FNRttC Brighton - August 2013

It's been a while since this ride was on, but I haven't forgotten it.  It was most memorable for seeing Rimas.   He had posted that it's not so much the ride he was looking forward to, but seeing the people on the ride.  I can identify with that.  That he's doing a night ride only one week after finishing 'an extreme' event makes you raise your eyebrows.

Rimas had taken part in the Transcontinental Race from London to Istanbul.  That race has an audax feel about it.  Not many people know about it.  There were only two controls on the way.  Riders choose their own route.  Self-suffiency is so revered that drafting is frowned upon and made into one of only 10 rules.  Cyclechatters were glued to the live tracking screen for at least 11 days 7 hours and 21 seconds.  A few other participants were known to us also.  And Juliana Buhring caught the eye as the only female rider.

Rimas deciding what cake to eat

The ride was great.  The new way out of London was perfect.  Loved it.   There were a few early punctures, so that gave a chance for riding slowly, absorbing the night atmosphere, listening, chatting, taking photos... I was in a very relaxed mood.  The only pressure I put on myself was to ask Rimas to tell me more about the Transcontinental Race.

New way out of London

It was a mild night.  But rain, or even downpours had been promised.  I had checked my tyres.  I replaced them both with less worn ones and still took two spares with me.   I wasn't visited, but many others were.  Great! More opportunity for chats and snaps.

It got wet.

At the middle of the night scout hut stop, our leader caught me napping rather than snapping- oh the humiliation!

Caption competition ...

There are reports of people missing a turning.  I had a few moments of hesitation myself.  So let me share a top tip with budding way markers: stay with your bike and point your bike in the direction of travel.  There is more you can do, but that is a good starter.

Anyhow, I 'd like to thank all way markers, TECs, riders I chatted with, Rimas, and Simon for making it  another memorable ride.

Now, I'm going to read 'Not Without My Sister', a book co-written by Juliana Buhring, about her upbringing and escape from a cult.  Thanks to meim for highlighting that.  And do read Juliana's blog post on the Transcontinental Ride.  It's well written.  Phrases such as 'the second winner' are used.  Beautiful!

Next ride is ... Whitstable!

Rest of the photos are here: MyPhotos

Lindfield

FNRttC Brighton - March 2012

Never again! This has been the worst FNRttC ever!

That is because I didn't do the ride. After bailing out (I needed a couple more days Kiwi Hunt recovery) I thought to join the riders on arrival at the Madeira cafe.

The Madeira Cafe ready for FNRttC business

It was a wonderful spring morning - I wondered what the night ride would have been like. I wasn't prepared for the quantity and quality of words posted on the forum afterwards:

• What a lovely bunch of people you all are - GregCollins 
• One of the most enjoyable FNRttCs I have done - Sittingduck 
• I really, really enjoyed that - my fave and best FNRttC to date - ed! 
• What fabulous fun. A splendid ride - hatler 
• thank you for all contributing to one of life's great pleasures - hatler 
• Spiffy ride - Tim Hall 
• What a brilliant FNRttC - ianruk 
• I think this might just have been the best one yet - TinyMyNewt 
• what a lovely bunch of people to spend the night with, I'm so lucky!! - TinyMyNewt 
• well, that was a delight - dellzeqq 
• What a splendid bunch you are, and how lucky am I to know you! - dellzeqq 
• A definet top FNRttC - Nigel182 
• Can't wait for the next one! - Christophe 
• What a fab ride that was! - Mice 
• Magic. Just magic. - rb58 
• By heck that was great. - StuAff 
• One of the best FNRttCs I've been on. - Martin235 
• it was definitely one of best night rides. - thegreenman 

I tried to reconcile and tell myself that, if you haven't done many FNRttCs, then this could easily be the best ever for you. But some of these quotes are by regulars!  McWobble wrote "I can't really put my finger on why this FNRttC was so good."  That is the magic about FNRttC, rides seem to get better and better. Or is it that the first of the season is a re-awakening?

It's not all that bad.  Seeing people arrive, especially the new ones, and learn how they enjoyed the ride is wonderful. Catching up with regulars, is like catching up with friends. A touching story by Katie Sutton, reminds you, what a ride can mean to people.

