Official CycleChat Jersey's Relay - Journal

[mcd]

PLEASE do not post general relay stuff into this thread - this is the official jersey's hand-over thread and should only be posted into by the participants to log the journey and hand-over of each jersey.

There are two jersey that are setting off around the country / globe; Jersey 1 - started off in Jersey and is the first one to be handed-over (see below). Jersey 2 will be setting off in a couple of weeks. Jersey 3 was added later for the London crowd.

Here's the story so far:

Jersey 1

The CC Jersey has arrived on Jersey!
Much to the interest of some of the locals:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41052152@N00/2301523561/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41052152@N00/2301524531/

Yes, I know, a bit cheesy, but the farm's just across the road so it had to be done . The challenge is now for someone to find some friedly friesians!

The original plan was to hand the jersey over to User76 on his visit to Jersey, but a last minute double booking an major forensic investigation (with the world's media watching) meant that his trip was cancelled. So over to plan B: take the jersey with me on my holiday to the Alps and hand it over to Will near Geneva.

This plan worked out perfectly. I had a very inspiring ride - looks like there's loads of good cycling in the Geneva / Annecy area. Will took us along a very quiet scenic route, and he was a very accomodating host. If all the handovers are half as good as this, we've all got something to look forward to.

While in Chamonix, I took the cable car up to the Aguille du Midi to get the Highest Altitude (in the with-proof-but-without-a-bike sub category) off to a good start: 3,842m - or 12,602 in old money:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41052152@N00/2347877403/

I wasn't quite up to taking it to the top of Mont Blanc - maybe another time with another jersey . . .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41052152@N00/2348709726/

Where next? It's on its way to User76 in the South West!

 

[will]

This morning it was raining, very windy, and cold. So I sat by the phone waiting (hoping?) for Keith (MCD) to cancel. But he is Scottish not Australian, so canceling never crossed his mind.

Keith was visiting nearby Chamonix, and we had made plans to meet and get together for a ride.

We had never met, and don't know each other - but let me say what a thoroughly decent guy he is. We had a load of fun.

After fixing his pedals on my spare road bike, we took the mandatory jersey photo and set-off up Le Saleve - the big mountain overlooking Geneva and the lake. Don't worry, I took the jersey off before sweating.

It can be very steep in parts, and as we got to know each other, I encouraged him to do most of the talking, while I pretended I was feeling no pain. It's a superb car free route. And though the Alps views were blocked by dark clouds, we were able to see Lake Annecy in the distance.

As it began to snow(!), we reached 1,350 metres (about 4500 feet), where the road was still closed due to snow.

Keith being an Alps rookie, borrowed my spare jacket for the cold descent.

A thoroughly enjoyable ride! Back at my house, over pizza, we sat around congratulating ourselves for getting out on a great route on such a dodgy day.

And the cycling gods were smiling on us as it is pouring this afternoon.

Anyone interested in more photos and maps of today's ride, I threw it on my blog:

http://www.cycling-challenge.com/the-great-cycle-chat-jersey-relay/

PS - I signed the jersey but left it with Keith as he is returning to the UK in the next few days.

 

[Shaun]

Jersey 2

Finally, after weeks of sitting on the desk in my office, Jersey number two is on the move. My plan was two-fold; get the jersey on its way, and do my first 100 mile ride!

Short version: I got the jersey on its way, but didn't get the ton!

In typical male fashion I did the planning well in advance (the night before), and loaded with Lucozade and snack bars, I set off towards York to meet up with Arch. To stay away from the busier A roads, I built up my ride on Google Maps. It was, with hindsight, to be part of my downfall!

20 miles in and I was feeling great. Roads were fairly quite, a strong back wind was blowing me along, and I was doing well for time. The quiet roads I'd picked turned out to be quite hilly, but what the hell, the sun was shining, the air was fresh, and the view was lovely. At one point I didn't see a car or tractor for nearly 30 mins.

