FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast York to Cleethorpes 18th June 2010

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
dellzeqq

dellzeqq

pre-talced and mighty
Location
SW2
Frustruck said:
I think you are being unfair, limiting this ride to an elite (for the moment) :wacko:. In any case, how exactly can you say who can and cannot come on your rides, seeing as it is on public roads? The only thing I can think of is limiting the numbers of people who turn up at cafes that have agreed to open specially for the ride.

several reasons

it's a question of safety. I've let the ride grow little by little because I don't know what the safe limit is. This is a new route, and I'll probably be a little conservative and learn from the experience.

the number of people who know the routine also makes a difference to the route. The more people we have the greater the need to keep the route simple. Turns (and hazards) need wayfinders, who, having waited for the tail end Charlies then zoom to the front again. Fewer wayfinders mean fewer turns. I'm speculating, but Mike and I might have a very gentle tussle about bits of the route, where, on the one hand, he wants to go the most interesting way, and I'll want to keep it simple.

speed. Bigger rides are generally slower - the risk of punctures is higher, and there may be a greater spread of natural riding speeds, and a greater spread in endurance. Whitstable probably has an upper limit of about 80, and, to be straight about it, there will be people who I won't register until I know that they can get the trip. Southend is right for just about anybody - we had a rider in her 60s on a clunker who had never ridden more than 25 miles before, and, at one point, her moving speed dropped to seven miles an hour, but we got her there! We've got target times which are generous (4.30 for the midway point on the Bridge and 7.30 for Cleethorpes) and allow for a wide range of ability, but increasing the number of new riders, especially if there are not so many experienced riders, increases the risk of the ride over-running. As it did last November when I failed to pick up on the fact that Katarzyna really hadn't ever cycled more than seven miles before. It's a fine line between being inclusive and messing up...

queues. This month's stop at Junction 31 will be a patience tester (I'm going over there tomorrow to see if they are willing to take on extra staff for the night, which they've done before). Very few places are willing to open at 3 in the morning, and we have to avoid overloading them.

as Stu says - when you register you give me your mobile number (along with your CTC/LCC/BC number if you have one, and confirmation that you've read 'the basics'). If we're leaving the start and you're not there I can call you and see if you're on your way. If I ever had to cancel the ride I'd send e-mails, and phone those who didn't confirm back, as I had to for the 2009 Hilly 50.

it's a CTC ride. Without the cover offered by the CTC I wouldn't dream of organising a ride of 115 people to Brighton. I owe it to the CTC to run the ride as best I can

despite his protestations, Stu is part of an elite. He's a constant source of help and encouragement. The ride wouldn't work without Stu and the others who contribute. Every month I search my conscience before lumbering the same people with the same jobs, and every month they turn up trumps. Stu, Martin and a couple of dozen others make it possible for people who would never make the trip to have a carefree time. People join me on recce rides, or report potholes, or make arrangements with the Scout Hut. There's the text of an e-mail from one of the Martlets riders on the last ride that heaps praise on Stu and it's deserved (there's no way I'm going to spare you any blushes, matey). Not only was he at some obscure junction pointing the way at half past four in the morning, but at half past five he was ensuring that a first time rider with a bent derailleur got to Brighton.

oh - and Harwich. Limit 24. Unless you fancy swimming....
 

Andrij

Über Member
Location
Thulcandra
Add me to the list, please.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
dellzeqq said:
There's the text of an e-mail from one of the Martlets riders on the last ride that heaps praise on Stu and it's deserved (there's no way I'm going to spare you any blushes, matey). Not only was he at some obscure junction pointing the way at half past four in the morning, but at half past five he was ensuring that a first time rider with a bent derailleur got to Brighton.

oh - and Harwich. Limit 24. Unless you fancy swimming....

'Twas not I who helped the damsel with the bent derailleur- that would have been Stuart G. I wouldn't steal anyone else's credit! I might just have had an idea with a bike book or two handy (and no I don't bring those....).

