2009-09-05 Sat 10am - Leaving East London Ride

Really enjoyed the ride, ladies and gentlemen. Lovely to get out of the city and down them Essex country lanes. Route-wise I don't think I'd have changed anything. Maybe put an 'honest' climb in there but apart from that, two thumbs up from me.

I see Niall's point about the average speed. Unfortunately I have no concept of speed (I only ride at warp speed ahem) so perhaps it's time to invest in a speedo. I don't agree with point b though. I don't remember Oliver having to keep coming back to go and find peeps. Thankfully we had a fair few sensible riders with us that checked behind them before making vital turns and stayed there to make sure those behind them knew where they were going. Thank you!

Apologies to Dylan for losing him (and to James for having to go out and find him). Despite the 'not on my watch!' bravado one was bound to slip through the net as the gap between the back and the bunch was quite vast at times. Dylan was at the back with Ed and myself and decided to press on. I had assumed he caught sight of the bunch and whizzed off to catch them but I guess he missed a turning (like Ed and myself did) and kept on going in the wrong direction hoping to catch a glimpse of the bunch around the next corner! Hope you enjoyed the ride anyway, fellas!

Ilias - hope you're alright mate. That tumble looked bloody nasty from where I was. If it's any consolation I don't think it was rider negligence! That gorge down the centre of the road was an accident waiting to happen and I'd be surprised if you were the first to take a tumble because of it. Anyway, I felt a huge relief when you got up. HealTFU. Massive thanks to that lovely lady who stuck you in the back of her car and drove you to the hospital. Thanks also to Ed for staying with him.

As always, thank you to the organiser. Lovely route, Oliver. I have saved it and will certainly be doing it again in the near future. Apologies for not saying thank you in person at the pub at the end. It was dark, I only had a rear light and it was probably the sensible option.

A final thank you to the peeps that kept me company at the back. It certainly isn't lonely at the backstop.

Big thanks to Oliver for organising the ride and keeping us all motivated and to Wools for being a brilliant backstop - great company and great countryside!

Ilias - Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thanks for organising a great day out Oliver! (Also sorry for leaving the pub without saying goodbye. Just wanted to get home by that point)

Great to meet everyone and look forward to more forum rides.

Get well soon Ilias (no more rides during Ramadan perhaps?)

A few pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobycane/

hi guys thanks for everybody in this forum for caring / the bone is broken the head injure its not major. they give me some pain killers and they sent me home / they put me in the waiting list an oppiraion to stick back the bones again . big thanks for edouard

some more pictures here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenwilliamson/sets/72157622140817475/

heal soon lyes

Where was the offending gorge in the middle of the road (I've got a hunch, but could be wrong - the tarmac's a constantly shifting entity in the Essex lanes)?

i cant remember anything well thanks again

It'll come back to you in a few weeks ;)

Want to say a few words in Oliver's defence...the ride was flat, or at least as flat as you can expect over ride that's just short of 70 miles. The pace did pick up at times but was generally pretty sedentary. When the pace did pick up, it was generally due to me or one or two other whippets rather than Oliver blazing off the front, and to be honest, there were one or two people (myself included) who were gagging for a stronger pace (was one of the reasons along with my cold that I chose to exit early).

If people are really struggling on this ride, my suggestion would be you need to do a few training rides to build up to rides of 70 miles length (you wouldn't do a marathon without any training).

There's always been an element of the bungy chord with the longer LFGSS rides as the slower riders caught up, this ride was certainly not something exceptional..

As for llias, get well soon.

Were you doing your crow impersonations throughout the ride?

gus - thanks again for the tube. Saw you sprinting past Hackney Town Hall about 8pm and wondered if you had got lost on the way home!

@Oliver - thanks for the organising as usual. i thought it was a great late summer ride, regardless of Ilias fall and Niel's grumbling about not enough pub stops

There's Dancing James's ride today if you want to go fast. This was a billed as a social ride and for it to have been held to ransom by the speed merchants is unacceptable. And as for not bringing lights, and then cajoling everyone to skip the refreshment stops so you don't have to ride in the dark....

