How to gain experience of riding through the night.......... on a Friday

[telstarbox]

My group are doing an overnight London - Cambridge - King's Lynn this weekend (starting Saturday lunchtime).

Free and open to all

https://www.facebook.com/events/1803654016550897/

[mmmmartin]

Thanks for reminding me: the Fridays' next ride is to Whitstable on April 7.
http://fridaynightridetothecoast.blogspot.co.uk/p/april-7-2017.html

[Adam]

For anyone planning on coming along on the FNRttC rides starting from Bristol on 5th May, Swansea on 9th June or York on 23rd June, cheap train tickets should now be available. If you book using either Hull Trains, Virgin East Coast or TransPennine Express websites, you can also reserve a bike space as well.

A cunning plan if you can't get a bike space, is when you get to the station, take your wheels off, wrap the frame and wheels in plastic bin bags with some tape, and then it can go in the luggage area, as it's not a bike!

More details of the rides can be found at www.fnrttc.co.uk and registration usually opens about 4 weeks before the actual ride with a link for the ride on the website.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What should happen when you sign up to one of these rides? I filled in the registration form for the ride (not to join the Fridays, I'd already done that) a week ago and was kind of expecting some sort of confirmatory email. If I haven't heard anything, does that mean my mail has gone astray, I'm persona non grata for some reason or is it just normal?

[mrcharly-YHT]

If you use Gmail, then you can expect gmail to filter the responses off to either 'promotions' or 'spam' for some reason.

[Cudzoziemiec]

So there should have been a response. I don't use gmail, but I checked my spam and it's not there. Perhaps I'll register again.

[mmmmartin]

What should happen when you sign up to one of these rides?

You'll get an email from the ride leader nearer to the time. There's no automatic response.
This is because when you fill in the form your responses go on a Google Docs sheet. The ride leader takes the email addresses from that and emails everyone - you can then email back with questions etc. Email is the main way we keep in touch: not everyone is on every forum. I can check you're on the form, but I need to sign out of all Google accounts, sign in to that one, check, then  sign out and back into the other ones I use more often.)

This question about having an email response is asked frequently, and we haven't worked out a way of sending an automated reply. Something along the lines of "thanks for your details, we'll get back to you nearer the time" would be enough but we don't know how to do that. Not sure if it can be done automatically. Some rides have almost 100 people, all have about 50, and asking a (London-based) ride leader to send an individual response to everyone, as well as riding a (York-to-Hull) recce, sorting out the halfway stop etc, is a bit much.

[Kim]

I can check you're on the form, but I need to sign out of all Google accounts, sign in to that one, check, then  sign out and back into the other ones I use more often.

This is what the browser's porn private/incognito mode is for.  The private session is sandboxed and won't affect your existing logins.  So you open an incognito window, log into the relevant google account, do whatever and then close the window.  Your normal browser state in the other windows is unaffected.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What should happen when you sign up to one of these rides?

You'll get an email from the ride leader nearer to the time. There's no automatic response.
This is because when you fill in the form your responses go on a Google Docs sheet. The ride leader takes the email addresses from that and emails everyone - you can then email back with questions etc. Email is the main way we keep in touch: not everyone is on every forum. I can check you're on the form, but I need to sign out of all Google accounts, sign in to that one, check, then  sign out and back into the other ones I use more often.)

This question about having an email response is asked frequently, and we haven't worked out a way of sending an automated reply. Something along the lines of "thanks for your details, we'll get back to you nearer the time" would be enough but we don't know how to do that. Not sure if it can be done automatically. Some rides have almost 100 people, all have about 50, and asking a (London-based) ride leader to send an individual response to everyone, as well as riding a (York-to-Hull) recce, sorting out the halfway stop etc, is a bit much.

Yes, some sort of "out of office" message. I certainly wasn't anticipating a personalised reply!

[mmmmartin]

This is what the browser's porn private/incognito mode is for.  The private session is sandboxed and won't affect your existing logins.  So you open an incognito window, log into the relevant google account, do whatever and then close the window.  Your normal browser state in the other windows is unaffected.

