Folly?

[redddraggon]

You are going to have an adventure. A long one. Unless you are very, very lucky you are going to end up phoning a mate to rescue you or in a B&B. Have fun, and good luck.

He was going to do this "mission" all by himself. I've had to invite myself.

We both live in Manchester, so we'll have no one to come rescue us really. As he was going to do the journey on his own and he's stopping in Newcastle for the night, he doesn't me shooting off at the end If the time to the last train to Manchester is getting close.

I reckon I could the do 75miles easily in around 4.5 hours solo, but I reckon we'll be very lucky if he can do it in 9hrs.

 

[Rob3rt]

Hah, forks on backwards, there is some dude riding around on a BSO with the forks on the wrong way round in manchester. Ive seen him a few times now, its ridiculous,

 

[redddraggon]

He did very well but only had front suspension and not the whole hog.

I've tightened the nut thing on his rear suspension to stiffen it up, so it's basically just a front bouncer now.

 

[redddraggon]

Hah, forks on backwards, there is some dude riding around on a BSO with the forks on the wrong way round in manchester. Ive seen him a few times now, its ridiculous,

Are you doing the Intro ride on Saturday?

I was going to do the 100miler, but with this mission on the Saturday, I'll just be happy with 40 miler or so on Sunday.

 

[Arch]

If he really insists on jeans, would it be worth taking a spare pair of paddedd shorts on the sly, in case he realises he needs them after 20 miles? You could claim you always carried spares in case of... I dunno... seams splitting or something.

Bless him, he's keen. I think maybe you could make a whole lot of little preparatory arrangments to make it go well (look up some numbers of B and Bs etc, just in case, carry spares etc). If it goes ok, he need never know, if not, you can step in and save the day.

 

[Rob3rt]

Are you doing the Intro ride on Saturday?

I was going to do the 100miler, but with this mission on the Saturday, I'll just be happy with 40 miler or so on Sunday.

Yeah im doing the into 35 miler on sunday. Hoping its flat and not too quick because im riding it fixed without cleats and am running 5k race on the saturday.

 

[mcshroom]

Sounds like an effort that but it should be just about doable. Good luck, from the other side of Vindolanda onwards the route is easy enough but a couple sections around Vindolanda and on the way up Banks I would bet would be walking territory for you friend.

I'd suggest looking at your route that you don't do the switch back to Vindolanda (unless you want to visit) as if you go right at the T-junction in Scroggwood (N of Bardon Mill) then you have one steep section instead of three but other than that the route's about right. There's a gravelly drag up the cyclepath to the Roman museum before Haltwistle but in the main the surfaces are quite good (or were last month). Nice bit about that route is that there are bail points along a majority it as the railway line from Carlisle to Newcastle runs pretty close.

I haven't got a gps track but I do have the paper map if you'd like to borrow it.

 

[HLaB]

Well he just turned up to my place with his bike.

He'd built it himself. His fork was on backwards, his brakes didn't work and somehow he had managed to incorrectly assemble the skewer.

He can get a job for Hellfrauds

 

[redddraggon]

If he really insists on jeans, would it be worth taking a spare pair of paddedd shorts on the sly, in case he realises he needs them after 20 miles? You could claim you always carried spares in case of... I dunno... seams splitting or something.

Bless him, he's keen. I think maybe you could make a whole lot of little preparatory arrangments to make it go well (look up some numbers of B and Bs etc, just in case, carry spares etc). If it goes ok, he need never know, if not, you can step in and save the day.

Alas my only bike in Manchester is my road bike, my bike with a rack lives in N Wales, and I'm going to be struggling to carry the kit I need for myself for 12+hrs. I've told him to get a pump and some inner tubes as I only use and have 23mm 700c and my pump seems to only fit presta valves.

As long as I don't treat the ride like a training session, it should be pretty fun.

Yeah im doing the into 35 miler on sunday. Hoping its flat and not too quick because im riding it fixed without cleats and am running 5k race on the saturday.

You should fine. You're pretty fit right? There'll be no proper climbs anyway - just the short ups and downs you find in Cheshire.

 

[HLaB]

On his own I doubt he would of had any chance but as you're there, it'll still be an experience but it should be doable. Good Luck!

 

[Rob3rt]

You should fine. You're pretty fit right? There'll be no proper climbs anyway - just the short ups and downs you find in Cheshire.

Well I've cycled up to 50 mile with no issue so far so the distance shouldnt be a problem and I'm not to sluggish in terms of pace either, can easily hold 20-22mph, but riding a 85" fixed could be brutal if its a hilly route

I need to go buy some spare tubes and a little saddle bag from decathlon before sunday though, I have no spares and dont want to be a hindrance holding people up to patch up if I puncture. Need to give my chain a bit of a tensioning too.

Am I going to get laughed at riding a Fuji track bike with full aero bar setup?

 

[redddraggon]

The route won't be "hilly", there might be like the short drop and climb between Wilmslow and Styal, but this is an intro ride so it should be nothing strenuous*. You'll be fine, you won't hold anyone up. I'm sure that you'll probably find an intro ride far too easy and slow.

*My first ride with the club after returning to university last year in October was an intro ride, and upto now it's still the fastest club run I've done - but that was a one off, no one was dropped and everyone was pretty strong so the pace was acceptable - intro rides go at the pace of the slowest person.

 

[Rob3rt]

See you on Sunday then, assuming you make it back from the 100 miler with your mate in time, Hah.

Do you usually do chaingangs etc with the club? Or don't you race etc?

 

[redddraggon]

I don't race. Not that I don't want to. Haven't done as much riding as I did as an undergrad, now I'm office bound, so I've lost a lot of fitness since September and haven't been able to make the club TTs.

 

[Rob3rt]

I'm going to go a few rides and see who I'm best matched with for pace and maybe join in the rides and chaingangs with those people.

definitely excited to join the club and get involved though.