Meriden Metric Meander (forum ride Sun 4th Sept.)

[ColinJ]

Turn outs a bit disappointing isn't it? I would have thought people would jump at the chance to meet others off the forum and get a few miles in.

Er, yes - very much so!

I know there is the Hereford CycleChat ride the day before but the riders doing that one can only account for a few of the 282 people viewing this thread so far.

You only have to look at a few of my old Yorkshire forum ride threads to see the difference in interest levels. Over the 3 years, I've met nearly 70 CycleChat members on my local rides, and many of them come back time and time again.

Perhaps most Midland riders are more serious about their cycling and are out doing 'proper' club runs on Sundays? Or they are addicted to garden centres or the Bull Ring? Too shy? Possessive partners?

Just in case anybody is scared off thinking that the ride will be too fast - it won't be! I will be in touring mode! I'm happy to go fairly quickly downhill or on the flat, but as soon as the road goes uphill my lard anchor slows me down.

Still can't get on Bikely, I've even disabled noscript but no joy, the club has gone over to Bikehike http://www.bikehike.co.uk/, I'll keep trying Bikely, see if I can catch it on a good day.

Aaargh - I can't get on it either now! They said that they were going to revamp the site to fix these problems. I'll give 'em to when I get back from Coventry and then see about transferring to a new site. (I have about 40 or 50 routes on Bikely now and when it is working properly, it suits me fine.)

For now, you can get a copy of the route here and transfer it to the site or software of your choice. I've edited it to show approximately where the park with the cafe is, but I'm trying to get precise directions because I couldn't see the entrance on Streetview. I've also made one small change at Warton.

 

[cycleruk]

i am interested but there are two problems 1-i live in the Peterborough area 2-Sundays and trains do not go together very well!!!!!!

 

[ColinJ]

i am interested but there are two problems 1-i live in the Peterborough area 2-Sundays and trains do not go together very well!!!!!!

Oh well, nice of you to say so - it's the thought that counts!

Actually, it is really annoying how bad Sunday rail services are. I don't think upsidedown will be able to come along unless he rides to another station and even then we'd have to start an hour late to make that possible.

I can't do any events Oop North on Sundays that involve rail travel because they've always started before the first train even gets here!

 

[rusty bearing]

I'm gonna make a point of coming on one of these rides you keep organising CJ, I fancied that one you did recently (Cragg Vale/hill?) but they always seem to clash with prior arrangements. This one, apart from the fact its not 'oop north' falls just when Mrs Bearing and I will be touring the Orkney Isles........
Maybe one day..

 

[the snail]

i am interested but there are two problems 1-i live in the Peterborough area 2-Sundays and trains do not go together very well!!!!!!

ditto, I'd love to come along, but the trains won't allow me.

 

[Shanks]

Sadly, I'm another one of those that under different circumstances would try to get there, but can't on this occasion. Thanks for trying to set this up though especially with the consideration for those still challenged by the gradients :-)
Cheers

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

 

[ColinJ]

I'm gonna make a point of coming on one of these rides you keep organising CJ, I fancied that one you did recently (Cragg Vale/hill?) but they always seem to clash with prior arrangements. This one, apart from the fact its not 'oop north' falls just when Mrs Bearing and I will be touring the Orkney Isles........
Maybe one day..

Okay, how about this scenic but tough ride on August 28th then? (That Orkney Isles tour sounds great!)

ditto, I'd love to come along, but the trains won't allow me.

Don't mention Sunday trains to me ...!

Sadly, I'm another one of those that under different circumstances would try to get there, but can't on this occasion. Thanks for trying to set this up though especially with the consideration for those still challenged by the gradients :-)

I might organise another Midlands ride on Saturday, October 15th because I'll be back that weekend for my sister's 60th birthday party. If so, I'll be on my singlespeed bike so I'll probably head SW from Meriden rather than NE because I think it is flatter.

 

[pubrunner]

I might organise another Midlands ride on Saturday, October 15th because I'll be back that weekend for my sister's 60th birthday party. If so, I'll be on my singlespeed bike so I'll probably head SW from Meriden rather than NE because I think it is flatter.

