StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Cracking ride. I had the perfect bike for this one. Unfortunately, thanks to Virgin Trains' lack of bike spaces on conveniently timed & reasonably priced services, I had to leave it 250 miles from the start point, and riding up, let alone riding back as well, would have been a little silly even by my standards. If only I had a decent folding bike...I don't. I have a very decent folding bike! I won't deny that Chutney was not best suited to much of the route. Small wheels do not like potholes and surface imperfections, even when running 40mm tyres, so you have to be more attentive of them, and frisky handling is more like ever so scarily twitchy in the circumstances. The long cables rattle like mad, it'll never be as stiff as a fixed frame, and standing on pedals when riding anything with a long handlepost is A Very Bad Idea Indeed, hills are strictly sit and spin. Stretches where I'd have bombed along on the Litespeed (or the Viner, or the Trek!) were taken with much more caution on the little yellow stablemate. But, as ever, it did the job, and in terms of getting on a train without a bike reservation, and then doing the ride, it's in a class of its own. Very low bottom gear is handy for climbs, the usual reasonable turn of speed (when not being bounced around) and finding a suitable niche on the Pendolinos' ridiculously sized and shaped luggage racks wasn't a problem. Just checked for October 28 (as far ahead as one can book today), and I was getting 'no bike spaces available'!!!! In order to do the ride, one must first get to the ride, and with a bike....
Unlike last year's Adventures In Rail Delays, getting to Manchester was much more straightforward. Slow train into Waterloo (next fast one would have left timings a little tight to get across town), the usual agonising stopped-at-every-light crawl to Euston, and then half an hour or so before the train north. Into Piccadilly on time just before nine (the £26.50 ticket was much cheaper than later arrivals). With a bit of time to kill before Andrew turned up (I thought, at ten), I went for a bit of a spin, and ended up on the Hyde Road, which was being resurfaced (and for the first time, and definitely not the last time that night, the Litespeed would have been better). I gave up being rattled after two or three miles and backtracked. Where I ate my sandwich, and I waited, and waited....eventually joined by Kim, then Nasir, Charlie and Sonia. Our leader then joined us (he'd missed the post where I said I'd be getting in early and not reminded him) before we pootled round to the Town Hall and meeting up with the rest of our depleted peloton. We left early (?!!!). Good job too, considering what happened next...
I brought our early good progress through the Mancunian 'burbs to a grinding halt thanks to a malfunctioning cleat. Coming to a stop at a regroup, I couldn't get my right foot out (I eventually resorted to taking the shoe off and pulling it out by hand). I'd been out Friday morning in the same shoes, no problem. I'd ridden to and from the various stations that evening, no problem. Bolts were fine, cleat not seemingly damaged. Kim could clip in and out of the pedal with no bother. Cleaned off some assorted crud from around the cleat, same result as before, practically locked in. Wound the release tension down, same result. Cleat off completely, back on again, same result...in the end I had to take it off and leave it off. Annoying and it impaired the speed a bit, but rather less scary than the handlepost coming loose last year! New cleats have gone on today.
Half an hour later (!) we were on our way again, and good progress resumed. After the pause at Bury to remember the late Alan S, who I never had the pleasure of meeting, The Climbing began. Well, we'd already done a bit, Manchester isn't exactly flat, but now we hit the bit that requires capital letters. Somewhat easier when your handlebars aren't being held up by a safety catch, take it from me...Aforementioned bottom gear (something like 25") pressed into service frequently, but that's what it's there for. After the Blackburn McDonalds stop (unlike Gatwick the other week, tea available!), on we went, after the possibly-mandatory ride leader navigation error (been there, done that!). The Longridge Climb was the last really big one (as the elevation chart shows) though lots of smaller/steeper bits remained.
The RTA was a first, I think. We were all waiting at a junction (this one) when there was an assortment of loud crashes from behind. An old chap in a Fiat Panda who'd passed us coming the other way seconds before had gone into a dry stone wall firmly built into a bank and the car came off much worse, ending up overturned on the driver's side (a write-off, I'd have thought..certainly wouldn't have been towed away). A few of us helped him get out (in shock, a few scrapes but thankfully not much worse) while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.
