FNRttC FNRttC 2nd October to Southend-on-Sea 2009
- Thread starter dellzeqq
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Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
arallsopp said:Evey says 'I apologise for the crumbliness of the brownies. I was in a complete headspin and had to go to the shops three times for forgotten ingredients. I am embarrassed and will do better next time. Hope the sugar helped.'
Andy says 'nom-nom-nom-nom'!!!
Great riding with you all, as always.
Vid to follow.
Yes, Evey, those lovely baked delights sure LOOKED lovely - oh yes! Mmmmmm! I can imagine them now, melting flavourfully onto my taste buds, immersing them in the chocolatey goodness that was anticipated...encapsulated behind translucent tupperware, not quite baring all. Safe, and ready.
Then I went to wash my hands in preparation for the feast, came back and the 'Seagulls of Simon' had pounced! An empty box.
I was left with the aftertaste of a piece of the cashier's mind.
But, Evey, I have a vivid imagination and I just know that bit of 'thought cuisine' was a conceptual delight.
"I can't have your cake and eat it too..."
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/4663061.Person_hit_at_railway_level_crossing/?ref=mr
At one point on the return ride I was fearful that the train accident was a young lad seen previously, when we passed over a level crossing on the way into Southend...he was wandering, with a mobile on his ear... Still bad, but thankfully not what I had thought for a fleeting moment...
At one point on the return ride I was fearful that the train accident was a young lad seen previously, when we passed over a level crossing on the way into Southend...he was wandering, with a mobile on his ear... Still bad, but thankfully not what I had thought for a fleeting moment...
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
Rainham Marshes is an expansive place and a fun ride. The vast bleakness of the Thames can be admired in comfort from the cyclepath skirting the terrain. Yes - of course industrial...fantastic amounts of built environment - juxtaposed by the peacefulness of the RSPB area. Decent expresso (if a little expensive) in the café there, and the 'twitchers' have an ideal lookout point. Super place and very intriguing...
I spotted a Canary in the distance but didn't have my binoculars...
And I saw the concrete barges...
Camera was on the blink for the most part though - I'll have to give it a severe talking to...
I spotted a Canary in the distance but didn't have my binoculars...
And I saw the concrete barges...
Camera was on the blink for the most part though - I'll have to give it a severe talking to...
It seemed to be a faster ride, maybe that was the wind.
I met ttcycle & wheeledweenie (no photos here move along
) and some new faces (on the night shift) Stevevw, Auntie Helen + James and Ianuk.Also met her_ Welshness and the lovely Claude.
Arollsop was back with us as was ChrisKh, User3143 who i havn't seen since my first cc ride in january.
Lee
Ian was sporting new tights and rear light
We were running ahead of schedule so Simon made a short detour to Batatown
when i saw Batatown for some reason i kept thinking of Tina Turner?
those are bikes behind him.
Tattershall gardens.
Mike "the're just boats Dave"
years back i used to drive down for the dawn to take photos.
I met ttcycle & wheeledweenie (no photos here move along
) and some new faces (on the night shift) Stevevw, Auntie Helen + James and Ianuk.Also met her_ Welshness and the lovely Claude.Arollsop was back with us as was ChrisKh, User3143 who i havn't seen since my first cc ride in january.
Lee
Ian was sporting new tights and rear light
We were running ahead of schedule so Simon made a short detour to Batatown
when i saw Batatown for some reason i kept thinking of Tina Turner?
those are bikes behind him.
Tattershall gardens.
Mike "the're just boats Dave"
years back i used to drive down for the dawn to take photos.
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
Your gain, my loss I assure you tt. I reckon the tt v TT 'touring' tete a tete would have been fun!ttcycle said:
(If only my camera was working properly..)ttcycle said:
And the sound of the gusts passing through the rigging - a mystery bird-like exclamation as the wind whipped past the masts. This was my favourite bit of theatre - I agree tt.
ttcycle said:
You'll never tire of thinking this as each ride unfolds into a panorama of interest and observation...with friendliness thrown in as a side dish.
the sweetest ride of the year. Susie's first night ride, Bridget's return, and, well, finishing when at one point finishing seemed a tall order.
