The Rough Stuff Fellowship

"By taking machines along paths such as these an entirely new field of activity is open up to the keen cyclist who prefers the bracing air and solitudes of the heathery moorlands to the petrol reeking and discordant bustle of motor infested highways."

"The Rough Stuff is insane made more for an acrobat, and you need to have no respect for your bike to do it.

🙂

http://www.rsf.org.uk/history.htm

Always enormously cheering to read their stuff. I remember reading a copy of their journal in Hindhead YHA years back. There was a picture of a group of rugged old men riding Bromptons across a moor in the rain.

They're tougher than many of us are I suspect. 😀

I started my off-road riding with the RSF – and nearly got benighted in the Ochils in the process.

My companion (Mr McNasty) was with his wife on a tandem – and the route was harder than anything I would dare lead a bunch of mincing mountain bikers on today.

I got home with 78 miles under my wheel, my dynamo burring away, and absolutely shattered 8)

Good effort!

It may surprise members of the VCC but many RSF members have little or no interest in the technical side of cycling. They would be unable to tell you the make of components on their bikes. Indeed for many years Archie Woodward the RSJ editor (1969 to 1991) would refuse to publish any thing on equipment saying it was outside the scope of the magazine.

My, how times change

legends.

how hard!? anytime i catch myself bitching about my lack of suspension and my little girl handling skills i look at the following to get myself to mtfu, back in the day when cyclists were men, smoked and finished the day not with energy drinks but wine and brandy.

absolutely legends

http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/2007_01.html

Really enjoyed the "pass storming" article in ST a few months' back, which was inspired by that RSF web page. I've had some very minor stabs at that sort of thing (Cadair Idris being the most recent) and it's easy to see why people these days widely eschew it – pushing up a mountain for 2 hours, before mincing back down in howling wind and dense fog, is low on giggles compared to razzing round your local woods. 🙂

Why not join up? It's great.

You don't have to be of a certain age … I'm only 38.

StirlingCrispin – Member

I started my off-road riding with the RSF – and nearly got benighted in the Ochils in the process

Is that a euphemism?

What sort of age range tends to join then? Interesting there are younger people as well as the older ones usually featured in interviews. Hats off to the older guys.

Red Bull Rampage 1932

Midnighthour, I think the youngest member in the Rough-Stuff Fellowship is 12 years old and he been over Helvellyn already and there several members in their 80's.

I know a lady who has ridden with them in the past. She fits entirely into their mentality and wouldn't think twice about shouldering a road tandem over Jacob's Ladder.

In fact, a few of our club did a ride last weekend at the edge of the Peaks, where they took their road bikes up and down cobbled climbs. It was cooked up by me and a pal on our way back from riding the Tour of Flanders sportive.

I'm a member of the South Bucks CTC and am constantly amazed at the stuff they ride through with their 700c x 23 tyres with zero suspension!

I'd love to ride over Helvellyn, and Snowdon for the hell of it. But me, my bike and slightly decent conditions never coincide.

The RSF is ace.

Here here from South Lakes Group ride along Helvellyn ridge in 2007 you can see the rest of the photos here.

For anybody wanting more information about the Rough-Stuff Fellowship you better looking at the South Lakes Group website herewhere there links to the Lancashire Group and North Peak & South Pennine Group websites there few thousand photos on these websites showing what local Rough-Stuff Fellowship Groups get up to!

Any body welcome to come out on any RSF rides put we do ask folk to join after the second ride and once you join, you can go out with any local RSF group in the UK and get a bi-monthly mag.

Love that photo of the original 'Frappe le Nord' 😉

2 of the hardest blokes i have ever ridden with are famous amongst rsf circles.
George Berwick and Alan Pocklington, both known to sleep in caves, edges, bus stops and door ways.
my early offroading was done with the yorkshire section of the rsf on a old dawes galaxy.

Spa Cycles of Harrogate do offer range discounts to members see link.

Ton, George Berwick is still a member of the RSF and last saw him at the Rough-Stuff Fellowship Autumn Meet at Bridges Youth Hostel.

Southlakes
Alan was the owner of spa cycles, his son john runs it still.
one of Alans best remembered expo's was a 2 week offroad trip round jura and loads of the inner hebrides.

Ton,

I think people tend to forget that use have prove that you done three off-road routes before let any new members join the Rough-Stuff Fellowship, I think last time rode with Alan was on ride from Hawes over to Mallerstang, did you ever come across Bob Harrison more information here.

So how many RSFs on here.

Me + ?

but no it was kelly and ritchey and breez all them dudes that came up with it all.

George Berwick of Edinburgh RC (AKA McNasty)
As noted above, famous for sleeping in caves, ascending cliffs with his touring bike over his shoulder and generally travelling where most MTBers would fear to tread. He is also a prolific Audaxer and time triallist with many records to his name, including the Scottish 24 hour record, the Edinburgh to London tandem record (with John Murdoch) and a lifetime mileage of well over a million kilometres. I think he has now ridden almost fifty 24 hour events, including every edition of the Mersey 24 hour event since he won it with 455 miles in 1974.
Now in his 60s, it has been recently been pointed out that he is getting a bit soft, and has started sleeping in B and Bs and eating in cafes, as described in a recent account of a 2200km Audax event.
Everyone seems to be a "Cycling Legend" these days, but George is one of the few people that really deserves the term.
More McNasty here

"Red Bull Rampage 1932"… that has to be THE coolest biking photo of all time. I'd love to show it to Gary Fisher.

That old photo, anyone know what's with the line across it? Would quite like to get it printed.

Much as I appreciate what the RSF and their forebears do/did I'm glad the Marin hippies did what they did in the 70s – there is a reason only a tiny number of folk do roughstuffing, it's a specialist masochistic pursuit, the Marin chaps were out to have a laugh and get some high speed thrills.

That old photo, anyone know what's with the line across it? Would quite like to get it printed.

Looks like a scan from a magazine. A bit of light Photoshop would get rid of it.

KCR – good work!

I hadn't realisedthe old Fife CTC mags were online – I used to print them for the DA in the early 90s.

Happy memories 🙂

(I'll now spend all day looking for the account of George Berwick's and George Shepherd's Naelight 600. Nutters!)

Looks like a scan from a magazine. A bit of light Photoshop would get rid of it.

Does this look ok? My PS skills are not amazing

What an awesome shot ols pic. Cyclocross rather than RSF though. Chapeaux to both!

Reminiscent of Hit the North, except that the guy has managed to stay upright. 😀

I will just point out that most RSF members do use mountain bikes or hybrids.