Friday Night Ride to Jersey, 31st June 2011

[Quagga]

Saw my first FNRttC jersey in the wild today, excluding the actual rides of course.
Surprised me so much I had to flag them down for a chat

 

[dellzeqq]

Saw my first FNRttC jersey in the wild today, excluding the actual rides of course.
Surprised me so much I had to flag them down for a chat

that wasn't Briony was it? She tweeted getting spotted in the jersey

 

[Quagga]

that wasn't Briony was it? She tweeted getting spotted in the jersey

Don't know to be honest, as we didn't swap names.

It was on the Upper Richmond road and she'd only managed to attend the one FNRttC, the super cold Southend trip in March. Quality and niceness of the tops though meant one had to be purchased although she may be changing her mind after random strangers start accosting her street

 

[mmmmartin]

the super cold Southend trip in March

Ah yes. My first FNRTTC. Painful memories. What a night. Drunks rolling in the streets in Ilford. Ice on the parked cars as we left the suburbs. Frozen water bottlers, ice on the rims so the brakes didn't work, I had 6 layers on top and three hats plus winter mountaineering mitts for the fingers. Sheets of ice across the road so we had to walk some of the way and were slipping on the ice. A bitch-cold dawn across frozen Essex fields. Ice on the Carradice and the saddles after the midway break. God it was freezing, painfully so at times. Then I rode to Tilbury to get the ferry. I was frozen all night, and shattered when I got home. It was a ghastly experience. Simply bloody awesome. I haven't missed a FNRTTC since.

 

[dellzeqq]

I wore longs!

the shirt order has gone in - next order March 2012!

 

[theclaud]

I wore longs!

the shirt order has gone in - next order March 2012!

You big jesse. Did that cheque ever arrive?

 

[ianrauk]

I wore longs!

the shirt order has gone in - next order March 2012!

Do they do windcheaters/showerproof jackets?

 

[dellzeqq]

You big jesse. Did that cheque ever arrive?

yup - you're on the list

Miranda S
Chris B
Jeff T
Anne H
Adrian C
Martin Ba
Stuart G
Claudine C
Steve R
Paul Rp
Dave J
Nigel (one of them)
Grahame D
Jenny M
Tim D
Martin Br
Eddie C
Howard K
Tom B

 

[dellzeqq]

Do they do windcheaters/showerproof jackets?

they do a Windtex jacket for £45. http://gearclub.co.u...&sort=5a&page=2

To be honest I'm a bit nervous of getting in to those - having a small range means that I have been able, thus far, get out of trouble with some swapping around if they don't fit. I'm not sure how many I'd have to order (I suspect ten) but if I was left with some ill-fitting jackets I might struggle to offload them.

 

[ianrauk]

That amazing chilly Southend ride was my first one too, but more by luck than judgement I got the layers right and didn't really feel cold.

Susie came alongside me at one stage and said rather anxiously, 'I do hope this hasn't put you off - we need more women on these rides!' I was happy to reply that I loved it - unlike anything I'd ever done before, so I couldn't wait for the next one.

And it wasn't cold when we left HPC that night. We had to stop in Greenwich for a mechanical if I remember rightly.
The pawls in my freehub froze open.. and I the gloves I was wearing were fingerless..

 

[mmmmartin]

And Tigerbitten wore a string vest and shorts to Basildon, then donned a pair of very thin leggings.

 

[Flying Dodo]

I was in a short sleeved jersey under a Night Vision jacket. I think I remember having to zip it up a bit, as it felt a bit chilly before dawn.

 

[dellzeqq]

I was in a short sleeved jersey under a Night Vision jacket. I think I remember having to zip it up a bit, as it felt a bit chilly before dawn.

...but we remember the Bracklesham ride. Now that was cold - colder than the Southend ride.

 

[User482]

Ah - the Southend ride. I ended up buying a jumper from the 24 hour Tesco. I was still freezing.

 

[Flying Dodo]

...but we remember the Bracklesham ride. Now that was cold - colder than the Southend ride.

Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I was wearing:- 2 thick jackets, a long sleeved jersey, thick fleecy longs, sealskin socks, overshoes, thick gloves, woolly hat with a helmet on top. Any stops has to be limited to no more than 5 minutes and because of the risk of getting frost bite where a chap really doesn't want to get frost bite, you really didn't want to go behind the bushes. We had to keep pedalling to stay warm, but if you went too fast, the wind chill cooled you down again. And despite wearing cycling glasses, my right eye started to freeze up in the last 5 miles.

I'm certain I saw some pack ice in the sea when we got to the coast.

It was a nice sun rise though.