mylovelyhorse
Peloton Rider
Waiting for my next ride...
Posts: 119
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Post by mylovelyhorse on Jul 13, 2013 20:10:33 GMT
Departed Hackney at 22:20 on trusty Triban 7 Arrived Brighton (well, Hove actually) 66.5 miles later at 04:55 What a fab ride, what a great bike
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2013 20:34:46 GMT
Well done...... What a strange way to spend a night. What made you do it like that? Think I would be scared ;-)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2013 22:04:10 GMT
Well done...... What a strange way to spend a night. What made you do it like that? Think I would be scared ;-) awwww
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Post by Big Brother on Jul 13, 2013 22:36:04 GMT
Great effort MLH. How was the ride? Any problems, near misses? Any road kill? Presume conditions were pretty near perfect for a summers night expedition.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2013 0:18:53 GMT
That's pretty hardcore, did your lights last you the whole time?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2013 0:19:48 GMT
Well done...... What a strange way to spend a night. What made you do it like that? Think I would be scared ;-) Don't worry big boy, i'll get your back! Jokes i'd be just as scared!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2013 3:56:14 GMT
I thought you had done it for the BHF London to Brighton night ride but that's this morning. The guys should be arriving last few hours up till now. Going to be spectacular sunrise after 60+ ride from the coast!
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mylovelyhorse
Peloton Rider
Waiting for my next ride...
Posts: 119
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Post by mylovelyhorse on Jul 14, 2013 8:15:27 GMT
I did the Moonriders event not the BHF one as I was supporting a charity of my choice. I'm doing a write up for a club I'm in and could post it here if people want.
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Post by Spoakes on Jul 14, 2013 8:50:42 GMT
Any crazy lights on the wheels ? I've seen some weird spoke lights that spell out anything you want.
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Post by Big Brother on Jul 14, 2013 10:12:12 GMT
I did the Moonriders event not the BHF one as I was supporting a charity of my choice. I'm doing a write up for a club I'm in and could post it here if people want. Yes please. I think many would find it of interest. I thought it was a solo run. How many were out on the road. Not as scary now, you were ganged up!!!
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mylovelyhorse
Peloton Rider
Waiting for my next ride...
Posts: 119
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Post by mylovelyhorse on Jul 14, 2013 16:42:36 GMT
Moonridingbeing a short{i} description of a day & a night doing cycling stuff Part 1: before the rideIssues around taking cycles on trains into London means that I couldn't take a train that would arrive between 4 & 7 pm. Going out of London I can see the point but going in? Anyhow, I think the worst part of the whole thing was cycling from Victoria Station to Liverpool St. The GPS couldn't see satellites for ages because of the tall buildings, I don't know the way and the sheer volume of buses, coaches and taxis all trying to use not a lot of road was very frustrating. I got to Liverpool St, had a coffee and decided to cycle on to the event start at the Hackney Marshes Centre. I arrived there shortly after 5, at the same time as three chaps from Weymouth who had had the same issue with train times. There was nothing to be seen of the event, no signs, no stands, nothing. Mind you, registration wasn't due to start until 8 Around 6:30 the event peeps turned up (as did a few more cyclists{ii}) and fairly swiftly set up the start line, registration, bike racks, all sorts of things. I was starting with three ex-colleagues from EE and they arrived at 8:30-ish, which is about the time I would have liked to have been arriving. One had a puncture but the on-site mechanic put a new tube in and sorted things out. Advantageous to get him to do it as she then had a spare tube remaining and was confident there was no possibility of a pinched tube etc. We spent a lot of time, as I think did a lot of riders, deciding what top to wear - long sleeves or short. I went with under-vest thing and short sleeved cycling top. One woman was wearing a highly illuminated{iii} pink tutu and all sorts of bits & pieces. No superman costumes or anything though! There were around 500 riders in total. The first start was at 22:00 and the Weymouth lads (supposed to be starting at 23:20) slipped into that group. We were supposed to be starting at 22:40 but slipped into the 22:20 group just to get under way really. Next: the start and across London to Mitcham and the first stop. Later {i} not really {ii} including one on a Cannondale with only one front fork, surely a triumph of design over necessity {iii} LEDs, naturally
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mylovelyhorse
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Waiting for my next ride...
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Post by mylovelyhorse on Jul 14, 2013 16:46:08 GMT
Part 2: London to Mitcham and the first stop
So at the start there were around a 100 cyclists waiting behind the gate. We were right at the back of the queue, just outside the pen. 22:20 and the gate is opened and very slowly off we go with the command "at the end of the lane turn right!" in our ears. Moving >100 cyclists away isn't a quick activity and as we're at the back we took a minute or so to get out onto the road.
Less than 2 miles later and our group had its first puncture. There's glass scattered across a cycle lane and 20 yards apart there were 2 knots of riders round bicycles being repaired. Rather irritatingly the punctured tube was the one that had just been fitted by the mechanic :-( Karin showed her competence with the whole puncture business by getting the new tube in and the bike sorted in very good time, much quicker than I would have done it. Nevertheless the next group had passed us by before we'd done. As we cycled away there was a support vehicle with the other group so it may be they had a more serious issue to deal with.
I've motor-cycled the Mile End Road many times and never really noticed it to be particularly hilly - and didn't feel it was overly so on a bicycle either, however Strava reports it as a cat 4 hill{i} which isn't exactly a big deal - but most slopes aren't categorised at all... From there we headed towards - and then over - Tower Bridge, following the pink triangles with reflective pointers fixed every so often on lamp posts and such. For me these weren't always enormously clear as I was wearing yellow tinted cycling glasses. The pink didn't stand out so well through them - fortunately the reflective strips mainly did.
