Why do you R on FN ttC?

[deptfordmarmoset]

I've only done 5 rides, I think. The initial attraction was the memory of childhood rides from London to the coast (and back) combined with the evident enjoyment and camaraderie that glowed from the Friday night threads on here. And, true to my expectations, there's always a stage of the ride when we seem to have reclaimed the road to ourselves and I get that reminder of my youth. Not the fitness and energy of youth, of course, but that sense of having travelled from the bustling centre of a capital city, through expanses of suburbia to that place where there aren't cars parked everywhere on both sides of the street or cars everywhere jostling for ownership of the space between those parked cars. That's the magic stage of FNRttC rides for me. Somewhere in the middle of that magic stage there's the food stops, and our hosts' abundant goodwill - getting up in the middle of the cold, dark night - still leaves a striking impression on me. And then, after the stop, the thermostat outside has inevitably been set too low and the challenge of waking and warming the body up begins. That bit is torture but there's a breakfast at the end of it! Chips for breakfast are only right after a night on the bike. And the sausages at Burnham!

 

[Dan B]

I haven't had many opportunies to do the fnrttc - or any other leisure cycling - in the last couple of years, because child. But back in the ACF days I was on pretty much every one, starting with a ride to Southend some time in the autumn of 2007 - or possibly a year either side of that - and what I wrote at the time about transitions is probably still how I feel about the ride. But it's a long time since acf went to the wall, I didn't keep copies of anything I put there, and I may have made more sense in memory than in fact.

There is a mini-roundabout and an incline somewhere out past Tooting (Mitcham?) on the Brighton route that for me always marks the end of the beginning. Suddenly there are no buildings on the left hand side of the road and the air gets damper and about two degrees colder. Coming out of Gatwick airport at daybreak used to be another of those waypoint events. And then there's the right turn somewhere on the route to Whitstable (I think it's that route) where we stop and regroup and wonder if it's light enough yet to turn the rear lights off.

In 2014 I would very much like to resume the overnight wheelery. But I also hope to be dad*2 in June, so we'll see how that works out. That's a transition of another kind, I suppose

 

[slowmotion]

2010! That was your first, wasn't it, Slowmo?

Yep, that was my first. We had a lot of laughs sitting in the sun outside the cafe drinking a fair amount of beer. I knew then that it was my kind of activity.

 

[martint235]

2010! That was your first, wasn't it, Slowmo?

That was my first ride too. Also my first attempt at Ditchling Beacon and my first hundred miles.

Me? I hate riding in the dark and can't wait for that first light to appear. However, FNRttC provides an opportunity to chat at a relaxed pace with the friends I've made over the years and with new friends I make on the night. It also results in me having a full belly from a full english breakfast and being in a convenient place for a blast back to home on a Saturday morning before the traffic gets stoopid.

 

[dellzeqq]

I haven't had many opportunies to do the fnrttc - or any other leisure cycling - in the last couple of years, because child. But back in the ACF days I was on pretty much every one, starting with a ride to Southend some time in the autumn of 2007 - or possibly a year either side of that - and what I wrote at the time about transitions is probably still how I feel about the ride. But it's a long time since acf went to the wall, I didn't keep copies of anything I put there, and I may have made more sense in memory than in fact.

There is a mini-roundabout and an incline somewhere out past Tooting (Mitcham?) on the Brighton route that for me always marks the end of the beginning. Suddenly there are no buildings on the left hand side of the road and the air gets damper and about two degrees colder. Coming out of Gatwick airport at daybreak used to be another of those waypoint events. And then there's the right turn somewhere on the route to Whitstable (I think it's that route) where we stop and regroup and wonder if it's light enough yet to turn the rear lights off.

In 2014 I would very much like to resume the overnight wheelery. But I also hope to be dad*2 in June, so we'll see how that works out. That's a transition of another kind, I suppose

That for me was the point at which I started to breath. I'd have been panting, sweating, hearing the blood pound in my ears all the way through Battersea, Clapham, Tooting and Mitcham. Then I'd do the way finding at the roundabout, count them through and almost faint with relief. After that it was a haul back to the front, but the worry was off my shoulders.