Harwich..oh yes. With any luck the Viner saga (which seems to be turning into a multi-volume epic of Proustian proportion) might just be resolved by then...well it better, I'll be doing L2P a couple of weeks before!
 
StuAff said:
'Twas not I who helped the damsel with the bent derailleur- that would have been Stuart G. I wouldn't steal anyone else's credit! I might just have had an idea with a bike book or two handy (and no I don't bring those....).

Harwich..oh yes. With any luck the Viner saga (which seems to be turning into a multi-volume epic of Proustian proportion) might just be resolved by then...well it better, I'll be doing L2P a couple of weeks before!

It was the damsel with the American accent I think Stu... on one of the bikes that 'Dr Bike' just 'sketched'...didn't give the full measured eye to...:thumbsup:
 

Sh4rkyBloke

Jaffa Cake monster
Location
Manchester, UK
Oh bugger. I've never been on a FNRttC before but have been living vicariously through you by reading the threads about them, waiting for this ride to come round... I have my tickets booked already and now am not sure whether I'm allowed to come along. :laugh::sad:

Well, I'll register my interest anyways and hope that my participation in other CC rides (Fossyant's rambles in the Cheshire Hills, Dan_Bo's track sessions etc.) will grant me a pass.

Been looking forward to this since it was announced. :thumbsup:
 
Isn't part of the point that the more experienced people who sign up, the greater the numbers of newbies/slightly useless people like me you can take, anyway? One reason that I've always thought that there rides sounded brilliant was that, whilst I can just about deal with a p*****re at home, in the warmth and comfort of my living room, I'm not at all confident that I could deal with one (or a bust chain/bent hangar etc etc - which I probably couldn't even handle at home) in the dark in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night in the cold. Similarly I'm not convinced that my navigation skills would get me to Cleethorpes in the dark!

For a newbie like me it's incredibly reassuring to think that there are people who go on these rides in the full and certain knowledge that they may be asked to help out and support the more useless of us - and who choose to volunteer for that job. So, to me, it's pretty obvious that you can't actually decide on a safe numbers limit until you know how many people you'll have 'working' on the ride.

But once you do know, I'd like to be one of the useless noobs if possible:smile:
 

Christopher

Über Member
Fair enough. I do think dell does do an amazing job of organising great rides and is helped by some very good people who work very hard to make the rides sucessful.
I guess there is no other way to organise the FNRRTCs as they would probably disintegrate into chaos in the middle of the night, particularly if it were a free-for-all where just anyone turned up on any bike...

FWIW I cannot make the York ride, so can't really complain! Have fun y'all ;)
 
OP
OP
dellzeqq

dellzeqq

pre-talced and mighty
Location
SW2
User10119 said:
Isn't part of the point that the more experienced people who sign up, the greater the numbers of newbies/slightly useless people like me you can take, anyway? ;)
absolutely. Except that on a ride like this one of the most useful things you can bring is a smile. With five experienced riders we'd be sort of light, and I'd be concerned about the total being over about 35. With nine we can probably go to fiftyfive if I can persuade Mike to forego the bit of the ride which involves landing craft, high wires, jetpacks and log flumes. And I'm still not keen on shooting straight down the centre of the runway at Ferriby.
 

Sh4rkyBloke

Jaffa Cake monster
Location
Manchester, UK
dellzeqq said:
absolutely. Except that on a ride like this one of the most useful things you can bring is a smile. With five experienced riders we'd be sort of light, and I'd be concerned about the total being over about 35. With nine we can probably go to fifty five if I can persuade Mike to forego the bit of the ride which involves landing craft, high wires, jetpacks and log flumes. And I'm still not keen on shooting straight down the centre of the runway at Ferriby.
Oh forget it then if we're missing out all the good stuff. :blush:
 
OP
OP
dellzeqq

dellzeqq

pre-talced and mighty
Location
SW2
What I'm really, really hoping is that User will join us (although it's a miserable journey for him, and he is very busy). I just think that the full Reg/Dell safety talk would be so reassuring........
 
Top Bottom