Your ride today....

[Rickshaw Phil]

I`m 7 miles from Ludlow, next time your out that way give me a nod, your welcome to a Brew .

Thanks for the offer. That would be nice.

A fairly easy ride today on roads I know well: Lyth Hill, Condover, Cantlop, Cound, Harnage, Acton Burnell, Longnor, Ryton, Condover and back via the short way using the A49.

It's relatively warm out and feels spring-like at last (back to cold and snow at the weekend though ). I managed to dodge a heavy shower and was glad I hadn't cleaned the bike yet as the roads over towards Cound were very wet.

The wind direction helped more than hindered for the second half of the ride and allowed me to get some good speed up over the last 5 miles or so. It had been a great ride but was slightly soured when a lorry did a dumb overtake on the A49, forcing the traffic coming the other way to stop and giving me minimal room at the same time.

23.6 miles at 13.9 mph average. Enjoyed that.

Usual view from Lyth Hill. It's a bit wet over there.

Looks nicer in the direction I'm headed.

Daffs blooming at last. In front of the church at Cound

And croci at Concord College. Spring is arriving.

 

[iandg]

Absolutely stunning scenery , must be a joy to ride such a route !

On days like that it's a wonderful place, wouldn't have been a joy in today's wind

 

[mjr]

Just a short 5 miler here this afternoon. I'm back in north Norfolk for a few days and rode through the woods between Waterden and Holkham (about 6 miles north of Fakenham)

Waterden church is worth a look, too, if you can spot the unmarked grass lane which leads to it. I know where it is but even then I sometimes ride past before spotting it.

 

[Noodle Legs]

Another challenging indoor session for me today, on the back of a 5-and-a-half mile mudfest with the dog. I’m really hoping the weather is gonna be kind to us this weekend so we can get out on our planned ride instead of a possible zwift “fondo”- I do like the virtual miles as it helps me get stronger but it just don’t beat the great outdoors does it?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Still a nice mild flow of weather and some sunshine today. The weekend has cold, cold, cold and snow in the forecast. So I grabbed today while I could. I decided that the standard old run around the lanes and Hams would be just the thing. The roads were flowing with quite a lot of water after all the rain we've had. That's going to be risky when it freezes. Out over the common was fine today despite a tendancy to hindrance from the wind. Into the lanes at Redmarley gave me a chance to try a small amount of climbing and then a bit further on I decided to climb to Woolridge to view the floods in the valley. That was prompted by seeing the the Leadon had burst its banks. The view from Woolridge indicated the the flooding on the Hams wasn't particularly extensive so I headed down there to find no trouble along the road. The usual suspect Ham was well under tho'. I seemed to be pedalling quite briskly mostly due to a helpful tail wind. At Clive's Farm I jinked through the farmyard to avoid the usual flood below but it turned out to be unnecessary as the water has gone down here. My usual lane after Brotheridge Green was closed due to road works. As is usual when on a bike one ignores the sign and finds a way around the problem. It looked to me when I got there that the job had been done but the workers had just left barriers in place. No worries tho' getting around it all. Soon after I was arriving home just in time for lunch. Super wee outing timed to perfection. 44 smiles

 

[Elybazza61]

I sent Mrs Dave in and I stayed with the car so as not to pay for parking. A young lad with piercings dealt with her.

That'll be Dan the manager

 

[Dave 123]

That'll be Dan the manager

Never known as Discount Dan!

 

[Reynard]

Headed out for a spin at tea time. The forecast said the wind would drop some, but if anything it got up and kept veering around. Ah well, ho hum, I was out there and kitted up and didn't fancy returning home in shame.

First three miles were really rather unpleasant, made so by a rather brisk headwind. Went out via Downham Common and Black Bank to Littleport. From there, looped around Parsons Lane and out to Sandhill before turning back into the headwind to come down along Branch Bank and the A10. Then it was a fizz along Camel Road back into Littleport. Decided to extend my ride, and turned down Station Road. Rode past the station to Horseley Hale, picking up the A10 again. From there it was back down Camel Road and home, retracing my wheel tracks along Black Bank. There at least I had a sort of tail wind for the first time in the whole ride, and got up to quite a decent clip. But by then the wind had veered round some 60 degrees from the start of my ride and rode the last leg back into that rather brisk wind. Really felt that last mile or so...

Saw a group of three friendly chaps on roadies fizzing down Black Bank on my way out - they said hello and waved. The daffs on Branch Bank are now in full bloom and look fabulous, and in sheltered spots, blackthorns have finally started flowering.

