StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Ouch indeed. My condolences.
FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Whitstable June 1st
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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redfalo
known as Olaf in real life
- Location
- Brexit Boomtown
This was a fantastic ride. As always, I might add.
However, this one was special for a number of reasons. First of all, due to the lack of a serious revolution in this country, some arcane celebrations are going to take place in the proximity of Buckingham Palace. Hence, the starting point switched to Waterloo. Closer for me, I (erroneously) thought and ended up showing up late. I think I like the new starting point. The atmosphere prior to the ride is nicer (less noise and traffic, more light), getting out seems to be slightly more cumbersome.
The volunteers at the halfway stop were absolutely amazing, and the prizes were just to low.
The really special thing for me personally was that I really did my first SMRbtL. I had planned it numerous times, but more often than not my preferences changed at the half way stop (or even earlier). This time, I had a real incentive, however. I had to find out if I could do 120 miles at once. Bingham and LonJoG, you know.
Yes, I can. Due to a benign tailwind on the way back, it was rather ok. I had chips in Gillingham, and enjoyed a ice cream, and (hold you breath) sunshine at Greenwich park. I was back home in Highbury at 5.20pm, 142 miles from door to door. I went surprisingly well - the Moulton rocks!
Nevertheless, the SMRbtL taught me an important lesson: You only question the route of His Royal Leggness at your own peril.
I rode exactly the same way back to London, bar three exceptions. My frist alteration was the apparently strange detour via Lillechurch between Lower Higham and Strood. Well, now I perfectly understand Simon's choice. The alternative route is shorter, but the gravel is suicidal.
My second major alteration was close to Greenwich. I did not understand the detour via Woolwich and Erith and took the direct alternative instead, via Bexleyheath and Shooters Hill. This area, as I found out at first hand, is really aptly named. (However, the view on the city was fantastic!)
My third change was not going to the center of Gravesend but riding via Windmill Hill which - you won't believe it - turned out to be quite a hill as well...
The only disapointment of the night was that I failed to talk Andrej into selling me his unused Moulton front wheel with a Schmidts hub dynamo. Unfortunately, Andej knows what he is doing....
Looking forward to meeting you guys in Manchester and at HPC for the LonJoG.
Cheers
Olaf
Update: The GPS track of the ride is available here. And here's my "improved" way back.
However, this one was special for a number of reasons. First of all, due to the lack of a serious revolution in this country, some arcane celebrations are going to take place in the proximity of Buckingham Palace. Hence, the starting point switched to Waterloo. Closer for me, I (erroneously) thought and ended up showing up late. I think I like the new starting point. The atmosphere prior to the ride is nicer (less noise and traffic, more light), getting out seems to be slightly more cumbersome.
The volunteers at the halfway stop were absolutely amazing, and the prizes were just to low.
The really special thing for me personally was that I really did my first SMRbtL. I had planned it numerous times, but more often than not my preferences changed at the half way stop (or even earlier). This time, I had a real incentive, however. I had to find out if I could do 120 miles at once. Bingham and LonJoG, you know.
Yes, I can. Due to a benign tailwind on the way back, it was rather ok. I had chips in Gillingham, and enjoyed a ice cream, and (hold you breath) sunshine at Greenwich park. I was back home in Highbury at 5.20pm, 142 miles from door to door. I went surprisingly well - the Moulton rocks!
Nevertheless, the SMRbtL taught me an important lesson: You only question the route of His Royal Leggness at your own peril.
I rode exactly the same way back to London, bar three exceptions. My frist alteration was the apparently strange detour via Lillechurch between Lower Higham and Strood. Well, now I perfectly understand Simon's choice. The alternative route is shorter, but the gravel is suicidal.
My second major alteration was close to Greenwich. I did not understand the detour via Woolwich and Erith and took the direct alternative instead, via Bexleyheath and Shooters Hill. This area, as I found out at first hand, is really aptly named. (However, the view on the city was fantastic!)
My third change was not going to the center of Gravesend but riding via Windmill Hill which - you won't believe it - turned out to be quite a hill as well...
The only disapointment of the night was that I failed to talk Andrej into selling me his unused Moulton front wheel with a Schmidts hub dynamo. Unfortunately, Andej knows what he is doing....
Looking forward to meeting you guys in Manchester and at HPC for the LonJoG.
Cheers
Olaf
Update: The GPS track of the ride is available here. And here's my "improved" way back.
Excellent, serious distance, on such small wheels!
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Small wheels are no impediment, especially not on a Moulton...!!! Great job Olaf.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
[QUOTE 1874343, member: 1314"]
Further details on demand - £50 for written report, £100 for interview, £150 for re-inaction.[/quote]
Pardon?
