Your ride today....

[Stonechat]

I am holidaying in the Isle of Wight , not a cycling holiday, but the bike is here and one day will be devoted to a big loop.

So far done three rides
It is pretty hilly here and even on calmer days, there is usually some wind. There is a nice hill on the Military Road which warms you up.

11th June
Nice loop down to Chale and back through some pretty villages
https://www.strava.com/activities/1631377780
26.33 miles @ 15.7 mph with 1473 ft climbed

12th June loop to Calbourne on Middle Road, and back via Yarmouth, mileage was too low so a loop nearly to the needles
https://www.strava.com/activities/1633355066
19.70 miles( but I didn’t record the first bit) @ 16.2 mph with 1096 ft climbed

And today
Down the military road again, through Brighstone, couldn’t find the cut through I wanted but eventually via Calbourne Newbridge and Wellow
https://www.strava.com/activities/1641602122
23.64 miles @ 16.7 mph with
1411 ft climbed.
A good ave speed for that much climbing and a lot of speed.
Garmin told me I had set a new ftp, but I think it was exaggerating

 

[tribanjules]

Stunning ride Abergavenny to Brecon .
Very scenic, very chatty people. 70km

Got some good pics but don't know how to upload to post off my phone !

 

[Shut Up Legs]

No ride today, but I was inside, retreating from the cold and wet (it's definitely winter here), and thinking about my upcoming Pyrénées cycling trip, which will be a very thorough exploration of the Hautes Pyrénées***, from early September to early October, the riding being from Fri 7th Sep to Thu 4th Oct.

I'll do 15 days of riding based at Pyractif, a cyclists' B&B based in Bertren (about 30km north of Bagneres-de-Luchon), then 13 days of riding based at the Pyrénées Cycling Lodge, a cyclists' B&B in Saint-Savin (about 5km south of Argelès-Gazost).
The rough numbers are: 28 days cycling, about 2500km and about 65,000m climbing, an average of about 90km and 2300m per day. I'll probably end up riding an average of 2 cols (or dead-end ski stations) per day, but some of these I'll ride on more than one trip.

L'attente est très longue!

Regards,

--- Victor.

*** Or mostly. Parts of my rides will go into the Haute-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques regions.

 

[cosmicbike]

Out early today to get the last of the 3 challenge rides in for June, the metric century. I had a very urban route planned which would see be taking in the delights of West London, so out the door at just before 0600hrs into the rain and familiar territory through Staines, Wraysbury and on into Eton. Once past Eton Dorney it was new ground for me as I headed North towards Slough. A brief bit on the A4, then a bit of Burnham, through Slough trading estate and onwards to Wexham.
A bit of greenery as I did a circuit of Black Park and into Iver Heath, before the concrete jungle continued through Cowley, Hayes, Southall, Ealing and Brentford. Back home via Kew and Richmond Park. A pause as I crossed Beverley Brook at Palewell Fields, I thought I was lost but no, the Garmin was right...

Home after 71 miles, the first 50 of which were wet. Not a ride I want to do again, much as it was interesting to go through new places, I think I prefer my green scenery.

 

[Donger]

Sunday club ride time again. Everyone was in a very sombre mood at the beginning due to the tragic and unexpected death of a clubmate this week. His wife, usually the life and soul of our social group, bravely turned up at the start to see us off. Sometimes cycling seems so unimportant. I think most of us, at one time or another, have felt the mood-restorative and healing power of a good cycle ride though, and today's ride actually ended up going very well ..... out to Berkeley via Frocester and back via Taits Hill and Cam, then Frampton on Severn. We had a long 3/4 hour break at the Berkeley Tea Rooms yet I still got back about 3 1/2 hours after leaving home, having done 40 miles - whole stretches of it at 20mph. I started this ride feeling glum and with my heart not really in it. I was thinking of it only as a bit of exercise that I didn't really want to do. Actually ended up enjoying it.
Enjoy your rides everyone. Life is short. Make the most of it while you can.
Cheers, Donger.

 

[welsh dragon]

Sunday club ride time again. Everyone was in a very sombre mood at the beginning due to the tragic and unexpected death of a clubmate this week. His wife, usually the life and soul of our social group, bravely turned up at the start to see us off. Sometimes cycling seems so unimportant. I think most of us, at one time or another, have felt the mood-restorative and healing power of a good cycle ride though, and today's ride actually ended up going very well ..... out to Berkeley via Frocester and back via Taits Hill and Cam, then Frampton on Severn. We had a long 3/4 hour break at the Berkeley Tea Rooms yet I still got back about 3 1/2 hours after leaving home, having done 40 miles - whole stretches of it at 20mph. I started this ride feeling glum and with my heart not really in it. I was thinking of it only as a bit of exercise that I didn't really want to do. Actually ended up enjoying it.
Enjoy your rides everyone. Life is short. Make the most of it while you can.
Cheers, Donger.

A like for the ride Donger, not the bad news of a fallen fellow cyclist.

 

[cyberknight]

Went for a ride with a newly formed club, velo moira.
Pretty much the same pace as the medium club rides i normally do and a good bunch so i will definitely go again .
EDIT the guy on the far right apparently works for boardman bikes and was on the new team carbon with dropped seat stays , looked nice !

