FNRttC FNRttC Oxford 21st September 2018

[rvw]

I'm looking forward to seeing the ride reports, and hope everyone got home safely too.

Big thanks to @mmmmartin for helping out, and @CharlieB for providing cakes. (Ditto to Nigel, helping on the night despite arriving back from his US holiday only yesterday, and Heather and Joy for other cakes - but they aren't cyclists so won't see this!) I was reasonably sure that @srw's fears of having too little were unfounded, but it was a relief to be proved right. As we said at the end of the night we raised around GBP380 to provide emergency food bags - which is fantastic, and thank you all so much.

 

[mmmmartin]

I assume that they'll be pixelated.....

On the Tour when we took pix that might go on the website we made a point of asking riders if they had objections to that.
Yes, it's a different world now. Better, I think. Not everyone wants a pic of themselves looking p!ssed, exhausted and bleary-eyed sitting in an Oxford pub at 9am after riding all night to be seen across the world by thousands of strangers.
On the website we made a point some time ago of trying to ensure no one was identifiable.

 

[mmmmartin]

raised around GBP380 to provide emergency food bags

Hmm. £380. From 45 riders through the door. At £7 a rider. When I was at school that would have meant £315.
Looks to me like The Usual Suspects paid over the odds because the money was going to those less fortunate. This happened on the York-Hull ride.

I'm ever so proud of you.

 

[StuAff]

Hmm. £380. From 45 riders through the door. At £7 a rider. When I was at school that would have meant £315.
Looks to me like The Usual Suspects paid over the odds because the money was going to those less fortunate. This happened on the York-Hull ride.

I'm ever so proud of you.

Good causes. Good cake. Deserve good amounts of dosh.

 

[kimble]

Might just be that at 4:00am most Fridays' arithmetic is as bad as mine.

Lovely ride. Not so lovely train home. Got the bike on okay, in spite of an infestation of prams in the cycle spaces, but it soon ended up with Piccadilly Line levels of crammed, with me standing in someone's armpit for about an hour with nothing to hold onto. Falling asleep periodically. In cycling shoes. I appear to have done something nasty to my ankle as a result. Bah!

 

[mmmmartin]

Lovely ride.

Great to see you again. Thanks for making the effort, hope it was worthwhile.

 

[robjh]

Thanks to Nick for this ride, and to Charlie, Adrian and now-you-see-him now-you-don't Greg for their parts in this enjoyable Fridays adventure, as well as to srw, rvw and Martin for the first class catering.
The highlights? The small Chiltern lanes in the darkness, gravel, ruts and all.
The rest? Wow, doesn't north-west London go on for a long way?
The verdict? Another great night.

I set off at 10 to ride home to Cambridge, hoping to stay ahead of the rain, but it soon caught me up, and finally after 61 miles and four solid hours of rain I passed Baldock station with a train due and took the easy option to save me the last 20, lumpy, miles. I'm showered, fed and still wide awake now, but I think I'll sleep well tonight.

[edited to mention the catering at the half-way stop. How could I have omitted that?]

 

[kimble]

For those who were suggesting it, I knew I already had a photo of the Great Kimble sign. What it lacks in someone other than me to take the picture, it makes up for in daylight (and bike luggage):

 

[StuAff]

For those who were suggesting it, I knew I already had a photo of the Great Kimble sign. What it lacks in someone other than me to take the picture, it makes up for in daylight (and bike luggage):

View attachment 431131

Sure I wasn't the only one to think 'Yes, she is!'

 

[mmmmartin]

the Great Kimble sign

View attachment 431131

It's almost as though someone looked at the list of riders and had an idea.

 

[bobcolover]

Thanks Nick Charlie and everyone at the rolls and cake stop and loyal allupper, and all for making such an amazingly enjoyable ride. It wouldn't have been a proper FNTTCR if i hadn't had a puncture; and the p* fairy obliged of course at the Oxford roundabout 1 mile from the end of the ride.
That caused a slight delay but then I still managed to get to the biggest cheapest monster veggie breakfast at Weatherspoons.
Unfortunately I wont be able to make Shoreham or Xmas drinks if that takes place; but looking forward to seeing you all next year.

 

[StuartG]

Thank you all for a very enioyable, innovative and fufilling ride and especially to Nick who managed to squeeze it exactly in the lull between two disastrous autumn storms.

The overriding memory was not the barn owls, the gravel, the spires and the amazing value and speed Wetherspoons always delivers. I can trade some atmosphere for that. No, it was Multi-millionaires Row just before Moor Park. It wasn't the ostentatious overweening opulence of folks with more money than taste - we have a few of those in Sarf London - but the very length of the road and number of mansions. Another world the outskirts of NW London!

Was it because of that - the Fridays were a tad more generous in donating to those that do not have opulent homes, indeed no homes at all? Or was it just the quality of the cake?

@mmmmartin still hasn't disclosed whether Jacob R-M & Boris J have paid their two quid - maybe we need to sign up Robin H instead

 

[StuAff]

A clear (yet GDPR-friendly, opaque) solution to the ride list issue....psedonyms. For each ride, you choose a pseudonym based on a theme in the entry form. Hours of fun trying to work out who of those you know in real life went for which name.
For example, a list starts with....
Bernard H
OK, there might be a Bernard H IRL on the ride, but ...
Jacques A?
Louison B?
And there's bound to be at least one or two....(multiple usage of the same name is perfectly OK, if not encouraged)…
Eddy M
Eddy M…
And how many Jens Vs?

Or....
Emmanuel K
Friedrich E
Henri D
Henri D (yes folks, Cartesian dualism....)
John SM
Karl M
Karl M
Karl M

Doesn't even have to be people....
Camden T
Goodge S
Leicester S
Mornington C (might be popular)....

 

[StuartG]

A clear (yet GDPR-friendly, opaque) solution to the ride list issue....pseudonyms.

Good to see you Mr 21:38. Did you get back to [redacted] OK?

 

[Salty seadog]

The list was only ever first name, so not quite the same thing. I do acknowledge however that if one has an extremely unusual first name, you could possibly be identified.

Feels like a disproport

When Our Great And Glorious Leader (Simon) led the rides, a list of names was distributed, sufficiently "redacted" to keep the riders' identity private except to the people who knew them anyway. Nobody sent a hitman round to my gaff. How far do people want to take this obsession with confidentiality? Should all riders take a vow of silence, and wear ski masks and dark glasses?

Tail winds, folks. Have fun.

I agree with you, however there may be some who wish to remain completely anonymous i mean how else are they gonna kill all the other riders? and shouldn't their wishes be respected