchalantly down the A1.

Big thanks to those who organised the ride, set the route, led it where necessary, and looked after the rest. Big respect if you did it on a fixie, and even more so if you did it on a tandem whilst the bloke behind free-wheeled and smiled!

Rest of my photographs are here. Not many, and not great quality, but they are here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/116568...ptonToLondonRide?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6ylOfPwoT7Ug

Big congrats on completing your first imperial ton, Jim.
Well done! And good to spend the day riding in your company.
J

 

[Davywalnuts]

Hold on, you cycled from Birmingham to London BrumJim?

Thats awesome, well done!

As a general question, whats the route like from Brum to Northampton? It sounds like a good mileage ride to me.. that I wouldn't mind doing..

 

[StuAff]

Well done Jim!

 

[ianmac62]

Thanks, FD, for a wonderful ride. (Sorry I'm only getting around to saying my thank-yous now - family descended on us yesterday). It was a great route. Thanks, User10571, for leading me quickly and safely through north London. Thanks, Mark, for the photos.

I loved the B road from Northampton to Newport Pagnell. (And must agree that NP town centre was pleasant.) Particularly loved that narrow, slightly descending, lane from lunch to the watercress village. Couldn't believe Adam when he said, in the middle of fields, that we were 10 or 11 miles from St. Pancras / Euston (we'd just pedalled north at that bit!) but then suddenly there was a sign saying "Welcome to the London Borough of Barnet", and red buses and black taxis, and pretty much a descending route into the building site that is King's Cross.

Really enjoyed everyone's company. It was lovely just chatting to people. Big cheers for BrumJim when, somewhere in North London, he ticked through 200 kilometres. Then thanks again to FD for instructions for a simple quiet route from St Pancras to Euston. BrumJim and I realised that his Virgin train to Brum and my London Midland train to Northampton left from adjacent platforms at the far end of the station about three minutes after we entered the concourse. Fastest part of the day! And then I saw two Virgin employees stop BrumJim and talk to him; I hope they were helpful?

Shared the bike space back to Northampton with a lone cyclist who'd spent the day train from Northampton to Eastbourne, pedal Eastbourne to Rye, train from near Rye to Northampton. And with a Birmingham Conservatoire music student whose specialist instrument was the recorder. So the chat made the journey fly by; I was home by 9.30 pm at just over 88 miles.

I'm back to that area around Marston Moretaine for a Circuit of Bedford Ride on Thursday.

Looking forward to seeing you all again!

Big thanks again to FD. And two photos at St Pancras at the end:

 

[BrumJim]

As a general question, whats the route like from Brum to Northampton? It sounds like a good mileage ride to me.. that I wouldn't mind doing..

Pretty flat (I averaged 18.5 mile/h), and almost exactly 50 miles from my house. Only big hill is up to Braunston just before you get to Daventry.
Birmingham to Coventry is OK - route depends largely on where in Birmingham you are heading for (or from), but a good road between Solihull and Coventry through Hamton in Arden and Catherine de Barnes, avoiding Meriden and heading in/out via the SouthWest corner.
Coventry to Daventry isn't that great - A45 most of the way and would avoid during busy times, but early on Saturday morning was fine. It gets more rural after the M45 starts, but it is still a major road with fast cars and trucks on it. I think there is a cycle path alongside for the dual carriageway bit, but I had my head down and had got into a rhythm.
Daventry to Northampton is great. It is a Roman road, and once you get the right road out of Daventry (not that difficult) there are no more turns until you reach Northampton.

 

[Davywalnuts]

Pretty flat (I averaged 18.5 mile/h), and almost exactly 50 miles from my house. Only big hill is up to Braunston just before you get to Daventry.
Birmingham to Coventry is OK - route depends largely on where in Birmingham you are heading for (or from), but a good road between Solihull and Coventry through Hamton in Arden and Catherine de Barnes, avoiding Meriden and heading in/out via the SouthWest corner.
Coventry to Daventry isn't that great - A45 most of the way and would avoid during busy times, but early on Saturday morning was fine. It gets more rural after the M45 starts, but it is still a major road with fast cars and trucks on it. I think there is a cycle path alongside for the dual carriageway bit, but I had my head down and had got into a rhythm.
Daventry to Northampton is great. It is a Roman road, and once you get the right road out of Daventry (not that difficult) there are no more turns until you reach Northampton.

Just been reliving the above through Google Maps, many thanks. What would dropping down to Royal Lemington Spa and across to Daventry be like?

 

[BrumJim]

Really enjoyed everyone's company. It was lovely just chatting to people. Big cheers for BrumJim when, somewhere in North London, he ticked through 200 kilometres. Then thanks again to FD for instructions for a simple quiet route from St Pancras to Euston. BrumJim and I realised that his Virgin train to Brum and my London Midland train to Northampton left from adjacent platforms at the far end of the station about three minutes after we entered the concourse. Fastest part of the day! And then I saw two Virgin employees stop BrumJim and talk to him; I hope they were helpful?

No problems at all; they couldn't have been more helpful. Station staff alerted the driver, who opened the door. Driver checked all was OK, and then came down to tell me to strap up the bike. At Birmingham driver got out of his cab without being asked, and opened the door. At no time did they check my cycle reservation.
Only problem was the 40 minutes delay at Watford. Ho hum!

 

[BrumJim]

Just been reliving the above through Google Maps, many thanks. What would dropping down to Royal Lemington Spa and across to Daventry be like?

Don't know that neck of the woods at all, but looks like a sensible option. RLS is very nice, but probably best avoided on a bicycle - the Welsh Road looks like a tempting bypass.

Personally I prefer the North Worcestershire area for cycling. You are never far from either a leg-sapping hill climb or a flat landscape. And plenty of villages and cake stops too.

 

[martint235]

You are never far from either a leg-sapping hill climb

Don't mention climbs to Davy. He goes all faint!!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Personally I prefer the North Worcestershire area for cycling. You are never far from either a leg-sapping hill climb or a flat landscape. And plenty of villages and cake stops too.

Fancy leading a forum ride there then? Sounds great.

 

[BrumJim]

Fancy leading a forum ride there then? Sounds great.

Have done so a few times, but struggling to get the next one going.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Belated thanks to everyone for coming along, and especially for Davy for his shepherding duties leading Rebecca to a station, & Luke for taking over his TECing duties. The 3 of us were the only ones who did the whole route as scheduled in the end! User10571 - I hope you've re-booted your internal compass, but well done for not losing anyone.

For anyone who ever gets stuck in South Mimms again, there is a nice cycle path which goes under the M25.

I may run this again for anyone who wants to see a better way into St. Pancras.

 

[BrumJim]

Momentum.