Your ride today.... (part 1)

[potsy]

2 rides today, before anyone gets too excited the total mileage was only 5 miles

Ride 1 was to test if the new chain would slip on the old cassette before tomorrow's commute, it did.

Ride 2 was to check all was well after re-fitting the old chain for now, it was.

 

[PatrickPending]

137km down to Monks Kirby, then to Gilmorton, down some nice lanes th Stanford Hall, then up to Cold ashby, down to Brixworth and back via Naseby, Saddington and Kilby....was supposed to be easy.....not too many climbs greater than 9% but i seemed to have a headwind all the way. Good fun though......

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

2 rides today, before anyone gets too excited the total mileage was only 5 miles

Ride 1 was to test if the new chain would slip on the old cassette before tomorrow's commute, it did.

Ride 2 was to check all was well after re-fitting the old chain for now, it was.

Nice positive thinking there!

 

[Kevoffthetee]

I was out on the bike on Friday so went for a run today.

Being a beginner I'm building up to longer rides and runs so I'm limiting myself to 1 1/2 hour sessions. One of my pals is well into riding and he has kept track of a few rides and deemed me worthy to join a ride out in the near future. Happy days

 

[Glow worm]

A 38 miler here to NW Norfolk via Ely and Kings Lynn on the train.

A lovely 15 miles to Ely station to start with. A rare tailwind meant I was flying along with minimal effort. With a fully loaded bike weighing almost 100lbs it was very welcome.

At Wicken, the cuckoo was in great voice, and a bit further along a sign of the multi-lingual Fens

A short half hour train journey from Ely to Lynn followed, and then it was out into deepest rural Norfolk. Near Sandringham, the rhododendrons are just coming into flower.

After climbing the beast of a hill at West Newton, I noticed I was being followed by this monster...

Luckily, at Anmer, I found refuge at the village bowls club, with handy verandah and bench. What a thoughtful bunch they are in Anmer.

Whilst sat there supping my tea and watching the storm, I could look across to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's new gaff over the way. No sign of them today though.

The storm passed and I hit the wet road. Within a mile, the road was totally dry! I could have out pedalled the monsoon after all.

I flew along through Houghton and Syderstone and on the last couple of miles descended into the Burn valley down Bloodgate Hill into South Creake..

Arrived at my destination at just before 3pm having left my village near Newmarket at 10-30. A lovely day in the saddle and great to be back in dear old Norfolk again.

 

[PeteXXX]

Today I wanted to pop over to Daventry to check out the new Leisurelakes bike shop in Daventry that opened a short while ago. I needed a few bits and a better pair of shoes so I had to take my backpack to carry it all home.
With the wind gusting to 45mph I knew it'd be a bit of a struggle getting there as my direction was straight into the teeth of the wind. The theory was that, hopefully, I'd have a tailwind on the way home.... ..Nope, the theory didn't work.. Also the forecast was wrong. It shouldn't have been raining!

Anyway, my route was across the top of Northampton via Boughton, Church Brampton and Holdenby to Long Buckby and after 20 miles, Daventry.

The entrance to Holdenby House.

In the centre of East Haddon, there's a thatched water pump, working I believe.

In Dav, I took a couple of wrong turns looking for the shop but found it eventually.

Very nice, on two floors with helpful staff, though not quite the same feel as the old shop, I thought.

Nice, but not cheap, coffee shop inside as well. 'They call it Melo Velo' ( do you see what I did there?) Cyclists are also welcome to take the bikes inside and leave it in the stands by the door. That's handy as there is nowhere outside to lock them up!
I took the road through the town centre and then up Newnham Hill which is quite a lump to get up... and then up and down some rolling hills via Everdon, Fathingstone to Pattishall to cross the A5.

There's an old style garage there from many years ago.

The run home took me into Rothersthorpe and through the bottom of the town, along the riverbank to my abode. All that distance without idiots, then two came along at once and tried to knock me off as they left the retail park <doh>

For a wet and windy ride, it was quite enjoyable in a masochistic kind of way! I saw very few others out and about on two wheels for a Sunday though.

50 miles ridden with 2,100 ft of climbing with a nano-second of sunshine.

http://app.strava.com/activities/139900914

 

[EltonFrog]

Cor! What palava!

Last night we planned our route on JUSTGORIDE and uploaded it to the enemy’s new Garmin 800 doodad ready for the ride today, 60 miles round a bit of Oxfordshire.

We nearly didn’t go ‘cos of weather, the enemy not feeling up to it and what ‘ave you. Anyway we eventually stopped faffing about and M’dTFU, got sorted and off we went.

Something was rattling on my bike for the first couple of miles and it was driving me bonkers, I eventually found the culprit, it was the adjuster nut on my Brooks saddle, rattling up and down the thread so it was, so I sorted the feckin’ thing out, then up Whitchurch hill and for some reason I got up there a lot quicker than I usually do, I don’t know if it was the new shoes, or the wind, or I have more energy or what, but it was great.

Usually I get going pretty fast up hills but towards the end I slow down and the enemy catches me up and passes me, not today though. I waited at the top for her and she say she thinks something wrong with the BB, or the chain set, or the wheel, you know one of those noises that you can’t work out where it’s coming from. We press on.

