Club Run 18th Oct OFF-ROAD

[Tim Coales]

Off Road from Coulsdon to Charlwood (Pine Cafe); return on-road.
Leader: Aoden Higgins.
Meet at CSS to leave at 8.30am
So so far we have:

Aoden
Andrew G
Tim C
Alex P
Marky Mark???
Olesya -new recruit- should be there, and possibly some others Sylv has emailed too.

Any more takers?

[John the old'un]

What sort of speed will this one be Tim?

[Marky Mark]

Hi John, we averaged 9.9mph to the cafe last week. and that did include my ride from home to CSS.

I'm still in too minds to CR or MTB CR

I'll tell you all tomorrow

[ceejay]

I should be able to make this one, looking forward to it.

Colin

[Nick W]

Tim, or anyone else out there, I am quite keen on this but can I assume that you do not need spd pedals? Presumably it is better to have them but is it a nightmare with "normal" pedals and wellingtons?

[Tim Coales]

Nick,
I'm not leading this, just going for the ride. I started the thread by cutting/pasting some posts about the 18th Oct, that were under a thread refering to the 11th Oct incase people missed out that there would be another off-road on Saturday. I haven't done it myself yet! However, I reckon that a round trip of 40 plus miles in Wellingtons is not going to be too comfortable and not something I'd personally try, but then if again, if it's really too boggy for me to ride in places you could always carry me/bike through!
Tim

[Nick W]

Thanks Tim. The wellies bit was firmly tongue in cheek but if anyone out there can comment on riding sans spd pedals and whether it is a "no no" or ok I would appreciate that. Thanks again.

[kieran]

torn between this and Herne Hill, tomorrow should be dry so one or the other is possible, sadly not both.

[Tim Coales]

Kieran,
How many agreeables wil be at HH? How many on the ACC Off-Road clubrun? See you 8.30am at CSS

Nick,
I thought the Wellies were a wind up!
I have a pair of Shimano pedals with platforms on the non-SPD side which I use on my touring/commuting bike so that I can vary my footwear to suit the occasion. If you have SPD shoes but are unsure about being clipped in all the way, I have a second pair which I could bring with me for you to try, (along with a 15mm spanner). Let me know... If not, I'm sure non-spd's would do okay, after all we've had people ride the clubrun without clipless pedals or toeclips.

Tim

[higg]

Good stuff, it look's like we'll have a decent group.

Just to answer a few of the questions :

Route. The paths are a mixture of bridleways and quiet roads and are mostly easy if a little bumpy in one ot two places. Any bike will do but a mountain bike would be the most comfortable. Bear in mind that the return from the cafe will be by road.

Footwear. Anything apart from Looks would be good. Depending on the weather there are is only about 10yds of mud and one 20yd hill that might need to be walked. I'll be using SPD but runners with flat pedals and/or straps are not unusual.

Pace. This is more a leisure ride than a training level ride and the intention is that everybody who starts gets to the cafe. (There are many bail-out point to roads though for any last minute changes of mind). Overall pace is that of the slowest. We will wait at the top of hills etc. Distance is about 30k to the cafe (equiv to about 30miles on road) and will probably take 2-3 hrs to get cafe.

Start time. 8.30 from Coulsdon South Station, maybe meet a few minutes earlier to say hello.

[Sylv]

[quote="Tim Coales"]Kieran,
How many agreeables wil be at HH?

[Tim Coales]

Come on the Off-Road CR with us Sylv!

[Sylv]

so many choices ... why didn't i join another club?

[Nick W]

Thanks Tim for the offer but after your and other replies I will just do the shoe/flat pedal option. Thanks to all.

[kieran]

hi, Sylv, the training sessions end 25th Oct 2008 according to the VCL website, so only 2 left, which is why I'm tempted by tomorrow as then it'll be at about 6 months till the next time. It takes a bit for the track to dry due to the overnight dew, but by 10:30 should be rideable, and this is when the non-novice sessions start but due to late starts (due to track having to dry off) they have run the novices with the experienced riders for the first session as well, but should get from 10:30 to after 1pm.