FNRttC to Brighton 13th May 2011

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ttcycle

Cycling Excusiast
Well am back in the comfort of a warm home!!

Was good to cycle up and say hi to a few people- got called a part timer by User10571 which is true, in fact an overstatement even!

Turned off a little after Tooting -sorry to those that I stopped in front off; suppose it was a little unexpected- however my excuse was Rich P was gaining on me and about to tell me stories about train toilets...a drastic left turn off was needed. Was going to stop to say bye to more friends but was getting cold so decided against it. Have a good ride all! May it stay dry and hope you get a beautiful sunrise. Good luck Andy on the BMX!
 

wanda2010

Guru
Location
London
Thanks everyone. Had a lovely ride and even the cold section wasn't too bad :ohmy:.

Glad to have met Ingrid, Charley, Biondino and his mate and the others I spoke to whose names I didn't get or I've forgotten completely (the memory cells work sporadically these days).

My highlights: Riding all the way up Turners Hill. Yay! The first time I did it, I walked halfway up. The view from Ditchling. I walked most of the way but I'm pleased I managed to ride about 50 yards first :rolleyes:. The downward section into Brighton. Luved it. Luved it. Breakfast with Guinness. To be repeated at Whitstable? Could get used to that :biggrin:


It's far too early to fall asleep (even though I'm very tired) so I'm going to do some household stuff and have an early night.

Look forward to seeing the pics :thumbsup::hello:
 

arallsopp

Post of The Year 2009 winner
Location
Bromley, Kent
Home. 125 miles for me. Excellent company. Startling performance from young Andy on the outbound leg. Hope he's sleeping / drinking it off at leisure.
Many pics. Flickbook on its way.After sleep.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Also home. A mere 107 miles for me, but then I started from Clapham due to late finish at work & acts of Southern Railway. Chapeau to iLB for a sterling effort, put most of us to shame! More to follow later....
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Well am back in the comfort of a warm home!!

Was good to cycle up and say hi to a few people- got called a part timer by User10571 which is true, in fact an overstatement even!

Turned off a little after Tooting -sorry to those that I stopped in front off; suppose it was a little unexpected- however my excuse was Rich P was gaining on me and about to tell me stories about train toilets...a drastic left turn off was needed. Was going to stop to say bye to more friends but was getting cold so decided against it. Have a good ride all! May it stay dry and hope you get a beautiful sunrise. Good luck Andy on the BMX!

It was good to see you again Grace, if only to prove I'm not always a drunken pirate..... :whistle:
 

matthew

Senior Member
Home now, I ducked out to the train at Balcombe, due to a number of reasons.

All in all a great ride also 107miles for me as I avoided the last 40 by using the train. The weather was very accommodating, the Asda stop worked well, though the half way cafe is a little short in the toilet department.

The ride to the start was very quick (must have been a tail wind) and I then ended up doing a significant amount of waymarking which got the legs going. Ended up way finding on a couple of occasions, sorry if I was a bit short with people who were at the front when Simon was missing on the way out of London, but the quicker we went the longer we were going to be standing around at Clapham Common.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Home. 125 miles for me. Excellent company. Startling performance from young Andy on the outbound leg. Hope he's sleeping / drinking it off at leisure.
Many pics. Flickbook on its way.After sleep.

Sleep? What about lager??

130 and a bit miles for me. Now watching FA Cup Final and chilling. Great ride. Fantastically well done iLB, that must hurt.


A quick well done also to the couple I saw on Slugwash Lane. At that point you looked like you were struggling, the next time I saw you, you were cresting the Beacon.
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
I'm on the train home after ...an experience...

Highlights: Lonesome Lane and the long swoop downhill out of Turner's Hill. Also climbing the Beacon in one go at my first attempt, and the stunning views from the last stretch and the top.

Not to forget scoffing greasy fried bread in the sun and washing it down with Brown Beer. And putting names and flesh to forum monikers. I wasn't at my usual sparkly* best - I think I told one or two that I'd had five-and-a-half hours sleep on Thursday followed by an hour in the gym with my PT. My legs felt it by Ditchling, even though my heart and lungs were willing.

I'd have preferred a bit less sitting around, especially at Horley - but actually I was towards the front of the field most of the time, which does add to the sitting-around time.

Well done to Andy ILB. For the record he sat there at the Madeira drinking tea, coke and OJ while the old soaks at the next table knocked back pints. It felt like we had a grown-ups table and a young people's table. And it wasn't always entirely clear which was which.

*that may be an exaggeration.
 
U

User482

Guest
I'm also watching the FA Cup final, having eventually managed to navigate my way from Victoria to Paddington. It was great to see everyone again, and I even enjoyed (sort of) the slog up Ditchling Beacon.

SRW - sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself - I had to rush for my train.

See some of you next Friday.
 

rb58

Enigma
Location
Bexley, Kent
I have decided that my Saturday mornings will no longer be complete unless the Hog Roast is on the spit by 6.00am :whistle:

Thanks to Andy and Martin for your company on the way back - the first half of that route back to London is gorgeous - apart from the hills over Devil's Dyke, which never fail to get me. And I loved the way we thought we'd scalped that guy in the white Rapha gear on the way back, only to find he was just toying with us. :laugh:

132 miles for the day.