The whole point of rolling through all that beautiful Essex countryside is to appreciate and enjoy it, not blast through it as if it is an inconvenience. If you want to get back to London so badly why bother leaving?

And no it is not flat. There were 70 miles of pretty big fucking hills. It may be flat compared with the pennines or the cotswolds, but it's damn hilly compared to London.

From the original post:

This will be a gently-paced social ride that will wait for everybody and that will have plenty of piss-up refreshment stops at attractive boozers travellers' inns out in the countryside, starting with the estimable High Beech tea hut. OK, so that's not an inn, but I promise we'll hit some of those later on.

Well, it wasn't gently paced, we didn't wait for everybody, and one tea shack and one pub is not plenty of refreshment stops.

Thanks for another fun ride Oliver, and thanks to Wools for being backstop. It was nice to meet some new people. Illias I hope you get better soon and that the NHS gets your operation sorted asap. I didn't think the ride was too fast, a touch hilly but hills are good for you :)

It's not hilly compared to North London (N6, N10), apart from 3 comparable climbs in Epping Forest (which I don't think you did).

Just saying.

Maybe a train ride out to the Fens for endless miles into vicious head/crosswinds would be more suitable :/

One of the best 'gently-paced social rides' is the regular run by the Waltham Forest CTC. There are no sudden changes in pace, the bunch stick together, and they remorsely tap out 15-17mph (a gentle pace). They manage to make it gentle by being incredibly competent at group and personal efficiency.

You can bet all of them, at one time or another in their lives, struggled to stay with a group billed as 'gently-paced'. I know I have. What we've all got in common, is the fact we either bailed and tried again another time, and/or asked our peers how to get up-to-(gently-paced)-speed.

Some tips, if you find yourself constantly dangling off the back (thereby doing as much work as the person at the front):

• Don't let gaps open up; and if there's suddenly more than 3 or 4 bike lengths in front of you, QUICKLY bridge the gap. You can then recover whilst getting a draft. The whole "I'll just gradually make up the ground" thing doesn't work.

• Shout out "easy!/steady!/hold up!/etc", and then quickly bridge the gap as the bunch slows. If they don't hear you, quickly bridge the gap anyway.

• Don't faff about at stops when the group is setting off. If you really need more time to sort something out, tell the group to wait a fucking minute. Aim to set off no further back than mid-group i.e. get some shelter.

• If you're a slow climber, get to the front at the foot of a climb (I think someone mentioned doing this on the ride). Faster people will be aware of your pace as they pass you, have to work a bit to pass you, and you drift to the back of the group, rather than drift OFF the back of the group.

• All the usual stuff about eating/drinking little and often. Try to avoid a heavy meal within 3-5hrs of the ride starting. If you sense chronic hunger/thirst, TELL SOMEONE.

Hope that's of some use.

Hey fellas!

Thanks for the ride yesterday - it was great to go on my first forum ride regardless of any unfortunate events and to meet so many of you. Also, thanks for some of you not giving up on me when I said I couldn't go on anymore - if it wasn't for that energy bar Oliver gave me I really wouldn't have been able to! I think I'll definitely come with a few of those next time, as I wouldn't have had any problems otherwise.

Only thing is, now that we're back online I don't have a clue as to who any of you are! Oh well - until the next ride!

P.S. Think I might try to start popping along to the TrixieDix nights if any of you go...

Hey fellas!

Thanks for the ride yesterday - it was great to go on my first forum ride regardless of any unfortunate events and to meet so many of you. Also, thanks for some of you not giving up on me when I said I couldn't go on anymore - if it wasn't for that energy bar Oliver gave me I really wouldn't have been able to! I think I'll definitely come with a few of those next time, as I wouldn't have had any problems otherwise.

