Your ride today.... (part 1)

[Saluki]

First ride for a month! What with a heavy cold and a cough, a pulled achilles and a bout of depression, I've not been able to get myself motivated. I have asked hubby to come out with me and he has replied "we'll see" a few times but when its come to crunch time he didn't want to go and I could't face it on my own. Depression is a funny old thing.
I just went around the block really. 5.11 miles in 25 mins and 29 seconds. It was horrible for the first mile but fine for the next and then great for the next 3. I am hoping to do the same ride tomorrow at some point. Whether or not hubster wants to come.

 

[Kies]

got home late , tired and a little cranky. took it out a little on the Mrs as her car was parked in the driveway at the wrong angle ( yes I know I was being a cockwomble, and have apologised), the roadie was locked up in the shed and the hybrid was sitting in the front spare room, so hybrid it was .... getting dark by 6.40, and the winds were up. Had a great time and managed 16.1 miles in 1 hour .
surprise surprise my mood was a 1000 times better

 

[Alex H]

It's grey and drizzly, but I had to take my car to the garage for a service and investigation into why the battery light is on all the time. So put the bike in the back and hoped the heavens didn't open on the way back. The garage is in St Junien so, it's down to the Vienne and up again

Got to the garage and found the only space at the front is blocked by a female in a Mondeo, who is chatting to one of the sales reps. Patiently wait and after a few minutes they say their goodbyes and she gets into the car. As she is already parked parallel to the road, she puts the indicator on and we wait. And wait. And wait. There are several large gaps in the traffic, which for some reason she chooses to ignore. At last she moves off and in doing so stoves in the rear passenger door of a passing Citroen C3 . Everything stops. She reverses back to where she came from (still blocking the space ) and I give up and reverse into the 'new car' area and park there.

Leave the car and cycle back - so only 7.1km in 22:10

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I got Doug out for a training ride today. He wasn't sure about managing the 30 miles we'd discussed at the weekend but I still wanted to make sure it was a decent workout so we settled on going to Oaks and Pulverbatch - 18 hilly miles.

With a change of wind direction and the overnight rain it was much more pleasant out than yesterday - no haze and foul smell of chemicals in the air. The wind was stronger though and against us for the first half of the trip.

We took our time getting up the long drag to Oaks before dropping to Wrentnall where I dinged my bell to warn a dog walker we were coming and the dog decided I was his new best friend and came lolloping over. He liked Doug even better - the paw prints will wash out though.

Next up were the two short-but-steep climbs of the day which Doug managed okay (although he looked rather puffed after the second one) before dropping into Pulverbatch.

After the undulating section through Wilderley, Doug was struggling a bit - I had offered the option of extending the ride if he felt up to it, but he couldn't face it so we took the direct route down to Dorrington.

We managed the 18.5 miles at 10.1 mph average which I don't think is too bad considering the hills but Doug clearly needs to get more rides in if he's going to be ready for June.

Crossing Lyth Hill and there is a clear view of the hills unlike the last few days.

Doug heads for the second of today's steep climbs en route to Pulverbatch.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Just the 'usual' yet again - 3rd time this week so I wasn't expecting good times or for it to even be easy this morning, but going out proved to be easier than coming home today. Nothing much happened, most of the drivers were fine, though I will be having words with a bus company about the 37A that 'overtook' me. In quotes because it really almost failed as an overtake with the driver refusing to cross double white lines despite there being no oncoming traffic and visibility being good enough to have overtaken +50 cyclists along that section. Otherwise a pleasant if sweaty ride both ways - the weather was close and humid (yuck) and lookled like it could continue to rain at any point. This morning Mowcop was not visible yet again from Alsager but come this afternoon it had cleared up enough to be visible.

Best I could manage for a photo today was in my parents garden... let sleeping dragons lie

Home again, well the wind had picked up and swung round, so getting home was a head wind and harder than I wanted it to be on very tired legs, but given I am there yet again (by car) tomorrow, I did at least have the options to ditch my panniers at my parents and travel light with just my saddle bag. Oh and there is this very cute female cyclist I keep meeting in the same place. Don't know her name yet but we are now on talking terms http://www.strava.com/activities/126869251

 

[tug benson]

A easy 38 Mile cycle after work
http://www.strava.com/activities/126869104

 

[Spartak]

Here is the report of my 4 day trip to Mallorca.

