Your ride today....

[Rickshaw Phil]

Out to enjoy the weather this afternoon on a longish loop.

Once agan, unimpressed with some of the driving out there today. I think it may be something to do with the school holidays. A completely unnecessary close pass on the way to Condover, then a MGIF pass from a large van in the village so that he could immediately turn left (where I was going too) and then proceeded to hold me up for the next half mile or so.

Thankfully things were better after that as I carried on through Acton Burnell. The roads had been dry for the whole trip so far, but passing Green Farm near Longnor they'd been moving cattle so it was a bit messy.

Folly Bank was climbed fairly easily and the descent the other side was fun as ever. After Cardington I decided to take an alternative route and headed for Plaish. Lots of caravans at the camp site at Gretton and they've been very fortunate with the weather. Riding through Plaish I suddenly heard a skittering noise behind me and turned to see a collie chasing me down. Honour was satisfied when I stopped and let him have a sniff round.

Next up was Hughley and the road to Harley. I'd expected to have the wind behind me here but it didn't seem to be helping much and I was finding the ride an effort. I took a roundabout route to Cressage, then headed through Eaton Constantine and onwards to Walcot via Bluebell Lane, which sounds pretty but is actually quite a wide road.

From Walcot I turned into the wind and needed to put some more effort in to keep the speed up. Near Withington I stopped to investigate a rubbing noise and found that my rear mudguard had clogged up again with a mix of the cow poo earlier and the sand from round this area - lovely. I didn't used to get this trouble before I got the Voyager Hyper tyres - the 37-622s on this bike come out more like a 40 so they are quite snug anyway. I won't get them in this size again and might swap back to the Marathons for the time being.

I did what I could at the roadside and carried on to Upton Magna and Atcham. I took the Cross Houses route again and had one of the dumbest overtakes I've had in ages. Narrow road, blind crest and a left hand corner and this dimwit comes past with another car coming the other way, realises at the last minute and pulls across into the space I'm occupying. They missed - I wasn't impressed.

By the last few miles I was finding the riding hard work. I saw Leonardo again - puncture fixed and he tells me he now has a small pump.

45.3 miles for the day at 14 mph average. The bike has had yet another clean - the "mud" in the rear guard was really compacted and had to be prised out out in chunks.

At the foot of the Folly Bank climb.

Plaish Hall

View to Wenlock Edge from near Plaish.

Eaton Constantine. I'm not really horticulturally minded but think the flowers are a variety of dog rose.

View to the Wrekin.

What passes for a train round this part of the world.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

A superb autumn day dawned today. Steve E had spotted the forecast and skived off work to join in. Margaret PR, Jules H and Mrs 26 were in Upton so we convened there. Initial routing was familiar out through Castlemorton and on by Bromsberrow. We turned off the usual run for Much Marcle for Kempley, stopping at St Mary's which dates back to 1130 and has the oldest wooden roof in England http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/st-marys-church-kempley/

Underway again we rode a lane we hadn't used for some years and then took some further under used lanes for Linton and the easy way up onto the ridge. The views either side were superb in the clear air. Not long now for the climb as we dropped away from the ridge to run up the valley to Luxley where a left turn takes us steeply upward onto the upper flanks of May Hill. A slippery descent lead us to the main Gloucester road but we jinked off that as soon as possible to loop behind Huntley and onward to Birdwood and the cafe.

Our comestibles were soon dispatched and off we headed. Jules had a deadline so the pace was pretty brisk. We emerged from the Bulley lanes at Tibberton and were rapidly heading for Hartpury. We dropped to the Hams at Ashleworth. Still the pace was brisk but we knew now that we had Jules' deadline sorted. Steve and I headed for a swift ale in Upton while Jules kept going for home. Margaret had stuff to do so off she went. The ale went down nicely before we two took to the standard run back from Upton. Steve was still riding strongly at the end despite saying he was tired. Strong man is Steve. 71 smiles

 

[gbb]

If you can stand a bit of moaning ...im at a low ebb on the bike .
Last year was a restart after illness, this year started out quite well but struggled to get the time and mileage in but not too bad. This last 3 months however has seen an increasingly bad back that's left me eternally sore and tired. Early this evening my wife asked are you going out ?
...nah...yes...nah.....
After 15 minutes...im going out
It's just 15 miles , it took a bit of self flagellation to get there But enjoyed it...as always, once I get out there.

