Your ride today.... (part 1)

[IDMark2]

I hardly take photos on my rides but since joining here I think as I'm going along 'Ah, I can share this...' Anyway my thoughts on going down the shared use path down the Exe Estuary yesterday were:
These builders are going to need a larger cement mixer...

and I think you have to be a bloke to work for them...

 

[alans]

Unusually for me I began my ride into Stoke to get a haircut whilst it was actually raining.Any way it didn't dissolve any part of me or the bike during the 33km in total.Easy ride in actually keeping up with the trafficthinking that recent tandem riding is improving my fitness.Rather less easy on the way back into an easterly headwind which is unusual hereabouts.The prevailing wind is westerly.
Riding time was approx. 80 mins but I was out for longer because the auto-pilot on the bike does not allow me to pass Swinnerton's without slowing,turning left,coming to halt & enterering thereinOooohh LOOK,a Brooks Swallow saddle.That would be ideal for the tandem.Get thee behind me
I also had a Twix stop in Blythe Bridge on the way back.

It's been a long time since I used the carbon Trek for any distance.I fettled the bars,saddle & sti's a few weeks ago then did a kilometre test ride to make sure everything was as it should be then parked it in the garage.
After using the steel tourer or tandem the Trek feels ridiculously light & twitchy & I'd almost forgotten how to use sti's having become accustomed to either downtube levers or bar end shifters.
Damage control reported no problems with wrists,neck,feet,knees,under-carrige & adjacent sit-upon area so all's well.

 

[PeteXXX]

Road ride today after the mtb around The Firs yesterday (I've got some crackin mossie bites on my legs from there!)
A couple of mates called at mine at about 10, grabbed a sarnie and some coffee then headed out on an undulating route I enjoy riding through Sywell, Orlingbury, Broughton and Loddington. The wind was stronger than expected and the temperature was lower than yesterday's, so no shorts today.
One of my favourite roads in the area is on this route. This is a previous pic I've taken as we weren't stopping much today. (Apart from a coffee stop)

Two lovely hills down, and three little testers going up, especially against the wind..

Then there's a Cat 4 into Scaldwell..

Neverthelss, it built up an apetite for our stop in Brixworth.

We got there just before the lunchtime luckily as it's a popular place.

Their toasted bacon, brie and cranberry panini is delicious!! Washed down with tea in a coffee mug, but who cares.. lol

From here, one chap headed towards Rugby to see his parents and get a metric ton under his belt. Bob and I rode past Pitsford Reservoir and towards home.
I was on 33 miles by the end, but having done a mile or so to the Post Office this morning, and about 5 SS miles to the shops and visit my daughter after the main ride, I felt I'd done a reasonable day on the bike today

33 main miles, and probably 40 in total including the other tootles.

http://app.strava.com/activities/118185455

 

[Mark Grant]

Today I rode to Brentford where I picked up the Grand union Canal

Followed the canal along past the flight of 6 locks at Hanwell,

and Three Bridges, the canal goes over the railway and a road goes over the canal.
Then turned right onto the Regents Canal, stopping at Camden for lunch.

Then onto Limehouse basin

where I took the Thames path (mainly) back home.

58 miles.
More pics here http://s123.photobucket.com/user/MarkG_05/library/Bikes/Canal?sort=2&page=1

 

[I like Skol]

My ride on Wednesday.... An unashamed trip down memory lane. The sun shone like a goodun' so it was short fingered gloves and sunglasses, they might as well have been rose tinted glasses as the ride was just as good as the memories!

I loaded the MTB onto the roofrack and headed over to Hayfield to do my 'retro' 90's ride that I used to love as a young man in my late teens and early twenties.
Here's the view across Little Hayfield and Hayfield to the long slope I am about to climb at the start of the ride.

This is proper hilly country, lots of proper hills to climb and descend.

http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_3742493.html

The initial1.5 miles of slog to gain nearly 800ft was hard, but worth every penny of effort. At this point I will stick my neck out and state that if I ever meet the Puncture Fairy I will give her a bloody nose as just short of the top I had to stop due to a visit. A damn thorn which must have been picked up on the Hayfield trail...

I only packed 1 spare tube on this ride because, and I quote, "I rarely get punctures on the MTB"!

Never mind, once the summit was reached it was the start of payback time, payback for the endless climb. The path from the top back down to Peep-o-day is a fantastic warm up for the technical, challenging, rocky and rewarding trails ahead. After crossing the A624 and passing Mount Famine and South Head it was downhill again to Roych's Clough.

The climb out of Roych's Clough is challenging but rideable and I only had to stop once on a particularly tricksie, off camber step near the top before the climb starts to level out (about 1/4 of a mile after this picture).
It was after this climb I decided I really was over dressed but had no where to put my surplus fleece so had to soldier on regardless. I bumped into someone I haven't seen on my rides for ages.....

The road going up Rushup Edge is a fantastic combination of steps, bedrock and loose sandstone, again rideable but challenging for anyone that likes that kind of thing (and I LOVE it!). Halfway along the edge the bridleway swaps to the other side of the wall and it suddenly gets a bit boggy. At this point I had my first unplanned dismount of the day when my front wheel slipped out from under me at slow speed and my outstretched right arm and right knee disappeared into a mucky hole!
What I did find a bit bizarre is that where the bridleway crosses the road at the top by Mam Tor, the path has been beautifully resurfaced in flat smooth crushed sandstone for a 100yrds or so either side of the road. This really smacks of window dressing the bits the 'public' can see as from memory, these were not as bad as the path along the edge and the awful chute (or exciting white knuckle rollercoaster depending on POV) dropping down into Edale.

