CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
"PORTOVELO A new cycling club for Portobello"
(39 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
-
That sounds quite good. Does anyone know of something similar in the west of Edinburgh?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Marchmont League of Wheelmen, perhaps?
Not all that westerly though :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Was just about to post about this - looks interesting (mainly cos it's so close to me...)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Dave - "Marchmont League of Wheelmen"
Nothing for that comes up on google at all. Does getting in contact mean having to write on paper and using stamps on envelopes?
Yours,
Worried from PolwarthPosted 12 years ago # -
I was suggesting it as a start-up, I'm pretty sure there is no Marchmont club. Probably someone could come up with something more provocative (possibly Meadows-related given our coffee preferences?)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Sounds great, Sundays are generally good for me. I wonder though if it will be quite a roadie kind of ride? Probably a bit pacey for me, in that case.
Also interesting are the proposed family rides. Be a good excuse to get my son out and about.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@crowriver the founder is (or was) an ERC member, nice guy, but the new club is I believe very much aimed at a more sociable sort of club riding with café stops, not training runs and chaingangs and all that sort of things.
@dave how about Middle Meadow Wheelers?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Canalside wheelers? Edimburgh league of Lady and Gentleman bicyclers? Of course you would need a suitable logo which could be knitted into a jumper...
Posted 12 years ago # -
Peloton Of Occasional Trips. Location: Edinburgh.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Hee hee, Forth Canal Road Club?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Union Canal surely? Forth & Clyde canal is some 30-something-odd miles to the west.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Hello everyone,
I was going to post about Porto-Velo, but you appear to have beaten me to it! (I'm one of the people who has been involved in setting it up with Andrew Mylne.)
@Crowriver - re Sunday speeds and so on, the plan initially is to have 1 ride setting off on a Sunday. It will split into 2 rides - a longer ride which will be approx 60 miles long, and a shorter ride which will prob be about 25-30 miles.
We do envisage the longer ride eventually being approx the same speed as the ERC Sunday runs, but certainly in the first few weeks we think it'll be a bit slower overall, just because we may get quite a mixed group riding together. We want to be inclusive, and encourage the less experienced (or people who just don’t want to ride as far or as fast), but we also want to offer something to those who want to ride their bikes for longer/quicker.
The key is to get a reasonable number, so we can split into smaller groups - whether to do shorter/longer distances, or faster/slower pace - as required.
There’s been quite a bit of interest, so we’re hopeful it’ll all work, but we won’t really know until the Sunday runs start!Then there are plans for family runs etc on Saturdays, and those’ll be sorted out in the near future. And yes, we do want to be a sociable kind of club, and we'll have cafe stops on the sunday runs, but you never know there may well be evening training runs etc in the future too - we’ll just have to see how it all pans out.
We've got our first, er, 'meeting' in the Dalriada tonight. If anyone wants to come along and ask questions, say hello etc, you’re most welcome. Think we're in the room to the right as you go in. We'll be the ones in skin suits.
Sorry if I’ve rambled…
Cheers,
Patrick
Posted 12 years ago # -
Patrick
It is good to have a new club on the scene, especially with such objectives. Unfortunately for me, Portobello is a pig to get to by bike from Eskbank, at least at the start of a ride. I'd be tempted to join in if pickup points were advertised on the initial part of the route - even if they change every week.
I note that the Sunday rides with ERC have changed start location since Andrew M has left. Tusitala is equally tiresome to get to. They also start later, which would make me unpopular with family.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I know what you mean. It'll be a joy not to have to ride over The Wisp, in an un-warmed up state, to the start of a ride. Mind you, surely it's all downhill from Eskbank!
We'll probably sort out routes on thursdays, and I think we'll put plans up on the website, so meeting points could well be possible.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Just a little bump for this.
Our first run is tomorrow morning from the Joppa end of the Prom, leaving at 9am.
Weather forecast still quite wet, but there may be some sunshine among the showers (yeah right). Wind not too strong and from the E, so to get a tailwind home, we’re doing a loop round by Gifford and Haddington.
Longer route will be 50miles-ish, shorter route 30miles-ish.
There’ll be a ride leader for each ride, and no-one will get dropped.
Oh, and a café stop (where hopefully both routes will converge) planned in Haddington.
Hope to see some of you tomorrow.
(Amir, if you want to meet up tell me and I'll send you a pm with more detail on the route.)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Not possible tomorrow as I've a football match to go to with No.1 son, who has suddenly gone footie mad. Wouldn't mind joining future rides, as Sunday (usually) suits very well. Can't often get on the CTC Saturday runs due to other commitments...
