FNRttC London to BOGNOR REGIS (okay, Felpham) - 1st September 2017

[kimble]

What I'm quite astonished by is how much the brambles had grown back in 2 weeks on the section immediately after the field. I had to bend 3 or 4 out of the way. Next year - Agent Orange!

If there's one thing my Cyclist's Lawn™ has taught me, it's never underestimate brambles.

 

[Bunker]

...In the second half of the ride, although I knew there was a puncture, I did worry it was something more terminal as it was 35 minutes from stopping near West Chiltington to being able to set off again....

.

I think this was just a matter of bad luck in timing. It happened not far from a regroup point so a time difference had built up between the front and back of the group, and then the puncture added extra delay, and there was no opportunity for the TEC's and puncture victim to make up any lost time before the regroup point.

 

[ianrauk]

When I'm trailing at the back Teccing, I usually roll up to the front at stops to tell ride leader that the ride is all up.. saves all that night time shouting. And works quite well.

 

[Tim Hall]

Lesson: at regroups All Upper to personally talk to ride leader, it's not enough to wave and think you've been waved back or nodded at. Unambiguous-ness needed from All Upper. Esp outside houses where people are sleeping so shouting is out of order.

Last year (or the year before) I recall you and Adam doing the whole "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" thing on PMR446 radios. That should work for the "All Up" soto voce bit.

 

[mmmmartin]

good point, @Tim Hall - yet these are out of favour as in London everyone else in the world seems to have them, and when we get to the outskirts we've forgotten them, so i don't bring them any more. Could do so in future thobut.

 

[User10571]

<snip>
I concluded that the centre of mass on The Red Baron is too far back in the seat to do the turn-it-upside-down-and-balance-it-on-my-head method that worked so well with the Streetmachine, </snip>

I'm struggling to picture you in any sort of hat, let alone a 'bent deployed as one.
ETA - Top boggle for thinking outside of the box.

 

[User10571]

When I'm trailing at the back Teccing, I usually roll up to the front at stops to tell ride leader that the ride is all up.. saves all that night time shouting. And works quite well.

This.
In spades.
I'm surprised we didn't get shouted at on the Whitstable ride.
The stop / wait at Upchurch t-junction comes to mind in particular.
It was a warm night, first floor windows were open, it was ~ 6 in the morning, and none of us were being particularly sotto voce .
It wasn't fantastic.

 

[User10571]

Does it balance on the head just like a mattress on a bottle of wine?

Wobblefest?
ETA - I could probably balance on a mattress after a bottle of wine, but I suspect that's not the same thing.

 

[StuAff]

Well.....
As services into Waterloo were back to (ab)normal, the 9.38 train was going to be helpful rather than a necessity. Didn't need to have a word with the boss to get out the door early, the 10.08 would have done nicely, but a streamlined exit routine meant the earlier train it was. I had considered riding to work and just buying one ticket instead of two (Portsmouth-London, I use the via-Winchester train to get to work, break the journey at Eastleigh & ride in from there, then I need a Southampton Airport-Winchester single- £4.90!!!!- to cover that stretch for the onward trip), but I'd have saved only a couple of quid in total (?!!!) so hardly worth it. I was first under the arch, unsurprisingly, but soon joined by friends old and new.

Thankfully, unlike last weekend, I got away from the south bank somewhat more quickly. Instead of the startline puncture happening after we set off, we got it out of the way first Waymarking incidents thankfully not repeated, though I did try and go the wrong way after one of our new riders- who clearly got into the spirit of things and did an excellent job in the task- positioned himself on one junction somewhat ambiguously, at least to this rider who didn't have a stream of tail lights to follow. No harm done. As @Bunker has just reported, the puncture delays later on seem to be unfortunately timed rather than down to (as has happened in the past) tyres or other parts made of cheese/heavily worn/difficult to fit etc. The slightly recalcitrant through axle on the Litespeed notwithstanding, the deflation I suffered back on the Shoreham ride was sorted much faster (at least once Ian deployed his mighty thumbs)- but then, it wasn't when we were stretched out, and I was in more of a position than others would have been to catch up. There's a thin line between short delay and oh-god-this-is-a-long-wait, and unfortunately that was the other side of it!

