I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but life (and death) gets in the way of important stuff like bike rides.
Anyway, for anyone who's not on the Fridays Mailing list (available by signing up at
www.fnrttc.co.uk), here's a quick summary of the night time delights awaiting you this year on the Friday Night Ride to the Coast:
New start point for London rides from South Bank
17 events
Five countries
Two separate weeks touring in Europe
Wales
Manchester
York
Hull
New routes to new destinations
Plus the “Classic” rides with which so many of you are familiar.
March 10 - London (South Bank) to Southend via J31 - the Southend route is many riders’ favourite because it's fairly flat.
April 7 - London (South Bank) to Whitstable. The dawn swoop down the hill from Faversham on to Graveney Marshes (site of the last ground battle by a foreign force on British soil) on deserted roads is the closest many of us come to racing. The halfway stop in Strood is renowned for the tea and sandwiches handmade by volunteers: proceeds go to the club’s favourite charity - Step & Learn
http://www.stepandlearn.org/.
Saturday April 29 - Sunday April 30 - Brussels to Ostend - Note this is a Saturday night and the Flemish Night Ride to the Kust (FNRttK). Numbers are limited to 14 in one group: this year it is oversubscribed so we’re running two separate groups.
May 5 - Bristol to Barry Island - A new ride (of special interest to pontists): one barrage, two countries, four bridges and no tolls.
June 2 - London (South Bank) to Shoreham - A great success when it was introduced last year.
June 9 - Swansea - After six years of the Cardiff-Swansea FNRttC and the addition to the calendar of a new ride from Bristol to Barry earlier in the year, the Swansea ride will be changing course in 2017.
June 23 - York to Hull - back in the list this year with the marvel of crossing the Humber Bridge, a fantastic experience in the early light. You’ll be aware that Hull is a European City of Culture in 2017, so we'll fit in nicely.
Saturday July 1 - Sunday July 9 - The Fridays Tour. You book your own travel and accommodation and the club suggests a route. A social and enjoyable week. We go in at Dunkirk and then via Maastricht and return to the UK via the Hook of Holland ferry to Harwich.
July 14 - London (South Bank) to Hayling Island - New route, new destination. Be aware that this ride is longer than usual at about 80 miles. R
August 4 - Manchester to Morecambe - Always popular. Some travel from London for the change of scenery. Think moorland, stars, hills.
August 25 - London (South Bank) to Whitstable.
September 1 - London (South Bank) to Bognor Regis.
Saturday September 9 - Sunday September 17 - Le Sightseer Tour. Easier overall and with shorter days than The Fridays Tour in July. Ferry from Portsmouth to Caen then we ride with luggage to a hotel and spent two nights there so we can have a day touring (together or not, as you prefer) and sightseeing without luggage. The next day we ride to a different hotel with luggage. Rinse and repeat until we return to Caen and take the ferry back to Portsmouth.
October 6 - London (South Bank) to Southend.
For November: we are looking at a ride, date and destination to be decided - remember, if it starts from London it'll start from South Bank.
December 16 SATURDAY Christmas night-time social ride. It'll start from South Bank and, like the Christmas night-time social ride of 2016, visit interesting places. There may, or may not, be an opportunity to drink beer at breakfast.
As mentioned above, all London rides are now going to start from the South Bank under the southern end of WATERLOO bridge directly in front of the entrance to the British Film Institute, which offers shelter and more importantly toilets.
