January ride for fish n chips

[martint235]

Abs, am up for this too as well as doing the 100mile a month challenge.

Southend is great for me too, nice and easy and of course, we get to go up and over shooters hill twice dont we??

No that's the Whitstable run. And you also get that very pleasant little bump of a hill on the way out of Whitstable....

 

[rb58]

Oh, yes please. I can do both days.

 

[Aperitif]

Oh, yes please. I can do both days.

Both days! How come?

(the next post might be Ross on Why)

 

[Davywalnuts]

No that's the Whitstable run. And you also get that very pleasant little bump of a hill on the way out of Whitstable....

Is it? Oh.... Is it not possible to get some hill climbing practice in? And I take it, the Blackwall Tunnel is non-cycleable?

 

[martint235]

Is it? Oh.... Is it not possible to get some hill climbing practice in? And I take it, the Blackwall Tunnel is non-cycleable?

No you can't cycle through Blackwall. The other two options are Woolwich Ferry but that is the London side of Shooters Hill (unless you climb it just for the hell of it and drop back down into Woolwich) and the Dartford Crossing but as Ian has pointed out the land rover at the crossing only takes 2 bikes at a time.

We can always pencil Whitstable in for February.....

 

[Davywalnuts]

No you can't cycle through Blackwall. The other two options are Woolwich Ferry but that is the London side of Shooters Hill (unless you climb it just for the hell of it and drop back down into Woolwich) and the Dartford Crossing but as Ian has pointed out the land rover at the crossing only takes 2 bikes at a time.

We can always pencil Whitstable in for February.....

I think Boris needs a attend to a new agenda... we need tunnel access! hehe.

Well, the first fnrttc this year is Southend in March, so that may fit...

 

[rb58]

No you can't cycle through Blackwall. The other two options are Woolwich Ferry but that is the London side of Shooters Hill (unless you climb it just for the hell of it and drop back down into Woolwich) and the Dartford Crossing but as Ian has pointed out the land rover at the crossing only takes 2 bikes at a time.

You can ride through the Rotherhithe tunnel - not sure that gets you anywhere helpful though. Or the Tilbury Ferry from Gravesend is always good for a laugh! Don't think it runs on a Sunday though.

 

[Flying Dodo]

No you can't cycle through Blackwall. The other two options are Woolwich Ferry but that is the London side of Shooters Hill (unless you climb it just for the hell of it and drop back down into Woolwich) and the Dartford Crossing but as Ian has pointed out the land rover at the crossing only takes 2 bikes at a time.

They can take 3 bikes without a problem.

Going via Dartford (as well as offering the delights of Shooters Hill) goes provide a certain frisson by forcing the bods at the crossing to actually go out of their way and give a free service to cyclists. And therefore I think we should use the service as much as possible. But that's my personal opinion.

Whilst there could be a delay in getting the first run across, at least then they should come straight back for the next lot, so perhaps another 10-15 minutes. We could of course run 2 strands, one for those who want to go north of the river and the other south of the river. Just a thought.

 

[redjedi]

After doing a little Google on the Dartford crossing having never used it I found this

They have a big bike trailer for cycling groups, though they need a phone call in advance to set it up.

http://realcycling.b...-thames-at.html

So could be worth stopping by or calling to see if they still have the trailer.

and this from the Highways agency

If you are riding a tandem or travelling as a group e.g. a cycle club, it is advisable to make prior arrangements by contacting the Crossing.

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/4075.aspx#WhatprovisionisthereforcycliststousetheCrossing?

 

[ianrauk]

After doing a little Google on the Dartford crossing having never used it I found this



http://realcycling.b...-thames-at.html

So could be worth stopping by or calling to see if they still have the trailer.

and this from the Highways agency



http://www.highways....usetheCrossing?

Now you mention it, I do remember seeing the trailer parked up when I last used the crossing.

 

[rb58]

Now you mention it, I do remember seeing the trailer parked up when I last used the crossing.

The driver told me a few weeks ago that they've recently gone from two 4x4s/drivers to one. All part of cost cutting apparently. So, if there's an 'incident' or heavy traffic the wait can be quite lengthy. They can take three bikes at a time though.

 

[ianrauk]

Anyway.. no need to go south... Topcat will know a good route north of the river....

 

[HaloJ]

Found this on Ride with GPS. http://ridewithgps.com/routes/70772 Country lane route to Southend. It needs a bit of tweaking but looks a good one and I know a good majority of the route from living out Stapleford way. I'd still like to see TC's route though.

Abs

 

[martint235]

I know this probably isn;t the place but as a lot of people in this thread have GPS I'll ask anyway. I plotted a route on bikehike for my training run in Kent but the 605 says it can only navigate 100 points. What is a point? I'm assuming it's not a turn cos the Southend run must have more than 100.

 

[ianrauk]

if it's like the 205 then they are waypoints that you can assign ie 'right turn' 'left turn' 3rd exit etc, and if that's the case then yes you will only have x100