BalkanExpress
Legendary Member
- Location
- Brussels
It did not rain
.....that is all
.....that is all
FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Whitstable 31st May
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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BalkanExpress
Legendary Member
- Location
- Brussels
Actually that is not all all.
First, thanks to Simon, TECs, wayfinders and the magnificent cake bakers of Strood
It was a fantasic night, yes it was dry but more importantly it was a FNRttC which is always fantastc for myriad, random reasons. in addition to bullfrogs, space stations canal paths and steeples here are a few more.
Calls: fine we have all the usuals but I've a couple of new ones. First, "vomit", ok,y not immediately clear if its a warning or an instruction but bestIi could do when swining round a corner and facing a sea of it...thank good ness for mudguards
The "dead pigeon" call was a bit easier.
Bling bar:. not mine I hasten to add, but shiny silver bar tape, not just flash but acts as a rear view mirror.
Capes: not rain capes because it didn't rain (have I mentioned that yet) but it was so warm I was down to my T-shirt with my jumper tied around my neck French schoolgirl style, down hill it amost billowed out superhero style, totally naff, yes, lots of fun, even more so.
The race for rashers: my first Whitstable run I had to scoff and go very sharpish and nearly missed the train (which would have made teh connection to Brussels very touch and go), but this time we were early so no such worries, until Tim O flashed by,"I'll catch a lift I thought" In my defence I was tired and not thinking straight but within 100m i was dropped as he headed off across the Marshes.
Crab and Winkle: dry sun-lit and the signpost for the right hand turn is back up, what could be better.
First, thanks to Simon, TECs, wayfinders and the magnificent cake bakers of Strood
It was a fantasic night, yes it was dry but more importantly it was a FNRttC which is always fantastc for myriad, random reasons. in addition to bullfrogs, space stations canal paths and steeples here are a few more.
Calls: fine we have all the usuals but I've a couple of new ones. First, "vomit", ok,y not immediately clear if its a warning or an instruction but bestIi could do when swining round a corner and facing a sea of it...thank good ness for mudguards
The "dead pigeon" call was a bit easier.Bling bar:. not mine I hasten to add, but shiny silver bar tape, not just flash but acts as a rear view mirror.
Capes: not rain capes because it didn't rain (have I mentioned that yet) but it was so warm I was down to my T-shirt with my jumper tied around my neck French schoolgirl style, down hill it amost billowed out superhero style, totally naff, yes, lots of fun, even more so.
The race for rashers: my first Whitstable run I had to scoff and go very sharpish and nearly missed the train (which would have made teh connection to Brussels very touch and go), but this time we were early so no such worries, until Tim O flashed by,"I'll catch a lift I thought" In my defence I was tired and not thinking straight but within 100m i was dropped as he headed off across the Marshes.
Crab and Winkle: dry sun-lit and the signpost for the right hand turn is back up, what could be better.
redfalo
known as Olaf in real life
- Location
- Brexit Boomtown
This was lovely, especially compared to the Whitstable one last year. Looking forward to France!
Here's the GPS track of the ride: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=aylmgjmgbmyefnhq
Here's the GPS track of the ride: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=aylmgjmgbmyefnhq
AndrewClark
Veteran
That was a lovely ride in good company. I was feeling like death on Thursday, so very nearly cancelled. I'm glad I perked up and was able to enjoy it
Mild faffage on the way back involving a cancelled train at Canterbury resulted in me sprinting along the platform at Euston to the carriage with the bike compartment (far end, natch) and getting on board a minute before it started moving. Kim missed her train and had to negotiate her way onto a later one.
The weather had become sunny with blue skies, so I had a pleasant trip back to Liverpool admiring the landscape speeding past.
Something appears to have been snacking on me during the ride, a couple of bite marks on my legs and a larger one on the side of my face
Mild faffage on the way back involving a cancelled train at Canterbury resulted in me sprinting along the platform at Euston to the carriage with the bike compartment (far end, natch) and getting on board a minute before it started moving. Kim missed her train and had to negotiate her way onto a later one.
The weather had become sunny with blue skies, so I had a pleasant trip back to Liverpool admiring the landscape speeding past.
