Northampton ride to London Saturday 24th March
- Thread starter Flying Dodo
- Start date
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ianmac62
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
Good to meet you all too. I can see it will be a very happy bunch of cyclists who pedal from London to John O'Groats. I think it's going to be a pleasure to be your van-man.
Cobblers ground out a point in a goalless draw when I returned to Northampton. Edging towards safety. I kept an eye, on StuAff's behalf, on Portsmouth but they lost up the road at Coventry.
I'm sure I'll meet many of you again on the Felpham ride; and I plan to do the Manchester-to-Morecambe ride too.
Thanks to FD for planning the ride and sorting the weather!
Cheers,
Ian
Cobblers ground out a point in a goalless draw when I returned to Northampton. Edging towards safety. I kept an eye, on StuAff's behalf, on Portsmouth but they lost up the road at Coventry.
I'm sure I'll meet many of you again on the Felpham ride; and I plan to do the Manchester-to-Morecambe ride too.
Thanks to FD for planning the ride and sorting the weather!
Cheers,
Ian
PippaG
Veteran
I'm home and certainly less sticky and sweaty than I was earlier today. What a great ride. Well, certainly the bit I did until lunch anyway. When we were on the move, it felt at times like we were flying along. It felt flat but I suspect there were a few very shallow inclines and descents that helped. Or did we have a tail wind? When I left you all, within 30 mins I was in Aylesbury.
Anyway, what a great return to cycling for me. It's been a while since I've been out on the bike, and to do it in such perfect conditions with others I haven't seen for ages made it all the better. I remembered today why I love cycling. Thanks for that all of you. And thanks to Adam for organizing. I've not cycled up there before really, but well worth another visit.
60 miles clocked for me.
Anyway, what a great return to cycling for me. It's been a while since I've been out on the bike, and to do it in such perfect conditions with others I haven't seen for ages made it all the better. I remembered today why I love cycling. Thanks for that all of you. And thanks to Adam for organizing. I've not cycled up there before really, but well worth another visit.
60 miles clocked for me.
Tigerbiten
Guru
I got home just after 3pm after clocking in a 51 mile loop from home.
Very enjoyable ride, the bit I did, in fantastic weather, the top of my head is a bit sunburnt ........
I'll probably see some of you on the Felpham ride, but I won't have the trailer behind the trike.
Very enjoyable ride, the bit I did, in fantastic weather, the top of my head is a bit sunburnt ........
I'll probably see some of you on the Felpham ride, but I won't have the trailer behind the trike.
saoirse50
Veteran
Thanks again to Adam. Really enjoyed the day. Loved the contrast between quiet rolling country lanes with larks soaring above during the daylight hours, and traffic jamming through the Saturday night city traffic. For me, both styles of cycling are terrific fun.
I took a tour of Covent Garden on the way home, in an attempt to make this a 100 miler for me, having already done a few extra miles going to Liverpool St instead of Euston first this morning. (operating on early morning remote control). Covent Garden was crazy. Cars everywhere, all desperately trying to find places to park. One woman was so eager to bag the little space at the kerbside she had spotted, she failed to see the little cyclist proceeding along the road at that point. She reversed into me. And, amazingly, despite the fact that my wheel was somehow wedged into her rear bumper, trapping me there, and I was screaming and waving, she carried on, very slowly (thankfully) trying to get into the parking space. Only when I began whacking the back of the car as well, as hard as I could, did she stop. Amazingly, the front wheel seemed fine, but just in case, I got her details. She offered me a tenner, " in case I needed a new wheel". Mmmm. Might buy a few spokes I said and told her I would be in touch if necessary.
I'm fine, bike fine, quite an interesting end to a terrific day.
I took a tour of Covent Garden on the way home, in an attempt to make this a 100 miler for me, having already done a few extra miles going to Liverpool St instead of Euston first this morning. (operating on early morning remote control). Covent Garden was crazy. Cars everywhere, all desperately trying to find places to park. One woman was so eager to bag the little space at the kerbside she had spotted, she failed to see the little cyclist proceeding along the road at that point. She reversed into me. And, amazingly, despite the fact that my wheel was somehow wedged into her rear bumper, trapping me there, and I was screaming and waving, she carried on, very slowly (thankfully) trying to get into the parking space. Only when I began whacking the back of the car as well, as hard as I could, did she stop. Amazingly, the front wheel seemed fine, but just in case, I got her details. She offered me a tenner, " in case I needed a new wheel". Mmmm. Might buy a few spokes I said and told her I would be in touch if necessary.
