Your ride today.... (part 1)

[Donger]

Gave blood on Friday night, and had quite a hectic day out to Dorset on Saturday. Best night's sleep I've ever had on Saturday night, so ended up sleeping in way beyond the start of our club ride today. Still felt a bit lacking in energy, so was really glad I'd already decided not to enter that audax in Herefordshire/Worcestershire today.(Probably a very bad idea even to go on a fast club ride, given that it takes 8 weeks to replace the lost red blood cells, and this was only one full day after).

Eventually got my backside into gear and went for a gentle, flat ride along the canal path into Gloucester Docks and beyond. Apparently Johnny Depp had been in town this week filming somewhere in the docks, and I found this tallship in port flying a Jolly Roger...... Guess there must be a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" film coming up, then.

Leaving the docks via a gravel path across the flood meadows, I then stopped off at Over (pronounced "Oover") Bridge - the old abandoned railway bridge over the Severn. Getting there involved sprinting past this massive bull which had been in the middle of the path. It was such a well-equipped bull that I mistook its undercarriage for udders and got way too close before having to decide what to do. Fortunately I was not wearing anything red, and it did not move as I passed it.

I know I should probably have stuck on the flat, but I just couldn't resist going up the steep little winding path onto the old railway bridge, where I took this shot of the new railway bridge before carrying on under the road bridge and along a gravel path running along the East bank of the Severn to Maisemore.



From Maisemore, I carried on to Hartpury via Woolridge Hill - a steep little hill that I just couldn't resist taking on again that leads up onto a ridge with splendid views of the Forest of Dean, the Malverns and the Cotswolds. It is a quiet little road with a good surface, that then dips suddenly and steeply down into Hartpury. Once there, I turned the bike around and gritted my teeth to get back up the steep bit before relaxing on a long downhill stretch that allows you to glide down at well over 30mph for half a mile or so.

Then back into Gloucester Docks, via the footbridge over the Severn, before following the gravel path along the canal back home again.

Found some quite good graffiti on a road bridge on the way back. The caption reads "It's all relative".

They have been actively encouraging graffiti artists around Gloucester City centre lately. Don't quite know what I make of that. The quality is patchy, to say the least, though as you can see, some of it is really rather good. I just wonder what will happen when the policy changes and they try to stop it again. Anyway, that's it for my gentle ride out with the camera. Hope to step it up gradually over the next week or so, as I've got to get fit for my trip to Scotland.

Cheers, Donger.

 

[User33236]

My ride today took in a couple of local(ish) hills that I failed the first time on having to stop part way up. Since them I've been determined to show them who's boss aiming to a) get up them and b)beat my previous time.

Got PR's of both of them this morning, Outwood Road, reasonable length and gradient, and Slackey Brow, short and steep,

Disappointing part was I left it too late to head out and was finally getting caught up in the midst of all the coffin dodging Sunday drivers on their way to Church so cut the ride short and headed home for self preservation.

 

[MikeW-71]

Plotted a new route, taking me south of Carlisle for the first time, and it seems I followed part of the same route that @Ffoeg chose. Headed through Wreay and Southwaite before heading further southwest to Greystoke.

Weather was lovely. Nice in the sun, but a bit chilly in the shade. It was good to keep moving



My objective at Greystoke was the C2C Cycle cafe which duly presented itself with 20 miles on the clock. This was the end of the flatter section of the ride and it was lunchtime



Delicious toastie and coffee, and what a great peaceful setting. Lots of other riders there, including a couple doing C2C on a tandem



Scorch was feeling a bit left out having been left in the bike shed, but he would now get to watch me suffer a bit.



Now came the hilly section of the ride as I headed over to Penrith and a bit further east. After a few ups and downs, I arrived in Langwathby, where I found that there was something of an event on



Horses everywhere! Took the opportunity for a few minutes break and then pressed on to my next objective... the Druidic stone circle Long Meg And Her Daughters. Oooh the climbs are getting a bit serious now, it's some steep drag to get to it and I've passed a few other riders on the way up already. Plugged away at it and rolled into the stone circle. It is huge and this pic only shows a small part of it. I had a flapjack bar while I was there as I knew what was coming next...



