Friday Night Ride To Whitstable. 19th Aug 2016

[Dogtrousers]

You want to try getting 80 people to concentrate at the start and staring down taxi drivers, matey!

Oddly enough, no, I really, really don't want to try that.

The KO for my first FNRttC was the Jubilee one to Whitstable which started on the S. bank. I do remember that, as it was a new thing, but I don't remember there being problems. The KO for a recent one this spring (Whitstable? can't remember) was from Tooley Street and although the meeting place left a bit to be desired in terms of space and shelter I don't remember the start at all which suggests it was painless.

 

[TimO]

I think finding any location with room to lean bikes against, shelter from inclement weather, and loos, which is convenient for all of the routes was probably an impossible dream.

HPC did have the benefit of being really easy to find, but does also suffer a bit from other cyclists passing through at speed, which has gotten worse with the Boris Bikes over the last few years.

It's fairly easy to be critical of locations like Tooley Street, but a lot harder to thing of locations which fulfil more of the criteria that Simon specified.

Pulling away from HPC for rides to the south is certainly "interesting", but as far as I know, it has generally worked surprisingly successfully.

 

[slowmotion]

I've always liked the launch from HPC. A blast of adrenaline at the start of a ride works wonders for me, but I quite understand why it might have been a bit less enjoyable for Simon. BTW, isn't he the person who stopped a huge speeding artic on Clapham Common purely by the power of his mighty will?

 

[Tim Hall]

I've always liked the launch from HPC. A blast of adrenaline at the start of a ride works wonders for me, but I quite understand why it might have been a bit less enjoyable for Simon. BTW, isn't he the person who stopped a huge speeding artic on Clapham Common purely by the power of his mighty will?

I think the headlights reflecting off the dazzling white knee bandage of righteousness played a part.

 

[wanda2010]

"I think the headlights reflecting off the dazzling White Knee Bandage of Righteousness played a part."

Fixed that for you

 

[iZaP]

I will come along, just registered

 

[srw]

Johnson's bike lane has stripped all the joy out of the run along the Embankment.

That's a matter of opinion..... I rather like being able to tootle along the Embankment without stopping every couple of minutes for another red light.

In any case, there's a sign up in Parliament Square now - it's closed for resurfacing overnight for the next few weeks, so anyone coming from further West will need to find an alternative way round.

 

[Flying Dodo]

I've always liked the launch from HPC. A blast of adrenaline at the start of a ride works wonders for me, but I quite understand why it might have been a bit less enjoyable for Simon. BTW, isn't he the person who stopped a huge speeding artic on Clapham Common purely by the power of his mighty will?

Having done three now, it's not so enjoyable for me either. And I messed up the Brighton one. Anyway, it's one of many things which will be discussed in the hibernation period.

 

[Trickedem]

Having just done a recce for the ride, the decision to start at Tooley Street is definitely the right one this time. The roadworks in Parliament Sq and from London Bridge into Tooley Street, mean that it would take a long time to get everyone from HPC. This also gives us a valuable time buffer, which we may need as there are lots of road works further down the route which means we will doing a different route through Gravesend. I just hope we are blessed with a tail wind like the one we've had tonight.

 

[slowmotion]

"I think the headlights reflecting off the dazzling White Knee Bandage of Righteousness played a part."

Fixed that for you

There a few seconds before the lorry driver slammed on the brakes when The Body Bag of Righteousness flashed through my mind.

 

[User10571]

Having done three now, it's not so enjoyable for me either. And I messed up the Brighton one. Anyway, it's one of many things which will be discussed in the hibernation period.

I have to confess that every single time I did this, without exception, the 'start off as a group' thing was furthest from my mind.
The 'get yourself out of this f*ing dodgy situation, pronto' was at the forefront.
How all of those starts passed without incident, to this day amazes me.
Having said that, I've dealt with much, much worse on a regular basis.

 

[srw]

My opinion is that I hate the bit just west of Blackfriars waiting on lights to cross over the proper road for grown-ups. I hate the bit where, heading east under London Bridge, you get a red light so motor traffic can turn left irrespective of whether or not anyone wants top. I hate the bit where, in order to cross Southwark Bridge, a person has to wait two phases. I hate the fact that there is no provision for my final right turn off the thing.
Still, I am not the target market so mustn't grumble.

If you'd like me to provide the (very long) of annoying and badly phased lights on the pre-bike lane Embankment I'm more than happy to do so.

For every red light to allow traffic outside the bike lane to cross the bike lane there is, by definition, a red light allowing bikes on the bike lane to cross the other carriageways. Get your timing right (or lucky) and, like all lights, you can surf the green wave. And sailing past a three-mile traffic jam is always fun.

The road-crossing problem iirc, is caused by a long-standing barrier in the middle of the road, not by new construction connected with the bike lane. It annoyed me when I was walking around there yesterday lunchtime.

 

[EltonFrog]

Is there, room for one more? Form completed, I've just got to work out how to get to Tooley Street, I'm not the most confident on my own in that there London.

Edit:

Just so I'm clear, is this the meeting point?

 

[StuAff]

Is there, room for one more? Form completed, I've just got to work out how to get to Tooley Street, I'm not the most confident on my own in that there London.

Edit:

Just so I'm clear, is this the meeting point?

View attachment 139092

Correct!

 

[Trickedem]

Is there, room for one more? Form completed, I've just got to work out how to get to Tooley Street, I'm not the most confident on my own in that there London.

Edit:

Just so I'm clear, is this the meeting point?

View attachment 139092

No problem. Magicians always welcome.