FNRttC pre-ride: London/Bristol to Cardiff, May 20th 2011
- Thread starter frank9755
- Start date
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StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
I'm not surprised they're behind schedule, but hopefully they'll make it in time!!
U
User482
Guest
Two punctures and a knackered tyre, apparently.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
That, all things considered, is good going!
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
Currently on my way back home at good speed, not many hills on the a4. Just having a pit stop in Newbury.
Great day so far with great half way pub stop. Home in about 3hrs... And to bed, unike them other folk!
Great day so far with great half way pub stop. Home in about 3hrs... And to bed, unike them other folk!
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Good thing you weren't along for the ride then Stu.
As forewarned, I bailed out at Swindon so this is a partial report on the prologue organised by Frank.
It was a great day, following a zigzag route through the Chiltern Hills, passing through some very attractive countryside; rolling terrain with one significant climb up to to Christmas Common. Road quality is not great - no worse than Surrey but with perhaps more gravel - nothing seemed to deter Davy who flew down every descent.
Coffee and lunch stops in Watlington and Wantage were VG - does anyone remember the name of the pub?
On a personal note I finished the day with 163 km and 1360m vertical as measured on ridewithgps. Puny for some I know but longest ride ever for me.
God speed to the intrepid quartet who sped on into Wales and thankyou to all for your good company.
It was a great day, following a zigzag route through the Chiltern Hills, passing through some very attractive countryside; rolling terrain with one significant climb up to to Christmas Common. Road quality is not great - no worse than Surrey but with perhaps more gravel - nothing seemed to deter Davy who flew down every descent.
Coffee and lunch stops in Watlington and Wantage were VG - does anyone remember the name of the pub?
On a personal note I finished the day with 163 km and 1360m vertical as measured on ridewithgps. Puny for some I know but longest ride ever for me.
God speed to the intrepid quartet who sped on into Wales and thankyou to all for your good company.
lilolee
Veteran
- Location
- Maidenhead
It was a great morning for me. I turned around just before Wallingford to turn home.
Really enjoyed meeting you all and look forward to putting more miles into my legs.
Good Luck.
Lee
Really enjoyed meeting you all and look forward to putting more miles into my legs.
Good Luck.
Lee
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
Got home just gone 10ish. Fed, watered, bathed and now in bed.
Fantastic day out with some awesome scenery. Well done Frank for this crazy suggestion. Hope the rest of the ride went well for the magic four and have a great night ride one and all.
Was good to meet two new faces, and Geoff, I lied, I didnt go easy on the way back, was pumping along at low 20mphs most of the way, ooops! However, felt very strong so well chuffed.
156.5 miles in just over 12 hours, I think...max of 47.1mph, didnt realised I had gone that fast but didnt quite fancy looking down at the time!
Thanks again and have a great fnrttc! Am off to bed, zzzzzzzzz...
Fantastic day out with some awesome scenery. Well done Frank for this crazy suggestion. Hope the rest of the ride went well for the magic four and have a great night ride one and all.
Was good to meet two new faces, and Geoff, I lied, I didnt go easy on the way back, was pumping along at low 20mphs most of the way, ooops! However, felt very strong so well chuffed.
156.5 miles in just over 12 hours, I think...max of 47.1mph, didnt realised I had gone that fast but didnt quite fancy looking down at the time!
Thanks again and have a great fnrttc! Am off to bed, zzzzzzzzz...
lilolee
Veteran
- Location
- Maidenhead
Davy
Good going there. I envy 20mph when I'm setting off, let alone after 100miles
Good going there. I envy 20mph when I'm setting off, let alone after 100miles
Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
Well I'm back home, having done 215 miles since 07.30 Friday morning. Mick & I bailed at Chepstow, as basically I was getting too tired, although I couldn't have managed to get that far without the others pulling me along at time, especially 'Teef & Frank.
Full details + pics will follow at some point.
Full details + pics will follow at some point.
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
That climb was a susprise, but what a view! Mule bar?? Sounds yum. Alas yes, with a slight tail wind, I was off like a shot, quite susprised myself. I think I could have gone to Bristol and turned round there. Oh well..
