FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast in aid of Martlets Hospice 2nd September 2011

[JamesK]

Me "TURN LEFT"
Him: "What?"
Me: "LEFT, TURN LEFT"
Him: "Turn right?"
Me: (thinks 'where is the right turn?') "LEFT!"
Him: "Oh OK" and goes straight on.

I checked with Matt to find he was having the same struggle. Tired people, heads down, not familiar with the route.

Had a very similar experience in Reigate, where I don't think my attire of a blue hoody managed to convince everyone that I was a marshall and not just some drunkard from the local night club.

Me "TURN LEFT"
Her: "Is it left here?"
Me: "yes, LEFT"
Her: "OK" and goes straight on.

 

[dellzeqq]

Had a very similar experience in Reigate, where I don't think my attire of a blue hoody managed to convince everyone that I was a marshall and not just some drunkard from the local night club.

Me "TURN LEFT"
Her: "Is it left here?"
Me: "yes, LEFT"
Her: "OK" and goes straight on.

this raises an interesting point. It's been suggested that you can run a night ride on signage. I don't think you can.

 

[thom]

this raises an interesting point. It's been suggested that you can run a night ride on signage. I don't think you can.

I imagine if the signs are large and consistent enough you could divest your responsibilities and do away with Marshalls altogether, apart User10571 and the TECs. It might though take Marna a couple of days to adorn the route appropriately. But you lose the character of this ride and the support to hand needed for riders doing a first long distance ride. And it would remove the fun of being a waymarker.

I thought the number of waymarkers was pretty good this time with a bit more built in slack. Certainly going through the Badlands was without possibility for getting lost and we were past the main problem junction without realising it. At the bottom of Slugwash Lane, we were 3 between 2 junctions so took turns to be the lone person telling the riders where to go.

Adrian, we did try to persuade the Martletts staff at the 1/2 way point to send you some supplies - I suppose they got waylaid with customers but perhaps next time an extra person round the key junctions to Effingham Lane could satisfy those needs.

On a point of bicycle maintenance, when I got home, my front wheel exploded after about 30 mins inside my flat with the tyre coming off the rim. Has anyone ever had this happen before ? My best guess is the tyre was close to overinflation and in the warmth the pressure increased, pushing it over the edge. Any thoughts ?

Oh and it was might have been me that had the temerity to enquire about Suzie's frequent lipstick reapplication.

 

[arallsopp]

It made I chuckle...

And me. Smack in the middle of a particularly grumpy office too. Now everyone looking at me....

 

[GrumpyGregry]

this raises an interesting point. It's been suggested that you can run a night ride on signage. I don't think you can.

I'm sure you can, if you accept a good number of people getting lost or going significantly off track, which isn't in the spirit of the fridays.

Reflection, and a quick comparing notes with Matt J this morning, who had the benefit of street lights but encountered the same issues as me, suggests that anywhere rural needs

advance signage which is illuminated, there's a handy road sign 50m out on Slugwash to attach something to, at 50m and 10m's out
a christmas tree marshal
some form of uniform to identify the marshal (Hawaiian shirt anyone)
festooned marshal's bike
festooned/signed street name signs a la Haroldslea

OR

leave it as is, chill out, and be prepared to holler and if they ignore you accept they are grown ups and entitled to get things wrong at their own risk. Which risk averse charities won't like at all.

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm sure you can, if you accept a good number of people getting lost or going significantly off track, which isn't in the spirit of the fridays.

Reflection, and a quick comparing notes with Matt J this morning, who had the benefit of street lights but encountered the same issues as me, suggests that anywhere rural needs

advance signage which is illuminated, there's a handy road sign 50m out on Slugwash to attach something to, at 50m and 10m's out
a christmas tree marshal
some form of uniform to identify the marshal (Hawaiian shirt anyone)
festooned marshal's bike
festooned/signed street name signs a la Haroldslea

OR

leave it as is, chill out, and be prepared to holler and if they ignore you accept they are grown ups and entitled to get things wrong at their own risk. Which risk averse charities won't like at all.

I'm with the latter - after all they have route sheets, and a telephone number. I'm not convinced by signage, but I might go for big lights next time - cheapo Aldi torches, which will take out their eyeballs at fifty paces.

 

[User10571]

For the record, I agree with much of what has been mentioned in the last couple of posts.

The signage adjacent to my marshaling point was intended as an appendage, and not a replacement for the marshal on point duty.

I do feel that 'personalising' marshaling points is in the spirit of FNRttC.