User10571 had offered to take over the leadership, and Adrian and Andrij to support, but, by midnight with no User10571 in sight we set off with the A's compering and Clive, Andy and Martin doing the good stuff at the back. And all was well, other than our concern for User10571, as we took to the cobbles to round some roadworks at Parliament Square. and then swanned down the Embankment, all water. lights, night club queues and the miraculous Wheel.
Adrian did the stuff and I sort of drifted along with no great intent, and, having gathered on Tower Hill we turned right at Aldgate and took the road to the East.......
We rolled smoothly over the Bow flyover, past the Olympic Stadiiuim, through Stratford and along 24 hour shopping streets to the new metropolis of Ilford. We were just wending our way through the Ilford Conundrum when User10571 called! An alive User10571, and, more specifically, a just woke up User10571!
And then we were on to wide smooth roads, with the breeze behind us, and, under clear skies we strolling along the boulevards of Barking and Dagenham. We’d stop every few miles, wait and then, in receipt of Adam’s clear call, snake off again. East London’s not pretty, and the locals aren’t always in a good mood, but there was a fair bit of toot-toot-tooting and ‘tourdefrance’. I’d told Chris B that the bike of bikes, and the breeze would get me there, but I was beginning to flag, and, by the time we reached Junction 31 I was at the back of the ride, looking, so people told me, dreadful.
There were conferences. Should we put the old boy out of his misery and turn his bike into the first all-carbon ploughshare? I was allowed to continue and we rolled on past Lakeside, and down to BataTown where I tried not to embarrass myself overmuch.
Then in to the darkness of Mucking. Claudine’s puncture was a miracle of timing. We stopped on a curve and the starry, almost Spielberg, sky, backlit horizon and flaming gas jets and turned one of Essex’s nether parts in to a Gaumont or Regal. Our lights became the first row of the stalls. There was the usual interval rush to the loos, and Susie, having walked on a hundred yards, was surprised to be joined by ‘six or seven young men’ with the same idea. The backlit horizon is, of course, one of England’s biggest landfill sites, but, that’s the magic of the movies….
We stopped to survey the Coryton refinery and Canvey Island from the heights of Fobbing and some of us remembered the victims of 1953’s great surge tide. I sent out the Flying Dodo signal to see where the tail of the ride was, and it turned out to be standing just across the road, so we pushed north and east through Pitsea and on to Bread and Cheese Hill. I wanted to finish now, and gave it a bit up the hill, which turned out alright. There were smiles at the top, not least from my girl, and pretty much a freewheel thereafter. We took another look at Canvey from Tattershall Gardens, the art critics (of which there was one) connecting the ruin of Hadliegh Castle, port works, river estuary and hint of foreign parts with Claud Lorrain’s work, and then turned to a pink dawn. Down through the fishy cobbled streets of Leigh and on to the sea wall, rigging clack-clacking and whistling. And on to breakfast, dispensed with the usual efficiency by Chris, our host.
Home. I’d expected to Susie to collapse, but that was a mistake. 2Fast 2Furious fans will know the moment when Vin reaches for that special lever, and CGI gas mixes, explodes through pipes and flames. She’s got a button marked ‘shopping’ which pours smart coffee on plastic, explodes, shooting flames down the High Street. It’s all good.
User10571 had offered to take over the leadership, and Adrian and Andrij to support, but, by midnight with no User10571 in sight we set off with the A's compering and Clive, Andy and Martin doing the good stuff at the back. And all was well, other than our concern for User10571, as we took to the cobbles to round some roadworks at Parliament Square. and then swanned down the Embankment, all water. lights, night club queues and the miraculous Wheel.
