Thursday Night Ride to the Coast to Felpham 5th April

[Dan B]

I was seriously contemplating bailing at the Cabin (too cold by a long way), but am immensely glad I didn't, because the second half was a delight.

+1 for the Lobster Pot: I was eating breakfast within ten minutes of walking through the door and still got home to wife and baby by midday. Which was prudent, because they hadn't had much more sleep than I had ...

 

[hatler]

Small hatler (and Mrs hatler and I) would like to thank everyone for diverting via SW20. It really made the adventure very doable for him.

I quite enjoyed the Kings Road bit. A bit classier than the stretch south of Clapham don't you think ?

 

[User10571]

Small hatler (and Mrs hatler and I) would like to thank everyone for diverting via SW20. It really made the adventure very doable for him.

I quite enjoyed the Kings Road bit. A bit classier than the stretch south of Clapham don't you think ?

I love the fact that these rides, which now get coverage in the broadsheets and elsewhere, can still accommodate anomalies like a SW20 diversion.
Keepin' it human...

 

[139NI]

Well that was COLD! The almost legendary freezing Southend FNR a year ago was my very first one, but I don't remember it being as cold as last night. That might be because last year I was wearing many more layers and slogging along on my heavy hybrid - I've come a fair way since then - but the icy slush-puppy contents of water bottles, the fields all white with frost, and the clear sky sparkling full of stars round a bright moon all brought back happy memories. Come to think of it, last year water lying on the road was frozen solid, but not this time, so maybe it wasn't quite as extreme?

Riding in such low temperatures seems to be especially exhausting, so it was understandable that a few folk who weren't wearing so many layers or feeling that brilliant decided to opt out at The Cabin. We missed you at the end! As often happens it seemed to get sharply colder from then on, with another dip around dawn and several unexpected 'frost hollows' to cycle through too, before the sun suddenly got up and we were treated to a truly glorious morning. Sitting in the sun outside the Lobster Pot it was hard to remember just how cold it had really been only a few hours before.

I got home with 79 miles on the clock - it shows how knackered I was that I couldn't be bothered to round it up, even by a mile. Now I've had a kip and something to eat I must get down to cleaning the egg off the bike. At least I only got hit on the feet, not the head - poor Tim (he's an egghead you know )! Some people are moronic beyond description, that their idea of fun is to buy a couple of dozen eggs (they cast out the empty carton into the road as evidence) and lob them at cyclists while driving past. They'll probably fill their empty little lives with laughter about it for a good while, how sad. Karma was balanced slightly by the BMW driver wrecking his car due to being too busy hurling abuse to look where he was going although it can't have been very nice for the taxi driver and passengers .

A lovely, quirky and highly enjoyable ride as usual, thanks Simon, and great company throughout, including some (to me) new faces. I did miss the beers at the end though!

Having read this and Stu's comments, I am a little angry and feel i have not dealt with matters properly last night with the penises in the BMW. I didnt know those dickheads were verbally abusing part of the ride and cos they focused on the abuse that they came to grief. i was with the view that it was down to poor driving only. Had i known that i would have dealt with them differently.

Just cos i'm not in uniform, dont mean i can't deal with things properly. If you came up to me and told me what they said and who. They would have been nicked for public order and and the driver with 'driving without due care'. The thing that annoys me, was that i was pleasant to them.

I did feel something was not right, but couldnt put my finger on it so had to take circumstances at face value. the ride would only have been delayed by 15 minutes - well worth the wait to see 4 yobs put in a van dont you agree.

 

[Nigel182]

By far my Fav pic of the ride.... just gutted I didn't have one of the Trike Riding over the Bridge...it was almost as though it was designed Trike Size.

 

[TimO]

I've put the GPS track of the route here on GPSies.

 

[Snail Bait]

There were points when I wasn't sure why I wasn't tucked up in bed: freezing cold, running nose, new saddle (how do any of you blokes have children?) and then the sun came up as we did the little off road bit and it was so worth being there. Absolutely beautiful riding by the castle at Arundel and those sausages at the Lobster Pot.... Best, most well earned breakfast I have had in a long time - delicious. Thanks Simon.

 

[Mark Grant]

That was a chilly ride!
It was the first FNRttC for Gail (my wife, other/better half, SWMBO etc), last year she had done a couple of 20 mile flat rides and then in the last fortnight we had been out for a 25 & 29 mile ride including Richmond Park ( Her first 'hills'!) in preparation for the Bognor ride.
Being caught at the lights at the bottom of Putney Hill and the slow progress to the top meant we missed the altercation between the cars then a little later Gail saw the eggs being thrown from the car, one narrowly missing her.
On the hill after our woodland walk some kind cyclist offered Gail support and encouragement for which she is grateful, she said that if it was me trying to help her along she would have told me to F*** off!! So I too, am grateful!
Groupsave was king on the return journey, it was busy on the train, and Gail heard some passengers moaning about all the bikes(there were probably 12 on the 4 carriages we boarded at Barnham) but as ever most people were fine.
So, home, bath & bed, then later a dash out to the supermarket for the makings of a quick dinner before they closed!

