Forum Ride - Meriden Monogear Meander (55 miles, 16th October)

[ColinJ]

Sounds like fun. I'm not sure about this "monogear" business though: all my bikes have gears and are staying that way!

I think I'll join you, if you don't mind the number of gears being quadtripled! Though it's just after the Brighton FNRttC, so it does rather depend on me waking up in time...

Excellent!

I don't really mind how many gears people use - it was more a case of encouraging people to have a go on fixed or s/s than of 'banning' gears. On the last Meriden ride, dave_r, Mr Phoebus and Norry1 all said they would like to ride fixed this time. (Norry - I PMd you about this one - don't you fancy it?)

Foul slander that is!!! Just wait until we finally get you on a FNRttC!

It's the sleep deprivation thing that has me worried! Maybe I'll be tempted by the Manchester to Blackpool one next June? If so (and I am feeling fit enough), I might even do the equivalent of the ride I did in 2004 when I rode from Hebden Bridge to Manchester, did a Bike Events Manchester to Blackpool ride, then rode home again afterwards. It was about 140 miles in total and is my 3rd longest ride ever.

Apologies from here again. Excuses are:

1) Sunday - like to keep Sundays free, particulary the mornings. Too many been disrupted recently.
Fair enough! It's my sister's 60th birthday do on the Saturday so I preferred not to do it then.

2) Mum might be coming over that day.
Another good reason.

3) World Cup. Not seen enough games this year.
Record the games?

4) Only 1 bike in garage, and it has 18 gears.
Use any combination 1 to 18 of them, but just one at a time!

5) Need to start tapering my excercise ready for the 1/2 marathon in 7 days time (from the MMM)
Good luck with that! (My running days are over - dodgy hip joints.)

 

[ColinJ]

Currently we have ...

• ColinJ
• dave_r
• paulbalfe01@sky.com

And possibly:

• Norry1 (currently off the CycleChat radar somewhere, but welcome to join us if he reappears!)
• McWobble (if he can get out of bed in time!)

Plus:

• Anyone else who fancies a meandering ride in Warwickshire with some friendly CycleChatters, using 1 or more gears

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Currently we have ...

• ColinJ
• dave_r
• paulbalfe01@sky.com

And possibly:

• Norry1 (currently off the CycleChat radar somewhere, but welcome to join us if he reappears!)
• McWobble (if he can get out of bed in time!)

Plus:

• Anyone else who fancies a meandering ride in Warwickshire with some friendly CycleChatters, using 1 or more gears

I recon that will be it, we are a bit thin on the ground here, lazy buggers are too fond of their beds on a Sunday morning I've done a ride to the Redwings donkey Sanctury at Oxhill this morning, on the geared bike, 68 hard miles fighting the gale.

 

[ColinJ]

I recon that will be it, we are a bit thin on the ground here, lazy buggers are too fond of their beds on a Sunday morning

I've noticed! That's two Meriden forum rides on the trot where the response has been pretty minimal. I'm assuming that the main reason is that most of the Midlands CycleChat members are busy on Sundays on their local club rides?

I've done a ride to the Redwings donkey Sanctury at Oxhill this morning, on the geared bike, 68 hard miles fighting the gale.

That's the spirit! (Though I took one look at the pouring rain here and decided to stay in ...)

I've got a decent rain jacket at my sister's house and I have bodged some mudguards onto the singlespeed bike that I'll be riding next weekend, so I should be okay. It would be nicer if we had a decent day for our ride though, so I'll try and arrange that for us!

Dave - my GPS is working okay now, but could you try and memorise the route because if it packs up again I might find it hard to navigate the parts which I have never ridden before. (I'll print out some maps just in case.)

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I've noticed! That's two Meriden forum rides on the trot where the response has been pretty minimal. I'm assuming that the main reason is that most of the Midlands CycleChat members are busy on Sundays on their local club rides?


That's the spirit! (Though I took one look at the pouring rain here and decided to stay in ...)

I've got a decent rain jacket at my sister's house and I have bodged some mudguards onto the singlespeed bike that I'll be riding next weekend, so I should be okay. It would be nicer if we had a decent day for our ride though, so I'll try and arrange that for us!

