Your ride today.... (part 1)

[Deleted member 23692]

What gears have you got on that bike Ffoeg? If it's fixed wheel you have my sympathy coming up from Dalston. I Couldn't get out yesterday as I was pulling out a Buddleia stump and today my back is telling me just how deep the roots and other stumps spread.

You have my sympathy - buddleias are buggers to dig out

It's an 8 speed Alfine hub. I'm no where near tough enough for a single speed in these parts. I'm still getting used to the gaps between the gears, but so far I'm very impressed with the super smooth running and gear changes... and it's spooikly quiet

 

[john59]

Just a quick blast on my mtb this morning, it was certainly icy in places.





John

 

[gavroche]

Glad I went for a ride yesterday, 23 miles, as it is absolutely rotten weather today. Only been out 3 times this month so far.

 

[EltonFrog]

A four mile run for me and the fragrant Mrs P this morning along the Kennet & Avon canal part of my training for the 10K in Feb, there were lots of MTB'ers out today, then straight back home and out again for a 6.6 mile ride on the Brid of Hi to Sainsbugs and back for some bread.

Feckin' taters out there today so it is.

Bike Ride

Canal Run,

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Barby the destination, 50 miles the journey, got up this morning, looked at the frost and changed my plans for todays ride. Decided to take a more direct route to the Cafe, out through Baginton to Wapenbury and Eathorpe, crossed the Fosse Way to Marton then on to Birdingbury and on through Leamington Hastings and Hill, crossed Grandborough fields to Willoughby, crossed the A45 and climbed up the hill to the Water Tower, gave me a bit of a work out being on my fixed with a 67 inch gear, turned right at the Water Tower and down to the Nursery and the Cafe stop. I walked our road and the next one, both were like skating rinks, apart from those two most of the roads weren't to bad, the road through Eathorpe was slippery, frozen puddles and ice patches, and the first part of the road across Grandborough Fields was the same as Eathorpe, frozen puddles and ice patches. When I came out of the cafe most of the ice had cleared, just had to be wary of the parts of the roads that were still in shade, I got a bit cold on the descent from the Water Tower to the A45, that despite spinning like a demon, I retraced my steps to Marton, then rode onto Princethorpe and picked up the Fosse Way to take me across the A45 and onto Wolston and into Coventry passed to Speedway and up Hipswell and Sewall Highways and home, most of this mornings ride was done in bright sunshine but it was cloudy around the Barby area. Thats three Sunday rides for 2015 and two of them have been on cold and frosty mornings.

 

[Jon George]

I have to preface this by relating the fact that over twenty-five years ago I nearly self-nominated for The Darwin Awards by getting lost on Dufton Pike in a mixture of snow, sleet, rain and fog with a broken thermos, a camouflage jacket () and dwindling food supplies and, instead of doing the sensible thing and re-tracing my steps, I pressed on, suffered from the onset of hyperthermia and learnt the valuable lesson that Prudence trumps Pride.
Which goes some way to explaining why I abandoned an attempt of 62.5 miles today (Ipswich - Coddenham - Framlingham - Orford - Ipswich) to qualify for the 100km A Month Challenge and don't really care if I'm considered a whimp.
I went out of the house thinking I was probably over-dressed (basically the same as what I've been wearing these past few days when out riding), but a few miles in realised that the minor headwind was sucking heat out me at quite a rate. It occurred to me that if I continued with my planned route, then I'd be experiencing the same effect for the last 15 miles or so, and decided to curtail the attempt and try another day. (Thinking it about it now, it seems as though because my daily rides are usually between 20 - 25 miles I was probably psychologically predisposed to crack on, believing I'd soon be home, rather than do anything else other than abandon.)
With my supposed ample food rations now being consumed faster than normal, I decided to turn for home before I reached Framlingham and cut the ride even more. A few miles further on I got out my lightweight showerproof to reduce the wind-chill. (This is what I should have done far earlier in the ride.)
On the plus side, I now have a rather nice thirty-five mile route that I'll be doing again.

Just outside of Tuddenham St Martin.

And just before Earl Soham.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

As I believe someone here has as a signature, you have to grow old, growing up is optional..

Thats me.

 

[Donger]

Well it had to happen some time. Had my first crash of the year near the end of this ride, exactly one week before my first audax of the year... exactly as I did last year, only one week short of a year ago and only half a mile away from the exact same spot where I had my last fall.

The Kingsway CC had its best ever turn-out of 26 riders today, despite the icy conditions, so we split into two groups. A "fast" group and a "try to stay on your bike group", which I naturallly gravitated towards. There had already been 4 falls just getting to the start, so it was always going to be interesting. We were all heading up Upton Hill again today, which made my efforts midweek pretty pointless - though at least I now knew I would make it up in one go. The "fast" group of 14 riders headed off first through the estate - at about 1mph on the ice. I led the other group out the long way onto the Bristol Road, determined to take the safest route possible, staying on main roads as much as we could.

