July 25th, London to Hastings: the Wen to Wen ride
- Thread starter anothersam
- Start date
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OP
OP
anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
sign up sheet
No more maybes. You're all coming whether you like it or not.*
anothersam
theclaud
gr3g0ree
jiberjaber
loverboy
saoirse50
Shadow
User
StuAff
Terry, Geoff & possibly a guest or 2 (offsiters)
srw
* you'll like it
No more maybes. You're all coming whether you like it or not.*
anothersam
theclaud
gr3g0ree
jiberjaber
loverboy
saoirse50
Shadow
User
StuAff
Terry, Geoff & possibly a guest or 2 (offsiters)
srw
* you'll like it
Last edited:
OP
OP
anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
Long range forecast is for incredibly pleasant weather, just right for cycling. There may be a brief spit of rain at precisely 1.27, when we will be inside eating lunch, too engaged in conversation to notice. This will be followed by a fresh breeze to quickly evaporate any shallow loitering puddles threatening to be waterwheeled by our tyres onto our spiffy bikes and companions.
Although I hold no meteorology degree and still have difficulty translating C to F, I have every confidence that the above will be a true and faithful account of Saturday the 25th of July, Wen to Wen Day.
Although I hold no meteorology degree and still have difficulty translating C to F, I have every confidence that the above will be a true and faithful account of Saturday the 25th of July, Wen to Wen Day.
OP
OP
anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
I very much want to confirm a time of departure. My preference is 8.00. I can be happy with 8.30. 9, not so much, unless there is open revolt at any earlier. Please, if you're interested in this ride, let me know if you can live with 8 or 8.30.
You can of course post here, but it would be helpful if you emailed me directly: london2hastings@gmail.com
You can of course post here, but it would be helpful if you emailed me directly: london2hastings@gmail.com
OP
OP
anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
The southwest corner of Somerset House, yes. aka the northeast side of Waterloo Sunset Bridge. X marks the spot. Here is a view courtesy google street view, back in 2012 when this ride was the Hastings Hustle (branding is everything, I find):
Have just about got a lock on 8.30, will probably confirm tomorrow. Secondary meetup point at the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park
approximately 45 minutes later, where time will be allocated for gawking until the cry of all up!, then off we go on the great journey south.
Note that there is a very small amount of walking through the park so as not to upset the paleontologists, some of whom are still in prams.
Have just about got a lock on 8.30, will probably confirm tomorrow. Secondary meetup point at the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park
approximately 45 minutes later, where time will be allocated for gawking until the cry of all up!, then off we go on the great journey south.
Note that there is a very small amount of walking through the park so as not to upset the paleontologists, some of whom are still in prams.
jiberjaber
Veteran
- Location
- Essex
08:30 would be good for me too. 
I'll drop you an email too
I'll drop you an email too 
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
8 or 8.30 would be fine for me.
OP
OP
anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
One week from now this ride will be history:
Make sure you don't miss this, the last ever Wen to Wen!
Until the next one. But who knows where we all will be when the next one rolls around? I myself have several expeditions planned: some, granted, to the supermarket, but others which may take me so far afield as to be unreachable by even modern technology. Not all of Far East Sussex gets good cellphone reception.
Departure is now confirmed for 8.30am. Meeting place as described in post #110 above. This is going to be a long day, so anticipate punctuality.
. . .
Not everyone will be aware, unless they've read the OP, that this is the 3rd running of this now classic event. While I am heartened to see that attendance looks set to break all records, I would like to pause in remembrance of rides past, sharing a few scraps from my scrapbook even as I clear pages for memories yet to come.
In consideration for those scanning this thread for only the latest urgent updates, I will be utilising spoilers to keep this ride down memory lane at least visually brief (scrapbook in the panniers to maintain the semblance of an unmixed metaphor).
First came the idea. Who knows where inspiration comes from? When Simon dreamt up the FNRttC, was it an actual dream, with 7 fat years and 7 lean ones? Did he sit down at his architect's board and draw up the plans very matter-of-factly? Or was it something of which I cannot even conceive? Appropriately, I don't know.
The Wen to Wen did not arrive unbidden from my subconscious, nor as a practical matter of how to safely transport thousands of cyclists in instalments to the coast. When I first began crossing and recrossing the territory of this ride, it never occurred to me to expand the Velosolo Club, or at least see if I could stop pandering to my solitary nature and invite others to enjoy what has fortified me. Then one day it occured. Sorry for the anticlimax.
Hastings has a somewhat dire reputation. I honestly don't know why. Of all the coastal towns I've been to in England – and I've been to a lot – it is by far the most interesting and one of the least objectionable. Perhaps this is merely the happy result of my increasing familiarity not breeding contempt...
Anybody used to such places knows that they pander to our basest needs, which include amusement arcades
who says space technology doesn't filter down to the masses
nice work if you can get it
and lying down on shingle beaches <shudder>. There's also the Crazy Golf to consider, as documented upthread.
While I have grown fond of the air hockey in the better arcades, made peace with shingle, and even played a game of Crazy Golf before membership became prohibitive, I have never squared myself with what, exactly, is so dire about Hastings (the Wens on both ends of this ride being tongue-in-cheek). It is in many aspects visually appealing, featuring a lovely large park cutting through the heart of it, with pleasing hills East and West to break up the monotony of what would otherwise be, well, flat. It offers castle ruins, a rare working fisherman's beach, a couple of not bad museums, and a patch of land known as The America Ground which warms the cockles of my formerly Yankee heart.
There are also its quirky inhabitants. A town is, after all, its people.
This last one is Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a Pre-Raphaelite who spent time in Hastings and who was born on the day of the first ride, only 184 years earlier
That it is also home to its share of crime, a large population of dogs unable to clean up after themselves, and the Hastings borough council <shudder>, is simply par for the course.