Up and up I went. Then I looked around and couldn't see any hills bigger than the one I was at the top of. That's when it happened. The most fun and scary part of the ride! I crested the hill and after briefly noticing the warning sign (the one with the really steep slope on it), I grabbed the bars, put my head down, clenched my cheeks, and headed down the other side.

What a thrill. The previously quite hum of the tyres turned into a roaring whirr and I shot down the hill like a bullet. Within seconds I was doing over 20mph and picking up speed, 25, 30, 35, shouting excitedly at the animals in the fields either side of me, then I hit 40mph! YES!!!! WHAT A BUZZ! It was with an equally inverted buzz that I noticed the shallow, gravelled turn at the bottom of the hill. Panic, hit the brakes, let go of them again before I fly over the bars, and finally slow down just in time for the turn. The best 30 seconds of fun I've had in a long while!

The rest of the ride into York was plain sailing and having completed 53 miles I finally arrived at the Minster to meet up with Arch.

Cue hand-over photo (see attachment).

Sue took me to a lovely little cafe on the other side of the Minster where we sat outside and enjoyed great food and conversation, before Sue helped me head out of town on the Fulford Road.

I said goodbye to Sue and set about doing the next 50 miles. Unfortunately I was now heading into the strong wind that had helped to push me along in the morning, and at around 70 miles I had to stop and take a lie down in a field because my knees were beginning to hurt.

The next 10 miles were hard work and I had to stop more frequently to rest the knees, but I was determined to continue as far as I could. This is where the last minute Google map planning tripped me up! I'd thought I was joining the A645 into Goole from a side road, however in reality it was a dead-end and I had to go around for 4 miles to get back to where I wanted to be.

I struggled on through Goole towards Howden, but once I got to Howden I couldn't carry on. I'd completed 94 miles but just couldn't squeeze those extra 6 miles in. If I'd tried I'm sure I would have done myself a serious injury, so I resigned myself to getting my 100 miler done another time and called in the Cavalry (my bruvva wiv da big van!).

Finally got home around 9:30pm. Hugged the missus, jumped into a warm bath, climbed out, and slept for England.

What a day!

 

[Arch]

Jersey 2

Well, This was the appointed weekend for Jersey 2 ("The Northern Jersey") to continue on its way, via (thanks to National Express Trains and the Societie Nationale Chemin de Fer) Mount Ventoux. By lucky coincidence The Doctor had come up to sample the cycling in my neck of the woods, so we were all set for the arrival of Postman and his friend Dave. I got a call at about 10.30, to say they had arrived by car in Thorp Arch (how appropriate!), near Wetherby, and were setting out on their bikes for the city. When pressed for an ETA, the first suggestion was, helpfully 'Tuesday', which was then revised to 'a couple of hours'. In fact it was 90 minutes later when Postman called to say they had just passed the station. I gather these gentlemen are more used to cycling in the Dales and suchlike, and the flatness of the terrain around my way had induced an exhilarating pace! Anyway, all that remained was for them to make their way to the West Door of York Minster, where they were joined by us wheeling our bikes from where we were, five minutes away. I spotted Postman's own jersey from some distance, and if there was any doubt that it was him, it was dispelled when he caught sight of mine and semaphored wildly at me..

Meeting achieved and introductions made, we had the Official Handover:

Yes, that is a real gas lamp we are standing next to, York is very forward thinking in technological terms...

Once the handover was complete, we adjourned to the nearby cafe. Admin and I chose the same spot for our lunch, well, it's very handy, and has tables outside, so one can keep an eye on the bikes. In the past the service has been a bit slow, but I reckoned we'd give them a chance, and they were OK this time. Tea, coffee and chocolate fudge cake all round...

Once we were suitably restocked with calories and caffeine, we set off - Postman and Dave to ride back to Thorp Arch, TheDoctor and I to accompany them as far as we felt like, and then head back. Just as we were mounting our steeds, a gentleman came up and got chatting to us, having seen the jerseys and bikes and so on, and told us of his exploits, cycling around Boulogne, raising money for the British Legion and their sister organisation in France, and being awarded a medal for doing so, something he was obviously very proud of (and rightfully so).

