Brompton Overnight London to Whitstable

As you know nocturnal cycling adventures to the coast is something I like a great deal, with the London to Whitstable run being a particular favourite. Friday night was the start time for this ride and despite it being quite chilly I wrapped up and headed out.

I departed from my base in SW7 far too early. To kill some time I headed into Hyde Park and and cycled to Hyde Park Corner. From there I travelled along Cycle Superhighway #3 as far as St Paul's Cathedral and then walked the bike over the Millennium footbridge. As I cycled along the south side of the river I was feeling cold - and this after cycling for a few miles. Despite this things seemed to be very busy and there were lots of people about.

I arrived at the meeting point near the Royal Festival Hall just after 23:30. Sadly Geoff and Dr John were unable to attend but Jenny (the Mile Monster) was out on on her yellow Brompton. Roger - perhaps the most stylish rider ever to grace the folding bike race at the Nocturne - was there for this first ride with this group and it was good to see him after a few years. There was also Bob and recumbent Bob.

After the interactive briefing I got myself ready and deliberated about whether or not to put on the paper thin jacket I had brought in order to provide some extra warmth. I did and also put on a neck warmer for good measure.

The sound of cleats, clicking into pedals and various GPS devices bleeping into action signalled that at just after midnight, we were off.

As for the Southend run a few weeks ago I decided to take my Orange Brompton with me again. I have used my Brompton on almost all rides this year so far and my Condor and Surly road bikes have been gathering a little bit of dust. I have to report that this is set to continue.

In terms of weather it was a dry but chilly night and it stayed like this for the entire time. Our ride leader Rob asked me to mark a few corners. Waiting for the tail end Charlies to give the 'all up' shout I would accelerate off back up to the front of the peloton as a way of trying to get warm. It worked on the whole.

Before long we arrived at Greenwich and progress was very good. There were few mechanicals and punctures on this ride which certainly helped.

Following the Thames east we came to Woolwich and the free ferry terminus. One of the two new ferries 'Ben Wollacott' was moored and I made a mental note to cycle from London to Woolwich so that I could use the ferry to cross to the other side in the near future.

Further along we had a short rest / re-group at a a location I always get a photos of with a sculpture made out of metal. I was not alone as others decided that this was too good an opportunity to miss.

Further along in Gravesend we stopped at the traditional re-grouping point outside a pub called 'The Call Boy.' Build on the site of a former theatre the pub - if memory serves me - now remains occupied but unused.

Harmer Street in which 'The Call Boy' pub stands does have some interesting buildings. Constructed in the 1830s it is part of a conversation area. The Clock Tower at the end of the street was still working and we were there to hear the bell chime for quarter past and half past the hour.

Sanctuary from the early morning chill came when we arrived at the halfway stop at The Church of the English Martyrs in Strood. Perhaps the best halfway stop we were spoilt for choice with several homemade cakes and rolls for the bargain price of £6. Veteran of these rides, occasional ride leader and Brompton owner Tim and his wife got up at stupid o'clock to receive us - in addition to arranging all of the food.

The proceeds from the £6 went towards a charity called 'Step and Learn' which does wonderful work but of course costs a great deal to run. You can read more about what they do HERE and if you could do worse than dropping them a donation if your feeling charitable.

Conversation during the halfway stop - for me at least - was non-existent as I battled trying to keep my eyes open. At one point I actually think I nodded off, being awoken almost instantly by that falling sensation. After that I was wide awake.

Saying our goodbyes and thanks to Tim and his wife we headed out into the early morning with dawn approaching. More often than not after the halfway stop and being inside in the warmth you can feel the cold. This was certainly the case with me. I put on my light rain jacket and instead of my neck warmer I opted for my almost SAS balaclava! Even with this on I still felt the cold and made it my business to pedal hard as soon as I was able.

Passing through Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham we made very good progress. Birds started singing and cycling through the emerging dawn is one of the aspects of these rides that makes it all worthwhile.

Occasionally for a few stretches I cycled alone with riders behind or in front of me. These I also enjoyed with my mind mulling over all sorts.

