2012-04-07 Sat 8am - Bournemouth - (The 100 Club)

Shame you couldn't join us Ian,

The bit about Ponies slipping might not actually be true, btw.
However, it's true that Braker was a victim of Banana-skin rage.

it was a marvelous day, it is my longest ride yet!! and I'm really amazed by the route. the deers, the fox, dead pheasant, horses,the wide open space before new forest and the forest route (ornamental ride??)was absolutely stunning, banana skins Lol, etc... thank you sam and everybody else who have been very helpful. hope to do ride again with u guys ;)
Freehmny aka seet

Great ride! Really enjoyed it!
First ride through the English countryside and I look forward to another!
My legs and knees are in good shape today but my shoulders are not happy, if only I had flipped my handlebars earlier on....in fact I may just keep em that way : ) won't make any hipster friends nor will I be very cool...... but I'll be happy!!

Thanks for the a great day everyone and Sam thanks for organising the ride.
It was great to meet you all!

if only I had flipped my handlebars earlier on....in fact I may just keep em that way : ) won't make any hipster friends nor will I be very cool...... but I'll be happy!!

Despite your little off-roading jaunt and the discovery that your bike come with two working brakes, I have to says you rode pretty well and most especially in consideration for the otherbrakeful riders (especially in keeping a safe distance from each others), so I'd like to said that it didn't went unnoticed.

The deers was scary as hell, I've lost count after the 8th one went through the bushes.

Can't really add to the above - thanks everyone. Props for sticking with it Sam - when's the next one? ;)

something something something HGV something something something going up that hill at warp 9

[QUOTE=edscoble;2809566]

Excellant photos Ed.
I like this one because it exactly captures the 'soft' weather. Also it gives the appearance that I was first up the gorge which (the warning sign depicting falling rocks can just be seen in the background).
Where is this exactly? before Alton, but after Blackheath?

Wow, really nice Ed. What's with the double exposure thing? 3D?

Oh just the iPhone's HDR bollocks that I forget to turn off, bit annoying.

Sam, are you running this again in the Summer?

Great pics Ed!! Thanks!
As for me keeping my distance on the downhills....I didn't think any of you guys fancied any off roading so didn't wanna take anyone out with me in case I was unable to stop again.

Maybe for the next ride I will get a brake put on the front....need to go buy one.

If you're looking for a nice black one, SRAM Apex would be a good start.

nice pics, thnks ed!! :)

So pissed I missed this! Looks like it was fantastic.

Sorry we had to lose Raymond at Alton, but it was a sterling effort to make it over so many hills on that ratio!

53 miles on a GI of something like 84, pure insane, it's still impressive.

Raymond, if you needed a new cog, let me know, I got an 18t going spare.

Ok I have been a little confused as to what this GI is all about so i looked it up.

Found this:

where
gi = gear inchesdwd = drive wheel diameter (for a 700 wheel its calculated to be 27')fct = number of front chainring teethrct = number of rear sprocket teethRaymond you were pulling a GI of 79.19 I think a 16t on the back should be good for you! This would get you down to a 74.25 which should be good over those hills!
You had 44t front and 15t back right!?!

Ed, an 18t would get him don to 66, he would spin out.
I have 48/17 so 76.24, I thind it a good gear, works well all round and not too tricky to stop, especially not with the help of the odd herge or a bit of off roading ;)

Just in case anyone was wondering, I did get there and back.

Having been away for two days I came back to find myself flooded with various duties - you can see a small one on the TT thread. I've run out of time today but I will write a proper post soon.

Ok I have been a little confused as to what this GI is all about so i looked it up.

Found this:

where
gi = gear inchesdwd = drive wheel diameter (for a 700 wheel its calculated to be 27')fct = number of front chainring teethrct = number of rear sprocket teethRaymond you were pulling a GI of 79.19 I think a 16t on the back should be good for you! This would get you down to a 74.25 which should be good over those hills!
You had 44t front and 15t back right!?!