The other benefit was that I could see the Brighton seafront from a different angle. I took some photos: Clicky

Mice posted some lovely photos here: Clicky

The Kiwi Hunt write up is in progress - amazing how a ride can take time to sink in and translate into words.

FNRttC - Brighton

On top of the Beacon, Simon had encouraged people to keep going down to Brighton, rather than wait for everybody and get cold.  This had created a sense of urgency in me.  From trying not to raise my heart rate on this Genteel ride, I turned into a racer chasing down the break away.  The Pyrenees Stage 11 it was.  I could hear Chris Boardman's voice: "It is all down to how much risk you are prepared to take".   Visibility improved by looking over my glasses.  In the far distance was a blurred shimmer of red light.  That was my target.

We arrived at the Madeira soaking wet.  A proper FNRttC that was.  Loved it.

Conquering the Beacon
Photo by Martin Brice

It starts at Hyde Park Corner with magic.  We bunch up at the traffic lights, ready to hit the road en masse.  We wait for the next green light.  Simon surges on and puts his hand up to stop the oncoming traffic.  And it's like magic!  On a roundabout notorious for 'having to go with the flow'.  Going against the grain is an absolute no no. Any hesitation and you'll hear the cab drivers cursing you.  But Simon gets in the middle of the road, puts his hand up, and all traffic slows and stops as if mesmerised.  I would imagine it is mesmerising.  From the other end, you'd see this guy cycling towards you.  Behind him a group of cyclists with dazzling lights, like you've never seen before.  It's midnight, what is going on?

I couldn't get into the the ride until I had sorted out my back light.  I was on my way to the station when I realised I had left my pump at home. When you change bike and gear, you are out of routine and things like this happen.   I turned back home to pick it up.  My partner rolled her eyes.  I set off again, and noticed how my back light was quite weak. 'Oh no, I don't have spare batteries!  I turned back home to pick some up.  My partner rolled her eyes and sighed.   It was a good thing I had spare batteries, because once at Hyde Park Corner, the light wasn't good enough anymore, in my opinion.  I changed the batteries feeling smug. Only, the batteries were flat!  Oh no!  How irresponsible of me!  One should always check the state of one's spare batteries, I could hear a 'with hindsight type of devil' whisper in my ear.  Fortunately there are plenty of opportunities to buy batteries and I could relax again.

Wonderful reception at the Scouts Group

'It's the wrong turn' sounds like a line from Wallace and Grommit.   The comedy moment for me was Adrian (I think it was) pointing out the single white light amongst a sea of red.  'He's realised', Adrian said, 'You wait, gradually, the red will turn into more and more white until no red is left'.  More magic!  Simon is getting a bit of stick on the forum for this.  But if I led a group towards the coast, it would always be the 'scenic' way.

The worlds of FNRttC and audax are really mixing now.  With the three guys I happened to be seated with at the Madeira, we talked Bryan Chapman, PBP and Hummers.  Pete stated his ambition of doing a 300 for the first time this year.  It might sound like an odd question coming from me, but I asked what drives him to do a 300.  'To do an SR (Super Randonneur) series next year', he said. 'Ah, that is completely understandable then!'.

A most enjoyable moment was saying thank you and goodbye to Simon and the gang:  'See you next week'!

Photos are on the slideshow till the next ride or here: Clicky

FNRttC - Brighton

Why are rides completed in horrendous weather always more epic?

It wasn't too bad really. We started and finished in dry weather. Just the hours in between were a bit wet. It had also stopped raining as we left the halfway spot at the cabin, so that lifted the spirits. But I must quote something posted by mistral on CycleChat: "I had to drive a relative home last night, the rain was heavy the roads awash and visibility difficult, it was only then that I realised just how insane we had been on Friday". That is exactly how I felt when Sarah and I drove back to London on Saturday evening. When we came across a horrible accident on the M25, it wasn't funny anymore.

What an impressive group of riders, though. Simon gave a bail out option at some point (it was a night of many firsts!), explaining that Gatwick was only a couple of miles away for a train back to London ... nobody answered. How brilliant! And the group was quite diverse, from experienced long distance riders to people who've never cycled more than 40 miles (the forum quotes 7 miles - is that really true?).

