FNRttC

Butterd2

Anyone on here doing the Friday Night Ride to the Coast this week? Hyde Park corner at midnight to Whitstable for brekkie. Believe there are 115 riders signed up for it which should be a chuckle!

stuaff

No. Never heard of it......

Yup, I'm a regular (first one last May, this will be my nineteenth). Biondino did the last Whitstable run (for some reason he was expecting it to be flattish), he did put his name down for this one but I'm not sure he's on the list.

Butterd2

Yeah, IIRC I did pick it up from a post from you on a previous thread, hopefully I'll I find you in the crowd!
I'll be on my Scott, probably sporting my dhb 3/4 bibs. Looking forward to it (my first) sounds like fun.

shm_uk

Sounds like a cool idea.

If only I wasn't living in Cheshire, I'd be there!

Canny Jock

Quite tempted by this as I'm supposed to be in Whitstable for the weekend anyway, but I see the registration has closed

WesternWay

How hilly is it?

stuaff

WesternWay wrote:

How hilly is it?

Rolling, really- two or three climbs that most people would want the smaller ring for, but nothing like Ditchling Beacon or that climb at Capel-Le-Ferne.
You've registered as well?

Butterd2

Canny Jock wrote:

Quite tempted by this as I'm supposed to be in Whitstable for the weekend anyway, but I see the registration has closed

I'm staying down in Whitstable too. The Missus has booked a holiday caravan thing for 3 nights so is going to drive down Friday with the kids and dogs. Means I get to have a decent ride, kids get a break and wife is happy so no brownie points are expended (my balance is usually pretty close to zero anyway).

Canny Jock

Hmm, similar position to me, except the missus won't drive on 'big' roads, so I would have to drive them down, get the train back, pick up my bike, get over to Hyde Park then ride back again. Possible but hard work! And I'm not registered...

Headhuunter

God does Friday Night Ride still happen? I used to go out on those when they 1st started back in 2007 or something... 115 riders? There used to be only about 5 or 6 of us on the Friday rides back at the start. Haven't been out with them for ages.

Headhuunter

Headhuunter wrote:

God does Friday Night Ride still happen? I used to go out on those when they 1st started back in 2007 or something... 115 riders? There used to be only about 5 or 6 of us on the Friday rides back at the start. Haven't been out with them for ages.

....Actually it looks like it's something completely different... As you were.

stuaff

Headhuunter wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

God does Friday Night Ride still happen? I used to go out on those when they 1st started back in 2007 or something... 115 riders? There used to be only about 5 or 6 of us on the Friday rides back at the start. Haven't been out with them for ages.

....Actually it looks like it's something completely different... As you were.

If you liked that, you'd like this. Try it sometime!

Edit: Those rides seem to have stopped, at least the URL's (fridaynightride.com) dead.

stuaff

Canny Jock wrote:

Hmm, similar position to me, except the missus won't drive on 'big' roads, so I would have to drive them down, get the train back, pick up my bike, get over to Hyde Park then ride back again. Possible but hard work! And I'm not registered...

Yup, don't turn up on spec (we did have a couple of riders who tried a couple of months back, they had to be told sorry...). Registration for Brighton on November 19 opens on Sunday, that's the last for the year.

WesternWay

StuAff wrote:

WesternWay wrote:

How hilly is it?

Rolling, really- two or three climbs that most people would want the smaller ring for, but nothing like Ditchling Beacon or that climb at Capel-Le-Ferne.
You've registered as well?

No, not this time, but I'll register for one later in the year... I've had a nose now and see that you do different destinations... Looks good.

Sailorchick

What time do you all expect to get into Whitstable for? I'm actually there for a sailing competition Sat/Sun so will look out for lots of cyclists.

Expect to be overtaken by lots of cars/campervans with boats on tow when you get close (although not mine as we're getting there Friday daytime) as should be 150+ sailors at my event.

Headhuunter

StuAff wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

God does Friday Night Ride still happen? I used to go out on those when they 1st started back in 2007 or something... 115 riders? There used to be only about 5 or 6 of us on the Friday rides back at the start. Haven't been out with them for ages.

....Actually it looks like it's something completely different... As you were.

If you liked that, you'd like this. Try it sometime!

Edit: Those rides seem to have stopped, at least the URL's (fridaynightride.com) dead.

Yeah that's the one I used to go on.... As you say, the URL is dead they must've given up with it

stuaff

Sailorchick wrote:

What time do you all expect to get into Whitstable for? I'm actually there for a sailing competition Sat/Sun so will look out for lots of cyclists.

Expect to be overtaken by lots of cars/campervans with boats on tow when you get close (although not mine as we're getting there Friday daytime) as should be 150+ sailors at my event.

Usually about 7.30 ish. Will do....

stuaff

WesternWay wrote:

StuAff wrote:

WesternWay wrote:

How hilly is it?

Rolling, really- two or three climbs that most people would want the smaller ring for, but nothing like Ditchling Beacon or that climb at Capel-Le-Ferne.
You've registered as well?

No, not this time, but I'll register for one later in the year... I've had a nose now and see that you do different destinations... Looks good.

Well, there is only one later in the year.......the Brighton one on November 19. After that, next one is Southend, March 18.

Butterd2

Sailorchick wrote:

What time do you all expect to get into Whitstable for? I'm actually there for a sailing competition Sat/Sun so will look out for lots of cyclists.

