Calling all riders from Barnet

EKE_38BPM

Big shout to the Barnet Massive!!!

I'm thinking of riding to Richmond Park and doing a few laps one day to see what all the fuss is about.

Anyone from Barnet want to meet up, ride down to dirty South London, do a few laps, have a beer or two and ride back to civilisation?

I can't do this Sunday but Saturday is OK (I'm willing to miss F1 qualifying for this, whats happening to me?) or maybe one evening we could meet more centrally, do the laps and ride back together??

Let me know.

spasypaddy

i go down there once a week during the summer. wont be going during the world cup as i do it as a mid week ride. Saturday potentially could work for me. I know a pretty good route.

Where in barnet are you? i live near hampden square and work in finchley central. I do a round trip including 3 laps in 3hours 30ish

EKE_38BPM

I live in East Barnet, near the Village/Cat Hill.

There are a few other Barnet bikers on here and I guess they'll see this thread when they get home from work.
You know a good route? I'd be in your hands for navigation then.

spasypaddy

well i know A route. ah im by the car park of oakhill park.

the route i take would be via finchley (so meeting point could be the layby at the griffin in whetstone), then golders green, kilburn, then shephards bush, hammersmith, and then over the river and into the park.

WesternWay

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I live in East Barnet, near the Village/Cat Hill.

There are a few other Barnet bikers on here and I guess they'll see this thread when they get home from work.
You know a good route? I'd be in your hands for navigation then.

That sounds good, I shall have to check with my social secretary. I'll also need to take a look to see if I think I can keep up :-)

VespaTrek

1. I don't think people from north of the river are allowed in Richmond Park

2. If you do manage to make it through S London passport control and over a bridge and south of the river then watch out as Richmond Park currently has resurfacing in progress where they chuck down gravel crap and hope it gradually binds with the surface... though I don't know the current state of the roads nor the resurfacing progress.

Oddjob62

Remember there's the SCR gathering coming up soon. I'll be putting a call out to all North Londoners closer to the time. Only Brun answered my call last year

Runoutofgears

What's Barnet like? I've never been there.

asprilla

I don't know about the Dark Hill side of the park, but on the Sawyers Hill side the only resurfacing the have done so far is to put some proper tarmac down to fill some of the bigger cracks on the way down to Roehampton Gate.

EKE_38BPM

Runoutofgears, Barnet is a magical place where instead of having cats, dogs, urban foxes and pigeons, we have unicorns, dragons, phoenixes and griffins. The trees walk around to find the sun and fish sometimes come out of the water to dry off for a while.

Vespatrek, Dirty SLondon and Lovely NLondon have an exchange scheme.
NLondoners are allowed into Richmond Park (the nicest part of SLondon?) assuming the paperwork is all in order and the correct visas are present.
SLondoners, in exchange, are allowed into Broadwater Farm, Dollis Park and other places of equal stature as these places are about equal to Richmond Park.

Spasypaddy, do you think I should bring a stab-proof or a bullet-proof vest for crossing the river? Maybe both...

spasypaddy

personally when i cross the river i do so at a rate of knots, dont make eye contact with anyone and start waving a knife. Normally keeps the scum off.

Do we know how long the resurfacing work is going to take? is the park ridable at the moment?

EKE_38BPM

Runoutofgears, in all seriousness, Barnet is suburban and hilly. Generally quiite affluent, but it has some very nice areas and its not so good areas, like anywhere else. I heard a while back that the London Borough of Barnet had/has the highest average house price in London. Make of that what you will.

Cyclingwise, its London, so the hills will never be that long, but there are a few short sharp ones and its located at the top of London so its a good springboard into the Hertfordshire countryside.

High Barnet is one of the highest parts of London so a commute into the City is downhill there (apart from the uphill bits) and a bit of a slog on the return leg. Archway Hill not what I need on the homeward leg of a trip into central London and I don't have to face Barnet Hill itself.

Spasypaddy, we're at opposite ends of Oakhill Park, I'm near the top of the stairs. We could meet up to do a few hundred laps of dodging yummy mummys with prams and dog walkers. It would have to be a few hundred laps as the park is so small (for cycling purposes).

spasypaddy

or we could meet to go out into hertfordshire. i havent done more than a 25miler into the shire for a few months as ive only been going to RP and then the odd 25mile loop after work which takes me to potters bar, northaw, cuffley, then back into enfield via the a10.

are you a club member?

