FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast: Cardiff - Swansea 24 June 2016

[robjh]

That was a very enjoyable night - thanks to @theclaud and @User482 for organising it. As others have already said, the small dark lanes with their high banks and smooth tarmac were a real pleasure to ride down, but I also enjoyed the fast chase down the snaking main road towards Bridgend as the TECs somehow found ourselves a long way at the back and raced to catch you all up. The half-way break in MacDonalds on a Bridgend trading estate was, well, functional, but served its purpose and was a good time to chat and meet new people. My favourite parts though were the 'mountain stage' through Pontrhydyfen and up the triple Hill With No Name, and I thought Mumbles seafront was the best FNRttC destination to date.
I did my first stint of TECing on this ride, at first with @StuAff then with @Gordon P. It was thankfully uneventful with no punctures, and the only mechanical occurring at a stopping point, but it gave a slightly different aspect to the ride, and I rather liked riding along slowly at the back and chatting to the other people there. It did mean there was no waiting round for the tail of the ride to catch up.

The pre-ride talk

Around the Bay to Mumbles

Arrived!

 

[Dogtrousers]

It was thankfully uneventful with no punctures,

Gosh.

 

[Eddie_C]

Thanks @theclaud and @User482 for a splendid night ride, buoyed by clement weather and an absence of mechanicals. It was super to be able to exit Cardiff in light traffic and so soon to be sweeping down long country lanes. Llantwit Major, the sight of belching Port Talbot steelworks maybe on borrowed time, the sweep inland and up, and then down into Neath, then Bog Lane, and finally the vista of Swansea Bay. And cockles for breakfast! Another truly memorable ride with The Fridays.
Thanks to all for your company.

 

[srw]

Cockles for breakfast?!

Gosh.

I've visited the Wales Riviera a few times over the last few months. It's bloody gorgeous. I really hope I can find the mojo and the fitness to tackle the infamous triple hill next year without resorting to walking next year.

 

[robjh]

Cockles for breakfast?!

Gosh.

And the seaweed. I hadn't realised until then that laverbread isn't remotely bread-like.

 

[StuAff]

Unfortunately, though I had the day off (as is essential for me to get to Cardiff in time for departure), plans to ride all the way, as I did in 2013, had to be aborted. The Honda wanted a couple of body panels replacing after I dinged it in the work car park a few weeks back, and I couldn't pick it up on Saturday (well, I could have arranged that, with hindsight glad I didn't), and the garage closes on Mondays…didn't actually get done till after four, which meant slightly less time than I'd have liked to get to the station, but time enough. That headwind on the forecast looked brutal in any case, @robjh seemed to agree (chapeau, again, on riding from Swindon).

The cattle truck was slightly less unpleasant than usual (for most of the journey I had no neighbour and therefore had slightly more room), but predictably late into Cardiff. This did have a delightful unintended consequence, in that I arrived right after @theclaud . We opted to take the more-scenic route to the Bay. Once at Pizza Express we were soon joined by the majority of our merry band. Many calories were pleasantly consumed. My rear light problem- packed the lights, left the seat post bracket at home- was not solved by cable ties, so @User482 lent me his spare, which miraculously lasted the whole night. Phew!

Self and Rob were appointed as TECs for the first stretch (I passed the baton to Gordon at halfway, felt the need to go a bit faster), and it was thankfully dull at the back. No punctures, someone had to refit their light's batteries, and that was about it, apart from patiently shepherding those who were more gently paced. Once we got off the A48 and onto the lanes, we were firmly into 'that's lovely' territory. The last-minute change of half-way stop gave us the choice of Bridgend McDonalds or the nearby Tesco. As nothing much on the McD menu ever appeals (last burger there 20 years ago, and I don't miss them..), opted for a Tesco meal deal before returning for a cup of tea.

The second of that triple hill's inclines again defeated me, and I gave @Keith Oates a shock by suddenly coming to a halt (sorry again). Managed to topple over kicking off before B** Road (Claud dubbed it a pre-emptive accident...), more annoyed at scraping up the rear through-axle lever than the teeny bit of skin I lost. Last stretch around the Bay was as delightful as ever. Most excellent breakfast and splendid service on the Pier. An honour and a privilege to meet Andrew and his Tangerine Dream Machine. Fingers crossed he gets to achieve his ambition.

