Next year................

[Fab Foodie]

Now there's an idea for a Halloween dry run of the hill climb I reckon - It would be quite a laugh to dress up as grave robbers on bikes and go charging up besides Hampstead cemetary - any pirates graves there ?

Freewheeling did a dressed-up Halloween ride, it was a hoot! A Tour of Londiniums graveyards (why not Graves of the famous or infamous?) would be great, dellzeqq likes a story .....

 

[Fab Foodie]

I wouldn't preclude less critical people from taking part.

What about the more massive?

 

[Flying Dodo]

I just think it's time I thought about the next thing. And I do think that a five to ten minute time trial in the middle of the night in the middle of a city has the makings of a great event.

Leaving aside the issue of traffic, a large group of cyclists hanging around are going to get cold and create some noise.........and some unhappy residents.

 

[Flying Dodo]

FNRttC, led by the Dread Pirate Roberts? (@ Flying Dodo)

I'm Spartacus (and a cheque is in the post).




PS You do like hills, don't you?

 

[thom]

I'm Spartacus (and a cheque is in the post).

Am I the only one who thinks you bear a little more than a passing resemblance to Christopher Lee ?

 

[Flying Dodo]

So that's why I like night rides.............................

 

[srw]

* I face a crisis - one of my daughters has cancer and it might be that my heart won't be up to the task of running a bike club.

Oh Christ, that's bad. Hugs/manly handshakes to you all.

 

[srw]

I'm proposing such a London to Abingdon Night-ride to arrive at the kick-off of the next Freewheeling Spring Festival :-)

Jolly good. I feel a bout of nostalgia coming along!

 

[Steve Jones]

* I face a crisis - one of my daughters has cancer and it might be that my heart won't be up to the task of running a bike club.

Suddenly I don't feel quite adequate to respond. All I can say is I hope everything turns out for the best.

 

[procel]

What Steve said: I hope so too.

 

[Tim Hall]

Random thoughts that occurred to me whilst cooking:

We used to have lectures on the FNRTTC. Mostly en route to Southend, involving socialist ideals of shoemaking, but also churches used in films, with a side order of cruising. I liked them. Nowadays we seem not to dawdle on the way, but they struck a chord with me, so much so that I've organised Tandem Club rides that have been little else than a literary tour of West Sussex. I reckon that side could be expanded upon. No, really I do. Hand out assignments before the ride to designated riders to come up with something. A sort of literary/cultural-TEC perhaps.

Peter Cushing lived in Whitstable.

We looked, in vain, for a memorial to Ho Chi Minh in Newhaven.

Fancy dress at Halloween happened on an FNRTTC once before. Some made the effort. Arallsop, top marks:

 

[Flying Dodo]

I'd forgotten about the fancy dress!

I've done lectures before - my Independence Ride around central London a couple of years ago was stuffed full of facts about earnest seekers of freedom from around the world.

Ask not what the FNRttC can do for you, but what you can do for the FNRttC. Perhaps all attendees should fill in a questionnaire detailing their special skills and knowledge, so that they can be called upon to provide amusing and/or onteresting factoids and comments?

 

[Tim Hall]

Hmm. I thought I'd put a picture in:

FD, very well said.

 

[User10571]

Or we could just go for a lovely bike ride?

With you......

 

[StuAff]

I'm not sure about all this Simon stuff. Simon B (ah - I see where you're coming from) runs the Reading night rides. There's no special trick to it, although it helps if, in your 'other' life, you tell people what to do, and you routinely check and re-check your work (I'm willing to bet that Archie could pull it off). Not everybody would fancy it, but I can think of at least two people who would do as good a job as me. I suppose it's a question of having the time as much as anything.

Here's what I think will happen - if my life continues pretty much in the same way* then I'll run things pretty much as they are now next year except
a) Martin and others will run the tour (I can't even think of going away for a week)
b) there will be fewer rides to the four/five standard destinations - so, from 11? in 2012 to 9 in 2012 to perhaps five in 2014. Fewer rides might mean bigger rides, which are easier to run
c) there will be a round-IOW ride run by somebody else
d) there will be a Cardiff to Swansea ride which Claudine pretty much runs anyway
e) there will be a York to Hull ride, but I might not be running it
f) the Reading rides will get a push
g) if he fancies it Marcus might expand the Carlisle to Newcastle ride
h) there will be two Southwold rides at a minimum, and, hopefully three
and
i) I will attempt to get the CTC TT movie-ette off the ground - with your money.

* I face a crisis - one of my daughters has cancer and it might be that my heart won't be up to the task of running a bike club.

As others have said, hope that everything works out as best it can. And if there's anything I can do to help, I will. And if I can't, it won't be through lack of trying.