Was pleased to get up Upton Hill in 8th place of the 12 in our group, and enjoyed a nice scenic, easy paced ride through Painswick and Stroud to the canalside cafe at Saul Marina where we stopped to thaw out and consume cake... lots of cake. Then came the winding country lanes through Elmore towards the Pilot Bridge at Hardwicke. Even though it was a few degrees above zero and the sun had been shining for hours, we managed to find all the dark spots where the ice had still not melted. First Lisa had a spill when her rear wheel just went from under her without warning. She was OK, and got straight back on. Then it was my turn. Just before we got back to the main roads near the Pilot Bridge at Hardwicke, I took my eye off the road for a second or two for the first time in over 30 miles, at the sight of an ambulance with blue flashing lights and an upside down car in the hedge..... and over I went on a patch of black ice with a crash and a nasty slide on my side. I brought down Des behind me too, and we were lucky to avoid a multi-bike pile-up.

Two things I learned from this .... (1) Never lose concentration even for a second in icy conditions like these. A second is all it takes. (2) Whilst I would defend the right of free speech of the anti-helmet brigade ("Je suis Charlie" etc), thank goodness I didn't let them pursuade me not to wear mine today. The side of my head hit the ground with a mighty crack when I went over, but I'm as right as rain.... a walking advert for cycle helmets. Nothing worse than a sore hip and a bruised ego.

So, although we never met up again with the fast group today, we still know of at least 7 crashes on the ice .... over a quarter of the field went down today! Now I just have the small matter of 2 x 100km audaxes in the next 2 weeks in these conditions to attempt to keep up with the Century a Month Challenge. Ah well, What could possibly go wrong? Another 35 miles done today.
Be safe, everyone. Cheers. Donger.

 

[EltonFrog]

Just a quick blast on my mtb this morning, it was certainly icy in places.

Dunno why, but I really like this photo.

 

[mooseracer]

No snow this morning but plenty of ice around when taking the hound for his morning run...so again I waited until late morning before heading out. Lovely 64 mile loop around Malmesbury, Tetbury, Wotton and home. Chilly but lovely and stayed upright on the remaining ice patches.

https://www.strava.com/activities/242780864

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Well it had to happen some time. Had my first crash of the year near the end of this ride, exactly one week before my first audax of the year... exactly as I did last year, only one week short of a year ago and only half a mile away from the exact same spot where I had my last fall.

The Kingsway CC had its best ever turn-out of 26 riders today, despite the icy conditions, so we split into two groups. A "fast" group and a "try to stay on your bike group", which I naturallly gravitated towards. There had already been 4 falls just getting to the start, so it was always going to be interesting. We were all heading up Upton Hill again today, which made my efforts midweek pretty pointless - though at least I now knew I would make it up in one go. The "fast" group of 14 riders headed off first through the estate - at about 1mph on the ice. I led the other group out the long way onto the Bristol Road, determined to take the safest route possible, staying on main roads as much as we could.

Was pleased to get up Upton Hill in 8th place of the 12 in our group, and enjoyed a nice scenic, easy paced ride through Painswick and Stroud to the canalside cafe at Saul Marina where we stopped to thaw out and consume cake... lots of cake. Then came the winding country lanes through Elmore towards the Pilot Bridge at Hardwicke. Even though it was a few degrees above zero and the sun had been shining for hours, we managed to find all the dark spots where the ice had still not melted. First Lisa had a spill when her rear wheel just went from under her without warning. She was OK, and got straight back on. Then it was my turn. Just before we got back to the main roads near the Pilot Bridge at Hardwicke, I took my eye off the road for a second or two for the first time in over 30 miles, at the sight of an ambulance with blue flashing lights and an upside down car in the hedge..... and over I went on a patch of black ice with a crash and a nasty slide on my side. I brought down Des behind me too, and we were lucky to avoid multi-bike pile-up.

Two things I learned from this .... (1) Never lose concentration even for a second in icy conditions like these. A second is all it takes. (2) Whilst I would defend the right of free speech of the anti-helmet brigade ("Je suis Charlie" etc), thank goodness I didn't let them pursuade me not to wear mine today. The side of my head hit the ground with a mighty crack when I went over, but I'm as right as rain.... a walking advert for cycle helmets. Nothing worse than a sore hip and a bruised ego.

So, although we never met up again with the fast group today, we still know of at least 7 crashes on the ice .... over a quarter of the field went down today! Now I just have the small matter of 2 x 100km audaxes in the next 2 weeks in these conditions to attempt to keep up with the Century a Month Challenge. Ah well, What could possibly go wrong? Another 35 miles done today.
Be safe, everyone. Cheers. Donger.

A like for the report and I'm glad that you bounced. Could have been nasty.

 

[chewa]

Well, after only one ride in 10 days (weather related) I bought a turbo trainer today, but it was such a lovely day we decided to go out for a ride. Usual run bout 18 miles.

The ,main routes were fine but back roads were very icy - at times the amount of crackling coming from under my tyres made it sound like an episode of Ice Road Truckers!

I am very iffy on slippy surfaces (wooosy boy my wife calls me) and at times my butt cheeks were leaving clench marks on the Brooks. So much so that when I dismounted I'm sure I heard an audible "pop".

