StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
To quote Pink Fairies, 'Do it, do it, do it, do it…'
I could do with another two or three gravel bikes, I think....!
FNRttC Bognor, Friday, April 27, 2018
- Thread starter mmmmartin
- Start date
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I could do with another two or three gravel bikes, I think....!
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
It was that exactly. [Bicycle Repair Man]Just doing the job, guv[Bicycle Repair Man]
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
I might even break with my self imposed style rules and make it an all black affair....
That reminds me. For my travel companions, my titch bike did fit in the bath, but it was a bit of a squeeze and the end result was little messy. Would have been less after-cleaning if I'd removed the front wheel but I was too tired. It did mean I could enjoy my Guinness guilt-free. It was the first time that bike had been so dirty but it is now close to @ianrauk standard of clean 
Off to purchase a Swiss Army knife to add to my toolkit
Off to purchase a Swiss Army knife to add to my toolkit
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
I had a bit of an epic cleaning session for 3/4 of the fleet (Chutney has been hibernating for a few months, so didn't need doing, whereas the Trek is the workhorse, the Viner was still wearing the Whitstable grot, and as for the Litespeed…if anyone needs a pic, just look at the 'after' pics from gravel races or Paris-Roubaix in a wet year). Two and a half hours, eight litres of water in the newish toy, a pump sprayer (brilliant for getting the worst of the muck off without it being back in a bucket or on you, especially in hard-to reach bits, and was just the ticket for getting the SPDs free of Sussex mud), plus two buckets of water. They now look serviceable again....
OP
OP
mmmmartin
Random geezer
There’s no club like The Fridays. It’s special. Those who were lucky enough to be there on Friday night could see that. Teamwork, co-operation, grit, grace under pressure: it was all there, and @dellzeqq, who had the idea and set up the club, would have been proud of us.
Who knows what makes us like this? Dunno. But I’m glad to be a member.
So - ride leader’s report.
It was a damned fine night a-wheel. It approached epic proportions but never quite reached them It was as if the ride had a mind of its own and kept trying to escape from our control, then decided to stay inside the boundaries of the possible. So it’s not up there with the epic Southend ride when the forecast temperature of 4 degrees fell to minus 7, there was sheet ice across the roads and all the water bottles froze, nor up there with the legendary Wetstable. Nor sadly, with Brighton when we ascended The Beacon in the light of dawn and watched the early sun’s pink rays lay themselves on the mists in the valley below.
The way out of London is tried and trusted and has the great advantage that at 28 miles to The Edifice there is time for masses of punctures and delays. On the night, this was just as well. The TEC team of Greg x2 and Ross as All-Upper were heroes that night. After two hours we had done 13 miles. As ride leader all you can do is keep calm and carry on. After all, we had an hour and three-quarters to do the remaining 15 miles to The Edifice and the scouts with grub for us.
Sometimes the rain eased off and sometimes it didn’t. As we crossed the M25 we entered small lanes and steep downhills, it was raining heavily and there was a gravelly surface. Our glasses were smothered with raindrops and visibility was almost nil. But there was no traffic at all: we were safe.
We all descended slowly, and I was overtaken by several riders. There were uphill bits and I was slower and was overtaken. At one point @Gordon P , “Leader’s Wingman” with the job of placing waymarkers, who was in front with a posse, missed a turning and when I arrived where we should have turned right I stopped the ride and watched a dozen or so red lights disappear. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. “@StuAff” I cried. “Yup” was the reply. “Go and get ‘em.” And lo! It was done.
He shot off like a scalded cat, we waited a few minutes (while my mind ran through the “what ifs” of a ride split between two groups on different roads at night in pouring rain with Gordon’s phone lying safe at home in a drawer) and the group returned. Hence Stu’s free membership for a year for quickly getting us out of a jam.
The Edifice was as good as ever, and several then opted for the Gatwick train escape option, which was a shame because the rain stopped and was a fine ride thereafter. Crawley and Horsham came and went and the lanes after were a delight. The TECs struggled with a tyre tricky to get off then back on, the innertube vale popped out, the tyre was hard to get off, change the inner, get the tyre back on. The front re-grouped and waited.