In Edale it all began to go a bit Pete Tong! I had counted on calling at the little café next to the train station for a full English and a mug of coffee, and also planned to refill my single water bottle here but the café doesn't open during the week!!!! I had no choice but to head out of Edale and through Barber Booth towards Jacob's Ladder without refreshments.

Time to shoulder the bike and get carrying!

 

[I like Skol]

This is what it looks like from near the top looking back....

I would have much preferred to be going down than walking up

Anyway, the final reward of the day is a long drop back towards Hayfield with a fantastic rock garden for the 1st half

Which unfortunately resulted in another of these....

Which meant I had no option but to crack open the repair kit and fix the tube from the first puncture (Next time I WILL take my usual 2 tubes!).

By this point I was absolutely wrecked, hungry and dehydrated I had nothing left and had to walk the last easily rideable climb towards Peep-O-Day where I had left the car.

Despite the punctures, the walking up hills and eating set backs I still absolutely loved the ride and can't wait to go back later in the year with some fellow forum'ers (watch this space....)

 

[potsy]

Despite the punctures, the walking up hills and eating set backs I still absolutely loved the ride and can't wait to go back later in the year with some fellow forum'ers (watch this space....)

*cancels mtb order*

 

[Crackle]

*cancels mtb order*

You did go for the lighter one didn't you, much easier on the shoulder.

 

[coffeejo]

*cancels mtb order*

Just remember to take a properly stocked tool kit, a camelbak or equivalent with LOTS of water, and some snacks.

 

[Old Plodder]

I remember seeing some mountain bikers riding up Jacobs Ladder when I was up there on a walking holiday........nutters, I thought, 'horses for courses'.....

Potsy, you just need a 'spirit of adventure' to go mountain biking; but you may have to go without a coffee/cake stop.

 

[Alex H]

The is out again so the 2nd tandem outing of the year to that village we go a lot to Well, it does have a nice picnic area and if you want to build a house the land is now down 50%

On the way we made the foolish mistake of stopping halfway up a hill to take a picture of a buzzard which was sitting on a tree within range of the compact camera.

We stop - it flies off

25km in just over an hour

 

[LimeBurn]

Last night my ride consisted of a 13 miler round trip to 'cycle to the cinema' at the Longshaw Estate near Fox House. Up though Endcliffe Park and onto the tops with a more than brisk head wind all the way (even the short downhill sections you had to pedal to make headway), good thought provoking film 'Chasing Ice' about the decline of glaciers through climate change and then a lovely ride back to Sheffield with a more than welcome tailwind (and mostly downhill) all the way back to the park in Sheffield (took all of 20 minutes) at about 10.30pm. No photos as it was dark and very low cloud on the tops but very surreal especially when we were approached by 5 or 6 mountain bikers on the trail that suddenly appeared out of the cloud. A very enjoyable night but a hard slog up.

 

[gavgav]

The last day of my holiday with @rickshawphil in the lakes. There had been 2 days off the bikes due to tired legs and some monsoon Lake District rain and so we had planned a ride of about 25 miles involving a fair bit of climbing, but woke up this morning to a howling gale and showers. It cleared up a bit by 1pm and do we decided on a very similar ride to our 1st day here, with a ride around coniston lake, but with a few subtle differences.

Phil had been to check out the new path to torver earlier in the week and recommended it as less hilly. We therefore cycled up to it only to find that the overnight rain had filled the start of it with a deep flood and after trying to walk round it and sinking in the mud I was straight back to the road instead.!!

We did join the path a bit further on, but the incessant amount of gates to negotiate means it really isn't worth it and I think the hilly route out of the campsite may be better to stay with.

We then headed around the lake and found that the heavy rain from yesterday had caused a number of flooded sections which we were able to ride through and proved good at washing the weeks mud off the bikes.

There was that much water running off the hillsides that it was coming up through drains in fountains and had raised the level of the lake by a good foot or so, obscuring a number of jettys.

We called into the bluebird cafe at coniston for coffee to finish, but I was disappointed that they wouldn't do me a decaf cappuccino today, when there had no problem earlier in the week! Black mark for the cafe.

14.93 miles at avg of 9.9 mph, 1015 ft of climbing.

That means we managed about 75 miles over the week which has been great fun and a good start to training for my 50 mile British Heart Foundation ride in June.

www.justgiving.com/Gavin-Taylor4 if anyone is interested in sponsoring me

 

[alans]

It's tandem-Friday.
Today we had a tailwind assisted big-grin big-ring blast down the A51 from Stone to Great Haywood.Had the compulsory cake stop at Lock House adjacent to the Essex Bridge.
Return into the headwind via Hixon,Stowe-by-Chartley,Amerton Farm,Coton,Milwich & Little Stoke.
The drag up,west bound,from Milwich required the use of the granny ring to combat the weight imposed by the anti-bonk fuel taken on board at Lock House & Amerton Farm.
32km ridden which met our target increase over last Friday's ride.ftw.We were out for four hours with more time off the bike than riding it so not good practice for planned future audaxing.
Despite the windy & hilly return route my stoker maintains that she enjoyed it so it's mission accomplished.

Two issues arise....
1) Carol has a sore situpon & is considering an alternative saddle.Apparently she saw a programme on TV during the week which featured Brooks saddles which she relates to because I fitted a Brooks to the pilot position last week.Que lots of questions about the pro's & con's of Brooks saddles.
2) I have soreness at the base of my thumbs so need to fit some bar-phat & more tape as per my own bikes.

 

[Alex H]

It's tandem-Friday.

1) Carol has a sore situpon & is considering an alternative saddle.Apparently she saw a programme on TV during the week which featured Brooks saddles which she relates to because I fitted a Brooks to the pilot position last week.Que lots of questions about the pro's & con's of Brooks saddles.

My wife has had at least 5 saddles over the years on our tandems - she has had a Brooks for the last 6 years