Your ride today....

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Cold today but lots of sunshine. I took to my usual stamping ground by heading for the Castlemorton lanes to cross Longdon Marsh. Then the jink by The Rampings and Bushley for river crossing at The Mythe. Thence is was by Twyning and the White Rabbit. The northerly breeze didn't seems to be too much of a problem. Approaching Upton the "flood relief" work seems to be beginning. Remarkably the bit they are working on isn't the bit that floods very often at all. That bit is being ignored completely. I took the my standard run back by Brotheridge Green and Hanley Swan. Despite the cold I kept fairly comfortable by layering up and keeping the pace steady. Lovely sunny conditions helped and some Daffodils are now in flower at Blackmore. Is it really Spring? 35 smiles

 

[PeteXXX]

A mate and I drove up to the Peak District on Monday and Tuesday for some Off Road fun..

Day one was loosely based on the BHF MTB ride. We cut off a few corners, and added a couple of other bits to suite.
With an 05:30 start from Northampton, we parked up in Hope and pedalled off at about 09:00.

I knew it was going to be a tough ride for me, with lots of Up, and I wasn't wrong! The ride profile looks like the rough edge of a dandelion leaf..

The first mile was on tarmac, past the cement works, and up a bridleway to cross Shatton Moor.

Nice and icy!

Stunning views from the top though..

From there, the decent was quite steep and frozen, but safe(ish) to ride. Onwards, through Thornhill to Ladybower Reservoir, where we pedalled a circuit along quiet, well maintained trails that had a lot more elevation than I thought there'd be by looking at my OS map.

The Derwent Dam, where the Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron practised for the Dambusters raid during WW2.

Once we'd ridden around the reservoirs, we were hoping to get up the hill to ride Cuttgate Lane, but it was getting too late in the day, so we'll save that for our next visit.

However, we did see the helicopter making numerous trips with bags of stones where work is being done to de-bog the bottom sections. Once finished, it will be an easier, drier, bridleway to traverse!

Over the stream at the southern end, where we back on tarmac. We popped into the visitor centre and bike hire place to see if there was anywhere to wash our bikes down. Fortunately, there were a couple of brushes and buckets, so we were able to get them a bit cleaner as we had Travelodge rooms to take them into for the night.
5 or 6 miles later, on bike paths and back roads, we were back to Hope.

Once parked up and showered, we walked a mile to a pub for steak and beer..

37 miles ridden, 3376' of Up in temperatures averaging -2

https://www.strava.com/activities/1392974089

 

[PeteXXX]

Day two... from Ride One was back through Hope to Castleton where our plan was for a shorter circuit than Day one. As it happened, it was even shorter than we'd expected!

The entrance to Cave Dale is hidden up a back street between a couple of cottages. I knew by to OS map that it was steep, but BLIMEY!! it was steep, rocky and with a frozen stream running down it

There are several cave entrances along the side walls, and a caged off entrance on the right wall where you can feel the subterranean heat and hear the underground river roaring through. Spooky!

Still, onwards we climbed, pushed, and occasionally carried, our bikes, with about 500' of Up in the first mile, then a bit more once we turned onto a farm track/bridleway.

Luckily, I had a bit of tread on the tyres..

Once back down into the valley, we rode along Rushup Edge to access the Pennine Way bridleway down Roych Clough.

Here, our ride went slightly wrong. First, the front wheel hit a rock just after I landed after a small drop-off, and went straight over the handlebars. No damage done to me, or the bike, fortunately, just a bit mucky and shook up!

Still, after a few minutes breather, we set off again, taking a bit more care

I reached the bottom of the clough first, which is unusual.

Then my mate turned up and I saw why. His S-Works seat post had snapped! There was nothing we could do with it apart from bash the split together a bit with a handy rock, and wrap loads of Gorilla tape around it to hopefully hold it slightly more together.
At this point, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and we decided to turn back. Riding any further into the wilds, with snow heading our way, would have been dangerous. Kinder Scout and Mam Tor will have to wait for another day!! No point in being silly about it, much as we wanted to get the ride done.

