Road Ride

Stop trying to paint me and others who voiced some ideas for next time as negative.


Well be a bit more positive :hide:D Its very hard to pre plan a lunch stop with so many riders ...and set the route in stone ...who knows what delays ect there will be on the day :nenau

Pop along to the next NW meet and I'll buy you a pint :beer::thumb2
 
The road ride was published as leaving at 10:00 prompt, as it happens it left at 10:09 and 57 seconds ;) that must have been one hell of a leak :augie

I think if you look back through this thread you will find nowhere that it says prompt. It says 10ish. 10:09 and 57 seconds I will accept as the ish. I say again I wasn't late. I just found myself amongst the off road riders as they were the ones nearest the main building. All this is a distraction from my point. All I'm saying is people can and do get separated for various reasons and so contingencies for this should be made. As a co-author of a cycling route guide book on Cheshire and a former guide in the Alps I have experience of leading groups and so I know how hard it can be. I say again I'm not criticizing the leaders.

I'm saying... some published waypoints of the proposed route would be a good idea. :thumb
 
I went to Lumb farm and got there for 10am. I went to the loo for a leak and when I came out everyone had left. I asked the off-roaders where the road ride was going... nobody knew :blast

I rode along with the off-roaders (flipfly) and caught sight of the end of the road riders. Then I got caught at the lights. A minute later I caught sight of the road riders going down a country lane towards Crich. I know the area quite well and figured the most likely route to be taken.

I guessed right and still had them in sight but they were moving fast. I then lost them. :(

I stopped at a petrol station on the A6 into Matlock and saw the off-roaders again. A few seconds later a lot of the road bikes came past and when I asked them if they were the road ride they said they would be doing fords. I didn't know if this was the road group or not and the guy said to go back to the petrol station and wait... I did and no bugger turned up.

I ended up in Matlock as did a few GS1200's. They had given up trying to find / keep up with the crowd.

I think in future a rough idea of the route would be good. Perhaps with likely pit-stops and pick up points along the way where others are likely to stop in case people get separated by traffic lights etc. A PDF or even a google map link would have been good. :rob

I essentially did 150 miles of riding to catch a few fleeting glimpses of other GSer's who didn't know where anyone was going. :thedummy

Sorry you didn't hook up with the road in the end. I have to say you were pretty determined in finding them as I was the one you asked which way they were going in the Lumb Farm carpark just after they left AND at the petrol station. I must admit I was a tad confused at the petrol stn as to who was who. That's an unfortunate point when you have approx 130-ish bikes all in the same area. I was relaibly informed that there were 53 bikes on the road ride alone which is another reason I wouldn't go on it. Just too many bikes to look after. There were 17 on the fords ride and more than that for the off road. Here's a picture of the carpark prior to all leaving. It's hard to believe there weren't more probs than mentioned but hey-ho. Don't give up on getting involved. There are a few cliques here and there but that's the world over. I've met some brilliant people on here and at events and wouldn't change it for a new 1200 :augie
I was a Billy-No-Mates and did a 150mile tour on some cracking roads as I'm antisocial. Photos to follow

Steve
ps
Respect to you for considering the Off-Road, 2-up on an 800GS :thumb2
Nice bike by the way.
 
Well be a bit more positive :hide:D Its very hard to pre plan a lunch stop with so many riders ...and set the route in stone ...who knows what delays ect there will be on the day :nenau

Pop along to the next NW meet and I'll buy you a pint :beer::thumb2

They say things come in three's and this is the third. I was at a funeral in Ireland in May and the route took the cortège through a toll road. The hearses wen't through and then raced off to the cemetery. That's when the trouble started. People knew the name of the cemetery but not it's location. From that point it was like something out of the whacky races and half the people missed the funeral.

On another occassion last year I was at a wedding in Cornwall and after the ceremony the bride and groom were hosting the reception at their rented cottage by the sea. Trouble was they didn't tell everyone where the cottage was and so people got caught at traffic lights along the way. We all wondered why a good 15 people who were keen for a booze up never materialized. The bride and groom had forgotten to bring their phone chargers on the trip and so nobody could reach them.