I'm fine, bike fine, quite an interesting end to a terrific day.
OP
OP
Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
94 miles in total for me.
What a cracking day with some lovely people. I think there were 15 of us rolling out of Northampton Station, at just after 10.30, so we certainly added to Northampton's congestion problem. We took Tigerbiten's Tesco diversion, so after about 20 minutes we were out in the countryside. The great thing about this part of England is that it's a never ending rolling landscape. It's not excessively hilly but you get some great scenery. Or rather we would have, if it hadn't been so hazy. So even though the sun was up, in a blue sky, it wasn't too hot.
Being such a large group, I hadn't made enough allowance for stoppage time, and as Mice suffered an unintended deflation event about a mile before Wing, we were later than I'd expected, but as I said, it's not a race, and the food at the pub was certainly worth it. I'd managed to engineer a nice little downhill once we'd set off again at 2.50, and then it was just more little ups and downs. We gained a few people, whilst others left. Berkhamsted was solid with traffic, but that's to be expected. There are some lovely little lanes either side of the main road there, but they are very undulating, and for this first ride I didn't want to make it too severe. After wiggling around the M25, once we joined the A5 (technically the A5183 at that point), in view of the time, I decided to alter the route and simply head straight down the A5. Although there's more traffic, generally the road is fairly wide.
Of course, once you get to Edgware, there are large chunks of bus lane so we were often zipping past queueing cars. We were very lucky with Staples Corner, as there was a big gap in the traffic, so we could zoom across the flyover. Further on, I was half expecting to run into 'Teef along there as several times our paths have crossed in the Maida Vale area, but I expect he had some puns to work on.
I left the remaining stalwarts at Marble Arch at 7.30 pm after 74.8 miles, and zoomed back towards St Pancras, and caught a fast train home. Hopefully, everyone else got back OK and you're not suffering. After removing my gloves, I've got Michael Jackson hands, as they're very white in comparison to my arms.
Thanks everyone for a great day, and especially TC for hanging around at the back as TEC & Tim for his fettling skills.
I'll post my photos tomorrow once I've sorted out the camera.
What a cracking day with some lovely people. I think there were 15 of us rolling out of Northampton Station, at just after 10.30, so we certainly added to Northampton's congestion problem. We took Tigerbiten's Tesco diversion, so after about 20 minutes we were out in the countryside. The great thing about this part of England is that it's a never ending rolling landscape. It's not excessively hilly but you get some great scenery. Or rather we would have, if it hadn't been so hazy. So even though the sun was up, in a blue sky, it wasn't too hot.
Being such a large group, I hadn't made enough allowance for stoppage time, and as Mice suffered an unintended deflation event about a mile before Wing, we were later than I'd expected, but as I said, it's not a race, and the food at the pub was certainly worth it. I'd managed to engineer a nice little downhill once we'd set off again at 2.50, and then it was just more little ups and downs. We gained a few people, whilst others left. Berkhamsted was solid with traffic, but that's to be expected. There are some lovely little lanes either side of the main road there, but they are very undulating, and for this first ride I didn't want to make it too severe. After wiggling around the M25, once we joined the A5 (technically the A5183 at that point), in view of the time, I decided to alter the route and simply head straight down the A5. Although there's more traffic, generally the road is fairly wide.
Of course, once you get to Edgware, there are large chunks of bus lane so we were often zipping past queueing cars. We were very lucky with Staples Corner, as there was a big gap in the traffic, so we could zoom across the flyover. Further on, I was half expecting to run into 'Teef along there as several times our paths have crossed in the Maida Vale area, but I expect he had some puns to work on.
I left the remaining stalwarts at Marble Arch at 7.30 pm after 74.8 miles, and zoomed back towards St Pancras, and caught a fast train home. Hopefully, everyone else got back OK and you're not suffering. After removing my gloves, I've got Michael Jackson hands, as they're very white in comparison to my arms.
Thanks everyone for a great day, and especially TC for hanging around at the back as TEC & Tim for his fettling skills.
I'll post my photos tomorrow once I've sorted out the camera.
Mice
Guru
That's horrendous. Am glad you are ok, obviously, but what a fright and indeed shock that must have been.M
Mice
Guru
Thank goodness for LonJoG as without it today's Training Ride might not have happened. It was a really lovely day.
