Tell us about your weekend ride

Actually, all four of us were vegan.

You could have a point. :)

The route choice was entirely new to me and after 10 miles I was starting to wonder if it was going to be uphill all the way to Brighton, though at 15 miles things changed and we hit a rather steep descent.

There's some surprising climbs on the south side of Croydon.. descending Chalkpit Lane makes up for it though.

There came a wonderful point when Tom. told me we were approaching Ditchling. I asked if he was sure and he was adamant. I loathe energy gels but given my form decided to use the reserve power source so took the fruit flavour jizz solution. I gagged a little but thought it would be worthwhile. From our Swinley jaunts I know that Tom's sense of direction is as piss poor as mine.

"Just approaching Ditchling?" we were a mere 15 miles away! By the time we got there I was a spent force, Tom set off at decent pace and I tortoised up. Doing the lead out and push into the wind had taken its toll on Tom and we ended up cresting the hill about 5 seconds apart (he was first).

The above should be viewed in the following context:

James: Are we nearly there yet? Are we nearly there yet? Are we nearly there yet?
Me: Just eat your bloody energy gel and shut up, I'm trying to navigate.

It was a pretty decent way down, although the way back was a lot hillier than I thought it would be. More a problem with my expectations than the route, and I'd do it again. Might have to wait until the spring now though, if only because of the availability of day light.

Oh, and my GPS take on matters:

There http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView?id=154829

Back http://www.brytonsport.co/mapTrackView?id=154828

Paul and I
/continuing Schick's correction crusade

outraged.

How can anyone who grew up in Milton Keynes lecture people on cows?

the great cow lecturer R.D.Laing said that cows are the most human of the bovines,
exhibiting complex social behaviour of advanced intelligence.
I just grew up a dirty northern bastard around farms.

edit upcoming weekend- now got a free entry to this-
http://www.summitcycles.co.uk/enduro11/
yeeeeeeeeeee haw lets shred some dirt.

Went from Ramsgate to Rye today, total trip was about 115km.
Train in the morning from Bromley South. Intended on finishing in Hastings but it was getting dark.

Very nice spin, recommended.

...the great cow lecturer, R.D.Laing...

Bit like a horse whisperer?

Oh, and my GPS take on matters:
Derail: what's your take on the Bryton 50 unit? Is the hardware (map responsiveness, readability) better or worse than Garmin? Easy enough to import/export GPX tracks? It's hard to find current info..

Derail: what's your take on the Bryton 50 unit? Is the hardware (map responsiveness, readability) better or worse than Garmin? Easy enough to import/export GPX tracks? It's hard to find current info..

http://www.lfgss.com/thread61199.html

why not ask on here?
this weekend is gonna be epic- and it starts here-
GO!

Working.

Balls.

Obviously, I mean, you reproduced, right?

Chortle.

Derail: what's your take on the Bryton 50 unit? Is the hardware (map responsiveness, readability) better or worse than Garmin? Easy enough to import/export GPX tracks? It's hard to find current info..

I think I prefer it to James' old Garmin 705, although I'm not a fan on having to do everything through a web interface. Whether Garmin have better software, I'm not sure; I am currently creating routes with Bike Route Toaster, because I'm the sort of person that'll stick with something that is workable as I'll get sick of trying to find something better. Importing and exporting GPXs is fine though.

As for responsiveness, I find it a bit slow to react to button presses, but it's not like I'm constantly fiddling with it - I tend to just change screen on occasion,

For me the bottom line is that, for the money, it does what I want and to get a Garmin that does basically the same thing I'd have to had spent a lot more.

If you're going to be at Wests at some point and want me to bring it down so you can have a fiddle (or you happen to work near Warren Street), drop me a PM and we'll try and sort something out.

Rode out into the Peaks last night. Cramped for the last 10miles and destroyed myself on a few hills fully loaded.
Wild Camped in the most uncomfortable place ever, cramped somemore and then dragged myself home.

Good way to say goodbye to the summer.
Without my friend who pushed me and a shit ton of ibuprofen, I'd still be somewhere miles away now

Also there are some decent hills in the Peaks.

Might do a better ride report if I feel like it.

Up early to head to Stoke for Cat n Fiddle challenge. Feels odd to pay to ride on training route roads, but is a well run event so worth it.

Jason - hope you're enjoying smashing it up at the enduro

ride of the falling leaves today innit. meh.

Heading to the Cafe now.

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118518300[/ame]

Didn't see you rolling what those reprobates, Neil. Ah well.

The missus rode out to Windsor yesterday. We used a route that kind of ambled along side the river after discovering that some rather unusual navigation away from L&W's had occurred. Still, we battled on regardless and took in some wonderful places along the way.

We enjoyed a fine luncheon at The Three Horseshoes in Laleham which consisted of a steak sandwich for me (the best I've had since the early days of The Eagle in Clekenwell), a smoked salmon sandwich for the missus (anyone who's been to NYC will understand what a shmear of cream cheese is) as well as really, seriously fresh calamari.

We left there rather lazily and made our way to Windsor. What a dump. It has very few redeeming features and other than the subsidized castle it could be like any other high street in the UK. "What a terrible shame" I thought as a gaggle of shit-faced gentlemen dressed in 3/4 length shorts and football shirts (leeeesure wear) stumbled from chain pub to chain pub destroying any semblance of former glories.

It took us an age to get there but it was a thoroughly wonderful day for the missus to test her new Phil's.

outraged.

Would be too... sort of - it's not a mistake that needed correcting. "Me and her" / "her and I" etc. is a ridiculous antiquated Victorian-ism based like so so many other things from the time, on rules of social etiquette. You carry on with your Me & ... etc. :)

/rant over

Lewisham Clapham Chertsey Ascot Bracknell Maidenhead Windsor Chertsey Clapham Lewisham

100.5 miles in 6hr 2 mins moving time yesterday, home by 2pm.

Glorious weather and a nice cool start thank god, and then after a shower, a cup of coffee and a sit down for 20 minutes I was still able to pop to the shops and have a normal day instead of whimpering on the sofa all afternoon like the last time I did this.

...The Three Horseshoes in Laleham...

http://maps.google.co.uk/local_url?q=http://www.fourhorseshoespub.co.uk/&dq=Four+Horseshoes&ftid=5372961531145692975&lyr=m%40161000000&iwp=maps_app&view=smartmaps&sll=51.357244,-0.60825&callback=_xdc_._2ggta4hlh3&oi=miw&sa=X&ct=miw_link&cd=1&cad=homepage,cid:5372961531145692975&ei=SnSITsbxGo2UjweVm8zNBg&s=ANYYN7l7u7YjicFSnp4sypzb8Yfj9fnndg
Four Horseshoes in Chobham is another great pub in a great location.. if you ever fancy a slightly longer ride out in the lush countryside of Surrey.
Stopped off there with OneLessCardi for refreshments there a month back