FNRttC Manchester to Morecambe June 8th
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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clarion
Guru
- Location
- Exiled from Hyperborea
Thanks Kim. I know I asked you earlier, but you seemed pretty tired, and I didn't think you were going to get a chance, which is why I put out a more general request. I appreciate your data.
ianmac62
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
Thanks, Simon! Thanks, Andrew of Manchester! Truth to tell, it was slightly damp. Home and in bath by 6.30 p.m. 80 miles all told. This was the driest part of the ride:
benborp
Guru
- Location
- further from Penge
An epic ride! Great leadership and lots of good teamwork on demanding roads in demanding conditions. I really enjoyed meeting (yet) more forumers. I'm also very glad that rather than having to rush back to work as is normally the case I could take part in the post ride socialising PLUS get some bonus miles in. Now sitting waiting to check in for my ferry. Stayed in Lancaster until about three then made my way to Liverpool, arriving at around seven. First thirty miles flew by then all the speed was knocked out of my legs at Preston. Mainly due to turning straight into the wind but also because I had little choice put to pick my way through the debris on the verge of horrible A roads with rubbish surfaces. My Garmin appears to have died a horrible death. I just managed to follow my planned route to the outskirts of Liverpool before it went utterley berserk. I've lost all my data from the ride but my bare minimum would be 180 miles before pub detours and other excursions. A great way to see in my fortieth year!
Andrew Br
Still part of the team !
- Location
- Chorlton Cum Hardy
Blimey Ben, I hadn't realised that you were riding back to Liverpool for a ferry.
Great effort, and on that heavy bike as well..............
At some stage, I'll write more and post some (largely) crap photos.
Before that, can I say thanks to you all for your company, humour, fortitude and tolerance.
And also thanks for your choice and maintenance of your (bike) equipment.
Only two punctures in those conditions was, truly, remarkable.
.
Great effort, and on that heavy bike as well..............
At some stage, I'll write more and post some (largely) crap photos.
Before that, can I say thanks to you all for your company, humour, fortitude and tolerance.
And also thanks for your choice and maintenance of your (bike) equipment.
Only two punctures in those conditions was, truly, remarkable.
.
clarion
Guru
- Location
- Exiled from Hyperborea
Two?
Andrew Br
Still part of the team !
- Location
- Chorlton Cum Hardy
If I've got this right: Chris (Landslide ?) had one very near to the mid-way stop and, with commendable style, repaired it between sandwiches in the cafe.
Then there was Adam's "catastrophic mudguard failure Armageddon with, token, added puncture" on the way from Morecambe to
I'm not counting Suzie's soft tyre as we left the cafe. Simon soon had it hard again.
Did I miss any ?
.
kimble
Veteran
Peter (not, I think, of this parish) had a mysterious rear brake issue, which we suspect may be simply excessive wear of cheesy OEM pads, but it was easily resolved by taking up some cable slack and didn't cause significant delay. But it seems that it was electronics that really suffered on this ride:
My Ixon IQ conked out at the worst possible moment (just before the major climb, when I needed the battery light to supplement the meagre output of the dynamo at twiddling speed). And it seems that both dellzeqq and mcshroom had water-related phone gremlins (with mcshroom's deciding to call me repeatedly this evening).
Benborp: is your Garmin failure water related? In my experience Garmins are one of the few bike gadgets that can pass the "overnight in a bucket of water" reliability test.
Anyone else have a gadget failure?
My Ixon IQ conked out at the worst possible moment (just before the major climb, when I needed the battery light to supplement the meagre output of the dynamo at twiddling speed). And it seems that both dellzeqq and mcshroom had water-related phone gremlins (with mcshroom's deciding to call me repeatedly this evening).
Benborp: is your Garmin failure water related? In my experience Garmins are one of the few bike gadgets that can pass the "overnight in a bucket of water" reliability test.
Anyone else have a gadget failure?
clarion
Guru
- Location
- Exiled from Hyperborea
I only knew about Chris' puncture.
mcshroom
Bionic Subsonic
- Location
- Egremont, Cumbria
My phone went haywire and started randomly phoning the recent contacts list. Seems to be ok now it's been dismantled and dried out though.
ianmac62
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
Now they are ringing the bells; soon they will be wringing their hands.
ianmac62
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
First trial in anger of Evolve Waterproof Case. Phone and battery charger, held in front pocket of my jacket, survived completely dry.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
I didn't realise we'd had any punctures. Certainly me and Charlie TECing at the back were untroubled at least till I turned for home at Longridge
my phone went random too - sorry Andrew Br.
