Speedy Ride for food to Southend. Sat 18th Feb (Revised Date)
- Thread starter ianrauk
- Start date
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Indeed and my apologies. I'd been holding off pulling out but the lurgy won out in the end.
Abs
Mista Preston
Veteran
who's left then?
as in the first post
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
I'm out with weather now I'm afraid. Have a good one!!!
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Still in. Ticket bought. Planning to get 5.32 train so I can get the miles in to make the ton, if the headwind permits ..
6 to Southend.
Clive was going to be late and will meet me at HPC. So said the text I received when I reached the normal Bromley meeting place the Dripping Tap. So on to HPC by myself then. First there was StuAff, the train from Pompey delivering him promptly. Eddie turned up. (A FNRttC regular), Chris and Clive, but it was a different Clive. A Clive that was a friend of one of the Met's finest Titus. Bromley Clive finally turned up... and he wasn't late so with the very favourable tailwind we were able to set off dead on time. Through Central & East London. We reached Dagenham when one of new Clives spokes went ping on his much admired Orbea. The wheel was very out of true and even if we could straighten the wheel we didn't think it could get to Southend. So unfortunately Clive had to head for the nearest station and home.
5 to Southend.
That tailwind was truly marvelous thing. We were cruising along at times in the mid 20's without even trying. The roads through Rainham Marshes and the Essex lanes were surprisingly clear of cars so was such jolly good fun. We were soon making up good time. Hello.. I recognise the cyclist coming towards us in Fenn Lane.. it was User10571 of all people, having a quick blast before a wedding in the area. You couldn't have planned it better.
Sadlers Farm roundabout.. good god it's a mess. It has been for a while and looks like it will be a mess for a while longer.
Bread and Cheese hill was conquered by all no problem and it was a quick run from the top into Southend and the Rose for fry up's and teas all round.
4 for home.
Chris had to rush back for rugger buggery stuff so we left him to get the train at Southend. Tacking along Southend's prom was such hard work. The wind coming off from the estuary was muscle sapping and made for very hard work. Back up the to main road away from the water the buildings dissipated most of the wind, but windy it still was. A nice descent of Bread and Cheese was met by a mile long queue for Sadlers RAB.. nightmare.. it was just like commuting in London one of our band quipped.
Hitting the marshes and flats we were once again hit full force with a headwind. Had to just keep grinding away. At Mucking we saw something you don't see everyday. Falconry. In a field adjacent to the road a chap with a bit of meat on the end of some string trying to attract his hawk. And there it was, not sure what bird it was but is was a large beautiful hawk. Swooped to the side of me and attacked the meat on the string. What a grand sight to see. Kes sprang to mind.
3 for home.
The mere mention of Grays is enough to send shivers down the spine of any hardened cyclist, the mythical one way system were one could get lost in for days. Eddie decided to cut and run rather then run the Grays gauntlet. He got the train.
2 for home.
A few more miles and we were at the Dartford Crossing. We said cheerio to Stu who carried on back to Central London to get his train home. Myself and Clive got the free cycle transport truck over the bridge. Now it was starting to rain. and it got heavier. Mixed in with the strong wind it made for hard going. My leg's we certainly feeling all the hard work so I let Clive take over the front marking preferring swallowing the dirty water coming off his rear wheel then the headwind.
1 for home.
I had enough of Clives rear wheel dirt water spray and left him at Chiselhurst. He was 3 miles from home and needed 7 for a Century..the rain was getting heavier...
106 miles for the ride for me.
It was jolly fun in parts, especially with the strong tailwind. The return was tough due to the headwind and rain for the last hour but that's character building right?
Clive was going to be late and will meet me at HPC. So said the text I received when I reached the normal Bromley meeting place the Dripping Tap. So on to HPC by myself then. First there was StuAff, the train from Pompey delivering him promptly. Eddie turned up. (A FNRttC regular), Chris and Clive, but it was a different Clive. A Clive that was a friend of one of the Met's finest Titus. Bromley Clive finally turned up... and he wasn't late so with the very favourable tailwind we were able to set off dead on time. Through Central & East London. We reached Dagenham when one of new Clives spokes went ping on his much admired Orbea. The wheel was very out of true and even if we could straighten the wheel we didn't think it could get to Southend. So unfortunately Clive had to head for the nearest station and home.
5 to Southend.
That tailwind was truly marvelous thing. We were cruising along at times in the mid 20's without even trying. The roads through Rainham Marshes and the Essex lanes were surprisingly clear of cars so was such jolly good fun. We were soon making up good time. Hello.. I recognise the cyclist coming towards us in Fenn Lane.. it was User10571 of all people, having a quick blast before a wedding in the area. You couldn't have planned it better.
Sadlers Farm roundabout.. good god it's a mess. It has been for a while and looks like it will be a mess for a while longer.
Bread and Cheese hill was conquered by all no problem and it was a quick run from the top into Southend and the Rose for fry up's and teas all round.
4 for home.
Chris had to rush back for rugger buggery stuff so we left him to get the train at Southend. Tacking along Southend's prom was such hard work. The wind coming off from the estuary was muscle sapping and made for very hard work. Back up the to main road away from the water the buildings dissipated most of the wind, but windy it still was. A nice descent of Bread and Cheese was met by a mile long queue for Sadlers RAB.. nightmare.. it was just like commuting in London one of our band quipped.
