Next year................

[ianrauk]

indeed. With people waving flags. And coffee and prosecco at the top

To be honest.. it doesn't appeal to me. If I wanted to do a short loop or climbing race then I could join one of many clubs that do that type of thing.
.
I belong to the FNR as I like how and what it is. Leaving London at Midnight still get's to me. I want to spend hours in the company of like minded individuals cycling to the coast. I want to see the sea in the morning. I want brekkie with a bit of natter about a night ride and I want to ride back home.

I am not saying change is not good. But please don't forget the foundations and the very name as to what the FNR was built upon, is now and what attracts people to it in the first place.

Or just tell me to bugger off.

 

[velovoice]

I've been following this conversation with some curiosity and bewilderment but hadn't commented as I wasn't sure I had anything to add to all the esoteric, hypothetical, surreal, at times almost hallucinogenic musings that would be viewed with any credibility.

Frankly (and I say this as a trade mark legal practitioner with years of experience advising a wide range of businesses on branding issues), I think the whole "problem" of branding is being wayyyyy "over-thunk". One significant factor that several people have skirted around but which hasn't been mentioned explicitly is that of GOODWILL. The FNRttC has it in spades, but only after years and years of consistency. Change of the fundamental type that seems to be contemplated would wipe, I would estimate, at least 80% of that away.

In any case, my view is simple, perhaps even primitive: wot Ian said.
(in msg # 227 in case somebody else is posting at the same time as me, as seems to keep happening to me today!)

 

[Archie_tect]

Enjoyed my own SMRttC a few times, but sadly not this year- setting off as dawn just starts show a sliver of mauve in the inky blue- getting to the sea by 6, then back home in time for breakfast... lovely!

 

[Flying Dodo]

There are a number of issues. At the moment, it all rests on Simon's head to do everything concerning organising & leading the rides. And I guess with over 100 done, it must be a bit tedious, so I can understand the references to wanting to try something new (despite the oblique nature of what that might be)! Of course he has a number of people he can trust to assist correctly with wayfinding and TECing. Having people who can fix things and then speedily get things rolling again is a key part of the rides. Trying to get someone else to run an affiliated ride somewhere else runs into the problem of not having a guaranteed pool of individuals to carry out those tasks. And that will be the biggest stumbling block.

Is this therefore where the branding comes in? At the moment, it could be said the FNRttC is Simon, and Simon is the FNRttC. By altering the focus to be more about the concept, and experience of the ride, and to make it less about the individual in charge. Baring cloning Simon, in respect of the traditional FNRttC, is the answer for running rides elsewhere to have an masked avenger at the front, leading the riders onwards towards dawn?

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm not sure about all this Simon stuff. Simon B (ah - I see where you're coming from) runs the Reading night rides. There's no special trick to it, although it helps if, in your 'other' life, you tell people what to do, and you routinely check and re-check your work (I'm willing to bet that Archie could pull it off). Not everybody would fancy it, but I can think of at least two people who would do as good a job as me. I suppose it's a question of having the time as much as anything.

Here's what I think will happen - if my life continues pretty much in the same way* then I'll run things pretty much as they are now next year except
a) Martin and others will run the tour (I can't even think of going away for a week)
b) there will be fewer rides to the four/five standard destinations - so, from 11? in 2012 to 9 in 2012 to perhaps five in 2014. Fewer rides might mean bigger rides, which are easier to run
c) there will be a round-IOW ride run by somebody else
d) there will be a Cardiff to Swansea ride which Claudine pretty much runs anyway
e) there will be a York to Hull ride, but I might not be running it
f) the Reading rides will get a push
g) if he fancies it Marcus might expand the Carlisle to Newcastle ride
h) there will be two Southwold rides at a minimum, and, hopefully three
and
i) I will attempt to get the CTC TT movie-ette off the ground - with your money.

* I face a crisis - one of my daughters has cancer and it might be that my heart won't be up to the task of running a bike club.

 

[velovoice]

Ah. So basically it boils down to a lot more delegating on the existing offerings coupled with some brand extensions i.e. new offerings.... ?
That I can fully understand. And support.

