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• #4
gutted I can't make this one, as I'm holidaying with the mrs the next day. If only we were flying from Gatwick....
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I'm in.
- Oliver Schick
- mattty
- damo (as usual need to check calendar)
- wools
- middleofnowhere
- Oliver Schick
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- Oliver Schick
- mattty
- damo (as usual need to check calendar)
- wools
- middleofnowhere
- Cassin (back stop if needed)
- Kx.001 and Dad too
- Brun
9. - CG (sorry, I don't do odd numbers)
- Oliver Schick
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Oh yeah forgot to say, Dunwich will be the last long ride on my current bike...
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- Oliver Schick
- mattty
- damo (as usual need to check calendar)
- wools
- middleofnowhere
- Cassin (back stop if needed)
- kx.001
- kx.001's dad
- Brun
- MURR
- CG
- HANSON
- CYOA
- Adaplace
- Adaplace's boyfriend
(List entries disaggregated.)
- Oliver Schick
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It's almost worth repping for the use of "disaggregated" but maybe I'm just in a good mood because it's A. sunny and B. There's a ride to look forward to.
Damn! So close but no cigar. :)
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Probably will do another, but I don't always want to go to Brighton. As my geographical knowledge increases, I should have another couple of destinations up my sleeve. Unfortunately, I don't have very much time for the rest of the summer, but should be able to do a couple of rides in September. I'm thinking of a daytime Cambridge ride and maybe one other.
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Never done London to Brighton, looking forward to it.
- Oliver Schick
- mattty
- damo (as usual need to check calendar)
- wools
- middleofnowhere
- Cassin (back stop if needed)
- kx.001
- kx.001's dad
- Brun
- MURR
- CG
- HANSON
- CYOA
- Adaplace
- Adaplace's boyfriend
- Iwelumo
- robertstrack
- Oliver Schick
mattty
deleted
JacktheHat
wools
middleofnowhere
cassin
kx.001
Brun
Crispin_Glover
MURR
Hanson
smiff
H-Bomb
CYOA
adaplace
iwelumo
robertstrack-
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About
2009-08-29 Sat 10pm - Overnight to Brighton Take 3
Posted by
@Oliver Schick
In response to demand following the huge Brighton ride last week-end, here's the thread for the next one, in two months' time (you have to get into the LFGSS calendar early these days, it seems, he, he). Below, I've largely copied and pasted the OP from the other ride and edited it a little. Please read it nonetheless, especially if you're not that experienced at night rides.
It has to be said that on the last one, everybody was very well-prepared and we only had one mechanical stop (swapping pedals between two bikes, too complicated to explain why) and two puncture stops--only two puncture stops in a group of 40+ is very good indeed. Let's see if we can go without one on the next ride!
This ride is a good opportunity to sample your first taste at night riding, too. This ride waits for everyone, so don't be shy about joining in even if you're slow. Night riding is to be enjoyed and savoured, not rushed through.
We'll meet at 10pm at Hyde Park Corner on Saturday the 29th August. We'll then take the Friday Night Ride to the Coast route, with some very slight modifications, going out via Chelsea Bridge, Battersea, Clapham Common, Tooting, Mitcham, lanes to Reigate Hill (fast downhill) and Reigate, then Lonesome Lane, then a stop at Gatwick Airport (where I will rather need to re-think stopping logistics), before continuing along the B3026 and the B3027, then Effingham Lane, Turner's Hill, Ardingly, Lindfield, Slugwash Lane, Ditchling, and then the lovely Ditchling Beacon, before we enjoy the fabulous run into Brighton.
There are a few hills--notably Portnalls Road (goes on for a lot longer than you realise at first), Reigate Hill is a fast downhill but quite easy to ride on fixed, as it's a well-built A-road at that point--just watch out for some nasty potholes at the bottom, which they still haven't fixed properly!--, and then Turner's Hill and finally Ditchling Beacon. There's no shame in walking up Ditchling, which at night is easily possible, as there'll be next to no motor traffic.
This is only about 50-60 miles, so don't worry too much about distance. The first time around, it'll seem a lot longer to you than if you've done it a few times, but the magic of a night ride doesn't really disappear. Ever.
Barring excessive numbers of punctures, we should see the sunrise, probably shortly before 5am, as we're approaching the coast. This will be a fairly moonless night (night ride etiquette sometimes stipulates doing it on full moon nights, but the FNRttC already do that every month, so I'm not too fussed about that--moonless nights can be great, too).
This is a good opportunity to round off the summer with a classic ride, so hopefully despite posting it so far in advance, the weather will hold!
Backstop. We will need a volunteer to be the backstop. This isn't a particularly arduous job and simply involves being the last rider on the road, so that we know we're complete when you arrive. If someone has a puncture near the back, the front of the ride may not notice, and you should then be in phone contact with the front to alert us that we have to stop. This is a worthy and essential job and the reward will be all the food you want from Gatwick and a free breakfast in Brighton. So get in there and snap it up.
Gear inches. This route is doable on fixed, and you should be absolutely fine at around 70 gear inches. Not everybody can get up Ditchling Beacon on 70gi, but it's a very small part of the route. I'll be geared as unfortunately my knees don't allow me to be fixed on hilly rides. Geared is fine, but of course going fixed gives you the usual benefits of fixed riding over a longer distance, so don't miss out if you can.
Useful links--please have a look at these:
Route here:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Brighton-Route-used-on-LFGSS-Brighton-overnight-rides-2009
Southwark Cyclists' Dunwich FAQ, with good advice on night riding:
http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/soci...chfaqs09.shtml
Please make sure that your bike is in roadworthy condition and that we won't suffer too many mechanicals on the way. This could be quite a large group, and if you have a bike failure, you might keep a lot of people waiting.
Check your tyres before riding, e.g. for embedded glass or flints, and replace them if they're too worn--a night ride is a pretty good opportunity to have more of an incentive to do that than normally. Bring one or two spare inner tubes for your tyre size, especially if you have an unusual tyre size, like 27s. Prepare to quickly change the inner tube to get over a puncture rather than trying to patch the inner tube. We'll get going again more quickly this way.
Take good lights--again, this is a good test run for Dunwich. In practice, there'll be quite a few people on the ride with the equivalent of car headlights, but you could find yourself in a smaller group off the back or descending with some distance between riders. You don't need to go overboard on this--a lot of people do these days, but lighting is now so good that quite a large range of lights will do. Plenty of threads around, so UTFS.
Take some savoury food (sandwiches or samosas or something like that) and sickly sweet energy food like Go Bars or flapjacks, and keep drinking and eating in small sips and morsels during the ride. Try not to stuff your face too much in one go, especially at Gatwick, as you'll need less food than you think, but pack some more food for the remainder of the ride.
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