FNRttC FNRttC 7th August to Felpham near Bognor Regis 2009

[Origamist]

A pleasure to meet you too, O. And I owe you one - you inadvertently relieved me of the final waymarking post - the one guaranteed to put you at the back of the breakfast queue. Which means that I ended up doing bugger all. I shall be more alert to my duties in future!

Look forward to the pics. Mine are technically inept, but I have been alerted to the fact that what was intended as a straightforward portrait of Big Steve is an accidental masterpiece of ambiguity in composition, in the manner of Las Meninas. No really. The FNRttC is a highbrow affair...

It was a long wait at the corner of Blakes Road and I soon regretted my impulsive magnanimousness (I dismissed Simon's half-hearted protestations that the "honour" was to be yours).

Happily, I found this little bit of local humour in Felpham whilst waiting for the stragglers - Frank Muir would have been proud:

I believe Big Steve (aka Big Steev) was inspired by the camerawork (but perhaps not the content) of La Ronde when creating this short work:


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ym4N_pDmU

 

[condorman]

Thanks to Simon for organising a great ride.
Must remember to bring something warmer next time, the wait at Pickety Cottages resulted in me shaking so much that I wobbled all over the road!
Some nice hills, although one of them must have been steeper than I remember
View attachment 3845
The flint path was kinda fun in a scary way.

Rode back as far a Horsam before time pressures and general weariness forced joining the train.

 

[Paddington]

Well that was seriously good fun! Hadn't been on bike for 2 weeks - but the last time was bashing up the 800 metre climb from Morzine to Avoriaz. That, and the Cols de Romme and Colombiere on the Tour de France route seemed to be adequate training. Climbs don't seem so bad in the dark, but descending the bigs ones in the dark would be seriously scary.

Met Stu on the train to Waterloo, and forgot to wish him Happy Birthday belated HB Stu, and enjoy the new wheels. One of several name <-> face connections - but the list keeps getting longer! Also good to see more couples turning up - welcome to Ned and Charlotte!

I thought there was less friendly abuse through London than on previous rides - is this the recession? And then the magic of hitting the moon-illumined dark: the brightest I've seen it on one of these rides. As Simon said front lights (almost) optional - until the thick woods of leafy Surrey - where the descents with no-one visible in front were interesting. Helped out with a few punctures, and was rewarded with Charlotte's excellent flapjack - thanks. Failed to console whoever it was that had a one-speeder having believed Simon that the route was flat - all but newcomers should have stopped falling for that one by now... The flint path was a great experience - I'd never have had the courage by myself, but "Simon Says" is good enough for us.

And the organisation was impeccable as ever - Just what is Simon's opening line when inviting a cafe to open up at 3am?? And extra staff will be required?? Excellent as ever, and fantastic beach venue as well. Really enjoyed the pedal back with Matt, who was v patient with our speed. 120 miles under the belt - followed by bath bed for 2 hours and then on the bike... to go shopping. Felt remarkably un-bad.

And so to September! Thanks again to Simon and all.

 

[dellzeqq]

I believe Big Steve (aka Big Steev) was inspired by the camerawork (but perhaps not the content) of La Ronde when creating this short work:


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ym4N_pDmU

that's a nice little tour of Amberley.

Condorman - you should have asked1 I had a rolled up waterproof you could have borrowed!

 

[MacB]

In Swansea, we call that an A-road. But it wouldn't be a proper FNRttC without Bludge entertaining thoughts of unspeakable violence towards Our Fearless Leader. The snap of you, Luke and SD looking contemplative is captured at the moment you were planning to loosen his QR. You didn't mistakenly target the wrong bike and take a sneaky hacksaw to the Veneto's handlebar by mistake, I hope?

Are you serious??? I may be a gobby pillock but you've seen the size of Teef, even I'm not that stupid!!!

 

[Radius]

So, many thanks to [snip] ilovebikes [snip] whose efforts got us down there in good shape. As ever a real team effort.

No.

 

[Radius]

As we approached a hill signed at 17%, I imaginatively shouted “17% hill” to my fellow riders - the response was immediate and unexpected: a young rider who shall be left nameless (but waiting for his A-Level results) cycled straight into the muddy road edge and came a cropper. Once again, he was quickly on his bike and I suspect he only did it in order to disrupt my hill climbing rhythm...

Yeah andy you nitwit.

 

[dellzeqq]

clicking on TarteTatin's link reveals that Bognor is not all hydrangeas and pampas grass! Be careful out there!

http://www.bognor.co.uk/news/Catnappers-on-the-prowl.5525941.jp

 

[mike e]

Lance stop this grating with your mate Alberto

 

[dellzeqq]

Yeah andy you nitwit.

now, now. Just because he had the beating of you on that little rise in to Amberley......

 

[mike e]

It's a good job you don't reside in Bognor Mr Legg, no doubt your weather forecasting cat would be top of their hitlist

 

[Aperitif]

But a cat called 'Dave'? My friends Syd and Jan were very impressed with the whole affair - they wanted us to descend again next month! They will be on red alert for the felinefilchers - that's for sure!

 

[Aperitif]

Oh yeh - talking of Lance and 'Bertie...did you get my text of yesterday Andy - asking you to slow down as we were "support" riders for Mikee's effort - not 'see you at the finish' merchants
All praise to Radius for consistently going at 24 - 28kph, as per... - the relaxed fixie rider's speed. (Until someone waved a hill under ilb's nose and off he went!)

Well done mike.

 

[mike e]

But a cat called 'Dave'? My friends Syd and Jan were very impressed with the whole affair - they wanted us to descend again next month! They will be on red alert for the felinefilchers - that's for sure!

If only we'd have known earlier, 80 cyclists riding around Bognor shouting "Dave". It would have only been a matter of time before we found the little moggy (and half the population of Bognor)

 

[redjedi]

Thanks again to Simon for another great ride.

I think I've finally recovered after spending the last 24 hours sleeping and eating

The weather gods cat smiled on us again, and apart from the mist was a lovely night.

Friday nighters gathering under a full moon

Cafe stops were perfectly organised once again, although £1.10 for a can of coke at the Boat house was a bit much.

The ending was a perfect location to finish the ride, especially basked in sunshine.

So after breakfast and coffee, decided this would be the day that I ride back

No problem I thought, I'll put my aching feet up for an hour and join Team Astana, Aperitif, MacB and Mike e (and friend, sorry forgot your name ) for the ride home to London.

Chance would be a fine thing, Mike e had a deadline to meet, so I had a couple of minutes to prepare and we were off.

Team Astana took the lead and set the pace at close to 20mph. We soon had to tie bricks to their bikes and settled for a pace closer to 15mph.

This would be the first time where I noticed that drafting other riders made a noticeable difference, and that leading the group is a bit more difficult, finally giving in and waving Radius through to take the lead, thank you.

There is also a severe lack of shops on the A29, and I spent much of the first 30m rationing my water supplies.

I left the other when I saw signs to Kingston (and beyond that my bed). Stopping for a few minutes (45 to be exact) beside the river to re-hydrate and rest my feet (they really were struggling on this ride) before the last push home.

Congrats to Mike e on his mammoth ride for a good cause.

And to Aperitif for his catastrophic bar failure, I hope you're ok, and a good job it happened so close to home, and not in the middle of no-where.

140 mile round trip for me, and now it's time for some more food and a nap