FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast 22nd October to Whitstable 2010

[StuAff]

I, unless there was another incident, was the other off- in that narrow little 'no cycling' path on the way into Rochester, I managed to collide with a bush, and then brought down Alan to boot (sorry again!). No damage at all, except embarrassment.
As I said to Simon, XCWeather's prediction of 5mm of rain was bang on. Except that it was 5mm, another 5mm...My lovely Shimano MW80 boots fought the good fight against all that water, but eventually succumbed- I noticed my feet were wet by the time we got to Faversham. I don't think any footwear would have kept it all out, and they both kept my feet warm despite the damp, and started to dry out quickly after. Highly recommended.
Apart from all the precipitation, and the wind, and the retirements (GWS Kim!) it was another great evening. The good cheer from all the newbies & veterans alike despite the conditions was (like November) a big factor in making that, hopefully we'll have at least a few more converts/addicts out of it! I waymarked for one of the final turns before the racing finale (missed doing that) and making my way through a decent chunk of the peloton en route to breakfast was as joyous as ever. Smooth journey back into Victoria and hence Waterloo, made the 1200 train (just). Which was nice.
'Teef's brownies were indeed excellent. More please! Sterling work from Kieran and crew plus the Waterfront, again.
And the day got better. Pompey almost certainly saved from the former owner's demands? Yup. Pompey win? Yup..
Roll on November. If I can work out how to combine a 'quiet' evening in Kentish Town (Therapy? at the Forum) with an FNRttC....

 

[TimO]

... Got in at 5.20 with 150 miles on the clock. ...

As others have said, well done, you mad person.

I've just come around from <cough> resting my eyes for a few hours, which means I'm actually going to eat some proper supper today (a Shepherds Pie has just gone into the cooker) surprisingly for a FNRttC, where I normally wake up at around midnight and scarf whatever I can find in the fridge which won't require any preparation!

I did forget to mention that I also came very very close to coming off a couple of times, as I'm sure others did. With the wet roads and darkness, the edge of a manhole caught my wheel, and at another time a ridge in the road surface parallel to my direction of travel did pretty much the same. This was when the roads were wet, it was just before dawn, there was little road lighting, and we were all getting a bit dozy through lack of sleep. I'm amazed we didn't have more accidents, since one little incident at the wrong time could easily have take out half the ride. Not optimal conditions.

 

[redjedi]

Hello. I'm home. Now to shower and carry on drinking with my flatmates.

I may be some time

 

[Sittingduck]

Did he get out of London okay Luke?

 

[rich p]

5:20 you say. That is when my train pulled into Brighton. I would have got there an hour earlier had I not missed my connection between Canterburys East and West by a minutes.

Anyhow, well done.

Does that mean that we're both sissies, or neither of us!

 

[martint235]

I somehow managed to get a slow double puncture on the way back through Bexleyheath. Just managed to get home before the rear flatted completely, just had a look and the front is flat too.... Oh dear.

I hope Michael and Alessandria (?) got back ok. We lost them off the front near Sittingbourne and although I did a quick lap of the one way system we couldn't find them.

Cheers to all the people who make these rides possible - TECs, waymarkers and of course Simon. The pre-purchase of bacon sarnies worked a treat I thought, I trust you got all the money back.

 

[matthew]

Got home about half 12, now slept and rested. Boy that was hard work. I tweaked a calf after about 20 miles which meant taking things easy in low gears and spinning. Therefore I mucked in less than normal and was very glad of the tailwind for the last stretch.

Thanks Simon et al for all your efforts.

 

[Davywalnuts]

Just home. Wrecked. Great times. Great ride. Great drinks. Thank you one and all and simon, thank you! Not quite sure how i got home, but hone i am... :-)

 

[User482]

I had a great time, and it was great to meet you all at last. Special thanks to Dell for organising the ride and theClaud for organising me. I left her at Paddington station, still consuming beer at a prodigious rate. Impressive stuff.

I think I'll be heading to bed before long...

