Why do you R on FN ttC?

[User482]

I wanted to join the FNRttC for reasons no better than the fact that Simon and several of the regular participants are posters here who I like and admire. Fast forward to 22 October 2010, and - a nasty crash the previous day having healed up nicely - theclaud was tasked with chaperoning me from Paddington to the start. There may have been a pre-ride sharpener...

To the ride itself. I thought (and still think) there's something rather magical and almost illicit about 80+ riders cruising through the middle of London, changing the road from how it is, to how we'd like it to be, if only for a fleeting moment. What I remember most is laughing like a drain so many times - the camaraderie and the sheer improbability of what we were all doing. Later memories are somewhat blurred by the vast quantity of brown beer consumed at the Waterfront, and it's a testament to how well theclaud has trained her bike that I managed to catch a train home.

Since then, I've participated in the sub-zero Brighton and Southend rides, Wetstable, and went for a slide along the tarmac at Emsworth. I also waved jazz hands on the way to Swansea, shared whisky at sunrise on the beacon, and got more lost than anyone could think to be possible between LMNH and Paddington.

The arrival of our first daughter in 2011, and now our second last November mean that opportunities for joining you are going to be even more limited than previously, but join you I shall.

 

[Aperitif]

Actually, I don't do them anymore...much.
It was nice riding back on a Saturday before it became popular...Brilliant Brian was the arch 'ride-backer' of the day, and he excelled himself on my first night ride (2008), taking Topcat, ARAllsopp, iLove Bikes and self back to civilization...young Andy's first ride out (despite his initial fatigue), first 100 on the way back and he's not looked back, thanks to help from Ian and Andy in particular..
It was nice having a few pints in the morning, not riding back and getting a party going; watching talented people ride bikes, talk, and have fun generally - what else is there to do - be sensible and sleep? Sometimes it is hard to win over miserable people but in general the night ride does.
Also, the bimbles to Cardiff for the night rides to Swansea are fun - I saw my first wingwalker...
Raising a few bob was good too. The Martlets stuff, blasting back from Bognor to The Cenotaph with Mike Eyre, after he rode from 'ull to London, had a few zeds and then did the night ride and return - at pace. (We descended Bury Hill very rapidly, and later, at the Hammersmith roundabout, my handlebars collapsed at low speed - I was a lucky old thing that day.) Spin-off rides with people familiar with my surliness and lack of direction - we had a lot of fun in the MacB days...and shepherding him to a 100 too - that was a real benchmark for someone inspired by the Night Rides.
Helping people along and getting dirty, using gas to fix flats, and administering cognac and cakes - there's nothing else really...apart from Simon. Plenty of wise people on night rides to keep fools like me happy, and as long as no-one does anything dangerous (like try and get a beer out of McUser, McWobble, MacB etc...(see a trend here?) ) things roll along nicely and the dawn breaks.
I've made an equal amount of friends as enemies probably, but it doesn't matter, Adrian - I'll still help you fix yer puncture...
Bamboo bikes, a Yuba Mondo, and a BSO with the front forks on the wrong way round - all human life and Davy is here!

In short - do one and share the fun.
And Simon Legg is an exceptional talent. It helps. Not for nothing is he called the architect of the Night Rides.
Finally, always trust User10571. (providing the alarm goes off)

 

[Aperitif]

Yep it's difficult to shut you two up once you get started!!!

fark you too, you Daisy from Dieppe!

 

[velovoice]

Whitstable is a superb ride and so is Bognor.

My two favourites.

 

[Dogtrousers]

In addition to the attraction of the FNRttC itself, I like the fact that it gives me an opportunity to do longer rides than I would otherwise do. For various reasons I don't tend to ride much more than 100 km or so at a go. But since starting to ride with the Fridays, I've found that the Saturday mornings give me a chance to push that up over 100 miles. Although I can drastically conk out on these morning rides. I remember flying, absolutely flying, along the flat lanes North of Hull on the way to my sister's place last year. And then all of a sudden being reduced to a complete crawl, struggling into a gentle zephyr as if it was a gale-force headwind.

