Some of Buckinghamshire is flat - 29th September

[CharlieB]

And, am still grinning about that fast decent. 47.7mph.. Any higher offers?

48 mph on the first recce.

This ride should be an annual fixture @CharlieB.

Consider it done!

 

[StuartG]

Wow - that was a ride.

Very silly attempting it after spending the previous day in bed feeling very ill. And the first bit was very dodgy and I very nearly came off being unable to coordinate properly in my delicate state. Sorry if that put the frits up anyone. But as the ride wore on I felt better and better and almost enjoyed the hills. And I would have whipped Davy's Walnuts on that downhill had not a landrover taken too much time doing a right into the field. The sun after the pub was a real bonus. As were the rest of the crew.

I really, really felt justified in defying common sense and enjoying what must be one of the least exploited areas of home county cycling. I happened to mention to DZ whilst recumbent at Mentmore that by now, if we had been in Surrey, we would have been mown down by a dozen club pelatons. But, he desperately claimed, he had seen two, maybe three clubs out. I think one, possibly two were actually married couples. Nevertheless I am assured that that was a 100% increase in Chiltern road cycling from when he was but a lad. So its good and CharlieB is making it gooder.

Next time Charlie - you can dispense with the wayfinders. We will just follow the fag ends ...

PS @User13710 - I did catch the 20:02!

 

[dellzeqq]

overheard. A bunch of CTCers passing by. Patrician tones.. 'These are the people who go on The Friday Night Ride to the Coast'. Ye Gods! Is there no defence against this pestilence!

I was impressed by the number of cyclists. I used to cycle in to London from Woodham (three miles past Waddesdon) and I'd probably not see another cyclist until I got to Harrow.

 

[Davywalnuts]

Damn it.. Speed demon!

 

[Eddie_C]

Thanks Charlie - super ride, super company, super weather. Looking forward to the repeat next year!

 

[rvw]

This ride should be an annual fixture @CharlieB.

And next time @srw and I will try to join you! It would definitely be more enjoyable than running 10km, including up the hill through Moor Park golf course. (There may be a not-so-subtle boast in that statement... sorry!)

 

[fabregas485]

Charlie, for someone who was anxious about never having led a ride before you really did us proud, and the route was lovely (although the hills were a bit much, especially the ones that appeared after you'd said there weren't any more - I fall for that one every time). I nearly didn't roll out of bed in time that morning, but I persuaded myself that it could be my last long ride on a sunny day for quite a while. Anyway I'm very glad I made the effort.

Great ride, great bunch of people including some new faces - sorry @fabregas485 that I didn't get round to chatting, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself. Special thanks to Davy for being such a patient TEC on the hills! This ride should be an annual fixture @CharlieB.

Don't worry about it, I was a little nervous meeting everyone for the first time. It was such a great ride

 

[fabregas485]

I discovered an interesting philosopical problem on the ride. I will call it "The Waymarker's Dilemma".

If a rider doesn't notice the waymarker, fails to turn, doesn't hear you, and carries straight on - what does the Waymarker do? Chase the rider and hope turn everyone around coming back up the road after the catch? Wait for the next rider to arrive, and either dispatch them on the chase, or ask them to waymark while you chase? Or just be Mr Spock, blather on about the "needs of the many" and leave the errant rider to their fate?

I chose option two - wait for the next rider, ask them to take over, and chase.

The real lesson learned was: while way mrking, don't lurk in the shadows, and the problem won't arise.

I was way marking at one point, and the group must have been spread out over a mile. I am surprised I managed to catch up in the distance I did.

 

[fabregas485]

Did I forget to mention when I came off (was a little too near to the side of the road when I hit some gravel or something), I managed to lean over to the grass to prevent myself falling in front of anyone. The problem with that was that I fell into some nettles.

 

[Flying Dodo]

I was right - it was a good day for a bike ride.

Rebecca and I rolled up to Berkhamsted around 10:10 where Jay and his compatriots were already waiting, and then the trains arrived and a smorgasbord of cyclists disemebarked. Other's such as Davy merely got a lift in a car.

Charlie rattled off his safety talk

and then we were off.

I was vaguely amused that DZ was marking the first turn........

Most of the roads we went on were fairly familiar so I didn't really need to do much but pedal away. As mentioned above, there are more and more cyclists around the local area. When the CTC group went past after Mentmore, I was chatting away to the leader, and he commented about what a wide range of bikes we had, and I did say that sensibly, taking account of the area, we all seemed to have gears. He was riding fixed, and the others were single speed. Oops.

The pub was nice, although it was a shame they decided to not bother with the pre-ordering of food. I know Susie was worried they might not be able to cater for her & DZ, having not been on the list, list, so luckily we didn't have to resort to Plan B.

For anyone who didn't go into the gents, they had an interesting picture:-

Waddesdon is always nice to cycle through, and someone monitoring the cameras seems to eventually open up the gates - which is nice.

Rebecca & I headed off at Stoke Mandeville as we had a 20 mile ride back home into the headwind. Anyway, it was a lovely day out, so thanks Charlie and everyone else.

The rest of my photos can be seen here.

 

[mark st1]

Quality pics there.

 

[User10571]

I was right - it was a good day for a bike ride.

..........I was vaguely amused that DZ was marking the first turn.........

Love it.
Nice pics.

 

[Trickedem]

Mixed day for me fantastic company,fantastic route,fantastic food. However on the return to Berkhampstead my bottom bracket decided to let me know it needs to be replaced the most horrific clicking clanking and grinding noise ensued which forced @Trickedem to abandon me in disgust . Thanks for your help Tim hope you made your train in time for your show. I limped into Tring station as I didn't fancy my chances of making it to Berkhampstead. Many thanks for organising the ride @CharlieB and what a fantastic little pub that was aswell stunning food to match a stunning view.

Mark, I hope the bottom bracket was the problem as it should be relatively easy to fix. Thanks for understanding, when I deserted you to race for my train and I am pleased to report that I made it to the Gig on time.

 

[Trickedem]

Charlie, Thanks for organising such a great ride and thanks everyone else for your company. It was great to catch up with so many of you.
Sorry for leaving in a rush, but I had to get home early so I could go and see Paul Daniels (who was actually very entertaining). The journey back to Berkhamsted was interesting. I got stung by a wasp which got stuck in my cycle helmet...Ouch and Mark's bottom bracket started to explode (well that's what it sounded like)

I took quite a few photos.

 

[redflightuk]

Thanks Charlie, really nice route to the pub. I hope the rest of the ride was just as good. I made my way back to Codicote and finished with about 85miles for the day arriving at 6 on the dot. Red wasn't impressed at being fed 20 mins later than normal and even less impressed when i fed all the others on the yard, thats why i had to depart early i was in charge for the evening.
Next time i'll make the full ride.