Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
Yasssssssssssssss! It's snowing here at last!!!!!! I think pictures say it far better than wot I can write it
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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Biff600
Veteran
It was a tad cold yesterday, so I wrapped up warm and headed out on the MTB.
About 7 miles into an enjoyable ride I came across some black ice, WOOOSH !!! I'm on my arse...............and covered in mud !!
I get back on, 20 yards later, black ice again and........WOOOSH !!! Back on my arse, luckily enough there was a huge muddy puddle to break my fall !!
So now I'm dripping wet and covered in mud !!!
I bought the bike to keep myself fit...........it seems to be having an adverse effect !!
I thought that pedalling furiously would keep me warm for the rest of the ride, but the cold was getting in so I cut my ride short and therefore only clocked up 21 miles.
Fear not, upwards and onwards, I have a nice route planned for tomorrow..................stabilisers to be fitted tonight !!!
About 7 miles into an enjoyable ride I came across some black ice, WOOOSH !!! I'm on my arse...............and covered in mud !!
I get back on, 20 yards later, black ice again and........WOOOSH !!! Back on my arse, luckily enough there was a huge muddy puddle to break my fall !!
So now I'm dripping wet and covered in mud !!!
I bought the bike to keep myself fit...........it seems to be having an adverse effect !!
I thought that pedalling furiously would keep me warm for the rest of the ride, but the cold was getting in so I cut my ride short and therefore only clocked up 21 miles.
Fear not, upwards and onwards, I have a nice route planned for tomorrow..................stabilisers to be fitted tonight !!!
Jon George
Mamil and couldn't care less
- Location
- Suffolk an' Good
Given the weather forecast for Thursday was for sunshine in the morning, I had planned to do another 50km. What I failed to take into account was my predilection for staying up until the early hours quaffing ale and chasers.
Thursday was a write-off.
So, today, I went out for a 10 miler to Levington Marina to clear the system and insert some natural 'feel-good' chemicals into the blood. It did the trick.
A couple of pics:
Sheep enjoying a scoff at Foxhall.
And this overlooking The Orwell between Levington Marina and the village itself. (No snow, and I missed the rain.)
Thursday was a write-off.
So, today, I went out for a 10 miler to Levington Marina to clear the system and insert some natural 'feel-good' chemicals into the blood. It did the trick.
A couple of pics:
Sheep enjoying a scoff at Foxhall.
And this overlooking The Orwell between Levington Marina and the village itself. (No snow, and I missed the rain.)
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
The forecast rain went through early so I togged up and headed out into a brisk wind. With that rain I decided to give the Welland Stone lane a miss as I didn't fancy the possibility of a swollen and flooded brook. Instead I took to the Marsh road from Birts Street where a flock of sheep decided to wander about in front of me. There was a lot more water about on the Marsh and the ditches at the side of the lane are filling at the low point. I took the unusual right turn after Longdon for Queen Hill before heading for Tiltridge and the sign saying the lane to Upton was under water. No worries as I turned the other way at Clive's for the standard run back. A Raven said "hello" while a Green Woodpecker flew off as I rode the last couple of miles. Nice cobweb shifter today. Now what should I do with this "fly away" hair? 25 smiles.
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
[QUOTE 5094657, member: 9609"]just normal tyres (28mm, armidiilo front marathon plus rear) I ride slowly and concentrate a lot,, very quite roads though (may be only seen 8 cars in the 40 mile) so able to pick my own line. I dismount and get off the road every time I see a car coming when the roads are icy, drivers just seem clueless.
I did see three cars that had not made it, one upside down in a field, one in a hedge and a beautiful 67 plate range rover on its side in a ditch. No amount of technology can out do the laws of physics.[/QUOTE]
I guess 28's are good enough. Used to find 27x1.25 back in the day were fine. I'm with you on the clueless drivers too
I did see three cars that had not made it, one upside down in a field, one in a hedge and a beautiful 67 plate range rover on its side in a ditch. No amount of technology can out do the laws of physics.[/QUOTE]
I guess 28's are good enough. Used to find 27x1.25 back in the day were fine. I'm with you on the clueless drivers too
- Location
- Manchester
[QUOTE 5094646, member: 9609"]is that the bridge that collapsed when they were building it ? (may be 2 years bck)[/QUOTE]
Yes, and the bridge and the new road have been finished for a while but not open whilst Peel Holdings ( who built it and own all the land around the Trafford Centre) and Salford Council argue about who has to maintain it!
