Your ride today.... (part 1)

[Alex H]

I do wish the weather person could get it right Sunny intervals and 23°C - except that the sunny interval was at least 6 hours long and the temperature at the end of it was 32°C

Headed westish through Rochechouart and on to L'Arbre , which was a high point of the day.

Lots of sunflower fields further on

Then arrived at my Destination - La Rochefoucauld

This is the chateau on the banks of the Tardoire, was first built in the 11th century.

To see the oldest part, you have to go round the side, up a hill and peek between two houses (or look from the bypass)

Coming back, it was getting towards lunchtime, so this farmer stopped in mid-harvest and went home.

Seemed to have picked up a floral adornment somewhere along the way.

Back through Rochechouart, with the roundabout in it's summer colours.

104.5km in a leisurely and extremely hot 5:07:29
Average 20.39km/hr

 

[gavgav]

A short ride after work, to loosen the legs up from my 1st half century last Friday.

It was sunny and warm but with a very strong wind as I decided on a follow my nose route around Shrewsbury, with nothing pre planned.

I headed down through castlefields and along past the weir, where a few were paddling in the River Severn, and through The Quarry Park. There were a few runners and cyclists about, a chap juggling on a Unicycle!! (No I hadn't been drinking!) and lots of people just sat on the grass enjoying the sun. The large marquees were also being erected, ready for the Flower Show in a weeks time.

I was cycling into the strong headwind all the way so far and it was slow and hard going at times.

Next I headed through Porthill, Copthorne and Radbrook, before dropping down to Meole Brace. I then decided to head up into Bayston Hill (pulley lane in the headwind was not fun) and did a circuit of the village and flew back down pulley and up the cycle paths through Monkmoor and home, with the wind finally behind me.

15.2 miles at 11.4 mph avg

 

[laurence]

quick burst around Richmond Park. still breaking in the new saddle - really should have got that first and not the lower grearing!

20.1km at an av of 24.2km/h and a max of 53.6 km/h
12.48 miles at an av 15mph and max of 33.3mph

still not looking great for Ride London - must remember to take the inhaler though, i keep forgetting as it's a new thing for me.

 

[beardy01]

Ended up going further than planned tonight but as it was a glorious sunny evening and very quiet on the country lanes i just kept going, 28.4 miles , 15.5mph average and 1700+ ft of climbs. This ride has taken me over 1500 miles since january 1st. Have set my self a goal of another 2000 miles before the end of the year, started monday and have done 51 so far this week , seems a long way off at the moment and am going to have to make use of the good weather. Am up in norfolk in 3 weeks so going to pile the miles in there on the flat!!!!!! No hills for a week

 

[Dark46]

Picked up bike from Halfords after having service and blimey it all works as it should do !

Couldn't wait to get in it so set off gently on the estate checking all areas of the bike. I'm pleased to say no problems. So heading off the estate via Naas Lane then to Waterwells, and the on to the Hardwick Quedgeley road . Turning left towards the canal at the roundabout and then passed the Pilot and onto the Longney loop. Earlier in the day I had decided todo the loop twice then take the same way home.
I'm glad to say the bike was amazing and I set a few PBS in the way including my best average speed for that sort of distance.

 

[BAtoo]

Fairly chuffed with today's run http://www.strava.com/activities/173085258

Bear in mind also that !'ve ridden very little since coming back from my Christe ride (below) - under 100 miles this month

Anyway 1st 16mph average and 12 PB's

Then I had a pint or two of

which ate up the used calories...........

 

[graham56]

P. De Pollenca to Sa Pobla and Inca.Selva, Campanet then back roads to P de Pollenca.

How about this for a drop off on the roadside. Started off at 3 ft deep and ended up at 6 ft deep.Certainley keeps you focused.

 

[coffeejo]

Yesterday morning, I got the train to Highbridge and cycled across the Levels to Sweets Tea Room (and Peat Museum) near Westhay which I want to be the start/end point of a ride I'm leading next month. They happily agreed to let us park there for the day and with that out of the way, I settled down with a bacon butty and a coffee before doing a recce of the route, taking in Glastonbury and Wells.

I'm not a fan of flat, flat, flat and it got monotonous very early on, though you can't fault the Levels and Moors for their wildlife - heron after heron posed beautifully for a photo but buggered off before I could get the camera out.

(Not a heron!)

I also made friends with a foal who had either been recently weaned and still has attachment issues, or was hand-reared. Either way, she was very sunburnt and was sporting a thick layer of suncream!

The route took me through Glastonbury, which I can't bring myself to like very much and then onto Wells, which is a city I could learn to love. I really must spend some time there at some point instead of just passing through on my road bike, though not during the summer as it was heaving. I did find a moment of tranquillity, however.

From there, I headed back onto the Levels and returned to Sweets (which puts the shabby into chic but sells the most delicious range of home-made food) where I enjoyed a large slab of cake before making my way home.

