Your ride today.... (part 1)

[ColinJ]

Ah!

I have seen weasels cross roads in front of me, but I don't think I have ever seen a stoat.

Ferrets ... Oh, and polecats!

I'd better stop reading about them now because I have a meal invite at 6:00 pm and will be late if I get immersed in Wikipedia the way I normally do.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Ah!

I have seen weasels cross roads in front of me, but I don't think I have ever seen a stoat.

Ferrets ... Oh, and polecats!

I'd better stop reading about them now because I have a meal invite at 6:00 pm and will be late if I get immersed in Wikipedia the way I normally do.

we have polecats around here as well - much bigger.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

What a contrast to yesterday. It might not have been sunny but was plenty warm enough to be riding in a t-shirt both ways today (I probably could have gone for shorts too). Like @SatNavSaysStraightOn, the other riders I saw were in fleeces or even waterproofs , they must've been boiling!

I went the long way both ways again and the wind was in my favour on the way back which made for a fairly brisk run (for this bike). Got waved across the road at one of the junctions by a taxi driver, which was nice.

I might use the car tomorrow as the local forecast looks promising for the weekend so I'd like the legs to be fresh enough to get some fun miles in.

 

[Spartak]

Short ride ( 12 miles ) last night after tea !
Uphill to Pucklechurch and then past the crematorium at Westerleigh, taking care on the descent thanks to the council putting in a huge speed hump !
Took the left turn just before Yate along Nibley Lane & then back to the outskirts of Bristol along the A432.
A good workout in damp dark conditions.

http://www.strava.com/activities/213217134

 

[ColinJ]

I'd better stop reading about them now because I have a meal invite at 6:00 pm and will be late if I get immersed in Wikipedia the way I normally do.

I was 59 minutes late!

Actually, the cook was 59 minutes early, having failed to notice that the clock she was working to had not been put back at the weekend!

 

[cuberider]

Today was my first ride in almost 6 weeks after I came off my mountain bike and smashed my knee up.

It was surprisingly warm which was good.

 

[EltonFrog]

Last night I did my first night time MB ride. There's a group oh MBR's that meet every Wednesday & Thursday in the pub just up the road from me The George & Dragon, www.thegeorge-dragon.com in the village that I have just moved to. The village is Upton and the group is called Upton No Good. geddit? good name huh?

Anyway 14 riders turned up and off we go at 7:15pm towards The Ridgway and surrounding areas, I can't tell you to much about where we went because A) I don't know the area and B) it was bloody dark! I didn't have a proper head light I had to adapt a Stila headlamp and ziptie it to my helmet, it worked very well but could have done with being a bit brighter.

It's quite hard mountain biking in the dark, it's hard to where the ruts, roots, bumps, berms and trees are. It was also very slippery and muddy on the ground. Through the downhill wooded single track I side swiped a tree, didn't come off but nearly, then at the bottom of that section where it was slippery and rooty the bike went sideways then the rear wheel slipped away, how I stayed on I'll never know, and neither did the blokes behind me. What an adrenaline rush. Then there was this 45 degree slippery mud pile that we had to get up, so off the bikes and push, two or three blokes just fell over it was that slippery.

17 and a bit miles in two hours, on a very warm night, great fun but I was "feeling it" at the end, I was glad to get back to the pub, where the Landlord supplies big plates of chips and sliced buttered bread, vinegar, ketchup and we all help ourselves and make chip butties! How cool is that!

I shall return for another ride with this bunch it was ACE, just need to get some proper lights.

 

[Old Plodder]

17 and a bit miles in two hours, on a very warm night, great fun but I was "feeling it" at the end, I was glad to get back to the pub, where the Landlord supplies big plates of chips and sliced buttered bread, vinegar, ketchup and we all help ourselves and make chip butties! How cool is that!

Sounds like paradise for an offroadie...

 

[cosmicbike]

A brief utility pedal to the Post Office this morning, round trip that is about 2.5 miles. Somehow ended up at 6 miles, must be the weather More miles for the yearly total, and the shopping bike getting more use. Suprising how many car trips it saves..

 

[EltonFrog]

A brief utility pedal to the Post Office this morning, round trip that is about 2.5 miles. Somehow ended up at 6 miles, must be the weather More miles for the yearly total, and the shopping bike getting more use. Suprising how many car trips it saves..
View attachment 60421

That's lot of security on that bike.