 

[User10571]

I think the turning point was here, before which we were a smallish bunch of mates who gathered under the direction of Dellzeqq, and a fullish moon, and headed for the coast.
The last time we stopped at the house of the immigration officer I think our number was something like 42.
Standing room only. And some of it outdoors.
The ride at the end of the month in which that article was published was when the FNRttC went galactic.
Someone will correct me, but I think we had 96 on the ride.
Simon asked me to lead it.
I was petrified, in no small way.
I think the best mileage I have gleaned from the FNRttC are the rides where I've gone out with a select few, either during the day, or at night, to check out new destinations and the routes which would lead us there.
For me, they were, and always will be, magic miles.

 

[Wobblers]

@Flying Dodo's tale is remarkably similar to my own. I had discovered, in a dull moment when I should have been working, on the old acf forum that there were a bunch of nutters who liked night rides as much as I did. I just had to find out just what the fuss was.

So, February 2010 found me catching the train to London, my first time in London on a bike. Fortunately, I'd arranged to meet the ever urbane @redfalo who guided us through the London traffic to HPC. Whereupon, already shivering despite all the layers I was wearing, I wondered just what I'd got myself into. Just how insane was I?

About 30 miles later I had my answer. Thirty very wet miles, as I remember. We had just set off from the halfway stop (a wonderful warm, and above all, dry oasis staffed by irrepressibly cheerful people) and were regrouping at the bottom of a hill. There was a white house across the junction all lit up by our lights. It occurred to me, then, how bizarre a sight we must have been to anyone looking out that house. Over forty cyclists, in the torrential rain, mostly silent and still, cocooned in an immense bubble of light, as if we'd brought our very own dawn with us. I realised then what a special, unique, wonderful thing the FNRttC was. I've been hooked ever since.

It's not just the unique experience, of course. It's the comradeship, the sense of all sorts of different people nevertheless pulling together to produce something that is immeasurably greater than the sum of our individual parts. It's the automatic and unstinting help from people who in some cases you've just met, from redfalo guiding me to HPC that very first time to the able assistance of @TimO on my embarrasing occasion of a double puncture (note to self: watch out for unexpected kerbs!) It's beers and laughter on the morning after. It's a random stranger giving me a mug of tea whilst I was waymarking in Darkest Wales (Wales will always occupy a special place in my heart). It's talking to old friends and meeting new ones.

In the end, it all boils down to a stash of memories, carefully wrapped up and packed in a chest labelled "FNRttC": to be unpacked whenever I need to be reminded of Good Times. Thank you all.

 

[StuAff]

I think the turning point was here, before which we were a smallish bunch of mates who gathered under the direction of Dellzeqq, and a fullish moon, and headed for the coast.
The last time we stopped at the house of the immigration officer I think our number was something like 42.
Standing room only. And some of it outdoors.
The ride at the end of the month in which that article was published was when the FNRttC went galactic.
Someone will correct me, but I think we had 96 on the ride.
Simon asked me to lead it.
I was petrified, in no small way.
I think the best mileage I have gleaned from the FNRttC are the rides where I've gone out with a select few, either during the day, or at night, to check out new destinations and the routes which would lead us there.
For me, they were, and always will be, magic miles.

Part of me is sad that I missed out on those early rides (though I'd have been in no state to do them), but I think that the small group night rides I've done, including with your good self, have been amongst the best. In truth, I like both- they each have their own set of pros and cons.

That Guardian piece was a really great summation of what the ride is (still, size notwithstanding) about, gold bullion of prose compared to the bouncing cheques of publicity from the commercial/charity alternatives.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

It's the automatic and unstinting help from people who in some cases you've just met, from redfalo guiding me to HPC that very first time to the able assistance of @TimO on my embarrasing occasion of a double puncture (note to self: watch out for unexpected kerbs!) It's beers and laughter on the morning after.

The double puncture wasn't a problem. Discovering you had a double puncture only after fixing the first one on the other hand.....

 

[srw]

I was very welcome but maybe the Brompton should be left at home. Needless to say I turned up on the Brompton.

I got a very similar reply when I proposed the tandem. That was back in 2010, and a week of lousy sleep did for any idea of doing that ride. Instead I turned up on my own one day when RVW was out of town, exchanged (nervous) words with @GrumpyGregry on the way out from under the arch, endured a long cold wait for coffee in Horley, successfully climbed the Beacon and was invited to the pub in Brighton by @theclaud. Since when I've been back for more on more occasions than I can remember.