We got back up the hill to Rushup Edge, and used tarmac back towards Castleton.

We did make a quick diversion via the old closed road under Mam Tor to play on the landslide for a while..

A Cherry Bakewell Pudding ice cream to celebrate our trip..

With a final whoop down the hill into the village, we finished the ride on 13 miles with over 1000' of climbing in similar temperature as yesterday, -2 to -3c

Happy days

https://www.strava.com/activities/1394202372



Codicil: I suggested to Dev that he contact Specialized re the seat-post. He did, and the told him to take it back to the shop and it will be replaced FOC as it's guaranteed for 2 years

 

[Jon George]

Well, I was going to start this report with the phrase 'Snap! Ah, that sounds expensive'' - but @PeteXXX kind of beat me to it.

I saw the sun this morning and decided to get a sneaky 50km challenge point in for February. I got out to a small rise before Henley when there a loud twang, followed by intermittent brake rubbing. A quick inspection showed that Patsy #2 The CX had broken a spoke on her rear Fulcrum 5 wheel.

I debated (as she's a CX frame) whether to sling her over my shoulder and walk back home, but as I was about 5 miles away, I gambled and gently rode back with the back brake disconnected and avoided all bumps.

A peek in the shed has revealed that I have indeed kept the previous wheelset when I replaced them in 2016 due to worn rims, so I'll be cannibalising a spoke and attempting to trim the wheel this afternoon. I may be some time ...

 

[Jon George]

I may be some time ...

That turned out to be correct. Replacement spoke in, but I'm going to leave the black art of final truing until the weekend.

 

[cosmicbike]

Todays plan of getting the metric century ride done was thwarted as I got out of bed a bit late, and had a furniture delivery coming 'after 1pm' (for the record it's still not here...). Instead I chose to make space for said new furniture, got bored with that after an hour so decided an hour in the sunshine would be good for me. Off out through Thorpe and I was wondering why my eyes were cold, before realising my glasses were at home on the sideboard. About turn to get them which led to a change of route, and I headed up Prune Hill before doing a Callow Hill and back, then Middle Hill into WGP. A quick lap, then down Crimp Hill and back up Priest Hill. All very nice, if a little chilly with the Garmin starting at 0 degrees and peaking at 3. 22 miles and just over 1000ft. Arrived home to find no onions or leek for dinner, so a spin to town on the Brompton was in order.
Afternoon spent fiddling with the ICE trike, hopefully it will warm up soon and we can get out again

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

It was a cold wind that blew this morning. I dithered but after an early lunch I girded my loins, layered up and headed out. I thought that the lumpy bumpy lanes and hedges on the other side of the Hill would shield me from the worst. So it didn't feel too tough as I rounded the northern end of the Hills and headed downwind. The trouble with the lumpy bumpy lanes is, of course, the up parts of the lumps and bumps. The hedges were working tho'. Lovely displays of snowdrops were a cheery sight too and some early primroses shouted out their bright yellow. The hedges did reduce in size a tad along the back of the Hills as I headed for Eastnor but I wasn't overly hindered by the more noticeable wind. A Great Spotted Woodpecker jinked around the back of a tree when he noticed me and a solitary buzzard flapped off. The footbridge over the stream at Clencher's Mill is dangerously slippery at the moment while work is happening on the leat (lete or leet) for the Mill. I wonder if they are restoring the Wheel too. I took to the Castlemorton lanes for the return leg with some wind assistance which made things a tad brisker. Nice wee one - 39 smiles. Pleased I girded my loins now.

 

[pjd57]

A run along the canal from Lambhill to the Falkirk wheel.
Stopped at the small kelpies, not the huge ones.
I wanted to find out how to get on to the Union Canal.
Not very well signposted but got there.
Few miles on the Union before heading back.
As usual it was into a headwind.
The long straight between Bonnybridge and Kilsyth was as testing as ever. No hiding place.

47 miles done.

