2007-05-27 - Let's ride to Southend and then out into the sea

who needs marrige, get them to come along

They'll be happier for it I'm sure.. and better off financially (collegue bandied about a figure of £24k for his wedding!!)

ahhh i could never bring myself to do that.........untill i find the girl that forces me to do it

aidan ahhh i could never bring myself to do that.........untill i find the girl that forces me to do it
or pays for it

"Look darling yes I know we could have a wonderful wedding for 24k but imgaine the bikes we could get for that!"

naa not even if she pays for it, fuck marrige,im going to add that to the thing we hate list

Well up for this after L2B, sorry couldn't hang around for chips and beer afterwards - hope everyone got back safely.

Been lurking on here for a few weeks, would have loved to have done that weekend, but can't, the other half is around.

so on these group rides what happens with the RLJ'ers? do they just have to wait for those who don't?
has any brakeless rider hit a stopper up the rear thinking they were going to RLJ

We didn't really have any issue with it.

Sometimes we jumped en masse, but if you do then you wait a little further up for others to catch up.

More likely and more usual though, is that everyone stops together.

It's group riding. The etiquette is different, but it's easy to pick up.

Basics:
Not too close up someone's arse when riding in fixed and single-speed groups.
Point at or shout out major potholes before you go over them (the guy behind you won't be able to see it coming).
Shout "Slowing" or "Stopping" if that's what you need the group to do (junctions).
Shout "Puncture" or "Chain slip" if there's a mechanical thing that has to stop the group.
Don't race off the front unless you're prepared to wait frequently for people to catch-up.
If we can't hold it together, slow people up front and fast people at the back will solve it.
Head counts at major stops, after big hills, etc... no-one gets left behind.

The fortunate thing was that central London ie the part with the most red lights was over and done with by 10am on a Sunday, so there really wasn't that much traffic around anyway. Made the lights issue easier.
I'd say in this case directions might be more of an issue than last time, but I'm more than happy to do a bit of preparation on that.

I have a PDA with mapping software if someone has a GPS bluetooth thing.

I can sellotape the PDA to the handlebars or something.

But then again. Who cares? It's not that far... we can afford to take a few wrong turns.

as a courier i use a pda from my company and it has a GPS on it and dont need the bluetooth thing so Ill try to test it this weekend. I might bring with me just in case to do not get lost.

we need to provide a decent map.

did the BHF ride a couple of years ago on me roadbike. Fabulous day. Heres a scrappyish route plan that i found out yonder.....goes round about a bit but worth it for some beautiful Essex countryside( yep I's an Essex lad)....
http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/jarvism/gallery/london_to_southend_2005/
Alas I can't come as I'll be holidaying. Hope the weathers kind.

i'm up for this too.

Yeah, i might be up for this, i've only been riding fixed for 2 weeks after buying my Bianchi Pista of Jon (on this forum). Need to sort some things out on
my bike first (like armadillo tyres) but sound like it could be a good ride!

Do any of you experienced long-distance cyclists have any tips on must have items for this trip?

well im not experienced long-distance but i think lots of food in your bag would be good, cereal bars or energy bars, water, banana, extra tubes, tools and so on...

Southend Pier is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea. Extending 2,158 m (a mile and a third) into the Thames Estuary, it is the longest pleasure pier in the world. Sir John Betjeman is noted as saying that "the Pier is Southend, Southend is the Pier" [verification needed]. The pier is a Grade II listed building. [1]

is it going to take eight/nine hours?

i am a bit put off by the ride report for the LTB.

it sounds like more people are gonna be in this on than in the L2B are we gonna get a spoke card ?
Any of the chaps from Fixed gear London coming?
No missus at the arrival this time so i'll be with you people all along, yeah sorry i left in such a rush last time
p.s. i owe Andy a drink

A friend (Mark) is doing the spokecards, as soon as it ready i`ll post the pic here...

Lets count how many people are going to SouthendOnSea

L 2 S.O.S.

Mario
Roberto
Al
Mark

copy the list and add your name...

L 2 S.O.S.

Mario
Roberto
Al
Mark
Stef

L 2 S.O.S.

Mario
Roberto
Al
Mark
Keith
Stef

L 2 S.O.S.

Mario
Roberto
Al
Mark
Keith
Stef
aidan