It is annoying that that even the cycle path ( blocked by a fence!) on the A57 has been diverted through the new junction, when it could have been left clear to go straight on into Eccles.
Yes, and the bridge and the new road have been finished for a while but not open whilst Peel Holdings ( who built it and own all the land around the Trafford Centre) and Salford Council argue about who has to maintain it!
It is annoying that that even the cycle path ( blocked by a fence!) on the A57 has been diverted through the new junction, when it could have been left clear to go straight on into Eccles.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
An enjoyable 38 or so miles for me in the very agreeable company of @Rickshaw Phil.
The ride was postponed from yesterday due to ice, and ice was still apparent today.
Mostly on the drive from my brother's holiday lodge where one of the car drivers had gone off piste on a bend.
I obtained permission to park my car - with bike in the back - at the bottom of the drive to avoid me having to cycle it.
The roads were probably OK, but we decided to proceed cautiously and Phil deliberately routed us on to busier roads for the first hour or two.
We rode to RAF Shawbury and then north westish to Wem, and on to the small town of Ellesmere.
Phil knew of a decent cafe there beside the Mere (lake) and they did us well for bait.
Ice in the car park had noticeably thawed after we'd eaten, which encouraged us to take more minor roads on the way back.
Very agreeable cycling, no more than undulating, and not much in the way of motor traffic.
Overall, we did have three or four vehicle 'incidents' involving horn blowing and close passes - a fast tractor and trailer did a nasty close pass and cut in on me which did shake me a little, and I'm not one to let these things bother me.
Phil said it's unusual to get a string of close passes on a ride in these parts, and the last time we rode together we had no bother to speak of.
Just one of those things, we were having a grand time riding and I was determined not to let a few scabby motorists spoil it.
The route back included a couple of lanes Phil had never ridden, quite an achievement given the amount of miles he does around here.
Approaching dusk by the time we returned, but both of us have decent lights so doing the last few miles in impending darkness was no problem.
Only blot on an otherwise excellent ride was when I removed my front wheel to pack the bike in the car it was clearly lacking air.
Looks like I picked up a slow puncture in the last mile or two of the ride, but if you must have a flat, that's the time to have it.
My thanks to Phil for turning out and sorting a route that was nicely pitched for the conditions.
It certainly wasn't a day for big miles, sharp climbs, and fast descending.
The ride was postponed from yesterday due to ice, and ice was still apparent today.
Mostly on the drive from my brother's holiday lodge where one of the car drivers had gone off piste on a bend.
I obtained permission to park my car - with bike in the back - at the bottom of the drive to avoid me having to cycle it.
The roads were probably OK, but we decided to proceed cautiously and Phil deliberately routed us on to busier roads for the first hour or two.
We rode to RAF Shawbury and then north westish to Wem, and on to the small town of Ellesmere.
Phil knew of a decent cafe there beside the Mere (lake) and they did us well for bait.
Ice in the car park had noticeably thawed after we'd eaten, which encouraged us to take more minor roads on the way back.
Very agreeable cycling, no more than undulating, and not much in the way of motor traffic.
Overall, we did have three or four vehicle 'incidents' involving horn blowing and close passes - a fast tractor and trailer did a nasty close pass and cut in on me which did shake me a little, and I'm not one to let these things bother me.
Phil said it's unusual to get a string of close passes on a ride in these parts, and the last time we rode together we had no bother to speak of.
Just one of those things, we were having a grand time riding and I was determined not to let a few scabby motorists spoil it.
The route back included a couple of lanes Phil had never ridden, quite an achievement given the amount of miles he does around here.