 

[Wobblers]

Thanks for being a waymarker...in a roundabout way, Tim (deckertimTimnottheotherTimOorTimH). Disgusting hedonistic snaps - why on earth didn't you take more?
Second only to the impact of a visitation from Elvis Presley, 'Rimas the Rouleur' popped in to see us. He was just going for a little leg stretch...London - Brighton - John O'Groats - that sort of thing, and I suspect he turned up solely to glean more nuggets of athletic prowess from the gathered elite. Our resident rowdy 'jock' promptly got up with beer can in hand and staggered to Rimas' bike, colliding with it and knocking it into the path of traffic which was not oncoming.

Oi! I didn't have enough functioning brain cells to be anything like "rowdy"! More like "bleary"...

And anyway, it wasn't knocked into non-oncoming traffic. More onto my foot and then onto the road.

Actually, that all sounds worse! Errr, sorry Rimas.

The defence rests cowers, mi'lord...

 

[Wobblers]

I'm with the latter - after all they have route sheets, and a telephone number. I'm not convinced by signage, but I might go for big lights next time - cheapo Aldi torches, which will take out their eyeballs at fifty paces.

I had my bike lights illuminating the right fork to take and I was standing at the junction using a torch to point the right way whilst shouting "Morning!! Right turn here!!" and there were plenty of riders asking me whether it was left or right. To be honest, I think they just wanted some assurance that they were going the right way. And that's something far better conveyed by actually having someone on the junction giving them instructions rather than just a sign.

The first thing I saw when we rolled up to Marna/Tim/Miranda's junction was someone waving a torch at us - its very visible and a good way of grabbing someone's attention.

 

[Wobblers]

I had the dubious pleasure of crossing paths with him earlier that morning whilst he (amongst other things - which it's probably for the best that I do not share with you) brushed his teeth in the municipal lavvy a stonesthrow from the Madeira Cafe, whilst I attended to other matters in there.

As the morning's events unfolded, I confided with McWobble (who was snoozing at the time of the event) that I had witnessed Our Friend (For indeed, I think he genuinely was that) cross the road with a key, open one of the large skip / bins / palladins and get inside.

I thought 'Is he going home?'
'Is he Brighton's Gollum?'

After trampling (compacting - technical term) some trash he emerged, crossed back over the road and continued to serve food to waiting customers.

I was relieved to have 'eaten earlier'.

A brief discussion ensued between McWobble and myself as to what table-and-chairs man may've been like, had he been party to a line or two of Bolivian attitude adjuster. At which point I think we were both way too tired to try to make any kind of sense of the performance (for that is what it was) we were witnessing.

You have to admit, a skip on the beach has its advantages. A sea view, for starters.

 

[dellzeqq]

On a point of bicycle maintenance, when I got home, my front wheel exploded after about 30 mins inside my flat with the tyre coming off the rim. Has anyone ever had this happen before ? My best guess is the tyre was close to overinflation and in the warmth the pressure increased, pushing it over the edge. Any thoughts ?

It might have been that you had just a tiny bit of inner tube on the wrong side of the bead - this can hold for days, and give way without apparent cause or warning.

If it is that the bead is loose then you've got a bit of a problem if it happens again on a hot day out on the road........why not simply inflate it to 160 and see if it holds?

Oh and it was might have been me that had the temerity to enquire about Suzie's frequent lipstick reapplication.

ah-ha! And I imagine the answer was 'as many times as it takes'. Which reminds me - I really need to re-evaluate our luggage for the forthcoming six day tour.......

 

[theclaud]

You don't think that he might have been taking the piss just a teensy bit?

The thought never entered my mind...

 

[theclaud]

I do feel that 'personalising' marshaling points is in the spirit of FNRttC.

I had my bike lights illuminating the right fork to take and I was standing at the junction using a torch to point the right way whilst shouting "Morning!! Right turn here!!" and there were plenty of riders asking me whether it was left or right. To be honest, I think they just wanted some assurance that they were going the right way. And that's something far better conveyed by actually having someone on the junction giving them instructions rather than just a sign.

Quite. I think it's just nice to see people. I was certainly rather delighted to see such wonders as Dave's Junction, and the Haroldslea Fair. Your chiaroscuro installation was pretty good, as well, Andrew. I was standing under one of these:

but that didn't stop about a third of the people asking which way they should go. Of the ones that didn't need to ask, one or two (it must be said) were slightly facetious when I told them. I name no names...

 

[theclaud]

Then he can't have been.

Exactly. You're getting the hang of this.

 

[thom]

Which reminds me - I really need to re-evaluate our luggage for the forthcoming six day tour.......

At observed lipstick application rates that bar bag looked like it could barely suffice for a day at most...