deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
It's only spitting up here by the Thames but I'm definitely treating this as a winter ride even if my yellow clothing hurteth thine eyes.
FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Burnham-on-Crouch 24th May
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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Not another Norwich supporter! Just remember not to follow us right after Brentwood ....
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
Tee hee, I should come on my green bike!
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
Ohhh, a fellow Canary on this ride? 
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
U
User10571
Guest
This morning I left home having donned Rainlegs, overboots, Sealskin waterproof gloves and liners and a Goretex top and three layers beneath that - as conditions dictated.
Half an hour later I was stripping off and bagging layers in Poplar as the rain had stopped and I was boil-in-the-bag.
This evening, the situation on the way home was no different.
At least one costume change on my commute home.
I arrived home in blazing sunshine, ditched the office uniform into the laundry basket and likewise ditched the raingear before picking up a lock to head for the stupormarket.
You can probably guess what happened next....
Carry layers tonight, people.
Water and wind proof ones.
It's a chilly forecast, and an imaginary layer will do you no good whatsoever.
Have a fab night, people. It's a peach of a ride. I wish I was with you but I cannot be.
Half an hour later I was stripping off and bagging layers in Poplar as the rain had stopped and I was boil-in-the-bag.
This evening, the situation on the way home was no different.
At least one costume change on my commute home.
I arrived home in blazing sunshine, ditched the office uniform into the laundry basket and likewise ditched the raingear before picking up a lock to head for the stupormarket.
You can probably guess what happened next....
Carry layers tonight, people.
Water and wind proof ones.
It's a chilly forecast, and an imaginary layer will do you no good whatsoever.
Have a fab night, people. It's a peach of a ride. I wish I was with you but I cannot be.
ceepeebee
Veteran
- Location
- Some imaginary Flanders
It's a goretex kind of night that's for sure
U
User10571
Guest
I see the moon of ride-envy has made it's appearance tonight.....
ceepeebee
Veteran
- Location
- Some imaginary Flanders
Just cam back to post that I stepped out to gauge temperature and big moon was up in the sky.
This last 15 minutes before setting off after getting kitted up always seems to stretch forever.
This last 15 minutes before setting off after getting kitted up always seems to stretch forever.
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
That's lycra for you
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
Have updated Simon, but I've had to pull out. Jarred my back somehow packing up at work and rest has not helped, its gone right stiff. Not happy.
Have a great ride, its going to be lovely and sunny tomorrow!
Have a great ride, its going to be lovely and sunny tomorrow!
Snail Bait
Senior Member
Just back home. Beautiful moon, lovely ride, delicious Bakewell tart at the tea stop. Missed the connecting train due to large number of super heroes with superhero powers that did not involve brain cells or an ability to move down the carriage but totally worth it as the next train was full of hobbits and other Tolkienesque fabulousness on their way to Stratford. I can only assume for a day of Ork slaying in Westfield. Thanks Simon.
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
Ha, Alan, Donna and I played 3-dimensional bike tetris jammed in the doorway all the rather busy way to Stratford. I hadn't realised le tout-Essex flocked to Westfield for their bank holidays.
Anyhow, a very big nod of approval for the sausages in the Dairy Cabin (or was it the Cabin Dairy?) which came from the butcher up the road. Meaty and peppery!
And I am so out of form on the bike!
Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
Small but perfectly formed - I think that sums up the Burnham ride. Despite Simon having to do an almost last minute re-jig on account of the sad demise of the Rose Restaurant in Southend, the backup option of Burnham-on-Crouch slotted in very nicely.
As mentioned above, this was the debut of "The Tandem" on the basis of the ride being almost flat. Normally the bike is used as a cargo bike, but last night was its first real trip with 2 onboard. Annoyingly, the odd noise from the rear wheel started up again as we set off from St Pancras to HPC, but as I knew it was due to spokes loosening up under the extra tension, I decided to ignore it.
After helping out with some urgent repairs needed to Mice's bike to get the shifting working onto her outer chainring, we mounted our trusty steeds, and rolled out from HPC. Heading out of East London, I was finding it a bit of an effort, as I'd realised that last night was the first time I'd used clipless on the bike...........and I hadn't checked the tension of the pedals meaning the right pedal was too tight. With also concentrating on trying not to wobble too much, I'm afraid that initially I wasn't able to shout out many hole warnings on the A11.
Once we got past Romford, and onto quieter roads, we could relax a bit as we felt more comfortable handling the bike and were getting used to how much to lean for going round corners. On the rolling roads, the tandem comes into its own, as the extra momentum really lets you bowl along once you've got a bit of speed up going downhill, and several times, we were going along level or slightly uphill sections at 18-20 mph with no real effort. However, as soon as the road starts to pitch up appreciably, the speed just bleeds away, and I was having to click through the gears although generally we kept the speed above 5 mph on the hills! Having a long wheel base and 1.75" wide tyres means a fair amount of cushioning, so you do float over bad road surfaces, and the nasty cobbled sections in Bretnwood, which even on my Ti bike I need to slow up on, the tandem just vibrated a bit. I was surprised by the lack of night life in Brentwood. Apart from some bouncers outside one bar, and a few couples walking around, there didn't seem to be many other people around, apart from a bunch of tired cyclists.
