London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

Right! Who's up for attempting a hundred miler?

Up to Berwick-on-the-motherfucking-tweed early bells and back down to Newcastle-upon-the-pissing-tyne in a beautifully constructed convoy.

See :

http://coast-and-castles.co.uk/

for the route.

I was thinking weekend of the 13th and 14th June. Possibly Sat the 13th?? Feel free to suggest alternatives....

I'm in, that date should be fine too.

im in. wether i can physically do it is a different story but im all for trying.

im up4 it, possibly same weekend though theres a northern rock sponsored(?) race of 100 miles round the countryside. one of my lecturers at uni is doing it he reckons he done it in 7hours last year but theres mixed ability apparently. souns like fun also?

i'm up for it too, depending on moolah (and if anything should crop up inbetween the dates)

that sounds like an outrageous lack of commitment on your part digby. you shant need any moolah (train ride to berwick). I want this to be your number one priority. dont fuck us off at the last minute for a morris dancing convention in scunthorpe or summat.

You know it Gav - think I can do that weekend

I could drive one of these >>

Can I get a lift?

Rode 35ish miles today and, as fun as it was, the thought of doing that 3 times back to back... May need some bike modifications.

Gears or HTFU
(I know what im going 4)

yeah, after the sunday ride i can pretty much guarantee that ill not be doing it fixed. i think marcus scottamus may attempt it fixed?? i would be dissapointed if he didnt

of course! fixed ftw

I really want to do a serious practice ride for this but weekends seem to be disappearing. I do have a window tomorrow morning though so I'm thinking beautiful weather + early sunrise = perfect for early start.

So here's the plan - I need to be back in town for about 3:30 tomorrow. For some reason fancy going to Carlisle which is 62 miles. There's a reasonable south easterly wind tomorrow so best to ride out and get train back. Should be able to do it in 6 hours with a stop for bacon sarnie & tea. To catch the 1330 train home, I reckon this means leaving at about 5:30. I know it's a bit of a mission so totally understand if no-one's up for it but have a massive urge to get on the open road in this weather...

i have work at 7 am tomorrow so im out. is anyone still up for a bit of a ride on sunday?

also, do we have a date for the century yet? im voting for sunday the 14th of june

im up for it matt. you got an idea for the best route?

Sweet, good man Ali. It's Route 72, Hadrian Cycleway, all B roads n ting. I'll do some research tonight

good stuff. ill just ring you later on.

we gna meet at 6am at monument if anyone else fancies it tomorrow. let us know so we can wait for you if your going to come.

think i av 2 work the 13th fook

thats pretty impressive! when did digbys crank break?

no one riding today?

Christ, was it only 67 miles, felt like more. Digby did about 7 miles on one leg. Pretty much full speed too - hardcore. I'm definitely going geared for the hundred, knees were rigid this morning. The first 20 or so miles to Corbridge before the sun got hot were some of the favourite I've ever ridden.

so when is this century? 14th?

TBH 13th is quite a lot better for me but if Pete can't get out of work, I can do the Sunday

So are there any more plans for this? Anyone know a route/what train to get etc..?

Depends on the wind direction. I'd rather do north to south if there's no wind but if it's bad we can go the other way. I might buy the official Sustrans Coast and Castles route map - or maybe just read it and remember the route.

Shit, it's next week isn't it. Need to get my bike sorted. Who's coming then?

yeah im singlespeeding my bike this week and having a training ride sometime.

im ready to go
geared tho
if its 14th june
aint heard from gav lately!

We should probably do it from berwick to newcastle, as if where attemting it in a day the time we get back wont matter ,but if we do it the ather way round we can leave earlyer but we'll need 2 find out when the last train is?

Cool, if you've got to work Pete, 14th it is. Agree that it's better to aim for home - saves having to worry about missing the train etc. I'm doing it on the Quinn but still need to you to have a look at my gears. I'll bring it along to polo (that reminds me - polo on weds next week)

Gav's still on holiday til this weekend I think

i hope someone else is doing this SS. i dont wanna be the only one walking up hills.

im doing this ss but didnt think that there was much up and down???? I though that if we stick as close as possible to the coast that there shouldn't be much in the way of elevation. I'm going to go to a bike shop tomorrow and get waterbottle holder, gloves etc etc. And whats the confirmed day, the Sunday?? If it's Sunday theres the possibility of people having to wait around a while for others if we cant all get on one train, bearing in mind they wont run as frequent on sundays?

yeah probs not too many hills actually. looking forward to this, hope the weather is good!

Ola. back from the continent and still well up for the ride this weekend. i'm doing it fixed to begin with but will no doubt flip the flop when i start crying with pain.
sunday is fine with me. i havent done more than a 3 mile stint since c2c. im proper shitting myself.

you got a spare brake lever dude? Mines too small to fit over my bartape and I remember you having one for quite large bars??

i have a bmx one that kinda doesnt work but its a small clamp. im buying adams one that you tried.

was talking to sum1 and they said you need to book bikes on train before hand so is the number 5...
pete
ali
gav
matt
phil
if we cant book 1 for going there we should check out what the return journey situation is like
ps duz any1 volenteer 4 this task as im quite buzy this week cheers

Just had a check - they only take 5 bikes per train on east coast, also the earliest train isn't til 10 so we wouldn't get riding til about 11:30 which ain't good. Trains coming back the other way in the evening are every two hours

do you know when till? where you getting this info btw? got a link?

Actually, I lied, it's only a 2 hour gap between 1840 and 2040, otherwise it's roughly hourly. last train 2144,

et voila http://www.thetrainline.com/

yo sorry not been on been mad busy, im up4 this coz ive finally fished uni, count me in n that. ali gimmie a ring

cool, so whats the plan for this then? we getting the train in the AM or starting early and riding up?

p.s is anyone else riding fixed or just me? y'all better wait 4 me and old basketball grips!

what about ,
we start @ -6am
ride to berwick,
if we dont make the last train just ride back in time 4 work?

if theres 6 of us I think that might be the only option as we dont have time to wait around for a 2nd group of people to get there on the train in the morning, especially as the trains dont start till a bit late. So i think the best thing to do is we all set off at 6am and ride to berwick, then split into two groups getting the train back in the evening. If we miss the last train im fucked as theres no way id have the energy to ride back another 100 miles through the middle of the night, and i HAVE to be at work on monday morning as got a really busy day.

I think we'll be ok if we set off @ 6, we'd probably get in late afternoon / early evening. Cant remember how long our carlisle ride took?

p.s. is digby not doing this?

did you confirm wether you need to book or not??

haha im not getting up at 6 to ride like. if we have all day id rather get some sleep. i think it would help.

well then we risk missing the train back?

will it not be more expensive getting a random train rather than booking it first too?

im still in favour of getting a train there and riding home, though im probably the only one.

no id prefer doing that as well but its just that the trains dnt start till 10. also we cant fit 6 people on the train w/bikes, so we wouldnt get riding till lunchtime.