Further details on demand - £50 for written report, £100 for interview, £150 for re-inaction.[/quote]
Pardon?
ttcycle
Cycling Excusiast
I wouldn't ask..dangerous territory.
Sounded like a good ride despite the sogginess! Well envious!
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
That was still very kind of you to have thought of it. I made the station in very good order which was extremely good because the journey, as mentioned, is a faff!!!1874329 said:
Normal pleasant relations seem to have been re-established in 235 Towers.
anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
Thank you Simon.
Mice
Guru
Despite the email requests from hiz DZship to be at the new Rendez Vous point under Waterloo Bridge at 11.25 "at the very latest" I was somewhat concerned to find myself at Victoria Station at 11.21 waiting for Southern Trains to deliver the Halls. However, as I realised that I was with serious FNRttC hardcore TECs and Wayfarers - Adrian, McWobble, User13710, StuartG , GregCollins and indeed the Halls themselves, I thought we might be let off the DZ Look!
We left Victoria at 11.35pm - and had to walk down to Victoria Street as the roadworks are a nightmare - we rode down to Parliament Square, over the Bridge and joined the others to a bit of a look and a cheer. Luckily we weren't last! The sight that greeted us was - enormous! 100 of us! Fantastic. I was pleased to see that SWMBO had allowed Martin235 to bring Lelly even if there was a beers limit (I remember Brighton although Martin235 probably doesnt!!) The weather however, was something else. Constant ruddy drizzle. Like a fine spray, for most of the ride - there were mudguards everywhere!! There were also a couple of Moultons. Lovely wheels indeed - and brilliant to read that Redfalo rode back to London on his. The next time I see Andrij, I hope I might be able to have a go - awesome wheels.
User10571 led the way out along the Thames estuary. Erith, Gravesend, Dartford, alongside juggernauts who were thankfully giving us lots of space and time. Some of the car drivers stared in amazement at how long they had to wait for us to cross their bows. Pedestrians gawped and shouted - not quite believing their eyes.
My new cycling strategy courtesy of ttcycle was being put to good practice. Spinning. I stayed on the middle ring practically all the way to Whitstable and used the granny ring for three hills, just keeping the pedals turning, not worrying about anything at all. It was fantastic! A brilliant learning curve just in time for LonJog! Thank you ttcycle!
I stayed in the middle of the group and just loved it. I did panic a bit when I saw LouiseL put her bicycle on the side of the road . "It's alright Louise, this isn't the PBP so you don't need to sleep there. We are only doing 66 miles, not 600"! 
The Stopsies at Strood deserve a page not a paragraph. Enormous thanks to everyone involved - the food was fantastic. The thoughtfulness, a bicycle light on a lamp post, a track pump available, signage to loos, dishes of sliced tomatoes and jars of pickle so we could choose what we added to our ham and cheese rolls, a great team of people patiently waiting for us to deluge and overrun the place. Much baking had taken place and they very kindly let me take a piece (enormous) of chocolate cake with me - I managed to smuggle it into arallsopps luggage (thank you ianrauk!) and ate it in Whitstable. Thank you Tim and your team, that was one special place indeed.
Out into the cold, a few headed to the station for unavoidable deadlines and the rest headed eastwards. I saw Flying Dodo and Rebecca Olds - I hoped that FD might be able to stop the concophony of noise being made by arallsopps rear mech (very uncharacteristic of arallsopp to have such a thing - unless you mention cable ties and LEL aka Barring Mechanicals by Andy Allsopp - always worth a read from Amazon)!
The dawn (no idea where the sun was) was breaking, the All Up Wall Nut TEC and the wayfarers kept us all moving dealing the P&W"£"£" Fairy who was swimming along with us in all the water and by the time we reached Whitstable there had been 14 visitations.
That's quite a lot, by anybody's standard.
The last few miles into Whitstable were 'ard. The wind was really strong, heading straight at us. I stepped up to the big ring and pushed all the way to the cafe. Delicious breakfasts, beer and banter. Little by little our numbers reduced and we were soon down to three birthday boys, a Sitting Duck, a TimO, an Aperitif and a User1314. Ruddy hilarious way to spend the day. We caught a 3pm ish train back to Victoria and I somehow managed to stop myself from going to a pub in Clapham when I knew I needed to be asleep.