 

[derrick]

Had a few days in Norfolk. Stayed at Wroxham Broard. Took the mtb up while the wife borrowed a cross bike, intending to ride around the broads, Bumped into a friend on the Monday and made arrangements to meet for a Wednesday morning ride, Drove down to Wells to meet her, she had a route planned, i was not expecting a 41 mile road ride on the MTB, It was hard pretty windy with a heavy bike knobbly tyres what was i thinking, Got to the finish my legs where like jelly Really enjoyed it great company lovely quiet roads beautiful scenery, What;s not to like.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1246175983

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Days-off for this week; today, tomorrow

No ride today, was sorting out the spare back bedroom, & waiting to pick daughter up from College
Found a few old magazines, in the bottom of a pile of old paperwork
Mountain Biking - UK 1989, & Mountain Bike Action (US magazine)
I'd kept them, as they both had reviews on the Pace Research RC100


Hope to ride tomorrow

Then, it's Monday/Tuesday off next week
Taking SWMBO, & daughter, to Yeadon Airport, on Monday, for a (circa?) 08:00 flight to Barcelona
So, I'm hoping for a couple of decent days riding

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Night ride in the Somerset dark proper along the NCN24 so no light pollution. Dynamo lights really come into their own. How did I get 14 PBs? Must of slipped into a black hole.

 

[Katherine]

If you can stand a bit of moaning ...im at a low ebb on the bike .
Last year was a restart after illness, this year started out quite well but struggled to get the time and mileage in but not too bad. This last 3 months however has seen an increasingly bad back that's left me eternally sore and tired. Early this evening my wife asked are you going out ?
...nah...yes...nah.....
After 15 minutes...im going out
It's just 15 miles , it took a bit of self flagellation to get there But enjoyed it...as always, once I get out there.

Well done to you! Hope you can have some more enjoyable rides. Don't forget to take it easy and gradually build up the miles.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

If you can stand a bit of moaning ...im at a low ebb on the bike .
Last year was a restart after illness, this year started out quite well but struggled to get the time and mileage in but not too bad. This last 3 months however has seen an increasingly bad back that's left me eternally sore and tired. Early this evening my wife asked are you going out ?
...nah...yes...nah.....
After 15 minutes...im going out
It's just 15 miles , it took a bit of self flagellation to get there But enjoyed it...as always, once I get out there.

Always better out than in

 

[Katherine]

Nice to have a chance for a leisurely daytime ride, so I thought I'd head out for Lymm

where we haven't been to with the club since we categorised the different levels and distances. At 40 miles it's too long for the A and too short for the B. The only bit of the ride that I had to check the route for was between the lanes out of Lymm and back round to Dunham. As soon as I came out of the turning from Deansgreen towards High Legh and Dunham, I realised where I was, which felt good realising how familiar and confident I have become in less than 2 years. I am going to plot an extension of the route to make it a possible winter B ride.

The River Bollin at Bollin Mill

I can now decide which way I want to go back without checking the map. Yesterday, as it was the middle of a weekday and no problems with traffic, I decided to go through Partington, instead of our usual route past United's training ground which is quiet at weekends but busy with tourists during the week.


Almost a summer's day yesterday, with a lovely impromptu cafe stop at The Lavender Barn at Dunham sat in the sunshine. The pumpkin cake was delicious.

 

[Aravis]

Once again, this is my ride yesterday...

Another chance to ride away from my home patch. A daughter wanted to go to an open day at Exeter University's Falmouth campus. The deal was that it I drove to half way, I could go for a ride and meet them again at the end of the day.

Whiddon Down, on the A30 between Exeter and Okehampton looked like a good spot, and we arrived there a little after 7am. Having waved off the family and checked things over I set off at 7:20am, down a lane towards the A377 which would take me to Barnstaple. Quite frankly, the first few miles were miserable; narrow, damp, dirty, slippery and uncomfortably busy, and I couldn't wait to get to the main road. A day in Falmouth seemed like a very nice idea indeed.

