Your ride today....

[EltonFrog]

It was a nice morning so I took the chance to get out. I thought it was about time that the Kingpin had an outing so got that out and set off into town. The old bypass took me round to Porthill where I had a bit of a detour to see if I could spot my brother at work - he was in the process of setting up for the day so apart from saying Hi I didn't bother him.

There were a reasonable number of people walking in The Quarry and along the river towpath. Not as many cycling though. By Castle Walk footbridge I had an involuntary detour through Castlefields as the path is still closed off after a lorry fell through the surface. I took the long way round to avoid the canal path - it's probably dry enough but I thought I'd like the extra distance this time - then headed for Uffington and Upton Magna.

With the forecast wind direction I thought I'd have a tailwind from here but still seemed to be riding into it, particularly on the road from Berwick Wharf to Atcham, which was a little disappointing. I got along alright to Cronkhill but this was where things went wrong a bit as I got that tell-tale spot in my vision that signifies a migraine coming on. I took it carefully to Cross Houses, Berrington and along Lyons Lane and by Condover I could see properly again so risked the main road route back rather than crossing Lyth Hill which I had been thinking would be sensible under the circumstances.

An enjoyable ride, up to a point, and it was really nice to use this bike again. 22.4 miles at 12.6 mph average and 785 feet of climbing.

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The Welsh Bridge and Theatre Severn.

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Sabrina being prepared for the day.

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In The Quarry.

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The English Bridge.

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At the weir. It's a bit calmer than when I was last here.

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Work to fix the hole doesn't seem to be progressing.

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Near Downton en route to Upton Magna.

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Cronkhill.

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No, actually it's a Kingpin.

You need a Kingpin ride buddy up there. Persuade @gavgav to get one.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

You need a Kingpin ride buddy up there. Persuade @gavgav to get one.

Sounds like a nice idea. Don't know if he'd go for it though.



Today's ride: The forecast was not very appealing (windy, cold and wet later on) but I persuaded Doug out anyway. I had in mind a longish route but we settled on something shorter, with the option to extend if we felt like it (which we didn't in the end).

The start was much the same as last time: over the top of Lyth Hill and drop down on the Exford's Green side where a couple of left turns were taken on the way to Stapleton. The wind was strong and blustery so we weren't quick. We had a couple of impatient drivers on this stretch which spoiled it a little. We struggled to Ryton then turned towards Longnor which was also a slow plod but we had the road pretty much to ourselves and could go at a sociable pace.

After the crossroads the other side of Longnor, things changed - we got a tailwind and the speed jumped up so that the knockabout bike felt as quick as the Raleigh had the other day. The climb through Frodesley was dispatched with ease and we were going well on the descent towards Acton Burnell until meeting a large lorry carrying a large excavator. We did of course meet it at the narrowest point of this stretch of the road.

After that it was a fun rush through Acton Burnell and on our way to Pitchford. We've both been faster but it was good all the same. Doug started to get distracted by a gear shifting problem on the way and it seemed to get worse as we approached Condover. I got him to talk me through the symptoms and decided it wasn't going to be fixed by a simple adjustment and that he'd have to live with it until I could take a proper look at the end of the ride. Despite that we got along nicely in the last three miles or so (a couple of iffy passes though and the annoying 4 way temporary lights are still there).

19.6 miles at 12 mph average. Strava claims 951 feet of climbing. I did look at Doug's gears and the bike needs new cables - will get that done soon but in the meantime I've lubricated them so that it does shift correctly.

No photos this time.

 

[ExBrit]

My e-bike, son-in-law, and grand-daughter on a 62 mile ride to Bolsa Chica beach and back.
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/170837000

 

[bluenotebob]

Headed into Mauron yesterday lunchtime with my road bike in the back of the van with a vague plan to cycle as far south as I could (against the wind), to check that parts of Eurovelo #1 (the Nantes-to-Brest canal) were still open, then to return with the wind pushing me all the way back north.

Hit an unexpected temporary road closure in Mauron – lots of Old Bill about and a few spectators lining the road by the sports complex – oh.. it’s a cycle race. The peloton flashed through at inter-stellar speed .. then 5 minutes later it was back to normal. I guess it must have been a stage of the Tour de Bretagne (or perhaps the Tour de Morbihan, if that exists). Frustratingly, my camera was in my day bag in the back of the van, so I couldn't take a photo of the peloton.

Left the van a bit later than planned and headed down to le Roc St André on the V3. Picked up the canal towpath which was very busy with dog walkers, cyclists, strollers and two electric scooters .. but, as it was quieter a few km further on, I stayed on the towpath through Malestroit and on to Foveno. No problems with closed sections – but the towpath surface is worse than it was a few years ago.

Decided I’d had enough towpath for one day so I switched to the D764 – a fast road back into Malestroit. Picked up the ‘hairpin’ road on the outskirts of Malestroit and headed up to St Marc – I’d only ever come down this road (very quickly) .. it’s 2km of uphill with a gain of around 100m which doesn’t seem much – but it’s unrelenting. Somewhat breathless at the top so I stopped for a drink and a look at the map – I spotted a quiet road through St Maugan that took me down to the Claie valley at la Tayée. I knew it was about 39km from here straight back to the van – and, with the wind on my back, I made much better time than I had on the ‘out’ leg.

Back at the van at 19:40 – so around 6 hours 15 mins in total with about 5 hours 30 minutes of actual cycling. 88.54km in total with an average speed of around 16kph – slow, even by my standards, but I put that down to the wind .. and to having to slow down frequently for people and dogs etc on the towpath.

A bend in the river south of les Figlins (some cyclists just about visible on the towpath)

The waterside approach to Malestroit from the west

Foveno (lock 24 on the Nantes-to-Brest canal), a few kilometres east of Malestroit

Crossing the canal at Bagotais on the way home

 

[FrankCrank]

Today's ride was again at Dinton Pastures, so I thought I'd entertain you with some great artwork on display there at a nearby underpass.......

I've left the bike in each picture to give some idea of scale. A few artists were there at the time, creating some more, and no surprise to see that they had ladders, as well as a load of different painting gear.