Adrian did the stuff and I sort of drifted along with no great intent, and, having gathered on Tower Hill we turned right at Aldgate and took the road to the East.......
We rolled smoothly over the Bow flyover, past the Olympic Stadiiuim, through Stratford and along 24 hour shopping streets to the new metropolis of Ilford. We were just wending our way through the Ilford Conundrum when User10571 called! An alive User10571, and, more specifically, a just woke up User10571!
And then we were on to wide smooth roads, with the breeze behind us, and, under clear skies we strolling along the boulevards of Barking and Dagenham. We’d stop every few miles, wait and then, in receipt of Adam’s clear call, snake off again. East London’s not pretty, and the locals aren’t always in a good mood, but there was a fair bit of toot-toot-tooting and ‘tourdefrance’. I’d told Chris B that the bike of bikes, and the breeze would get me there, but I was beginning to flag, and, by the time we reached Junction 31 I was at the back of the ride, looking, so people told me, dreadful.
There were conferences. Should we put the old boy out of his misery and turn his bike into the first all-carbon ploughshare? I was allowed to continue and we rolled on past Lakeside, and down to BataTown where I tried not to embarrass myself overmuch.
Then in to the darkness of Mucking. Claudine’s puncture was a miracle of timing. We stopped on a curve and the starry, almost Spielberg, sky, backlit horizon and flaming gas jets and turned one of Essex’s nether parts in to a Gaumont or Regal. Our lights became the first row of the stalls. There was the usual interval rush to the loos, and Susie, having walked on a hundred yards, was surprised to be joined by ‘six or seven young men’ with the same idea. The backlit horizon is, of course, one of England’s biggest landfill sites, but, that’s the magic of the movies….
We stopped to survey the Coryton refinery and Canvey Island from the heights of Fobbing and some of us remembered the victims of 1953’s great surge tide. I sent out the Flying Dodo signal to see where the tail of the ride was, and it turned out to be standing just across the road, so we pushed north and east through Pitsea and on to Bread and Cheese Hill. I wanted to finish now, and gave it a bit up the hill, which turned out alright. There were smiles at the top, not least from my girl, and pretty much a freewheel thereafter. We took another look at Canvey from Tattershall Gardens, the art critics (of which there was one) connecting the ruin of Hadliegh Castle, port works, river estuary and hint of foreign parts with Claud Lorrain’s work, and then turned to a pink dawn. Down through the fishy cobbled streets of Leigh and on to the sea wall, rigging clack-clacking and whistling. And on to breakfast, dispensed with the usual efficiency by Chris, our host.
Home. I’d expected to Susie to collapse, but that was a mistake. 2Fast 2Furious fans will know the moment when Vin reaches for that special lever, and CGI gas mixes, explodes through pipes and flames. She’s got a button marked ‘shopping’ which pours smart coffee on plastic, explodes, shooting flames down the High Street. It’s all good.
So we decided to brave the wind!
We made our way up to Tattershall gdns for some pics
same spot
standing Ian Lee Steve
Sig, Martin,Mark,Andy and Mike
After having some laughs and pics we moved on
there was wind and more wind
it was bad
Steve and Lee left us at Pitsea as they were heading towards Herts
Andy and Ian left us at the Qe2 bridge for a trip over the water
and we battled our way on to the Rainham marshes
Martin had a real fight on his hands
but he fought on and we made our way to the tea shop.
After tea it was a race to the station for Mike and we all peeled off as we closed in on home.
Yes another ride for the books, thankyou Simon (get well soon) all of the helpers and everyone who took part. It was a good ride.
Dave
http://tinypic.com/a/1cal4/3
We made our way up to Tattershall gdns for some pics
same spot
standing Ian Lee Steve
Sig, Martin,Mark,Andy and Mike
After having some laughs and pics we moved on
there was wind and more wind
it was bad
Steve and Lee left us at Pitsea as they were heading towards Herts
Andy and Ian left us at the Qe2 bridge for a trip over the water
and we battled our way on to the Rainham marshes
Martin had a real fight on his hands
but he fought on and we made our way to the tea shop.