Incidently where did the road ride go? Roughly :augie

I accept your offer and I'll stop bitching now :beer: I feel more integrated into the forum now that I've had a bust up :mcgun

so there will be less of this from me :ronno and more of this :beerjug:
 
Hi Steve B. Thanks for the directions. :)

I did meet some cool people. One guy helped my GF on with her gloves and one of the Ford back markers pulled over and invited me along with them. As a relatively new rider and being two up I didn't know if I could manage it.

There was a lone rider at the petrol station who said he was billy no mates... and was riding alone... was that you Steve?

I also spoke to an F800GS rider (grey) who said he saw me at the Wizard. I think we were talking about different places as I ride through the wizard at the top of Alderley edge when I'm off to the Peaks.

:thumb
 
as an experienced tour guide from the alps did you not think to ask where the lunch stop was and at what time and when youd be back:mmmm
 
as an experienced tour guide from the alps did you not think to ask where the lunch stop was and at what time and when youd be back:mmmm

I asked 4 people. Nobody knew. Hence my first post... ie. post the village of the lunch location on here at least. It was stated that the ride would return at 4pm . As I was riding in for the day I was going to do like Rushy and ride back after lunch.
 
Hi Steve B. Thanks for the directions. :)

There was a lone rider at the petrol station who said he was billy no mates... and was riding alone... was that you Steve?

Yep that was moi at the fuel stop. I was filling up for my one-man 150 mile road ride.
Don't feel too bad about the day. I managed to completly cock-up the fords rideout by driving straight past a drop off rider at a junction. The unfortunate part was that I had the same coloured twat suit AND bike as the tail-end-charlie and the said rider thought I was lost so buggered off leaving all the back markers behind :blast. :D

See you (earlier) next time :thumb

Steve
 
Yep that was moi at the fuel stop. I was filling up for my one-man 150 mile road ride.
Don't feel too bad about the day. I managed to completly cock-up the fords rideout by driving straight past a drop off rider at a junction. The unfortunate part was that I had the same coloured twat suit AND bike as the tail-end-charlie and the said rider thought I was lost so buggered off leaving all the back markers behind :blast. :D

See you (earlier) next time :thumb

Steve

Ahhh haaa :) Nice to meet you Steve. It was a fab day wherever we all rode. We were lucky. Although there was a lone rain cloud near Bakewell. But it cleared up again in Buxton. I spotted a guy waiting somewhere near Haddon hall but at that point the Mrs had had enough and it was safer to head home :bounce1

It was nice coming off the hills and dropping down into Cheshire. Nice views and warm sunshine.

Hope to catch you next time... a bit earlier like you say :augie:beerjug:
 
Once you lost the road riders you should have gone on the fords ride (as suggested) and you'd have had a really good day.

The Garage incident caused alot of confusion but hey, that's life.

I think the groups are too large for the road ride to stay as one. Mr Ifan did a feckin brilliant job of doing the impossible and hats off for picking up the baton.

I led 20 out on the Friday night off road bimble and that went a bit pete tong.

If it makes ya feel better I had a spectacularly great day out. Even got to take the hardcore down one of the tough lanes I know and everyone was laughing and enjoying it , even with the smell of burning clutch in the air :D. We even split the group up and managed to get it all back together without drama. That was probably down to Gaz's army training :D:D:D:D
 