What came next was called Kirkoswald and I've never ridden through there before. After some more lumps and bumps to get to it, you arrive at the main street. The bottom of the main street. It peaks at about 14%, turns sharp right and goes up some more at about 12%, then after you leave the village, there's a long uphill drag just as a reminder

That was the last big climb done, and once I got onto the Castle Carrock road it was plain sailing heading generally downhill back to Warwick bridge and dinner at my parents

After that had settled there only remained the last 7 miles home to make up the metric century at 62.9 miles. Quite pleased with the ride and definately a route to be done again

http://app.strava.com/activities/184829904

 

[arranandy]

My ride yesterday wasn't the one I had planned to do....

I had entered the Ken Laidlaw sportive - a tough 104 mile very hilly route which strarts and finshes in Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

It started at 8.30 so I had planned to be there about 7.45 to get signed on etc. Hawick is an 80 mile drive from home so I had planned to leave about before 6am. Anyway to cut a long story short I woke up at 7.25am so that was the KL out the window. DOH!!! Note to self - always make sure the alarm is set. Twice!!

As it was a nice morning I headed up to EK to do the usual club Sunday cafe run. 8 of us turned up including 2 youth riders. A brisk couple of hours was followed by a nice cafe stop in Strathaven then I thought to myself and better do another couple of hours. So as the rest of the guys headed for home I headed out into the South Lanarkshire badlands down through Deadwaters and Coalburn before heading towards Lanark and down into the Clyde valley before heading for home.

Home for 2pm with 139km on the clock with 1672m of climbing.

Route here

www.strava.com/activities/184686574

 

[John Shingler]

A pleasant little ride yesterday

 

[PeteXXX]

I'm in Ramsgate! Whereabouts are you from?

London born, moved around the country before landing in Ramsgate in 1972 ish. Resided in Cliffsend, Cumberland Road and Cannon Road before moving to Northampton 20 years ago.
I used to cycle from Cliffsend to Broadstairs and back to work. That Haine Road was always nasty!!

 

[Deleted member 23692]

@MikeW-71 That's a cracking circuit!

 

[ColinJ]

It started at 8.30 so I had planned to be there about 7.45 to get signed on etc. Hawick is an 80 mile drive from home so I had planned to leave about before 6am. Anyway to cut a long story short I woke up at 7.25am so that was the KL out the window. DOH!!! Note to self - always make sure the alarm is set. Twice!!

Oops!

I set 2 alarms, a couple of minutes apart, and doublecheck both of them. One alarm is on my phone, and one on my tablet. Having checked the times, I check that the batteries have enough charge to last until morning. I also label the alarms with 'RIDE', 'BLOOD TEST', 'COURIER' (whatever) so even in a half-asleep state, I can see why I am being woken up early and don't just go back to sleep.

Single alarms have failed me in the past, but this system has not.

 

[Stonechat]

When I tried the alarm system on my new phone it was too easy to silence the alarm
I have to have an alarm app which needs at least a specific action to silence it

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

This is more a yesterday’s ride… I was too knackered yesterday to write it up.

For some daft reason we decided to cycle over to my in-laws and back yesterday. The aim to arrive in time for lunch… Setting out, it was chilly from the word go and it was longs on after a ¾ length open the front door, close the front door and go and change moment. Long sleeves were also needed for the first hour or so as well… Curiously my road bike has decided that cooler mornings suit it and the click that I acquired a few weeks ago after a minor off (chain slipped, so did I) stayed away for the first hour or so… Bliss. Also my legs were doing their normal – they do this sometimes, ache something chronic for the first half of the ride, then magically improve and we fly home…

I had also done the usual with the route planning, and this one was another of our Garmin Magical Mystery Tours… The ‘where are we?’ routine kicked in quite early as we cycled up a dead end road, reassuringly spotting cyclists coming towards us… I knew this one had a narrow bridge before heading into Bollington Park and around the outside of Dunham Massey. After that we had pretty much no idea where we were until we found the Manchunian Way. Going through Altrincham we cycled passed a Waitrose and that meant a free coffee stop… time for a break and a snack. On longer rides I find that I don’t flag in the afternoon if I break lunch into 2 stops – one at 10:30am/11am and the other closer to 12:30pm. This was the 1st lunch or 2nd breakfast depending on your point of view!

