Your ride today.... (part 1)

[welsh dragon]

Yesterday I planned to do my first Century ride today. The weather didn't seem to bad. Chilly to start, a couple of passing showers and a gentle wind form the SW. Nazaneen, I used to trust you.... Not any more though! You didn't mention hailstorms and winds from the NW that dropped my speed to 8MPH at times!
Anyway, on with the day.
I finished work at midnight and was in bed by 01:15. Up at 07:00 to have some porage & get up and riding fairly early. 08:00 was the plan. I unlocked the bike shed and stepped inside to save getting wet before I even started. Slight delay until the rain stopped meant time for a proper coffee to perk me up.
I'd printed off a map that I was going to sort of follow, with deviations from the route as and when I felt the urge or saw a road I wished to use. My main intention was to get 100 miles done.
When I was approaching Oundle, I could see the skies darkening by the minute. The heavens were starting to open half way up the hill into the town centre so I took refuge under an archway and said a cheery hello to another couple of cyclists with the same idea as me!

View attachment 40632

Hail....... Well, it is Spring after all.

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Once again, my 'portrait' pics don't display as they should (??) Never mind, cock ya head if you want to see them properly!

When the weather cleared up a bit, I headed on through the town centre and in the general direction of Grafham Water.

View attachment 40634

It's a bit narrow through the town.

On the way to Grafham, I met the two lads who were sheltering from the hail again. They are from London, and had caught a train to St Neots to ride a circuit around Northants/Cambridgeshire thence back to the station and catch the train back to London.

View attachment 40635

On 60 miles at Grafham, I topped up with a Mozzarella, Bacon & tomato toasted Panini, washed down with a mug of black coffee. The ladies there are quite a laugh if you get chatting with them and they were happy to fill my water bottle up for my return journey.
On my way over, the wind had changed direction and had picked up quite a bit. The ride over the dam was head on.

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Very scenic though!
The 40 miles back proved to be much more of a struggle than I had anticipated. My legs were going great and I'd averaged over 16 MPH for the first 60 with out much bother. 30 of the last 40 miles, however, proved to be a battle against the headwind! I was back on familiar roads now, and knew the open fields would be a challenge.

View attachment 40646

THIS, is a photo of a b*stard headwind..

Nazaneen, if the wife's out, I'm going to bring you round mine and spank your bottom for lying about 'light breezes, you naughty naughty girl!
Anyway.. Back to reality!

No more pics from here on as I was starting to struggle a bit to be honest. I had only one thought in my mind and that was getting my 100 done.

My mind was in the right place though and I knew I would do it. I'd reached 84 miles, which was my previous longest distance and still felt good.

On the last miles, I had several amusing moments to cherish, sadly/luckily not preserved on film..
#1 After passing Podington Raceway, as the races finished and the boys were heading home, someone mooned at me out of the passenger window. Only one comment really mate.. If that's your girlfriend, her butt needs a shave!
Much respect to the drivers though.. Every one of them gave me space as they passed in their mega supped-up cars.

#2 At 98miles, I'd reached the top of Gt. Billing hill and was crossing the old A45 when I had to wait for a few cars. As I'd anticipated a space and was on the down-stroke, another car came round the corner.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I attempted to stop & unclip and failed at both! Exit stage left!!
Hopefully, none of the 7 or 8 car or the passengers on the nearby bus saw the ignominity of the moment

Memorable day for me though. first 100 mile ride sorted!
http://www.strava.com/activities/123325935

Great photos as always Pete and a great write up. Thanks for sharing.

 

[HLaB]

Not uploaded it yet but ride yesterday was the 100mile DCC Tourist Time Trial through the trossach some great views in the crisp clear sunshine and almost zero visibility in the snow storm round the bend
If I mind tonight I'll add some pics to the post.

 

[benb]

Had a nice one in today, chatted to a guy on a very cool retro-looking orange Condor fixed. Wasn't any of you lot was it?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I took my brother out this afternoon for his latest training ride around one of my usual routes: Lyth Hill, Condover, Atcham, Upton Magna, Uffington, Shrewsbury and back. It was fairly sunny but the wind was strong and pretty . I was back to my winter gear for this trip.

Being almost exclusively a fair weather cyclist, this was Doug's introduction to the wind that feels like it's against you the whole way round with the result that he was struggling after about 15 miles and we cut it short towards the end (to be fair it was blowing at 21mph with gusts to 34 while we were out). The wind did assist for one short stretch between Upton Magna and Uffington (Doug hit 26 mph top speed) but it did feel like a slog the rest of the way.

19.6 miles done at 10.5 mph average. Doug's quite puffed out after this ride so more training is needed if he's going to manage the 50 miler in June.

Lambs in the fields near Condover.

Doug tries to look like he's enjoying the ride.

The Mytton and Mermaid at Atcham. They appear to have a new arbour in the garden.

There's a nice display of daffs down there at the moment.

 

[Old Plodder]

That looks like a dog!

 

[Old Plodder]

Short 11 mile ride mainly to record distances and take photos. As I can no longer get the cards for my camera (Fuji 500) it looks like I may have to change it in the near future, but as I seen one like mine in a "Cash Converters" last week for £9, it looks like I will not get much for it. Did come to the conclusion that photography slows down bike riding and I do find it a hassle. View attachment 40598 View attachment 40616 View attachment 40619

Nice pics, you've got a good 'eye' for a shot, worth a new camera, I think.....

 

[gavgav]

I took my brother out this afternoon for his latest training ride around one of my usual routes: Lyth Hill, Condover, Atcham, Upton Magna, Uffington, Shrewsbury and back. It was fairly sunny but the wind was strong and pretty . I was back to my winter gear for this trip.