 

[Saluki]

1st ride on the roadie for a fortnight. The weather was gorgeous, my fingers were sore so practice was a bit limited tonight and I have my 2+ hours (30 minute lesson) with 'teach' tonight so thought I had better not work too hard. Malmsteen is hard on the fingertips.

I just went to meet Hubster from dialysis. It's 2.4 miles the direct route but there is no fun in that so I rode off through West Earlham, to Earlham 5 ways roundabout, down Bluebell Lane to Eaton/Cringleford, hooked a right up the hill to Colney Lane and then down the wee cyclepath there which is against the one way car traffic and to the Roundwell Roundabout and along more of Colney Lane to the hospital. I rode past our usual meeting point as 4.88 miles is just silly. I rode up the the staff carpark and back making my ride 5.31 miles in 22:47 which is not terribly fast but who cares.

It took me longer than anticipated to get out for a ride as a load of unpacked boxes were in the way of the bike rack, so I needed to shift them. The hounds refused to come indoors then, when they did, the Greyhound went to lay on my bed and I had to practically drag him off. Meanwhile Poco the JRT and Toffee the pup dived under the bed so I had to get them out. After all that faffing, 20 minutes had elapsed and it was 25 past 11 by the time I got out so a shorter ride than I really wanted. Hoping that this weather holds until tomorrow.

 

[ColinJ]

That's lot of security on that bike.

I don't blame him!

If I ever moved further from the shops, I would put together a 'rat bike' for shopping trips - something a bit less tempting to light-fingered scrotes than that Boardman. Probably a singlespeed bike, unless I had moved up a hill.

 

[cosmicbike]

I don't blame him!

If I ever moved further from the shops, I would put together a 'rat bike' for shopping trips - something a bit less tempting to light-fingered scrotes than that Boardman. Probably a singlespeed bike, unless I had moved up a hill.

Funny thing, it's my oldest bike and had little use until it became my 'shopper'. Trouble is I tend to like my bikes looking nice, so I have to use appropriate locks. Gold standard D lock and bronze cable for the front wheel, still don't like it being out of sight for long...

 

[coffeejo]

I was meant to be heading north today to meet a friend on her return from a mini tour but she got the train home instead thanks to an injury so a change of plans was in order. It seemed logical to head south instead so I crossed the border into Devon for a 60 mile round trip with soup and then cake at The Strand Stores in Culmstock at the half way point. In the spirit of my friend's tour, I plotted a route which took me on some new-to-me roads or ones I'd not travelled for a long time. Familiar or not, the roads in Devon had one thing in common: mud, glorious mud!

Just outside Uffculme:

The Strand Stores:

Dusk on the Blackdown Hills:

1200+ meters of climbing and 60 miles, taking me over 6000 miles for the year thus far!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Just the usual commute today (again) but an hour earlier and with a horrendous headwind to content with on the way out (as well as being ridiculously warm), not to mention 2 heavy panniers. Felt like I was cycling through treacle and I may as well have been. Going out usually takes me 1hr 40-45 mins... I have recently seen it down in the 1hrs 35-40 mark... but today took the biscuit 2hrs 03 mins! crickey I was feeling like an old woman I really was! talk about slow. All I could do was to hope that the wind stayed in the direction it was in, and stayed as strong as it was...

Christmas Cake made and left to cool in the oven (slightly under cooked after 5hrs 30 mins in the oven) and it was time for me to venture home in the dark so my first true night commute since the spring! Luckily the wind was still strong and the direction had not changed... so despite the traffic and despite the darkness I was home inside 1hr 30 mins! I did have some fun on the way home... at the expense of a mountain biker (male) who decided to try to race me (I came in from the right at a roundabout, him from my left, us both taking the same exit)... he stayed in front for all of 25meters, him on the 'hard shoulder' which is used as an unofficial cycle lane and me out with the traffic from the word go; I had already taken the bait! once I had passed him I pulled over into the hard shoulder and then put some power down... the result is that I now have to thank him for giving me the insentive to put some power down and take 2 * 2nd places on a couple of strava segments ... mind you the lady who has the QOMs is still an average of 4kph faster than me, meaning I still need to find something like 14 seconds just to match her pace... . think I will have to be content with holding onto the 2nd places! Oh and it was that warm that even coming home in the dark I was still in short sleeves and too warm!

So just the usual 70km domestic commute.... http://www.strava.com/activities/213958727
@ColinJ sorry no stoats today, just a dead polecat