Hats of to "The Cabin Cafe" establishment in Faygate. It has a reputation as a good truckers' stop and voted by The Times as "the purveyors of one of the best bacon butties in England". Its quite true. How often do you need a steak knife to cut a bacon buttie. That is not because its tough, but because its so big. At first I didn't understand why chef kept shouting and pointing to one of the tables: "Knifes are in the middle". And what a mess we made! The floor resembled that of the showers after a rugby game.

The other thing that was a first was Simon getting a puncture! What an impressive puncture with the sound of a fire cracker being set off, I could see a cartoon animation going on in front of my eyes. I failed to find an image to illustrate what I mean, but found this little gem: Clicky (then click on the i to view in large screen).

The route was new too. And I enjoyed it very much. The highlight was Tunnel Road in Reigate.

We were able to shelter from the rain for a bit, and it was a good spot for keeks to repair his puncture. There is a whole load of history behind these vaults, wouldn't mind visiting one day: Clicky.

And all of the Faccombe Five were there! And Hummers. That made for excellent closure to the cycling season. Shame for them, that it was one of the worst FNRttC, weather wise. Still, think of BCM 2009 and everything is relative.

I'm getting a bit of hassle from Sarah right now ("We have nothing of a Friday evening because you're messing with your bike, you're out cycling all night, sleep all Saturday (oh not true!) and blog all Sunday (oh, not true either!) ... it's stopped raining now, you should be out doing things"). Cycling maybe? Ouch! So better tell her I've finished, and then I'll sneak some more words in later on. Cheerio for now.

... I'm back.

On Saturday, I was very tired and felt like I had done a 300km audax. Maybe that's the bike. I used my racer again, first time since March. It is a lovely bike to ride, but I always feel like I've played a game of rugby with aching muscles and my shoulders and neck very stiff.

I did not envy urban_biker, LEE and Chillmoister cycling home against the wind. I only had to cycle to Seven Dials (seeing Hummers on the way) and was glad to be able to enter a warm house, had a shower, a coffee and a snooze. As I woke up, a lovely lunch was laid on. I was thinking of the guys cycling home, hoping they would see sense (which they did), and was also thinking how otherwise I would be sitting on the train with soaking wet feet.

Thanks to Simon, who is the generator of the FNRttC magic. Thanks to the TECs and all the riders for contributing to the magic.

Some other thoughts:

• the Christmas lights on Sloane Square, very impressive, almost an art installation
• me not getting a puncture on a FNRttC!!!
• the mince pies, hip flask, cakes, hot chocolate etc being shared
• looking forward to seeing photos taken by the others:

by Arthur: Clicky

by LEE: Clicky

by Mista Preston: Clicky

My pictures on the slide show till the next ride or here: Clicky

FNRttC March 2009 - Brighton

I was asked many times if 'this' was something to do with Red Nose Day! It would have been so much easier to say yes, but it was so much more fun to see the ensuing facial expressions when the truth was told. Mind you, its hard to explain when asked "Why do you cycle to Brighton, from London, in the middle of the night?". And you do this on Red Nose day? And you are not raising money? Should have referred them to my JustGiving site ...

We had the usual stop start exit out of London, before we came to quiet lanes. We had some really fast stretches (max 52.5 km/h). I also love the rolling section after the climb in Coulsdon

We cycled through residential areas, went through gates onto a footpath, left, right, up, down and ... all of a sudden, into a back alley, bike on shoulder, up the stairs and 'Arrivals'. Being in Gatwick Airport was quite surreal.

I just love FNRttC. Every ride is different. The only thorn in the side last night was an on/off puncture. Not so bad in itself, but you know that it holds up the group and it meant that I ended up walking up Ditchling Beacon. I have never walked up that hill before (I mean, I always manage to cycle up - slowly).

The mist over Ditchling Beacon and Brighton was an improvement on the hail we had last year. Shame we couldn't even see the sea though! I didn't have good memories of the Madeira Cafe breakfast, but this morning's Full English was pukka (= the max).

It was a great group of people with old and new faces. It was great catching up with Brian, Chris, the scott and meeting new cyclists.

Had a smooth journey back home, good train connections, coffee ready at home!

More photos are here.