So, 16 miles in total, by far the longest ride I've had since my three month hiatus. Feel really good about that. My knees and quads aren't quite so happy right now, but it's nothing a hot bath won't solve.

 

[Aravis]

I did a variation on one of my usual themes today, heading up the Avon towards Stratford, then back through some Worcestershire lanes before crossing the Severn for the final bit back to Gloucester.

With mostly light winds and the temperature comfortable enough for shorts and arm warmers, the forecast blast from the east seemed a million miles away. There was plenty of evidence of the overnight rain, as at this ford on the river Arrow at Coughton, near Redditch:

As so often, ignore the road closed signs and you will be rewarded.

Heading westwards towards the Severn, the view is dominated by the impressive ridge of the Malverns. This is from Croome Park, where for some reason a gate had been left in splendid isolation. Today's weather wasn't always as threatening as it looks here:

A climb up there wasn't on the agenda today. I'm trying to build gently towards some testing targets in the early summer, and today was pretty encouraging - 110 miles at 13.1 mph including all stops. I've been so slow over the winter that I wondered if I'd ever again be able to complete 100 miles in under 8 hours elapsed, but today I had over 20 minutes to spare.

 

[derrick]

Getting in the last ride of the week. 4 of us went out on our 25 mile ride to the pub. Weather stayed good.was a hard ride but the reward was a nice beer.met a couple of mates in the pub.great way to spend the afternoon.

 

[Lavender Rose]

@User21629 did indeed go out for another girls ride! Similar sort of route. Not as long! 16.4 miles and the weather was perfect! Sunny, a little windy still but lovely all the same.

I just tipped over my target so was super happy!!! Hope you enjoyed it too @User21629 ?

 

[TigerT]

I had the. day off to go for a ride yesterday. I've been wanting to try out Route 94 from Zürich to Zug for a while. It follows the River Sihl and I always like riding along rivers. They make forays navigation!

The weather forecast was overcast with showers until lunchtime, then brightening up, so the plan was to ride out hoping not to get too wet, then enjoy the ride home in sunshine. So I set out from home - I don't like riding through the middle of Zürich, but that went ok and I was out onto Route 94. The route goes out through a mixture of different areas including try lined paths in the centre of the city to more industrial areas, but after a while I got t Adliswil and from there it's pretty much scenic woods all the way to Sihlbrugg where you head out of the woods onto Roads, then back onto cycle paths for the run into Zug. I'd checked the route and there were long stretches of gravel paths, but I was not expecting them to be quite as rough as they were. Definitely no good for a road bike, so I was glad I was on my Scott. More on the paths later....

I got to Zug at lunch time and went and got some lunch before having a walk down to the lake. On a clear day, there are beautiful views of the mountains, but no such luck today. It was still a bit cloudy, but the lake was calm and the reflections from the clouds looked beautiful.

I set off again to go home and thankfully it was warmer. There is one short climb on the route and my front derailleur decided to stick :-( so that was a bit more of a challenge than I wanted. After that it was straight forward on the road sections back to Sihlbrugg. Then it went temporarily a bit wrong - On there are some very short ups and downs on the paths through the woods, on one of them my front wheel slipped, I grabbed far too hard on the brake and launched my self head first down the rest of the slope. Result - A big hole in my elbow and sore grazed knees. Could have been worse - At least the bike was ok :-D

I was a bit sore after that, but wasn't going to let it spoil the day. So carried on home. Zürich in the rush hour was challenging. People seem to have a complete lack of awareness of what's happening around them on Fridays! Finally got home. and sorted out my wounds. Surprisingly, despite all the holes in me, my kit had survived without any - Just a couple of blood stains.

75kms in total - A great ride


Heading out of town



Adliswil - The last town before heading into the country.



The Zugersee. Looking calm and beautiful, but no mountain views today.

 

[Glow worm]

Waterden church is worth a look, too, if you can spot the unmarked grass lane which leads to it. I know where it is but even then I sometimes ride past before spotting it.

Yes I've been to the church - it is tiny but lovely. I signed the visitor book there with my then girlfriend in summer 1986 and was amazed to find the entry still there a year or so ago!
(By the way an article on a new bike shop for Lynn on Edward Benifer Way plus short piece on the advantages of cycling in town on p24 of today's EDP).

 

[Biff600]

It's cold and windy.....best I get out on the MTB

See you in a couple of hours

 

[colly]

no mountain views today.

As a kid about 4 or 5 years old, I always wondered how they managed to play football in Switzerland without the ball rolling away all the time.. The only photos I had ever seen of Switzerland were all mountains.