The weather is grey, greyer than gay Graham Gray’s grey pants on a grey day in Grays. And windy, windier than…but the downhill into Goring was ACE, 36.1 mph fantastic. I waited at the bottom for the missus eventually she arrives and summates up with the bike its running like a pig, the bike shop in Goring is closed, but I see two cyclists down the road, one of them knows his bikes it seems and he ascertains that the bearings are shot in the rear wheel. Bugger.

We decide to abandon the ride and got for lunch in Streatley, only 7 miles into the ride, fantastic lunch, roast pork with the all the trimmings. Whilst there we decide to take the short route home and see if we can sort out the wheel ourselves. On the way home I can hear Jane’s wheel creaking and cracking so slowly does it, then my chain came off. Sod it.

Eventually we get home. Take the wheel apart, the bearings on one side have gone brown with wear, so we go off to Evans to get new bearings and axle doodads but Evans don’t have the axle, so we take the bearings and we eventually get the rest of it in Halfords of all places. At home and after a lot of faff and Tube of U searching we fix the wheel. Sorted- Bosh-Tuesday.

It doesn't sound it but it has been a fun day.

Grey Day

A big stone from The Ridgway outside the Swan

Feckin' Chain!

 

[Cush]

Nice 21 miles this morning, up to Wetheral and the over the M6. Until I crossed the M6 the traffic had been moderate and considerate but between the M6 and "The Lough" the traffic was barmy, it seemed like every Jeremy Clarkson clone was on that stretch. After the Durdar crossing, things quietened down and it was back to common sense. I stopped and spoke to a charming couple who were unloading a trike and a road bike out of a van, the trike was for the man, who apparently races with them and they told me they also have a tandem trike. (always fancied a trike for touring but the hassle of transporting one on a train!!). In Dalston the traffic was lite and there was hardly any one on the cycle way until I got to Cummersdale, when every one with a dog and small bairn seemed to be out on the track below the cemetery. Carlisle was quiet and it was a nice run up the A69 to home. A dull day but a lovely ride. Finishing this early as I want to get down to watch "Vera"

 

[flatflr]

Club ride with 21 of us in the group. Out from Witney, though Kidlington, south through Oxford then Abingdon, stopped for coffee and cake, then back via Stanford in the Vale. 50 very windy miles in all, but no rain

 

[Dark46]

No ride today! Just 171.1 miles on the R46 and some karting

 

[rualexander]

Local ride today, first half warm and sunny, second half very wet and quite cold.
Photos taken ten minutes before the downpour started.

 

[Saluki]

Just in from taking the new bike for its first ride. I've been trying to go out all day but its been raining all day with tiny peeps of sunshine, and then a few moments later more heavy rain.
Finally got out at just before 8 and rode to Wreningham where I saw a bit of a rainbow. Just a square of one. The whole arc and base of it were in cloud and just this bit peeking through and a shaft of sunlight seeming to come from it. Very pretty and unusual. Never seen that before. Also in Wreningham I followed a hare down the road for a hundred yards or so before he disappeared into a field. He was a big old thing too.
Just before Wreningham Church I turned left up Hethel Road and then left onto Wymondham Road. W Road is horrible, it often has Lotus louts bombing up and down it to the factory there, but it was about empty this evening. I got off it at the next left though as you never can tell. Up over the railway bridge and then back on Silfield Street and home.
Nice little ride 8.17 averaging 13.4mph. I wasn't trying very hard, in fact I felt that I was going really slowly but its a good 1mph faster than my normal going slowly.

That Selle Italia Lady Flow saddle is bloody horrible. Really hard and unyeilding. My bum hurts. It needs to come forward 1/2" too. It might be better with better shorts, I had an old pair of longs on today and the padding isn't great. I need to index the gears too as the changes were a bit clunky and that wasn't what I expected of Ultegras at all. I will take a pic of Exey after I have washed him. He's a bit mucky right now.

 

[IDMark2]

First ride for a while, like @ScotiaLass up thread I have a illness which sneaks up on me and parks itself there for as long as it likes and eventually moves off again, when it likes... Like her, I get itchy about getting out on the bike (the lawn can get long and the housework can wait as long as it likes though...)

After seeing how windy it was I decided to go with lycra and the road bike, reasoning that I'd be a more aero shape hunched a bit lower on the bars..of course, balanced against that is a much lower weight of bike to get blown around...

Another decision to make is 'which way first?' I went with 'SW against strong wind in face when fresh and strong'. Slowest time ever for my first timed section ensued followed by unfamiliar pedalling on a downhill descent that is normally a spinning out in top gear affair. However, after the bottom of my loop was completed and turning to go NE with the wind the climb up past the Airport was quite a bit faster.

It was tough today, got cold as showers passed, lots of stopping to layer up and then stopping to take it off again, strong headwind on the most major climb of the day, not as fast down as usual and lots of grimacing as passing by gateways gave a sudden side swipe of wind to counter. Loved it.

63k, 683m and 24kmh av, not too bad. Not many pics today, this is meant to be showing great view from top of Hembury Fort, weather had other ideas.

 

[totallyfixed]

Please see http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/100-mile-fixed-gear-ride-spring-2014.136598/post-3074437

 

[Deleted member 1258]

108miles the journey, Graffham Water the destination, drove over to Oakham early this morning to join totallyfixed and a small band of fellow cycle chatter's for the 100mile fixed gear spring ride.

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/100-mile-fixed-gear-ride-spring-2014.136598/post-3074437

the first time I've doubled the ton, 105 miles in the car and 108 miles on the bike, knackered now, and with aching legs, but I've had a good day.