Approaching dusk by the time we returned, but both of us have decent lights so doing the last few miles in impending darkness was no problem.
Only blot on an otherwise excellent ride was when I removed my front wheel to pack the bike in the car it was clearly lacking air.
Looks like I picked up a slow puncture in the last mile or two of the ride, but if you must have a flat, that's the time to have it.
My thanks to Phil for turning out and sorting a route that was nicely pitched for the conditions.
It certainly wasn't a day for big miles, sharp climbs, and fast descending.
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Ah, shame. That was those hedge cuttings round Grinshill. I'll have to check mine over too in the morning.
That was a great ride. I'll do my write up shortly when I've caught up with my 50-odd alerts.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
Yes, you did mention those as we passed through, so I can't complain my ride leader didn't call the hazard correctly.
Third puncture in 3,000 miles with my Super Moto X tyres.
None at all in twice that mileage on the previous Marathon Pluses.
I may have to conclude the Super Motos are not up to the job.
Or embrace the technology and go tubeless.
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
My write up as promised:
I woke to the sound of pouring rain on the roof which didn't bode well for today, however, by the time breakfast was taken it was drying up. I had already checked that there was no ice out (it's still quite chilly) then waited for a last heavy shower to roll through and hit the road.
The first half of the ride over to meet @Pale Rider went really well, but then I got onto Ellesmere Road where I met my first two dicks of the day, giving close passes for no reason at all.
Little did I know that this would set the tone for the day.
With only a couple of miles to go to the rendezvous I turned off the main road and was surprised to find slush on the road. I pulled over to let a car past and the driver stopped to warn me that the roads were really treacherous and that he'd nearly slid off the road half an hour earlier. I thanked him for the warning and after he'd stalled and restarted
I proceeded with care. Fortunately, sticking to the centre of the road where the ice hadn't been compacted by traffic there was reasonable grip so I was confident the ride could go ahead.
After all this I wasn't too late meeting up with @Pale Rider and after a bit of a chat we decided on a route and headed out. The first mile or so was a bit slippy but we managed then headed onto the A53 towards Shawbury. This is a road I don't like even when driving and sure enough Pale Rider got a close pass off a large van moments after joining the road. After that it was reasonably quiet up to Shawbury where a tractor driver again gave a scarily close pass to Pale Rider and leaned on the horn to make the point. Shropshire rides aren't usually like this, honest.
The road to Wem wasn't too bad. We paused at Moreton Corbet Castle for a brief break that turned into a fairly long chat then carried on through Wem and on to Welshampton. Here I suggested the more direct way to Ellesmere knowing that the route I usually prefer is really muddy at the moment and that Pale Rider would need to put his bike back in the car later. It wasn't great but got us to the Lakeside Cafe fairly quick where we stopped for a leisurely lunch (definitely my turn to pay next time we meet up!!)
After all the main road antics earlier I was determined to show off the lighter side of Salop riding and took us a quieter way back. We had another close call just leaving the cafe when a driver let us out but the vehicle behind them barged past leaning on the horn
, followed by a lorry doing the same as they overtook us moments later. I seriously wonder if they've all been on the sherry today. In one ride I've doubled my number of drive by hootings for the whole year.
The next leg went pretty well and allowed us to continue chatting as far as Baschurch, which I hadn't intended to end up in having planned a shortcut but missed it while we were talking.
No matter - a left taken in Baschurch put us right again as we headed for Myddle and Clive where we took a right towards Grinshill and a map reading error on my part when I somehow missed the intended junction and we ended up with about a mile to do on the A49. It wasn't a problem until one overtaking driver gave us absolutely loads of room but almost ploughed head on into an oncoming car. Cue lots more hooting and flashing of lights. FFS.
It was a relief to drop Pale Rider back to the start point safe and sound, then I retraced my steps from the morning where I found no ice left and all the drivers were courteous at last. The only fly in the ointment was finding that I'd not eaten enough on the way round so I ran out of energy wih about two miles to go and really struggled in a low gear for the last climb to home.