Dave - my GPS is working okay now, but could you try and memorise the route because if it packs up again I might find it hard to navigate the parts which I have never ridden before. (I'll print out some maps just in case.)

I'll spend some time with the route during the week and see what I can remember, though there are roads on the route that I haven't got round to riding. If it had been raining this morning I wouldn't have been out, these rides aren't essential ones so if its raining I go back to bed, there's always the next Sunday.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Dave - my GPS is working okay now, but could you try and memorise the route because if it packs up again I might find it hard to navigate the parts which I have never ridden before. (I'll print out some maps just in case.)

Colin you've lost your map, I've been trying to access the map but all I'm getting is page unavailable.

 

[ColinJ]

Colin you've lost your map, I've been trying to access the map but all I'm getting is page unavailable.

Bikely is all over the place but appears to be back up now - route map.

They were supposed to be upgrading their system but if they have already done it, then the upgrade didn't do the job, and if they haven't done it yet they need to pull their IT fingers out and get it done or a lot of us will give up and move our routes elsewhere.


Dear Midland CycleChatters - I know that some of you like your cosy Sunday morning lie-ins, but why not make an exception and join us for this ride? We honestly don't care how many gears you choose to ride. It was more a case of encouraging people to have a go fixed or singlespeed, than banning normal bikes - all welcome!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Bikely is all over the place but appears to be back up now - route map.

They were supposed to be upgrading their system but if they have already done it, then the upgrade didn't do the job, and if they haven't done it yet they need to pull their IT fingers out and get it done or a lot of us will give up and move our routes elsewhere.


Dear Midland CycleChatters - I know that some of you like your cosy Sunday morning lie-ins, but why not make an exception and join us for this ride? We honestly don't care how many gears you choose to ride. It was more a case of encouraging people to have a go fixed or singlespeed, than banning normal bikes - all welcome!

Map now working, its a very lumpy start, check the elevation in the summary http://bikeroutetoas...x?course=319410
should get us warmed up nicely. I notice when we leave Wellesbourne heading for Charlecote down Dogkennel lane you have us turning right at the end of the lane, we need to go left for the café.

 

[ColinJ]

Map now working, its a very lumpy start, check the elevation in the summary http://bikeroutetoas...x?course=319410
should get us warmed up nicely. I notice when we leave Wellesbourne heading for Charlecote down Dogkennel lane you have us turning right at the end of the lane, we need to go left for the café.

If you take the scale into account, the early uphills only look about 3-4% or so.

I think there are a couple of very short steep bits later on which I will probably have to walk up unless I can get enough momentum before them to roll halfway up them.

The forecast is currently looking okay for Sunday, though Monday isn't great which means the weather is likely to be on the turn. Let's hope it waits until after the ride!

I've already uploaded the route as it stands to my GPS, so you'll have to remind me about the correct turn for the cafe, Dave.

Here's a picture of the bike that I'll be riding. (It has mudguards bodged on now.)

 

[Deleted member 1258]

If you take the scale into account, the early uphills only look about 3-4% or so.

I think there are a couple of very short steep bits later on which I will probably have to walk up unless I can get enough momentum before them to roll halfway up them.

Theres a climb just after we cross the foss which I've not yet got up on the fixed.

 

[ColinJ]

Theres a climb just after we cross the foss which I've not yet got up on the fixed.

Yes, that was one of the ones I had my doubts about! It's a climb followed by a descent rather than a descent followed by a climb and comes straight after a roundabout so momentum-building opportunities might be hard to come by! Still, it's only short ...

Right, I'm off to test the Megabus service from Manchester to Coventry - £4 each way - what a bargain! (Only catch is the drop-off at Cannon Park, but if the weather is okay I'll walk to my sister's house. It's only about 2.7 miles away.)

 

[totallyfixed]

Bikely is all over the place but appears to be back up now - route map.

They were supposed to be upgrading their system but if they have already done it, then the upgrade didn't do the job, and if they haven't done it yet they need to pull their IT fingers out and get it done or a lot of us will give up and move our routes elsewhere.


Dear Midland CycleChatters - I know that some of you like your cosy Sunday morning lie-ins, but why not make an exception and join us for this ride? We honestly don't care how many gears you choose to ride. It was more a case of encouraging people to have a go fixed or singlespeed, than banning normal bikes - all welcome!