 

[ADarkDraconis]

Out for a jaunt tonight since it has warmed up again for a day or so (it is a balmy 39°F, or 3.8°C!) and some snow had melted. It is still cold but wasn't super windy, and I was getting stir crazy wanting to bike! The main roads were mostly clear, my road and other side street are still covered in lots of snow so I did walk the bike down to the junction where my road meets a larger one (they never plow or salt our road, in the 8 years we have lived here they've done it once!) and then had no trouble cruising.

I had figured that since my normal night route has a fair amount of side roads that they may also be bad, so I took a detour and went the long way around to the far park entrance. They are doing construction on a crossway that bridges the two parks together (they've been under construction for 250 days or so so far and were supposed to be done by early March) so in the meantime the normal entrance is closed and that entire street is blocked off, leaving the park road essentially a very long dead-end path where it would normally take you through and to the park across the road and all through that part of town by my house. The little road was cleared of snow so the construction workers could get through during the day, which was nice. I cruised along that stretch (about 1.5mi) and circled back down, then decided that it was so pleasant and quiet that I'd do it again so I made another round and U-turned back. I also took a peek at the work they've been doing, for all the time they've taken and the inconvenience of having a main road blocked off it doesn't looks as if they've done much... or that it'll be finished by next month. *sigh*

It was lovely, no cars were around because it is a dead-end and the snow was so pretty! I saw bunny tracks and (I think) fox tracks, and the stream was warm enough to flow with just ice at its edges, the little waterfall was babbling! I thoroughly enjoyed it and would have stayed longer if both sets of cheeks hadn't started to freeze!!!

The way back from that entrance takes me along one of our town's busiest roads, which at 10:30pm still had a fair bit of traffic. Everyone was courteous and gave plenty of space, waited for me to lead at red lights, etc. There is a part that has dividers for one light only where there is just a single lane going straight while the others on the same side past the divider turn (I suppose too many people were trying to cut across and it was a dangerous intersection?) I took the lane with no complaints from the driver behind me, he waited until I was well and clear past the part where it opens back to two lanes on our direction again and used the full lane next to me to pass. I was pleased as that particular part is tricky and it will be part of my commute home every day, so it's nice to see that everyone doesn't instantly try to shove you to the sidewalk (though they may if you are too far over.) Got back to my street and decided that I would try to ride on through the snow... what a blast! The bike slid and swished and fishtailed all the way, I thought for sure I would fall but I didn't (and I was going so slow it probably wouldn't hurt much more than my pride!) It was hilarious, and has reinforced my desire to someday get that beautiful Surly fat bike I lust after...

But in the meantime Sylvia and I do just fine. Also for your amusement I have included a picture of her with her new reflective tape, I think it is quite eye-catching!!! Very nice since most of my riding is at night and my commute home will be after 9pm.

 

[Dave 123]

I'd intended to get out early, but the effect of a super tough Wednesday night metcon session and last nights circuit training meant I left the house at 8ish.

The fields were fairly crunchy and hard, but there were still big swathes of gloop about. Up and down through Kingston, long tailed tits and buzzards, then in to Great Eversden

The church has had a bucket of lottery money thrown over it in the last few years.

Up and along the Wimpole ridge before descending to Great Eversden. I was coming up behind a couple with a dog at the top, my tyre cracked a puddle loudly which spooked the dog, so I waited until it came back to them, giving me a very wide berth!

Down the hill and home along the roads.

Tired at the start, tired at the finish! Only 15 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1400200831

 

[13 rider]

