StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Brighton April 26th
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
You can come again. Perhaps there'd been a bit of Wanda's or Mistral's elixir of eternal youthfulness knocking around in a hip-flask somewhere. User482 also looks suspiciously youthful, and he definitely had a hip-flask, so my case rests...
I had a great time. That seems an odd thing to write, considering that my gears were fubared for most of the night. Entirely my own fault - I'd ridden to Rustington (yawn) from London on Tuesday and the somewhat fudgy shifting on that ride should have alerted me to the fact that things might be wearing out. I should have replaced the cable before this ride, but as I'd only been doing the odd five-mile trip around London in the meantime, I had forgotten about the unsatisfactory shifting... until Portnalls Road, which I clattered up inelegantly in between gears. I tweaked the cable at the top, with some supportive illumination and commentary from Ross, Simon C and Nigel. With hindsight, of course, the said tweaking was probably the immediate cause of the imminent snappage, which happened as I went for a big downward shift at the bottom of Reigate Hill in preparation for the stop. Dave J was the first of several people who helpfully proferred a spare cable, which we installed before realizing that there was still some of the old one stuck somewhere in the shifter. Ian decided that the sensible thing was to forget about it for a bit and limp onward to the halfway in the ugly but serviceable chainring/sprocket combo available, and worry about it all over a cup of tea and a sandwich. Adrian kindly announced that he wouldn't have to shoot me and leave me in a ditch after all, and off we went. I had to forego the usual pleasures offered by Lonesome Lane, but was cheered by the likelihood of getting at least halfway.
At the Scout's hall, the fettling began in earnest. It came as a small surprise that the only pair of tweezers on the ride belonged to "Ard" Ross. They didn't work, and neither did the jewellers' screwdriver produced by Kim. User10571 saved us from an explosion of pingf*ckets, and in the end we gave up for the moment on the shifter and a neat and satisfactory two-speed botch was effected. So many people offered to help out that I might as well just copy and paste DZ's ride list to say thank you, but I think it's fair to say that I mainly owe my continued participation in the ride to Adrian, Kim, Tim H, Dave, User10571 and Ian. It says quite a lot about the spirit of the ride that I got to turn down a ride on the front of a semi-recumbent tandem and was offered more free STI shifters than a single handlebar can hope to sport. Over the rest of the ride I grew quite fond of the two-speed set-up - the lower option being low enough to get me to the top of Turner's Hill and the higher one being just high enough to get a bit of wellie on the lovely descent to Lindfield in the company of Tim O. I wasn't quite so fond of it that I was relishing the thought of attempting Ditchling in a higher gear than DZ has ever managed, and I was a little disgruntled at the prospect of being defeated by it for the first time, when Adrian saved the day with his Plan B - a small, select detachment that would conduct a high-security mission via the Secret Ditchling Tunnel. I can't say any more about the mission here, but TMN, Agent H and Wanda cooked up a great cover story involving the tired, the broken and the small. Gordon P was the mission's secret weapon.
There's not a lot more that someone else will not say better, but a dry night with a tailwind, a beautiful moon and an equally gorgeous sunrise, a sun-soaked breakfast and band of beer-soaked friends is as good as it gets. I wasn't on scintillating cycling form, but I felt a whole lot stronger than I did on the Felpham ride, and have rediscovered The Joy of it All just in time to kill off the gloom of winter. And I've just had sausages and a free Dura Ace upgrade. What's not to like?
I do hope that doesn't involve any silly 11-11-11-11-11-12 type cassettes. Or disintegrating titanium bits.
Is the explanation for that TMI, TMN?
If you want TMI, you might like to know that DZ woke up in the pub and shouted "I want punani!"
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Golly!
There is, possibly, a part-sensible explanation for the outburst. But I'm damned if I'm going to give it...
I think, if I may attempt to set the record straight, I simply asked for a pint of Vagina Beer. And I wasn't the only one
The Young Lass has taken a shifter purchased as part of a pair when my left hand shifter popped its clogs. My right shifter has been doing the job without complaint or servicing for ten years now - that's Dura-Ace quality for you Stu! I do have a spare cassette, with slinkyspeedy gear ratios. I wonder if her Lassiness would go for it?
The Young Lass has taken a shifter purchased as part of a pair when my left hand shifter popped its clogs. My right shifter has been doing the job without complaint or servicing for ten years now - that's Dura-Ace quality for you Stu! I do have a spare cassette, with slinkyspeedy gear ratios. I wonder if her Lassiness would go for it?
U
User10571
Guest
As part of the same course?