Then the return home. Train into Cardiff was late, thoroughly screwing up all hope of making the next cattle truck (eight minutes allowed for the connection, and it was nine minutes behind). And it's one an hour. Of course. Station worker helpfully told me not to leave the bike unattended or it would get taken away. I'd walked to the nearest bin and kept it in sight, FFS. Since when have bicycles been a security threat? The train arrived, and despite sitting there for ten minutes it didn't get cleaned or bins emptied. Nice. I did at least get a seat and room for the bike. An hour later than it should have been, back home, and I'd just got back when the heavens opened. Phew.

Thanks Claud, Steve and everyone else.

PS: Easterly wind next year, OK?
PPS: And jazz hands. We need a jazz hands interlude...

 

[User482]

Blame the Viet Cong.

One shouldn't quarrel with them.

 

[robjh]

Blame the Viet Cong.

Have we franchised some of our railway services out to them now?

 

[User482]

Pre-ride nosh & booze; fast, narrow lanes; proper night sky; pretty villages; top-notch McKhazis; Col de Neath; Swansea Bay; Cockles & Laverbread; Top TECs; surprisingly good post-ride beer.

(We'll gloss over the drenching on the way to the station, followed by train delays, followed by another drenching.)

I bloody love this ride. Thanks to everyone for coming, and I hope you can make it again next year.

 

[User482]

Oh, and the Tangerine Dream Machine. Humbling and inspiring, with the added bonus of slack-jawed, dumbfounded amazement from every passer-by.

 

[Gordon P]

Bay. Once

I thought she sang?

 

[User482]

A first-timer writes:

So I discovered (was cajoled into discovering) Friday Night Rides to the Coast. I strongly recommend. My sometimes overly logical brain asked why on earth I would want to ride through the night to arrive at dawn, when I could sleep through the night and ride during the day - when I can see more! So I can understand scepticism to the idea. All I would say is try it, because however hard I try to capture camaraderie, the magic of the sun coming up, the beauty of the stream of lights behind/ahead stretching through deserted moonlit country lanes and "owning" the big roads with no cars on them, I know I won't succeed. Nor will I with these rubbish photos from my rubbishy old phone but hey - if it distracts from current woes, it's done summat.

 

[theclaud]

Nice pic. I've sent it to Andrew.

BTW if anyone wishes to support his fundraising for Maggie's, the link is here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/The-Tangerine-Dream-Machine.

For all about the TDM: http://tangerinedreammachine.org

 

[Gordon P]

I loved this train episode from @EatSleepRideRepeat so am sharing it on his behalf:
Cardiff-Swansea ride was lovely. Sorry to have missed the social at the end, but it is a wonderful ride, even the Neath lumps. Caught the train with plenty of time to spare, which was lucky as the ticket machine went crazy and spewed out 15 tickets for the bike, and the inspector didn’t know what to do, so wouldn’t let me by! Took a while to work out which was the valid ticket. Arrived safe in Cheltenham, and discovered fairly soon that whoever grimaced when I mentioned Cleeve Hill, was right to do so. Going down the other side was a blast, almost 50mph, arriving exactly 1 minute later than
planned, not bad eh.

 

[theclaud]

A first-timer writes:

So I discovered (was cajoled into discovering) Friday Night Rides to the Coast. I strongly recommend. My sometimes overly logical brain asked why on earth I would want to ride through the night to arrive at dawn, when I could sleep through the night and ride during the day - when I can see more! So I can understand scepticism to the idea. All I would say is try it, because however hard I try to capture camaraderie, the magic of the sun coming up, the beauty of the stream of lights behind/ahead stretching through deserted moonlit country lanes and "owning" the big roads with no cars on them, I know I won't succeed. Nor will I with these rubbish photos from my rubbishy old phone but hey - if it distracts from current woes, it's done summat.

View attachment 133375

I just heard that Andrew, of the Tangerine Dream Machine, has died. He had angiosarcoma, a rare cancer with a terrible prognosis. His zest for life was undiminished. A talented and slightly crazy engineer and a lovely singer. This is him when, in his words, he 'didn't look quite like he was about to die', with his partner Ute.