Something appears to have been snacking on me during the ride, a couple of bite marks on my legs and a larger one on the side of my face
U
User10571
Guest
Blessed are the cake makers.
It was late in May of 2009 that DZ, Adrian and myself met on a weekday night at midnight by the Cuttty Sark, to carry out a night time recce of the canal path and beyond (to see whether it would work with the Whitstable ride) vs the more conventional route which takes us through Chalk and Lower Higham.
We went our separate ways at Gravesend, DZ taking to the tarmac - Ade and I to the path, with DZ arriving at what used to be the Three Crutches pub some six minutes before we did, both our bikes covered in a woven curtain of webs that we'd cut through along the path.
That night we witnessed a four meter flare. Presumably of methane being burnt off at the sewage treatment plant. The din of the cacophony of Bullfrogs. A burning car in a distant field. The flares from the refinery across the estuary at Coryton. A couple installing a curtain rail at 04:00 am while we inspected the graves of 13 Dickensian infants by torchlight, and a fox, who came within a heartbeat of going through the spokes of my rapidly rotating front wheel.
In all, that night we concluded that the diversion had potential to add to the ride, and agreed that at some point, when the conditions were right, the diversion would be incorporated into the route.
It's been a while, and much has passed....
..... but the ride last Friday night was well worth waiting for. As has been mentioned above, the half way stop worked superbly, and the waving-off by the volunteers is as lovely a touch as one could hope for.
For a ride so large (what were we? 80 something?) it all seemed very compact and cohesive, with relatively little waiting around. Although to be fair, that view from someone who spent much of the ride at the tail end, may be skewed. I'll invite anyone to tell me otherwise.
The weather was very kind to us. I don't remember the last time I rode to Vista Belle (Did you know that is the origin of the name? Beautiful View*) overnight and didn't have to deploy the waterproofs.
So maybe it was because of those combined reasons that, following our brief stop at Tonge Mill, I had similar conversations with several riders the upshot of which was that the ride was great, but with a lament that in not too many miles (around 18) we will have reached our destination, to the inevitable warm welcome from Faye and her wonderful crew at the Waterfront Club, but the ride would, in all senses, be over.
Someone even asked me 'Is there no way that we can squeeze a few more miles in, in between here and Whitstable?'
And this, this has been my feeling for years now. As I ride this route, frequently on my own, whenever I reach the eastern outskirts of Sittingbourne, just after Murston, beyond which teh pretty is manufactured, I inevitably think with some melancholy that 'This is utterly lovely - but very shortly, that'll be it'.
So, I think it definitely is possible to squeeze in some further lane mileage amongst the pretty, and have made representations reflecting this to The Ride Committeh, to see what the Chef duJour Tour says.
I'm not sure how it would work with a FNR, if at all. But if there are those of you that are mile hungry, and have an appetite for an extra slice or two of pretty, then I can assure you that the kitchen can prepare additional tarmac to assuage your collective pallettes.
Meanwhile, thank you all for your company on what was a great ride, especially thanks to DZ and the Strood volunteers for making it all happen.
See you on the road.
Hopefully soon.
*This sentence may contain lies or traces of lies.
It was late in May of 2009 that DZ, Adrian and myself met on a weekday night at midnight by the Cuttty Sark, to carry out a night time recce of the canal path and beyond (to see whether it would work with the Whitstable ride) vs the more conventional route which takes us through Chalk and Lower Higham.
We went our separate ways at Gravesend, DZ taking to the tarmac - Ade and I to the path, with DZ arriving at what used to be the Three Crutches pub some six minutes before we did, both our bikes covered in a woven curtain of webs that we'd cut through along the path.
That night we witnessed a four meter flare. Presumably of methane being burnt off at the sewage treatment plant. The din of the cacophony of Bullfrogs. A burning car in a distant field. The flares from the refinery across the estuary at Coryton. A couple installing a curtain rail at 04:00 am while we inspected the graves of 13 Dickensian infants by torchlight, and a fox, who came within a heartbeat of going through the spokes of my rapidly rotating front wheel.
