Your ride today.... (part 1)

[BigonaBianchi]

65 miles, two big climbs lunch in the beach bar and a siesta

 

[edindave]

Round the Forth again today, clockwise this time.

This is my 4th metric century since Saturday so I'm having a few of days off, with my wee boy.
Back on the bike on Bank Holiday Monday.


BP Grangemouth and Longannet coal fired power station taken from above Bo'ness.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

my ride today was a slow one, along the whitegate way to & from college using the mountain bike. My asthma is playing up badly (chest infection) and the steriods have yet to kick in enough to sort the asthma but have kicke din enough to prevent sleep so I set out with plenty of time to kill, and killed plenty of it with numerous stops along the way. It was a lovely morning, with the sun out, the birds tweeting (saw a tree creeper), the butterflies out in their numbers (3 species minimum) and very few other people around. (when my iPhone decides to release the photos it is holding hostage, I will upload them for you.)
Coming home I stopped off to collect some wild garlic for tonights tea - homemade (and dairy free) wild garlic pesto to go with the pasta/spagetti I shall be cooking later on. Spring has very definitely sprung and coming home it was warm enough for 3/4 length shorts & short sleeved jersey...
http://app.strava.com/activities/51905410

Ok - finally convinced the old iPhone to release the pictures. not great to be honest, but gives an idea.

 

[Peteaud]

My Hope switched itself off on the way home tonight. Again. Good thing I was on the hybrid with its backup and not the road bike. The research for a more reliable lighting system starts here.

I have a double cree t6 (from ebay) if you want to borrow it to have a play let me know.

 

[Venod]

What a beautiful day for ride, took the MTB on one of my favourite routes, a route steeped in industrial heritage, I started out through Pontefract Park besides the longest single flat racing circuit in the country, joining the Aire & Calder Navigation Canal at Whitwood (Castleford to Wakefield Section ) I followed it west to Stanley Ferry where there is an aqueduct carrying the canal over the river Calder.

http://www.stanleyhistoryonline.com/Stanley-Ferry-History.html

From Stanley its up an old railway track to the old Lofthouse Colliery spoil heap now a country park, Lofthouse was the scene of a mining disaster in 1973.

http://www.ncm.org.uk/docs/collections-documents/lofthouse-colliery-disaster.pdf?sfvrsn=4

From Lofthouse I went under one of the busiest stretches of Motorway in Yorkshire, the M1 - M62 Junction before joining a nice downhill old railway all the way to Rothwell Church. Rothwell is part of the Rhubarb Triangle.

From Rothwell its down to the Leeds - Castleford section of the Aire & Calder Navigation Canal, I leave the Canal & head through St Aidens Old opencast site now being managed by the RSPB, they are in the process of buiding a new parking area and it looks as if they have installed a new building as headquarters, I took this pic of one of the old drag lines .

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=7010#.UYKpL8pyZZQ

I left St Aidens and headed for the Lines the old railway that joins Garforth to Allerton Bywater, then along past Fairburn Ings a RSPB reserve formed from mining subsidence & colleiry spoil heaps, a magical place for a walk if you like wildlife, I then headed home over the River Aire & past Ferrybridge Power Station a well known landmark for anybody traveling on the A1.

Route

http://www.bikemap.net/route/209660...-1.3647680050656&zoom=12&maptype=opencyclemap

 

[i hate hills]

Round the Forth again today, clockwise this time.

This is my 4th metric century since Saturday so I'm having a few of days off, with my wee boy.
Back on the bike on Bank Holiday Monday.


BP Grangemouth and Longannet coal fired power station taken from above Bo'ness.

Think the weather is supposed to be GOOD on the bank holiday. According to my father in law and he's not often wrong.

 

[coffeejo]

I have a double cree t6 (from ebay) if you want to borrow it to have a play let me know.

Ooh, thanks Pete. That would be great. Spent the morning giving myself a headache looking at all the different options.

T'was a gloriously sunny day here in Somerset (resisted the urge to point this out to the cyclist I saw this morning wearing arm warmers!) and I headed out to the Levels. Hard to reconcile the green fields and dry roads with the floods of last spring and summer. And autumn. And winter. Thinking about it, today's the first time in over a year that I've not cycled through any water on that route.

Looking back to the village of Drayton, near Langport:

 

[Peteaud]

That is a lovely area to cycle.

The road from Drayton to Muchelney and the abbey is fantastic, it is such a nice place to be in the sun
I noticed most of it has dried out, although a few lanes still have flowing water.

If you need the lights i am in Chard, or normally out on the bike on a wednesday around Chard / Ilminster / Hambridge etc.

 

[coffeejo]

*starts thinking about routes to and from Chard*

 

[thegravestoneman]

Been a busy day today so I did the 10 mile quickie circuit, and I am glad to say I finally beat the 20mph+ barrier over the distance. I have been trying to get over this little landmark for a while, and it is the target I set myself for attempting a time trial or two. So I guess now I will have to find a local event. I know it is not a great time by any shakes but it is one that I don'tfind too embarrassing and is not too bad for 10 weeks or so of road work.

 

[The Brewer]

65 miles, two big climbs lunch in the beach bar and a siesta

I like it but its more like jealousy

 

[Moon bunny]

Today being my day off, I went to work with Hover Fly. We left home at 0600 hours, and while not quite achieving what HF calls a "Magnus" (no passes by motor vehicles) between leaving the A590 and the Stinkyduck ferry-where we were the only passengers-it was a very pleasant 18 miles through the southern lake district in the early morning sun. I discovered that Mr. Fly is very underworked, that a piece of polished brass is some kind of currency on the shores of Windermere, roughly equal to a ride for two on a private steam launch and that I want a job working with boats. The ride home was almost as good but as we stayed on the east side of the lake it was a little busier.

 

[Venod]

Been a busy day today so I did the 10 mile quickie circuit, and I am glad to say I finally beat the 20mph+ barrier over the distance. I have been trying to get over this little landmark for a while, and it is the target I set myself for attempting a time trial or two. So I guess now I will have to find a local event. I know it is not a great time by any shakes but it is one that I don'tfind too embarrassing and is not too bad for 10 weeks or so of road work.

You have just missed a few events run from Brotherton, but you can always do the course to see how you fare, Featherstone RC have a weekly Time Trial and they always welcome newcomers, Gary at Kendells bike shop in Cas will give you the details.

http://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Def...=2&gv852__gvff0=1235&gv852__gvfl0=0&tabid=362

http://www.featherstoneroadclub.co.uk/index.php/the-club/about-us

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Another metric hundred, second in two days.

http://app.strava.com/activities/52069019

 

[thegravestoneman]

You have just missed a few events run from Brotherton, but you can always do the course to see how you fare, Featherstone RC have a weekly Time Trial and they always welcome newcomers, Gary at Kendells bike shop in Cas will give you the details.

http://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Def...=2&gv852__gvff0=1235&gv852__gvfl0=0&tabid=362

http://www.featherstoneroadclub.co.uk/index.php/the-club/about-us

Cheers, I will have a word with him this weekend.