Again from there, it was follow the Garmin and hope we get to where we want to go to. Most of the ride out was pretty uneventful, the Bridgewater Canal was busy with people and cyclists and rather nice along that section and the bit I had been dreading, where we somehow ended up cycling passed Manchester Oxford Rd railway station, was surprisingly quiet. The Rochdale Canal was “OK”. Some parts were interesting, the geese refused to move out of the way completely and before we really knew it we were in Failsworth. As we were cycling along, my OH commented that Failsworth Mill had been demolished – so I asked him if he meant the building on the right (). There was only a pile of rubble… I think the warmth of the day (which had gotten warmer and brighter) might have been getting to me, either that or the relief of escaping from M/C had caught up with me (I am not a city person: give me wilderness any day…)…

After lunch and time with the in-laws, it was time to head home… so needing a few extra KM’s to make a strava challenge, we headed off in totally the wrong direction, only for me to forget to unpause my garmin Then it was a case of following NCR 60, then joining NCR 6 and escaping Manchester hardly using a road. We made up for this somewhere around Princess Rd, near to the M60 when my OH asked me exactly what junction we were joining the M60 on. All I could do was look at the signpost and reply, junction 5 by the looks of things. The lane we were in was the slip road for J5 of the M60! Thankfully the cycle lane stated at the bottom of the slip road and we were both able to breathe a sigh of relief!

After that it was through Wythenshawe and Hale – a route I know reasonably well because I often have to cycle over to my severe asthma consultant’s appointments in Wythenshawe, so I was simply following my nose. Unfortunately around here, it also started to get very dark and the clouds looked really ominous. When I realised every single oncoming car had lights on, I quit and put my front light on as well. It was ridiculously dark under the cover of the trees and the sole car I saw without lights on was only really given away by that “hole” you get at night when a car does not have its lights on and everyone around it has.

We headed off through Tatton Park at this point (still with lights on) to almost be taken out by an idiot motorist who having stopped at their give way lines, waited until the very last minute and looked me in the eyes, then pulled out in front of me… Any later and I would not have been able to avoid her. As it was, I needed all of the space behind her that the next vehicle had not gone into, to stay on my bike and not have an accident! Apparently she was the only person who though a cyclist not indicating left, cycling in primary was turning left… I confess, I swore loudly at her and she deserved every word of it. Thankfully my OH cycling behind me had slightly more room to respond than I did, but only by 1 bike’s length.

One thing that did surprise me both cycling through some of the Manchester Park’s and also Tatton Park is the number of trees starting to show the first signs of autumn colours! Autumn colours and it is only August!

By no means the first tree I saw today starting to show autumnal colours!

After a sandwich stop at the far end of Tatton Park it was a ‘how long from here?’ Only another 90 mins or so and we should be home… Most of the roads were amazingly quiet all the way home, it was only another cyclist that was to cause more issues on a ‘bikes only’ bike lane that runs alongside the A556. Pedestrians have their own segregated ‘lane’ at this point and despite 2 cyclists being on the left hand side coming at him he deliberately pulled over to our side and tried to pass ‘continental’ style. I lost my rag at that point and yelled at him. Sorry but he deserved it. As far as I am concerned a) we were already cycling on the left hand side, b) he deliberately pulled over to our side and c) you should pass with both parties sticking left as per a road…

So a chilly, but dry ride of 135km (83-84 miles) over to see the in-laws, my 2nd longest ride of the year, my OH’s longest ride of the year and our 3rd +100km ride this month… Not a particularly fast ride, but I have a curious ability to hold the same average no matter what distance I do…
http://www.strava.com/activities/184828906

 

[brand]