 

[ianrauk]

Ah. So basically it boils down to a lot more delegating on the existing offerings coupled with some brand extensions i.e. new offerings.... ?
That I can fully understand. And support.

Indeed to that...

 

[dellzeqq]

Nothing like. I meant what I said about the brand dying on its arse. I've put in everything I've got by way of talent (ha!) and basically it's the same ride it was five years ago, but with people who are five years older.

All bike clubs die in the end. South London is littered with the remains of big, big cycling clubs, and we are probably just starting on the downward slope. There may well be years of fun in it yet (I've always said one of these days Adam, Adrian, User10571 and I will be pounding around Sussex in the dead of night on something we will call a 'recce ride'), but the FNRttC is unlikely to go anywhere else - the product have been refined and refined until there is genuinely little room for improvement. This is not a sad thing - it has been the most tremendous run. It may be that the non-London rides give it a new lease of life, but, if they don't, they don't.

So I want to have one more go at something slightly different - but, and this is the important bit - I am going to try and capture the qualities that make the FNRttC what it is - the spirit of the thing.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Well, there was briefly a proposal this year for a Friday Night Ride to Oxford from different points of the compass - I recall suggested by someone blessed not only with thighs of steel but with dashing good looks and the brain of a Nobel prize winner (and limitless modesty). But Real Life (as in the need to drum up regional ride leaders and routes) got in the way.

For me the franchising proposal is the way forward - I take @swansonj's point about the current setup being concentric circles around a leader, but for a revolution really to take root it must be successfully transferred from the charismatic leader to become truly of the people.

I think the example of Reading CTC proves that no-one's missed the boat. If Freewheeling fancied a ride from somewhere else back home (home being a better destination in some ways than away) I'm sure a few Fridays could be persuaded to turn up and support. Picnic breakfast in Albert Park?

I'm proposing such a London to Abingdon Night-ride to arrive at the kick-off of the next Freewheeling Spring Festival :-)

 

[thom]

here's another.
http://goo.gl/maps/dRQNF
freewheel down to the bottom of the hill, turn left, start at one minute intervals, up Swains Lane in anything from six minutes to three minutes. All gather on the green.

It's a good route though I'd be wary of introducing the mildest element of competition into the downhill bit, particularly at night...

 

[procel]

FNRttC, led by the Dread Pirate Roberts? (@ Flying Dodo)

 

[sbird]

Simon B (ah - I see where you're coming from) runs the Reading night rides.

f) the Reading rides will get a push

I've stumbled on this thread today and I'm finding that it's twists and turns are both confusing and enlightening.

What sad news for you dellzeqq. All the very best for a good outcome.

For Reading CTC I've decided not to do any night rides next year as there's other rides I want to do and there's not enough available days/nights in the year as it is. It doesn't mean they won't happen next year, just that I won't be leading them. I've really appreciated the support from dellzeqq for our rides and this Friday's one will be the last for a while.

So perhaps as dellzeqq needs to scale back shouldn't someone else in the Fridays lead some of the FNRttC rides if that's what's wanted/desired/required? It looks like it's happening outside of London but within?

I'm liking the brand refresh idea as that's something I'm constantly trying to do for Reading CTC with different types of rides. Also I'd really like to drop the CTC bit as I think it gives some the wrong impression (beards, touring bikes, mudguards - the horror) rather than what it really is.

Which, fundamentally, is going for a ride with some chums both old and to be.

 

[thom]

FNRttC, led by the Dead Pirate Robbers? (@ Flying Dodo)

Now there's an idea for a Halloween dry run of the hill climb I reckon - It would be quite a laugh to dress up as grave robbers on bikes and go charging up besides Hampstead cemetary - any pirates graves there ?

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'm liking the brand refresh idea as that's something I'm constantly trying to do for Reading CTC with different types of rides. Also I'd really like to drop the CTC bit as I think it gives some the wrong impression (beards, touring bikes, mudguards - the horror) rather than what it really is.

Which, fundamentally, is going for a ride with some chums both old and to be.

Might I suggest Reading Freewheeling ;-)

 

[dellzeqq]

that's an odd one. I'm going in precisely the opposite direction, hoping to do something with 'CTC'.