Friday Night Ride To Whitstable. 19th Aug 2016

[EltonFrog]

My third FNRttC.

The fragrant MrsP drove me to Chiswick, and from there I cycled the 10 miles or so to Potters Field via Sloane Street, Victoria Station, where I bought a pasty, then by Horse Guards to Parliament Square and along the south bank to potters field, getting a bit confused along the way in places cos I don't know London very well. It's a bit of a challenge cycling around London at 10pm in the dark.

I was the first to arrive at PF but very soon after folks turned up, preparations were made and we set off through the urban sprawl of South East London and North West Kent. About 45 of us red lights ablaze, some new to the ride but mostly old hands.

It was a cool bright night with nearly a full moon and a bit of a breeze that seemed to me pushing us along mostly, I did a bit of way marking from time to time, racing on ahead once the tail end Charlie's gave us the all clear. At Strood we all had a break with great rolls and cakes and nice hot tea and good company. Then onwards through the Medway towns, suburbs and villages and after a couple of puncture stops eventually to a bright sunny Water Front Cafe stop by the sea, where I had some fun with my new besties Matthew, VR , Kim and Matilda whilst eating our fry ups.

People started to make tracks for home, I cycled another 5/6 miles or so along the Crab & Winkle way to Blean to my dads house for a shower and waited for the Fragrant MrsP to collect me in the car. After lunch the drive home, I slept all the way.

A brilliant night out with a thoroughly decent, charming and entertaining bunch of lads and lasses.

Thanks to all those who make this social ride work.

About 80 miles for me, not sure, I kept forgetting to turn on the Garmin

 

[frank9755]

This is where I usually have asked why he wasn't using the motorway, specially built for him

That is exactly what I did say!

 

[rb58]

Last night illustrated beautifully one of the things I love about cycling. Riding a bike can be so many different things. Even riding to Whitstable via (almost) exactly the same route on two separate days, can be two completely different things. A coupe of weeks ago a solo ride there and back was a full throttle quest for miles. Whereas last night was a far more inward looking, contemplative and relaxing affair. And yet the miles seemed to slip away faster last night than two weeks ago.

@User and I had little to do at the back beyond stand around and make encouraging noises whilst punctures were efficiently repaired - although Adrian did manage to make use of that piece of toothpaste tube he's been carrying around for a while. And popping back to the half-way stop to get the track pump was a great idea that saved us a fair bit of time I think.

Big shout out to @Trickedem and the way markers for keeping things rolling. I think the new Rochester variation was great. We should take @martint235 that way next time and see if he notices anything. I'm not sure about the canal stetch - especially as there wasn't a frog or nightingale to be heard. But change is as good as a rest as my old dad used to say.

And there was cake. Really nice cake. Thank you for that.

Now that Our ride leader is officially a hill free zone, I'm hopeful our Spanish tour routes will be re-planned and all those mountain climbs revealed as just a cruel joke.

@Eddie_C and I had planned to ride back, at least part way. We set off and battled some testing winds across the Graveney marshes before things got easier as we re-traced our steps through Faversham to Sittingbourne where we split and I dived onto a train to Longfield which left me a 10 or so mile rain-dodging trundle to home. Eddie went on to Rochester.

And for the first time ever I got lost on the way to the start. I was a little early so I decided to follow the Quiet Route 1 signs I've seen on my commute. It turned out to be pretty quiet. So quiet in fact that i had no idea where I was. I did go past Millwall football ground though and eventually this 'quiet' route spat me out unceremoniously onto the Old Kent Road. At least I knew where I was.

See you all on the road.

 

[Nigel182]

Fantastic time really enjoyed it thanks @Trickedem Food Stop a Brilliant idea and good food and cake and Fundraising too you are a MultiTasking genius
Enjoyed the company and putting faces to names as usual
The it's not a Race thought i'd just Plod in changed once the Red mist Descended....but as i'm not built for speed think i did sort of OK
Again thanks to all who help on these rides for organising and Lastly but not leastly....well done @User and @rb58 TEC's at short notice.

 

[frank9755]

Aerial view of the Russian submarine

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...xbffb32cf38f64742!8m2!3d51.3932587!4d0.475344

and Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_U-475_Black_Widow

 

[robjh]

That was another lovely night with the Fridays. The first one in fact that I have been on where we could see the moon and stars all night, although happily the temperature stayed quite mild - only on leaving the half-way point did the pre-dawn chill really strike, causing extra layers to be pulled on, although these were discarded again soon after as we tackled the few (short) hills and the sun came up.
I really enjoyed @Trickedem's route innovations, which took us down to the river at several points, as well as a charming diversion up to Rochester castle, and I was also among the group that went off to see the derelict ex-Soviet submarine in the Medway during a wait by the bridge. All very good stuff. The path by the defunct Thames and Medway Canal was, well, rather off-roady and surprisingly long, but a nice alternative to the normal roads. I'm glad it wasn't wet, but it was an enjoyable option for last night.
I took part in the sprint across Graveney marshes but was overtaken with ease by @Flying Dodo and @TimO amongst others. Maybe because I was in some discomfort for much of the ride, on a new saddle that was getting its first long outing and proving less comfortable than it had seemed on a little pootle around Cambridge. Hey-ho. But it was a fine place and a fine morning for breakfast with the sun on the terrace of the Waterfront, and clear views out to the wind farms and old gun platforms in the estuary.

A big thanks to Tim for organising, as well as the TECs, the half-way point volunteers at Strood and all other helpers.