Posted 12 years ago # -
I think I might well try the 30 miler to get me some group ride legs. I'm new to anything approaching distance riding - so far my longest has been 43 miles at 16mph average, going Perth to Forfar with no serious hills.
It sounds to my novice eyes that I'll not explode at any point, but we'll see, I s'pose...
Posted 12 years ago # -
I intend to be there and will cycle to the start for a few extra miles. The only thing that might stop me is lack of energy - I have been a bit flat today.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Weightliftery background has given me a firm belief in eating yourself out of trouble. I say stuff your face until everyone in the house has the dry boak from your gluttony, and you'll be grand.
Posted 12 years ago # -
It sounds to my novice eyes that I'll not explode at any point, but we'll see, I s'pose...
I'm doing the short option for the first run too. As no matter which way back to Polwarth/Ashley involves soddin hills, and I haven't done anything over 20 miles since last September, I was going to pop the bike in the van so as to drive back. Want to hitch a lift?
Edit
I've PM'd you my mobile.Posted 12 years ago # -
I think I'll do just that, thank you kindly. My mobile's in the PM post...
Posted 12 years ago # -
Brilliant - looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Uberuce - if you can do 43 miles at 16mph not in a group, you'll be fine on this.
Cheers,
Patrick
Posted 12 years ago # -
Ace ride yesterday, so a big thank you to the PV chaps for setting it up, Steve for leading the 30 mile run, and BikeFan for the lift.
I learned:
- Just how big a difference drafting makes. Headwind and tailwinds become well known by cyclists within the first few riding hours, but I'd not have expected a single human body to give so much slipstream.
- That you watch the rider ahead's hands as well as wheels because they signal dodgy bits of road. I guess there's a sign language of sorts, but I'll need to find out what it is. The twiddly circle means a great big section of cracks rather than a single pothole, and holding an invisible sticky basketball means a depression. I got that much. Then again, maybe there's no formal language and it's just that folk get bored of simple pointing and do some dexterity freestyling.
- That you don't carry anything more than your tools that you're not 100% sure of using, wearing or consuming.
- That cyclists are like little old ladies when it comes to settling the cafe bill. The only exception to the social, non-competitive nature of the ride was the scramble to get the money out and make it to the fella behind the till. Seriously, I think you're going to have to introduce drug testing there.
Posted 12 years ago # -
A couple more signals:
- left arm moves behind back (may be waving) to indicate obstacle coming up on left e.g. parked car or slower cyclist
- same with right
- person on front looks over right shoulder - can mean pass and take your turn on the front - but not always -judge according to circumstances and the air of desperation.
- shout of "nose" - oncoming car - "tail" car about to pass or pass from behind
- "slowing", "stopping", "lights" - obvious, obvious, and traffic lightsPosted 12 years ago # -
I learned that Uberuce feels no cold.
It was very good to see you, Uberuce, Amir and Bikefan. Hope you'll all come along again.
This was the longer route that we did, though it misses out the start because i forgot to turn the computer on til we were going up to Inveresk: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170614956
We had 5 people on the shorter run, and 11 on the long one, so we were really pleased with the turn-out.
I would upload a photo but annoyingly I've forgotten my flickr log-in details.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Oh, I did seriously consider putting my gloves on when the sea breeze was coming at them.
I've got a couple of pictures on my Flickr:
If you like you can email it and I'll add it there(you will have PM shortly). My chunky camera is on the list of things I'll not be bringing next time, though.
Oh: in the cafe photie, I forget the name of the guy wearing the helmet. I know Kieron, Andy and Steve, if my utterly abysmal real-life name memory serves, but the other chap peeled off before the very end, where we swapped names.
Posted 12 years ago # -
You guys went to another cafe. More dangerous by the looks.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Thanks Uberuce - good photos. You all look a bit dryer in your cafe than we did in ours. (Definitely a different cafe - I'd remember that rabbit.) I'd not met the other guy in the photo before - but I think he's called Steve (or Stevie) too.
I forgot to mention the good chat from Amir - and his pointing out of local points of interest including one of Tom's chimney farms. Will pm that route in Yorkshire to you that I mentioned.
Posted 12 years ago # -
now then now then
Bit short notice I know, but we're doing a "social" ride tomorrow (Saturday 12 May) - aimed at beginners and less experienced cyclists, it'll be at a relaxed pace and will last for around 2 hours on mostly on minor roads. It's an ideal opportunity for people who haven't ridden in a group before - we'll leave from the Joppa end of the Prom) at 2.30 pm.
Normal sunday rides will occur on, er, sunday at 9 from the end of the Prom.
We've got a facebook page now too, for the facebookly-inclined, it's at http://www.facebook.com/portoveloclub
anyway, hope to see some of you over the weekend.
Chin chin.
Posted 12 years ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.
posts
