FNRttC FNRttC to Newhaven, Dieppe and Paris 2011

[wanda2010]

Err, guys, what's the latest re the Newhaven leg? We roll into Brighton, relax/eat/drink then train it back?

 

[frank9755]

We breakfast in Newhaven. Adjourn to The Hope for a pint or two. Part company with the seafarers and wave the boat off. Then We roll into Brighton, relax/eat/drink then train it back/go to bed for a bit of a lie down.

Almost! I've just corrected a small error in your sequence of events!

 

[frank9755]

Fine, but I thought the boat sails at 09:30 so you'd be a bit pushed for time.

I just remember there was a lot of time after breakfast last year when people snoozed on the benches outside. I thought there'd be enough time for us to get a couple of Claudine-style pints in!

 

[wanda2010]

Can of MTFU on order .

Somebody carry a spare please.

 

[theclaud]

Right, I have been and done some research. The hill out of Newhaven is unavoidable, other than taking the train or the road back to Lewis. There is no coast path along the bit between Newhaven and Saltdean which doesn't involve scrambling up a gap in the cliff, with the chalk and flint equivalent of a scree slope. The Sustrans route actually goes slightly higher than the road and is just a rough track through a caravan park. We will just have to MTFU and get on with it, even those of us who are in fact women. The road is not the World's nicest. Peacehaven and Telscombe Cliffs are unlovely, but once we get onto the undercliff path from Saltdean it is all fine.

Well, really! Fancy making anyone go up a hill after breakfast to get to the beer. The very idea!

 

[Aperitif]

Right, I have been and done some research. The hill out of Newhaven is unavoidable, other than taking the train or the road back to Lewis. There is no coast path along the bit between Newhaven and Saltdean which doesn't involve scrambling up a gap in the cliff, with the chalk and flint equivalent of a scree slope. The Sustrans route actually goes slightly higher than the road and is just a rough track through a caravan park. We will just have to MTFU and get on with it, even those of us who are in fact women. The road is not the World's nicest. Peacehaven and Telscombe Cliffs are unlovely, but once we get onto the undercliff path from Saltdean it is all fine.

Yes. A tad tricky.

Well, really! Fancy making anyone go up a hill after breakfast to get to the beer. The very idea!

Yes. A tad tricky.

 

[frank9755]

Sounds like it could be described as 'pancake flat'!

 

[theclaud]

Sounds like it could be described as 'pancake flat'!

Bearing grudges is bad for you, you know. It makes people stressed, and stressed people are apt to do silly things. Breaking chains and suchlike.

Speaking of pancake flat, I just accidentally did a bit of the Dragon Sportive!

 

[frank9755]

Bearing grudges is bad for you, you know. It makes people stressed, and stressed people are apt to do silly things. Breaking chains and suchlike.

No grudges here: I'll get over it - the hill that is...

 

[Andrij]

Speaking of pancake flat, I just accidentally did a bit of the Dragon Sportive!

Wouldn't you rather ride the Mille Cymru?

 

[theclaud]

Wouldn't you rather ride the Mille Cymru?

Good Lord. Some folk just don't know when to stop. I just decided to nip over the Bwlch, and found that about a thousand roadies had had the same idea. Except that they went over it TWICE, and over the Rhigos, armed with only blue drinks and horrid gel thingies, whereas I did it once before zipping down to Ewenny for tea and a huge slab of cake. Still, nice to have a chat to them, and to see jerseys from anywhere and everywhere all over the Welsh hills.

 

[TimO]

Last year on this ride, I did the hill out of Newhaven on one leg, having done something odd to it on the ride down from London. It wasn't that difficult. A couple of the hills closer to Brighton were probably worse, although that may have just been my leg getting more painful. They can't easily be avoided either iirc.

It was a fun ride last year, I'm quite annoyed that I'm not allowed to do it this year.

 

[frank9755]

The guys on the Mille Cymru would have put away some good slabs of cake - and rather a lot of beans on toast - not just relied on funny chemical food. The ones I know on that list of finishers in your link tend to be pretty unassuming characters, but finishing a ride like that must put them up amongst the hard men of UK amateur sport.

But Des summed it up well when we were chatting over a beer the other morning in Mumbles: if you ride very long distances, don't tell non-cyclists (or even non-audax riders) as they won't be impressed, they'll just think you're a bit weird!

Tim, sorry you're a non-runner for Newhaven: it was a pleasant ride last year after the weather had turned round at Gatwick airport, that is. I've picked up that you're injured but not heard the details - hope you get fixed soon and are back up and about!

 

[TimO]

Tim, sorry you're a non-runner for Newhaven: it was a pleasant ride last year after the weather had turned round at Gatwick airport, that is. I've picked up that you're injured but not heard the details - hope you get fixed soon and are back up and about!

I'm not injured as such, but I've got to go into Hospital for an operation on Tuesday, and I'm under orders from the surgeon not to cycle for a couple of months. I'm not 100% certain about the time period, but I don't want to bugger things up and end up back in there!

 

[theclaud]

The guys on the Mille Cymru would have put away some good slabs of cake - and rather a lot of beans on toast - not just relied on funny chemical food. The ones I know on that list of finishers in your link tend to be pretty unassuming characters, but finishing a ride like that must put them up amongst the hard men of UK amateur sport.

But Des summed it up well when we were chatting over a beer the other morning in Mumbles: if you ride very long distances, don't tell non-cyclists (or even non-audax riders) as they won't be impressed, they'll just think you're a bit weird!

Nonsense. We understand really, but we just like to tease the FNRttC's House Mileage Nutters. Mind you, one of the riders yesterday, spotting that I didn't have a number or a lid, and was doubtless looking a bit suspiciously chirpy amidst a field of riders who'd already been up two f**k-off great mountains, said "Blimey, you're doing this for fun, arent you??", which did slightly make me wonder what everybody else might be doing it for. Actually I rather liked the vibe of the Dragon yesterday, and might even try and sign up for it next year. There were very few women on it. Still not wild about climbing the same mountain twice in one ride, though. And I heard that the start was carnage. I notice that the Mille Cymru is a Friday start - perhaps you should write to them to ask to bring it forward to a Wednesday so that you can go straight on to a FNRttC...