Your ride today.... (part 1)

[derrick]

82 miles today, my longest ride to date, had a couple of stops along the way, had a couple of guy's with us who were pushing a bit harder than usual, and what with the heat it was a hard ride, even took a pic at the second stop. clavering lakes.

 

[ComedyPilot]

643km more than 99.9999% of the UK population

137km more than me.

 

[BSRU]

ok, I now feel very inadequate wanting to get to 643km for June!!

No point comparing yourself with anyone apart from yourself
Some guy on Strava rode over 4,500km in June

 

[Louch]

I know, was more in Jest. but im deffo off to do 8 more miles so I can sleep happy tonight knowing iv done 400 miles this month

 

[Spartak]

Took Little Spartak out this morning in her bike trailer, searching for some 'Gromits' in Central Bristol !

http://www.gromitunleashed.org.uk/

Nice 30km ride with a coffee & pastry in Bordeaux Quay ........... a very nice cafe / restaurant on the Waterfront.

 

[Glow worm]

Two rides to report on here. First, last night's ride to Wicken Fen (nature reserve) to see glow worms.

The pub at Wicken village had been having a gig on which must have just finished, (this was around 11pm) so while I was looking at glow worms on the adjacent fen near the cycle path, a whole bunch of 'refreshed' and rather stoned cyclists returning from the pub stopped by wondering, in the pitch black, what I was up to. I showed them a glow worm in the grass, and a surreal half hour or so followed as they had never seen such a creature before, and we all sat in a circle around one very bright one in awe. The photo doesn't do it justice though.

I then left my inebriated new friends and headed for home.

Then today, a 44 miler up to a place called Fenstanton in Huntingdonshire to some friend's bar-b-que and back. I misjudged the distance from the O.S. map and it took 2 hours to get there instead of the 1.5 I'd figured. It's these bloody kilometers these map people insist on using to confuse us.

Anyway, it was a great ride out across the fen to Horningsea, then over the River Cam, then on through Milton and Histon to join the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway thing for the last 10 miles. Loads of folks out on bikes on there today which was great. On the way home I took a couple of pics. This is the Busway track. (The buses roar along an adjacent track to the right behind the bank).

The wildflowers are stunning along there at this time of year. After getting hassled by the usual Audi f***wit at some kind of chav fest at Histon, (some sort of dismal fair or other) I escaped the roads and their muppetry, and crossed back over the river to more familiar territory at a spot called Baits Bite Lock. This is part of a network of (thankfully Audi free) farm tracks across the fen that take me home to my village.

Home in under 2 hours from Huntingdonshire, pretty good for an old bimbler like me.

 

[derrick]

over 1000 kilometers on Strava this month.
http://app.strava.com/dashboard

 

[Louch]

over 1000 kilometers on Strava this month.
http://app.strava.com/dashboard

that link just takes us to our own strava dashboard rather than your profile

 

[Brandane]

First post by phone!
Having a break in Norfolk. 65 miles yesterday. Castle Acre, Sandringham, Hunstanton, and back to Castle Acre. Zig zag route using the massive network of back lanes to avoid the suicidal A and B roads.

About 55 miles today. Castle Acre, Fakenham, Dereham, Swaffham and back to Castle Acre. Again via back lanes and getting lost frequently because of a lack of signage certainly contributes to the mileage! Any locals with ideas for tomorrow before I head home on Tuesday? Around 50 miles with constant tailwind would be good...

Edit... I thought Norfolk was supposed to be FLAT? It appears to have developed a lot of rolling hills since Thursday!

 

[Cubist]

I discovered a rabbit/sheep path wile out walking the dog the other day. Not marked on the map, but on some heather clad moorland, and a bit of explorerising on foot meant a nice little loop that could be added into a cheeky half-hour spin from the house. Didn't have much time for a ride today but persuaded Cubette to come with me and try the loop out. Then found this amazing little descent..... great ride, stitched it into the loop.

 

[hopless500]

Two rides to report on here. First, last night's ride to Wicken Fen (nature reserve) to see glow worms.

The pub at Wicken village had been having a gig on which must have just finished, (this was around 11pm) so while I was looking at glow worms on the adjacent fen near the cycle path, a whole bunch of 'refreshed' and rather stoned cyclists returning from the pub stopped by wondering, in the pitch black, what I was up to. I showed them a glow worm in the grass, and a surreal half hour or so followed as they had never seen such a creature before, and we all sat in a circle around one very bright one in awe. The photo doesn't do it justice though.
View attachment 25546

I then left my inebriated new friends and headed for home.

