FNRttK 2015 - Saturday May 2nd

[mmmmartin]

Gordon and I will be staying on afterwards and doing a recce of the lowlands tour in September so we'll have kit for a week, inc wet weather gear. And when I get off the train from Harwich at manningtree to ride the 400k, he'll have all my unwanted kit. (I hope.)

 

[StuAff]

Gordon and I will be staying on afterwards and doing a recce of the lowlands tour in September so we'll have kit for a week, inc wet weather gear. And when I get off the train from Harwich at manningtree to ride the 400k, he'll have all my unwanted kit. (I hope.)

I've said it before, I'll say it again- if you're riding to De Panne, take the inland route. If one of the three bridges along the coastal path is up when you get to it you'll have a lengthy detour before having to take the inland route anyway. It could be the difference between making the next train to Brussels and having to wait an hour.

 

[swarm_catcher]

If we get to Ostend before 9AM it could be a dry ride according to inaccurate weather.

 

[wanda2010]

Makes a note to pack extra gloves.

 

[StuAff]

I think inaccurate weather is the right name for that forecast....every other forecast I've checked (five or six) have said rain overnight & Sunday morning.

 

[wanda2010]

Anybody else getting off the Eurostar at 10pm, or is it just me?

 

[StuAff]

Anybody else getting off the Eurostar at 10pm, or is it just me?

@Gordon P was getting that train I think....

 

[jiberjaber]

enjoy guys

 

[Gordon P]

Anybody else getting off the Eurostar at 10pm, or is it just me?

Me too: see you @ St Pancras for 6 p.m. bike drop-off & 7 p.m. departure?

 

[wanda2010]

@Gordon P - see you then. Although I'll be there earlier, at about 5.30pm.

 

[StuAff]

And I'll be in Brussels when you're leaving. I'll be getting a train up to the smoke just after noon, there are fewer services all weekend on account of big engineering work at Waterloo, so I'll be going a little earlier than necessary rather than sit on a slow train or risk cutting it short. Into Brussels 1905, I then have a 17 mile loop planned, before first supper at Fin de Siecle. After that, over to the Grand Place. Leave some rijsttaart for me Looking forward to not having to get up at the crack of dawn, not crawling to Dover for over three hours, and not having to ride five or six miles back along a breakwater because some bridge or other is down. Eurostar there and back worked out a fair bit more expensive, but I'm leaving home four hours later and getting into Brussels three or four hours earlier than the train/ferry/ride/train alternatives, with far less potential for stress, so money well spent. I might look at switching back to ride/ferry for the return leg next time, but that's for another day....

Hopefully it'll as much fun as this evening was with my favourite musical Belgians.....

 

[Gordon P]

Can you post details of your excellent dynohub deal please.

Also have a look at http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b17s209p3040

 

[mmmmartin]

That looks a very good deal, mine is a cheap shimano hub on a factory built wheel. Wheel is £50 plus postage, light was £50 from Germany. But although it's cheaper its also not hand built.and mine has only 24 spokes.

 

[StuartG]

Waiting for @StuAff in the Grand Markt ...

Ready for the off ... (not sure about @StuAff)

And they are all off ... to Oostende!

 

[redfalo]

So I hope everyone had a great night out?