London Fixed-gear and Single-speed SJS Cycles

Sat 14 June, Ride of 100K

Okay all, so there has been a lot of talk about another decent kind of length ride and in particular Lebowski, Cornelius and myself have been discussing the options.

What is not up for grabs, unless perhaps the Track Day wins out on the 15th June is the date – Saturday 14 June.

Distance will be 100 k(ish) no matter what – probs a bit more when you look at the starting points. See links below.

What is up for grabs is the ride: Three options l’s and g’s. Poll will be open for a week and we will ride the winner. You should really only vote if you are intending to ride but who cares really.

Oh, and as discussed with Lebowski last week, all rides should have a name. Legends must be born.

Love and peace,

Jonny

Oh, will be doing a reckie of the chosen ride and will take a day off next week to do so. All welcome to join but the idea is to have a decent cheat sheet so we don’t turn 100k into 200k - I can also check out what if any climbs are involved ;)

Ride of a Thousand Oysters
London to Whitstable 103k, starting in Greenwich

Ride to the Dreaming Spires
London to Oxford , 96k, starting in Richmond

Ride of the Falling Leaves
London to, uhh, London, 105k, starting/ending Herne Hill

Nice one Jonny.

Oxford! yeah. come up. I know lots and lots of nice pubs, and stuff and it will be fun, and enjoyable, and oxford is amazingly nice to sit around aimlessly for a while, and very bike friendly.

henry, does that mean you will get down to london and ride up with us? if oxford wins of course.

If I was available, I'd vote for the L-W ride. But this is another Saturday ride making me unavailable :0(

Might have to pull my finger out and arrange that Canterbury ride for mid-August.

can one vote, even if is not sure he will do the ride or is just for sure, sure riders?

though this has always been my preferred route:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1932991

its a bit rough in london, but it works + starts more centrally!

I'll do any of the rides, so yep.

will there be split groups in this ride?
fast as fuck wearing lycra, nearly as fast as fuck in jeans with a mahoosive bag and get scared riding wheel to wheel, slaves.

Nice one Jonny.
Which is the flattest of the 3? Not that I mind hills of course

@rik, yeah cast your vote - you don't have to be definite
@mikec, not sure dude - have a feeling the Falling Leaves ride might be the hilliest, but that is cos I have done most of it before. chilterns will offer some climbing as will kent in general. won't know for sure til after recky. you know you'll be fine dude

What's at Whitstable? Why not continue to Ramsgate and then get the ferry to Belgium, bringing back millions of bottles of Belgian beer.. mmm.. .

The falling leaves ride would probably involve quite a bit of getting off and walking for a lot of people...

Great work jonny. All the rides look great. I'm dead keen to do the Ride of the Falling Leaves, but am also keen to see Oxford, sorry the Ride of a Thousand Oysters. Hmm decisions.

Which ever one we do on the 14th June, I think the others will also have to be attempted at some point. The legend has most definitely been born!

It's gotta be Whitstable.

But I'm in Spain mind:-(

@ hippy - only been to whitstable once and can't remember anything of it. many on here like to get to the seaside ya see.
@bmmf - shhh! ;)

I meant to have time to enjoy the magnificent scenery.

I want to change my vote now.

surely the 'falling leaves' ride should wait till autumn?


On the way to oxford we could go through Windsor, Eton, Henley and Wallingford. Much prettier than to whitstable.

Yeah, The Falling Leaves ride is organised by Paragon CC and it's held around late Sept/early Oct I think.

I will go for the Oxford ride I reckon. Goes through Marlow which is just lovely. Also nice to finish in a different Town

The falling leaves route is a pretty miserable experience when the leaves have fallen - bit sketchy too.

Marlow is one of those place I find too lovely and being a too lovely place close to London invariably means it's quota of dickheads had been overrun.

Yeah I know what you mean. Henley on Thames is a little like that. Richmond is also full of total fuck heads come Friday night. Bizzare how quickly it changes in fact

Oxford ride's pretty - did it on saturday - Marlow to Watlington is dead nice - gentle pull too.

I'd be well up for Whitstable....mmmm...oysters!

can we do dreaming spires backwards, take an early train to oxford and ride back (sorry eyebrows)

i think that it would be nicer to finish in a park in london, then there is less of the difficulty with getting home

+1

There is no difficulty getting home.. point your bike in the other direction and pedal :)

That's what I was planning on doing with the Hastings ride I haven't organised yet.

Or the fact the train return is 50 minutes!
Or the fact the bus back costs a tenner and takes 1hr 30 (on a good day).
And then you can experience oxford pubs, which is the point (judging by the cambridge ride anyhow)

Yep bring lights and fuel up before the ride back with some supplies for the journey and it would be a nice return trip! It's summer after all.

Depends on what time we get there, though, doesn't it?

I don't really care either way, but I promise you that the better pubs are up here.

Getting back really is not an issue from oxford- seeing as its is a commuter hub, and mostly populated by students from london (like me!).

Shit, I'm such a muppet. I meant to vote Thousand Oysters (sorry eyebrows) but voted Dreaming Spires instead. Oh well.

And Seb, I thought you were a fully fledged supporter of the pissed up train ride home being a large part of the fun. What gives?

sometimes i would like the drinking to last longer and by it being in london it could go on longer and then there is less to think about when you are pissed, just an idea

another reason is I can guarantee 100% safe bike parking.
+ this pub:
http://www.theturftavern.co.uk/

and this one:

If the ride goes to Oxford I think people should go to port meadow.

real beer!
i'm not riding 60miles to drink gassed pasturised homogenous crap beer or continental lager that's brewed over here.
that turf tavern looks good

ooh, good shout tommy:
http://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/ if you want a pub.
If we go to port meadow I won't be able to offer bike parking though, as there'll be no need and we'd need them to get out to the place.
but it is jsut a big meadow so it wouldn't be difficult.
Could even ask alexis and the OCW boys to get some Polo on in the evening.
And maybe an Alleycat for fun/charity.

All these things and more are possible when you choose oxford.

eyebrows, i sense you might like us to ride to oxford ;)

come on people, get voting!

Oxford for me, live near Richmond, worked for a couple of years in Marlow, like Oxford...

Nice one Jonny, look forward to this.
I voted the oxford ride, don't fancy the others!

if it does happen- can we go for period cycling gear?

well i might use my Menstrual Cycles bag, if that counts ;)

i'd love to do the oxford ride

Ach, bollocks. i voted oysters when i wanted spires.

Jonny, great that you're putting this together. Any advice on how to get fit for a 100k ride in 2 weeks?

can i request that it doesn't start at stupid.AM as i will have to come up from surrey. perhaps an 11 AM start?

a ride of 100k should leave london 0800 at the latest IMO

more time on quieter roads, and no rush over the last 20k because people were late/crashed/punctured

Where abouts is Surrey? You can always jump on a train to get in early.

how long is it estimated to take? we have long light evenings, don't forget