Arriving at Northampton Station our numbers increased until we were about 16. We headed out to misty vistas through really pretty countryside - lovely lanes sweeping up and swooping down hills but nothing really horridly Ditchling-like. The company was fab and in true LonJoG replication it was a bit of a moving party with people joining and leaving at different points in the ride.
As we headed towards The Queens Head in Wing the sun shone through and summer was truly here. If you are near Wing that pub is absolutely worth a visit as their food was delicious.Unfortunately for me I had a few incidents with my bicycle. As it turned out, thanks to marvellous assistance from TimH and Kim it seems the issue with gear changing was caused by me. The positive side of this is that once diagnosed it was easily rectified, the negative is a feeling of somewhat incompetence on my part - having a bar bag that was resting on the gear adjuster. I also got a p!"£24131 and Wanda very kindly stopped to help as I turned my bike upside down whereupon Topcat1 appeared. I did manage to remove the tyre and the tube at which point Topcat1 kindly fitted the replacement. Big, big thanks to you all for keeping me on the ride. I was ready to bale but your kindness, enthusiasm and sterling help kept me on my bike and on the road.
Thank you for all your company, it was really good to see you all and - Flying Dodo - that was awesome. A really lovely route, perfect lunch and a great day on a bike. I have no idea how many miles it was but I am genuinely grinning from ear to ear. I took some pics (the ones towards the end have some special effect gizmo caused by the shutter not opening properly! https://picasaweb.google.com/108733...authkey=Gv1sRgCKvNuvH3nq6dhQE&feat=directlink
M
Arriving at Northampton Station our numbers increased until we were about 16. We headed out to misty vistas through really pretty countryside - lovely lanes sweeping up and swooping down hills but nothing really horridly Ditchling-like. The company was fab and in true LonJoG replication it was a bit of a moving party with people joining and leaving at different points in the ride.
As we headed towards The Queens Head in Wing the sun shone through and summer was truly here. If you are near Wing that pub is absolutely worth a visit as their food was delicious.Unfortunately for me I had a few incidents with my bicycle. As it turned out, thanks to marvellous assistance from TimH and Kim it seems the issue with gear changing was caused by me. The positive side of this is that once diagnosed it was easily rectified, the negative is a feeling of somewhat incompetence on my part - having a bar bag that was resting on the gear adjuster. I also got a p!"£24131 and Wanda very kindly stopped to help as I turned my bike upside down whereupon Topcat1 appeared. I did manage to remove the tyre and the tube at which point Topcat1 kindly fitted the replacement. Big, big thanks to you all for keeping me on the ride. I was ready to bale but your kindness, enthusiasm and sterling help kept me on my bike and on the road.
Thank you for all your company, it was really good to see you all and - Flying Dodo - that was awesome. A really lovely route, perfect lunch and a great day on a bike. I have no idea how many miles it was but I am genuinely grinning from ear to ear. I took some pics (the ones towards the end have some special effect gizmo caused by the shutter not opening properly! https://picasaweb.google.com/108733...authkey=Gv1sRgCKvNuvH3nq6dhQE&feat=directlink
M
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jayonabike
Powered by caffeine & whisky
- Location
- Hertfordshire
I couldn't do the full ride as I was working until 12. After getting home and a quick bite to eat I set off towards the pub covering 20 miles and arrived as everyone was finishing off their meals. The ride back to Hemel was a nice sociable sunny ride home through some beautiful countryside I'm lucky to cycle through on a regular basis. Berkhamstead was the usual car park (so much for the by-pass) and I arrived home covering 43 miles.
A nice afternoons cycling.
A nice afternoons cycling.
redflightuk
Guru
- Location
- going round in circles
Thanks Adam and all for a great ride. After missing a few turns in thick fog on the ride up i was amazed i managed to find Northampton at all, but just after 10:00. The route south was great, passing through some lovely countryside with plenty of country smells but they didn't linger for too long. Don't remember any big UP hills on the way but there were some nice downs. Great food at the pub in Wing, i'll definately be going back there sometime. After we left the Queens Head it was more lovely lanes and villages to Tring where i said goodbye and headed for home, saw my new home in Aldbury(stables paddocks and fab house for sale)with a great view so i'll have to check my lottery ticket. Climbed the wall upto Ashridge and carried on through more lovely lanes back to Codicote, arrived there at 6 sorted Red had a bite too eat then home eventually at 8
113 miles.
4869 ft climbing.
6333 calories.
113 miles.
4869 ft climbing.
6333 calories.
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
Hope you win, John! Don't forget to build your horse a boating lake when you win. You'll be pleased when you see 'Red Sails in the Sunset' - way out, man!