That's was slightly unpleasant . Plans for an Imperial ton were shelved due to the forecast . Plan was to get up early do a 50km and try and beat the rain .Up not as early as I'd like being lazy so out the door at 0830 .Anstey ,Cropston ,Rothley ,Quorn onto Loughborough to tackle Forest rd climb a near continuous 6 mile climb . On the climb which was into a headwind making it tougher . Just as I start to climb it's starts to rain so quick pause to put the rain jacket on . Ground my way to the top at Copt Oak turned right heading up again towards St Bernards Abbey .Another right turn and the steep ramp to the highest point of the ride . Lovely quick descent follows dead straight so can let the bike go . Quick glance at the GPS and 38mph is displayed . I spot a tractor struggling up the hill and as I approach a nose of a Merc pokes out . Please stay there but no he goes for the overtake I'm on the brakes but at one point I heading straight for a 3 pointed star . The stone wall next to the foot wide verge didn't look inviting .Somehow we manage to avoid one another by inches . It happened so fast didn't even have time to think got to the bottom and had to stop to compose myself that was way up close for comfort .Back on the bike after a couple of minutes and the weather is getting properly bad now cold rain and windy . Could head directly home and do 20 odd miles but a half century is to tempting . Along Charley Rd right at beacon crossroads down past the golf course into Swithland quick wave at sister as she fed her horse didn't stop as was getting cold now . Rothley ,Cropston and home 31.2 miles so just a 50km .Properly wet and cold when I got home couldn't have faced an Imperial ton today . Trying not to let the near miss play on my mind but it was really close

 

[Dec66]

Routine 30-odd miler around the lanes and up Sundridge Hill, made non-routine by coming across a quite horrendous spill which a guy had had on some ice on Pilgrims Lane; he had two mates with him, and a guy in a van who'd blocked the road to stop any traffic, and a lady was bringing blankets for him... The poor fella had come off and hit his head hard, lots of blood.

They'd rang for an ambulance which hadn't turned up; they'd just rang again when I got there, 40 mins after the crash, and they'd been told it hadn't even been dispatched.

There wasn't much else we could do but offer sympathy, so we wished them luck and went on our way... Hope the poor fella is OK. Shook me up, that.

 

[cosmicbike]

That's was slightly unpleasant . Plans for an Imperial ton were shelved due to the forecast . Plan was to get up early do a 50km and try and beat the rain .Up not as early as I'd like being lazy so out the door at 0830 .Anstey ,Cropston ,Rothley ,Quorn onto Loughborough to tackle Forest rd climb a near continuous 6 mile climb . On the climb which was into a headwind making it tougher . Just as I start to climb it's starts to rain so quick pause to put the rain jacket on . Ground my way to the top at Copt Oak turned right heading up again towards St Bernards Abbey .Another right turn and the steep ramp to the highest point of the ride . Lovely quick descent follows dead straight so can let the bike go . Quick glance at the GPS and 38mph is displayed . I spot a tractor struggling up the hill and as I approach a nose of a Merc pokes out . Please stay there but no he goes for the overtake I'm on the brakes but at one point I heading straight for a 3 pointed star . The stone wall next to the foot wide verge didn't look inviting .Somehow we manage to avoid one another by inches . It happened so fast didn't even have time to think got to the bottom and had to stop to compose myself that was way up close for comfort .Back on the bike after a couple of minutes and the weather is getting properly bad now cold rain and windy . Could head directly home and do 20 odd miles but a half century is to tempting . Along Charley Rd right at beacon crossroads down past the golf course into Swithland quick wave at my sister as she feeds here horse didn't stop as was getting cold now . Rothley ,Cropston and home 31.2 miles so just a 50km .Properly wet and cold when I got home couldn't have faced an Imperial ton today . Trying not to let the near miss play on my mind but it was really close

Routine 30-odd miler around the lanes and up Sundridge Hill, made non-routine by coming across a quite horrendous spill which a guy had had on some ice on Pilgrims Lane; he had two mates with him, and a guy in a van who'd blocked the road to stop any traffic, and a lady was bringing blankets for him... The poor fella had come off and hit his head hard, lots of blood.

They'd rang for an ambulance which hadn't turned up; they'd just rang again when I got there, 40 mins after the crash, and they'd been told it hadn't even been dispatched.

There wasn't much else we could do but offer sympathy, so we wished them luck and went on our way... Hope the poor fella is OK. Shook me up, that.

Both liked for getting out, rather than the near miss and injury...

 

[Spiderweb]

I’m ashamed to say that this is my first ride for 3 months, feel like a fat knacker! But great to be back out.

 

[Jon George]

I cycled to work and back this morning.

I cycled to the pub and back this afternoon.

There are absolutely no prizes available for guessing which one provided the better entertainment.

Let's see what tomorrow brings ...