For this ride I decided to try and keep at the front half of the peloton which worked well. Occasionally I would come across a view that was worthy of a photo - invariably with my Brompton stuck in from of it - so I would stop, take my photo and try and get back to the front.

Arriving at Faversham we regrouped and were again told about the last turn at Graveney. From this point you could - if you wished and knew the route - could go ahead of the ride leader at your own pace. This is always something I enjoy doing.

When the turn came I pedalled as hard as I could and maintained a pretty good speed almost all of the way. There was very occasionally a strong headwind however in the past I recall battling strong headwinds all the way to Whitstable.

I arrived at Whitstable just before 08:30 and rather than stay for breakfast, wanted to get on the next train for London. I therefore headed straight for the station. When I got there  with 66.46 miles showing on my Wahoo, I could see that a few other riders must have had the same thoughts as we stood at various points along the platform.

The 08:59 train pulled into the station and putting my Brompton in a nearby luggage rack I retired to a nearby seat. The journey would take and hour and twenty minutes and my carriage was busy to say the least. I am so glad I had my Brompton! I really don't know what I would have done if I had of taken big wheels?

When I got to St Pancras the joy of the Brompton and its portability again came into play as I boarded the tube for home. There is just no way I could have done this as easily or street-free with big wheels. Arriving home at about 10:45 I was rather pleased with myself for making such good time.

When I got home I had a quick shower and an email informed me that a package that was scheduled to be delivered on Monday was going to be delivered before the end of the day. With Mrs Orange and the Orangettes out until later on, I waited for it to arrive, trying not to go to sleep.

This was another great adventure. I always enjoy the Whitstable run and this - despite the chill - was a good one. Many thanks to Rib for leading the ride, Greg and Stuart fro acting as Tail End Charlies and Tim and his wife for the lovely refreshments at the halfway stop.

The next nocturnal adventure is in a few weeks time and will involve bridges, visiting another country, an interesting halfway stop, epic train journeys and ponies. Watch this space for that one!

Brompton Toolkit Still Brilliant

When the Brompton Toolkit originally came out, many of us Brompton types looked upon it with glee and bought one. I had one of the original ones with the tyres levers that many reported snapping when they attempted to take a tyre off. Brompton replaced them for the all steel ones we have today and not thinking I needed it anymore, I sold it. Zoom forward to this morning and I found myself in a cycle shop on Great Portland Street with an unused £25 gift voucher and within two minutes I was all but reunited with an old friend.

The Brompton toolkit is in many ways pure indulgence. It is sold for anything between £50 - £55 (and if you are silly enough even more) so it isn't cheap by any means.

The plus point is that its clever design means that it can be stowed away neatly in the top tube of the frame and thus always there whenever you need it. This cuts down on the need to scrabble around in your saddlebag for a spanner and tyre levers.

The tyre levers have a magnet so that they stick together neatly when in its little tube case. The levers are not just pretty to look at, they work. I have used them to take off a Marathon Plus tyre.

The levers also have the function of 8mm and 10mm spanners.

The toolkit contains the following:

• Tyre levers with integral 8mm and 10mm spanners
• 15mm spanner (for wheel removal) with integral ratchet driver
• Pozi drive and flat head screwdriver bit
• 2.5mm and 5mm Allen key / hex wrench bit
• 2mm and 6mm Allen key / hex wrench bit
• Puncture repair patches (glueless) 
• Sandpaper
• All held in a strong metal tube

I have a dynamo front wheel and the toolkit contains the necessary Allen key for me to use to take it on and off. This means that I could quite easily get away with not taking a dedicated tool that contains lots of different Allen keys.

Space in my saddle bag (usually a Carradice Zipped Roll bag) is sometimes at a premium. This is usually when I am carrying some wet weather gear and a few snacks. I have been trying to carry the bare minimum and the return of the Brompton Toolkit will certainly help that minimalist drive. Of course, if you have ready my blog you will know that when cycling through the night in the middle of nowhere, having good tools readily available is important. This for me is the killer feature of the Brompton Toolkit.

