Your ride today.... (part 1)

[EltonFrog]

My Ride Today? In Two Words.

Bloody Muddy. or Bloody Slow. or Bloody Awful. or Sh It.

The track starts very near my house.

The hell that is the A34 starting to back up

The track to the Ridgway

The land where they grow Atomic Energy

The actual Ridgway.

A haystack on fire

More feckin' mud

It got so I had to walk and the mud was sucking my shoes off.

11 point something miles, frankly I lost the will to live, so I don't care.

 

[ColinJ]

My Ride Today? In Two Words.

Bloody Muddy. or Bloody Slow. or Bloody Awful. or Sh It.

...

View attachment 77614
More feckin' mud

View attachment 77615
It got so I had to walk and the mud was sucking my shoes off.

...

11 point something miles, frankly I lost the will to live, so I don't care.

Aaargh - I really don't enjoying cycling in muddy conditions either!

I did the Rossendale Mountain Bike Challenge one year when we were routed over what I think was a landfill site which had been covered with soil. Grass was yet to grow on it and it had been raining heavily so the soil turned to a muddy quagmire. My bike got so clogged up that the wheels would no longer turn. I had to pick up the 28 pound MTB which had about another 28 pounds of mud stuck to it, carry it off the site and then throw it into a deep puddle and wash the mud off. Oh, yes, I lost my SPD shoes a couple of times in the mud - NOT FUN!

 

[cosmicbike]

My Ride Today? In Two Words.

or Sh It.

That's only 1 word

At least you went out though, could have sat indoors and moaned about the weather..

 

[Jon George]

11 point something miles, frankly I lost the will to live, so I don't care.

I'm sorry @CarlP - I do genuinely feel your pain - but this sentence made me laugh. (As did 'The land where they grow Atomic Energy'.)The dejected image it conjures can only be summed up with a certain emoticon ....

 

[Gravity Aided]

10 miles indoor trainer today, close to 0C and misty out, a good day for black ice, so trainer it was.

 

[gavgav]

3.6 miles today. The shortest ride you'll ever see me writing about. Last time out I clattered to the ground on a patch of ice, and I had to test both the bike and myself to make sure we are going to be OK for my audax on Saturday. Rode out to Hempsted, mostly on a cycle path, so that I could try out gear changing under stress on the little hill on the way up to Hempsted Church. Everything was fine with the bike. I was a little creaky. Still a few bumps and yellow bruises and feeling a little sore in the hip and the shoulder, but I reckon I'll be alright to go. Donger's back in the game.
Careful out there, everybody.
Cheers, Donger.

Good to hear! Looking forward to reading about the Audax at the weekend.

 

[Cush]

A road ride on the MTB today. Since we will be spending lots of time together on the C2C, we needed to get to know each other a lot better, and I had new grips and a Charge Spoon to test out.

It was barely 0C when I set off, my target was 10 miles away, but it was pretty much uphill all the way. With knobblies on, it's a bit slower going than on the road bike, but there was enough ice around to have made me very nervous on the road bike. I did say hi to one roadie, who was taking it very easy.



In a change to my normal plan I walked over the railway bridge from Wetheral to take a short cut, then it was up the lesser used (and rather mucky) roads to finally end up at my target.



Arrived at Talkin Tarn with my fingers and toes freezing, but otherwise feeling good. The new wheels have made it way better at climbing on the road, the new fork being a bit lighter doesn't hurt either, and everything was still comfy. Looks like a thumbs up for this saddle, which is one less thing I will need to spend money on



The Tarn itself was frozen! But the tea room was open and a large coffee was very welcome indeed while I let my feet thaw out a bit. I reckon this will become a regular stop of mine from now on

Then it was back to visit my Parents, downhill all the way YAY! Another coffee and a little lunch and there was just the 5 miles back home to do.

Nice day out.

Very nice ride, Wetheral Viaduct one of my favorite spots, a fitness tester is to ride up from the Ferry Landing to the post office or fastening the bike under the Viaduct and run up the 99 steps (always get a different total when I try and count them). From Talking Tarn try the ride over to Hallbankgate and down to Haltwhistle via Lambley Viaduct then catch the train back to Wetheral or Carlisle.