There was a bit of a climb up to Stock, but with a nice bit of turbo boost from Rebecca, we were quickly parked up next to the Bromptons. After spotting Darth Vader's cousin
and probably the one of the best jerseys seen this year
it was time to get back on the road. The sun was now up, and you could feel its warmth, as it got higher and higher in the sky. And it's not often you've been able to say that this year! It brought a smile to our faces.
Unfortunately the last section of the ride seemed to bring along a number of punctures, which wasn't surprising seeing as how wet the roads must have been at times earlier in the day, so the end of the ride was a bit delayed for some people, so after dropping Rebecca off, I backtracked to the last junction to relieve the person waymarking and had a 15 minute wait for the tail end. However there were happy souls tucking into food at the end.
Getting on the train was an adventure, as there were all sorts of super hero characters for some reason:-
although the guard was very friendly and didn't mind our bikes blocking the aisles. At Liverpool Street Station, the official at the ticket barrier pointed out Greater Anglia trains have a blanket tandem ban (although he said he wasn't fussed), so with hindsight, we were lucky!
Anyway, as ever, another tour de force. Thank you Simon, and those helpful souls who waymarked along the way. Although I had last year's route on the GPX, I know Simon likes to mix things up by choosing an occasional change of road to suit traffic conditions or take account of that rarity, some new road surface! So it was good to have people pointing out the right way.
The rest of the photos are here, whilst the gpx for the completed route is shown here.
See you next week, on the road to Whitstable.
As mentioned above, this was the debut of "The Tandem" on the basis of the ride being almost flat. Normally the bike is used as a cargo bike, but last night was its first real trip with 2 onboard. Annoyingly, the odd noise from the rear wheel started up again as we set off from St Pancras to HPC, but as I knew it was due to spokes loosening up under the extra tension, I decided to ignore it.
After helping out with some urgent repairs needed to Mice's bike to get the shifting working onto her outer chainring, we mounted our trusty steeds, and rolled out from HPC. Heading out of East London, I was finding it a bit of an effort, as I'd realised that last night was the first time I'd used clipless on the bike...........and I hadn't checked the tension of the pedals meaning the right pedal was too tight. With also concentrating on trying not to wobble too much, I'm afraid that initially I wasn't able to shout out many hole warnings on the A11.
Once we got past Romford, and onto quieter roads, we could relax a bit as we felt more comfortable handling the bike and were getting used to how much to lean for going round corners. On the rolling roads, the tandem comes into its own, as the extra momentum really lets you bowl along once you've got a bit of speed up going downhill, and several times, we were going along level or slightly uphill sections at 18-20 mph with no real effort. However, as soon as the road starts to pitch up appreciably, the speed just bleeds away, and I was having to click through the gears although generally we kept the speed above 5 mph on the hills! Having a long wheel base and 1.75" wide tyres means a fair amount of cushioning, so you do float over bad road surfaces, and the nasty cobbled sections in Bretnwood, which even on my Ti bike I need to slow up on, the tandem just vibrated a bit. I was surprised by the lack of night life in Brentwood. Apart from some bouncers outside one bar, and a few couples walking around, there didn't seem to be many other people around, apart from a bunch of tired cyclists.
There was a bit of a climb up to Stock, but with a nice bit of turbo boost from Rebecca, we were quickly parked up next to the Bromptons. After spotting Darth Vader's cousin
and probably the one of the best jerseys seen this year
it was time to get back on the road. The sun was now up, and you could feel its warmth, as it got higher and higher in the sky. And it's not often you've been able to say that this year! It brought a smile to our faces.
Unfortunately the last section of the ride seemed to bring along a number of punctures, which wasn't surprising seeing as how wet the roads must have been at times earlier in the day, so the end of the ride was a bit delayed for some people, so after dropping Rebecca off, I backtracked to the last junction to relieve the person waymarking and had a 15 minute wait for the tail end. However there were happy souls tucking into food at the end.
Getting on the train was an adventure, as there were all sorts of super hero characters for some reason:-
although the guard was very friendly and didn't mind our bikes blocking the aisles. At Liverpool Street Station, the official at the ticket barrier pointed out Greater Anglia trains have a blanket tandem ban (although he said he wasn't fussed), so with hindsight, we were lucky!
Anyway, as ever, another tour de force. Thank you Simon, and those helpful souls who waymarked along the way. Although I had last year's route on the GPX, I know Simon likes to mix things up by choosing an occasional change of road to suit traffic conditions or take account of that rarity, some new road surface! So it was good to have people pointing out the right way.
The rest of the photos are here, whilst the gpx for the completed route is shown here.
See you next week, on the road to Whitstable.
Dibdib
Powered by Jelly Babies
- Location
- Swindon, UK
Just to echo my thanks to all, especially DZ for superb organisation as always, the ever-fabulous family providing The World's Best Bakewells at Stock, our excellent super-sub cafe in Burnham-on-Crouch, everyone on the ride for the excellent company, and the Saturday Lunchtime LMNH! Crew for being absolute Alcohol Enablers.
Despite a b******d p*******e on the way back to Paddington and nearly falling asleep on the train and almost ending up in Swansea, I'm now safely home and about to pass out on the sofa.
Awesome stuff. (if anyone wants the GPX for the Witham Extension let me know.)
Despite a b******d p*******e on the way back to Paddington and nearly falling asleep on the train and almost ending up in Swansea, I'm now safely home and about to pass out on the sofa.
Awesome stuff. (if anyone wants the GPX for the Witham Extension let me know.)
