2009-08-29 Sat 10pm - Overnight to Brighton Take 3

Didn't get any good pics

Hahaha! Who is that?

Was keen to do this but was home nursing a cold and feeling totally exhausted.

Wanted to do this too.
Who conquered the Holy Ditchling Beacon then?

Major thanks to Oliver for organising this, and the two backstops for doing a sterling job (was Bryce raised by cycles?). I'm wowed by everyone's stamina, that really spurred me on to train seriously. Also everyone was friendly and patient. Certainly an interesting experience, especially the Gatwick toilet negotiations. -Marn/koopa

Stamina comes from riding your bike everyday. Same ride again tomorrow?

I did stop twice going up bitchling, but i still span the pedals to the top, oh and then went down some of the way and went back up to make up for it

My favourite part of the ride was my first one handed skid on the grass. I'm off to 14 tomorrow to buy some neon hipster accessories

Good to see you all at the beach and for breakfast. I will have to put Noel and myself deciding to ride to Brighton at 1.30 in the morning while drunk as one of the stuppedest things I have done for a while. Was a good fast ride though. Lots of drafting and some empty duel-carrage way for the win. Cheers for breakfast Owan.

. Cheers for breakfast Owan.

a bet is a bet dude. bet you slept well. I've had some HTFU juice and stayed awake, apart from the few minutes on the train

Major thanks to Oliver for organising this, and the two backstops for doing a sterling job (was Bryce raised by cycles?). I'm wowed by everyone's stamina, that really spurred me on to train seriously. Also everyone was friendly and patient. Certainly an interesting experience, especially the Gatwick toilet negotiations. -Marn/koopa

Ah, promptly forgot your forum name again, Marn! Post above edited.

A few more rides like this and more experience with logistics, and you'll be flying!

Didn't get any good pics
http://static.londonfgss.com/attachments/14299d1251637824-30082009102.jpg

Hahaha! Who is that?

Oh, just this deranged bloke in the street who was shouting something very intelligent about Caroline Lucas and the Green Party at the top of his voice. This is him when he had finally shut up and was exhausted. ;P

That was a great ride despite the best efforts of Sussex Po to dampen our night. Thanks to Oliver for the great organisation and keeping us all on track. I aim to beat the Ditchling next time!

Owen: That must be some mighty HTFU juice ;) I was so pooped rolled in, cleansed, flat out for 4 hours, then went to a rave at Festival Pier. Win :D

Excellent. And this time I can even put names to every face--last time was too many people!

Back row, l-r: bryce lyall, Stix, Deluka, slopster, owenreed, serk, Paul, Spins, Oliver Schick, Chris, James, Naomi, Georgia, mc_nebula, siri, koopa.

Front row, l-r (from yellow cap and jacket to standing, holding bike with yellow bar tape): lyes_888, fred, middleofnowhere, ehren_fried_chicken, kyungsoo, wools.

Spins was, of course, one of the hounds to our hares. Photo taken by PinkGottiMobbs.

Oh your right that it isn't any easier going back home on that route. The Gatwick to London hills are nasty!

Which route did you end up taking, Luke?

Oliver - looked like a brilliant ride, great stuff for organising. Unfortunately had something on today which required me to be more or less awake, hence I never ended up on the list. Two recces and I still haven't made an actual ride... next year definitely. Did Garwick work ok? At least there's a fnrttc to Whitstable this Friday though so I'll get one night ride in this week.

So, I came home, I slept, I ate, I slept again, and I'm almost feeling normal. Almost.

Firstly, MANY MANY thanks for organising the ride, Oliver. And to everyone else for not sneering at the back-end loiterers, and to those lovely backstops who [strike]persuaded me to keep[/strike] kept me going. And to Farid for the light that made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the dark.

I did want to kill someone about that slight slope at the end. Not ditchling (totally expected) but the extra one that no one ever talks about AFTER that. I MAY have cried then. What can I say - i had nothing left! Note to self: 5X10mile training rides = unprepared for 60m through the night on 4hrs sleep. Grrr.