In all, that night we concluded that the diversion had potential to add to the ride, and agreed that at some point, when the conditions were right, the diversion would be incorporated into the route.
It's been a while, and much has passed....
..... but the ride last Friday night was well worth waiting for. As has been mentioned above, the half way stop worked superbly, and the waving-off by the volunteers is as lovely a touch as one could hope for.
For a ride so large (what were we? 80 something?) it all seemed very compact and cohesive, with relatively little waiting around. Although to be fair, that view from someone who spent much of the ride at the tail end, may be skewed. I'll invite anyone to tell me otherwise.
The weather was very kind to us. I don't remember the last time I rode to Vista Belle (Did you know that is the origin of the name? Beautiful View*) overnight and didn't have to deploy the waterproofs.
So maybe it was because of those combined reasons that, following our brief stop at Tonge Mill, I had similar conversations with several riders the upshot of which was that the ride was great, but with a lament that in not too many miles (around 18) we will have reached our destination, to the inevitable warm welcome from Faye and her wonderful crew at the Waterfront Club, but the ride would, in all senses, be over.
Someone even asked me 'Is there no way that we can squeeze a few more miles in, in between here and Whitstable?'
And this, this has been my feeling for years now. As I ride this route, frequently on my own, whenever I reach the eastern outskirts of Sittingbourne, just after Murston, beyond which teh pretty is manufactured, I inevitably think with some melancholy that 'This is utterly lovely - but very shortly, that'll be it'.
So, I think it definitely is possible to squeeze in some further lane mileage amongst the pretty, and have made representations reflecting this to The Ride Committeh, to see what the Chef du
I'm not sure how it would work with a FNR, if at all. But if there are those of you that are mile hungry, and have an appetite for an extra slice or two of pretty, then I can assure you that the kitchen can prepare additional tarmac to assuage your collective pallettes.
Meanwhile, thank you all for your company on what was a great ride, especially thanks to DZ and the Strood volunteers for making it all happen.
See you on the road.
Hopefully soon.
*This sentence may contain lies or traces of lies.
velovoice
Veteran
- Location
- Between the City and the Sea
Well, that was just perfect. I've had a love/hate relationship with the Whitstable ride much as with Felpham: they both have long stretches of the most perfect cycling lanes, but they each also have a stretch that just somehow saps my will to live (Whitstable: the bits of dual carriageway plus roundabouts as we approach the Dartford crossing; Felpham: the A217 around Sutton). And I don't have good form on the Whitstable run: this was my fourth time to start, but only my second time to finish.
Never mind.
This was a ride of two halves for me. As some of you know, my grumpy left knee has wrecked havoc with my cycling this spring. Last night I was just a bit apprehensive as to what my knee might do. The first half, there were some twinges and grumbles from muscles that somehow didn't want to work very efficiently. In the past, if that doesn't settle down within a few miles, severe pain in the joint soon follows. Somehow this time I got to the halfway stop without it getting to that. And then.... after some diligent stretching in the warm, we set off again and much to my surprise, my legs felt like they'd been re-set. I felt fresh and strong and at one with the bike, such that I enjoyed every single second of the ride til we arrived at the Waterfront. One of the best times on a bike I've had in a long time. Just perfect.
Knees aside, the ride itself was just superb. The weather had a lot to do with that: warm, dry, with a tailwind. Nothing there to mar one's enjoyment. I loved the cycle path diversion - that stretch of narrow dirt path with trees forming a tunnel overhead was just magical.
It was great to have peaceful periods of pedalling through the night alone, and other times chatting and laughing with friends old and new.
Thanks to DZ and whoever else may have influenced his decision to try out this diversion this year - made for a memorable ride, in all the best ways.
Thanks also of course to DZ for organising this, and to all the wayfinders and TECs and the marvellous crews at Strood and the Waterfront.
My pics are here.
Never mind.
