Mid-Essex Mid-Week Nocturnal Series

[Oscar's dad]

^^^ Sounds like a plan, I'll follow you.

By the way, I shall be bitterly disappointed if you don't turn up with Minnie Mouse ears stuck to your Magic Hat!

[huggy]

How do you know I have Minnie Mouse ears?!

[Oscar's dad]

How do you know I have Minnie Mouse ears?!

Just a wild guess.

[huggy]

Witham Peloton ... I doubt I will have time to do a route. Would someone else like to volunteer or should we just follow our noses?

We could try to do the correct version of the route we did 2 months ago to The Rodney when OD was hibernating on one wheeled cycles that don't go anywhere.

This was the intended route to The Rodney for those departing from Spa Road. It may be nice to do it without the unintentional TT down the A131

[Oscar's dad]

I'll follow you ... and your Minnie Mouse ears. 

[Oaky]

* Oaky eyes the section @ 9 miles (between Church Lane and Old Shaws Farm) suspiciously

[huggy]

* Oaky eyes the section @ 9 miles (between Church Lane and Old Shaws Farm) suspiciously

Yes, we missed that part last time due to GPS brain fart earlier in the ride, we can always go further up and pass the Compasses if necessary

[Oaky]

Interestingly,  there is a Strava segment there... The probably aptly named "Tyah Shredah".

KOM is none other than chief.

[tippers_kiwi]

I expect that to change tonight Oaky!

[Oaky]

I expect that to change tonight Oaky!

You are in 24th place on it.

[huggy]

I expect that to change tonight Oaky!

You are in 24th place on it.

So it is walkable then 

[Oscar's dad]

Interestingly,  there is a Strava segment there... The probably aptly named "Tyah Shredah".

KOM is none other than chief.

Assuming I've got the geography right I remember being taken down there by chief many moons ago. I think it's a private road.

[Oaky]

Interestingly,  there is a Strava segment there... The probably aptly named "Tyah Shredah".

KOM is none other than chief.

Assuming I've got the geography right I remember being taken down there by chief many moons ago. I think it's a private road.

I have a feeling it might well be that one.  There's a footpath marked along a lot of it on the OS map, but not the bit immediately around Old Shaw's Farm.

[tippers_kiwi]

I expect that to change tonight Oaky!

You are in 24th place on it.

Good Lord! That was the night you were at the Compasses Pub Quiz which means I went up there on Tubeless....

[bobb]

I expect that to change tonight Oaky!

You are in 24th place on it.

Good Lord! That was the night you were at the Compasses Pub Quiz which means I went up there on Tubeless....

I notice I'm still KOM of Old Shaws (Southbound) with 4:30    Not sure how you managed to do it in 56:01. Actually, I can imagine exactly why it took so long if you did that on tubeless too! 

[tippers_kiwi]

Ah, that was my night doing the Recce for the Ephiphany when I decided a Sneaky beer at the compasses would be a good idea, it was before I went tubeless!

The ride is called P*ncture fest which gives some idea. I remember I put the tube in but the tyres were so tight I ended up cutting the tube then needed to apply a patch in the dark, in the rain while standing in mud. I carried on and it was leaking again by Witham. I think I stopped to put air in 16 times between the Braxted Mill and Home and that included walking from the Ship in Maldon...

https://www.strava.com/segments/3802545
https://www.strava.com/segments/10716305

Come and get it!

[tippers_kiwi]

I'll try to intercept you folks somewhere tonight or else will see you at the pub at about 8:30

[Tomsk]

I'll see you all at the Rodney, if not en-route...and I have Horsepower brevet cards to return. 

[Oaky]

I will hopefully be at Spa Road at the appointed hour.  I'm tempted to bypass the dodgy sector though (Either Compassses fly-by or the A131 TT ).

[BFC]

I'll be at Spar Rd.
Rucksack with a couple of spare tyres (23mm GP4S) and extra tubes already packed, open to an alternative route.

[huggy]

To all would-be Velodromers - it's getting closer so now is the time to secure your place if you're planning on going.  I have requested a 2nd instructor so providing that we have one the format will be the same as last time with 2 groups of up to 15 riders each.  I currently have 10 spaces to fill.

Copy of event on the Witham Cycling Facebook page:

As a club we have secured a 2 hour Track Taster Session at the Lee Valley Velodrome on the evening of Wednesday 4th May between 18:00 and 20:00. If you would like to experience a taste of the track this is your opportunity. More details available at the link.
https://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/en/content/cms/london2012/velo-park/#track
The Velodrome charges have increased a little since our last visit in January; depending upon numbers cost of the evening will be between £27 and £35 for the 2 hour track session, this figure includes £12 for bike hire but shoe hire is an additional £7 if desired. I will initially close the book at 15 confirmed places and put additional interest on a wait list until I get more than 20 to make hiring a second instructor economical. A second instructor will allow a further 15 places and the closer we get to a total of 30 participants the more economical it becomes.
Before the event you will need to have valid CTC or BC 3rd party insurance by way of membership of one of those organisations and be a signed up member of Witham Cycling which can be completed on the day if necessary. As a club we are affiliated with CTC and members of Witham Cycling can take up discounted individual associate membership here https://www.ctc.org.uk/join-membership/setup/AFMI using our club number 90063203 which provides 12 months of 3rd party insurance.

You will be responsible for getting yourself to the VeloPark. I will probably be travelling by train to Stratford and walking from there. At least 30 minutes needs to be allowed for walking from Stratford train station to the Velodrome. You should plan to arrive soon after 17:00 to allow for checking in, changing and getting set up on a bike.

To secure your place please send your £25 per person deposit to me. An easy way of doing this is to use PayPal at this link:
https://www.paypal.me/GrantHuggins/25
I will also take traditional cash in person, please PM to let me know you are interested.

In January we had 27 people enjoy the same experience, many of whom I expect will want to repeat it. For a little taste of the evening you can see a video here: https://youtu.be/zL79IrmblTg

[tippers_kiwi]

eeeek, Huggy, I meant to chat to you on Wednesday.

I can't make this one  . Needed at home and with my knees having been a bit sore recently I am a bit worried about flogging myself around the velodrome just over a week before the BCM.

[Oscar's dad]

Rayne crossroads works for me as a meeting place, if the Witham Peloton is heading north...otherwise the other side of Braintree, somewhere like Stisted, if not Braintree itself.

Riders can always peel off for home or be left & collected later at a pub en-route, if we go pretty much out and back.

How about playing it by ear this time, rather than a designated venue and see how far we get by 21:30?

Chaps, this Wednesday ... Facebook reminded me it was a year ago we agreed to allow Tomsk to lead us on a fast paced ride to Clare.  It was the fatefully evening AndyC333333333's bike decided it had other ideas ...



Should we have another go this Wednesday?  The Witham peloton leave Spa Road roundabout at 7:30 at meet Tomsk in Rayne and then ride as we planned to do 12 months ago ^^^???

[tedshred]

Can you arrange for us to be harrassed by a bunch of teenagers in a hot hatch again ?

[Oscar's dad]

Can you arrange for us to be harrassed by a bunch of teenagers in a hot hatch again ?

I'd forgotten about that. If we do go let's hope for a less dramatic evening.