After tea it was a race to the station for Mike and we all peeled off as we closed in on home.
Yes another ride for the books, thankyou Simon (get well soon) all of the helpers and everyone who took part. It was a good ride.
Dave
http://tinypic.com/a/1cal4/3
A most excellent of rides which made it's way to the coast in a more 'genteel' fashion then the actual 'genteel' ride. No major incident other than Claudine's flat rear... and the arrival of a VIP at junction 31. Simon kept everyone interested with his chats along the way, this was a ride to enjoy without even breaking a sweat. The dawn sunrise was fantastic and the ride along the front was sweet, we timed our arrival at the cafe to perfection and everyone enjoyed a traditional english breakfast, lot's of tea's, coffee's, bacon's and egg's. A big thank you as always to Simon and I hope your feeling better soon and an even bigger thank you for the stand-in ride leaders who I didn't see much of as I spent most of the night at the back with the TEC's or was I TEC. I did remember offering useful advice at the puncture incident, not like Teef who was busy breaking things... This was also the venue for the "who's got the biggest forearm muscles"
So to summarise, great ride, lovely people, lovely weather.
A few pics, although my night ones aren't great...
Not sure where this was.....help please..
Awaiting the big moment...
The end, for some...
Before chips
After chips
and the arrival of a VIP at junction 31. Simon kept everyone interested with his chats along the way, this was a ride to enjoy without even breaking a sweat. The dawn sunrise was fantastic and the ride along the front was sweet, we timed our arrival at the cafe to perfection and everyone enjoyed a traditional english breakfast, lot's of tea's, coffee's, bacon's and egg's. A big thank you as always to Simon and I hope your feeling better soon and an even bigger thank you for the stand-in ride leaders who I didn't see much of as I spent most of the night at the back with the TEC's or was I TEC. I did remember offering useful advice at the puncture incident, not like Teef who was busy breaking things... This was also the venue for the "who's got the biggest forearm muscles"So to summarise, great ride, lovely people, lovely weather.
A few pics, although my night ones aren't great...
Not sure where this was.....help please..
Awaiting the big moment...
The end, for some...
Before chips
After chips
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
User3143 said:
Big ride Lee! My legs were aching this morning - I reckon there was a 50% +/- premium to add to the mileage yesterday. Of course, it was easier the lower down you were...
Unfortunately, doubling up as an A-rated windbreak does me no favours. For the first time in aeons, I slept from about 19:30 to 05:00 - bombs might not have disturbed me. I'm now 
just thinking of a little ride to ease those pains away...Get well soon Simon
Speedy recovery Luke
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
...you strayed in - the electric fence is now activated - another prisoner! 
Nice smooth ride Adrian - you're a 'natural'. And I liked the choice of wayfinders...Andrij a Pillar of Heracles (bet you thought I was going for Hercules there?
) and Claudine in particular...an intact Venus de Milo, resplendent in the shimmering suburban light.
Both of them were fast movers once the pointy bit duties were discharged - returning to their nesting positions until next asked...Andrij's afterburners providing enough warmth on a mild night, as well as throwing into my thoughts that "Whoosh whosh" noise of the helicopter rotor blades in that film about the Vietnam War...'Cycleclips Now' or something like that - as his legs powered downward.
It's like crack remember...
Nice smooth ride Adrian - you're a 'natural'. And I liked the choice of wayfinders...Andrij a Pillar of Heracles (bet you thought I was going for Hercules there?
) and Claudine in particular...an intact Venus de Milo, resplendent in the shimmering suburban light.Both of them were fast movers once the pointy bit duties were discharged - returning to their nesting positions until next asked...Andrij's afterburners providing enough warmth on a mild night, as well as throwing into my thoughts that "Whoosh whosh" noise of the helicopter rotor blades in that film about the Vietnam War...'Cycleclips Now' or something like that - as his legs powered downward.