Seven of us flew out to Palma last week to enjoy some spring sunshine.
We had booked a villa in the small town of Campanet, approx 40 kms north of Palma & well positioned to explore the Tramuntana mountain range. We hired bikes from Bikehead.se.
Our regular haunt for a post ride drink & snack was the ES Club Bar positioned on the town square with its very impressive church.

Our first day of riding took us over the Col de Sa Bastalla, Puig Major, Col de Soller & Col d' Hono.
It was a tough first day with over 100kms & 2400 metres of climbing.
As we climbed Puig Major the snowfall from earlier in the week came into view !

The desent down to Soller was great with sweeping bends & I was ready for lunch in the busy & sunfilled town square when we arrived.

Almost immediately after lunch we were climbing again & I was into the red on my HR monitor so took it steady for the rest of the climb as my ride companions rode away. We regrouped in the village of Bunyola before tackling the tough Col d' Hono.

Day 2 took us east to Cap Formentor, the sun failed to show today & it was quite windy.

We returned to Pollenca with a great tailwind & had lunch in a Chinese restuarant about 20 metres from the sea, but due to the cold overcast & windy conditions everyone was taking cover inside bars or restuarants ! Our biggest climb of the day was up the Col de Femenia which leads to the monastry at Lluc.
Another 100 km ride with only 1900 metres of climbing today.

Day 3 & it rained all day, it didn't deter us though & we did a flat 60 km ride around the towns & villages of Selva, Inca, Sineu, Santa Magalida ( for some coffee & cake ) then Muro, Sa Pablo & finally Buger !

Day 4 was the day we tackled Sa Calobra, a climb from sea level to nearly 800 metres with approx 26 switchbacks from the top looking down it was unclear how all the bends joined up ?!?!
On reaching the bottom we stopped for a coffee & oddly enough a pasty !

It truly is a great climb, & as shown below my fellow companions were soon leaving me behind ..... again.

So 4 great days of cycling completed, at times I felt totally exhausted, but the sense of achievement after each day was immense.

Roll on next year ............

 

[welsh dragon]

Here is the report of my 4 day trip to Mallorca.

Seven of us flew out to Palma last week to enjoy some spring sunshine.
We had booked a villa in the small town of Campanet, approx 40 kms north of Palma & well positioned to explore the Tramuntana mountain range. We hired bikes from Bikehead.se.
Our regular haunt for a post ride drink & snack was the ES Club Bar positioned on the town square with its very impressive church.

View attachment 41554

Our first day of riding took us over the Col de Sa Bastalla, Puig Major, Col de Soller & Col d' Hono.
It was a tough first day with over 100kms & 2400 metres of climbing.
As we climbed Puig Major the snowfall from earlier in the week came into view !

View attachment 41555

The desent down to Soller was great with sweeping bends & I was ready for lunch in the busy & sunfilled town square when we arrived.

View attachment 41557

Almost immediately after lunch we were climbing again & I was into the red on my HR monitor so took it steady for the rest of the climb as my ride companions rode away. We regrouped in the village of Bunyola before tackling the tough Col d' Hono.

Day 2 took us east to Cap Formentor, the sun failed to show today & it was quite windy.

View attachment 41559
View attachment 41560

We returned to Pollenca with a great tailwind & had lunch in a Chinese restuarant about 20 metres from the sea, but due to the cold overcast & windy conditions everyone was taking cover inside bars or restuarants ! Our biggest climb of the day was up the Col de Femenia which leads to the monastry at Lluc.
Another 100 km ride with only 1900 metres of climbing today.

Day 3 & it rained all day, it didn't deter us though & we did a flat 60 km ride around the towns & villages of Selva, Inca, Sineu, Santa Magalida ( for some coffee & cake ) then Muro, Sa Pablo & finally Buger !

Day 4 was the day we tackled Sa Calobra, a climb from sea level to nearly 800 metres with approx 26 switchbacks from the top looking down it was unclear how all the bends joined up ?!?!
On reaching the bottom we stopped for a coffee & oddly enough a pasty !

View attachment 41564
It truly is a great climb, & as shown below my fellow companions were soon leaving me behind ..... again.

View attachment 41563

View attachment 41565 View attachment 41566

So 4 great days of cycling completed, at times I felt totally exhausted, but the sense of achievement after each day was immense.

