FNRttC - new London startpoint?

[StuAff]

I overcome this (coming from Waterloo) by crossing Westminster Bridge, round Parliament Sq, then along Birdcage Walk, across the front of Buck House then down Constitution Hill. All you have to do then is get in the RH lane as you approach HPC and when the lights go green you push effortlessly onto the centre of HPC.

Aside from anything else, this way you get a magical view of the river from Westminster Bridge, cycle past the mother of all Parliaments and the clock tower, then amble along relatively quiet gas lit streets until you get to HPC. Mrs and small hatler were both struck by the magnificence of this route when we joined the start of the recent Felpham ride.

Indeed you do, that's the way I go. I didn't make it clear that I meant when our peloton leaves the Arch....

 

[mmmmartin]

The more I think about this, the more I cannot see a reason to change. And I think if we do start from somewhere else, there is a good chance that someone will have come in to London on the train and gone to HPC and be left there at midnight on their own, having missed the last train out of London.
HPC is near to Charing Cross for me, and equidistant from other mainline stations, so is sort of fair for everyone. And who cares about toilets? We've all gone before, as it were, and there is a stop pretty early in the ride, mostly. And shelter is OK there, although if we were too worried about the need for shelter we'd not be planning to spend all night on the bike.....

 

[sbird]

London's not my manor but if variation of start points depending on the ride destination is up for consideration then does St. Paul's have any merit for the Saaarfend ride?

 

[slowmotion]

Ref the excitement/buzz/fear when setting off from HPC, as a participant I rather enjoy it.

Likewise. I'm not an adrenaline junkie by any stretch of the imagination but that buzz is fun. I launch myself off a side road by the Apollo into five lanes of traffic on Hammersmith Broadway at least twice every weekend. It's like catching a big wave when surfing, they say. Once you make the decision to go.....no turning back. HPC has that dramatic start. Sorry, I'm just being selfish too. It's only twenty minutes away , and on good tarmac, unlike that ghastly road east of the Embankment.

 

[Wobblers]

Likewise. I'm not an adrenaline junkie by any stretch of the imagination but that buzz is fun. I launch myself off a side road by the Apollo into five lanes of traffic on Hammersmith Broadway at least twice every weekend. It's like catching a big wave when surfing, they say. Once you make the decision to go.....no turning back. HPC has that dramatic start. Sorry, I'm just being selfish too. It's only twenty minutes away , and on good tarmac, unlike that ghastly road east of the Embankment.

Much as I like HPC, and its starting buzz, it's not an ideal launching point for that many cyclists. And I don't envy Dellzeqq his parting of the traffic routine. A more sedate start would certainly be different, and - who knows - we might prefer it. Certainly the South Bank offers an unparalleled London vista. I think we should try it. After all, it's not the location of the start that makes the FNRttC so wonderful.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Much as I like HPC, and its starting buzz, it's not an ideal launching point for that many cyclists. And I don't envy Dellzeqq his parting of the traffic routine. A more sedate start would certainly be different, and - who knows - we might prefer it. Certainly the South Bank offers an unparalleled London vista. I think we should try it. After all, it's not the location of the start that makes the FNRttC so wonderful.

But it IS Sarf of the river and it IS that time of night ....

 

[Fab Foodie]

My number is in most of the boxes of which you speak.

And a good escort he is too (having used his services a few times)!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Have we ever checked to see if some co-ordinated crossing button pressing would ease our exit?

 

[Aperitif]

Have we ever checked to see if some co-ordinated crossing button pressing would ease our exit?

The 'TEC squad' should be at the front to create a road block perhaps. Last to leave they will automatically be at the back. What taxi driver is going to risk his cab against Davy's 64 cm relaxed thighs. It's already a hazard for passing cabbies as female passengers try to clamber out of windows at the sight of 'walnuts crackers, football shorts billowing expectantly. The threat of two intimidating bollards, astride a bike, would be more than his job's worth. Guv.


Just as an edit: Keep your eyes peeled for any car with a Liverpool scarf fluttering from the window. Form a ring around the ride leader and be prepared to die for the cause. The poor bloke is in bother over in the football thread already!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Oxford?

 

[StuartG]

Romford?
Unforgettable street entertainment and a neat little chicken shack!

 

[swansonj]

Ah, that stretch of concrete on the South Bank. Scene of Juliet Stevenson's new boyfriend hopping backwards in front of her in Truly, Madly, Deeply. Scene of High Grant's inarticulate declaration of love to Andie McDowell in Four Weddings. And scene of the first kiss my wife and I exchanged, 18 years ago (and I missed watching the Tour de France go up Ditchling Beacon in order to go on that date with her too).

I will willingly follow DZ wherever you choose. But for my own preference, I agree with others about the case for high iconicity. "Midnight at Hyde Park Corner, breakfast by the sea" has a ring to it that "Midnight outside the cinema under the bridge" doesn't. As was wisely said in another debate in another place:

Setting aside the unusual start time, there the radical notion that rides should have a beginning, a middle and an end - that the beginning should have some moment about it, the end should be revelatory (and involve beer), and the middle should entertain, have an identity or character and not be frenetic.

 

[clarion]

We could start the Brighton rides on Sutton High Street #convenientforme

 

[Fab Foodie]

Oxford?

Oh good call ...

 

[Flying Dodo]

I'd agree the main issue with HPC is the setting off, and the problem Simon has with stopping traffic.

When I'm at the back, I've generally enouraged people in front to move off sharpish, but that doesn't seem to happen. Unfortunately, they tend to simply follow the riders in front, and not consider moving sideways more, to get into the stream of riders going round the roundabout.

I think the best solution would be to get the riders onto the road quicker, through Simon stressing in his safety talk the need for everyone to move onto the roundabout using the whole width of the lowered kerb and not just the bit by the lights.