Being almost exclusively a fair weather cyclist, this was Doug's introduction to the wind that feels like it's against you the whole way round with the result that he was struggling after about 15 miles and we cut it short towards the end (to be fair it was blowing at 21mph with gusts to 34 while we were out). The wind did assist for one short stretch between Upton Magna and Uffington (Doug hit 26 mph top speed) but it did feel like a slog the rest of the way.

19.6 miles done at 10.5 mph average. Doug's quite puffed out after this ride so more training is needed if he's going to manage the 50 miler in June.

View attachment 40678
Lambs in the fields near Condover.

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Doug tries to look like he's enjoying the ride.

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The Mytton and Mermaid at Atcham. They appear to have a new arbour in the garden.

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There's a nice display of daffs down there at the moment.

The wind was brutal on Sunday as well! Was fairly happy with my avg speed though overall

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The wind was brutal on Sunday as well! Was fairly happy with my avg speed though overall

Yes, saw your report. I'm impressed that you went out regardless of the conditions. That average wasn't bad considering the weather so I reckon that working up to at least 12 mph average over the 48 miles is achievable by June.

 

[simon the viking]

Had a day off today.... I normally try to do about 30 miles but today Mrs V foxed me by booking the day off.... So after we dropped little-un at school (We pushed the bikes down to the school ... No cars used on the school run normally) we went off together and did about 15 miles..... the disappointment (for me)of shorter distance was offset by us spending some quality time together without the pressures and disruptions of normal life

 

[LimeBurn]

Had a quick run out this afternoon after fitting a new chain and cassette to see if everything was ok. Just over 20 miles in 1 and a half hours with 2000ft of climbing, average of 14mph which was a little disappointing, the sun was out but so was the headwind for the last 10 miles. Cycling past the Holmroyd windfarm with my nose virtually touching the bars was a bit disheartening as I felt I was on soft sand but at least I was out on the bike.

 

[HLaB]

Not uploaded it yet but ride yesterday was the 100mile DCC Tourist Time Trial through the trossach some great views in the crisp clear sunshine and almost zero visibility in the snow storm round the bend
If I mind tonight I'll add some pics to the post.

As promised some Pics and the gps track:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/467075811

PS I think I need a new phone and photography lessons; I don't do the views justice.

My mate does a better job:

And congrats to @Fubar on his first ton of the year

 

[Telemark]

@HLaB, on a home visit? Should have joined CC Ecosse on Saturday, long time no see!

T

 

[HLaB]

@HLaB, on a home visit? Should have joined CC Ecosse on Saturday, long time no see!

T

Back down the road to the flatlands now.

 

[totallyfixed]

I'm cheating a bit as this is 3 rides in 3 days. First one Saturday, windy, hilly 33 miles, done.
Second one Sunday, a bit more windy, 54 miles, more hills.
Contemplating the next one.

and more hills, the force is back with dr_pink, attack mode.

And so to today, after ordering a new Ultegra groupset for my geared bike [the individual parts were far cheaper than to buy as a complete groupset] which hopefully will be ready for Colin's ride at the weekend, we felt the need for a bit more fresh air, so as dr_pink is on holiday this week we set off to meet a friend at the Windmill.

There are an awful lot of pics of dr_pink standing on the pedals but not a lot of option when you only have one gear in these parts. Some more from the ride.

This is how trees age in Rutland

Another 56 fixed miles in the bank and another beautiful day but can we lose the wind just for a couple of days please.

 

[ColinJ]

I did a hilly 48 mile loop today to get a few more miles in my legs before my forum ride this coming Saturday.

My pal Bill joined me at the bottom of the Heptonstall Rd and we then set off up the climb. We were pretty much following the first part of local audax ride Season of Mists, though we chose to ride the easier route to Slack via Lee Wood Road rather than straight up the steeper climb through Heptonstall village, with its cobbled main street.

We had a tailwind most of the way out, except for where we turned across the wind at Fence in the Forest of Pendle. There is a lovely lane that goes along parallel to Pendle Hill and we rode along there in bright sunshine. The wind was a bit chilly, but it was otherwise a great day to be out on the bikes.

We dropped down into Sabden and began what is normally a very stiff climb over the Nick o'Pendle, but today we had a fabulous tailwind to assist us. The SoM route descends all the way to cross the A59 on the way to Clitheroe, but we turned left and continued on another quiet lane through Pendleton to Wiswell, where we turned right and descended over the A59, then turned left and headed down into Whalley through which we will be passing on Saturday.

I spotted a new bike shop on the corner by the mini-roundabout where we turned left to climb up to Spring Wood. I didn't have time to take a close look, but I reckon it will be an up-market shop.

We climbed the Old Roman Road above @totallyfixed's home village of Read. A quick descent into Padiham took us to the Greenway, which we ascended to Rose Grove.

We were minding our own business, waiting patiently for a gap in the traffic to emerge onto the A646 when a passenger in a taxi passing in front of us spotted our bikes and clearly thought that we needed a good tongue-lashing so he leaned out of the rear window and hurled abuse at us, to the amusement of the small boy sitting next to him. Watch and learn, son - watch and learn!

So after Mr Juan Kerr had finished his paternal duties for the day, we finally made our way up to the traffic lights. Normally we continue straight on up Rossendale Road, which gets steeper and steeper until it levels off just before Manchester Road. Today, however, I wanted to try out an alternative route through Burnley which has half the climbing for a mere 0.9 km increase in distance. I won't bother describing the new route because we both decided that the traffic was worse and we preferred our traditional route. Stick to that!

We had a really stiff headwind all the way down Cliviger Gorge to Todmorden where I stopped for a quick cuppa with Bill, then whizzed back to Hebden Bridge before the evening traffic got too heavy.

I can feel myself getting stronger ride-by-ride. If I can avoid injury or further illness, then I should be pretty fit by the end of the summer.