FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Whitstable 31st May

[StuAff]

The short dog-leg stretch of the A2 of Deth doesn't appeal with 80 in tow.
I'd do it with a dozen, not so sure about doing it with 80+ others.
Persuade me otherwise.

+1. Having ridden a fair bit of it yesterday, can't say I enjoyed it at all. It was one to be endured, even when relatively quiet on a Saturday morning. For much of the FNRttC peloton, at any time of day or night, it would be thoroughly unwelcome if not plain terrifying.

 

[srw]

In my post-ride state of stupor (I think the blood-sugar level may've taken a dive at that point) I said to the lovely Faye:
'Can I have eggs, bacon, chips and one slice of bread please?'
[...]
'That'll be ten pounds, for cash, she beamed at me.
Fankoo. I said. Relieved that the ordeal would soon be over.

If it's any consolation, it sounded absolutely deliberate.

 

[Trickedem]

Any route that avoids the hell of Sittingbourne would appeal. Something like this
http://goo.gl/maps/zXNis

My idea was intended for the +ride with fewer participants, Going further south is even worse because you've got to cross the A249 and this is nerveracking with only one person.

 

[Aperitif]

At this time on most Sunday nights I think it fair to say that I am mostly reckless.

See. I told you to trust you! I am following your prescription.
OK thanks JB - just the ordinariness of a lot of work to plougrrrrrrrrrrrrh through. (And all sorts of other crap that ordinary folk would not touch with the proverbial...) September-ish should see me sober enough to try riding a bike with gears.

 

[Flying Dodo]

I thought I'd get round to adding my ½p's worth. For me, Whitstable works as a destination as not only do you get some lovely rolling Kent countryside, and exotic things such as hops growing in the fields, but the sheer expanse of sea, with views of distant Southend giving a real sense of the distance travelled. As mentioned above, it's been on the calendar for a long time, so it's a tradition, as is Dave J's usual pre-ride snack:-

Riding along at the back was enriched by hearing Susie's laugh at regular intervals - she always seemed to be smiling, despite having to do the all-up shouting.

Heading out of London, it really struck me how quiet the roads were, and how the towns we went through just didn't seem to have any activity. Certainly at the back we didn't get any hassle from motorists. Going along Jamaica Road, and further along, there was a lot dodgy cigarettes being smoked by the locals, but I tried not to inhale. A trio of girls in a car did a little singalong of Queen's "I want to ride my bike", and a bit further on, I was very impressed to hear shouts of "Go on, Rasmussen" (although he took EPO, rather than smoking cannabis). In the last year, I've head a few calls about Wiggins and Cavendish but Rasmussen is a first. In Gravesend, a car slowed up and the (sober) front passenger asked me what was going on, and was very impressed and provided more encouragement. And that seemed to be the motto for the ride.

After going through the strangely empty town centre in Gravesend, it was really nice to go back over the canal path which I've done at night and day. I couldn't understand why people had issues with the Sustrans gates though - just stay on the bike and aim for the middle!

Heading out the other side, I heard mutterings from Susie and Adrian threatening a "new broom" order of leaving any mechanical stragglers to die by the roadside. Thankfully, these were empty threats, allowing Tim H to do sterling work to the most serious issue, when Alice's chain decided to separate shortly before we got into Rochester. Proof that Tim is also a magician as he got to do some magic linking spare bits of chain together in a fashion that John Noakes of Blue Peter fame would have been proud of.

In fact, other than doing some light shining, digging out some CO2 and a chain tool, I don't have much to do at the back. Which was nice, so I could just ride along and take photos. And it was made all the better by the lovely surprise of the birthday singalong in Rochester (and being bought birthday drinks in Whitstable).

It always amazes me how DZ persuades people to turn out at silly o'clock in the morning to feed 80 odd (or not so odd) people, but it's certainly a wonderful thing.

Heading off again into daylight, DZ could have wasted some time by taking via the tank museum at Brompton as shown on his original route, but we got to go along the A289 which at any other time is heaving with traffic, but at 5 am is gloriously quiet.