Just a couple of images I'll keep from the night :
- a flock(?) of swans on the Thames as we stopped in a riverside park at Gravesend
- the train that rumbled past us in the dark by the canal with a big 'hoot' that sounded like it was aimed at us

Also, as I rode down from Cambridge first via some backroads, it was for me a ride with 2 Gravesends. Can you work out which one this is?

 

[AlexB]

Thanks for the company, the route, the halfway refreshments and the weather. Wow! We were so lucky with the weather. It was great to catch up with people, to meet new faces. Perfect Fridays ride.

 

[kimble]

Lovely route, Tim! I love those backstreet and riverside bimbles. I'm not too sure about the canal path though, which did seem to go on an awful lot longer than I remembered it from before. You weren't to know that I had a very painful hand/wrist, so I found the rough surface hard going, and I heard at least one newbie expressing a bit of fear of falling off ... I think maybe if you're going to include that option you could include an honest description in the early ride outlines ('rough stony surface'), so that people can decide what bike to bring.

And indeed what lights to bring. I spoke to at least one person who was struggling to see with city commuter quality lights.

My general prejudice is that while it's fine (if not always necessary) to go to town with the full disco laser treatment on the rear, flashing front lights are a work of Stan and should be actively avoided. This becomes much more important as soon as you venture off-road (or onto roads maintained on behalf of Birmingham City Council - Ed), where strobe-o-vision substantially detriments your ability to see what you're riding on. Was that a stone? Is it a turd? You won't know until you hear the squelch of a slug meeting its timely demise under one of Schwalbe's finest...

I appreciate that decent bike lights are expensive, but something shoddy and bright with sufficient runtime for a short period of comedy off-roading isn't, and failing that there's always the option of bringing enough batteries to use your flashers in static mode for the dodgy bits. Or (here's a thought) even the whole ride. You know it makes sense. Think of the slugs.

 

[Trickedem]

And indeed what lights to bring. I spoke to at least one person who was struggling to see with city commuter quality lights.

My general prejudice is that while it's fine (if not always necessary) to go to town with the full disco laser treatment on the rear, flashing front lights are a work of Stan and should be actively avoided. This becomes much more important as soon as you venture off-road (or onto roads maintained on behalf of Birmingham City Council - Ed), where strobe-o-vision substantially detriments your ability to see what you're riding on. Was that a stone? Is it a turd? You won't know until you hear the squelch of a slug meeting its timely demise under one of Schwalbe's finest...

I appreciate that decent bike lights are expensive, but something shoddy and bright with sufficient runtime for a short period of comedy off-roading isn't, and failing that there's always the option of bringing enough batteries to use your flashers in static mode for the dodgy bits. Or (here's a thought) even the whole ride. You know it makes sense. Think of the slugs.

The email that goes out to new riders has advice about lights and not having them flashing, which just goes to show that people don't read things! There is also a lot of good advice on lights on the FNRTTC website, which again some people have clearly not read. I will discuss this with our organising committee and see if we can make it a little clearer when people sign up.
I'm in two minds about the off road section. I decided to use it this time mainly because of roadwork issues in Gravesend. It would be a no-brainer if the surface was better, but I understand people's reservations and I probably won't use it next year.

 

[robjh]

I'm in two minds about the off road section. I decided to use it this time mainly because of roadwork issues in Gravesend. It would be a no-brainer if the surface was better, but I understand people's reservations and I probably won't use it next year.

That's probably both sensible and a shame at the same time. Figure that out.

One little plea from the heart if you're planning a repeat ride. Could we go through the centre of Faversham next time? That big market square is a pleasing sight (despite the cobbled approach), and would fit in with the historical theme of the ride after Woolwich Arsenal and Rochester castle.

 

[wanda2010]

Cheers from Istanbul this morning.....


View attachment 140455

A full pint glass is missing, but apart from that............. s'nice pic.

 

[Fab Foodie]

A full pint glass is missing, but apart from that............. s'nice pic.

I can't get pints, but a whisky With my morning coffee is just fine... And it's on expenses!

 

[robjh]

The people riding in front of me were calling out, 'Dog turd!', and indeed they were quite distinguishable from stones in the gloom, I'm not sure exactly why.

Quite different sensation when you ride over/through them.

 

[wanda2010]

This ride remains one of my favourites and the route was lovely with it's little 'surprises' compared to previous rides. The Victoria sponge remains the best I've eaten and is better than that sold in a certain shop in Borough Market .

Adam and I had a chat about new wheels. I may make a purchase in the near future and, of course, it will be entirely his fault

It was lovely to see new faces, especially an increase in the number of women. Hopefully this will be repeated.

Guinness (a taste) then breakfast/coffee. In that order. Just me?

 

[Fergs]

Well that was all A Bit Good. It was my first time on a Fridays ride and I'm very glad I finally got round to it. A couple of things really stood out to my newbie eyes. First off, how easy and stress-free it was to get round because of all the work being done by the ride leader, waymarkers, TECs, halfway stop volunteers and the regulars who shared banter and roadcraft throughout the ride. It's clear that a lot of effort and expertise - and care - went into the ride and it created a stonkingly good experience. Secondly, how friendly everyone was, regulars and first-timers alike.

I don't know what previous Whitstable routes were like but I liked the variety of this one and I enjoyed the canal path (and not just 'cos it justified the newly-acquired front light). I guess the path might not have been as much fun in the wet and I am glad I didn't have to put my foot on the ground in the middle section: there's evidently, somewhere in Gravesend, a very large dog with a very bad digestive ailment.

My only regret is not saying 'hello' to the rider I spotted in Clapham on the way to the meet-up. I see now that if the time and direction of travel didn't mark them out as a Fridays rider, the Carradice should have...