FNRTTC Dates for 2009

[Adrian]

Lifted from elsewhere

Simon L3

 

Friday Night Ride to the Coast 2009
« on: September 14, 2008, 15:22 »   
13 March (cold, fast and small)
9 April (Thursday)
8 May (probably a biggy, with lots of new riders)
5 June (ditto)
3 July
8 August
4 September
2 October
30 October
27 November (straight through Croydon and Horley for tough people only)

ideas welcome.

I'm thinking that there should be two to Southend (May and either September or October), one or two to Whitstable, one or two  to Newhaven (perhaps March or November), and between four and six to Brighton. There are other possibles, such as Deal, but see below re teastops

My first thougt is Newhaven, Brighton, Southend, Brighton, genteel ride to Brighton, Whitstable, Southend, Brighton, Brighton.

Three factors predominate. Midway teastops are in short supply (TT is tops if he's prepared to put up with us, Cabin Cafe is excellent, Gatwick works up to about 25, Junction 31 would be bearable with 50). Breakfast stops are critical (hangs head in shame as the word 'Shoreham' is whispered...). Trains home should be plentiful - particularly between May and August. Distance is important - think how we might have come unstuck last night if we'd been on a 70 miler.....

you can PM me or e-mail me on simon_legg@yahoo.co.uk if you have an idea that you'd rather not air in public.

I'm not sure why it is that only the tough can pass through Croydon or Horley, perhaps I've become inured to it.

[TimO]

...
I'm not sure why it is that only the tough can pass through Croydon or Horley, perhaps I've become inured to it.

I've not experimented out that way yet, but I think going south out of Croydon you tend to hit some hilly bits, although I'm not sure how they compare with the other routes going south out of London.

There is also the question of the weather, it's starting to get a little bit nippy by November.

[Jurek]

I note with interest that July's FNRttC and the Dun Run once again share the same weekend.
Unsurprising really, given that both are determined by the proximity of a full moon.
As you were.
 

[TimO]

I note with interest that July's FNRttC and the Dun Run once again share the same weekend.
Unsurprising really, given that both are determined by the proximity of a full moon.

If we could convince Simon to do a Dunwich FNRttC, some people could do London->Dunwich->London->Dunwich->London in 48 hours.

[FatBloke]

I note with interest that July's FNRttC and the Dun Run once again share the same weekend.
Unsurprising really, given that both are determined by the proximity of a full moon.

If we could convince Simon to do a Dunwich FNRttC, some people could do London->Dunwich->London->Dunwich->London in 48 hours.

I'd prefer Dulwich!   

[TimO]

I wondered what was in range, so drew a circle on a map, centred on London.

Click image for bigness

The red dot is Eastbourne, and is also used for the radius of the map.  I've marked other current or soon to be used destinations in green, Shoreham, Brighton, Southend, and Whitstable.  Oxford, Cambridge, and Ipswich are all in pink.

Ipswich is clearly too far out, but Oxford and Cambridge are just within the circle.  Of course this takes no account of hills, or how busy & direct roads are.

Interestingly Hastings is just about within range (other issues aside).

Dunwich (by request) is in yellow near the top right hand corner.

[Jasper the surreal cyclist]

Bognor, what about Bognor?

[αdαmsκι]

I'm not sure why it is that only the tough can pass through Croydon or Horley, perhaps I've become inured to it.

That will be because it's the November ride, when it will be cold, rather than anything against Croydon or Horely.

[clarion]

Bognor, what about Bognor?

Bugger Bognor

[mattc]

I wondered what was in range, so drew a circle on a map, centred on London.
...
The red dot is Eastbourne, and is also used for the radius of the map.  I've marked other current or soon to be used destinations in green, Shoreham, Brighton, Southend, and Whitstable.  Oxford, Cambridge, and Ipswich are all in pink.

Whilst accepting the fact that Ox & Cam are only linked to the coast by very long waterways, I would say that either seems a much more appealing destination than Southend.
(I don't know Ipswich, so will refrain from saying how unappealing it sounds!)
Cambridge would be the quicker route, I guess.

[sas]

There's some nice routes to Oxford through the Chilterns, might be a bit hilly though.

[bikenerd]

Oxford would be good for me as I could get the bus to London and ride home!
This is entirely selfish obviously but it would work for a number of other reasons:
1.  There's plenty of places to get breakfast
2.  The train goes straight to Paddington
3.  The bus (Oxford Tube) is another alternative for getting home.  The buses have space for about 3 bikes.

[Jasper the surreal cyclist]

Bognor, what about Bognor?