(While we were chatting, I spotted a pair of recumbent trikes go by on the other side of the road. I wish I'd had a closer look, it's a fair chance I'd have known the riders!) Anyway, we got going again, and I led the party down by the river (crowded with pleasure boats on a hot day) and then over the racecourse, and out to the York-Selby bikepath and solar system. We followed it to just before Saturn, where we turned off to ride through Acaster Malbis and Appleton Roebuck, heading for Bolton Percy, where we anticipated a tea shop. Just the mention of it added 2mph to my speed apparently. Alas, when we got there it was closed! But luckily I knew there was also a pub, so we consoled ourselves with large cool drinks, and Postman had the only Tuna Baguette I've ever seen come with a side garnish of roast potatoes!

After that, we went our separate ways, and I gather from his post that Postman and Dave got home safely, and a jolly good day had been had by all. What was lovely, apart from the excellent company, the fantastic weather, and the cake of course, was that we saw a lot of folk out on bikes, just enjoying the sun, happy faces everywhere. Truely a day to go down in the memory under 'great fun'.

I gather the next plan is for the jersey to head south again, to meet up with bonj. The story continues....

 

[postman]

Jersey 2

Well the day finally arrived.After a number of date changes and rider numbers down from six to two.Retired Postman Bob and his trusty sidekick i hope he reads this,David took on the task of the jersey handover.Timewise we decided to save a little by leaving from Thorp Arch trading estate,thus saving about 20 miles or so on the day.We left at 10-30 and David riding his best road bike a Pavone or as it is known "The Yellow Peril".It was soon obvious that Postman riding his trusty Dawes Galaxy had his hands full trying to keep up.A water stop at Marston Moor a famous battle site brought a little light relief .The weather was glorious the terrain flat few if any cars and little wind.Despite a plea to slow down .David pushed even harder.Next stop Askham Bryan where fruit ,water ,carrot cake and flapjack were devoured.A beautiful village pond was the backdrop for this enjoyable snack.A promise to go slower was offered but wearing the Cyclechat jersey brought out the never say die attitude from Postman Bob.And soon York Racecourse was in sight the final furlong and the finishing post.Loving an audience Bob got to the front only by a head.Caught up in the crowds we decided to phone Arch and made our way to the meeting point.It was now 12 noon.We had done a little short of twenty miles 19.58 on the computer in that time.We saw Arch and her companion which i now know to be The Doctor coming through a park.Following the photo handover very well done by our team mates.We collared a table and had our tea and chocolate fudge cake.What was nice this was the cafe some twenty years before i had taken a young lady for a similar snack.She is now my wife.And supports all my cycling activities.Too soon it was time to be on our way.Sue,notice change of name.Lead us out of York along leafy quiet backroads into the wonderful villages of York.Where we found a little pub.After a round of cold drinks a large tuna sandwich devoured by Postman we parted and went our seperate ways.Later in the evening i found out that two days earlier Sue's companion had cycled Mt Ventoux.I take my hat off to you sir.It is a day i will long remember and cherish.

 

[tdr1nka]

Jersey 3

Prologue.
Monday 21st May

My Postman delivers the much anticipated package from our very own postman.
Contained within was a covering note and a lovely new CC jersey ready for the London bit of the relay!
It was time to take to the internet and post a missive to the massive.........

Wednesday 28th May

Mid afternoon I mounted the clarty hack and set off to meet Aperitif at Speakers Corner.
The rain had stopped and was replaced with patchy mizzle.

After a jolly sprint up Park Lane I met Apreitif on a bimble for other CC'ers looking like a man who had mislaid a peloton.
We waited to see if anyone else would turn up and took pics of the first exchange.

No one else turned up so we took some more pics.