86 miles in total - my longest ride to date and I felt as though I could have done my first century. Time wasn't on my side, alas, but if the weather's agreeable, I'll have a go next week...

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Just the usual domestic commute/ride over to my parents. Not sure what was going on this morning but I managed to upset another cyclist by overtaking him , so he promptly overtook me... I held back catching him at each and every set of lights until finally he got sooooo fed up with me that he went through a set of pedestrian lights on red. Some roadwork lights were stuck on red in both directions and it seemed drivers could not work this one out (despite the fact they could see each other). I got off, took the bike up the pavement and back onto the road afterwards, trying to give people some clue that the lights were not working but it seemed that the world would rather sit at red traffic lights all morning that apply some common sense to the situation. From there life got very hard and really slow, like I was cycling through treacle. I checked for a flat tyre, found nothing, and eventually pulled over in a bus layby... I finally sussed the problem to the buckle on the cord of my front light (not in use) had somehow jammed itself between the bars and the cross levers thereby not allowing the rear brake to ease off at all, and for 2 miles I have been cycling with the rear brake jammed on full! Life got easier after that. I made it to my parent's home in record time 1hr 37 mins cycling time is a personal best for me...

Gardening done, shopping done, gazebo up, I set off home... Cycling through Middlewich I noticed that the roads were soaked and in places under water... couldn't work it out because the weather looked cloudy but fine. Had an 'amusing' conversation with some passenger twit in a 4x4 that thought informing me I should get a car was a good idea. I stumped him with my reply - why do I need 2? guess it was too much for his intelligence and possible about as many brain cells as he had available for thought! From there little happened until one of the 'fast' sections where I know I can have some fun... I had come in from the right at a roundabout and seen another cyclist... He was almost alongside me at the roundabout but I dropped him rather quickly from what I found out afterwards about a mile further on where I have a dodgy junction to get across. I had been waiting there for several minutes when he finally arrived, panting heavily and gasping "I couldn't keep up with you"...
Then not much happened other than me spotting a £5 note in the road, turning around to pick it up and promptly finding a £1 coin as well.... I'm rich! and I made it home before the 1hr 30 min buzzer went off! 69.4km (43 miles) ride 22.0kph (13.6mph) average. Seems touring very slowly on a heavy bike with tent/stove/sleeping bag has increased my road bike speed!
http://www.strava.com/activities/173552121

 

[theloafer]

just a short spin to see a mate .. he was out .. but it was a nice to get the carbon bike out .. lots of careful and patient drivers out this evening
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/553960284

 

[Dark46]

I have been out today and done another 23 miles. I'm now top of the club for miles this week , so far. Some how I've managed a new segment and I'm KOM! Can't believe I'm the only person to have done that segment , but I'll take it and it's there for everyone to see! I've got a PB overall on today's route , with 17 trophies on Strava so VERY happy with results

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I took the Raleigh for a blast round the Acton Burnell route this evening. Went the opposite way round to yesterday (anti-clockwise), which is usually the slower way round but I thought I'd give it a try. The wind was from the same direction as yesterday but lighter so it probably didn't make much difference to the speed this time. What did though was the most recent tweaks to the saddle position - it felt really easy to put power into the pedals and the bike felt really lively.

Going out later in the day had the advantage of there being less traffic on the road, which I like, and what traffic there was gave me a decently wide berth once my lights went on.. I've hardly done any evening rides this summer - will have to rectify that while the light evenings last.

Just over 17 miles this time at 16.5mph average. A new personal best!(16.57 mph to be exact - previous fastest on this bike was 16.04 mph)

 

[Spartak]

P. De Pollenca to Sa Pobla and Inca.Selva, Campanet then back roads to P de Pollenca.
View attachment 52050 How about this for a drop off on the roadside. Started off at 3 ft deep and ended up at 6 ft deep.Certainley keeps you focused.

I know those roads well, stayed in Campanet in March - great bar in centre of town, ES club, serving cyclists sized portions !!!

 

[graham56]

Stopped off at Campanet a couple of times at the bar/cafe right in front of the church in the town square. Very popular with cyclists.

 

[Berties]

Wanted to get my July total to 1200 miles ,rode 20 miles to work ,had a few jobs to do then went to my bike got ready again ,damm rear flat tyre!
Removed wheel re fitted tyre with great pain to thumbs as new tyres,gas in,bang,the tube burst,got a lift to bike shop two more tubes,and started again again bang,then again bang three times this happened ,I'm the king of punctures 10 minutes I'm off again ,by now I think I'm going mad,
Had to go to my lbs to pick up a wheel that had been mended,and got them to fit a tube as by now I had raspberry sized blisters on both thumbs,the tubes supplied by the other shop where faulty ,they are about to get both barrels this morning,
So got my trusty winter steel out and flew through 30 miles at some pace and got my 1200 total just wasn't going to give in