Roll on next year ............

Lovely photos. Many thanks

 

[gavgav]

An early start for me today, as needed to be back by 12 and so I was on the road before 9am. I decided to do the reverse of my 30 miler from last Saturday. It was cool and there was the customary blustery wind that always blows these days!!

I headed out along the old canal path to Uffington. There are normally a mix of cyclists, runners and dog walkers along here and normally all goes fine with common sense used by all......not today! I turned onto the gravel path and there was a chap I could see about 50 yards away with a "dulux" dog off the lead. I was about to ring my bell but he had turned to look in my direction and clearly seen me coming. Normally the dog owners will hold onto the dog as I cycle past, but not this chap as he didn't move to the side at all and called the dog towards him just in time for it to run past him straight into my path!! I braked sharply and skidded to a halt, missing the dog by about an inch . He muttered an apology to me as the dog then chased me for about 30 seconds with him shouting after it!

Thankfully the remaining 5 or 6 dog owners I encountered on the rest of the path were more responsible and held their dogs as I rode past with a friendly hello and thankyou!

I continued along the rat run to atcham, with the customary idiots about, 1 being a very close pass by a maroon transit that almost blew me into the ditch and then a taxi that waited until I was almost by them before pulling out in front of me!! I was really getting annoyed at this point and wondering why I had bothered going out.

Thankfully the rest of the ride was incident free as I headed to condover, where it started to rain , but only lasted 10 minutes.

It was on to ryton, where I passed a chap who had that much aftershave on, I could smell it cycling past him at 15mph .

The wind was gusting strongly into my face now, but I knew once I got to longnor and turned towards acton Burnell that it would be a tailwind. And it was lovely riding to pitchford and cantlop at 25 to 30 mph .

It was then back to atcham and I actually overtook 2 cyclists along the Berwick straight . I could see that I wasn't going to quite get my 30 miles in and so I branched off to upton magna and round to Uffington and home. About a mile from home, in the usual place it decided to tip it down with rain!! I've lost count of the number of rides that has happened on recently.

30.52 miles
12.1mph avg
930 ft climbing
30.5 mph top speed

 

[PeteXXX]

I popped to the shops and library this morning to sort the bank out, exchange my books and buy some bits and pieces. With a full backpack, I decided to take a longer route home to stretch my legs ready for the Quattro tomorrow.

Northampton boat club, on the River Nene.

From The Washlands..

I rode along the flood defences for a mile or so.

There's a couple of interesting twists and turns to navigate.

And a steep exit!
All good fun, though it would have been easier without a backpack full of shopping.....

I carried on alongside the river bank to the Billing Mill pub and then towards home.
Only 10 miles, but nice to get out for a bit of fresh air.

http://app.strava.com/activities/127043804

 

[ScotiaLass]

Since returning to work full time post recovery, it's been a bit of a struggle to get out as much as I'd like. After 11 days of no exercise I found walking incredibly painful so the turbo trainer came out again to confidence build once more That was last week, and a subsequent short spin out eased things a bit. So, given the advise to stay home due to the smog today, I set off into the murk Nothing too exciting, an alternative, longer route to my usual haunt to the Royal Landscape, this time via Chobham which is a nice ride with wide roads though the surface could be nicer (now where's the sore bum smiley...).
Lots of folks out today, and just about all of them friendly enough to return my good mornings' which was nice. After a brief unplanned stop due to saddle movement in Blays Lane I was off for coffee at the Obelisk Lawn, then a lap of Deer Park. Really pleased today as I managed all the hills without going onto the 'granny' ring (I ride a triple), a first for me.
Elected to take the quick way home, so down from Englefield Green into Egham via Prune Hill, quite exciting and I managed 32mph I was on the brakes all the way too, that was fast enough for me.
All in all a happy pedal. The smog was not as bad as I thought, but I stopped for this piccy at the top of the Long Walk. Normally Windsor Castle is clearly visible from here, not so much today.
View attachment 41441

I love Windsor - my daughter was stationed there for the past 3 years

 

[ScotiaLass]

It was forecast to be showery and it looked grey, but as rain had stopped play this week, I thought, no, I'm going!
So set off in the dry, but it was very overcast. It wasn't cold so I had a long sleeve base layer and a cycling top on, with my baggies which was perfect.

