FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast in aid of Martlets Hospice 2nd September 2011

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U

User10571

Guest
@ Mice...
Your pics link requires attention on account of it being a bit wrong ....
 
@ Mice...
Your pics link requires attention on account of it being a bit wrong ....

Ok - have amended and I think it's the right one now.

M :bicycle:
 

funnymummy

A Dizzy M.A.B.I.L
1471168 said:
Thom and I decided that the lights by the Wetherspoons in Horley were defective after waiting for a good couple of minutes for no apparent reason.

Not sure where I was, lights changed to red as I approached, no cars coming from any direction, sat waiting for several minutes, still nothing coming, waited about another minute, lights still on red, still bnothing coming... I admit it... I went through :blush:!
I glanced over my shoulder after i'd ridden about 50 feet, lights still on red & still nothing coming... I do not advocate RLJ'ing, but in all honesty, sat at a set of lights on my own at 3am in the morning, sligthly swaety, beginning to shiver I thought "bugger it, what's the harm!"


There was another set somewhere earlier in the ride before I lost my friend, we were about 10 feet behind a large group, just as we arrived at the lights they turned amber, the speed we were going at, it would have been stupid to try to stop..I did shout sorry to the marshall on the other side as we flew past :hello:
 

Tim Hall

Guest
Location
Crawley
(bugger, just clicked the wrong button, so having to retype it)

What a laugh that was. When I got a mesage from Marna that she was bringing:

A big box-o-sparkle from my cheesy clubbing chum, containing chemical and battery-operated glowsticks, some metres of glow-wire and a t-shirt that lights up when you speak.


I knew it would be good. We met at my house for a bit of grub and chatter, girded our loins and lanyarded our Glow Sticks. Marna and Mice persuaded The Boy he should come and help us, which was rather excellent of them. I think it helped that Marna speaks geek.

We arrived at Haroldslea Drive about midnight and hung up a precautionary sign and LED balloon should any fast riders come through while we decorated The Badlands.

LED Balloons. What a Brilliant Invention. Pull the tab, blow up and tie the neck. Hours of glowy goodness. I was hoping one was more cigar shaped, with teeny speakers attached playing "Kashmir". A Led Zeppelin in fact.

We decorated the junction, scoffed cake, drank luke warm coffee, waved pom poms and glow sticks. All that pom pom action was hard work on the arms, so I wandered up the road to chat to DeckerTim. Familar faces rolled up, so the tail wasn't far behind. We removed our signs, glows sticks, EL wire and balloons and ventured once more into The Badlands, taking all traces with us as we went. Living near the L-B route I get tired of seeing out of date waymarking signs. It's untidy and unnecessary. The Fridays do it better. And we got balloons tied to the tandem.

A unsensing red light was ignored at his Leggness' instruction and we proceeded apace to the school to demolish the sandwiches. Then on, in the very dark, to Crawley Down and Turners Hill, where we took a breather. The descent to Ardingly and Lindfield was magical. We ignored Gallileo and used our extra weight to go faster. Another stop for the tail at Lindfield was enlivened, for me at least, by a minicab disgorging a Bright Young Thing in a Little Black Dress, stocking tops to the fore. Blimey.

Onward, down Slugwash Lane, heeding Greg's advice to take it easy on the downhills. A congregation hove into view, out of which stepped Adrian, asking if I had any fat tubes. Having two sizes of tyre on the tandem increased the chances of his being lucky and so he was. We completed the repair just as the vans arrived. Ho hum.

Waving to D Walnuts Esq, Thom and Arallsop, we cracked on, chatting to people as we passed them. A long natter with Hatler in Ditchling. He'd been there since 0330, when riders were still coming through Horley. Teeth were gritted and low low gears engaged for the ascent of Ditchling Beacon. Hatler asked how heavy the tandem was. I could just spare the breath to tell him "very". Finally the top, pulse up in the red zone.

