July 25th, London to Hastings: the Wen to Wen ride

Which ride most interests you?

  • London to Hastings

    Votes: 6 75.0%
  • Tunbridge Wells to Hastings & back again (the Witch's Hat)

    Votes: 2 25.0%

  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
The basics
What: London to Hastings ride.

Where
: A map of the route is here. It's ~82miles. Depending on circumstances of the day it may be shortened a bit – see the post following that one.

Meeting at the southwest corner of Somerset House, aka the northeast corner of Waterloo Bridge. Secondary meetup point in front of the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park.

When: July 25th, a Saturday. Would like to depart 8am at Somerset House, 8.45~9.00 at the dinos, in which case best guess is we'd be rolling across the finish line at 6pm. Time of departure not yet confirmed though.

Why: The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind. Also: points of historical interest. Also: hills, if you like 'em.

Who: Sign up sheet updated regularly.

The above was appended to the following OP as a public service.

-----------

I'd like to do another ride between London and Hastings.

I will admit to a very thin CV for organising rides; I've only done two. The first attracted 2 participants. As did the second. So that's a grand total of 4 people who have trusted me enough to follow me across the landscape. We all made it through alive and, I believe, reasonably happy, despite the hill tally (which may have contributed to the lack of uptake; people can get quite nervous when you casually mention lots of hills). If you follow the road.cc links above you'll get a good overview. Basically, lots of history and lovely scenery, pleasantly taxing at times rather than extended torture – I do it on a singlespeed, after all.

I may also be open to a triangle ride,

newroute[1].gif

or a witch's hat

this one between Tunbridge Wells and the coast, or some portion thereof. I'm aware a lot of people aren't as gaga over London miles as I am.

This is extremely preliminary; so preliminary I'm not going to post any more pictures yet, and anybody who knows me knows how much I like pics. At this point let's just say sometime this summer. I simply want to see if anyone is interested – anytwo will also do – before I start putting serious thought into planning.
 
Last edited:

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
I am interested.

Get in quick, folks: this ride is half full already.
 
OP
OP
anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
Which ride most appeals, London to Hastings, Tunbridge Wells to Hastings and back again (the Witch's Hat), or Tunbridge Wells to Hastings but not by the most direct route (maybe 2/3rds the mileage of the Witch's Hat)?

Short survey for you and anyone else interested: which approach to scheduling do you prefer, a fixed date, or moving it to avoid inclement weather?
 
Last edited:

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
I wouldn't take it personally if it got rescheduled due to Weather, but I'm a hostage to the railway fare structure, which frowns upon spontaneity. London start suits for simplicity, but it's not a clincher. My knowledge of Tunbridge Wells consists of a vague notion that there might be an equivalent to @User's Parkway Theory, applicable to towns with 'Royal' in their name.
 

robjh

Legendary Member
I might be up for a London-Hastings ride, but 'over the summer' is a long period and so I would put me down as a potential rather than a probable at this stage.

How about changing the thread title to something with 'Hastings ride' in? I think that would get more people reading it and responding more quickly.
 

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
How about changing the thread title to something with 'Hastings ride' in? I think that would get more people reading it and responding more quickly.
I'm reminded of that line of Oscar Levant's: "I called you last week. I'd have called you again but I was afraid you might be in."
 
OP
OP
anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
OK, chances are I will try to stick to a date once I come up with one, especially with such a large proportion of the ridership potentially affected. Currently I'm looking at July or August. Not the 4th, because of the Dun Run, but other than that wide open.

Title changed to reduce head scratching, though the possibility of a partial ride remains.

Must look up Adrian's Parkway Theory.
 
Interested. July - August good. I like the look of the Witch's Hat, subject to being able to get to/from Tunbridge Wells (Royal or otherwise) by train. Fixing the date in advance is better than spontaneous/moving due to train timetables & fares, but Southern Rail's ticketing policy still allows for refunds if weather forecast took a dramatic turn for the worst a few days before the ride.
 
OP
OP
anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
Velovoice - thanks for info about Southern Rail, I didn't know that.

Could someone elucidate re: Parkway Theory?

Have added a poll.
 
OP
OP
anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
I don't remember ever hearing anybody add the Royal in real life, though it is now home to the Crown jewellers, who even pleasantly serve commoners like my wife.

T. Wells is chiefly of utility due to its location, which works as a lunch stop on a London 2 Hastings, or as a good place to start, because the train service is normally decent. Granted I did recently have to get up to Tonbridge on my own steam thanks to a truck running into a bridge between the two stations. Another collision happened exactly a week later. That bridge must be magnetic….

It also just occurred to me that, if this is going to be a L2H and somebody wishes to take part anyway, they can meet us here; it would still make a splendid ride.
 
Last edited:

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
A poll! I've voted for one option, but it might just as well have been the other. I'll be adopting the same approach to The Greens and Plaid on Thursday.
 
OP
OP
anothersam

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
I'm not sure a poll isn't overkill… but have voted myself, for the London to Hastings. However, I'm quite happy with either.

We live deep in Conservative territory. A huge UKIP poster has gone up down the road. Alas the only Greens (I'm not happy with some of their policies, but they probably come closest for me) around here are in my salad. Fortunately my politically similar wife and I get along fine with all stripes, else we wouldn't have any friends.
 
Top Bottom