All-in-all, a good ride in good company despite the nutters.
58.5 miles for me today at 12.2 mph average.
Not many photos taken today due to other distractions:
Moreton Corbet Castle.
@Pale Rider's bike at Welshampton.
Much later on, both bikes at Myddle.
Alpacas at Myddle.
Quite dark by the time I headed for home. Have I mentioned how much I like my lights?
I woke to the sound of pouring rain on the roof which didn't bode well for today, however, by the time breakfast was taken it was drying up.
I had already checked that there was no ice out (it's still quite chilly) then waited for a last heavy shower to roll through and hit the road.The first half of the ride over to meet @Pale Rider went really well, but then I got onto Ellesmere Road where I met my first two dicks of the day, giving close passes for no reason at all.
Little did I know that this would set the tone for the day.With only a couple of miles to go to the rendezvous I turned off the main road and was surprised to find slush on the road. I pulled over to let a car past and the driver stopped to warn me that the roads were really treacherous and that he'd nearly slid off the road half an hour earlier. I thanked him for the warning and after he'd stalled and restarted
I proceeded with care. Fortunately, sticking to the centre of the road where the ice hadn't been compacted by traffic there was reasonable grip so I was confident the ride could go ahead.After all this I wasn't too late meeting up with @Pale Rider and after a bit of a chat we decided on a route and headed out. The first mile or so was a bit slippy but we managed then headed onto the A53 towards Shawbury. This is a road I don't like even when driving and sure enough Pale Rider got a close pass off a large van moments after joining the road. After that it was reasonably quiet up to Shawbury where a tractor driver again gave a scarily close pass to Pale Rider and leaned on the horn to make the point. Shropshire rides aren't usually like this, honest.
The road to Wem wasn't too bad. We paused at Moreton Corbet Castle for a brief break that turned into a fairly long chat then carried on through Wem and on to Welshampton. Here I suggested the more direct way to Ellesmere knowing that the route I usually prefer is really muddy at the moment and that Pale Rider would need to put his bike back in the car later. It wasn't great but got us to the Lakeside Cafe fairly quick where we stopped for a leisurely lunch (definitely my turn to pay next time we meet up!!)
After all the main road antics earlier I was determined to show off the lighter side of Salop riding and took us a quieter way back. We had another close call just leaving the cafe when a driver let us out but the vehicle behind them barged past leaning on the horn
, followed by a lorry doing the same as they overtook us moments later. I seriously wonder if they've all been on the sherry today. In one ride I've doubled my number of drive by hootings for the whole year.The next leg went pretty well and allowed us to continue chatting as far as Baschurch, which I hadn't intended to end up in having planned a shortcut but missed it while we were talking.
No matter - a left taken in Baschurch put us right again as we headed for Myddle and Clive where we took a right towards Grinshill and a map reading error on my part when I somehow missed the intended junction and we ended up with about a mile to do on the A49. It wasn't a problem until one overtaking driver gave us absolutely loads of room but almost ploughed head on into an oncoming car. Cue lots more hooting and flashing of lights. FFS.
It was a relief to drop Pale Rider back to the start point safe and sound, then I retraced my steps from the morning where I found no ice left and all the drivers were courteous at last
. The only fly in the ointment was finding that I'd not eaten enough on the way round so I ran out of energy wih about two miles to go and really struggled in a low gear for the last climb to home.All-in-all, a good ride in good company despite the nutters.
58.5 miles for me today at 12.2 mph average.
Not many photos taken today due to other distractions:
Moreton Corbet Castle.
@Pale Rider's bike at Welshampton.
Much later on, both bikes at Myddle.
Alpacas at Myddle.
Quite dark by the time I headed for home. Have I mentioned how much I like my lights?
Last edited:
gavgav
Legendary Member
Glad you got out and met up. Shame about the numptys though.My write up as promised:
I woke to the sound of pouring rain on the roof which didn't bode well for today, however, by the time breakfast was taken it was drying up.