Adam, thats still awesome riding, very envious. When I was coming into Windsor, I could see a stunning sunset behind me and was wondering how it was your end, Teefs picture of it is quite frankly awesome... Well done one and all again!
Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
Just about recovered now!
Well it certainly was an epic trip. Despite waking up way too early on Friday morning at 04.30, and even though the bike was all ready the previous night, due to general faffing around, I didn't leave home until 07.30, which meant I had to push it a bit to get to Harefield for 09.00, to meet up with Martin, Frank and Geoffrey. The roads were all familiar ones, as it was the opposite of Rogerzilla's Oxford to London route, so it was nice to see everything from the opposite way.
We picked up Davy and Lee in Bourne End and shortly afterwards I had the first puncture of the day. Even though I'd put a new tyre on the front, somehow last week I'd completely forgotten to check the state of my rear tyre. This had a patch on the inside of the tyre, and it looked like a ridge nipped the tyre initially. Martin put a boot over it and it all seemed fine, so we then headed up into the Chilterns where it was a long slog up to Christmas Common, and I found myself at the back. Even out in the countryside, you still get BMW's trying to zip past.
Around that point, 3 very speedy cyclists zipped past as though there wasn't any incline, and Lee mentioned later that they were all triathletes as he'd spotted them in the area before. Then there was the very rapid descent down into Watlington where we stopped for a quick break. Frank was in the zone:-
whilst Davy was looking for food:-
We then headed off past Benson where Lee left us, and then we headed through Wallingford, which clearly is a place which has a fatwa against cyclists as Geoffrey nearly got doored, and I had a couple start walking into the road (pushing a baby stroller) right in front of me, without looking first. Fortunately, I was half expecting them to do it, so was already moving across slightly and was immediately able to shout out they should look first. Then we rolled into Didcot and I can see why I haven't been back in the last 20 years. Zooming under the railway bridge, the first thing I noticed was a whiff of dope from the kids hanging around in the park, but then when you see the drab High Street, it's not surprising.
We were running at least 30 minutes late by the time we met up with Mick in Wantage, where we headed to the King Alfred's Head for a very tasty lunch. And then of course it was immediately followed by The Hills. I really started to struggle a bit here, although it was nice to get a glimpse of the White Horse. Once that ordeal was over, then we had to suffer the Swindon bypass in the rush hour. Davy had headed off back to London, whilst Geoffrey went off towards Swindon Station.
The next phase is where it nearly all started to go wrong as I got another puncture or 3. We found the tyre boot had also developed a ridge, so we didn't get very far again without another deflation, and then the valve snapped off. The tyre clearly has a weak spot in the sidewall at that point. As I knew the only bike place open now would be a Halfords, Frank rang User482 who fortunately was very close to a branch and asked him to pick up a new tyre and we'd meet him at the Severn Services. After a quick bite to eat in Malmseby, where Martin wished he could have a nibble of something else. The sun was now starting to set, as we got a glimpse of the Severn Bridge (and some very friendly cows).
As we were well behind schedule, Frank had already suggested to Steve to leave the tyre at the services, so when we rolled in there at 9 pm, I quickly picked up the tyre. I knew I felt too tired (no pun intended) to get to Cardiff before midnight without something substantial to eat, so Mick & I headed off to Chepstow to get the train to Cardiff, leaving the intrepid duo of Frank and Martin to make their own way to Cardiff, which they managed with at least 25 minutes to spare. In the meantime, we got to Cardiff at 10.30, where I led a group across to the start point for the FNRttC, so Mick and I headed off to find some food. Pizza Express had run out of dough (?), so further along we went into Nandos where Des, User482, Rich, Clive and Marilyn were, so I was able to pick up the new tyre.
Overall though, this was a testing, but enjoyable trip. If I hadn't been a bit exhausted to start with and most importantly, followed one of dellzeqq's golden rules and checked both my tyres, the pace would have been a bit slower as we would have had more time. However, thanks to technology we were able to plan around the issues, so many thanks to User482 for getting the tyre, Mick for finding out train times, and everyone for dragging me up the hills at times.
