Tnrc 2011

Hopefully Jonny, hopefully. I should add that I'm in a golf competition on Friday and don't want to fuck my neck up any more before then.

Now excuse me while I go and piss me bed.

shoots? bad dad points?

on my way with TomatoSoup soon.

Skimmed the thread, I know most of the way if navigation is required, just throwing things together now...

Currently carb loading in Olley's. Be there shortly

Hope all TNRCers had a great night. Sorry forgot to post that I couldn't ride.

Nice one everyone! That was just the tonic I needed after a recent sh*t time at work. Gotta face it again 7am tomorrow, but I will have a TNRC secret smile to get me through it.

I've been home 20 minutes and I'm still cold through. lovely ride, forgotten how hilly it gets towards the end =/

Forget anything else?

Well so much for that new Maxxis Refuse ' puncture-proof' tyre. It should be called Maxxis Refuse to rhyme with 'no use'.

Admittedly it was a largeish shard of glass what did it outside the Barley Mow in Tandridge. Glass outside a pub, any coincidence?

Anyway I took advantage of the patio lighting to fit new tyre and inner. It took 15-17mins so there was no way I was going to catch the group from that point.
Google maps got me home- via the marvelously named Rabies Heath Road!

About 50 miles and fewer hills than ROFL, but still enjoyed my brief jaunt with TNRC.
Bruce, I take it you rejoined the group by Crowhurst ?

Thanks everyone for a great night out, but especially to jonny for ordering a near full moon to illuminate the ride.

Chapeau to Bruce for riding it fixed, an exploit that merits an award of some kind (it was too dry for a SKHA).

I hope everyone, especially jonny and clintsmoker, got home okay?

I was in bed by 1237 slept until 5 a.m., went to the loo (the curse of middle age) had just snuggled back down to sleep when Edie started to stir and by 5:30 she was, in her own words, "wide awake". It's going to be a long day.

ahhh! the sean kelly hardman award... we can only dream. is there a list of past winners??

It is craved by many, but earnt by few.

Having stopped to see that you were aright, John, I found them waiting at the next major junction. Then, not long after that, I had a puncture, but the group did wait. You might have caught up after all ;) As it was, that left me as the only fixed rider.

Mostly, I really enjoyed the ride; it was challenging but doable fixed. I like hills and was often the first up, but don't like steep and unfamiliar descents in the dark quite so much on fixed, so I was usually near or at the back by the end of those.

The last couple of big hills took my reserves (possibly because we'd been told that we'd already done the last big hill ;) ) and I had to walk about twenty yards to the top of the very last one, so I was just cranking it out as we came back into South London, with no legs for a sprint. Still, I was out with an LFGSS group, even if they were all on gears last night, so I expected they'd realise the likely state of my legs after all those hills on fixed. What I didn't expect was for them to disappear out of sight round a double roundabout at Elmers End and not appear again or, as far as I could tell, look back.

I still had battery life on my smartphone (fortunately, because Croydon isn't an area I'm familiar with), so I was able to work out which road they'd gone down and plot the course back to Herne Hill. Didn't see anybody else on the route or in HH, so went on home.

Wasn't immensely impressed, after powering round all those hills with the group, to be dumped in Croydon like some nodder. Rather undercut the achievement, for me. I do appreciate the thrill of pushing out a final sprint at the end of a run, particulary when you're geared and can conserve some energy for it. I am old enough and ugly enough to find my own way home. But it was a group ride, lads; none of you will have known that I got home at all, till I posted here.

Very sorry to hear about the being dropped bit Bruce. I will apologise on behalf of the whole bunch. I think everybody was pretty knackered (not as much as you), and the smell of home was in the nostrils.

Posted this before seeing Bruce's post: Nice to be out on the tar with you lot. Got home to a broken boiler and no food besides a bag of nuts. I'm clean a fed now, so all is good.

Sorry Bruce, that's shit. I thought everyone was past the Elmers End roundabout where AndyP turned off home. But I was cold and tired, and a bit preoccupied about the 12 miles home across town with a dying front light. Glad you got home okay. We'll have to be more on it with back stop duties next time.

Ah, well, it's not going to stop me turning out for the next one, unless the next one really is undoable fixed ;)

Ah, well, it's not going to stop me turning out for the next one, unless the next one really is undoable fixed ;)
no such thing

@bruce, that's a shame dude.

Was great second time around it, will join the sportive on the line if poss, to join J's domestiques.

Struggling to parse the second half of that last sentence, dude. Autocorrect mangling?

Ah pants Bruce. Apologies. Your riding was an inspiration last night.

Rabies Heath Road!

About 50 miles and fewer hills than ROFL, but still enjoyed my brief jaunt with TNRC.

trust you john. good to see you out there dude.

Thanks everyone for a great night out, but especially to jonny for ordering a near full moon to illuminate the ride.

I hope everyone, especially jonny and clintsmoker, got home okay?

I was in bed by 1237 slept until 5 a.m., went to the loo (the curse of middle age) had just snuggled back down to sleep when Edie started to stir and by 5:30 she was, in her own words, "wide awake". It's going to be a long day.

moon was great, have sacked the negotiator i put in charge of wind tho.

we got back to sevenoaks no problem. Ide Hill being a doddle compared to the other monsters that would have befallen us had we continued. to many 'football miles' in the legs (thanks for the term scarlett).

but really enjoyed it out there and thanks for leading andy. great job as always.

It is craved by many, but earnt by few.

indeed

I do appreciate the thrill of pushing out a final sprint at the end of a run, particulary when you're geared and can conserve some energy for it. I am old enough and ugly enough to find my own way home. But it was a group ride, lads; none of you will have known that I got home at all, till I posted here.

noone knows if anyone gets home until they post bruce. TNRC would never leave anyone alone out there in the dark lanes, as was proven on at least four occassions last night. but sounds to me you were back in to civilisation and can't really grumble if everyone wanted to power home.

dumped in Croydon

but sounds to me you were back in to civilisation

Something here doesn't quite add up.

darkness = happiness

the way i feel right now i will be happy if i can ride my bike home from work safely :-(

too old for all this festival/drug binge shit.

Two shades of black Tuesday

Something here doesn't quite add up.

Elmers End is not Croydon.

I'm surprised Bruce missed the rest of the group, as when I turned off to head home I could see them heading towards Elmers End station and Bruce just arriving at the roundabout so they were only a couple of hundred metres apart.

We'd come out that way too so were on roads we'd ridden just 5 hours earlier, maybe we should deploy the Theseus trick next time? :-)

A tip for anyone ever lost in south London - use the transmitters at Crystal Palace as a guide, get to the northerly one and you can see the central London and can then aim yourself in the right direction.