Anyway, it was a cracking afternoon,clear blue skies and, other than the strong, bitter wind on the way back over the bridge, really lovely ride. Much better than being stuck in, and we kept the rubber side down, so that's a bonus!

Take care everyone.

 

[gavgav]

Well it had to happen some time. Had my first crash of the year near the end of this ride, exactly one week before my first audax of the year... exactly as I did last year, only one week short of a year ago and only half a mile away from the exact same spot where I had my last fall.

The Kingsway CC had its best ever turn-out of 26 riders today, despite the icy conditions, so we split into two groups. A "fast" group and a "try to stay on your bike group", which I naturallly gravitated towards. There had already been 4 falls just getting to the start, so it was always going to be interesting. We were all heading up Upton Hill again today, which made my efforts midweek pretty pointless - though at least I now knew I would make it up in one go. The "fast" group of 14 riders headed off first through the estate - at about 1mph on the ice. I led the other group out the long way onto the Bristol Road, determined to take the safest route possible, staying on main roads as much as we could.

Was pleased to get up Upton Hill in 8th place of the 12 in our group, and enjoyed a nice scenic, easy paced ride through Painswick and Stroud to the canalside cafe at Saul Marina where we stopped to thaw out and consume cake... lots of cake. Then came the winding country lanes through Elmore towards the Pilot Bridge at Hardwicke. Even though it was a few degrees above zero and the sun had been shining for hours, we managed to find all the dark spots where the ice had still not melted. First Lisa had a spill when her rear wheel just went from under her without warning. She was OK, and got straight back on. Then it was my turn. Just before we got back to the main roads near the Pilot Bridge at Hardwicke, I took my eye off the road for a second or two for the first time in over 30 miles, at the sight of an ambulance with blue flashing lights and an upside down car in the hedge..... and over I went on a patch of black ice with a crash and a nasty slide on my side. I brought down Des behind me too, and we were lucky to avoid multi-bike pile-up.

Two things I learned from this .... (1) Never lose concentration even for a second in icy conditions like these. A second is all it takes. (2) Whilst I would defend the right of free speech of the anti-helmet brigade ("Je suis Charlie" etc), thank goodness I didn't let them pursuade me not to wear mine today. The side of my head hit the ground with a mighty crack when I went over, but I'm as right as rain.... a walking advert for cycle helmets. Nothing worse than a sore hip and a bruised ego.

So, although we never met up again with the fast group today, we still know of at least 7 crashes on the ice .... over a quarter of the field went down today! Now I just have the small matter of 2 x 100km audaxes in the next 2 weeks in these conditions to attempt to keep up with the Century a Month Challenge. Ah well, What could possibly go wrong? Another 35 miles done today.
Be safe, everyone. Cheers. Donger.

Sorry to hear of the fall @Donger . Hope the damage to you and the bike isn't too bad!

 

[13 rider]

Did the same loop as last week after cycling to mates house in sileby .We headed to East leake via normanton on soar any back to sileby via Willoughby on the wolds and a nice 32 miles in glorious winter sun shine and luckily for us the the ice other people had reported did not seem that bad in leicestershire .A after leaving my mates it was back home with a target of 50 miles to be reached .got to my village and realise I was just short so a couple of cheeky loops around the village hey presto arrived home with 50.2 miles done my longest ride to date by .1 of a mile really pushing my range now

 

[gavgav]

With the heavy frost overnight I left the sun to do its work this morning, and headed out about 1:30 for a ride that turned out to be half good and half horrid!

It was my regular route out through the estate, pausing to post a letter and then to Uffington and Upton Magna, where I had a nice cheery hello from a local. It's the little things sometimes that make a ride.

I then took the Pelham Road to Rodington Heath and found my first ice of the ride. It was mostly frozen puddles on the edges but there is a section where it always floods and sure enough it had frozen over, which made it a tricky navigation around the bend. Managed to stay upright and then came across a cat and shortly afterwards a Fox in the road! First time I've seen a Fox when out on my bike.

Next destination was Roden and then down the lanes to Poynton, which were icy in places, mainly side of the road again and it's quiet enough down there to be able to ride down the middle of the road fairly safely.

It was getting a bit gloomy now and so I stopped to put my lights on at the Junction where I had a choice of extending the ride to Shawbury or turning left to Bings Heath. I was feeling good and so decided to head towards Shawbury, but had only ridden for about 30 seconds when the heavens opened and it absolutely poured down with rain

Quick stop to put waterproof jacket on, decision made to sod Shawbury and head to Bings Heath. It was horrid along that stretch, as the rain continued to poor down, the bitter icy wind started to gust, mostly into my face and I couldn't feel my nose by the time I turned back towards Upton Magna, via Ebury Hill.

My thighs got so cold from the wet trousers that they started to cramp up, on the hills and I was wishing I hadn't ventured out really.

Battled against the wind and rain all the way back home, and a much needed hot shower was had.

Roll on Spring and Summer!

20 miles at 11.2 mph avg. Had been 12 until the rain and wind hit.