The A377 is well-known to many, I'm sure. It was still quite murky, the promised sunshine having yet to appear, but the setting is spectacular as it meanders its way for mile after mile. Knowing it was going to be a hilly ride, and heavily back-end loaded, I was doing my best to amble along as easily as possible, whilst feeling pretty apprehensive about what was to come. The road was busy enough, but not uncomfortably so. It's a nice road to have ridden.

Reaching Barnstaple, the weather was starting to look far more cheerful. Note the absence of water-bottles - they're in Falmouth:

Now onto the Tarka trail for the next 10 miles or so. Being half term there were plenty of family cycling groups and plenty of dogs, but mercifully not both combined. The surface was mostly adequate. Whatever the irritations, the glorious views across the estuary more than compensate, and it's definitely another "must do". I diverted briefly to the waterfront at Instow, and I knew I'd really been to the seaside:

Leaving the trail just before Landcross Tunnel I headed cross-country towards Bude. A significant moment as I crossed the river Tamar:

But the biggest highlight during this phase was a farm where the many trees surrounding it were full of starlings - not an available branch to be seen. It would have photographed well, but I feared that stopping would have spooked them, so it's in the memory only. The sound was as impressive as the sight.

My planned route would have taken me to the waterfront in Bude, but I'd been having doubts about that from the start. There seemed to be a lot of hills to go without adding to them, so I took the easy option of the B-road from Kilkhampton to Red Post, reasoning that if I could see the sea then arguably I'd reached the coast:

The wires interfere a bit, but it's over there between the land and the sky.

A benefit of removing the Bude loop was that I'd have more time to divert away from the A-road heading eastwards from Bude, and that was a good call. It was a bit busy and fast - OK in small doses. The loop northwards to Holsworthy Beacon was great, tending to keep to the ridges. And to a railway enthusiast, Halwill Junction is a place of pilgrimage. On the site of the station there is a road named, with surpreme irony, "Beeching Close". Brilliant.

By now the Dartmoor plateau to the south was my constant companion:

The final 20 miles or so were pretty arduous, with especially poor surfaces near the end. The sight of the A30 appearing on my screen was especially welcome. The rendezvous at Whiddon Down worked well, and amazingly, we were back in Gloucester by 8:15.

Here's the final route, 110.64 miles and 6725 ft of climbing (according to RwGPS anyway):

One of the best, but I think I'll always regret not going into Bude.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Hope to ride tomorrow

Then, it's Monday/Tuesday off next week
Taking SWMBO, & daughter, to Yeadon Airport, on Monday, for a (circa?) 08:00 flight to Barcelona
So, I'm hoping for a couple of decent days riding

'Tomorrow' being today

I did get out very late morning, but it's not really worthy of a report
Just a trip through Stanley & Lofthouse Gate, towards Leeds

Into Leeds, via Stourton & Hunslet, then up towards Cross Green
Working towards Newsem Green (past the public 'tip' that was there), up to Swillington,
A loop via Little Preston
Back down Aberford Road (A642), through Oulton, & back to Stanley
Across the river (Calder) & Aire & Calder Navigation Canal, then almost home


I'll see what Monday 30th/Tuesday 31st brings...................

 

[Dave 123]

That's a great ride @Aravis ! I can't compete....

Once I'd ridden home from work I decided that it was too good an evening to stay in. I let it get dark and went out on my mountain bike. I only went along the bridleway to Caldecote and Bourn and back, but it was great in a mild, windless evening. One rat and 3 rabbits came close, one rabbit in particular. It decided to run, then stop and sit in front of my wheel..... it was blooming close!

There were a few muddy patches to squelch through, a few big puddles to avoid and no dog walkers.... result!

Not quite 10 miles, but good all the same!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1248080231

 

[Aravis]

That's a great ride @Aravis ! I can't compete....

A competition is certainly ain't! I never say much about my speed...

 

[Elybazza61]

Curtailed due to seat-post clamp failure on the other half's Kona

New seat-post(prob Gusset one as I can get it cheap) will be ordered tomorrow;should be out Sunday instead with a swapped post from the Giant.

 

[graham56]

It seems that the North Holland Province authorities want to build a dual carriageway through the flower fields.