Edit - the rest of the photos are here.
Well it certainly was an epic trip. Despite waking up way too early on Friday morning at 04.30, and even though the bike was all ready the previous night, due to general faffing around, I didn't leave home until 07.30, which meant I had to push it a bit to get to Harefield for 09.00, to meet up with Martin, Frank and Geoffrey. The roads were all familiar ones, as it was the opposite of Rogerzilla's Oxford to London route, so it was nice to see everything from the opposite way.
We picked up Davy and Lee in Bourne End and shortly afterwards I had the first puncture of the day. Even though I'd put a new tyre on the front, somehow last week I'd completely forgotten to check the state of my rear tyre. This had a patch on the inside of the tyre, and it looked like a ridge nipped the tyre initially. Martin put a boot over it and it all seemed fine, so we then headed up into the Chilterns where it was a long slog up to Christmas Common, and I found myself at the back. Even out in the countryside, you still get BMW's trying to zip past.
Around that point, 3 very speedy cyclists zipped past as though there wasn't any incline, and Lee mentioned later that they were all triathletes as he'd spotted them in the area before. Then there was the very rapid descent down into Watlington where we stopped for a quick break. Frank was in the zone:-
whilst Davy was looking for food:-
We then headed off past Benson where Lee left us, and then we headed through Wallingford, which clearly is a place which has a fatwa against cyclists as Geoffrey nearly got doored, and I had a couple start walking into the road (pushing a baby stroller) right in front of me, without looking first. Fortunately, I was half expecting them to do it, so was already moving across slightly and was immediately able to shout out they should look first. Then we rolled into Didcot and I can see why I haven't been back in the last 20 years. Zooming under the railway bridge, the first thing I noticed was a whiff of dope from the kids hanging around in the park, but then when you see the drab High Street, it's not surprising.
We were running at least 30 minutes late by the time we met up with Mick in Wantage, where we headed to the King Alfred's Head for a very tasty lunch. And then of course it was immediately followed by The Hills. I really started to struggle a bit here, although it was nice to get a glimpse of the White Horse. Once that ordeal was over, then we had to suffer the Swindon bypass in the rush hour. Davy had headed off back to London, whilst Geoffrey went off towards Swindon Station.
The next phase is where it nearly all started to go wrong as I got another puncture or 3. We found the tyre boot had also developed a ridge, so we didn't get very far again without another deflation, and then the valve snapped off. The tyre clearly has a weak spot in the sidewall at that point. As I knew the only bike place open now would be a Halfords, Frank rang User482 who fortunately was very close to a branch and asked him to pick up a new tyre and we'd meet him at the Severn Services. After a quick bite to eat in Malmseby, where Martin wished he could have a nibble of something else. The sun was now starting to set, as we got a glimpse of the Severn Bridge (and some very friendly cows).
As we were well behind schedule, Frank had already suggested to Steve to leave the tyre at the services, so when we rolled in there at 9 pm, I quickly picked up the tyre. I knew I felt too tired (no pun intended) to get to Cardiff before midnight without something substantial to eat, so Mick & I headed off to Chepstow to get the train to Cardiff, leaving the intrepid duo of Frank and Martin to make their own way to Cardiff, which they managed with at least 25 minutes to spare. In the meantime, we got to Cardiff at 10.30, where I led a group across to the start point for the FNRttC, so Mick and I headed off to find some food. Pizza Express had run out of dough (?), so further along we went into Nandos where Des, User482, Rich, Clive and Marilyn were, so I was able to pick up the new tyre.
Overall though, this was a testing, but enjoyable trip. If I hadn't been a bit exhausted to start with and most importantly, followed one of dellzeqq's golden rules and checked both my tyres, the pace would have been a bit slower as we would have had more time. However, thanks to technology we were able to plan around the issues, so many thanks to User482 for getting the tyre, Mick for finding out train times, and everyone for dragging me up the hills at times.
Edit - the rest of the photos are here.
