FNRttC York-Hull July 5

[craigwend]

The rain stopped and the sun came out, in the end it was, as always ...

 

[Domus]

the half dozen who had signed up for the ride but didn't turn up. Some were in bed asleep when I rang but not for long.

What reasons for their lack of consideration, to us as a group stood about waiting, but more importantly to you as ride leader, for not bothering to let you know in advance, when just the day before you had sent them your phone number in an email?

Just curious.

Pooh sticks!.........................oh poo.

 

[ColinJ]

What reasons for their lack of consideration, to us as a group stood about waiting, but more importantly to you as ride leader, for not bothering to let you know in advance, when just the day before you had sent them your phone number in an email?

Just curious.

Pooh sticks!.........................oh poo.

I'd be pretty annoyed if someone who had said that they were definitely coming on one of my rides, didn't turn up, and didn't tell me that they had changed they mind... @PaulB got knocked off his bike on the way to meet me once but still did the right thing and phoned to say that he couldn't make it! A rider's serious illness, serious injury, or death (or that of a loved one) are acceptable excuses not to let the ride organiser know. Minor illness or injury - make the call!

I suppose a problem en route and a simultaneous phone failure/lack of signal would also qualify.

I don't mind if someone says that they might turn up, but not to wait for them if they don't.

 

[Slioch]

Well, completed my first FNRTTC ride today, and most excellent it was too. Thank you everybody for your company.

I'm used to riding in the dark on my own, but this was the first time I've done it in a group where someone else is making all the route finding decisions and all you've got to do is turn the pedals. I found myself entering a zen/trancelike state where the miles just flew by.

Thanks to mmmmartin for organising, and for lending me one of his Pooh sticks. I'll leave it to him to provide the after-match commentary on that one .

 

[kimble]

A ride of three halves:

The first half was everything that makes Fridays rides great - whizzing along through dark lanes and villages in outstandingly cooperative weather.

The second half was wet enough for waterproofs but nowhere near Mancunian, and warm enough that it didn't really matter. I gave the mudguardless riders a wide berth and all was well.

The smugness at turning left before the annoying climb at South Ferriby was short-lived: I'd brought a Mildly Inappropriate Bike for the Comedy Off-Roading section (riding on singletrack through eye-level grass certainly qualifies as comedy), but had swapped back to SPD pedals in anticipation of a drenching (quick-drying sandals FTW) and having to get off and push, so no drama. Wasn't so keen on the hardpack with a scattering of railway ballast - the Streetmachine would have laughed in its face, but with narrow road tyres on a small-wheeled bike that prefers to be going at speed I did feel like I could be ceremonially deposited in the mud at any moment. Nevertheless, as a variation it's more group-friendly than climbing the hill as the traffic's picking up, and the bonus extra bridges were welcome. (Sadly I'd neglected to collect a Pooh stick from Birmingham's Shiny! New! Segregated Cycle Infrastructure! on the way up.)

The third half involved re-tracing the route along the poorly-maintained roads of Hull (which were on their usual form) and a confusing Birmingham-style scary roundabout disguising the route to North Ferriby as the sliproad to the A63. From there to a shared-use path alongside the A63, which was fine, a footbridge with the sort of 180° turns that work best on a Brompton, and the Morrisons in Brough for a loo and drink stop. Then a faster ride on much more civilised (and surprisingly smooth) roads to South and North Cave (I didn't see a cave), Followed by South and North Cliffe (I didn't see a cliff), a brief snooze in a 3-star Audax Hotel in Everingham (there was a nice view of a bollard), then a quick thrash back to York via Melbourne and Elvington. In my considered opinion the B1228 could do with a visit from the resurfacing fairy.

Not quite 200k in total.

 

[mmmmartin]

What reasons for their lack of consideration, to us as a group stood about waiting, but more importantly to you as ride leader, for not bothering to let you know in advance, when just the day before you had sent them your phone number in an email?