 

[EltonFrog]

No ride today, after yesterdays horror of a ride, plus its grey and foggy out there this morning, so I did a 5.25 mile run, as part of my training for this 10k event. The longest run I have done in my life. Ever.

 

[PeteXXX]

After an 00:30 finish this morning, and bed by 01:30, I was up at 07:15 to pop into town to:-
A) stick a cheque in the bank, and, more importantly,
B)meet a mate nearby at 09:15 for a bit of a tootle around the area for a few miles even though be had to be back home by 10:30.
The lunatic had been out since 06:30! Once we'd sorted the traffic out and dropped down onto the Brampton Valley Way for a couple of miles, we had a few hills around Chapel Brampton and Harleston to get us warmed up.
As we didn't have much time left, we headed to his house for a rather large espresso and some home made cake. Tasty!!
After leaving, I had to navigate the road works at the Gasworks roundabout. Bl**dy nightmare. Bike path one side, slalom through the cones to find the next bit shut, with an alleyway fabricated from boards and metal fencing to get back to the main road.. Ne'er the less, I eventually got back onto the riverside paths and home via Houghton, and Billing Aquadrome.

With the temperature hovering around or below zero, it was pleasant 30 mile ride before having to get home for a shower, lunch and off to w*rk this afternoon. Boooo.

https://www.strava.com/activities/244458431

 

[EltonFrog]

Good effort @PeteXXX at daft o-clock in the morning.

 

[PeteXXX]

Good effort @PeteXXX at daft o-clock in the morning.

Cheers CP. .. Have to do daft o'clock sometimes or I'd never get out!!

 

[cosmicbike]

A chilly 24 miles this morning that took in a bit of new territory for me once again, this time out through Sunninghill, actually a great B road to ride and one that will probably go on the regular list. Cut through WGP to get home, a brief stop to tweak saddle position left me with a sore leg as I had trouble getting my leg over and bashed it on the saddle.

 

[EltonFrog]

Notwithstanding today's earlier post the old weather brightened up the this afternoon and the old currant bun was burning me eyeballs out. I needed to get some bread and milk so not being arsed to get all the cycle gear on; and the paths and roads looked dry, I tucked the bottom of my jeans into my socks, put my trainers on, got out the Kingpin and pottered off down to the Bury of Sains. At 6ft tall I look a bit of a nobber on that bike, but it is such fun to ride, I really don't give a monkeys.

In contrast to yesterdays ride the weather was blumen' lovely out there so it was, and not bitterly cold either, I could have carried on a bit longer but I had to get back 'cos I've about 37 doors to paint and I'm only on number 6 at the moment.

A couple of photos for you.

A view from the top of the raised Sustrans route looking towards The Ridgeway in the far distance and the row of trees in the middle hide the mud sucking track that was responsible for my tale of woe yesterday.

There are some lovely looking old houses in East Hagbourne

I saw the old GPO "milestone" almost hidden away. Don't see many of them nowadays.

My 45 year old bike looks a bit incongruous outside Argos. ( I have just discovered the pump on this bike is about as much use as a butter knife at a wood carvers convention)

Old railway cutting cycle path a legacy of Lord Beeching

 

[fatjel]

Took the new defy round my only ever KOM and I is a minute slower than on the carerra
Could be over using the 32t cog , was traveling at 2mph at one point lol


https://www.strava.com/activities/244453951

 

[Jon George]

The ride today has finally convinced me that however much The Old Chap and his two underlings might appreciate being warm, underpants under cycling shorts just does not work for me - too much chaffing elsewhere in the same vicinity.
A thirty-three miler taking in Swilland, Cretingham, Kettleburgh, Wickham Market and Woodbridge.
A picture that sums up how cyclists are viewed by some people in Ipswich.

There's some deer in this picture - there were about six or seven making their way across the road.

The last of the day's sun out near Easton.