Expect to be overtaken by lots of cars/campervans with boats on tow when you get close (although not mine as we're getting there Friday daytime) as should be 150+ sailors at my event.

Expect to be overtaken by lots of bikes as cars/campervans with boats in tow queue to get into Whitstable.

FTFY

secretsam

What a good idea, I'd love to try that only:
1. It's probably only for serious cyclists
2. I'm totally unfit and can only do about 20 miles, tops
3. I don't have a proper road bike so would feel a total berk
4. I've no idea how far it is

secretsam

Holy carp have just RAC'd it and it's over 60 miles, I'd still be riding next Friday!!!! :shock:

I really must get some miles in and stop being such a total lard-ass

Alphabet

i'd have been well up for this if i'd registered in time/hadn't used up all my non-at-home-moments on drinking. next time though for sure.

one question though. doable on a fixed gear 52/17? i'm not scared of a hill, but...

Butterd2

Canny Jock wrote:

Hmm, similar position to me, except the missus won't drive on 'big' roads, so I would have to drive them down, get the train back, pick up my bike, get over to Hyde Park then ride back again. Possible but hard work! And I'm not registered...

Just had email from the guy organising it. Says that weather forecast is not good and therefore expects some people to drop out. He is asking for early confirmation as we have Cafe's expecting us en route and when we get there.

If this is the case and you are up for a hectic Friday and don't mind getting a bit soggy then you might blag a last minute place.

stuaff

SecretSam wrote:

What a good idea, I'd love to try that only:
1. It's probably only for serious cyclists
2. I'm totally unfit and can only do about 20 miles, tops
3. I don't have a proper road bike so would feel a total berk
4. I've no idea how far it is

1. No, no & no. Last November we had someone who'd not ridden more than seven miles before.
2. See 1.
3. I've done these on all of my bikes. Trikes, full carbon roadies, MTBs, hybrids, tandems, Brommies, we've even had the odd BSO. All welcome.
4. About 70 miles.

Butterd2

Well that was a bit of a disaster.....

A lot of riders resulted in a pretty slow start to the ride but we all finally got going and once clear of London began to get into a nice pace. Then we stopped after 30miles at Gravesend at about 3am for everyone to catchup and as we set off I gently pushed away from the kerb and "ping!" a spoke goes in my rear wheel (Mavic Ksyrium Elite) and the wheel immediately buckles and wedges against the frame - ride over.

After a couple of mins staring and cursing at it a taxi comes by so we flag him down and I negotiate £70 to take me to Whitstable (wife and kids waiting there for me). We get to the caravan park pretty quickly I give him his money and the driver says "no, £100 please". Bearing in mind it is now 4am I have not slept for nearly 24hours and I have £250 worth of broken wheel in his boot I was not in the best of moods at this stage.
Luckily for the driver a security guard for the campsite came out and let me in whilst refusing the driver entry so I just walked away and went to bed.

Now I have to try and get the wheel fixed before the Stevenage Audax on Sunday......

stuaff

Ouch! What a PITA. Didn't realise you'd been forced to bail until much later on. Hope you had a good time before that, that you get something sorted out RE the wheel, and that we see you again.

Butterd2

StuAff wrote:

Ouch! What a PITA. Didn't realise you'd been forced to bail until much later on. Hope you had a good time before that, that you get something sorted out RE the wheel, and that we see you again.

Yeah I did enjoy it once we got moving so was sorry to miss the best half of the ride (even the horizontal rain so I heard). I'm sure I'll be back.
Cheers.

Sailorchick

You were all far too early in the morning for me to see (still tucked up in my caravan near Herne Bay at 7.30am). However any of you looking out to sea from Whitstable later that day seeing lots of little boats with white sails would have seen my racing fleet. Think we were close enough to shore to be visible on the Sat (definitely on the Sun)

Impressed with anyone managing that ride in those temperatures. We were freezing on the water in all our thermals in the daytime so dread to think how cold it was overnight!

Canny Jock

I saw the boats and have some pics, it was pretty windy and cold there on Saturday - no rain over the weekend though so lots of nice walks.

I will have a think about doing the Brighton one in November.

stuaff

Canny Jock wrote:

I saw the boats and have some pics, it was pretty windy and cold there on Saturday - no rain over the weekend though so lots of nice walks.

I will have a think about doing the Brighton one in November.

Don't think about it too long- the list only opened on Sunday & there's already 36 on it!

biondino

StuAff wrote:

No. Never heard of it......

Yup, I'm a regular (first one last May, this will be my nineteenth). Biondino did the last Whitstable run (for some reason he was expecting it to be flattish), he did put his name down for this one but I'm not sure he's on the list.

It is flattish! I enjoyed the ups and downs a lot, my kind of ride. It's a shame I had to miss last Friday's but an accident the previous weekend has left me with a badly bruised knee and bruised ribs which makes deep breathing extremely uncomfortable, so it wasn't feasible (and the guy I was supposed to be riding with was also injured in the same crash, so a bummer for him too).

I doubt I'll do the Brighton run as I don't much like being cold at night, but I'll certainly be back next year for more. It's good that all abilities do it (apart from people who overstretch themselves - abandoning at 4am in the middle of the Kent countryside isn't a good idea for anyone), but it's a little bit frustrating that there's so much waiting, especially when it's chilly. But that's the nature of the thing.