I love the surreality of being out and about and sober when others are in bed, and of desperately fighting to stay awake on the train home.

 

[StuAff]

[QUOTE 2892489, member: 1314"]Despite paraliaphobia I’ve managed 4, the first was Whitstable Autumn 2010, the last was Southend Summer 2012. Nothing since as my weekly commuting mileage upped in 2013 to about 170 miles a week and come Friday evening I’m all cycled out. I was motivated to attend by tales of early morning ****-ups of which I was determined to be a part. As a very very occasional member I have a few reflections as a minor footnote to the whole affair that Adrian calls the best cycling club in the world.

I remember Origamist sitting forlornly on the kerb outside the Rochester cafe, freezing wet ‘acclimatising’ he said; cycling back from Liverpool Street with slimline SD through SW London early evening in a fug; FD’s RSA top; being in intellectual awe of the legendary TC and not talking to her for about a year therefore as I’m sure she could read my mind, humouring myself with the more simple 3BM instead; DW making a move on Mice(!); Aperitif’s St George’s shield; Adrian and TMN trying to get me to eat my shorts; Greg’s man skirt; racing the Lithuanian fixed; a superb write-up by TC; continuing drinking with TimO in a Tooting pub in the afternoon; thinking MacW was Scandinavian; Luke.

Felpham was my fave as I remember sunny skies and champagne for breakfast on a scorching Bank Holiday.

I feel rather unfulfilled by it, though, as I never committed enough to get the most of it, taking more than giving back, never quite relaxed. I’ve been reminiscing and going over the posts and photos of the rides I have been on and wishing I had just engaged more with the people and the experience and taken savouries to eat as sweets are far too common I think, and a hip flask.

I think it’s a nice thing, ‘nice’ in the good sense of the word, more together than the mish-mash Dunwich Dynamo which was my first night-ride.

Thanks to Simon.

My favourite sucessful moment was passing myself off as an attractive asian lady in Rose's Café (now closed) in order to get free beers' promises from DW.

View attachment 36919 [/quote]
Rose Restaurant now reopened. We went there in September.

 

[Fab Foodie]

You really need to ask?
I wrote this a long time ago. In another place. Chances are you probably still have it, Sam


Night rides. Why?

The lack of traffic.
The ability to ride four abreast.
The silence.
The night time noises.
The smells.
The temperature changes.
The white line and the silhouettes flashing past.
The camaraderie.
The feeling that at that time the world is yours.


Love it.

Unfortunately I only have the 1 FNRttC under my belt but with memories a-plenty. Work sh1itt and family life generally defeats desire. I've done a few other night rides including the Oxford to London several times (it's on the doorstep) and can only agree with User10571's list above as motive.
The camaraderie is fabulous and I think there is a natural bond between people that seek such a seemingly strange but ultimately sublime experience. I've no desire to ride at night alone other than quick city-spins of an evening to stretch the legs, to smell, taste, feel the hubbub of nightlife. But to share the experience with others, to have the roads as our playground, to really enjoy the breaking of dawn together for me is something special.
The regulars make it easy to want to return.
I'm hoping to see somewhere other than Brighton next time ....

 

[ComedyPilot]

Looking to pop my FNRttC cherry this year. Need a reasonably genteel one to ease me in to it though.

Plan would be to get a Friday evening train York to Kings Cross, ride to the start. Do the ride, have brekky, go to the pub, ride back to London, get a cheap hotel room for me and the bike, sleep the sleep of a thousand men, then get up perky and get a Sunday train back to York.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Looking to pop my FNRttC cherry this year. Need a reasonably genteel one to ease me in to it though.

Plan would be to get a Friday evening train York to Kings Cross, ride to the start. Do the ride, have brekky, go to the pub, ride back to London, get a cheap hotel room for me and the bike, sleep the sleep of a thousand men, then get up perky and get a Sunday train back to York.

There's always the York to Hull one - that'll save a little travelling time and money.

 

[ComedyPilot]

There's always the York to Hull one - that'll save a little travelling time and money.

Of course there's the local one which I am looking to do this year (got the bike/dynamo/lights), but a FNRttC to me wouldn't be that bit more special if it didn't include a trip to the smoke.