Thanks as always to Mr DZ and his helpers for making it all go so smoothly, and espcially for arranging the Hog Roast.

I'm now off down the garage to see if I can find my son's BMX.

And a beer!
 
I would just like to register my overwhelming disappointment that young Andy had moved on before I reached the top of Ditchling Beacon. I was thus denied my opportunity to have a go at riding the BMX up, after finding out whether having the brake on all the way down would be audible across the whole of The Weald.

Good on Andy! You pest Adrian.

'The proprietor of the Seagull got more and less than he bargained for on Saturday, and he ended up with an albatross around his neck as the birdies of the Friday Night Ride- having had their sensitive feathers ruffled - decided to chip in for a round. Greg at the Madeira had sandwedges galore but maybe only Luke was in need of a specialist tool for the bunker - not sure. There was Rich prize money given to the winner (In this instance it was the 'The Ventriloquist and Derailleur' (motto " Gottle of gear") next door but one to The Seagull
Birdie question: What does 'sittingduck' and The Seagull have in common? Neither have proper beer inside them.
Anyway, back to the Friday Night Matchplay, and no-one was a match for Luke's four ball better ball that left him well under par come the breakfast banter - but hey! The man of the Seagull had his head terned by the fabulous display of rehydration IN GLASSES, available to us, via the good offices of Greg's Madeira Ales Ltd.
Seagull man could have Claudine' the money but for an attitude that reeked of 'Gwan, no bikes on my forecourt".
When we left, the 'court' was in Plenary Session - I hope the verdicts were true and just. :smile:

Thanks Simon, Greg and staff at the Mad ear(a) for simply knowing customer relations, Tim H - "the chainbrain", Adrian - chef de TEC (who always knew when not to answer the telephone! :biggrin: ) all the participants who conducted the business with a smile on their faces, Rich for the cabaret and jokes, and, for anyone I did not chat or say 'hello' to.. "Hello!"

We got the train with a minute to spare - a tiny minute no less - and the doors closed upon us. Andy's little love bike fitted on a luggage rack, and Thom and my own were in front. Lots of ta tas before I battled homeward into a stiff drink North Westerly. Wow! Hard work, complicated by Kilburn's finest, having carpeted the A5 in broken glass. Yes, you guessed it - a puncture. No CO2. :sad:
Elbow grease and sunshine saw me out of town. I need to prepare now, for the Eurovision Song Contest. I have bought a packet of roses and will have them after t, because 'they grow on u'.

Thank you everyone for your company, and particularly those who offered scintillating repartie to entertain me. rich.
On purpose no camera this week - in order to let others 'show us their wares'. At 'Didn't Planet Sweet', Stuaff was taking an 'in depth' of his fingers and the roof of the shopfront - c'mon Stu - get posting those pics. Nothing rude mind, there could be kids watching, eh rich? :biggrin:

By now, the prop. of The Seagull was fuming - he had a double-bogey - and no tissues. It was to be a very big blow for trade on the Madeira seafront.
Susie and Claudine said "Ah men" to all that.
:smile:

PS My personal trainer has just been round and said - "You don't look nearly pi$ed enough - have some more beer." Getting very personal there, I thought. Pleased to have been sitting on the children's table too :smile:

PPS. Young Andy is changing his forum name to iLBMX. When he hears the sound of his hamstrings twanging in the middle of the night, followed by a cramping leg launching the eiderdown into the bathroom from the bedroom... then he will love bikes. well done Kid. :bravo: Sometimes, even Thom couldn't keep up, on his Ti Condor. But then again, 'Condor does something for a man' - put that in your pipe and smoke it! :biggrin:
 
Watching Andy come past me on the Beacon was one of the most bittersweet moments in my cycling life - equal parts awe and guttedness that a BMX had gone past me (mind you, I'd like to see Andy do that with an extra 5 stone on board... ;) ) I was never going to clear that bugger though, but I can take away some joy at managing Turner's Hill.

Thanks to the TECs who fixed helped fix Mark's puncture and then paced us on an absolutely glorious charge through the countryside, whizzing through villages and wooded lanes at a faster pace than I can ever usually manage (although uphill I was my usual sloooow self) . All that pales into insignificance compared to Lonesome Lane though, twists, turns, leaning in to brush head against shrub, all the while on a billiard table of a road surface, just frikkin' awesome.

Just checked my computer, 73 miles for the day, which is my second longest ever (after Whitstable last year), legs ache like a bastard but I'm still pleased with that.


Thanks everyone, that was great, now back to the Belgian stubbies.
 

GM

Legendary Member
Many thanks Simon and Way finders. As usual superbly organized. Great route, even going past the Bedington Brewery. My first time for the Brighton run, so a bit excited. Young Andy on his BMX was amazing, deserves a medal. Looking forward to the next one.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
And I loved the way we thought we'd scalped that guy in the white Rapha gear on the way back, only to find he was just toying with us. :laugh:

Ahem, he wasn't toying!!! I had him beat but then looked around for my team mates to rub salt into his wounds by riding off into the distance and there was no sign of anyone!! :whistle:
 
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