Cycled to pub made a 4 mile detour to drop a cake of at a very very large WI ladies house. It was for the churchs August Sunday teas. I feel obliged to make one occasionally as I found out the addresses of the top cake makers and got them to make their best cakes out of season! IE anytime other than August. But they have been letting me down lately by dying so thought I would make the odd one. As I would normally prefer to be in the pub at the time the teas start I thought I would drop it off at this ladies house. Daughter to the recently deceased best sponge butter icing cake maker in all the local WIs. Her job at the teas is the Tombola. She sits by the door to the church chomping on sweets cakes biscuits and unaccompanied small children. Now some of you may think it is dodgy giving her the cake ie it may be accidentally eaten. Nasty nasty un Christian thoughts. She is vegetarian (apart from the small children) and the cake is a Lincolnshire Farmhouse dripping cake.
From there to the pub for a proper Sunday dinner big plate with meat, Yorkshire roast potatoes, roast parsnips and side tray of 6 veg. A good starter for a session on the beer. Thereafter long disscussions about Lancaster bombers, which were doing a fly past nearby, with the pub emptying every few minutes when an engine noise outside made people think the Lancasters were flying past....invariably motorcyclists arriving to use the pubs B and B. Another discussion on a bloke I was drinking with the day before. His wife was away and he went to walk his dog and decided to have a swift one. He had arrived 2 hours before me. I can't actually remember him leaving but when they were about to close up at 1am his dog walked into the pub! The landlord recognised the dog and gave one of his family a lead to take it back to the owners house. He came back 10 minutes later with the dog. The telly was on the lights on and the curtains open but no matter how hard he knocked no one answered. The landlady decided to try, again the same but she also tried the door. It was unlocked so she took the lead off pushed the dog in closed the door and came back to the pub. As he (the owner or the dog for that matter) didn't come in Sunday we (the pub) decided he realised his dog had got out and went to look for him. We are waiting to find out how he thinks the dog got in the house and closed the door behind it self!
PS I think the dog came back to the pub because it had had such a good time. It was in the prime sniffing location and all the dogs that entered and existed the bar had to pass him which were 3 chocolate Labradors, 2 Springers and an assortment of Mongs!

 

[ColinJ]

Another discussion on a bloke I was drinking with the day before. His wife was away and he went to walk his dog and decided to have a swift one. He had arrived 2 hours before me. I can't actually remember him leaving but when they were about to close up at 1am his dog walked into the pub! The landlord recognised the dog and gave one of his family a lead to take it back to the owners house. He came back 10 minutes later with the dog. The telly was on the lights on and the curtains open but no matter how hard he knocked no one answered. The landlady decided to try, again the same but she also tried the door. It was unlocked so she took the lead off pushed the dog in closed the door and came back to the pub. As he (the owner or the dog for that matter) didn't come in Sunday we (the pub) decided he realised his dog had got out and went to look for him. We are waiting to find out how he thinks the dog got in the house and closed the door behind it self!

Let's hope that the dog owner isn't dead! (Wouldn't be great for the dog either, to be locked in with a dead master ...)

 

[beardy01]

My second ride on our visit to the inlaws up in north norfolk, decided to go inland after saturdays 43 miler along the coast to see if it was less windy. Although still open to the elements it wasnt as bad and did a swift 20 miler as going to see the deer at holkham hall, will make a nice change from the last time i saw one when it ran across the road infront of me!!!! Can highly recommend cycling up here some beautiful villages and countryside ,quiet roads ( no potholes ) , no hills but challenging conditions. I found it best to go to one point and return the same way as one not familiar with the roads and two headwind one way ( character building ) tailwind back ( fun and fast ) . Back in october for stronger headwinds!!!!!! Cant wait........

 

[skudupnorth]

Whilst down South visiting the outlaws I thought I would have a mooch around the lanes near their house and ride up to the Shuttleworth collection near Old Warden.The only problem I did have in this plan was the massive party in London Village the night/morning before which ended up me having the biggest hangover I have had in years !
Anyway,I thought I better make the effort and grabbed the bike and headed off for a nice 17 miler to Old Warden. It is a lovely museum and while I was wondering around I kept hearing "They will be coming from Surrey" from various people. All I could think this meant was the two Avro Lancaster's doing the airshow scene this month. As no time scale was mentioned I headed off back to Bedford for yet another party/meal enjoying the views and pleasant weather. As I climbed the "hill" out of Old Warden I heard the distinctive drone of Merlin engines which only gave me a few seconds to dump bike to get the camera out. Thankfully I got the shot and also managed to compose the bike better for the second flypast and photo's. Happy at seeing them again,I carried on grabbing some views of the local scenary and the massive Cardington airship hangers before skulking back and carrying on with my suffering from the night before !












Dumped bike with two Lancaster's above !

 

[cosmicbike]

Ride day today, and if I weren't on a physio plan I'd have stayed in. Forecast for the day was , followed by . Set out at about 0930 in fine drizzle doing the reverse of my last ride, so joined the Thames at Staines and followed the towpath to Chertsey where the rain started in earnest. Stuck to the roads through Chertsey to Thorpe Park, somewhat damp by now, thinking it wasn't too bad. 2 miles from home it turned torrential and I arrived back at chez CB with shoes full of water and really quite wet everywhere else. Still, 10 miles done and I get a rest day tomorrow