I decided to head to the woods as it's been wet most of the week, it would make for some good riding
And it did!
I'm finding that I am using higher gears for sections that previously I'd be struggling with in low gears.
About half way to the woods it started a very light drizzle. Not enough to make me reach for the waterproof jacket though!
It stayed that way for the whole of the ride with a little heavier shower at one point.
There weren't very many people about today, so I gave it some
I noticed that I did 18.5mph heading downhill...it's strange that I don't even notice the speed when in the woods or trails, but on the road it scares me senseless!
It was a fab ride, even on the way home, tired, muddy and wet with the drizzle still falling, it couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
I riding!

 

[DCLane]

Did a 36 mile ride with my 9 year-old to the Oil Can Cafe near Hepworth (Strava lost the last 2 miles!): http://www.strava.com/activities/127067219 to join up with Ravensthorpe CC.

He needed practice at close riding and hills. And got both

 

[coffeejo]

Went for a thirty mile pootle with the ladies today to one of our favourite coffee stops. Much cake was consumed. And I met two of Britain's friendliest dogs on the way home: an English bull terrier and then a Staffie, both of whom were in danger of wagging their tails right off their bodies. Dangerous dogs? I think not. (My dog was not pleased when I got home.)

 

[booze and cake]

Sorry not today but yesterday, I was too busy celebrating with some apres ride beers to write it up then....

I have posted once or twice on here about my project of riding the Underground, Overground and DLR network, and yesterday I rode the final line, the Piccadilly. I had to visit all 53 stations in the day.

I had a 20 mile ride out to Heathrow, rode around the airport site before heading into Acton Town, then heading out to Uxbridge

A quick food stop then it was the final slog all the way across London to Cockfosters.

The line came out at 78.2 miles,less than a mile shorter than the longest line, the Central Line. Including riding to the start and home afterwards the total distance was 107 miles.

I started the project in January and it has taken 11 days of riding since that time to complete the task. I don't have a sat nav so all the rides were done with hand written route notes, which as you can see were quite extensive. These were the notes for each line, in the order I rode them.

There were a few errors, I missed stations on the Bakerloo line twice so ended up having to do that line 3 times to get it right, but otherwise it went according to the notes. I GPS tracked every ride, including to and from my house and from line to line, and the grand total was 913 miles!

I rode it all on a singlespeed bike, had no mechanicals and only 1 puncture. I am now trying to make a series of maps, which has started by me taking apart 2 A5 A-Z's and sticking them all together, which was a mission in itself. And its huge.

It is over 2 metres wide and about 1.,6 metres high and I need to add some more print outs as I rode off the map in the northerly, easterly and westerly directions, so the final version will be even bigger. I also hope to do a digital version uploading my gpx files onto a map to show them all together, and ultimately I want to try and do an animation showing the order I rode them and to animate the gpx files to show the creation of the lines and at the end show the full map.

I even got sent a free engraved tuimbler from Tunnocks, whose tea cakes I devour in large quantities and the route notes were mostly written on the back of teacakes boxes. The full story has been documented in the following link if you want to read more.
:https://www.lfgss.com/thread120840.html

GPX details
Underground
18th January Victoria line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168039 16 stations
18th Jan Central line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168037 49 stations
18th Jan, 26th & 27th Feb Bakerloo line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2284876 25 stations
21st Jan Jubilee line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179359 27 stations
21st Jan Metropolitan line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179362 34 stations
22nd Jan Waterloo & City line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181152 2 stations
22nd Jan Circle line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181146 36 stations
21st Feb District Line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2259166 60 stations
21st Feb Hammersmith & City- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2259143 29 stations
26th Feb Northern line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2282509 50 stations
4th April Piccadilly Line- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2430829 53 stations

Overground
15th Mar Overground 1 Stratford, Willesden Junc, Ricmond, Willesden, Clapham Junction- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2345908 28 Stations
14th Mar Overground 2 Clap Junc, New Cross, West Croydon, Highbury & Islington- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2341571 29 stations
13th Mar Overground 3 Gospel Oak to Barking- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2338449 12 stations
13th Mar Overground 4 Euston to Watford Junction- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2338455 19 stations

DLR
23rd Mar Docklands Light Railway- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2380539 - 45 stations