The traffic along the Mile End Rd, over Tower Bridge and along the Old Kent Rd towards the Elephant & Castle was the usual London madness. Negotiating the roundabouts of the E&C was bonkers, especially as we were going right and down the A3. This meant getting out to the middle of the many lanes and most of the car, bus & taxi drivers wanted our space.
The ride along the A3 and then A24 past Clapham Common{ii} showed up another problem. The pace of our group of four was slow - much slower once the lights (which we stopped for) and traffic nastiness was taken into account. I started to get cold - every so often putting in enough effort to get a slight sweat up, but to keep with the group that meant slowing or stopping and waiting. Not good.
Once we got to Tooting the route started to nudge us back East to keep us aligned for the first stop. We went past Streatham Green and into Mitcham where the first stop was at 23 km on Canons Recreation Ground. There were bike racks, toilets, energy drinks, various sugary foodstuffs and an opportunity to talk. I needed to talk to the rest of the group. My pace isn't fast but to keep going I needed to cycle faster than the pace we were going at. We'd done 23 km in 2 hours :-(
It's very selfish and I'm not proud of it it but I said I would have to leave the other three in the group to ride at their pace. I could feel myself getting colder and colder - I only had a short sleeved top on and was relying on keeping going to stay warm. Clearly not a good strategy at 11.5 kph. Also, I've been training hard (by my standards anyway) to do this ride and it really had become a personal goal not just to do it but to do it as quickly & as well as I could. I had the strong feeling that if I didn't pull away, I would be seeing Brighton much later than otherwise - if at all - and would be stop-starting the whole ride through. On an amble through the New Forest, no problem. On an event, that's a big deal to competitive old me. I know I'm only competing with myself, but wasn't that the aim of all my training to date? Anyway, enough excuses, I did it - I got on my bike and left while the rest of the group were contemplating more food & drink.
Next: a bloody big hill, overtaking & the main meal stop
{i} 100-300m ascent IIRC {ii} past the exact spot my ankle got broken in a motorcycling accident in '96
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mylovelyhorse
Peloton Rider
Waiting for my next ride...
Posts: 119
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Post by mylovelyhorse on Jul 14, 2013 16:47:56 GMT
A bloody big hill, overtaking & the main meal stopFeeling rather guilty but relieved to be stretching my legs at last, I headed off.Carshalton Road, Hackbridge, Wallington and Woodcote - all soon led to Coulsdon and A Bloody Big Hill. Marlpit Lane is a bugger. it's straight, long and steep - all the way down to first gear and spin the legs stylee steep. There were a lot of riders walking the hill but the training I've been doing on the hills in Hampshire (plus having recently had a dose of energy drink, water and an energy bar) seemed to give me the impetus to keep spinning the legs round and to pass a lot of riders & walkers. Three quarters of the way up were some lads cheering, applauding and light-heartedly chanting "what drugs are you on, are you on?" at every rider that was still on their bike - I nearly had to stop from laughing Top of Marlpit Lane is Coulsdon Rd. Still uphill. That's long enough, too. My recollection of this whole section is that it was tougher than Ditchling Beacon which may be steeper but felt shorter. Could well be wrong but I have to say I know which one I wouldn't want to do again. Well, both really but there's no glorious view when Marlpit Lane etc finally levels off... The route turned off onto a single lane road running round the back of Caterham. Mainly uphill again. Still staying on upward hills the route crossed the M25, ending up in Bletchingly. Onto the A25 for a short while, it had been nice to see street lights again - from turning off to go round the back of Caterham, the roads had been unlit. Without my Cree headlamp on the bars, I wouldn't have been able to see a thing. That single LED was brilliant - truly brilliant. On the lowest power setting it was strong enough to see the pavement / road clearly. On top or middle it was like a main beam and got deployed as such every so often when there was nothing coming. The rubber band mounting meant that it was easy to angle it up for longer distance vision and then tweak it down for oncoming traffic or where there was road lighting. Plus not having it on my helmet like some riders did made it easier to control and gave a steadier beam. From Bletchingly it was east along the charmingly named Rabies Heath Road before going south to go west of South Godstone and join the Eastbourne Rd (the A22) just before Blindley Heath. By this time I was taking more regular swigs at the energy drink in one bottle than the electrolyte drink in the other. Clearly I was getting tired. I was also getting discomfort in my backside and in my shoulders / upper arms. Resorting to riding along swinging my left arm around to relive the upper arm pain wasn't fun, especially in the dark or up yet more blasted hills. Nevertheless, I was still clearly maintaining a faster pace then many riders because I kept coming up behind small groups of 2, 3 or 4 of them going well but a little slower than me. Again this made me feel good - helped me remember to keep up my pace and not to slow, stop or rest. Coming off the A22 again the route went more directly south to bypass East Grinstead on more narrow back roads. The meal stop was at a sports centre near St. Hill Green. I was very relieved indeed to find myself heading in there. I blagged paracetamol from the St John's ambulance types then had a strong coffee and some pasta - along with a short rest in the main hall. While I was there I met two chaps doing the ride for Macmillan Nurses. Why? 'Cos one of them had leukaemia. He was diagnosed last year and he'd started cycling in January (basically at the same time as me) and was doing well. How impressive is that?! Next: the lowest point (to follow tomorrow)
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Post by baldbloke on Jul 14, 2013 19:41:30 GMT
Looking good, MLH. I was thinking of doing one of the Friday Night Ride to the Coast events. They're mostly from London, which is good for me, but there are some other routes. They leave at midnight, arrange a refreshment stop along the way at about 2.30 and have cafe open early at the destination so that everyone can have breakfast. They ride as one group. fnrttc.blogspot.co.uk/
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2013 20:07:34 GMT
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