You could describe this as an awful ride. I would struggle to promote the attractions of cycling through suburban Bolton at two in the morning on a good night, but were I asked to sell it with a headwind and heavy rain thrown in, I would have had to be on top form. I'd have called to mind Ishmael, Dr. Livingstone and Fawcett of the Amazon, and even then, been only mildly hopeful of success,
None of that was needed. Eighteen intrepid souls turned up, although, for one, the proximity of home and bed in Bury proved a temptation too far. I'd decided early on that the ride over the Roman Road from Bury to Blackburn was too much to ask in the conditions, and Andrew stepped up to guide us west and north to Bolton, Darwen and Blackburn. Now, while this wasn't epic, it wasn't easy either. The road goes up to almost nine hundred feet, and when the streetlights gave out the mist closed in. As you'd expect, the hills strung the ride out, and our progress measured in miles per hour was slow - but measured in endeavour it was titanic. I was mightily impressed by Miranda's new climbing style, which is going to stand her in good stead for decades to come, and awestruck by Susie's persistence and cheefulness. Kim went through the knee pain barrier, despite getting wetter than wet, Martin bimbled on and on despite feeling the effects from his pre-ride excursion, and Charlie was the model of concern and efficiency at the back. Time and time again we'd wait at the top of a hill, and people would turn up in good time and better shape.
The sole letdown was yours truly. I'd drunk some mango juice on the train, and that turned out to be unwise - so, instead of disappearing behind hedges to pay the usual hommage to the god of prostate, I found myself retching time and time again, not getting rid until much later in the morning - I just hope the rain washed away what might be mistaken for the result of a very different kind of night out.
We left the worst of it beind us in Blackburn, and the descent in to the Ribble valley was just glorious. People were struck by the comestibles at Ribchester, but veterans of last year's stop, when it was in different hands, will have been less impressed - that's not a complaint, but just a recognition that, in a general way, our halfway stops are way beyond what one would expect. But, having warmed ourselves (I can't thank Ian McS enough for the loan of a base layer) we set about the last climb to Longridge in good spirits and in very decent time. From there we descended to the second, distinct half of the ride - lush pastures, burgeoning hedges, small rivers, humpback bridges over canals and, eventually, the imposing centre of Lancaster which shrugs off the curse of a truly, truly grotesque one way system, the kind of thing that does entirely for towns like Chester and Guildford.
Across the fancy Sustrans bridge, and down the cycle way to Morecambe, although keen students of these items will be relieved to read that it does indeed end nowhere, and that one then finds oneself on streets clearly planned by 'highways engineers' of a de-socialized teenager persuasion. Morecambe seafront might not be a collectors item, but you'll see a photograph of us with the towns favourite son. And then....the good folk of the Welcome Cafe, a workers co-op, came out of their front door and down to the seafront to beckon us in to Market Street, there to produce nice breakfasts in incredibly short order.
Fed and happy we made our way back to Lancaster railway station, only to be delayed by an egregious mudguard attack. You, gentle reader, will be pleased to read that Adam is now a changed man, a man who has journeyed from the dark vale of mudguard abuse to the sunny uplands of love for tyres in all their naked glory. Back, once again (or, indeed, twice again) in to the one way system a brief discussion between beer afficionados led us to the door of a Weatherspoons pub, where Susie bought a round for eleven with less money than one would normally spend on a bottle of prosecco. She's not got over the shock. After that it was but a short schlepp to the station, and, for us Londoners, a fantastically quick ride to the Great Wen.
A tough ride - certainly. A good ride - undoubtedly. Adam said it was the best FNRttC route of the lot, and, given that we missed out the truly awesome bit, that's no small compliment. I've failed to get the numbers for the two Manchester rides, and, if you'd have asked me at about two in the morning if we were going to do it again next year, there would have been only one answer, but, thinking back to the great spirit along those sixty five or so miles, it'll be a tough one to put in the box.