Interesting point. Just a few thoughts:

• the club has a duty of care so we ought not to allow a situation when a rider is at risk. This could be at 00:10 hours when they arrive at York Minster (or the South Bank) to discover the ride has gone without them and the last train has gone, the station is shut and home is 90 miles away. Some riders would cope, we have to assume the worst.
• so we ought to check if they are OK, maybe they have a mechanical just round the corner and we can dispatch someone to assist, or maybe the train is late (last year York signal box was struck by lightning, the roads were flooded and some got off the trains and rode from Doncaster to get to the start).
• that's why we ask for a mobile number - the other gubbins we ask for such as emergency contact, home number, medical stuff, etc, is self-explanatory I hope.
• I'm going to ask the other ride leaders if we should make plain, or make more evident club protocol on this: that we phone and if there's no answer, we go.
• but it's a pain for the others on the ride - imagine you're champing at the bit to get going and the ride leader is on the bloody phone chatting! Phew!
• as ride leader you are playing three-dimensional chess with a deadline - you need to get the ride to the halfway catering on time (or maybe they'll be miffed and refuse to do it next year which means the ride is threatened) so you've timed the ride factoring in posible mechanicals, hills, distance, wind, but you're missing six people yet have 37 standing around in the cold and possibly the rain. Six phone calls and 15 minutes later you still have no idea about three of them. Are they together, round the corner, desperately trying to fix a broken chain? Or sound asleep in a warm bed? When we do Brighton in the summer we can have 100 on that ride................

Anyway, thanks to all for your patience. There'll be a ride report on the website when I get A Round Tuit.
And here's where we went:
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/36930218

 

[Domus]

I understand all that, I am just wondering what they said when you rang them.

 

[mmmmartin]

Mostly apologies. Probs my fault for not explaining. I'll email everyone who signed up with a link to the ride report that'll be on the website.

 

[Domus]

Ta.

 

[kimble]

I understand all that, I am just wondering what they said when you rang them.

*breathless* "Sorry, I..." *giggling in background* "...I had a hot date." ?

 

[Domus]

*breathless* "Sorry, I..." *giggling in background* "...I had a hot date."

Nah. Who would give up a ride in the dark for a.............................Ride in the dark?

 

[StuAff]

@kimble always refers to Birmingham New Street as Mordor Central. Well, last night the Barad-dûr was in Milton Keynes…that tower was well above the stadium roof. Those of us at the rear of the stadium didn't miss out on the flames- they had pyro from the rear speaker towers as well

 

[kimble]

Interesting point. Just a few thoughts:

• the club has a duty of care so we ought not to allow a situation when a rider is at risk. This could be at 00:10 hours when they arrive at York Minster (or the South Bank) to discover the ride has gone without them and the last train has gone, the station is shut and home is 90 miles away.

This is a compelling argument for publishing the route (usual disclaimers apply) in advance. It's much easier to chase down a group if you don't have to put too much thought into navigation.

 

[StuAff]

This is a compelling argument for publishing the route (usual disclaimers apply) in advance. It's much easier to chase down a group if you don't have to put too much thought into navigation.

Hmmm....one thing to dish the route out to a select group of trusted individuals who know both the limitations of GPS devices and the importance of keeping the group together (and may just know the 'usual route' anyway), quite another to give it to all and sundry. Someone goes the wrong way because their Garmin disagrees with everyone else's, or because it seems to be indicating something it shouldn't…

 

[kimble]

Hmmm....one thing to dish the route out to a select group of trusted individuals who know both the limitations of GPS devices and the importance of keeping the group together (and may just know the 'usual route' anyway), quite another to give it to all and sundry. Someone goes the wrong way because their Garmin disagrees with everyone else's, or because it seems to be indicating something it shouldn't…

Well, it worked fine on this ride...

Just checked, and I appear to be a trusted individual. No idea how *that* happened.
(In my defence, I skim-read the email in the middle of the 24 hour race, then forgot all about what it actually said...)

I suppose if people can't be trusted to keep the group together, it's better if they [REDACTED], but OTOH, not giving out the route in advance is a more humanitarian compromise...