That's appalling table service.
Well, having been Off The Bike for a few weeks, I was looking forward to this in a big way. It didn't disappoint. Doing the TEC thing with Ianrauk and two late arrivals (Richard and Paul, sorry if I've got the names wrong) was a blast. And the solid reliable company of young Walnuts of course. Random scatterings:
Pippsy's rocking hair do.
A cheery taxi driver somewhere near Sloane Square wishing us a good ride.
Meeting up with User10571.
Trying to get the 20mph speed camera and failing (again).
A cheery mincab driver wishing us a good ride. He came from Brighton "Stay away from Kemp Town". I think he was Pinky Brown in disguise.
Loitering at the top of Reigate Hill for no reason honest guv until the peloton had got out of the way.
Trying to fix a young lass's (snigger) shifter.
Constant blether.
Delayed stop at Lindfield (fix a chain, then Long Martin had a puncture, then Davy Walnuts needed the loo. I think Dellz phoned him to get him to hurry up.)
Getting up Ditchling on possibly a non sensible gear.
More blethering.
Best bit though was at the top of Ditchling Beacon. A lady hove into view on a run-of-the-mill-a-bit-better-than-BSO MTB. Jeans, trainers. Davy and I had a quick chat with her. She lives in Ditchling and it was the first time she'd ridden up. No special kit, no fancy bike. What cycling is about, trust me. We agreed that the bloke who went up and down the Beacon five or six times was just rude. Didn't manage to say good bye to Dellz, as he was kipping.
A few photos here
Pippsy's rocking hair do.
A cheery taxi driver somewhere near Sloane Square wishing us a good ride.
Meeting up with User10571.
Trying to get the 20mph speed camera and failing (again).
A cheery mincab driver wishing us a good ride. He came from Brighton "Stay away from Kemp Town". I think he was Pinky Brown in disguise.
Loitering at the top of Reigate Hill for no reason honest guv until the peloton had got out of the way.
Trying to fix a young lass's (snigger) shifter.
Constant blether.
Delayed stop at Lindfield (fix a chain, then Long Martin had a puncture, then Davy Walnuts needed the loo. I think Dellz phoned him to get him to hurry up.)
Getting up Ditchling on possibly a non sensible gear.
More blethering.
Best bit though was at the top of Ditchling Beacon. A lady hove into view on a run-of-the-mill-a-bit-better-than-BSO MTB. Jeans, trainers. Davy and I had a quick chat with her. She lives in Ditchling and it was the first time she'd ridden up. No special kit, no fancy bike. What cycling is about, trust me. We agreed that the bloke who went up and down the Beacon five or six times was just rude. Didn't manage to say good bye to Dellz, as he was kipping.
A few photos here
You may not.
Other snippets that have popped into my head.
Meeting Sgt. Pluck again (from The Other Place).
Davy Walnuts putting on a borrowed windproof jacket. The lender was more Bruce Banner in build, whilst Mr Walnuts is somewhat Incredible. "Don't do it up, I quite like that jacket" was the plea.
Trying to explain to Pippsy the connection between The Long Good Friday and Dell's safety talk at the top of Reigate Hill. Unfortunately she hadn't seen the Long Good Friday and didn't know who Harold Shand was.
Adrian, asking Thom, who was on the phone to Dellz at the start of The Badlands, if any over the waymarkers "had a purdy mouth"
Meeting Sgt. Pluck again (from The Other Place).
Davy Walnuts putting on a borrowed windproof jacket. The lender was more Bruce Banner in build, whilst Mr Walnuts is somewhat Incredible. "Don't do it up, I quite like that jacket" was the plea.
Trying to explain to Pippsy the connection between The Long Good Friday and Dell's safety talk at the top of Reigate Hill. Unfortunately she hadn't seen the Long Good Friday and didn't know who Harold Shand was.
Adrian, asking Thom, who was on the phone to Dellz at the start of The Badlands, if any over the waymarkers "had a purdy mouth"
U
User10571
Guest
TLGF being a fave film, with many memorable scenes (Cut 'im! Razors!) - I'm struggling to think which scene you're referring to - the abattoir scene?
The Corporation are gathered together, setting off to round up anyone they can think of who may be behind the bombings, murder and mayhem. A large collection of weapons is on the table, which they all choose from. Simon Legg, for it is he, speaks:
U
User10571
Guest
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Abattoir scene would be the inspiration if 100 people turned up at HPC with mudguards, rubbish lights and their Auntie Mabel's fruit cake & cheese and pickle sandwiches....