Ed, an 18t would get him don to 66, he would spin out.
I have 48/17 so 76.24, I thind it a good gear, works well all round and not too tricky to stop, especially not with the help of the odd herge or a bit of off roading ;)

Just quickly while I'm here:

In my experience virtually all club riders who use single gear ride some where in the range 65-70". I'm talking about commuting, club runs etc., not racing. My clubmate Paul Holdsworth seems to be able to maintain a steady 20 -22mph on his 69" gear - which is a great deal better than I can do.

Incidentally, who started referring to 'gear inches'? (of course I know it wasn't anyone on this thread, or even this forum). They are just inches the same as any other sort of inch.

http://cycleseven.org/bicycle-gear-inch-calculator

Here is a good GI calculator, it looks like for a 700 wheel with a 23 tire its 26.26, not 27, so GI actually a bit lower.
Size of tire makes a cignificant difference!!

Well I guess it would be gear inches just we know what we are talking about.
If we just said inches there might be the confusion that we are comparing size of other things : )

Ed, an 18t would get him don to 66, he would spin out.
I have 48/17 so 76.24, I thind it a good gear, works well all round and not too tricky to stop, especially not with the help of the odd herge or a bit of off roading ;)

AFAIK he said he didn't change the cog on his Fuji, which led me to believed it's 48/15 and thus a gear inches of 84.

48/18 is 70GI, not 66.

I used Sheldon's calculation, much easier with the tyres included as well;

http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

48/17 is 74GI.

Just in case anyone was wondering, I did get there and back.
.

Good to hear that, was a bit worried when there weren't any noise from you.

I hope the expression ‘better late than never’ can be applied to this post, and I can only hope that by now you haven’t all lost interest in this ride.

Well done to all of you for sticking to it after a difficult start, and especially to Sam who must have showed excellent leadership qualities to keep things together

When we reached Alton at about 1.30 pm I calculated that the group would not reach its destination before dark – as it turned out I was wrong, but not by much. I never liked riding on unlit roads in the dark, even when I was young – one of the scars is still visible on my arm. Now, nearing senility, I’m just not prepared to do it, and so the choice was between facing an unacceptable risk or failing to do what I’d set out to do. I believed, correctly, that I could arrive in daylight on my own and so it seemed best to slip away causing as little disruption to the group as possible.

I had a feeling there was a café in Four Marks, and I was right. It’s on a little industrial estate. About a mile over the top of the climb there is a right turn to a village called Medstead, take this, and it’s on the left just after you’ve gone under the railway bridge. It might well be useful to any future rides on this route – it always seems better to stop at the top of a climb rather than at the bottom.

After a fairly long stop I felt almost recovered from the morning’s exertions and pushed on through Winchester, arriving without too much distress at my B and B (just) without needing lights – so I don’t think I was really any quicker than the rest of the group.

My overnight stay cost £32 – how does that compare with the rail fare?

In the morning I felt slightly jaded at first, but once I was warmed up I found I was going reasonably well. I had a café stop in Winchester and then had a real struggle with the one way system, possibly losing as much as half an hour. Apparently I’m not the first person who has had this problem. After Winchester I used a really attractive road (B3046) from Kingsworthy towards Basingstoke, and from there used the A 30 to Hounslow and then the Great West Road to Acton. The A30 is usually relatively quiet, but on Sunday afternoon it was almost deserted; we could have ridden two abreast most of the way with being obstructive. I left just after 10 and arrived at 9 pm, so I could hardly claim any record for speed, but at least it has given me confidence that I am still capable of achieving my objective for this season which is to ride a 12.

Ray – I really hope you will not be discouraged by Saturday. I don’t think anyone could do what you set out to do – to complete that ride on an 84” gear without proper braking, it’s just too much to ask.

Celeste Green – What a ride! – although you had a more reasonable gear than Ray, you still had it really tough.

Hope to see you all on the road sometime soon.

Basingstoke, and from there used the A 30 to Hounslow and then the Great West Road to Acton.

Hope you enjoyed the sights of Hartley Wintney!