FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Southend-on-Sea May 4th

[Aperitif]

Hey! Where are all the bottom shots we took?
(Actually, if you look carefully, it is possible to see Adrian on his phone.)

 

[TimO]

Hey! Where are all the bottom shots we took?

I half expected to find a camera full of dodgy photos, having left it alone for several minutes, and was quite surprised to find nothing. I presume you were either well behaved, or someone else took it upon themselves to delete the photos (unbeknownst to you!)

 

[ianrauk]

I half expected to find a camera full of dodgy photos, having left it alone for several minutes, and was quite surprised to find nothing. I presume you were either well behaved, or someone else took it upon themselves to delete the photos (unbeknownst to you!)

People are slacking Tim... now If I where there...

 

[User10571]

People are slacking Tim... now If I where there...

 

[Aperitif]

Aberlour A'bunadh is a natural, single cask strength malt whisky, bottled directly from sherry casks and undiluted - hence the high alcoholic strength. It's not chill-filtered either, thus preserving the richness and flavour of the sherry. Deep amber in colour, Aberlour A'bunadh is a superb after dinner Friday Night Ride to the Coast malt.

£29.25 a bottle in Waitrose until Tuesday 8th May.

Very nice.
And Andrij's was/is Connemara I think - equally delicious. My last bottle of Vincent XO 1986 is at danger level and I will need to taste the rest to make sure it hasn't gone off, or got lonely. A task force has been put on alert to rescue some XO before June arrives.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Gregs' back , i've got a pic of his back with the sunrise.

Cheers TC1 (Dave) it's good to be back.

An avatar worthy shot (as well as a reminder to replace the batteries in my rear lights) if I may.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Very nice.
And Andrij's was/is Connemara I think - equally delicious. My last bottle of Vincent XO 1986 is at danger level and I will need to taste the rest to make sure it hasn't gone off, or got lonely. A task force has been put on alert to rescue some XO before June arrives.

I'm saving some Irish medicine for Long Martin. We can toast his seeing a sub.

 

[Aperitif]

I'm saving some Irish medicine for Long Martin. We can toast his seeing a sub.

In short - there's no sub for Long Martin. Luckily there is only one of him. He's not a culture vulture either, Greg - just dose him up on some Aldi Highland Black...he'll be fine, and love you forever anyway.

 

[martint235]

I'm saving some Irish medicine for Long Martin. We can toast his seeing a sub.

Sounds like a great plan to me!!

 

[Tim Hall]

Nice ride. And just about the best people to ride with including some not seen for a bit: Sgt. Pluck, JT and his Peterborough chums, Charlotte & Julian and 'Teef. All the rest of you are lovely too, of course.

Sorry we got lost, but the promise of the Splash n Dash was too great, so the Pino pulled in for a pee. And when we got out the roads were empty, so in true bloke style I ploughed on regardless, stopping to phone for instructions only when the insistent demands got too great. We took a turn round the Romford one way system and missed the excitement of the rozzers chasing the villains. Ah well.

Top entertainment in Brentwood was given by the Bright Young Things tottering around on their highest of heels. Or as 'Teef would have it, Tottery. The road to Stock was more or less as I remembered, although some of it had the cheek to go up hill. Marvellous cakes and rolls and bargainicous prices then out into the dawn, delayed only by TimO fixing his second puncture in as many rides.

That long downhill bit near Els' witch tree. That was good. Really good. User10571 was stretching his legs and thanks to Newton and Gallileo we freewheeled past him. All over too soon, and brekko. Then off into the rain for some groupsave goodness, but not before I'd made Mice collapse in her chair by saying we were going camping. Which we did.

A couple of pics here.

 

[TimO]

... Top entertainment in Brentwood was given by the Bright Young Things tottering around on their highest of heels. Or as 'Teef would have it, Tottery. ...

Good word.

I must try and use it.

 

[Aperitif]

AKA the original 'Flat.White.' Titus cut a splendid figure in his Rutland County gentleman cyclist's outfit, and marshaled the troops from the rear. Boris is so grateful to this man for his sterling work on Bicycling in London, that he came out especially for a personal wave event on Saturday morning. Good work, Titus and nice to see you again...a FNR with a topcat and an Officer Dibble - another first?
Photograph blatantly pinched from Tim's usual good quality selection, including - an imposing sunrise, Ess in model pose and even a picture of Stuart G's powder bag. Wonderful work!

 

[User10571]

Superb sunrise from Tim.
Puts mine firmly in the shade.

 

[Aperitif]

'Tottery Maximus' is a species found in town centres, as well as in seaside locations at certain times of year. There is a hardy variety found in Manchester and environs that sports minimal plumage - seemingly oblivious to wintry and other adverse conditions, mainly due to a missing element - 'The sensibilius genome'. Shown here, is a startled 'lesser Tottery Maximus' - as defined by the appendages dangling from the feet. (There is a 'greater TottyMax', but they tend to shed their attachments when moving from place to place) In the picture, this female is moving away from a 'Shouty Gobshiteus' or Common Noisycock - one of the loudest, most raucous of the species. These males are found in town centres everywhere, with their loud call giving way to regurgitation of food - as offerings - to anyone interested, and with a prolonged and confused call. Often, the early hours leads to them being 'ringed' for their own security by local wardens. Impervious to the cold, the Common Noisycock is not to be confused with anything but himself.

 

[Trickedem]

Thanks everyone for such great company on the ride. I echo the comments about the great food at Stock and I am sure they could and should charge more. Some great pictures of the sunrise. I sat in the right place at the cafe so got served quite quickly. Then rather than hanging around decided I would get started on the trip home. Pouring rain lasted most of the way to the ferry at Tilbury, but the following wind meant I was able to catch the 9.45 ferry with time to spare. I can thoroughly recommend the ferry, only £2.50 for a single and it is a little bit like going back to the 50s. The people of Tilbury clearly see Gravesend as an exciting shopping destination, which in comparison to the desolation of the Essex Marshes, it is. I wavered with the idea of catching the train back to Strood, but then decided to man up and face the head winds home, arriving before 10.30am. My earliest arrival home from a FNRTTC ever.