WesternWay

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Archway Hill not what I need on the homeward leg of a trip into central London and I don't have to face Barnet Hill itself.

I am just south of the playing fields at the bottom of the hill so I don't have to deal with Barnet Hill either.

I bizarrely quite look forward to Archway Hill on the way home now. It is the shallow grind from Holloway Road Odeon to the bottom of the hill that is my bete noire.

I also occasionally think "I know, I'll go up Highgate Hill, or sometimes even Muswell Hill and each time I do that I get to think how much I like Archway Hill :-)

spasypaddy

i have done highgate hill (the one into the village) on my fixie. that hurt so much.

richred_uk

spasypaddy wrote:

or we could meet to go out into hertfordshire. i havent done more than a 25miler into the shire for a few months as ive only been going to RP and then the odd 25mile loop after work which takes me to potters bar, northaw, cuffley, then back into enfield via the a10.

This. Then I can join part way in as a semi-Barnet massive type living in Herts but working in Finchley

WesternWay

spasypaddy wrote:

i have done highgate hill (the one into the village) on my fixie. that hurt so much.

I can see why that would happen :-)

EKE_38BPM

Spasypaddy, I'm not a member of a club, I just ride when I can. Usually solo as none of my mates ride like I do.

I think they get together to pootle around and exclude me as I like to go faster than the rate an oak tree grows (unlike them).

asprilla

I take it back; Queens Ride between Ham Gate and Richmond Gate is a complete mess. Richmond Park is going to be no fun at all for the next few weeks.

pastryboy

spasypaddy wrote:

25mile loop after work which takes me to potters bar, northaw, cuffley, then back into enfield via the a10.

Do you have that mapped online anywhere? I need to do some longer rides in preparation for a charity ride but I struggle to find a route long enough withouth going way out of the areas I know (I get lost easily).

prj45

I'd just like to point out that Richmond Park is not in South London.

asprilla

prj45 wrote:

I'd just like to point out that Richmond Park is not in South London.

I was going to point out, earlier, that Barnet isn't in North London either.

roger_merriman

prj45 wrote:

I'd just like to point out that Richmond Park is not in South London.

in the past yes, but now london pushes way out almost to the M25 in places.

richmond park is well within london, post code has zero to do with location and every thing to do with sorting mail, london's postcodes are over 100 years old, london has grown in that time as i'm sure your aware.

EKE_38BPM

Asprilla wrote:

I was going to point out, earlier, that Barnet isn't in North London either.

Of course Barnet is in London. The name of the local authority is The London Borough of Barnet. I have a 020 landline number and live in walking distance of three tube stations on two different lines. London enough for ya?

asprilla

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

I was going to point out, earlier, that Barnet isn't in North London either.

Of course Barnet is in London. The name of the local authority is The London Borough of Barnet. I have a 020 landline number and live in walking distance of three tube stations on two different lines. London enough for ya?

Tubes and dialing codes have nothing to do with it. I thought it was in Hertfordshire.

EKE_38BPM

Damn, you got me!

spasypaddy

pastryboy wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

25mile loop after work which takes me to potters bar, northaw, cuffley, then back into enfield via the a10.

Do you have that mapped online anywhere? I need to do some longer rides in preparation for a charity ride but I struggle to find a route long enough withouth going way out of the areas I know (I get lost easily).

not currently, but i can do it tomorrow for you.

WesternWay

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

I was going to point out, earlier, that Barnet isn't in North London either.

Of course Barnet is in London. The name of the local authority is The London Borough of Barnet. I have a 020 landline number and live in walking distance of three tube stations on two different lines. London enough for ya?

In addition, scrotes will steal bikes from chip shops.

spasypaddy

heres my after work 25miles
http://local.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UT ... 8f1ee&z=12

it has over 1000ft of climb on it.

SmellTheGlove

Thanks for the route Paddy - looks like it might be useful prep for a September sportive (my first, maybe even on a new bike).

Ahhh the home counties - anywhere that isn't either C of London or Westminster lies within a county, e.g. Muswell=Middx, Mile End=Essex, Kilburn=Wexford and so on...

rjsterry

Indeed, Surrey used to run right up to the South Bank.