'View: https://www.strava.com/activities/1644245352/embed/c3b36af09729b70991cc7437319c350ecc274504
'></iframe>

 

[Spiderweb]

A lovely ride out to Cawood and along the back roads through Wistow Lordship and onto Selby. 30 miles in total with an average of 16.3 mph.

 

[jongooligan]

View attachment 414753

Good candidate for the 'Your bike in front of a steaming pile of 5h1t' photo thread.

 

[Spiderweb]

Good candidate for the 'Your bike in front of a steaming pile of 5h1t' photo thread.

The pile of sh*t is the same shade of brown as my bike!

I could start a thread ‘ photo next to something the same colour as your bike’

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Just a quick blast: anticlockwise round the short version of my Acton Burnell loop using the Raleigh in order to get a first test of the retensioned wheel done.

Quite windy out and it started to drizzle when I got to Condover having been dry almost all day. There were a few other cyclists out and about so I wasn't the only one getting wet.

Mostly uneventful apart from being buzzed at speed by a red estate that could have had all the road they wanted if they'd judged the oncoming traffic a bit better. Despite that it feels really good to have got out.

The wheel seems good and the bike feels different to ride with it properly tensioned.

17.1 miles at 16.3 mph average.

No photos today.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Sunday club ride time again. Everyone was in a very sombre mood at the beginning due to the tragic and unexpected death of a clubmate this week. His wife, usually the life and soul of our social group, bravely turned up at the start to see us off. Sometimes cycling seems so unimportant. I think most of us, at one time or another, have felt the mood-restorative and healing power of a good cycle ride though, and today's ride actually ended up going very well ..... out to Berkeley via Frocester and back via Taits Hill and Cam, then Frampton on Severn. We had a long 3/4 hour break at the Berkeley Tea Rooms yet I still got back about 3 1/2 hours after leaving home, having done 40 miles - whole stretches of it at 20mph. I started this ride feeling glum and with my heart not really in it. I was thinking of it only as a bit of exercise that I didn't really want to do. Actually ended up enjoying it.
Enjoy your rides everyone. Life is short. Make the most of it while you can.
Cheers, Donger.

Another like for the ride. Sorry to hear about your clubmate.

 

[jongooligan]

Family get together today and whenever the prodigal son (BiL) comes home there's friction. So to distract my darling wife and to distance myself from the heat we went out for a tandem ride. It was a shakedown for the latest tandem roof rack too and I'm pleased to report it works a treat.
We drove to Broompark where three cycletracks meet and a large car park has been provided. From there we took the track which follows the Wear to Bishop Auckland but came off it at Brancepeth to climb Sandy Lonnen towards Stanley Crook. This is a marvellous climb as it takes you away from the main valley roads through some peaceful countryside at a reasonable gradient. I really enjoy cycling when all I can hear is birdsong and the sound of my own wheels.
As we approached Stanley Crook we had the option of looping around the village to join the next cycle path right at its highest point or diving off a mile short to avoid more road riding. We were back in traffic by now so took the shorter option to get off the road.
The track here is quite steep so I'm guessing that when it was in use as a railway there was a stationary engine to winch the wagons up the incline. It's steep enough for Mrs. jg to clamp on the second rear brake, which she controls from her handlebars and loose enough to have the tandem skipping across the surface in an alarming fashion.
It's all off road and apart from a couple of places where the old bridges have been removed it's all downhill back to the car from here. The track also goes through Ragpath Wood which is worth the ride at any time of the year.
Just 14 miles but enjoyed every yard of it and Mrs. jg totally chilled.

 

[TigerT]

I had no intention of going out today but, being Sunday, after getting up rather late having breakfast and showering I automatically put my bike gear on. After procrastinating for a while on whether to actually go out and whether it was going to rain. I decided on a short ride out around the Griefensee.

Now I don't think I've ever managed 3 rides in 3 days and even just walking down to the cellar to get my bike my legs were complaining. I decided to take my old Roubaix, it's not been used since getting my new Trek and I didn't want it to feel left out!

The ride was good, apart from a few other cyclists and rollerbladers, the paths were pretty empty. I stopped for a short break and photostop about halfway (I must have posted a similar photo, many times now - it's lovely spot). From, there I was feeling quite good, so decided to push a bit harder on the home stretch.

42kms today in just under 2 hours (162 kms total for the weekend) and beat my fastest 40k still pretty slow, but every improvement makes me happy.

Taking a break by the lake.

 

[BianchiVirgin]

First metric century this morning at 100.6km and 993m climbing. All completed in 3hr 40 at an average of 27.5km/hr. Happy enough with that. First third was a stiff head breeze, second third a cross wind and the final third a good rear ender wind, which was much appreciated. Only mishap was me not unclipping quickly enough in the car park at the start at 0830 (Note to self: loosen the cleats) and tipping over and landing on my left knee bone, which is stiff and sore now but no real harm done other than to pride! And it was chilly. Glad I brought my light jacket but no rain other than a bit of blown drizzle for a while.

Another one in two weeks but which will have about 1200m climbing with two SOB climbs at about 11%.