Hi Colin, I always keep an eye on your rides, the northern ones are a bit too far unless I am at the outlaws in Cheshire [done one of Fossies last year]. Would have been up for this, both of us, but this Sunday we are doing a hill climb race in preparation for the National Hill Climb on 30th Oct which incidentally Fossy is organising a ride to. Coventry is less than 1 hr away so will keep an eye out. Doing another forum ride from Cambridge with Becs the day before the race so we are not all lazy in the Midlands, well East Midlands.
I do find it disconcerting though that there are huge numbers of CC'ers and most of the rides are either north or south and not a lot in the middle. I would love to organise a ride in my area which is amazing cycle country, as anyone who has been to Rutland Water will testify but I'm not sure there is the support. Might be worth starting a thread on the subject.
Enjoy your ride.

 

[Wobblers]

Currently we have ...

• ColinJ
• dave_r
• paulbalfe01@sky.com

And possibly:

• Norry1 (currently off the CycleChat radar somewhere, but welcome to join us if he reappears!)
• McWobble (if he can get out of bed in time!)

I'm not sure that I'll be able to make this now: I've rather too much too much work that needs doing (why can't molecule dynamics programs just work?). Boo!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

My fixed has had a terrible shock today, the chains been cleaned, adjusted and relubed. The lights have been removed, except for the back one, that ones bolted on, its been cleaned polished and has had a check over. Bike and me ready to roll.

 

[ColinJ]

Hi Colin, I always keep an eye on your rides, the northern ones are a bit too far unless I am at the outlaws in Cheshire [done one of Fossies last year]. Would have been up for this, both of us, but this Sunday we are doing a hill climb race in preparation for the National Hill Climb on 30th Oct which incidentally Fossy is organising a ride to. Coventry is less than 1 hr away so will keep an eye out. Doing another forum ride from Cambridge with Becs the day before the race so we are not all lazy in the Midlands, well East Midlands.
I do find it disconcerting though that there are huge numbers of CC'ers and most of the rides are either north or south and not a lot in the middle. I would love to organise a ride in my area which is amazing cycle country, as anyone who has been to Rutland Water will testify but I'm not sure there is the support. Might be worth starting a thread on the subject.

Enjoy your ride.

Enjoy your hill climbs! Catch you later oop north or on another Midlands ride.

A Rutland ride sounds good, though I couldn't get there very easily.

I too am quite taken aback by the apparent dearth of available Midland CycleChat forum riders!

I'm not sure that I'll be able to make this now: I've rather too much too much work that needs doing (why can't molecule dynamics programs just work?). Boo!

Yeah, aren't molecular dynamics programs just like that! (Fix it when you get back? )

My fixed has had a terrible shock today, the chains been cleaned, adjusted and relubed. The lights have been removed, except for the back one, that ones bolted on, its been cleaned polished and has had a check over. Bike and me ready to roll.

I went out and did a 22 mile singlespeed ride today. Quite eventful really ...

• My GPS batteries failed 30 seconds after setting off. (Fully charged yesterday, so I mean failed, not gone flat.) I'll buy new ones tomorrow. Fortunately, I remembered the route so the lack of GPS wasn't a problem.
• I finally tracked down the intermittent rubbing noise which has been bugging me on the s/s bike! It turns out that I have about 0.1 mm clearance on the front tyre, which disappears altogether when my weight flexes the front forks. I've got rid of 90% of the rubbing by letting some air out of the front tyre but the ideal solution is a smaller tyre.
• The bracket holding my bodged rear mudguard on snapped mid-ride. I gaffa-taped it back on for the duration. Will try and sort it out tomorrow.
• I nearly got taken out by a rabbit. Not on a date, I mean a rabbit-under-front-wheel scenario! I was admiring the view from a small lane near Green End when I caught a sudden movement in my peripheral vision. The rabbit only just missed getting its back broken.I'd have gone straight down if I'd hit it.
• It suddenly dawned on me that I should carry a length of spare chain for the singlespeed bike. On a multi-geared bike, it isn't a big problem to shorten a broken chain. On the s/s, I can't do that or the wheel would be out of the dropouts!

Sunny intervals forecast for Sunday!