Then today, a 44 miler up to a place called Fenstanton in Huntingdonshire to some friend's bar-b-que and back. I misjudged the distance from the O.S. map and it took 2 hours to get there instead of the 1.5 I'd figured. It's these bloody kilometers these map people insist on using to confuse us.

Anyway, it was a great ride out across the fen to Horningsea, then over the River Cam, then on through Milton and Histon to join the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway thing for the last 10 miles. Loads of folks out on bikes on there today which was great. On the way home I took a couple of pics. This is the Busway track. (The buses roar along an adjacent track to the right behind the bank).

View attachment 25547

The wildflowers are stunning along there at this time of year. After getting hassled by the usual Audi f***wit at some kind of chav fest at Histon, (some sort of dismal fair or other) I escaped the roads and their muppetry, and crossed back over the river to more familiar territory at a spot called Baits Bite Lock. This is part of a network of (thankfully Audi free) farm tracks across the fen that take me home to my village.

View attachment 25548

Home in under 2 hours from Huntingdonshire, pretty good for an old bimbler like me.

That looks a nice ride - might have to head down that way - possibly <cough> with the bikes on the back of the car

 

[hopless500]

First post by phone!
Having a break in Norfolk. 65 miles yesterday. Castle Acre, Sandringham, Hunstanton, and back to Castle Acre. Zig zag route using the massive network of back lanes to avoid the suicidal A and B roads.

About 55 miles today. Castle Acre, Fakenham, Dereham, Swaffham and back to Castle Acre. Again via back lanes and getting lost frequently because of a lack of signage certainly contributes to the mileage! Any locals with ideas for tomorrow before I head home on Tuesday? Around 50 miles with constant tailwind would be good...

Edit... I thought Norfolk was supposed to be FLAT? It appears to have developed a lot of rolling hills since Thursday!

Flat, my ar$e!!! It has sneaky little (and big) hills all over the bloomin' place. Nice area to cycle though - Castle Acre is lovely. Swaffham and Dereham not quite so lovely ( I work in Swaffham ). The A & B roads are moderately suicidal - I do most of my cycling on the lanes and would say they are severely suicidal when you have a one-car-wide lane and the car coming the other way just continues to drive at you as fast as they can.

Norfolk advice: Ignore road signs ( if they exist ). If they do exist, they lie about where you will end up.
Beware of all drivers. One might be the lovely Emma Way. Norfolk drivers like to speed round blind bends (preferably, if there is room - on the wrong side of the road), have no idea where the brake pedal is, nor do they know that the stick on the steering wheel operates little yellow blinky lights on the exterior of their car which might give others on the road a bl@@dy clue.
btw, if you're staying in the area, West Acre is also nice (esp the pub ).

 

[Glow worm]

That looks a nice ride - might have to head down that way - possibly <cough> with the bikes on the back of the car

Cheers, yes it was fun. I don't often wander in that direction, most of my longer rides take me to Norfolk funnily enough (Near Wells to be precise, though I do cheat a little and get the train from Ely to Lynn as that 25 miles or so of fenland can be a bit tedious).

I guess my advice for the Guided Busway would be to try to do some little circuits around some adjacent villages for a bit of variety. Fen Drayton Lakes are also worth an explore (RSPB reserve). It's possible that just riding the busway all the way and then back again could get a little monotonous. (There is a park and ride at St Ives you could use, then ride the route from there).

 

[HLaB]

First post by phone!
Having a break in Norfolk. 65 miles yesterday. Castle Acre, Sandringham, Hunstanton, and back to Castle Acre. Zig zag route using the massive network of back lanes to avoid the suicidal A and B roads.

About 55 miles today. Castle Acre, Fakenham, Dereham, Swaffham and back to Castle Acre. Again via back lanes and getting lost frequently because of a lack of signage certainly contributes to the mileage! Any locals with ideas for tomorrow before I head home on Tuesday? Around 50 miles with constant tailwind would be good...

Edit... I thought Norfolk was supposed to be FLAT? It appears to have developed a lot of rolling hills since Thursday!

Yor two weeks too late for a tail wind, its changed to a westardly again about the same time as I spent two days (300miles) in the Fens. On the first day we passed through a lot of the places you mention some really nice (Shakespearesque) villages and a good cafe at Castle Acre, with a lovely garden out the back (doesn't look bike friendly at first but it is). West of Castle Acre is pretty flat but its a biatch in a strong west wind!

 

[thegravestoneman]

Not my ride today (again) but it will be by the end of the week, I am off to Fuertventura in the Canaries and I have hired a bike while I am out there. I can't bl**d*ng wait, I am that bl**dy excited!!! I just hope the bike lives up to expectations (any ktm strada riders out there?) I feel better now I have said it