Hitting the marshes and flats we were once again hit full force with a headwind. Had to just keep grinding away. At Mucking we saw something you don't see everyday. Falconry. In a field adjacent to the road a chap with a bit of meat on the end of some string trying to attract his hawk. And there it was, not sure what bird it was but is was a large beautiful hawk. Swooped to the side of me and attacked the meat on the string. What a grand sight to see. Kes sprang to mind.
3 for home.
The mere mention of Grays is enough to send shivers down the spine of any hardened cyclist, the mythical one way system were one could get lost in for days. Eddie decided to cut and run rather then run the Grays gauntlet. He got the train.
2 for home.
A few more miles and we were at the Dartford Crossing. We said cheerio to Stu who carried on back to Central London to get his train home. Myself and Clive got the free cycle transport truck over the bridge. Now it was starting to rain. and it got heavier. Mixed in with the strong wind it made for hard going. My leg's we certainly feeling all the hard work so I let Clive take over the front marking preferring swallowing the dirty water coming off his rear wheel then the headwind.
1 for home.
I had enough of Clives rear wheel dirt water spray and left him at Chiselhurst. He was 3 miles from home and needed 7 for a Century..the rain was getting heavier...
106 miles for the ride for me.
It was jolly fun in parts, especially with the strong tailwind. The return was tough due to the headwind and rain for the last hour but that's character building right?
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
My that was a ride of two halves....literally, in terms of mileage. As I knew I wasn't going to make the ton without sticking a few extra miles in, I opted to get the 5.32 train and got off at Clapham. Went to HPC via Stockwell, Lambeth, Green Park & Piccadilly in 45 minutes, so 8.27 miles rather than a couple from Waterloo to HPC. Still at the Arch first, not surprisingly, but I didn't have to wait long.
Pleasure to meet new Clive, all too briefly. Hopefully, we'll be seeing him again. Tailwind was lovely. As so often on these rides, I was often lagging a little (whether due to gearing, power output, my slight frame not benefitting so much from the effect, or all of the above), even when I was doing 20-25 mph steadily, but didn't keep anyone waiting around much either. And the bonus of seeing User10571 (yay!). First half 3:13, 47.37 miles, overall average 14.7 mph. Which was nice.
After a cracking lunch at the Rose, we bid farewell to Chris and headed off into The Headwind. I was somewhat concerned it was going to be a rerun of the Rye ride in October, when I got to the pub not quite worn out but definitely not up to any more mileage (I was pedalling on downhills when the others were freewheeling, faster). Certainly it was hard work, but not exhausting, thankfully. I was still doing 9-10 mph at some points. I think the consensus was 'let's see how it goes', and it wasn't that bad. Certainly glad I didn't opt for the train. Again I lagged, I suffer more in those conditions than most & two or three times I got slowed at traffic lights. Thanks for waiting chaps!
After parting ways with Ian and Clive, the journey back into the smoke was fairly uneventful. I followed most of the same route I took with Ben in December, though I managed to miss the turn towards Barking so ended up following the A13 for a bit (thankfully there was an off-road bit of 'superhighway' for the most part), then through Canary Wharf, before getting back on the same route we took out. Back in Dagenham I'd paused for a breather and put the waterproof trousers on. Rather glad of them later on...Got to Limehouse and the biblical shower came on. Ended up with a nice little puddle in each shoe though..ho hum. Back at Waterloo in time for the 1700 train. 47.37 miles (I couldn't have managed that if I tried), 4:19, 10.9 mph average (not too bad considering the wind and traffic). Total mileage Clapham-HPC-Southend-Waterloo 103.01. Hurrah! Thanks everyone for a great day out.
Pleasure to meet new Clive, all too briefly. Hopefully, we'll be seeing him again. Tailwind was lovely. As so often on these rides, I was often lagging a little (whether due to gearing, power output, my slight frame not benefitting so much from the effect, or all of the above), even when I was doing 20-25 mph steadily, but didn't keep anyone waiting around much either. And the bonus of seeing User10571 (yay!). First half 3:13, 47.37 miles, overall average 14.7 mph. Which was nice.
After a cracking lunch at the Rose, we bid farewell to Chris and headed off into The Headwind. I was somewhat concerned it was going to be a rerun of the Rye ride in October, when I got to the pub not quite worn out but definitely not up to any more mileage (I was pedalling on downhills when the others were freewheeling, faster). Certainly it was hard work, but not exhausting, thankfully. I was still doing 9-10 mph at some points. I think the consensus was 'let's see how it goes', and it wasn't that bad. Certainly glad I didn't opt for the train. Again I lagged, I suffer more in those conditions than most & two or three times I got slowed at traffic lights. Thanks for waiting chaps!
After parting ways with Ian and Clive, the journey back into the smoke was fairly uneventful. I followed most of the same route I took with Ben in December, though I managed to miss the turn towards Barking so ended up following the A13 for a bit (thankfully there was an off-road bit of 'superhighway' for the most part), then through Canary Wharf, before getting back on the same route we took out. Back in Dagenham I'd paused for a breather and put the waterproof trousers on. Rather glad of them later on...Got to Limehouse and the biblical shower came on. Ended up with a nice little puddle in each shoe though..ho hum. Back at Waterloo in time for the 1700 train. 47.37 miles (I couldn't have managed that if I tried), 4:19, 10.9 mph average (not too bad considering the wind and traffic). Total mileage Clapham-HPC-Southend-Waterloo 103.01. Hurrah! Thanks everyone for a great day out.
Mista Preston
Veteran
nice ride all. Was a bit wet at the end and that sodding headwind was ridiculous. Rode home and the missus wasent there and I had no key so rode out to find her. Buy the time I got back I was totally soaked thru and shattered but I got my 100