The first half of the ride over to meet @Pale Rider went really well, but then I got onto Ellesmere Road where I met my first two dicks of the day, giving close passes for no reason at all.
With only a couple of miles to go to the rendezvous I turned off the main road and was surprised to find slush on the road. I pulled over to let a car past and the driver stopped to warn me that the roads were really treacherous and that he'd nearly slid off the road half an hour earlier. I thanked him for the warning and after he'd stalled and restarted
After all this I wasn't too late meeting up with @Pale Rider and after a bit of a chat we decided on a route and headed out. The first mile or so was a bit slippy but we managed then headed onto the A53 towards Shawbury. This is a road I don't like even when driving and sure enough Pale Rider got a close pass off a large van moments after joining the road. After that it was reasonably quiet up to Shawbury where a tractor driver again gave a scarily close pass to Pale Rider and leaned on the horn to make the point. Shropshire rides aren't usually like this, honest.
The road to Wem wasn't too bad. We paused at Moreton Corbet Castle for a brief break that turned into a fairly long chat then carried on through Wem and on to Welshampton. Here I suggested the more direct way to Ellesmere knowing that the route I usually prefer is really muddy at the moment and that Pale Rider would need to put his bike back in the car later. It wasn't great but got us to the Lakeside Cafe fairly quick where we stopped for a leisurely lunch (definitely my turn to pay next time we meet up!!)
After all the main road antics earlier I was determined to show off the lighter side of Salop riding and took us a quieter way back. We had another close call just leaving the cafe when a driver let us out but the vehicle behind them barged past leaning on the horn
The next leg went pretty well and allowed us to continue chatting as far as Baschurch, which I hadn't intended to end up in having planned a shortcut but missed it while we were talking.
No matter - a left taken in Baschurch put us right again as we headed for Myddle and Clive where we took a right towards Grinshill and a map reading error on my part when I somehow missed the intended junction and we ended up with about a mile to do on the A49. It wasn't a problem until one overtaking driver gave us absolutely loads of room but almost ploughed head on into an oncoming car. Cue lots more hooting and flashing of lights. FFS.
It was a relief to drop Pale Rider back to the start point safe and sound, then I retraced my steps from the morning where I found no ice left and all the drivers were courteous at last
All-in-all, a good ride in good company despite the nutters.
58.5 miles for me today at 12.2 mph average.
Not many photos taken today due to other distractions:
View attachment 389048
Moreton Corbet Castle.
View attachment 389049
@Pale Rider's bike at Welshampton.
View attachment 389050
Much later on, both bikes at Myddle.
View attachment 389051
Alpacas at Myddle.
View attachment 389052
Quite dark by the time I headed for home. Have I mentioned how much I like my lights?
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
You were mentioned in preliminary discussions for our next joint excursion, probably in April or May.
gavgav
Legendary Member
Excellent
. Would have loved to join you today, but that annoying pest called work put pay to that!
Dave 123
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire alps
Just a short 15 mile ride today to get the app on my phone for the gym reset. Apparently I've not been swiping my membership card..... naughty boy!
So once I'd called in a the sports centre I rode in to town over Garret Hostel bridge between Trinity and Trinity Hall colleges. I then rode up
Senate House Passage
And along a quiet Kings Parade
Down Trumpington Street, all the way to Trumpington, then a turn for Grantchester. I crossed the swollen river Cam and then rode into a belter of a headwind back to Coton. More Bullfinch seen.
Up Madingley Hill and back to Hardwick. The good news is that the scary life sized nativity is being dismantled!!!
15 blowy miles.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1332727092
So once I'd called in a the sports centre I rode in to town over Garret Hostel bridge between Trinity and Trinity Hall colleges. I then rode up
Senate House Passage
And along a quiet Kings Parade
Down Trumpington Street, all the way to Trumpington, then a turn for Grantchester. I crossed the swollen river Cam and then rode into a belter of a headwind back to Coton. More Bullfinch seen.
Up Madingley Hill and back to Hardwick. The good news is that the scary life sized nativity is being dismantled!!!
15 blowy miles.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1332727092