You could try some energy gels if you really want a kick. I don't think I would have been able to finish the Dunwich Dynamo without a couple of those! They taste pretty mingin tho'

I always bring a bunch of different things to eat on longer rides and plenty of fluids (I'm starting to sound like my mum...)

Arron you made an impressive recovery; I want some of those energy bars!

I'm the bloke with the tattoos on the lovely blinged out Pug conversion. It was nice to meet you and I hope to see you on some more rides.

All in all there were some rough spots and things we would probably do differently next time, but I really enjoyed the outing.

You could try some energy gels if you really want a kick. I don't think I would have been able to finish the Dunwich Dynamo without a couple of those! They taste pretty mingin tho'

I always bring a bunch of different things to eat on longer rides and plenty of fluids (I'm starting to sound like my mum...)

Oh, that energy bar worked well enough for me! What happened was pretty predictable to be honest, I just didn't want to have to miss the ride as just about had £4 and -£too much in the bank! I think I'm gonna buy a load of the bars online when I next get some money in, that way I'll be able to do any rides that come along regardless of my finances!

Arron you made an impressive recovery; I want some of those energy bars!

I'm the bloke with the tattoos on the lovely blinged out Pug conversion. It was nice to meet you and I hope to see you on some more rides.

All in all there were some rough spots and things we would probably do differently next time, but I really enjoyed the outing.

Thanks buddy!

You too man, for sure - didn't get much of a chance to have a chat this time round but it'd be good to on the next.

I totally agree that although the pace was okay for me, we need to keep in consideration all of those involved which will prevent all of those unnecessary stops on every corner we came to so that we could wait for people to catch up. I'd rather go a bit slower than keep losing momentum (especially at the BOTTOM of hills!)

Accident udpate

I ve collected Iyes bike and mine from Buckhurst Hill and profusely thanked Linda, the woman who gave Lyes and I a lift to Whipps Cross.

Re the ride

Thansk to Oliver and Wools.
The idea Oliver, Wools and I originally had, though Oliver was the main planner, was to show forum members the main routes out of East London in the style of a classic " club run". By doing so we hoped to give people the confidence to get out of London's E numbers and into the Essex Countryside; which I think suprised you all by its beauty and variety.

Perhaps we did what should have been two rides on one day or tried to pack several club run routes into the one day, but I think the ride did what we planned it do . You now all know where the Tea Huts are and how to get to Toot Hill and Matching Green. You even saw a CTC sign @ Toot hill !

Wools and I , as we sat on the back, wondered if any of you would be interested in similar monthly trips , though perhaps just a morning only ride on a Sunday.
Any one intrested?

i'm very interested in a route about half what we did. to the secret location and back would be ace. would like to combine with a bit of tree climbing as well. will bring climbing gear on the surly.
If any shorter versions are coming up let me know

I'm up for it!

A little bit faster though right, Ed? :P

I'm printing this out and taping it to my handlebars for the TNRC. :)

Some tips, if you find yourself constantly dangling off the back (thereby doing as much work as the person at the front):

• Don't let gaps open up; and if there's suddenly more than 3 or 4 bike lengths in front of you, QUICKLY bridge the gap. You can then recover whilst getting a draft. The whole "I'll just gradually make up the ground" thing doesn't work.

• Shout out "easy!/steady!/hold up!/etc", and then quickly bridge the gap as the bunch slows. If they don't hear you, quickly bridge the gap anyway.

• Don't faff about at stops when the group is setting off. If you really need more time to sort something out, tell the group to wait a fucking minute. Aim to set off no further back than mid-group i.e. get some shelter.

• If you're a slow climber, get to the front at the foot of a climb (I think someone mentioned doing this on the ride). Faster people will be aware of your pace as they pass you, have to work a bit to pass you, and you drift to the back of the group, rather than drift OFF the back of the group.

• All the usual stuff about eating/drinking little and often. Try to avoid a heavy meal within 3-5hrs of the ride starting. If you sense chronic hunger/thirst, TELL SOMEONE.

Hope that's of some use.