Am inspired though, by y'all. You guys were incredible. SOOO impressive to be on fixed gear bikes. It almost makes me sick. I'm going bike shopping though - so if you work in Chamberlains' - keep an eye out?

Anyway - in reference to the stop (but not quite search) at Gatwick, I'm gonna put all the Plods' numbers here. *'s indicate those who exhibited more w4nkerish behaviour.

CS287 - Alan Shave
CS351 - Slater
CG001 - Gann
GL165 - *
CO726 - *
CK147 - *
DP326
DB461
CF152 - Farley (one of the fella's who saw us off the Gatwick private property).

A quick google search came up with "Bylaws of Private Property & Pesticide, Canada" so if anyone finds them - perhaps a link?
The IPCC, who will probably 'register a complaint' rather than action anything can be found here.

Stay safe, everyone, and I'll be pulling my bike up a hill near you soon!

'Nomes (aka: Naomi)

IMO, Not really worth complaining about the Police, they were only ding there job. I know we weren't really a security threat but they have to keep things strict in such an environment....

Being described as a "lovely backstop" is all the reward we needed, sure it was slower than we were used to but it was an awesome night and I had a great time. Glad to have shared the evening with all you folks.

See you in Chamberlaines soon Naomi I hope, we can talk sensible bicycle options.

Which route did you end up taking, Luke?

Just went back the way we came cos its the only way I knew. Was fighting the sleep monster for the last hour or so

There is no room for being sensible when it comes to bike purchases! Impulse, impulse, impulse!!

Was a great ride. Thank you to everyone (Oliver especially) for making it what it was. Admittedly it was a tad on the slow side but it was yet another great example of the forum 'no man left behind' mentality. Wouldn't have it any other way and it certainly didn't detract any from the overall night ride experience. Plus it had more than enough fast and exciting sections to keep the speed demons happy. Oh, and I had my first experience of riding in a bunch that took turns at the front whilst the others drafted. Win.

Like Owen I had to stop a couple of times on Ditchling for a breather. I definitely managed to get further up it this time before having to admit (temporary) defeat. One day I'll conquer you Ditchling, one day...

Breakfast in Brighton was the shiznit although the wait was agonising. Totally worth it though.

All-in-all two big thumbs up!

amazing ride , super man oliver the organiser , cant wait for the next one on saturday

i forget about owen and his mate i lost him in the train station. fred too looking after anyone who had a puncture

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Cheers Oliver for top organisation (++for the sesame snaps!) [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Didn't quite get around to registering for t'forum on the train back, better late than never though... I'm Chris, the tall guy with blank top in the photo. [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Thanks to everyone else for a good ride - lots of fun (minus the depressing reminder of how rapidly civil liberties are evaporating, bleh).[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Naomi: BAA don't seem to publish their byelaws online. From what I can gather [http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/t-758006.html] the relevants bits are:[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]

3 (10) Allow anything on airport where forbidden
No person shall allow any vehicle, animal or thing to be on the airport after its presence on the airport has been forbidden by a Constable or an Airport Official and no Constable or Airport Official shall forbid the presence of any vehicle, animal or thing unless he has reasonable grounds to believe that its presence has been responsible for or is about to be responsible for a breach of a byelaw or for a criminal offence.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]and[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]
10 (1) State name and address
A person shall, if requested to do so by a Constable or Airport Official, state his correct name and address and the purpose of his being on the airport.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS] [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS]As far as I can remember, no explicit justification was given for the police/BAA forbidding our presence there. Given how forthright we were explaining or reasons for being there, I really don't think it's reasonable to assume we are about to breach any laws or conduct a criminal offence. Hence my personal complaint to the IPCC will be going in tomorrow morning. (Yup, with very likely zero effect other than to contribute a statistical something towards future graphs of the public’s satisfaction with the police).[/FONT]

As far as I can remember, no explicit justification was given for the police/BAA forbidding our presence there

When my details were being taken I was told that as my purpose for being at the airport was not valid [i.e. to travel or meet someone travelling] the Po were 'requesting' I leave the private property of the airport.