 

[StuAff]

Having read this and Stu's comments, I am a little angry and feel i have not dealt with matters properly last night with the penises in the BMW. I didnt know those dickheads were verbally abusing part of the ride and cos they focused on the abuse that they came to grief. i was with the view that it was down to poor driving only. Had i known that i would have dealt with them differently.

I honestly can't remember what the guy said- I think it was something about paying attention to where we were riding, but can't be certain (oh, the irony if that were the case). Not the usual four-letter rubbish.

 

[BigGee]

Having read this and Stu's comments, I am a little angry and feel i have not dealt with matters properly last night with the penises in the BMW. I didnt know those dickheads were verbally abusing part of the ride and cos they focused on the abuse that they came to grief. i was with the view that it was down to poor driving only. Had i known that i would have dealt with them differently.

Just cos i'm not in uniform, dont mean i can't deal with things properly. If you came up to me and told me what they said and who. They would have been nicked for public order and and the driver with 'driving without due care'. The thing that annoys me, was that i was pleasant to them.

I did feel something was not right, but couldnt put my finger on it so had to take circumstances at face value. the ride would only have been delayed by 15 minutes - well worth the wait to see 4 yobs put in a van dont you agree.

I was quite close to it and to be fair the passenger was shouting at us, but I don't think he was being abusive, it was more along the lines of 'where are you all going', but he did bellow it at the top of his voice and I think in all probability distracted the driver. I would imagine though that if you turn accross on coming traffic, that constitutes driving without due care and attention though.

Maybe though his increased insurance payments will be punishment enough!

 

[StuAff]

That was a chilly ride!
It was the first FNRttC for Gail (my wife, other/better half, SWMBO etc), last year she had done a couple of 20 mile flat rides and then in the last fortnight we had been out for a 25 & 29 mile ride including Richmond Park ( Her first 'hills'!) in preparation for the Bognor ride.
Being caught at the lights at the bottom of Putney Hill and the slow progress to the top meant we missed the altercation between the cars then a little later Gail saw the eggs being thrown from the car, one narrowly missing her.
On the hill after our woodland walk some kind cyclist offered Gail support and encouragement for which she is grateful, she said that if it was me trying to help her along she would have told me to F*** off!! So I too, am grateful!
Groupsave was king on the return journey, it was busy on the train, and Gail heard some passengers moaning about all the bikes(there were probably 12 on the 4 carriages we boarded at Barnham) but as ever most people were fine.
So, home, bath & bed, then later a dash out to the supermarket for the makings of a quick dinner before they closed!

And, as I said to you this morning, well done Gail!

 

[BigGee]

Small hatler (and Mrs hatler and I) would like to thank everyone for diverting via SW20. It really made the adventure very doable for him.

I quite enjoyed the Kings Road bit. A bit classier than the stretch south of Clapham don't you think ?

I said that to Simon on the ride, I liked this way out of town as well, a lot quieter than usual

 

[Mark Grant]

I was impressed by Ians new Ultegar groupset, you can hardly tell it from genuine Shimano!

 

[rb58]

I was impressed by Ians new Ultegar groupset, you can hardly tell it from genuine Shimano!

LOL....

 

[ianmac62]

Even though the direct trains were buggered by some sort of signalling failure, we managed to jam an unfeasibly large number of bikes onto a four carriage Barnham train, and then onto another four carriage train to Victoria. This did result in some of us having to stand for the entire journey home ...

Good to meet you, Tim, on that standing journey from Barnham to East Croydon. Enjoyed our chat. At Clapham Jct I got a seat to Milton Keynes; jibbed out of riding home from MK and got a seat to Northampton. 83 miles. Home just after 3 p.m. Have now enjoyed sleeping for a round of the clock.

On the Thursday evening, met Kim on the Birmingham-Northampton-Euston train and chatted all journey and so can't report on what videos our fellow-passengers were watching. Sorry, Simon, that we were last to arrive at HPC. Train was on time at Euston (2321) but we faffed at the station before pedalling off.

Good to meet and chat to so many other people too. User10571 and Jim: looking forward to driving with you on the LonJog adventure.

Wasn't the full moon and the glistening of the fields brilliant? My best memory is of a lengthy stretch between waymarkers somewhere in West Sussex; I was a little faster than a group behind but not as fast as a group ahead so I seemed to be riding for three or four miles totally on my own with just the moon for company; loved it. Next memories are of the cross-fields walk and the bank of the River Arun (thanks to the kind person who told me what its name was); and the beautiful sunshine of Felpham. Is Felpham the Hove of Bognor? Do people say, "Bognor? Felpham actually!"

So many, many thanks to Simon!

Did anyone else get diverted between the Lobster Pot and the station to Oberammergau-on-Sea?