I'll probably be up for that one, Colin.

 

[ColinJ]

I'll probably be up for that one, Colin.

I was going to say "Watch this space!" but it will be a different thread and I'll start it in early October if I'm going to. (Of course, if I come down with a flu bug or something in the mean time then plans may change!)

 

[Mr Phoebus]

Three people? I think we've got ourselves a convoy.

 

[ColinJ]

Three people? I think we've got ourselves a convoy.

I'm trying ... (some people would say very trying!) ... but it is proving to be far more difficult than I expected to bag Brummies for a Sunday CycleChat ride!

415 thread views now and still no major action ... With a few notable exceptions, most of them are just lurking!

Just wondering like, if you are not going to come along, is it because ...

1. You are busy that day?
2. It's too far to travel or Sunday trains can't get you there in time?
3. The route is too long?
4. The route is too short?
5. It's too slow?
6. Even at the advertised slow pace, you are worried about keeping up?
7. The route sounds boring?
8. Even the mention of hills frightens you off?
9. You are too shy?
10. You are female and frightened of meeting a bunch of strangers?
11. Your SO won't let you out to play?
12. Some other reason, which is ...?

Anyway, hopefully the 3 of us (or 4 of us if upsidedown can somehow make his way to the start in time[sup]***[/sup]) will still enjoy a nice tour of the local countryside!


*** Paul - if you could make your way over to Sandwell & Dudley station, you could catch the 09:15 to Birmingham International, arriving 09:39. It should be about a 15-20 minute ride from BI to Meriden so you could pretty much make it on time. You might need a bike reservation on the train, but I think they might not make a fuss about it early on a Sunday morning. Let us know if you are coming and we'll wait for you to arrive.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

We are obviously thin on the ground round here, most disappointing, Bikely seems to have gone down for the weekend, the other lnk just gives me a page full of gobbledygook, I suspect its windows specific, I'm on Ubuntu, looks like most of the route is on lanes I know, from the list you put in your first post, so it wont be to much of a mystery tour.

 

[ColinJ]

We are obviously thin on the ground round here, most disappointing

It's hard to believe that Birmingham and the surrounding area doesn't have at least 250 CC members, given the population of that area! In fact, given that there are over 17,000 members of CycleChat now, if they are spread evenly throughout the UK population, there should be over 500 living in the West Midlands!

Bikely seems to have gone down for the weekend, the other lnk just gives me a page full of gobbledygook, I suspect its windows specific, I'm on Ubuntu, looks like most of the route is on lanes I know, from the list you put in your first post, so it wont be to much of a mystery tour.

The Bikely site seems to be up and down like a yoyo! I was on it a few minutes ago and it was fine but it went down when I tried to use it last night.

The link I gave was to a file in GPX format which can be loaded into various different mapping programs or you could load it onto an alternative route mapping site to Bikely but it won't just work in a web browser!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

It's hard to believe that Birmingham and the surrounding area doesn't have at least 250 CC members, given the population of that area! In fact, given that there are over 17,000 members of CycleChat now, if they are spread evenly throughout the UK population, there should be over 500 living in the West Midlands!


The Bikely site seems to be up and down like a yoyo! I was on it a few minutes ago and it was fine but it went down when I tried to use it last night.

The link I gave was to a file in GPX format which can be loaded into various different mapping programs or you could load it onto an alternative route mapping site to Bikely but it won't just work in a web browser!

I've got it, works in bikehike.co.uk

 

[Mr Phoebus]

*** Paul - if you could make your way over to Sandwell & Dudley station, you could catch the 09:15 to Birmingham International, arriving 09:39. It should be about a 15-20 minute ride from BI to Meriden so you could pretty much make it on time. You might need a bike reservation on the train, but I think they might not make a fuss about it early on a Sunday morning. Let us know if you are coming and we'll wait for you to arrive.

If Paul was to come I could meet him at B'ham International and escort him over to Meriden.