The Gurkha Bridge option was everything you’ve read upthread: only more so. Bikes became muddy, cleats clogged, and the banter was sublime. Frankly, anyone who survived the first three hours of this ride could cope with a muddy path. And from a ride leader’s perspective it had the overriding advantage that it was traffic-free. It’s more fun in the sunshine and dry underfoot so this was an adventure.
Bikes were passed from rider to rider as we crossed the four gates. Later as we left Arundel we passed a fire station having a “clean your car for charity” event and I stopped and asked the group if we’d like to have the bikes cleaned. The replies were rather forthright - that we’d rather press on to breakfast…...
The A259 approaching Bognor was busy because we were about 40 minutes later than usual. I’d not regrouped for a long time so we were well spread out by then.
The Lobster Pot breakfast was good and the coffee, as usual, was really very good indeed.
It was great to ride with you all. Thanks. Se you on the Maldon ride on May 18.
Now, I’m off to clean the bike. Again.
Who knows what makes us like this? Dunno. But I’m glad to be a member.
So - ride leader’s report.
It was a damned fine night a-wheel. It approached epic proportions but never quite reached them It was as if the ride had a mind of its own and kept trying to escape from our control, then decided to stay inside the boundaries of the possible. So it’s not up there with the epic Southend ride when the forecast temperature of 4 degrees fell to minus 7, there was sheet ice across the roads and all the water bottles froze, nor up there with the legendary Wetstable. Nor sadly, with Brighton when we ascended The Beacon in the light of dawn and watched the early sun’s pink rays lay themselves on the mists in the valley below.
The way out of London is tried and trusted and has the great advantage that at 28 miles to The Edifice there is time for masses of punctures and delays. On the night, this was just as well. The TEC team of Greg x2 and Ross as All-Upper were heroes that night. After two hours we had done 13 miles. As ride leader all you can do is keep calm and carry on. After all, we had an hour and three-quarters to do the remaining 15 miles to The Edifice and the scouts with grub for us.
Sometimes the rain eased off and sometimes it didn’t. As we crossed the M25 we entered small lanes and steep downhills, it was raining heavily and there was a gravelly surface. Our glasses were smothered with raindrops and visibility was almost nil. But there was no traffic at all: we were safe.
We all descended slowly, and I was overtaken by several riders. There were uphill bits and I was slower and was overtaken. At one point @Gordon P , “Leader’s Wingman” with the job of placing waymarkers, who was in front with a posse, missed a turning and when I arrived where we should have turned right I stopped the ride and watched a dozen or so red lights disappear. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. “@StuAff” I cried. “Yup” was the reply. “Go and get ‘em.” And lo! It was done.
He shot off like a scalded cat, we waited a few minutes (while my mind ran through the “what ifs” of a ride split between two groups on different roads at night in pouring rain with Gordon’s phone lying safe at home in a drawer) and the group returned. Hence Stu’s free membership for a year for quickly getting us out of a jam.
The Edifice was as good as ever, and several then opted for the Gatwick train escape option, which was a shame because the rain stopped and was a fine ride thereafter. Crawley and Horsham came and went and the lanes after were a delight. The TECs struggled with a tyre tricky to get off then back on, the innertube vale popped out, the tyre was hard to get off, change the inner, get the tyre back on. The front re-grouped and waited.
The Gurkha Bridge option was everything you’ve read upthread: only more so. Bikes became muddy, cleats clogged, and the banter was sublime. Frankly, anyone who survived the first three hours of this ride could cope with a muddy path. And from a ride leader’s perspective it had the overriding advantage that it was traffic-free. It’s more fun in the sunshine and dry underfoot so this was an adventure.
Bikes were passed from rider to rider as we crossed the four gates. Later as we left Arundel we passed a fire station having a “clean your car for charity” event and I stopped and asked the group if we’d like to have the bikes cleaned. The replies were rather forthright - that we’d rather press on to breakfast…...
The A259 approaching Bognor was busy because we were about 40 minutes later than usual. I’d not regrouped for a long time so we were well spread out by then.
The Lobster Pot breakfast was good and the coffee, as usual, was really very good indeed.
It was great to ride with you all. Thanks. Se you on the Maldon ride on May 18.
Now, I’m off to clean the bike. Again.
It was, it was ... by many. But our leader said NO!!!
U
User10571
Guest
Trust your ride leader ;-)
He believes Ms Lumley may appear and offer him a cup of English Breakfast.