Sounds like everyone is enjoying the eatery! 12 hours too late for an A5 rendezvous Adam, although I was teetering on heading for an intercept around Tring. Read a book in the park instead.
I met Pippa on the way to Euston and at the station Rebecca and Jane, the Halls' turned up and Stu (who's still training for the SAS 
) on the train we established that north of the M25 "there be Dragons"
Perfect cycling weather yesterday, just a hint of mist with the promise of sun to come we set off with a slight incline out of Northampton then Adam says "that's the hills out the way".
Adams amazing adventures (@ teef) the pics tell the story
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62382682@N07/sets/72157629662195345/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62382682@N07/sets/72157629297497748/
sorry i didn't get a groupshot, with people joining and leaving the ride along the way it really was a taste of what's to come, a great day out with some great people
thanks Adam
) on the train we established that north of the M25 "there be Dragons"Perfect cycling weather yesterday, just a hint of mist with the promise of sun to come we set off with a slight incline out of Northampton then Adam says "that's the hills out the way".
Adams amazing adventures (@ teef) the pics tell the story
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62382682@N07/sets/72157629662195345/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62382682@N07/sets/72157629297497748/
sorry i didn't get a groupshot, with people joining and leaving the ride along the way it really was a taste of what's to come, a great day out with some great people
thanks Adam
GM
Legendary Member
- Location
- North of the river
Thanks Adam really appreciate it. As said before a good Pub lunch, good route, and good company, equals a great day out.
77 miles for me, got home 7.30 showered watered and fed and asleep on the settee.
77 miles for me, got home 7.30 showered watered and fed and asleep on the settee.
Great day. Great company and I didn't spend the whole ride at the back so my little legs have come a long way since my first CC ride 
. TC you made a great Tec and was my tow-rope for periods of the ride. Thanks loads.
I was home shortly after 8pm and managed to stay awake til 1030. If I'd had that well deserved Guinness I'd have been asleep as soon as I'd finished the glass, I was that tired. Will have it today instead.
According to my bike comp my total mileage, including ride to Euston and home from Marble Arch was 96 miles! Crikey!
Was still tired this morning but went out for a short run as my lungs need a bit of work. Yep. Lots more prep work needed for LonJog
. TC you made a great Tec and was my tow-rope for periods of the ride. Thanks loads.I was home shortly after 8pm and managed to stay awake til 1030. If I'd had that well deserved Guinness I'd have been asleep as soon as I'd finished the glass, I was that tired. Will have it today instead.
According to my bike comp my total mileage, including ride to Euston and home from Marble Arch was 96 miles! Crikey!
Was still tired this morning but went out for a short run as my lungs need a bit of work. Yep. Lots more prep work needed for LonJog
Good ride. A really good ride, in the company of people you'd like on your desert island. Everything worked like a charm - train space, train times, cross London navigation, pub food, bike, route. It all Just Worked.
Mice, it wasn't incompetence on your part. I can twiddle nuts with the best of them, but it took a Zen-fettler, in the shape of Kim to spot what the real problem was. Think of it more as an initiative test.
Tigerbiten's trailer was a thing of beauty and quite large. While disappointingly bereft of a supply of ice cream, we easily have put flagging cyclists into it. It should be noted that once he'd peeled off, the largest item of luggage was StuAff's capacious rucsac.
After Marble Arch we took Park Lane in style, HPC without a Legg-Bandage and headed east on the Whitstable FNRTTC route. Felt the pace a bit going over London Bridge and got there with 5 minutes to the next train. On-train fettling revealed the front brake was binding, cause unknown. Home, shower, ethno-grub, large white wine, sleep.
10/10.
Mice, it wasn't incompetence on your part. I can twiddle nuts with the best of them, but it took a Zen-fettler, in the shape of Kim to spot what the real problem was. Think of it more as an initiative test.
Tigerbiten's trailer was a thing of beauty and quite large. While disappointingly bereft of a supply of ice cream, we easily have put flagging cyclists into it. It should be noted that once he'd peeled off, the largest item of luggage was StuAff's capacious rucsac.
After Marble Arch we took Park Lane in style, HPC without a Legg-Bandage and headed east on the Whitstable FNRTTC route. Felt the pace a bit going over London Bridge and got there with 5 minutes to the next train. On-train fettling revealed the front brake was binding, cause unknown. Home, shower, ethno-grub, large white wine, sleep.
10/10.