Having not been apprehended for taking silly photos with a camera on a tripod(like wot terrorists do), we took our leave and set off for the South Bank on the tourist route, taking in Buckingham Palace, Westminster and over the bridge to Waterloo.
The jersey rode with Aperitif and I was a mere escort(Mk.IV RS).

At the NFT bar we drank tea and continued happy natterings, a shared interest in photography, graphic design and Jack Russells no less.

Returning from the toilet I found Aperitif had been sniffing around the book stalls and found himself engrossed in a rather interesting read!?

Not long after that who should roll up on his Bromton but Ben Lovejoy who joined us in more tea!
We all chatted until it looked like no one else was going to show, Aperitif exchanged the jersey with Ben who signed it and then rode it to the pub!

By this time it was getting much colder and the rain started again so Aperitif said his farewells setting off West and not 15mins later Redtom arrived!

By this time it was getting late so we had one more drink, Ben then passed the jersey to Redtom to sign and we made our seperate ways.

A small tear of happiness welled in the corner of my eye as I watched Ben and Redtom cycling off to cross the river, heading North.
The Bromton and the Cannondale in tandem.

It was a fine way to spend an evening in good company and as from previous experience it is a pleasure to meet fellow CC'ers and get to know the friedly people behind the avatars we see everyday.

Every respect to those who couldn't make it out that night, it was slap bang in the middle of exams, half term and I did call the meet at quite short notice, so not to worry folks there will be a next time, in fact.... any thoughts on a Cycle Chat picnic on a weekend in July?

Oh, but hang on! Wait a minute! I still had the relay jersey!!

Thursday 29th May

After some PM'ing I arranged to meet Walker, who had been unable attend the night before, at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich for a swift exchange and photo opportunity.

Owing to filthy rain we only got a brief chat but again, always good to meet a CC'er and I hope the weather improves for the ride on Saturday Walker!
To anyone else, 'next time you meet Walker in the rain, remember me.....'

So there you have it, the London leg is away and the jersey on the move again!

Thanks to everyone involved and special thanks to Bonj, Longers, Mr.Paul and Aperitif for the late night photo tutorial .

Best Wishes and see you all soon,

tdr1nka

 

[CopperBrompton]

Jersey 3

My leg of the relay was pretty tough, but with the determination and fortitude for which CCers are rightly known, I put the jersey in my Brompton's front pannier and the three of us made the arduous journey up the ramp from the NFT theatre bar, across the Waterloo roundabout and under the bridge to the pub. The journey took a good couple of minutes, but we did it in one hit without so much as a tea-break!

We did, though, need a drink or two in the pub to recover.

Ben

 

[Aperitif]

Jersey 3

I was privileged to tote the jersey past the biggest house in the country, and the smallest police station. A romantic voyage of intent on our part.
CycleChat's very own Louis Daguerre was armed with shiny new camera as we met "at the ice cream van" (so flipping cold that the ice cream man was keeping his stuff outside )

Flash bang wallopist

Formalities completed, we did as tdr1nka said, threatened people with violence if they did not pretend to be CycleChatters gathering like hungry starlings...gave up on that after half an hour and, with Mr Tea chef de voyage, made our regal way to the South Bank.
Tea and coffee prevailed as we settled in our hide waiting for the first twitch of lesser spotted Chat when, like a stray spaceship, the Gadget Guru aka Ben Lovejoy descended in a mist of timespace continuum.
What nice blokes! Interesting too. I had dawdled into work earlier in the day - dressed for early Summer - as you do - and it was whipping up a breeze along the banks of the Thames, doing the opposite of warming my cockles.
For information, there are many second hand bookstalls situated adjacent to the bar and, while tdr1nka was answering the call, nay scream of nature and Ben was kindly purchasing tea, I happened to glance through one of the stalls and found this book. In mint condition. Unread - some might say unwritten.

It was fate really - there was nothing more to say...we dregged our cups and departed for the pub, escorting Ben on his intrepid leg.
The rest you know...except to say that the book will be making its way around...ideally starting with Joe24 - our 'youngest' (He must be on hols. at the moment...Joe24 where are you?)