Watching the back of the ride come up, we were just about to go when another cyclist cruised up, barely breaking a sweat. Adamski had zoomed down from Greenwich to see how we all were. We passed the time of day as we rode into Brighton. He looked at me as we rolled by the golf course:

"Speed camera?"
"Got to be done"

Big gear, clear road, full chat. V[sub]max [/sub]60km/h. I didn't see a flash, but a cyclist heading up the hill gave a triumphant punch in the air. Of course it could have been the balloons. Breakfast was demolished in good company, bad shirts were worn. And then home. And sleep.

Pictures are here
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
Great fun. I went with my sister, a niece and two nephews, all frighteningly capable on two wheels. Old Uncle Slo'mo had sand kicked in his face at every opportunity. I think that they had fun....

Did you see the look on the driver's face as he came to park at the NCP at 23:45? One of total bemused ( and gentle) bewilderment as he was presented with a two wheeled throng.

Thank-you Martin B for the true story of the Tooting "riot". At the time, as a confused bystander, I was convinced that a whole load of riders had waded in and that they would probably sit out the rest of the night in the cells. Not so. The Met on two wheels did the business. Respect.

Thank-you to the kind souls who marked the Horley Badlands. I went through entirely alone in the darkness, and the glow of the cyalumes was a sight to behold. ( Like something from a 1950's low budget horror flick, actually). I very nearly toppled into the large muddy puddle as I tried to edge round to the right, but managed to un-clip just in time.

From the top of Turner's Hill to Lindfield was a lot of fun, and not a little madness. A big crater near the white line zipped by on the starboard bow and a "WTF".

My niece had a slow puncture at the end of Slugwash Lane and there was no spare tube. Shortly thereafter, the entire High Command assembled to help. Teef, Suzie, Claudine, Adrian, Simon, numerous other kind souls that I have shamefully forgotten, and two very large vans. I think I may have been one of the "(gormless) pouting youths" . ( Someone needs glasses :rolleyes: ).

Ditchling is a target that three of our family have behind them, and I still have ahead.

The Martlets people were just wonderful. To stay up all night to greet a bunch of nutters deserves a lot of thanks. Thanks to Simon and all the heroic marshalls who pointed us in the right direction ( and told utter lies about the distance to the cake stop.....):thumbsup:

Fun.
 
IMG_2747.JPG

Pinkie Legg and Greg Colleoni - still not seeing eye to eye in Madeira...and Brighton continues to Rock!

Forgot to say Pic. by Miranda
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Great fun. I went with my sister, a niece and two nephews, all frighteningly capable on two wheels. Old Uncle Slo'mo had sand kicked in his face at every opportunity. I think that they had fun....

Did you see the look on the driver's face as he came to park at the NCP at 23:45? One of total bemused ( and gentle) bewilderment as he was presented with a two wheeled throng.

Thank-you Martin B for the true story of the Tooting "riot". At the time, as a confused bystander, I was convinced that a whole load of riders had waded in and that they would probably sit out the rest of the night in the cells. Not so. The Met on two wheels did the business. Respect.

Thank-you to the kind souls who marked the Horley Badlands. I went through entirely alone in the darkness, and the glow of the cyalumes was a sight to behold. ( Like something from a 1950's low budget horror flick, actually). I very nearly toppled into the large muddy puddle as I tried to edge round to the right, but managed to un-clip just in time.

From the top of Turner's Hill to Lindfield was a lot of fun, and not a little madness. A big crater near the white line zipped by on the starboard bow and a "WTF".

My niece had a slow puncture at the end of Slugwash Lane and there was no spare tube. Shortly thereafter, the entire High Command assembled to help. Teef, Suzie, Claudine, Adrian, Simon, numerous other kind souls that I have shamefully forgotten, and two very large vans. I think I may have been one of the "(gormless) pouting youths" . ( Someone needs glasses :rolleyes: ).

Ditchling is a target that three of our family have behind them, and I still have ahead.

The Martlets people were just wonderful. To stay up all night to greet a bunch of nutters deserves a lot of thanks. Thanks to Simon and all the heroic marshalls who pointed us in the right direction ( and told utter lies about the distance to the cake stop.....):thumbsup:

Fun.

Now, I for one did not. I did tell people they were nearly there, and it was only a mile and a quarter from my junction...
 
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