Bugger Bognor

Phbbbbbt!!!

[clarion]

Calm down dear - its just a commercial quote!

[mattc]

Oxford would be good for me as I could get the bus to London and ride home!
This is entirely selfish obviously but it would work for a number of other reasons:
1.  There's plenty of places to get breakfast
2.  The train goes straight to Paddington
3.  The bus (Oxford Tube) is another alternative for getting home.  The buses have space for about 3 bikes.

Do you think a FNRttL* from Oxford would be a goer? Points 1-3 would all apply!

I've looked at Oxford-> South Coast routes, and the problem is mainly their length (plus climbing); Cyclox do it every June, but set off at 9pm to cover the ground. For fit/experienced riders only, I feel.

*... Ride to That London.

[bikenerd]

Do you think a FNRttL* from Oxford would be a goer? Points 1-3 would all apply!

I've looked at Oxford-> South Coast routes, and the problem is mainly their length (plus climbing); Cyclox do it every June, but set off at 9pm to cover the ground. For fit/experienced riders only, I feel.

*... Ride to That London.

I think it could work and I might be up for it.  However, London isn't my favourite place in the world, mainly due to the traffic.  I'm always happier leaving it than entering it!   I think I'd prefer to go somewhere else

Oxford -> Christchurch is about 90 miles and goes through the New Forest, which could be fun.  But it would be a tough route for the inexperienced cyclist.  Where does the Cyclox route go to?  Getting home from Christchurch might be hard work.
Oxford -> Weston Supermare is about 80 miles and quite a lot will be flat, especially the Vale of the White Horse at the beginning.  Getting the train from Weston would be straight forward.  Might have to change at Didcot.

If you want to set up a ride and need a hand then let me know.

[sas]

Do you think a FNRttL* from Oxford would be a goer? Points 1-3 would all apply!

I've looked at Oxford-> South Coast routes, and the problem is mainly their length (plus climbing); Cyclox do it every June, but set off at 9pm to cover the ground. For fit/experienced riders only, I feel.

*... Ride to That London.

I think it could work and I might be up for it.  However, London isn't my favourite place in the world, mainly due to the traffic.  I'm always happier leaving it than entering it!   I think I'd prefer to go somewhere else

Oxford -> Christchurch is about 90 miles and goes through the New Forest, which could be fun.  But it would be a tough route for the inexperienced cyclist.  Where does the Cyclox route go to?  Getting home from Christchurch might be hard work.
Oxford -> Weston Supermare is about 80 miles and quite a lot will be flat, especially the Vale of the White Horse at the beginning.  Getting the train from Weston would be straight forward.  Might have to change at Didcot.

If you want to set up a ride and need a hand then let me know.

I've never heard of a Cyclox ride to the South coast, are you thinking of the Dorset Dash (100 miles through the night from Oxford to Christchurch, I've got the route if you want it)?
Cycling into London should be fine early on a Saturday morning.

[mattc]

I've never heard of a Cyclox ride to the South coast, are you thinking of the Dorset Dash (100 miles through the night from Oxford to Christchurch, I've got the route if you want it)?
Cycling into London should be fine early on a Saturday morning.

That's the one! I don't know the oxford groups (apart from the CTC), so I just guessed it was related to Cyclox in some way. james from the CTC has some sort of connection with the guy who runs the DD ("Sim" ?)  He sent me the route last year. Unfortunately I have been busy both years so have missed it.

A long way for many, and I would imagine it's harder than the Dunwich Dynamo, despite being shorter. Riding into London sounds a lot easier!

[TimO]

Oxford -> Christchurch is about 90 miles and goes through the New Forest, which could be fun.  But it would be a tough route for the inexperienced cyclist.  ...

The trouble with that, is that it's a bit against the ethos of the FNRttC, which seems to be about getting people to do these rides who have never done such a thing before.  Several of the comments at another place say things like "...It was my first CTC ride, first night ride and first trip to Southend..." and "...my first, but probably not last FNRttc. A gentle introduction with excellent weather...".

Whilst some of the rides can be longer, and hence slightly faster than others, I don't think we want to drift into the realms of "tough for the inexperienced".  If people want to do more challenging rides, it's probably best if that is left to other mechanisms, and the FNRttC is kept as a relatively easy ride, achievable by most people who've done some cycling, but not gone on longer jaunts before.

