2012-07-21 London to Bath Night Ride (a TNRC affair)

KT you stormed it on your fixed! Certainly didn't seem like you hadn't done more than ~50miles fixed before.

And extra credit for being the solo lady and putting up with us lads

gutted I missed this, sounds ace.

So who made it in the end?

I think we should be told.

You can't just go having lots of fun and then not cough up a proper ride report.

You can't just go having lots of fun and then not cough up a proper ride report.

i shall make it so.

Good times.

Wish I could have hung around for the the Spa and tour action, but a hard day of work fuelled by various stimulants lay ahead of me. Finally went to bed at 5pm and slept like a baby*

Only downer was my front light being a div and cutting-out at the most inconvenient times. That, and I didn't go for a badger-hop as we passed our sleeping friend. #regrets

*Woke up crying after I shit myself.

You can't just go having lots of fun and then not cough up a proper ride report.

The first rule of spa club is...

I'll just leave this here:

[SIZE=2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spa_towns_in_the_United_Kingdom[/SIZE]

^ EXCELLENT.
I was thinkIng a ride to a swimming lake would be ace
Would have to be near a pub and train station though.

Yes!

The first rule of spa club is...

I'll just leave this here:

[SIZE=2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spa_towns_in_the_United_Kingdom[/SIZE]

Glad it was a good ride.

Tim did have an idea a while ago to have a Delux to a wild swimming spot. A suitably isolated lake, river, cove or some-such. Would probably mean carrying more stuff like towels and food, but the idea is sound. Never came up with a decent destination, so if any one knows a good spot.

^ EXCELLENT.
I was thinkIng a ride to a swimming lake would be ace
Would have to be near a pub and train station though.

I rode out to JB ski the weekend before last for a wakeboard session and swim on the lake. If anyone fancies it some other time?

well done people. so far sounds brilliant

There was a suitably smug programme about wild swimming on the BBC not so long ago. It links to this:

http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/wild-swim-map-uk/?multi_region=wild-swim-map-uk

I like the idea of wild swimming, even though I can barely swim. Although I will be careful when swimming with braker around, I think.

This was superb. Reckon I'd go as far as saying it's made all time favourite status. Spa time made it thoroughly delux in a pimp my ride kind of way.

Oh, and a retarded duck.

Better watch what your saying hairnet, that's my bird you're talking about there! Word gets out about this and yellow beaks gang are gonna bust you up.

was thinking of you guys saturday. this route never fails to gladden the heart. never fails to set it racing either - 185rpm is still the fastest i have ever ridden fixed. that descent on consciences lane as swing by Devizes.

glad to hear you all hit the spa too. and then hopefully hung on in bath to watch the TdF. great stuff ls & gs.

Lovely ride - brilliant work Ben and Sam for pulling it all together and cheers everyone else for good company along the way. Great breakfast at the other place (Hall and Woodhouse?) btw - that, plus the fact that you can get a beer and read the papers alongside makes it infinitely preferable to the slimmers hotel.

Got home to see a re-run of Cav's sprint and Bradley's presentation - was compelled to take a riverside poodle. Top weekend for anyone on a bike.

Great Western jobsworth - complete twat, but easily forgotten about now. Nice work Katie sorting that out. His company colleagues on the train showed how it should be done customer service wise.

I've got someone's (Simon?) lock to drop off in Hammersmith apparently. I'm only a mile or so away, so drop me a pm and i'll sort it out.

Better watch what your saying hairnet, that's my bird you're talking about there! Word gets out about this and yellow beaks gang are gonna bust you up.

Hah, I forgot about the duck turf war.

and here is a little something to get you through the day: http://youtu.be/POxMp61Ksbk

Oscar: WAC

That was loads of fun and an excellent first TNRC so thanks, everyone, and it was lovely to meet you all. It's a shame I couldn't stick around after breakfast, but for some reason that extra 20 miles back to Devizes still seemed like a great idea.

Oh, and extra thanks to Mr. Munch for leading out to Farnborough!

I've got someone's (Simon?) lock to drop off in Hammersmith apparently. I'm only a mile or so away, so drop me a pm and i'll sort it out.

Cheers, pm coming.

could someone who caught the train after the spa let me know by PM what happened at the station WRT group save tickets? I'm writing to the managing director at the moment and would like to include a full report on what happened.

More on this for you lurkers later.

PM'd

right so it has come to light that we had not one but two incidents at the station on Sunday with respect to the purchase of group saves with bikes. I'm going to write a letter to the managing director of First Great Western the full text of which is below. Feel free to comment and I will incorporate them into the final email which i will send late this evening:

Mr. Hopwood

I have been organising, supporting and partaking in cycling events for the last five years. I run a club every other Tuesday evening from London to the home counties, taking a train from one of the main, central stations and enjoying what our glorious countryside has to offer. We ride to Roydon and Welyn Garden City at regular intervals using your services to get there and, by taking advantage of the groupsave discount available, have made the club accessible for everyone regardless of income or ability. For the last three years we have travelled in such a way with not a single problem and for that, I thank you. In fact, if you enjoy riding a bike we would love to have you along some time.

I do however, regretfully, have to inform you that on Sunday 22nd June your otherwise exceptional standard of customer service was not upheld. I organised an annual 'deluxe' tour from London to Bath Spa, taking a group of 15 from Farnborough station to Bath Spa, overnight, arriving at 7.30am of the morning in question.