 

[Aperitif]

Et moi.
I managed to a) blag my way out of Victoria Station by saying that I was Lance Armstrong and I was going to confess all to The News of The Screws World. The ticket collector let me pass...and I gave him Luke's address.
As Ian mentioned, it was a ride of friendship and example. No balmy evening and easy ride - it was a tester.
Ian was good company, with the sagacious Adrian and User10571 ever present, caring , guiding and managing.
It would be nice if the people at the head of the ride did what they had to do when they stopped and were ready to depart at the arrival of the "ALL UP" signal. It's ok, but if one gets involved trying to remedy a problem on the road and make ground to rejoin, the worst thing is to f*** around (in the rain, earlier today) waiting for 'adaptation naturelle' etc...
Andy's Café and The Waterfront helped to make our day - well done them (Particularly Fay )
After all the hustle, it was nice to roll into Whitstable with Susie and Rich - putting the world to rights (as you do) and preparing for a heavy tea drinking session.
I managed to drop McWobble and Becs suring the return to Marylebone...I suspect they made their respective trains.
I made it back here, and a long hot shower with tea has focussed my mind for a couple of attention spans.
A good 'vibe' - it would have been 'difficult' had the sun been shining, I reckon.
Nice to meet you all and thanks!
We rode the ride well.
*No camera on this trip (much)

 

[Aperitif]

The Waterfront's outside smoking 'hut', complete with grass roof, flat-screen TV AND infra-red heating, was the ideal place for heavy smokers like what me and User10571 is, to dry our cycling accoutrements to a satisfying degree. Three sheets to the wind later in the day, it was nice to don a crisp, dry hat and gloves - not a soggy selection!
I'm sneezing like a good 'un this morning - must have been something I ate!

 

[deckertim]

Thanks everyone for a great ride.
high point Cycling back to Rochester to complete my century. Thanks Ross for coming with me. Riding into the wind near Seasalter wasn't great but the remainder wasn't too bad and the sun even came out.
low point Nodding off coming down the steep hill before Faversham! I had been feeling sleepy for some time, a combination of jet lag and late nights/early mornings this week. Fortunately woke up again just as I was about to hit the bank and avoided falling off.

Looking forward to Brighton.

 

[Becs]

Just home. Wrecked. Great times. Great ride. Great drinks. Thank you one and all and simon, thank you! Not quite sure how i got home, but hone i am... :-)

That's good to know - I can stop looking for "drunk cyclist causes mayhem" style headlines now!

Great ride, I'll definitely be doing Whitstable again! Great post-ride beers (with a cheeky vodka red bull and jaeger-bomb thrown in - thanks DavyW!).

Eventually made it back to Cambridge for this morning's ride in glorious sunshine and limited wind.

Great weekend

 

[arallsopp]

Morning all. As ever, the perfect ride.

Had an awful fortnight leading up to it; 184 hours of work, little sleep, plus a general ache that kept wandering over and prodding me. Very nearly cost me my enthusiasm for the ride, which would have been one spiral too low to recover,

Instead, a glorious romp down to Whitstable with good friends, high spirits and (only a light misting of) rain. Was sad to pull myself from your company at the Waterfront but Ben, big tall Martin and Rimas were the perfect accompaniment for the ride home.

We had rain. We had sun. We had greys, blues, and hail. I've never seen Dartford look prettier than in its little patch of sunshine, shooters hill and canary wharf stumbling into the horizon.

Home. Sleep. Just woke up. My mood is vastly improved, and whatever bug was stalking me has clearly decided I would make a lousy host.

Camera captured the downward journey, so video will follow.

Thanks all,

Andy.

 

[Mista Preston]

First time riding to Whitstable and it didn't disappoint.

The weather really did have a go at us but it could have been alot worse ! Conti 4 seasons yet again kept the fairies away from me. The half way stop was fantastic probably the best bacon sarnie and tea I have ever had.

At times I like the Friday Night rides for the conversation element but I also like them for the opportunity to basically not think at all and reflect. The ride to Whitstable at times fitted with the latter, very therapeutic. That said it was good to chew over conversation with some of the regulars and meet some newer riders as well.

Some new kit kept my top and feet dry but everywhere else was pretty wet and by the time we got to Whitstable the warm cafe and breakfast were very welcome.

Thanks to User10571 for using his discount to get us back to Brolmey South, I managed to stay awake on the train for about 10 minutes

Great ride as always Simon and thank you to all the Waymarkers and TEC's