Solo night ride

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
User avatar
661-Pete
Posts: 10593
Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

Re: Solo night ride

Post by 661-Pete »

fluffybunnyuk wrote:Great tale. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!!!
Wow thats an...interesting route :D I need to get off my lazy backside, and catch some of that end of summer crisp night air before it turns too cold.

Usually i come over the ridge at Oxted, down tandridge lane to Lingfield, down newchapel road to turners hill.
Down the Ardingley Road to Haywards Heath. Down to Wivelsfield, common lane, and that classic the ditchfield beacon :D
Usually I stop here for a snack. Thats my excuse anyway!!! Then on to Brighton beach. All back roads. I dream of cycling down the A23 but I dont trust the traffic.
EDIT: and then back again because I dont like paying for train travel...

I know all of that route from Lingfield southwards. It's a bit misleading that you say 'down' everywhere, there's a lot of 'up' on that route besides the celebrated Beacon (note: 'Ditchling', not 'Ditchfield') :lol: .

I should warn people that, despite being 'back' roads, those roads are not quiet at daytime peak hours, they're very busy with traffic. But at night time they're a dream. I came that way a couple of times with Simon Legg's Friday Night group, back in the early days*. We by-passed Haywards Heath by turning left in Lindfield (not Lingfield) and along Slugwash Lane, re-joining the B2112 at Wivelsfield.

*Before I was banned, that is :(
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Grandad
Posts: 1451
Joined: 22 Nov 2007, 12:22am
Location: Kent

Re: Solo night ride

Post by Grandad »

Evidence to back my preference for paper maps or a print of the written instructions from a route I had devised in something like plotaroute.
fluffybunnyuk
Posts: 450
Joined: 1 Sep 2013, 10:58pm

Re: Solo night ride

Post by fluffybunnyuk »

Hi Pete

Sorry it was very early ,and i was tired. So thanks for being my spellcheck.

I said down alot because i was thinking north to south. But your right theres alot of elevation too, and its fairly brutal in places like the climb out of oxted back up the ridge towards New Addington.

Given my touring posts on slugs Ive gotta go via slugwash lane so Im really grateful for that tip :mrgreen:

I like cycling with little towns or villages interspersed every 10 miles or so, it makes me feel like Im making good progress.
The place I really hate with a passion is the fens, with straight long roads and farmers fields you can cycle all day and not feel you've gone anywhere.
Oh then theres the cabbage smell, the 6-fingered folk, and the wind that blows though you on bad days is just evil.
JenniferAdcock
Posts: 20
Joined: 19 Aug 2012, 4:12pm

Re: Solo night ride

Post by JenniferAdcock »

LondonBikeCommuter wrote:Best cycling experiences : fast down hill descents in dark on country lanes
Worst cycling experience : Sodding Garmin!
Best non-cycling experience : Sitting on Brighton Pier knackered trying to stay awake with strong coffee in one hand and croissant in the other


Chapeau! Night riding is a real hoot :) I've cycled from Oxford to Christchurch twice overnight with the Dorset Dash and just loved it both times, I second all you say! (except my best non-cycling experience has to be arriving on the beach after a night ride, laying on the sand absolutely exhausted and just listening to the waves)
deckertim
Posts: 94
Joined: 10 Oct 2009, 12:17am

Re: Solo night ride

Post by deckertim »

It sounds like you have the option to auto recalculate the route turned on. Turn this off and also turn on the option for off course warnings. This should help you stay on course. Sounds like a great ride.
nez
Posts: 2080
Joined: 19 Jun 2008, 12:11am

Re: Solo night ride

Post by nez »

It's not cars that would worry me so much as road surfaces. I cycle in the dark in the winter but it's on familiar roads.
User avatar
NUKe
Posts: 4161
Joined: 23 Apr 2007, 11:07pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Solo night ride

Post by NUKe »

Garmin and night riding. I have found that if pre-planning the route, The best way is to upload a track and way points and not a route, To the way points add a proximety alarm, use these at Junctions where you need to take action.
Proximety points you can set the notification to any distance you want I normally use 200 ft and add simple text such as turn right or might be RAB second exit.
NUKe
_____________________________________
LondonBikeCommuter
Posts: 238
Joined: 21 Apr 2013, 4:10pm
Location: Swindon

Re: Solo night ride

Post by LondonBikeCommuter »

NUKe wrote:The best way is to upload a track and way points and not a route, To the way points add a proximety alarm, use these at Junctions where you need to take action.
Proximety points you can set the notification to any distance you want I normally use 200 ft and add simple text such as turn right or might be RAB second exit.


I originally manually input the course into Garmin Connect/Plan/Courses. How do you add way points? and how is a track different?
Thanks
Post Reply