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

Allegedly.

I think Wei (did I get that right?) hails from more exotic climes than Northern Europe though.

There's not much to fear in the UK but itchy rashes tbh, with the possible exceptions of Lyme disease and Weil's disease. And the nettles really don't sting if they're cooked or blanched for eating :-)

wow, I am very impressed, how did you get my name? I remember telling it to couple of you guys during the ride but I never spell it out to any I believe. very impressive!
And you are right, I am a Chinese, made in China. Not necessarily exotic, but I must say stinging nettle is not very often seen from where I grew up. still, I will pass on eating it, I am gonna stick with my roasted duck on steam rice and dim sum :D

Nettle soup when made well is delicious. I've had it only once, though.

Thanks again to Ben and Sam for organising/leading this. And thanks to everyone else for making it such a lovely night/day.

The ride itself seemed to go by in a flash for me. I've done that route 3 times now but it never gets old. Skidding into Bath to find an eager set of waitresses/waiters to serve us breakfast in a the sun at 7am (who were they expecting?) was an unexpected treat. Then Des (who had temporarily, and inexplicably, disappeared to do reps of Brassknocker!?) topped that by finding a bar that would serve us beer at 9am, with a selection of Sunday papers that seemed to be almost entirely devoted to Sir Bradders.

And then of course Cav won - and we had a death defying sprint to the station of our own, only to be disqualified by the surly First Great Western Commissaires.

[Incidentally that train Guard, who claimed to be doing me a massive favour by allowing me (but not two other poor cyclists) to put my bike in the Guard's van, had an entirely empty carriage with 3 bike racks (for 6 bikes I think) in there!]

*@ Simon, apologies again for the ruthlessly direct lead out to Farnborough. Next time I promise I'll take you the scenic route - featuring the actual M4 and the Terminal 5 runway, rather than just their feeder roads... ;)

Oh, and nice pics Wei. Thanks for making the effort to take some. One day I might actually bother to take my camera out of the house... :-/

[Incidentally that train Guard, who claimed to be doing me a massive favour by allowing me (but not two other poor cyclists) to put my bike in the Guard's van, had an entirely empty carriage with 3 bike racks (for 6 bikes I think) in there!]

No idea how we blagged that one!

Lols!

Was great to have you out mr munch, make sure you thing apt that enviable contraption out on a nice hilly TNRC soon!

Wei, you crack me up, man. Loving the captions and stinging nettle warning. And the photos of course. I don't think that was my innocent face though. :)

^ bukkakae face?

Haha. Wrong'un. I only know one man that can do that.

Incidentally this has convinved me that Bath is the place I shall be calling home after I leave London. Upon closer investigation I've found a lovely 2 bed period terrace with 2 reception rooms and a nice lil back garden for 300k.

The search has begun!

Haha. Wrong'un. I only know one man that can do that.

What are you talking about? darts eyes side to side

Shotgun the couch next time TNRC visit Bath. I'm not sharing a bed with you.

Haha you can have the spare room dude (couch still available, dibs and pm please)

wow is it really 2 days since the ride? I only just woke up*

Thanks again Sam for leading us so well. I've only done this ride once before - two years ago and into a strong headwing the whole way - this was way more enjoyable, and perfectly rounded off with nice (but pricey) bacon and eggs followed by the spa bath. all together a very enjoyable night and day.

Nice to meet some new faces and see some older ones, and great pics Wei

*this is a lie

incidentaly, the ticket seller at Bath Spa Stn. just said "he was not allowed to sell group-save's to people with bikes"

also, the ticket I ended up buying was £29.60, but when I checked on my 'train tickets' app. the price was £22!

I'm going to submit a complaint via fixmytransport.com also. Should get to the right people :)

Nettle soup when made well is delicious. I've had it only once, though.

Point taken Oliver, and I am thinking maybe you have had that soup for once and only once for a reason ;)

Oh, and nice pics Wei. Thanks for making the effort to take some. One day I might actually bother to take my camera out of the house... :-/

thanks man, it was not effort, just pure fun :) I was told that the best camera is the one that you take with you wherever you go, I am starting to get the point now

Guys, I've added the report to fixmytransport. You can see it here http://www.fixmytransport.com/campaigns/provide-a-clear-policy-on-travelling if you could add your support by Clicking the join button it would be greatly appreciated.

Note: fixmytransport is own and run by mysociety, one of my clients. They're a great bunch of people and they care a lot about data protection and sensitivity. Please don't be put off by registering. It's a great service.

Ta

Wei, you crack me up, man. Loving the captions and stinging nettle warning. And the photos of course. I don't think that was my innocent face though. :)

oh, in that case you need to show us your real innocent face next time, and show us your photos as well

Interestingly FGW own and manage the station as well as the service, so I anticipate we might actually get a decent response from them, as opposed to the buck-passing that exists for most rail complaints due to different service, station and track operators wondering who"/ responsibility everything is.

Guys, I've added the report to fixmytransport. You can see it here http://www.fixmytransport.com/campaigns/provide-a-clear-policy-on-travelling if you could add your support by Clicking the join button it would be greatly appreciated.

Note: fixmytransport is own and run by mysociety, one of my clients. They're a great bunch of people and they care a lot about data protection and sensitivity. Please don't be put off by registering. It's a great service.

Ta

If my facebook wall gets spammed I'm fucking you up.

oh, in that case you need to show us your real innocent face next time, and show us your photos as well

I'll get them processed this week!