This was a ride of two halves for me. As some of you know, my grumpy left knee has wrecked havoc with my cycling this spring. Last night I was just a bit apprehensive as to what my knee might do. The first half, there were some twinges and grumbles from muscles that somehow didn't want to work very efficiently. In the past, if that doesn't settle down within a few miles, severe pain in the joint soon follows. Somehow this time I got to the halfway stop without it getting to that. And then.... after some diligent stretching in the warm, we set off again and much to my surprise, my legs felt like they'd been re-set. I felt fresh and strong and at one with the bike, such that I enjoyed every single second of the ride til we arrived at the Waterfront. One of the best times on a bike I've had in a long time. Just perfect.
Knees aside, the ride itself was just superb. The weather had a lot to do with that: warm, dry, with a tailwind. Nothing there to mar one's enjoyment. I loved the cycle path diversion - that stretch of narrow dirt path with trees forming a tunnel overhead was just magical.
It was great to have peaceful periods of pedalling through the night alone, and other times chatting and laughing with friends old and new.
Thanks to DZ and whoever else may have influenced his decision to try out this diversion this year - made for a memorable ride, in all the best ways.
Thanks also of course to DZ for organising this, and to all the wayfinders and TECs and the marvellous crews at Strood and the Waterfront.
My pics are here.
U
User10571
Guest
Linky no worky :'(
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Page not found....
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Used that line myself last year. And very fitting it is too!
U
User10571
Guest
velovoice
Veteran
- Location
- Between the City and the Sea
Darn. First time I've tried linking to Picasa. Try this.
U
User10571
Guest
[QUOTE 2483733, member: 30090"]Those breakfasts look nice[/quote]
In my post-ride state of stupor (I think the blood-sugar level may've taken a dive at that point) I said to the lovely Faye:
'Can I have eggs, bacon, chips and one slice of bread please?'
Faye wrote down: eggs, bacon, chips and one slice of bread.
'Oh, and mushrooms, can I have mushrooms with that, please?'
We don't do mushrooms, I'm afraid - would you like something else instead? came the reply.
'Err.... Sausages. Could you bung a couple of sausages on that, and I'll have two teas please, said I, realising that I was just starting to make a list of food that I'd heard of, and didn't really care what I was going to eat (beetroot and shellfish excepted).
Faye gave me that endearing look from beneath one raised eyebrow which said 'Listen mister.....' but came out with a smile as:
'Would you like me to do you a double full English?'
S'please. I said.
'With baked beans, would you like baked beans?'
S'please. I said. Starting to nod (but not rock).
'Tomatoes?'
S'please.
'That'll be ten pounds, for cash, she beamed at me.
Fankoo. I said. Relieved that the ordeal would soon be over.
Other than Miles in Ramsgate (and that's not really a FNRttC), The Waterfront really does churn out the best breakfasts of the lot.
In my post-ride state of stupor (I think the blood-sugar level may've taken a dive at that point) I said to the lovely Faye:
'Can I have eggs, bacon, chips and one slice of bread please?'
Faye wrote down: eggs, bacon, chips and one slice of bread.
'Oh, and mushrooms, can I have mushrooms with that, please?'
We don't do mushrooms, I'm afraid - would you like something else instead? came the reply.
'Err.... Sausages. Could you bung a couple of sausages on that, and I'll have two teas please, said I, realising that I was just starting to make a list of food that I'd heard of, and didn't really care what I was going to eat (beetroot and shellfish excepted).
Faye gave me that endearing look from beneath one raised eyebrow which said 'Listen mister.....' but came out with a smile as:
'Would you like me to do you a double full English?'
S'please. I said.
'With baked beans, would you like baked beans?'
S'please. I said. Starting to nod (but not rock).
'Tomatoes?'
S'please.
'That'll be ten pounds, for cash, she beamed at me.
Fankoo. I said. Relieved that the ordeal would soon be over.
Other than Miles in Ramsgate (and that's not really a FNRttC), The Waterfront really does churn out the best breakfasts of the lot.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
[QUOTE 2483733, member: 30090"]Those breakfasts look nice[/quote]
They tasted even better.
They tasted even better.
velovoice
Veteran
- Location
- Between the City and the Sea
Well worth the wait! (Which in our case was an hour, due to circumstances I haven't the heart to blame Faye & Crew for!)