The last stretch into Lancaster and then Morecambe was fortunately much less eventful. The off-road path from Glasson Dock was pleasant again (though I wished I had the Litespeed for that, again...) before we rode on to the photo op with Eric. That done, it was beer and breakfast o'clock, so we took the reverse course back into Lancaster. The return trip was pleasant enough (being in first class helped....) and I was back home just after half four.
It would be nice to get two bike spaces next year....can't say I'm hopeful. But this is a ride worth lugging a folder around for!
Splendid job Andrew, and thanks everyone else.
PS: It would be nice if Flaming Nora could join us. She'd make an excellent waymarker.
Unlike last year's Adventures In Rail Delays, getting to Manchester was much more straightforward. Slow train into Waterloo (next fast one would have left timings a little tight to get across town), the usual agonising stopped-at-every-light crawl to Euston, and then half an hour or so before the train north. Into Piccadilly on time just before nine (the £26.50 ticket was much cheaper than later arrivals). With a bit of time to kill before Andrew turned up (I thought, at ten), I went for a bit of a spin, and ended up on the Hyde Road, which was being resurfaced (and for the first time, and definitely not the last time that night, the Litespeed would have been better). I gave up being rattled after two or three miles and backtracked. Where I ate my sandwich, and I waited, and waited....eventually joined by Kim, then Nasir, Charlie and Sonia. Our leader then joined us (he'd missed the post where I said I'd be getting in early and not reminded him) before we pootled round to the Town Hall and meeting up with the rest of our depleted peloton. We left early (?!!!). Good job too, considering what happened next...
I brought our early good progress through the Mancunian 'burbs to a grinding halt thanks to a malfunctioning cleat. Coming to a stop at a regroup, I couldn't get my right foot out (I eventually resorted to taking the shoe off and pulling it out by hand). I'd been out Friday morning in the same shoes, no problem. I'd ridden to and from the various stations that evening, no problem. Bolts were fine, cleat not seemingly damaged. Kim could clip in and out of the pedal with no bother. Cleaned off some assorted crud from around the cleat, same result as before, practically locked in. Wound the release tension down, same result. Cleat off completely, back on again, same result...in the end I had to take it off and leave it off. Annoying and it impaired the speed a bit, but rather less scary than the handlepost coming loose last year! New cleats have gone on today.
Half an hour later (!) we were on our way again, and good progress resumed. After the pause at Bury to remember the late Alan S, who I never had the pleasure of meeting, The Climbing began. Well, we'd already done a bit, Manchester isn't exactly flat, but now we hit the bit that requires capital letters. Somewhat easier when your handlebars aren't being held up by a safety catch, take it from me...Aforementioned bottom gear (something like 25") pressed into service frequently, but that's what it's there for. After the Blackburn McDonalds stop (unlike Gatwick the other week, tea available!), on we went, after the possibly-mandatory ride leader navigation error (been there, done that!). The Longridge Climb was the last really big one (as the elevation chart shows) though lots of smaller/steeper bits remained.
The RTA was a first, I think. We were all waiting at a junction (this one) when there was an assortment of loud crashes from behind. An old chap in a Fiat Panda who'd passed us coming the other way seconds before had gone into a dry stone wall firmly built into a bank and the car came off much worse, ending up overturned on the driver's side (a write-off, I'd have thought..certainly wouldn't have been towed away). A few of us helped him get out (in shock, a few scrapes but thankfully not much worse) while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.
The last stretch into Lancaster and then Morecambe was fortunately much less eventful. The off-road path from Glasson Dock was pleasant again (though I wished I had the Litespeed for that, again...) before we rode on to the photo op with Eric. That done, it was beer and breakfast o'clock, so we took the reverse course back into Lancaster. The return trip was pleasant enough (being in first class helped....) and I was back home just after half four.
It would be nice to get two bike spaces next year....can't say I'm hopeful. But this is a ride worth lugging a folder around for!
Splendid job Andrew, and thanks everyone else.
PS: It would be nice if Flaming Nora could join us. She'd make an excellent waymarker.
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