I'm sorry for anyone who missed the road ride, however, as good an idea as it sounds, leaving knowledge of lunch stops extra would have been either impossible or at least very misleading. Also I'm not sure how a quick toilet break could cause you to miss out?
I called everyone together for the road ride twice, we then had a 3 or 4 minute briefing and Q&A session, I then gave a 2 minute warning of departure and I would imagine a group of that size took several minutes to leave the car park:nenau
I took over leading the ride at the 11th hour and was expecting a group of maybe 30 odd bikes, not the nearer to 60 who set off with us!!
I had a route planned and programmed into my GPS, we did about a third of it! I just had to make up most of the ride as we went along to suit the size and speed of the group. Have you ever tried keeping a group that size together and on schedule? Not as easy as it sounds:eek:
I had an idea of where we would stop for lunch but the sheer size of the group put paid to that. I don't know of a single place in the Peaks that could cope with a group of nearly 70 people turning up to eat without warning!
I only made a decision on the actual lunch stop in Castleton about 5 miles before we got there:eek::D Especially as the earlier tea/coffer stop had pretty much turned into a lunch stop anyway after one of the group had a puncture and we lost our Backmarker!
Many thanks to Stevo for steping in and doing an excelent job for the rest of the day:thumb2
Not an ideal situation and my apologies to everyone on the ride for the lack of organisation. I honestly thought we would have lost far more of a group that size before the first stop:D Well done everyone for sticking to the drop off system, especially those who had never used it before.
It would have made far more sense to split the ride into 2 or even 3 smaller groups but unfortunately there just weren't the volunteers available to do that, especially after our designated tail ender drank far too much of Prof's apple juice on Friday night and was incapable of riding a bike on Sat:D:beer: You know who you are:spitfire:D:D:beer::beer:

So far the feedback from those who did make the ride has been good, thank you all for coming and thanks for putting up with the problems along the way:thumb2
 
Once you lost the road riders you should have gone on the fords ride (as suggested) and you'd have had a really good day.

The Garage incident caused alot of confusion but hey, that's life.

yeah, I'm kicking myself about that. I spoke to the backmarker and he invited me on the ford ride but said the road ride might be passing the garage in a few minutes. So I returned to the garage where I met Steve B. After a few minutes I worried that the road ride wasn't coming so went after the ford group but inevitably there was no way I would find the group again.

That said the weather was great, I found some new places and from the photos I've seen I've been inspired for next time :D
 
The drop off system worked (AFAIC) up to the point where the back marker (Bryn) stopped to help someone with a puncture. I was sat at a junction, and after Timpo, Sarah and Lynchy went past the next rider should have been Bryn. Timpo shouted something, but I didn't understand him through his helmet (and it thought it was abuse anyway!:D) When Bryn didn't turn up after 15 minutes, I wondered if he had had a problem and retraced the route to where Lynchy had been the drop off. There were no GS shaped holes in hedges, so I returned post haste and followed the route, scanning both sides of the road for evidence of a herd of Tossers on the hoof. Seeing no sign, and arriving at a T-junction, I deduced that I had lost the rest of the group and was now on my own.
I set off back towards Ripley, but Sarah Teach rang from the stop at Castleton, so I turned towards there and managed to have a p-stop and a fag before the ride left. The new backmarker introduced himself, and it was while waiting for him (who was in turn waiting for someone else) that I lost the end of the ride again. Following my nose and my Zumo, I ended up collecting another couple of bikes until we came back upon the end of the ride after riding through Chatsworth.
So, there you have it. It was all my fault. :blast
Sorry.
Mark


ps. I really enjoyed it, and have no problem at all with any of the organisation, system or execution of said "informal" road ride.
 
One thing is for sure GS'ers dominated the roads of Derbyshire on saturday. In some ways it was almost impossible not to bump into subscribed tossers on that day. :D

You only have to look at the Dakar to realise that it's near impossible to keep track of everyone.

Maybe we should have a sweeper truck... with beer on board :beerjug:
 
Ahh yes I did see a couple of you at the side of the road fixing it :D

We had similar problem in the afternoon when one of the drop offs buggered off! Ended up going up and down the Cat and Fiddle with a few others.

Still.... it was a good ride and great little roads I didn't even know existed.