After Upchurch, there was a little diversion from the traditional route, which involved a hill which certainly made some people slow up, although there was a lovely view.

On the final run in to Whitstable, I was pacing someone in, so I was getting a little cold, so was pleased to finally get my breakfast:-

And then the sun came out

and then day ended well.

Cheers everyone for a wonderful night/day.

All of the photos are shown here.

 

[PaulRide]

Nice photos Adam.

I was sorry that the clouds caused us to miss the 01.12 Iridium flare as we passed through Woolwich and the 1.15 pass of the ISS (although that was a relatively low one). Inevitably, waiting for the next Iridium flare by that lawn near the entrance to the canal path was a bit frustrating - I don't know why, but they always seem to turn up about a minute later than I expect them, even when I've checked the details earlier that day. But it was good that some folk saw Iridium 53 as it flared up briefly in the south east, and that some also saw the ISS doing its lazy overhead pass as we headed off down the path. It sailed gently down towards the eastern horizon, fading out of sight as we came up to the police shooting place.

As a coda, I took advantage of the clear skies last night to watch the ISS through a telescope. Blimmin difficult to track it steadily enough to see detail, and the glare of sunlight reflected off its solar panels made it difficult to make out much detail other than the overall shape, but it's given me an idea about filming it.

 

[wanda2010]

@Flying Dodo. Please sir, could I nick the pic of the Guinness and the glove?

 

[Janie_K]

I guess they must because, when most people would be clearing up and getting back to bed, then come out to wave us off which really is a very sweet touch.

Hear, hear... It was lovely when they waved us all off.

 

[Wowbagger]

I heard a certain amount of talk of "iridium flares" but, never having heard of one until last Friday night/Saturday morning, I was completely in the dark. I now feel a little more enlightened, thanks to Google, and may even be able to look out for one in the future. The problem is one of new-fangledness. I well remember the first time anything man-made found its way into space and this planet must now be considerably lighter than it was in 1957 as a result of all the junk that has been thrust up there, and much of which has yet to return to earth.

 

[Flying Dodo]

@Flying Dodo. Please sir, could I nick the pic of the Guinness and the glove?

Absolutely fine - seeing as it was your glove and Guinness!

 

[PaulRide]

Actually I think the natural debris that is raining down on the planet 24 hours a day probably more than makes up for the stuff that we catapult up there from time to time.

I've become mildly interested in space junk as a result of spending time watching the wonders of outer space through an increasingly dense cloud of sapce junk. I often find that photos I've taken of the natural wonders of the night sky have streaks of sunlight reflecting off metal drawn across them.

 

[slowmotion]

A lovely ride. I really liked the stretch along the Thames and Medway canal towpath. Lovely frog noises and a space station thrown in too. Then pretty lanes through north Kent, an area that I had never seen before. We were lucky with the weather and a gentle tail wind. It made the ride a lot less daunting than I expected. There was only one hill that almost had me walking but it wasn't anything that my wimpy lowest gear couldn't handle at silly pedal rpm.
Many thanks to Simon, the wayfinders and TECs, and the lovely people at the halfway stop who waved farewell....and the hard-working cheerful people in Whitstable who provided "the needful".
Wonderful.

BTW, it's worth Googling the Thames and Medway Canal. The original budget was £24,000. It came in at £250,000. Some things never change.

 

[TimO]

...
So of that first happy crew we had User10571, Jane K, Adam B, Adrian C, Paul R, Dave J, one of the Tim H's and Jane D on last Friday's ride. Four and a half years on. Blimey!
...

And me! I did a lot of the rides that year, but not all of them, as my inaugural year of FNRttCing, from April onward iirc. I'm fairly sure that I started TECing towards the end of that year!

 

[TimO]

Looking back at my Blog, it turns out that I was TECing on that October 2008 Whitstable ride!

 

[Trickedem]

I would like to publicly thank @dellzeqq for it was I who left my glove behind in the cafe. Thanks for posting it home so quickly. Of course I don't need I now because Summer is here