One Po hinted that there were heightened security measures as they thought we might be eco-warrior types trying to sneak in...

Christ, first post fail. Sorry - forum now won't let me edit the thing until I've been on here for 24 hours either!

Should have looked more like:

Cheers Oliver for top organisation (++for the sesame snaps!)

Didn't quite get around to registering for t'forum on the train back, better late than never though... I'm Chris, the tall guy with blank top in the photo.

Thanks to everyone else for a good ride - lots of fun (minus the depressing reminder of how rapidly civil liberties are evaporating, bleh).

Naomi: BAA don't seem to publish their byelaws online. From what I can gather [http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/t-758006.html] the relevants bits are:

3 (10) Allow anything on airport where forbidden
No person shall allow any vehicle, animal or thing to be on the airport after its presence on the airport has been forbidden by a Constable or an Airport Official and no Constable or Airport Official shall forbid the presence of any vehicle, animal or thing unless he has reasonable grounds to believe that its presence has been responsible for or is about to be responsible for a breach of a byelaw or for a criminal offence.

and

10 (1) State name and address
A person shall, if requested to do so by a Constable or Airport Official, state his correct name and address and the purpose of his being on the airport.

As far as I can remember, no explicit justification was given for the police/BAA forbidding our presence there. Given how forthright we were explaining or reasons for being there, I really don't think it's reasonable to assume we are about to breach any laws or conduct a criminal offence. Hence my personal complaint to the IPCC will be going in tomorrow morning. (Yup, with very likely zero effect other than to contribute a statistical something towards future graphs of the public’s satisfaction with the police).

Oliver - looked like a brilliant ride, great stuff for organising. Unfortunately had something on today which required me to be more or less awake, hence I never ended up on the list. Two recces and I still haven't made an actual ride... next year definitely.

Shame you couldn't make it, Des, but I'm sure the time will come! The recces were such brilliant rides.

Did Garwick work ok?

You'd never guess ... see some of the other posts.

At least there's a fnrttc to Whitstable this Friday though so I'll get one night ride in this week.

I went on that last year and would like to go again, but sadly no time. :(

Well done, Naomi, as long as you've now got the bug for LOOONG night rides, it will all have been worth it. ;)

Firstly, MANY MANY thanks for organising the ride, Oliver. And to everyone else for not sneering at the back-end loiterers, and to those lovely backstops who [strike]persuaded me to keep[/strike] kept me going.

We've all been there! You did very well!

I did want to kill someone about that slight slope at the end. Not ditchling (totally expected) but the extra one that no one ever talks about AFTER that.

Not mentioning that terribly prominently was definitely not unintentional. ;)

I MAY have cried then. What can I say - i had nothing left! Note to self: 5X10mile training rides = unprepared for 60m through the night on 4hrs sleep. Grrr.

Sleep some more next time and you'll enjoy it even more. Have a look at the excellent Southwark Cyclists page on the Dunwich Dynamo, which gives you a lot of info that is useful for night rides in general:

http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/dunwichfaqs.shtml

Anyway - in reference to the stop (but not quite search) at Gatwick, I'm gonna put all the Plods' numbers here. *'s indicate those who exhibited more w4nkerish behaviour.

CS287 - Alan Shave
CS351 - Slater
CG001 - Gann
GL165 - *
CO726 - *
CK147 - *
DP326
DB461
CF152 - Farley (one of the fella's who saw us off the Gatwick private property).

CG1 was OK, you could talk to him, but I think towards the end he was told not to be friendly any more. He didn't look too happy.

Which one was that obnoxious woman who turned into a main actor? Her name should be S Leaver. She wouldn't give it but had a card pinned to her vest that gave that name. When I said 'so your surname is Leaver? you couldn't make it up' she did a gulp and a double take and went 'it might be' in a very different, almost comedy, voice and quickly flipped the card over. I didn't see the purpose of the card, but I assume that that is her name from her reaction.