Aha! I just stumbled on this while checking something else. Thanks, I'd forgotten
Anyway - if you go http://fridaynightridetothecoast.blogspot.co.uk/p/welcome.html you'll see a link to our Christmas ride - which is on a Saturday night, December 16. It's a social, easy, 30 miles, and we go past various interesting points that this year are linked to Christmas. You can also go there and sign up for the emails - there'll be one in the next few weeks detailing dates for the rides next year.

[Kim]

Anyway - if you go http://fridaynightridetothecoast.blogspot.co.uk/p/welcome.html you'll see a link to our Christmas ride - which is on a Saturday night, December 16. It's a social, easy, 30 miles, and we go past various interesting points that this year are linked to Christmas.

Just to point out that this factoid has been conspicuously absent from publicity materials so far.  I was wondering.

[mmmmartin]

Just to point out that this factoid has been conspicuously absent from publicity

Email said: "BUT don't be confused and turn up on Friday as you will be disappointed and be 24 hours too early. As is tradition with our Christmas Ride, we meet on Saturday night instead."
When you sign answer the questions in the form, at the top it says: "FNRttC Christmas Ride Saturday 16th December 2017 - Olaf's German Christmas - Application Form"

I'm worried now.

[mattc]

<clicks ... >

So ... where does it go? Makes quite a difference for non-Londonites

[It's our work Xmas do on the Friday, so I might be up for a massive lie-in and a late start ... ]

[mmmmartin]

The email says we start at the usual place, then:
"The half way point will be St Pancras Station. This offers food and coffee plus shelter from the weather. Once on the road again we head to Regents Park for a spin and a chance to get the blood flowing before seeing the Christmas Lights and some other Germanic links......  The ride will finish at The Willow Walk at 25 Wilton Road opposite Victoria Railway Station"

It's 30 miles around London, with a break to get out of the weather at St Pancras. It's midwinter, so there's a chance to get out of the weather.

[Kim]

Just to point out that this factoid has been conspicuously absent from publicity

Email said: "BUT don't be confused and turn up on Friday as you will be disappointed and be 24 hours too early. As is tradition with our Christmas Ride, we meet on Saturday night instead."
When you sign answer the questions in the form, at the top it says: "FNRttC Christmas Ride Saturday 16th December 2017 - Olaf's German Christmas - Application Form"

I'm worried now.

Er, I bolded the "It's a social, easy, 30 miles" bit.

ETA: Oh, I see.  I just noticed the 'Saturday' was red in your post.  I'm protanopic, and it didn't stand out against black text.  Anyway, that wasn't the bit I was drawing attention to.  You've been abundantly clear that it's on the Saturday night, don't worry.  It's the how far and how fast that wasn't stated.

[mmmmartin]

It's the how far and how fast that wasn't stated.

Ah, sorry, my bad. Yes, good point, not thought of that. Thanks.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I hadn't realized it was "a social 30 miles" though I had seen it was on a Saturday. Perhaps I didn't bother reading further because, well, it's London. Anyway, it coincides with our Christmas meal ride in Bristol, but coincidentally on Saturday I bumped into someone (mending a puncture, after I'd had my first but before my second) who I last saw on a FNRttC from Bristol to Barry Island. Which had penguins but no reindeer.

[mattc]

The email says we start at the usual place, then:
"The half way point will be St Pancras Station. This offers food and coffee plus shelter from the weather. Once on the road again we head to Regents Park for a spin and a chance to get the blood flowing before seeing the Christmas Lights and some other Germanic links......  The ride will finish at The Willow Walk at 25 Wilton Road opposite Victoria Railway Station"

It's 30 miles around London, with a break to get out of the weather at St Pancras. It's midwinter, so there's a chance to get out of the weather.

Ta 

(sounds like a well-chosen itinerary. If the weather's bearable I MIGHT fancy it ...)