 

[Amanda P]

Jersey 2

Meanwhile, back in t' North...

My plaintive posting caught Postman's attention. He frantically PM'd me for some days before I noticed, but we got in touch at last and arranged for me to have a go with The Jersey before it disappears in the General Direction of Bonj.

The plan was to meet somewhere between Leeds and York. Postman and his mates managed to persuade their wives to give them the day off (mine isn't here, and while the cat's away...), so we agreed to meet in Tadcaster.

At the cafe, naturally.

Postman cheerfully phoned me half an hour ahead of our suggested meeting time to say that he was already at the cafe, as they'd been cruising along with a stong tailwind. I replied, shouting over the howling gale that was blowing along a direct line from Tadcaster to York and gritting my teeth, that I'd be another half an hour or so...

Arriving at Tykes in Taddy (conveniently sited on the high street, next to CycleSense, both recommended, but for different things, obviously), I found a Galaxy, a Horizon and a Cirrus tethered outside the teashop. Going inside, I was greeted by Bob. No-one warned me that the man's about nine feet tall! I knew it was him 'cause he was wearing a CycleChat jersey.

Now it's possible that I perspired a bit thrashing into that headwind. Or maybe it was just co-incidence that the tea shop emptied while we were eating...

After lunch, I signed The Jersey and after the obligatory photographs...

...we headed to York. Back to York for me.

(See what I mean? I'm six foot... It shouldn't be allowed to be that tall - makes the rest of us feel inferior...)

At the cafe outside the Minster, Postman and his mates, John and Dave, were beginning to feel like regulars. There was chocolate fudge cake and lattes all round before we headed back to where we had to split up. Postman has some smashing photos of an interesting cyclist we met on our way.

So I didn't actually contribute to getting The Jersey anywhere, since it had already made the journey from York to Leeds once, but it now has my name on it, I had a great day out and met three great guys I wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[postman]

Jersey 2

The journey continues.Thanks to our loved ones we were able to have a full day out.So i suggested a trip to York.Uncle Phil picked up on this and we arranged to meet in Tadcaster,the home of John Smith's Ale.Along with me were David and John.My two best cycling buddies.We left on time 11-30.We gave ourselves plenty of time by letting Uncle Phil know we would be in Taddy by 1-00pm.Well blessed with a reasonable day and wind.We arrived early.Tykes tea shop was busy so we delayed ordering so Phil could get there.Arround 12-50 he appeared on the most beautiful 1980's Moulton,which would later in York was to draw admiring glances.After resting and having taken in our food.We took the usual photo of the jersey.We then continued our merry way to York.The weather continued to get better,sorry London.On arriving in York we had to dismount and push our steeds through the massesto the cafe frequented by our own Arch.Again we had a soft spot for chocolate fudge cake and cream,washed down with large Latte's.The Moulton now began to draw a small crowd.Once again our time passed quickly and it was time to leave.Postman needed to find a hole in the wall.He was going to need more food at Bolton Percy.We spotted a wonderful cyclist.Who after agreeing a price allowed us a photo opportunity with the now famous jersey.We had a little crowd now watching this unfold.We made our way on the same route shown to us by Arch.Just in time for the 4o'clock race.We stopped and talked with a member of the staff who told us novices about his job and the other staff in that area.We had our final meal at D'Oyly's.We then with the sun now appearing made our way back to John's home.We had covered a wonderful 51 miles.Thank you Endura for without you this journey would not be taking place.Next stop Ladybower to meet Bonj.