Ah yes the Cat and Fiddle road:thumb - It's a really good road, and worth losing the rest of the group just for that.:D

Particuarly liked the power ranger popping a 200yd wheely away from the pub car park:D:D:D

The road back from the C&F was also great. The cows on the way to be milked were a bit surprised to see a bunch of tossers heading towards them:eek:

A great ride and fantastic countryside:clap
 
I'm sorry for anyone who missed the road ride, however, as good an idea as it sounds, leaving knowledge of lunch stops extra would have been either impossible or at least very misleading. Also I'm not sure how a quick toilet break could cause you to miss out?
I called everyone together for the road ride twice, we then had a 3 or 4 minute briefing and Q&A session, I then gave a 2 minute warning of departure and I would imagine a group of that size took several minutes to leave the car park:nenau
I took over leading the ride at the 11th hour and was expecting a group of maybe 30 odd bikes, not the nearer to 60 who set off with us!!
I had a route planned and programmed into my GPS, we did about a third of it! I just had to make up most of the ride as we went along to suit the size and speed of the group. Have you ever tried keeping a group that size together and on schedule? Not as easy as it sounds:eek:
I had an idea of where we would stop for lunch but the sheer size of the group put paid to that. I don't know of a single place in the Peaks that could cope with a group of nearly 70 people turning up to eat without warning!
I only made a decision on the actual lunch stop in Castleton about 5 miles before we got there:eek::D Especially as the earlier tea/coffer stop had pretty much turned into a lunch stop anyway after one of the group had a puncture and we lost our Backmarker!
Many thanks to Stevo for steping in and doing an excelent job for the rest of the day:thumb2
Not an ideal situation and my apologies to everyone on the ride for the lack of organisation. I honestly thought we would have lost far more of a group that size before the first stop:D Well done everyone for sticking to the drop off system, especially those who had never used it before.
It would have made far more sense to split the ride into 2 or even 3 smaller groups but unfortunately there just weren't the volunteers available to do that, especially after our designated tail ender drank far too much of Prof's apple juice on Friday night and was incapable of riding a bike on Sat:D:beer: You know who you are:spitfire:D:D:beer::beer:

So far the feedback from those who did make the ride has been good, thank you all for coming and thanks for putting up with the problems along the way:thumb2

It wasn't your Fault that the Drop off's didn't wait :confused::confused:
I waited twenty mins at mine then when back to the previous drop off only to find NO ONE there either :eek::eek:so then started to trace back again then i came a long the NEW back marker poor guy was all on his own:rolleyes::rolleyes: so off we set to catch the pack back up re-traced my steps passed my drop off ONLY to find we were on our own :blast:blast so I set Lumb farm in the sat nav and off we set only to catch back up in the midddle off the group at chatstow :clap:clap:clap:clap:clap:clap.
Plus had some fun with two gs1200's (sorry guys didn't find out wot you were called) until we nearly missed our turning (poor guy at the drop off must have thought we were going to pile in to Him) i didn't think i could do a stoppy on a capo :eek::eek::eek::eek: All in all I had a bill time thanks again ya did well top gezzer :thumb2:thumb2:thumb2
 
The drop off system worked (AFAIC) up to the point where the back marker (Bryn) stopped to help someone with a puncture. I was sat at a junction, and after Timpo, Sarah and Lynchy went past the next rider should have been Bryn. Timpo shouted something, but I didn't understand him through his helmet (and it thought it was abuse anyway!:D) When Bryn didn't turn up after 15 minutes, I wondered if he had had a problem and retraced the route to where Lynchy had been the drop off. There were no GS shaped holes in hedges, so I returned post haste and followed the route, scanning both sides of the road for evidence of a herd of Tossers on the hoof. Seeing no sign, and arriving at a T-junction, I deduced that I had lost the rest of the group and was now on my own.
I set off back towards Ripley, but Sarah Teach rang from the stop at Castleton, so I turned towards there and managed to have a p-stop and a fag before the ride left. The new backmarker introduced himself, and it was while waiting for him (who was in turn waiting for someone else) that I lost the end of the ride again. Following my nose and my Zumo, I ended up collecting another couple of bikes until we came back upon the end of the ride after riding through Chatsworth.
So, there you have it. It was all my fault. :blast
Sorry.
Mark


ps. I really enjoyed it, and have no problem at all with any of the organisation, system or execution of said "informal" road ride.

I went all the way back to the junction,(again looking for holes in hedges), to where Earthmover was but missed him while he had gone to look for Bryn :blast

As Mark Earthmover,says well done to all those oganised the rides :beerjug:

Lynchy :D
 


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