Given the unseasonable temperatures- it may have been the first of September but it was brass monkeys- I was glad I brought enough clothing. The umming and aahing about whether or not to put on a Uniqlo base layer had fallen in favour thankfully, and at the Cabin I switched from mitts to the Shimano winter gloves (winter gloves and it's not yet autumn!!), along with the jacket. As with others, my batteries were suffering- the Smart rear light faded fast (on only its second night ride, that 60 hour life claim isn't going to happen), and got to the Lobster Pot with only a sliver of power showing on the Garmin's battery indicator. Hooked it up to the USB pack for a top up, and those AAs too conked out, but fortunately not before putting more than enough juice back in for recording the trip home. Apologies to all the bread pudding fans who missed out at the Cabin. I only had one bit, honest. Been there done that when Mark's sold out before you've got to the head of the queue.

As the sun arrived, so everything warmed up nicely, thankfully. As those splendid photos show, that was a glorious morning. After adventures in field crossing & (mostly) avoiding electrocution and back problems, the final stretch was pretty routine, if somewhat later than intended. Lobster Pot big breakfast was splendid as ever. Passed on the (also splendid) cake selection this time. I was one of the last to leave Felpham, just before 11.30 I think, and set off west to get that century done before returning home. Early forecasts of westerly wind for the morning did not come to pass, but conditions remained excellent, not the grim slugfest I've endured many times on those roads. Rather than backtracking to Barnham in order to make up the mileage (it's only 23 or so via the most direct route) I opted for heading straight to Chichester, a little diversion to Funtingdon and back for some of the extra mileage, and then a little extra wiggle on Portsea Island. Back home just after 1.30, with the requisite 28 and a bit miles done, 100.29 miles total. Given the absence of the usual SMRBtH suspects, but the splendid effort of @User21629 (doing her first century since making this country her home & a better place, with a wrist fracture as well!) and the phenomenal epic that was Kevin's return to Deal via Timbuktu (well, it might have felt like it thanks to Sustrans), I think that puts me only third in the mileage table....but it was enough for me!

Splendid job Adam, thanks everyone. Was not planning to do October, have another night out on the Saturday & yet another London stay didn't appeal. But that was when it was Southend. Brighton- and train home for kip- is another matter…

 

[mmmmartin]

a mattress on a bottle of wine

You're in the right club - well, if you wanna see the sun rise, honey, I know where

 

[User10571]

Honey?
I don't think Els was on this ride....

 

[Redlight]

This was only my second Fridays ride and I have to start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The route was superb; the cafe halfway was very welcoming and the Lobster Pot at the end was the perfect place to finish.

Obviously, we got there a lot later than anticipated but, to my mind, the the ethos of "no one gets left behind" is a significant part of the appeal of a Fridays ride. Of course, some people will find it harder than they expected and there will always be minor mechanical problems but I'm relaxed about having to wait up for a while. And sorting out a problem at 4am when the temperature has dropped to 3 degrees is a challenge to even the most experienced among us, so hats off to Martin and others riding at the back.

Communication between the TLC and ride leader is the key; I could envisage a situation in which the ride continued at a gentler pace for a while so that the front group could keep moving while the remainder caught up. But I know from having been both a rider leader and TLC on other rides that it ain't easy to get the balance right.

For the record, I loved the off road section. I was very impressed by our ride leader's self-restraint when dealing with the person who objected to his request to replace the electric fence cable. Another rider had disconnected it but, in my view, the person objecting was being obstreperous. I would probably have attached him to the fence wire! With a bit of co-operative spirit, between us, we got all the bikes safely over the various gates - even Kim's recumbent - and, from what I heard, any fussing was better than the road option.

Personally, I'd been apprehensive after a dispiriting ride on the London-Edinburgh-London audax (you can read all the gruesome details here:
robmcivor.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/losing-my-religion-london-edinburgh-london-2017/) and I'd put on the ride jersey mainly as a gesture of defiance against the way I had felt at the end of that ride, but the Fridays ride has gone a long way to reminding me why I love riding my bike and I'm sure I'll be back for more.

 

[User10571]

You'd have to ask Mr Zimmerman about that.

Following some interweb research, I now have an idea of what you are referring to...

 

[Fab Foodie]

London to Bognor.....

 

[Fab Foodie]

Bognor to Deal....