For now - thankyou one and all. You were just magnificent.
You could describe this as an awful ride. I would struggle to promote the attractions of cycling through suburban Bolton at two in the morning on a good night, but were I asked to sell it with a headwind and heavy rain thrown in, I would have had to be on top form. I'd have called to mind Ishmael, Dr. Livingstone and Fawcett of the Amazon, and even then, been only mildly hopeful of success,
None of that was needed. Eighteen intrepid souls turned up, although, for one, the proximity of home and bed in Bury proved a temptation too far. I'd decided early on that the ride over the Roman Road from Bury to Blackburn was too much to ask in the conditions, and Andrew stepped up to guide us west and north to Bolton, Darwen and Blackburn. Now, while this wasn't epic, it wasn't easy either. The road goes up to almost nine hundred feet, and when the streetlights gave out the mist closed in. As you'd expect, the hills strung the ride out, and our progress measured in miles per hour was slow - but measured in endeavour it was titanic. I was mightily impressed by Miranda's new climbing style, which is going to stand her in good stead for decades to come, and awestruck by Susie's persistence and cheefulness. Kim went through the knee pain barrier, despite getting wetter than wet, Martin bimbled on and on despite feeling the effects from his pre-ride excursion, and Charlie was the model of concern and efficiency at the back. Time and time again we'd wait at the top of a hill, and people would turn up in good time and better shape.
The sole letdown was yours truly. I'd drunk some mango juice on the train, and that turned out to be unwise - so, instead of disappearing behind hedges to pay the usual hommage to the god of prostate, I found myself retching time and time again, not getting rid until much later in the morning - I just hope the rain washed away what might be mistaken for the result of a very different kind of night out.
We left the worst of it beind us in Blackburn, and the descent in to the Ribble valley was just glorious. People were struck by the comestibles at Ribchester, but veterans of last year's stop, when it was in different hands, will have been less impressed - that's not a complaint, but just a recognition that, in a general way, our halfway stops are way beyond what one would expect. But, having warmed ourselves (I can't thank Ian McS enough for the loan of a base layer) we set about the last climb to Longridge in good spirits and in very decent time. From there we descended to the second, distinct half of the ride - lush pastures, burgeoning hedges, small rivers, humpback bridges over canals and, eventually, the imposing centre of Lancaster which shrugs off the curse of a truly, truly grotesque one way system, the kind of thing that does entirely for towns like Chester and Guildford.
Across the fancy Sustrans bridge, and down the cycle way to Morecambe, although keen students of these items will be relieved to read that it does indeed end nowhere, and that one then finds oneself on streets clearly planned by 'highways engineers' of a de-socialized teenager persuasion. Morecambe seafront might not be a collectors item, but you'll see a photograph of us with the towns favourite son. And then....the good folk of the Welcome Cafe, a workers co-op, came out of their front door and down to the seafront to beckon us in to Market Street, there to produce nice breakfasts in incredibly short order.
Fed and happy we made our way back to Lancaster railway station, only to be delayed by an egregious mudguard attack. You, gentle reader, will be pleased to read that Adam is now a changed man, a man who has journeyed from the dark vale of mudguard abuse to the sunny uplands of love for tyres in all their naked glory. Back, once again (or, indeed, twice again) in to the one way system a brief discussion between beer afficionados led us to the door of a Weatherspoons pub, where Susie bought a round for eleven with less money than one would normally spend on a bottle of prosecco. She's not got over the shock. After that it was but a short schlepp to the station, and, for us Londoners, a fantastically quick ride to the Great Wen.
A tough ride - certainly. A good ride - undoubtedly. Adam said it was the best FNRttC route of the lot, and, given that we missed out the truly awesome bit, that's no small compliment. I've failed to get the numbers for the two Manchester rides, and, if you'd have asked me at about two in the morning if we were going to do it again next year, there would have been only one answer, but, thinking back to the great spirit along those sixty five or so miles, it'll be a tough one to put in the box.
For now - thankyou one and all. You were just magnificent.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
By the standards of tough FNRttCs (and I think I've done at least one or two of those!) that was certainly up there (as I might have been, various other factors conspiring to ensure my absence). Keep this one out of the box and I might just make it sometime......
Well done everyone!!
Well done everyone!!
