FNRttC FNRttC to Brighton - November 27th 2009

[Jasper the Surrea]

And what news of Jasper, the not so Meaty Confrere? Last seen at The Dragon, Colgate, steadfastly waymarking until we rolled up having fixed Redjedi's puncture. He then went in a westerly direction, deciding to ride home. To Bognor.

I'm alive (I think). Went off towards Horsham and had to stop for a herd of Deer crossing the rode. Tacked my way to home through a sod of a wind and got straight into a hot bath. Sorry I did not make Brighton, but I did ride to the coast. Sorry for not TECing the last stage (as I was meant to) but I have not been to well recently so decided that when I did stop it would be at home. Brilliant stuff by all of you as well as the usual suspects. I have been colder on these rides but never wetter.

 

[Bollo]

I don't think I can add value to the previous match reports, but I'd also like to add thanks to Simon, the TECs, waymarkers and the proprietors of the Cabin for all the good custard they pour over the steamed pudding of cycling.

 

[arallsopp]

Here's a selection of stills from the bikecam. I think they convey the ambient dampness quite well.

Chasing the bus out of town:

Cyclists rule the roads:

Rain starts:

...and settles in:

whilst some play catch up:

whilst it gets worse:

a lonely cyclist:

Cousin Dan, centre frame:

wet, past the cones:

Sanctuary:

 

[Tollers]

Hi Guys,

It sounds like you had quite a ride on Friday. I was really (seriously) upset to miss it, but having not taken any time off work yet this year, I needed some time to relax.

Well, anyway, as I couldn’t be there with you suffering in person, I thought it only fair that at the exact same time you guys were out riding (check the photo timestamps if you don’t believe me J ), I should do a very lonely Alternative FNRttC, or more accurately an HKFNRatC as I started and finished on the coast.

So, here comes my report:

First stop was to pick up my steed for the ride. I hadn’t had the inclination to bring mine with me, so a rental was needed. Once I arrived at the village of my starting point...

....I tracked down the LBS.

The bike selected was...aherm....the lesser of many evils. She told me her name was Miss Lau and for 60 HK$ she would offer me an exciting time. Miss Lau was very much a bike with a past looking for guys without a future. Heavy and ravaged by the use and abuse of many cruel riders and an evil madam not looking after her as she truely deserved!

So, a few adjustments and a bit of elbow work pumping up the tyres got her on the road and heading down to the coast. A good 3 minutes ride in the glorious sunshine lead us here.

You can see a few of the hills and mountains in the background. Off we set upwards along the trail up to the first viewpoint until the sight of the village for lunch came into sight

However, i didn’t want to look back as the idyllic view looking forward wasn’t quite the same over my shoulder

A close crop wth the zoom and the village start point looks better J

Up, up, up we went before a long twisting descent down to the beach in the next town.

This village was our Cabin Cafe

...and the menu was pretty good...

After lunch, onwards past a beach, the inland up a little concrete path to find higher climes. I’d been told by a local that the view up there was amazing, however she’d neglected to mention that the path changed to steps about of a third of the way up the ascent. Hoping that the steps would disappear after the particularly steep bit, i soldiered on holding Miss Lau over my shoulder (no top tube so couldn’t rest her on my shoulder), however, there was no respite to these steps. They went all the way up. Hard work, but that ascent had some great views.....

Panting and near death, i had the slowest descent i’ve ever had alternating between carrying Miss Tau for for 20 steps then scooting along a few metres before the next set. This really hurts without good brakes to slow you properly, but at the bottom of the hill, i found a nice cosy little bar to relax (this was now about 7am Sat morning GMT). The difficult decision was which to go for first, the nice cold Tsing Tao, or the watermelon juice.

Several hours of lazing and playing about past before i jumped on the ferry home.

Happy xmas everybody. Wish i’d been with you

Tollers

p.s For those about to call me a bastard....karma came to collect it’s dues. 6 hours later i was praying for death with a horrible case of food poisoning, but it was still worth it J

p.p.s The island is called Lamma and it’s just west of Hong Kong

 

[YACFLEE]

Arallsopp, hope you don't mind but I stole your image "whilst some play catchup" for my new screen saver. I'm (vaguely) in shot and it really captures the whole rainy, windswept, trippy nature of the ride.

Whenever I think it's a bit nippy in my office I won't turn the central heating up, I'll just look at that photo for a while, as a reality check.

 

[YACFLEE]

Arallsopp, what camera did you use? The results are very impressive, all things considered. Do you have any more examples (not just the fnrttc) ?

 

[Aperitif]

Agree - Andy is a good image man. His sig line contains fine examples of fnrttc- ery.

Hong Kong looks toller able in comparison - nice report also Mark...you bast@rd!

 

[ttcycle]

What contrasts...sounds like you all had a very wet and eventful ride and made it out alive!

Tollers...you b4St*rd. Hope you recovered all right.

 

[dellzeqq]

Tollers is in trouble. I'm going to have a word with his dad.....

 

[Tollers]

Tollers...you b4St*rd. Hope you recovered all right.

Was better just in time to fly home yesterday. Lovely weather here so i'll see how much strength i've lost.

Are you guys certain that it's been bad this past week?

Tollers is in trouble. I'm going to have a word with his dad.....

Maybe there should be an international FNRttC annually?

Tollers

 

[beatleandrew]

Maybe there should be an international FNRttC annually?

Tollers

You mean whenever you take a holiday to a nice warm country?

 

[Tollers]

You mean whenever you take a holiday to a nice warm country?

LOL....No i mean to give everyone a (guilt free) excuse to escape to a nice warm country

 

[beatleandrew]

LOL....No i mean to give everyone a (guilt free) excuse to escape to a nice warm country

Here perhaps:

Although that might be a FNR along the coast

 

[Andrij]

Here perhaps:

Although that might be a FNR along the coast

Now we know how we're getting from Newhaven to Dieppe next year.

 

[arallsopp]

Hope you don't mind but I stole your image "whilst some play catchup" for my new screen saver. What camera did you use? The results are very impressive, all things considered.

No problem. I consider it a compliment.

The camera is my trusty Pentax Optio W60. Its a budget 10mpx compact, with some very nifty features. First among these are:

• Not really precious, so can go most places with me.
• Small and rugged enough to be taped to the front of my bike.
• Waterproof to 4 metres which means I can leave it there.
• Coldproof to subzero (though the batteries hate it).
• A timelapse mode from 10 seconds to 10 minute intervals.
• 1000 shots on a fresh battery (assuming 5mpx at 10 degrees or so).

Thus far in its life, its been hung below a powerkite, taped to the boom of various bikes, ridden the bars from London to Bournemouth, tied to my head, swum to a raft, dropped down numerous flights of stairs (thanks Ted), fed through the catflap (and again), toured northern France, and still it keeps going

I don't have many daylight shots from it, but here's one from dawn on a previous FNRttC. Not easy to frame shots like this when its mounted on your helmet, taking once every 50 seconds.

Mounting it on the bottom bracket of the 'bent means I get a nice low angle and a low ISO gives a good feeling of speed, but to be honest, beyond that all credit goes to the camera. It wakes up. It takes. It goes back to sleep. I just point it places.