It's like crack remember...
Andrij
Über Member
- Location
- Thulcandra
Aperitif said:...you strayed in - the electric fence is now activated - another prisoner!
Nice smooth ride Adrian - you're a 'natural'. And I liked the choice of wayfinders...Andrij a Pillar of Heracles (bet you thought I was going for Hercules there?
Both of them were fast movers once the pointy bit duties were discharged - returning to their nesting positions until next asked...Andrij's afterburners providing enough warmth on a mild night, as well as throwing into my thoughts that "Whoosh whosh" noise of the helicopter rotor blades in that film about the Vietnam War...'Cycleclips Now' or something like that - as his legs powered downward.
It's like crack remember...
Well, that was different. Nice, but different.
"And what did you do Friday night?"
"I spent much of the time breathing heavily into the ear of a lady"
Keen students will notice that I was riding a tandem, something I've done for many years. Keener ones will note that the stoker, as we tandemistas say, was not my wife but the delightful Pippa. The same Pippa whose first FNRTTC was September last year. The same Pippa who only started cycling last year as the result of a bet in a pub to compete in a triathlon . Power to weight ratio was enhanced and the tandem went like a whippet. We tried hard for polka dot jersy on Bread and Cheese Hill, trading raspberries as we overhauled the field.
I'd also brought along another new rider, the delightful Bernie, a colleague of Mrs. Hall. She had a fantastic time, or so she told me.
Things sticking in my mind:
Yoof on a bike enters the main road somewhere near Whitechapel way. We are downwind of him. There is a distinctive smell of, umm, herbal cigarrette. We overtake him. He offers us a drag. We declined. "I rode to Southend, but I didn't inhale".
Her_welshness told me she loved me. Which was nice.
The increasing frequency with which Pippa rang User10571 and her increasing worry. The relief when he woke from his slumbers and called back was immense.
The applause greeting User10571's appearance at Thurrock. The boy had ridden very fast to get there.
Catching people on the downhills as they pedaled and we freewheeled. Answer that Gallileo.
Simon's lecture about Bataville. (Internet research tells me Bata are still making shoes, but in Foreign Parts).
Earworms. Apologies to anyone who heard excerpts from Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour wossname drifting across the peloton.
Home by 1045, slept for a bit, then a night on the beer. Recommended.
"And what did you do Friday night?"
"I spent much of the time breathing heavily into the ear of a lady"
Keen students will notice that I was riding a tandem, something I've done for many years. Keener ones will note that the stoker, as we tandemistas say, was not my wife but the delightful Pippa. The same Pippa whose first FNRTTC was September last year. The same Pippa who only started cycling last year as the result of a bet in a pub to compete in a triathlon . Power to weight ratio was enhanced and the tandem went like a whippet. We tried hard for polka dot jersy on Bread and Cheese Hill, trading raspberries as we overhauled the field.
I'd also brought along another new rider, the delightful Bernie, a colleague of Mrs. Hall. She had a fantastic time, or so she told me.
Things sticking in my mind:
Yoof on a bike enters the main road somewhere near Whitechapel way. We are downwind of him. There is a distinctive smell of, umm, herbal cigarrette. We overtake him. He offers us a drag. We declined. "I rode to Southend, but I didn't inhale".
Her_welshness told me she loved me. Which was nice.
The increasing frequency with which Pippa rang User10571 and her increasing worry. The relief when he woke from his slumbers and called back was immense.
The applause greeting User10571's appearance at Thurrock. The boy had ridden very fast to get there.
Catching people on the downhills as they pedaled and we freewheeled. Answer that Gallileo.
Simon's lecture about Bataville. (Internet research tells me Bata are still making shoes, but in Foreign Parts).
Earworms. Apologies to anyone who heard excerpts from Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour wossname drifting across the peloton.
Home by 1045, slept for a bit, then a night on the beer. Recommended.