Knowing that some would take the train immediately, some would enjoy themselves at the spa and others would want to stay for the whole day I took the decision not to pre-book tickets and instead, recommend that people travel in groups of four and use the groupsave discount in order to make the return journey accessible for the younger and less monied among the group.

Our ride went without hitch, we had great weather and an enjoyable breakfast in town, after which a small group left to go their various ways both in town and back on the train to London without issue. The remaining bunch decided to enjoy themselves at the spa, as arranged. After which a group decided to take the train home and forgo watching our new, british Tour de France champion stand atop the podium, at a local pub. It later transpired they had the same problem we had, later that day:

Upon arrival at Bath Spa station I requested a groupsave 4 discount for our group of four, each with a single bike. At which point we were flatly refused the sale at the counter. On begging the obvious question we were told that, due to the fact we have four bikes, they did not believe we would travel together. I explained that I was aware of he conditions of carriage and that I would be due a fine and/or liable for the cost of a full ticket were I to travel independent of the group and that, were there no room for bikes in the guards carriage, we would await the next service. Still a flat refusal to sell the ticket from both Augistine and Kudzi who were manning the ticket area.

I asked to speak to a manager who repeated the remarks of the two gentlemen selling tickets, after hearing our conversation I suspect. I asked the manager Sam whether this was a policy issue as I have travelled this way or years (as I describe above). He proclaimed that the policy was not to sell groupsave tickets to those with bikes as there was a chance there would be no room for them on the service. I repeated that I understood the conditions of carriage for a groupsave ticket and that we would only travel together if our bikes could be carried safely in the guards carriage. Again a blunt refusal to sell the tickets.

I decided to speak to your customer services department, they were unable to see any reason why they could not sell me a ticket and were happy to sell me one with the only regret that we would have to wait 2 hours for the system to update terminals in the station. I asked wether the representative would speak to the till manager Sam who bluntly refused to speak to his colleague on the phone. Instead he walked off, in mid conversation, to the safety of his office. He later returned with a phone upon which he asked me to speak to another advisor on the other end. Being a reasonable person I took the phone and spoke with another representative who repeated the argument of the ticket staff. Explaining myself for the third time the colleague said that we were not guaranteed a place on any of the trains that day for our bikes, therefore he was not prepared to sell us a ticket and neither were the staff in the ticket hall. I asked the next logical question, whether he or anyone else could tell me whether there was space in the guard's carriage for our bikes on any service that day. No was the answer, the systems don't permit it.

So we had been refused the sale of a ticket on the basis that there was a chance we wouldn't be able to use it. A chance that exists for every single service you operate, from every origin to any destination in the land. Be it due to natural disaster, act of stupidity by an individual or mechanical failing there is no way to guarantee that I can travel on any service. I imagine that is why you have a returns procedure, a delays procedure and why travel insurers exist. But let's not digress.

My three friends and I agreed that we would pursue this further with yourself, collected the names of the individuals at the station and the station manager Peter Rignall (who wasn't able to assist us in the station that day), purchased full price tickets and travelled without issue on the 1743 from Bath Spa to London Paddington, together, with our bikes stored safely and securely, with the permission of the train manager, in the guard's carriage.

I have included photographic copies of the tickets we were sold and them stamped, using the same stamp (see alpha-numerical ID) to prove that we travelled, without issue and by the terms of carriage that apply to groupsave 4 tickets, after being refused service at the ticket hall.

Now, I am aware of the situation regarding train transportation in this country. I am aware of the demarcation (or lack thereof) of responsibility between service providers, track owners and station managers. I work for mySociety, a charity that runs fixmytransport.com which helps people file complaints of this kind (which I shall issue in due course) and I am also a reasonable human being.

I would like you, the managing director of one of the biggest train operators in the country, to apologise to our group. To assist us in understanding why this situation came to pass, provide us with evidence of policy on the matter and assure us that the members of staff in the ticket hall that day have been spoken to with regard to their lack in customer service skills.I would also like a means of repeating this or a similar length journey (or value of ticket) in the future, for all 15 members of our group.

Finally I offer you an opportunity: to go one better, for you or a member of your executive staff to partake in one of our rides, using your services and using our group to the advantage of your PR. I have honestly, never had trouble of this sort on your services and was genuinely surprised by what happened. I know that this is an exception as I have access to data that shows your peers receive more complaints than yourselves.

I just want to ensure that our group is remunerated and that, in the future, through clear policymaking or your personal support we can once again enjoy what this beautiful country has to offer on a bike and rest assured we will be taken care of on the way home.

I look forward to reading your response.

Thanks

Ben

please note that, in the above, the names I'e used are freely available either on the shirts of those in the ticket office, on posters in the ticket office or on the website of FGW service. Therefore I see no harm in publishing them here.

ha, sounds good to me. 'morning in question' always sounds a bit hifalutin to me and you mispelt Welwyn.

good luck

erm and as per my pm, they did actually sell a groupsave at some point in the day... So clearly not a flat ban per se...

erm and as per my pm, they did actually sell a groupsave at some point in the day... So clearly not a flat ban per se...

ah, I misread your pm as I only scanned it. Moar fodder!

my request will stay the same though.

also: I don't think anyone is a penniless teenager, I'm just using it to an advantage.