It may have been a wet ride, too many visitations but I had a blast. Thank you DZ and Susie - I took some pics.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108733...authkey=Gv1sRgCNO3hv2UpcaqmAE&feat=directlink
Mice
We left Victoria at 11.35pm - and had to walk down to Victoria Street as the roadworks are a nightmare - we rode down to Parliament Square, over the Bridge and joined the others to a bit of a look and a cheer. Luckily we weren't last! The sight that greeted us was - enormous! 100 of us! Fantastic. I was pleased to see that SWMBO had allowed Martin235 to bring Lelly even if there was a beers limit (I remember Brighton although Martin235 probably doesnt!!) The weather however, was something else. Constant ruddy drizzle. Like a fine spray, for most of the ride - there were mudguards everywhere!! There were also a couple of Moultons. Lovely wheels indeed - and brilliant to read that Redfalo rode back to London on his. The next time I see Andrij, I hope I might be able to have a go - awesome wheels.
User10571 led the way out along the Thames estuary. Erith, Gravesend, Dartford, alongside juggernauts who were thankfully giving us lots of space and time. Some of the car drivers stared in amazement at how long they had to wait for us to cross their bows. Pedestrians gawped and shouted - not quite believing their eyes.
My new cycling strategy courtesy of ttcycle was being put to good practice. Spinning. I stayed on the middle ring practically all the way to Whitstable and used the granny ring for three hills, just keeping the pedals turning, not worrying about anything at all. It was fantastic! A brilliant learning curve just in time for LonJog! Thank you ttcycle!
I stayed in the middle of the group and just loved it. I did panic a bit when I saw LouiseL put her bicycle on the side of the road . "It's alright Louise, this isn't the PBP so you don't need to sleep there. We are only doing 66 miles, not 600"! The Stopsies at Strood deserve a page not a paragraph. Enormous thanks to everyone involved - the food was fantastic. The thoughtfulness, a bicycle light on a lamp post, a track pump available, signage to loos, dishes of sliced tomatoes and jars of pickle so we could choose what we added to our ham and cheese rolls, a great team of people patiently waiting for us to deluge and overrun the place. Much baking had taken place and they very kindly let me take a piece (enormous) of chocolate cake with me - I managed to smuggle it into arallsopps luggage (thank you ianrauk!) and ate it in Whitstable. Thank you Tim and your team, that was one special place indeed.
Out into the cold, a few headed to the station for unavoidable deadlines and the rest headed eastwards. I saw Flying Dodo and Rebecca Olds - I hoped that FD might be able to stop the concophony of noise being made by arallsopps rear mech (very uncharacteristic of arallsopp to have such a thing - unless you mention cable ties and LEL aka Barring Mechanicals by Andy Allsopp - always worth a read from Amazon)!
The dawn (no idea where the sun was) was breaking, the All Up Wall Nut TEC and the wayfarers kept us all moving dealing the P&W"£"£" Fairy who was swimming along with us in all the water and by the time we reached Whitstable there had been 14 visitations.
That's quite a lot, by anybody's standard.The last few miles into Whitstable were 'ard. The wind was really strong, heading straight at us. I stepped up to the big ring and pushed all the way to the cafe. Delicious breakfasts, beer and banter. Little by little our numbers reduced and we were soon down to three birthday boys, a Sitting Duck, a TimO, an Aperitif and a User1314. Ruddy hilarious way to spend the day. We caught a 3pm ish train back to Victoria and I somehow managed to stop myself from going to a pub in Clapham when I knew I needed to be asleep.
It may have been a wet ride, too many visitations but I had a blast. Thank you DZ and Susie - I took some pics.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108733...authkey=Gv1sRgCNO3hv2UpcaqmAE&feat=directlink
Mice
Attachments
itsbruce
Lavender Bike Menace
U
User10571
Guest
Did you really think that these things went unchecked?
What you refer to as 'the alternative route' is actually the route we would normally use.
The route was ridden twice last week, during the week, to ensure that your night's enjoyment passed (as much as is possible) without incident.
That is when the gravel, you describe so well, was found.
The trade-off for the safer route was, unfortunately, an extra hill.
As you say, deviate from the route at your own peril.
In other news......
The rest of my Saturday was 'ahem' interesting.
Got home. Fell asleep in chair.
Woke up. Hungry. Made chilli con carne and pasta. Ate it. Fell asleep in chair.
Woke up. Hungry. Could've sworn I had a chilli con carne in the fridge. Never mind. Made pasta with smoked mackrel, olives, and feta in pesto. Ate it. Fell asleep in......
EDIT: Oh, and another thing....
Who's idea was it to start racing across the marshes?
That hurt.
But was good by way of contrast and balance with some of the less active parts of the night.
U
User10571
Guest
Assuming you used the Roman Road then yes, you would've done.
You would've also lopped about 10 miles off the ride, and the views would not have anywhere near as pretty.