 

[martint235]

[QUOTE 2895093, member: 1314"]Yebbut it has the delights of the A1306 heading towards the M25 Lakeside Service Station on a cold dark wet windy night as GIANT HGVs trundle past, inches from your ear.[/quote]
Stop being a wuss! And they are Trek HGVs rather than Giant ones.

 

[hatler]

Ooooo. Where to start. I'll have to think about this one a bit. I promise to post something here as a direct response to the OP at some point.

 

[hatler]

There's sort of two questions hiding in the OP.

Why did you ride the first one ?

Why did you carry on (if indeed you did) ?

Answering the first question probably says more about the responder than anything else.
Answering the second question is likely to reveal more about the nature of the Fridays.

Sam, Do you want both answers ?

 

[jayonabike]

I'd love to do some FNRttC but working Friday nights puts a stop to that. I'm going to have to coincide a week off when one is on, and I'd be up for the Saturday morning run home

 

[PaulRide]

^^^^^^^^Blimey, thanks for posting that photo User10571! Happy memories!

Evil Kiwi was called Ed, but my memory of meeting him at HPC involved him introducing himself to me as "Id", to which my response was "And your name in real life?". "Id, like I sid".

I think I have a few photos somewhere of an early FNRttC with moonlit Pikes pausing at the greenhouses before the climb up Ditchling. And possibly even a Legg arriving at the top. Could be the same ride - he was certainly in that jersey.

But before I respond to anothersam, I will need some peace and quiet to delve back into the depths of 2005/6. I may be some time.

Edited for some additional rambling content for Sam:
the roads belong to us again
nightingales, marsh frogs, badgers, stars, planets, space stations and iridium flares, bungalows that we'd have missed in broad daylight
being able to drift in and out of conversations – nobody expects us to be articulate for very long but everyone seems happy to echange a few words on any subject
the transition from city to country, from darkness to light, hitting cold pockets, rising out of the mist, sneaking through a gap in the South Downs at Arundel, the warmth of the rising sun across the Graveney Marshes
as others have said, that first breath of oxygen at Mitcham, the leg-stretch of Portnalls Road
pushing aside the week’s accumulated detritus
trying to make sense of references to Deleuze
but I’ve had doubts as well, similar to those expressed in your “ambivalence” post: progress is slower with larger numbers, the mechanics start to take over from the poetry, more friction. And which poor sod lives on that corner in Lindfield where we pause and talk loudly at 4am?

And odd little fortuities:
User10571 turning out to be a neighbour.
And (admittdly on a different ride) do you remember puncturing near Peasenhall and, as a result, meeting that barn owl?

 

[hatler]

Was he evil?

He used mudguards.

 

[PaulRide]

I never detected any malice. I recall that he moved back to NZ. I hope he's still cycling, wherever he is.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Way back in the 1980s while touring, my cycling buddy suggested night riding - it was something that some people at his dad's cycling club did and it sounded interesting. We sat in a pub somewhere and resolved to give it a go when we got back. We would take our bikes out to Dover on the last train and ride back to London. What a great plan! Of course, we never did. Like many plans hatched in the pub it came to naught. It's taken me about 30 years to get around to it. In the opposite direction.

 

[mmmmartin]

I'd love to do some FNRttC but working Friday nights puts a stop to that. I'm going to have to coincide a week off when one is on, and I'd be up for the Saturday morning run home

Look at the Flemish ride. Saturday May 3 from Brussels, which is surprisingly easy to get to in an afternoon and a short adventure in itself, and then on Sunday morning an easy but fascinating return along the Belgian coast (which, if it in the south of France and warm all the time, would be a world-class resort for beaches and beauty) in a tram. Yes, you did read that correctly. Then a potter through Dunkirk and a doze on the ferry before a train ride from Dover to home on Sunday evening. And there are no hills whatsoever. And some fantastic canal-side rides on perfect tarmac. So you don't need to wait for a week off work.

 

[User10571]

[QUOTE 2895758, member: 30090"]Ian has a roundabout named after him?[/quote]
Various stretches or features of road have been named after riders who have a certain frisson with that particular section of tarmac.