If nothing else, the risk with a significantly harder ride, is that the TECs will end up being stuck with a greater number of progressively more exhausted people, and the whole ride will end up falling behind schedule.  I suspect one of the problems with being at the back all the time, is that you never get a chance to catch you breath back and recover.  Luckily, even though I've done little distance cycling for quite a few years, the 20+ commuting miles I do a day means that I've never had to suffer at the rear of the FNRttCs, but I feel for those who haven't yet achieved enough fitness to try and stay up nearer the front.

Having said all that, I don't think there is too much of an issue with the occasional ride which isn't actually to the coast, but I think the level of difficulty has to be moderated.

[teethgrinder]

Riding out of London with a midnight start makes more sense to me because it's easier for everyone from outside of London to get to. Look at a map. The railways and roads radiate from London. Oxford, or wherever are on lines from London. OK if you live on that line or in London, but not so good if you are from somewhere else.
I'm considering doing a FNRT Milton Keynes (50 miles direct, but it'll be a bit more) in the winter.
Not too sure because I don't know a good route out of London, unless you all fancy the Edgeware Road.
Not sure if anyone would want to do the ride either.
We'd be using quite a lot of country lanes too, which may not be too clever in mid winter. Maybe a main road bash (A5) all the way?
Oxford wouldn't be all that hilly a route. You'd be going more with the grain of the Chilterns and along the valleys. I think it'd be a good route. More scenic than Cambridge.

As a seperate issue, I'm wondering if there would be a demand for longer rides for hardier riders from London starting at midnight?

[rogerzilla]

A FNRttC from Swindon is possible - choice of Weston-super-Mare, Bournemouth, or, for the truly adventurous, across the bridge to Cardiff.  They all have decent railway links and are the right sort of distance but they would be hard man rides - there be hills round here.

Swindon is easy peasy by train from London or South Wales - hard to get to from north or south, though, beacuse Dr Beeching closed some of the useful lines.

[TimO]

...As a seperate issue, I'm wondering if there would be a demand for longer rides for hardier riders from London starting at midnight?

It depends what you mean by hardier.  I don't mind the cold particularly, you can always wrap up against it, and cycling soon warms you up.  If hardier means cycling in the persistently precipitating conditions, then no, I don't think I'd be up for it.  Likewise, I couldn't achieve a massive increase in speed, so a very fast run would be out.  I haven't done enough distance cycling to know what my limit is, but I can only average about 16mph on my commute (although this is largely limited by the 50+ traffic lights).  The normal FNRttC bimble of 10-11mph is easy enough, and I suspect I could ramp this up a bit, so long as I wasn't expected to keep it up on any steep hills ("Fnarr fnarr...").

Having said all that, for something a bit longer, and faster (see Fnarr above), I'd be interested.

[teethgrinder]

...As a seperate issue, I'm wondering if there would be a demand for longer rides for hardier riders from London starting at midnight?

It depends what you mean by hardier.  I don't mind the cold particularly, you can always wrap up against it, and cycling soon warms you up.  If hardier means cycling in the persistently precipitating conditions, then no, I don't think I'd be up for it.  Likewise, I couldn't achieve a massive increase in speed, so a very fast run would be out.  I haven't done enough distance cycling to know what my limit is, but I can only average about 16mph on my commute (although this is largely limited by the 50+ traffic lights).  The normal FNRttC bimble of 10-11mph is easy enough, and I suspect I could ramp this up a bit, so long as I wasn't expected to keep it up on any steep hills ("Fnarr fnarr...").
Having said all that, for something a bit longer, and faster (see Fnarr above), I'd be interested.

About 100 miles, with 2 stops. Aiming for around a 0900 finish for breakfast.
Not a training session, just a social ride, but with fewer or even no roadside stops, unless needed.

[TimO]

About 100 miles, with 2 stops. Aiming for around a 0900 finish for breakfast.
Not a training session, just a social ride, but with fewer or even no roadside stops, unless needed.

Hmm, so say something like two & a half hours at around 12.5mph, then say half an hour rest, then the same again, before the a final two & a half hours or so to the end (actually it would have to be slightly faster or slightly longer, but those numbers aren't very round!).

That could be fun, although I'd have to think about dumping the pannier in favour of a more aerodynamic saddle bag!

[mattc]

Riding out of London with a midnight start makes more sense to me because it's easier for everyone from outside of London to get to. Look at a map. The railways and roads radiate from London. Oxford, or wherever are on lines from London. OK if you live on that line or in London, but not so good if you are from somewhere else.

You're right. London is best for everything. All rides should start and, ideally, finish there.

I'm just popping over to mention this on all the scottish Audax threads - I'm sure they'll see sense and get their silly northern arses down here pronto.

(They do have a lot broken glass down there, but you can't have everything ...)