FNRttC PROVISIONAL 2012 dates

[StuartG]

The solution is simple. The only organisation who might lose money over this is Moonriders. So give FNRttC members free entry on their ride, no confusion, no loss to them, Dell gets to relax for a night and we get to see the dark side.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[StuAff]

The solution is simple. The only organisation who might lose money over this is Moonriders. So give FNRttC members free entry on their ride, no confusion, no loss to them, Dell gets to relax for a night and we get to see the dark side.

What could possibly go wrong?

That would be a giggle.....

 

[TimO]

... as we don’t simply follow in the tracks of others ...

... and yet, a London to Brighton to ride is hardly original, and neither is an organised (albeit lightly) overnight ride between those two locations as the FNRttC ably demonstrates.

I don't see that they'll cause us any issues, and if they think we may cause them some, they can choose to move their event. We've been doing a night ride on that date for substantially longer than they have (and I use "we" in a general sense, having not been doing FNRttCs as long as many others).

Addmitedly I didn't do the Genteel ride this year for medical reasons, and didn't do it last year because I did the DunRun instead, but I did do it the previous two years (iirc).

It doesn't sound like they'll be using the trains heavily, and we can always avoid any conflicts there by delaying our departure with the traditional rehydration session.

 

[StuartG]

Or to be sure we can easily be distinguished instead of compulsory helmets we could insist on (as a recent Brighton Ride) compulsory knee bandages ...

 

[dellzeqq]

well.......the first thing is that young Ed is clearly not very bright. In his position I'd have checked the date of the Dunwich Dynamo before organising a mass participation (they're looking for 1000 to 5000) night ride. Further, if the prospect of a clash with the FNRttC is a worry, I'd have thought an e-mail asking for our dates might have been in order.

So, setting that to one side, and setting aside the indignity of receiving an e-mail containing the word 'banter', there are some practical considerations. If the trains from Brighton are going to be full then we'd could hire a van to take bikes back to Grant Road, on the north side of Clapham Junction, or the NCP car park over Victoria. The van would pick up from Madeira Drive, and we'd cab it to the station an hour or so later and use our pre-booked cheapy tickets. Then again, we could simply go to Newhaven, and catch trains back via Lewes.

If, as I anticipate, there is a blanket ban on Southern trains then we'd do the van thing - not much good for Stu, but, hey, he's young.

I did have one random thought. Change the date in exchange for an FNRttC link on their home page.

Having checked the DD date with Rebecca I've e-mailed Ed and asked him for the Moonriders route, so that we can make adjustments to reduce the overlap. I think that's a pretty fair offer, but I suspect I'll just get a load of cobblers back.

The e-mails are below. I'm especially struck by the 'genuine safety and route management concerns' from somebody who's run one night ride of 240 (and some of them got lost) and proposes lifting it to 5000 in one go. If he does get 5000 riders, and staggers the start in a manner that leads to a lot of overtaking, then the descent from Turners Hill to Ardingly is going to be exciting in a m'learned friends kind of way. My offer to him is in large measure motivated by a concern for the safety of the FNRttC - we'd go via Back Lane.

The other possible snafu is that he's following so closely behind the BHF night ride. I hold out no hopes of the BHF getting their ride of 8500 right. I think there may well be trouble. If there is then he's got next to no time to assure Brighton and the police that they can do it better. The loopy staggered start thing inclines me to believe that will be an uphill task.

From: Simon Legg [mailto:fnrttc@yahoo.co.uk] Subject: 29th June 2012Dear Moonriders

I see that your 2012 ride is on 29th June

I thought that I'd let you know that, traditionally, our Genteel Ride is on the Dunwich Dynamo weekend - and that is likely to be the last weekend in June. I'm given to understand that the DD date is not set in stone, and even that there is consideration of a 'holiday' for 2012. If the date changes our Genteel Ride will change with it.

http://fnrttc.blogsp...2012-dates.html

We will start, as ever, at Hyde Park Corner, and go to Brighton via Wallington, Chipstead, Reigate, Horley, Turners Hill, Ardingly, Slugwash Lane, Westmeaton, and Ditchling. The Genteel Ride is one of our smaller rides because most of the regulars are doing the Dynamo - it's designed for people who think the Dynamo is too tough or too timeconsuming. The Genteel Ride is a slow-moving affair - we'll leave at midnight, get to Horley at 3.20 or so and roll in to Brighton at about 7.45, having stopped for an hour for refreshments.



If this likely overlap bothers you, let me know. I'm sure we can work something out.