The Hastings Hustle attracted, as I mentioned in that faraway OP, two participants. I couldn't even be sure, until they arrived at the start, that there would be any; thus the tenor of my notes for the day
Save for a wrong turning near the very beginning, and a breaking up of the group in Battle – one of us had a train to catch and did indeed hustle it down to Hastings – it went smoothly. I submitted something like a ride report and didn't plan a repeat.
It took two years to gather enough courage to try again, with hopes to attract more people. Again, two turned up, but at least they were a different two. We had a spendid time. This was encouraging enough that it didn't even take another calendar year to launch another.
Which brings us up to date with next Saturday's ride. We may, counting fingers crossed, breach double figures. However many there are, I have a feeling it will be the right number. While this infusion of tourist cash into the local economy is unlikely to generate the enthusiasm our intrepid group will deserve at the finish
we will know what we have achieved; and it will be good.
. . .
On a technical note, between now and the 25th I will be changing ISPs. While this is meant to be a joyous occasion, should it prove the opposite, I may temporarily be reduced to catching internet access where I can find it. Please, if you have any questions for me, email london2hastings@gmail.com
Make sure you don't miss this, the last ever Wen to Wen!
Until the next one. But who knows where we all will be when the next one rolls around? I myself have several expeditions planned: some, granted, to the supermarket, but others which may take me so far afield as to be unreachable by even modern technology. Not all of Far East Sussex gets good cellphone reception.
Departure is now confirmed for 8.30am. Meeting place as described in post #110 above. This is going to be a long day, so anticipate punctuality.
. . .
Not everyone will be aware, unless they've read the OP, that this is the 3rd running of this now classic event. While I am heartened to see that attendance looks set to break all records, I would like to pause in remembrance of rides past, sharing a few scraps from my scrapbook even as I clear pages for memories yet to come.
In consideration for those scanning this thread for only the latest urgent updates, I will be utilising spoilers to keep this ride down memory lane at least visually brief (scrapbook in the panniers to maintain the semblance of an unmixed metaphor).
First came the idea. Who knows where inspiration comes from? When Simon dreamt up the FNRttC, was it an actual dream, with 7 fat years and 7 lean ones? Did he sit down at his architect's board and draw up the plans very matter-of-factly? Or was it something of which I cannot even conceive? Appropriately, I don't know.
The Wen to Wen did not arrive unbidden from my subconscious, nor as a practical matter of how to safely transport thousands of cyclists in instalments to the coast. When I first began crossing and recrossing the territory of this ride, it never occurred to me to expand the Velosolo Club, or at least see if I could stop pandering to my solitary nature and invite others to enjoy what has fortified me. Then one day it occured. Sorry for the anticlimax.
Hastings has a somewhat dire reputation. I honestly don't know why. Of all the coastal towns I've been to in England – and I've been to a lot – it is by far the most interesting and one of the least objectionable. Perhaps this is merely the happy result of my increasing familiarity not breeding contempt...
Anybody used to such places knows that they pander to our basest needs, which include amusement arcades
who says space technology doesn't filter down to the masses
nice work if you can get it
and lying down on shingle beaches <shudder>. There's also the Crazy Golf to consider, as documented upthread.
While I have grown fond of the air hockey in the better arcades, made peace with shingle, and even played a game of Crazy Golf before membership became prohibitive, I have never squared myself with what, exactly, is so dire about Hastings (the Wens on both ends of this ride being tongue-in-cheek). It is in many aspects visually appealing, featuring a lovely large park cutting through the heart of it, with pleasing hills East and West to break up the monotony of what would otherwise be, well, flat. It offers castle ruins, a rare working fisherman's beach, a couple of not bad museums, and a patch of land known as The America Ground which warms the cockles of my formerly Yankee heart.
There are also its quirky inhabitants. A town is, after all, its people.
This last one is Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a Pre-Raphaelite who spent time in Hastings and who was born on the day of the first ride, only 184 years earlier
That it is also home to its share of crime, a large population of dogs unable to clean up after themselves, and the Hastings borough council <shudder>, is simply par for the course.
The Hastings Hustle attracted, as I mentioned in that faraway OP, two participants. I couldn't even be sure, until they arrived at the start, that there would be any; thus the tenor of my notes for the day
Save for a wrong turning near the very beginning, and a breaking up of the group in Battle – one of us had a train to catch and did indeed hustle it down to Hastings – it went smoothly. I submitted something like a ride report and didn't plan a repeat.
It took two years to gather enough courage to try again, with hopes to attract more people. Again, two turned up, but at least they were a different two. We had a spendid time. This was encouraging enough that it didn't even take another calendar year to launch another.
Which brings us up to date with next Saturday's ride. We may, counting fingers crossed, breach double figures. However many there are, I have a feeling it will be the right number. While this infusion of tourist cash into the local economy is unlikely to generate the enthusiasm our intrepid group will deserve at the finish
we will know what we have achieved; and it will be good.
. . .
On a technical note, between now and the 25th I will be changing ISPs. While this is meant to be a joyous occasion, should it prove the opposite, I may temporarily be reduced to catching internet access where I can find it. Please, if you have any questions for me, email london2hastings@gmail.com
Last edited:
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
I'm afraid that on sober reflection, I'm out. I'd need to leave the house at 7am (which is fine on a weekday, less so on a Saturday) to roll up to Somerset House for 8:30. Even absent any attempt by @theclaud to lead me astray with beer at Hastings (I may have got the causality wrong) it would be gone 9:30 by the time I got home, and @rvw and our guests would probably have cleaned out our wine cellar.
Another time...
Another time...
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