 

[postman]

Jersey 2

Well the Northern jersey finally got to Ladybower.What a wonderful day.David and me arrived at The Fairholmes carpark just after 10-30 which was not bad after missing a couple of turn off's along the way.Marin york was already there and Bonj was on his way.Delayed by a mech problem to his bike.Just after 11-00 we were all together.David and i asked our hosts for a scenic and gentle route and the young men delivered just that.For us it was perfect i think it just might have been a little tame for them.The scenery flowed past along with the conversation and time.Before we knew it we were back at the cafe.Due to the mech problem it was decided to end the ride there.
We then took the now famous jersey photo and the handover was complete.Paul and Ben then gave us advice on more routes because we decided to stay on and go further.My that was a great decision the scenery the riding just got better and better and i took loads of photos.
Paul mentioned to David about visiting Castleton so we found ourselves at the bottom of Winnats Pass.Well we had a go at it.We got to the top.Only just.But we did it by ride stop ride stop ride stop.It was a little dangerous but we did it.It finished our day off.Thank you for a wonderful day out guys.

 

[bonj2]

the northern jersey is now with landslide...
I cycled to clumber park, into the wind all the way
but then met landslide, and his mate. We had a nice cup of tea in the caff there, and landslide had a MASSIVE chocolate cake.

the handover (that's clumber park church in the background, or i think it might be called hardwick church):

(me on the left, landslide on the right)

then we had a very nice enjoyable little cycle out through the back lanes of north notts (being blown along most of the way, freewheeling and side by side chatting for much of it) to Rampton, where we had a couple of pints outside the very pleasant village pub. I'm sure the question most people will be asking is, did we see any mentals, and the answer is yes. A fella went past on a skateboard, skating quite fast down the middle of the road, waving to everyone, and from the look on his face was clearly in another world! Obviously an escapee then

Anyhow a very pleasant day out was had by all!

 

[TheDoctor]

Jersey 3

Meanwhile, down in the South...
I gained the Southern Replacement Jersey from Paulus at the Stevenage Circular audax back in mid June. After a few missed opportunities to get it signed by Arch, Plax, Gromit and Carwash I finally met up with ArDee at the Silver Ball transport caff on the A10. After numerous mugs of Tea? and much droolage over various tasty looking motorbikes, the handover snap was duly taken (with thanks to Random Passing Bloke) and here it is!

We rode part of the way back together, then our ways back parted. It was good to meet another CC denizen, and so the jersey meanders onwards. All the best, ArDee!
Unexpected bonus. On my way back I saw a whole load of people hanging around at a level crossing. This normally means something unusual is expected, and it turned out to be this :-

It was a bit tricky to get a shot, as it was really hammering along.

 

[Baggy]

Luckily I was on hand with a camera to record the moment User76 finally let the jersey go. Look how badly Andy wants it!

 

[Landslide]

Nice weather for windmills

Not to be outdone by Maggot, today saw the Northern Jersey resume its pilgrimage.
After a couple of false starts in the organisation stakes (read: Landslide's a lazy sod), I arranged to meet up with Longers. Dates and options were considered, and resulted in today's trip to Compo and Nora Batty country - Holmfirth.
Following some in-depth research (a quick Google of which cafes were in favour with the local Lodge of the CTC) led me to struggle into headwinds (of which more later) to meet Longers at the rendezvous:

Prompt and tasty service resulted in a bacon and sausage butty for myself, whilst Longers went for a combo of scrambled eggs with brown sauce. A new taste combination to me, bu it looked pretty darn fine...
Just when we thought we were done, the waitress pointed out that as cyclists, we were entitled to a free re-fill of our cuppas. Definitely earned the Cycle Chat Seal Of Approval! Unfortunately we didn't get to see Mr Socks.

Second cuppas out, and we decamped across the road for the obligatory jersey handover shot. Unfortunately, the kind passer-by who took the shot cropped out the palm trees behind us, but for a moment the West Yorkshire Riviera had us convinced we'd just beaten Bertie to the South of France!

Time for a wee spin around the local lanes, so we took advantage of the prevailing Westerlies to wind-assist our way up to Spicer Hill where we went tilting at wind-farms.

We also found time to have a conversation about bullhorns...

Time came for our ways to part, with me heading South, whilst Longers and the jersey headed back across the Pennines, straight into the wind!