Simon Legg



From: Info @ Moon Riders <Info@MoonRiders.co.uk><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">Subject: RE: 29th June 2012Hey Simon,



Thanks for the heads-up – much appreciated. This could actually be quite a significant clash – as your route intercepts ours at Turner’s Hill – and our major stop is Ardingly. We are anticipating anywhere between 1000 to 5000 riders (not sure yet as registration only just going live) but we have many of the UK’s leading charities on board so anticipate quite an uplift on the 2011 registrations when we only had 5 official charity partners.

We have already notified all authorities en-route, Safety Advisory Group, councils, and Police – and at the time I was unaware of any clashing event – and especially not another night ride on a conflicting route.

I would have genuine safety and route management concerns with 2 rides of this nature operating on the same date/proposed routing?

I think the FNRTTC is a great event and I know we have exchanged some banter on the forums previously – but I wonder if we might look at this seriously as and when the DD confirms its 2012 dates. The weekend prior and subsequent are both event free as far as I am aware – I took the 29 Jun after consultation with Brighton Council, and in part to provide space between the main BHF day ride on 17 Jun. I wonder if you might consider not utilising 29 Jun – perhaps you could re-brand for 2012 as SNRTTC and go for 30 Jun!

Please keep us posted as to developments as I think it’s important we work together to ensure the safety of both our events, and of course to not saturate local authorities, residents, and other road users wherever possible.

Thanks again for the notification – it’s appreciated.

Ed

Ed Cervantes-Watson
Commercial Manager
Action Challenge
3a, Aberdeen Studios
22-24 Highbury Grove
London, N5 2EA
T: +44 207 354 1465
M: +44 7736 770 220
SKYPE: ACUK Ed




Ed
I've got a friend at Southwark Cyclists, and she confirms that the DD is on 30th June, so we will be going to Brighton on the 29th - there's no question about that. This will be the sixth year of the Genteel Ride and some people come out just for that one night in the year. There are others who do the FNRttC and the DD 'back to back'.
If you send me your route I'll try and work something out. 40 years of riding those roads has given me upwards of a dozen variations, although the nature of the Genteel ride rules out Devil's Dyke. We're not necessarily stuck on Turners Hill or Ardingly, but we will be going down Slugwash Lane and then turning east to Streat and Westmeaton, before climbing the Beacon
Simon

 

[dellzeqq]

We'd forget to go to Ally Pally for the start?

well there you have it. A dumbass start point if ever there was one. Their 2011 edition had a right turn at the northern end of Blackfriars Bridge - dangerous and easy to miss (and some people did, indeed, miss it...). I'd love to see the risk assessment on that one.

 

[frank9755]

well.......the first thing is that young Ed is clearly not very bright. In his position I'd have checked the date of the Dunwich Dynamo before organising a mass participation (they're looking for 1000 to 5000) night ride.

I'd been forced by the quality of evidence he provided in the only-too-brief 'banter' on the forum to form a similar conclusion.

But perhaps we are being unfair and, despite our attempts to warn him, he remained distracted from Dunwich by focusing all of his mighty powers on avoiding a clash with the hitherto extremely low-profile Dulwich Dynamo...?

 

[User10571]

20 seconds in.....

 

[dellzeqq]

20 seconds in.....

what a t**t!

I've found the route. It's mental. As in law-suit-waiting-to-happen

 

[ianrauk]

20 seconds in.....

LOL... oh dear

 

[Flying Dodo]

Officially the first night ride from London to Brighton. WTF!!!!

 

[MacB]

all for charity though isn't it, not like Ed and Co are trying to monetise something people can do for free and make a tidy living out of it

Oh and I fully expect his first response would have been to look into legal possibilities for getting the FNRTTC shut down

As for the first night ride garbage and trying to create a unique hook for themselves....that's just blatant lying, no-one could be incompetent enough to setup something like this without doing some homework and discovering the numerous night rides in existence.

 

[StuAff]

If, as I anticipate, there is a blanket ban on Southern trains then we'd do the van thing - not much good for Stu, but, hey, he's young.

The blanket ban, if they impose it, shouldn't apply to folders (though while they feel the need to ban bikes on the whole network, pass..) And if it does, somehow, I could always take my bike bag. It's luggage then

 

[StuAff]

Handily they disabled comments on that stupid video. Heaven forbid someone should correct their appaling errors....

'Ditchling Beacon or something'....WTF. I don't think he said a sensible word in the whole dreadful publicity stunt.

 

[User10571]

...I've found the route. It's mental. As in law-suit-waiting-to-happen

250 riders.

Through King's Cross one way system.
Before midnight.

Nice.