Perfect fit

Always ready

The end magnetised so it stays in place

So, do I think it is worth it? For me at least, yes. I like the idea of having many of the tools ready and waiting in the top tube without me having to give a great deal of thought as to where they are or whether I have taken them with me. The quality shines through - this is something you will probably buy once. It is quite expensive and you will have to weigh up whether you want what I suppose is a luxury item. I am very pleased to have the Brompton Toolkit back in my possession.

Orange Brompton Audax #3

On Sunday, 31st March I embarked upon my third Audax. This one was called the Quainton Express and would involve a ride of 117km or over 72 miles in old money and a total climb of 1050 metres. Despite the fact that the clocks had gone forward an hour I still thought this would be a good idea.

The start point was near Ruislip Lido. I made my way there quite easily but Dr John - who had also agreed to go on this with me - had some trouble parking his car, as the person opening the car park he was using was a little late.

Despite this Dr John got there with about 10 minutes to spare before the official off at 08:30. With a brief set of instructions by the volunteer who organised the event we were off.

The weather was pretty good. Yes it was an overcast and somewhat grey morning but at least it was mild and there was little prospect of rain.

Early on into the ride we encountered our first hill of the day. Nothing too bad and it served to warm us up. We made a lovely descent at Harefield but soon realised  we would be ascending that same hill on the way back.

Our progress was pretty good and Dr John and I were able to maintain a comfortable pace. Soon the urban gave way rural and we were treated to some rather splendid views of the British countryside. Overhead Red Kites - very much a success story of the Chilterns - circled overhead tracking our every move. Occasionally the odd Buzzard could be seen joining them to see what these two chaps below on small-wheeled bicycles were up to.

A recent feature of rides with Dr John is his need to perform stretches frequently. On this ride I can report that the stretches were few and far between. However, when he did it was but a step away from the warm-up routines of 'The Bolshoi Ballet Academy!'

Audax rides are timed and one has to complete the ride to a strict time limit. I have to say that this almost being told what to do is not exactly my cup of tea. I like to just do my own thing. A consequence of this is that my usual fondness of taking lots of photos has to be restricted. This ride had no silly checkpoints - apart from the half way point - which meant that a little more time could be devoted to take a fleeting photo.

We stopped at the gates to Chequers which is the country house of British Prime Ministers since 1921. There were signs up stating no trespassing and the like but this did not stop me propping my Brompton against the wall and snapping away.

I was very grateful for Dr John's company. The route and scenery was very pleasant but doing this alone would not be something I would like to do. Whenever we needed we stopped and as we neared the halfway point thoughts turned to some refreshment.

As we neared the halfway point at Quainton we started to get more than a little concerned as there didn't seem to be anything in the way of a corner shop to buy even a bottle of water.  Thankfully when we reached Quainton Memorial Hall as soon as we entered we could smell food. We got our Audax cards stamped and signed and made our way to a little hatch, from which all sorts of goodies awaited.

Dr John and I opted for a slice of homemade sponge cake with a wonderful peach jam filing, It was lovely! In addition to this and a cup of tea we had a slice of shortbread (again homemade) and a bacon roll. This we consumed with glee. There were only a couple of other riders there with us and when we had finished we made our way back for the return.

The return followed the majority of the route we had just travelled but at a certain point our route took us to pastures new. There were a few hills but they were of the short, sharp variety on the most part.

We stopped briefly in to pop in for some fluids. Both of us were running on empty and both of us in need of something to keep us going for the last few miles.

Before we reached the end of the ride the lovely descent we came down at the start of the ride was there for us to climb. We thought it would be pretty tough going but it wasn't too bad at all. With only a few miles to go we made a final push and with just over 73 miles completed, we had done it. Dr John stayed back for a drink while I made my way home.

This was another good ride that was demanding enough but very enjoyable. As always many thanks to Dr John for his company.

I hope to compete several more rides of this length and more as a way of training for the Dunwich Dynamo later in the year. I am not really sure that I need to do any training as such but it doesn't hurt. The next ride for me with be an overnight ride from London to Whitstable later this week. This is a particular favourite of mine and I do look forward to it greatly. Watch this space.