- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Will do. It's not my first injury from a dog (I used to play rough with the happy chap in my avatar pic) but I've never had one actually take a bite while I was riding before - hopefully an experience I won't repeat.
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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- Location
- Manchester
Ditto
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Will do. It's not my first injury from a dog (I used to play rough with the happy chap in my avatar pic) but I've never had one actually take a bite while I was riding before - hopefully an experience I won't repeat.
I've been chased by a dog while riding, but fortunately never bitten. It's a disconcerting experience for sure.
In my case, it was a neighbour's black lab. Turns out the mutt was very myopic and used to chase *anything* that moved - not just cyclists. The solution to the problem was to call out his name as you approached, and then he'd stay put, tail thumping on the ground.
jongooligan
Legendary Member
- Location
- Behind bars
Was half awake with all the windows open in the wee, small hours trying to keep cool when I heard a strange noise. A little yip, like a small animal in distress. There it was again, louder and closer. And again and again.
The hiccups finally arrived at our front door, carried by the lad who'd been out celebrating a mates 21st. It was 3:30 and I was wide awake. No chance of getting back to sleep in this heat so I got dressed and set off on the bike at 4 o'clock with no clear plan in mind other than to be back around dinnertime.
After two miles my front light went out and I had thoughts of going back to change the battery but I still had a blinky on and as I hadn't seen any other traffic I decided to carry on. After ten miles it was light enough to see the screen on my garmin and after thirty miles I was hungry.
Dammit! Hadn't thought of that - there's nowhere open to get any breakfast. My first thought was to head to Barton truck stop, which opens at 6:30 but the last time I did that they were closed for family reasons and I could have eaten my own fingers I was so hungry. Took myself off to Northallerton instead and timed my arrival perfectly with the opening of Greggs. I'd ridden 60 miles in four hours on an empty stomach so was ready for the leathery egg sandwiches and grey coffee they served me. Only cost £3.80 and it was just about worth it.
After a quick visit to the town hall netties (there are no toilets in Greggs) I carried on vaguely northward now but strayed off course in Yafforth, tempted by a well kept bridleway signposted for Thrintoft. Excellent; that would allow me to continue up to Ellerton on quiet roads.
Except it didn't. Confused by lack of sleep and arriving in Thrintoft in a totally unfamiliar place I turned right to end up back on the road to Streetlam. Oh well.
The bridleway makes an excellent shortcut BTW. It's tarmac to the equestrian centre and from there the surface isn't too bad at all.
From Streetlam it was onto Barton truck stop for another breakfast under a threatening sky. It was hot; damned hot and thick black clouds were keeping a lid on the heat. At one point big, fat raindrops began to fall but they were so infrequent and the road was so hot that they evaporated almost instantly leaving me wet but the road dry.
After beans on toast at Barton I came back home fairly directly to eat four slices of toast and honey before a cold shower and a kip.
110 miles at 15mph. Sorry there's no pics. It was either too dark or there was nothing worth photographing.
The hiccups finally arrived at our front door, carried by the lad who'd been out celebrating a mates 21st. It was 3:30 and I was wide awake. No chance of getting back to sleep in this heat so I got dressed and set off on the bike at 4 o'clock with no clear plan in mind other than to be back around dinnertime.
After two miles my front light went out and I had thoughts of going back to change the battery but I still had a blinky on and as I hadn't seen any other traffic I decided to carry on. After ten miles it was light enough to see the screen on my garmin and after thirty miles I was hungry.
Dammit! Hadn't thought of that - there's nowhere open to get any breakfast. My first thought was to head to Barton truck stop, which opens at 6:30 but the last time I did that they were closed for family reasons and I could have eaten my own fingers I was so hungry. Took myself off to Northallerton instead and timed my arrival perfectly with the opening of Greggs. I'd ridden 60 miles in four hours on an empty stomach so was ready for the leathery egg sandwiches and grey coffee they served me. Only cost £3.80 and it was just about worth it.
After a quick visit to the town hall netties (there are no toilets in Greggs) I carried on vaguely northward now but strayed off course in Yafforth, tempted by a well kept bridleway signposted for Thrintoft. Excellent; that would allow me to continue up to Ellerton on quiet roads.
Except it didn't. Confused by lack of sleep and arriving in Thrintoft in a totally unfamiliar place I turned right to end up back on the road to Streetlam. Oh well.
The bridleway makes an excellent shortcut BTW. It's tarmac to the equestrian centre and from there the surface isn't too bad at all.
From Streetlam it was onto Barton truck stop for another breakfast under a threatening sky. It was hot; damned hot and thick black clouds were keeping a lid on the heat. At one point big, fat raindrops began to fall but they were so infrequent and the road was so hot that they evaporated almost instantly leaving me wet but the road dry.
After beans on toast at Barton I came back home fairly directly to eat four slices of toast and honey before a cold shower and a kip.
110 miles at 15mph. Sorry there's no pics. It was either too dark or there was nothing worth photographing.
I really like getting out in the small hours and riding into the dawn.
Dave 123
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire alps
I was going to go out on my mountain bike but couldn't face a sweaty back pack with a water bladder, so I went on my Cube.
It was just a loop around the Eversdens and Haslingfield. It was nice and warm out there.
The highlight of the ride was a nice soft top Audi coming the other way and me having to stop for a flock of ducks doing a road invasion. They must have been watching French farmers, luckily there was no pepper spray!
Leaden skies and long shadows
https://www.strava.com/activities/1725174146
It was just a loop around the Eversdens and Haslingfield. It was nice and warm out there.
The highlight of the ride was a nice soft top Audi coming the other way and me having to stop for a flock of ducks doing a road invasion. They must have been watching French farmers, luckily there was no pepper spray!
Leaden skies and long shadows
https://www.strava.com/activities/1725174146
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Hot weather or no, it's gotten to the point where I *needed* a bike ride... You know, that horrible itch you get every time you look at your bike...
I waited until after supper, hopped on the Wiggins and pedalled off into the sunset. Well, literally. Was treated to a fabulous display as I headed off towards Pymoor via Dunkirk and O Furlong. In Pymoor, I joined up with NCN 11 and rode towards Downham, past Adventurer's Drove, Mount Pleasant Farm and Corker's Crisps. Then it's up Mill Hill. At this point the legs felt good, so I turned right at the top and continued climbing up the Hythe to Red Caps Drove. There I did a 180 and rode home through Downham.
Mill Hill is definitely losing its "scaryness" these days, as I'm now managing to get up it with gears to spare - and without gasping like a fish out of water.
10 very enjoyable miles in the (relative) cool of the evening.
I waited until after supper, hopped on the Wiggins and pedalled off into the sunset. Well, literally. Was treated to a fabulous display as I headed off towards Pymoor via Dunkirk and O Furlong. In Pymoor, I joined up with NCN 11 and rode towards Downham, past Adventurer's Drove, Mount Pleasant Farm and Corker's Crisps. Then it's up Mill Hill. At this point the legs felt good, so I turned right at the top and continued climbing up the Hythe to Red Caps Drove. There I did a 180 and rode home through Downham.
Mill Hill is definitely losing its "scaryness" these days, as I'm now managing to get up it with gears to spare - and without gasping like a fish out of water.
10 very enjoyable miles in the (relative) cool of the evening.
set off on my mtb earlier and i was a few miles in to the ride with a nagging feeling that i had forgotten something, turns out i forgot to put my bike helmet on....
oops... so i go to the miller and carter steak house then i messed about exploring dalmeny estate, found some hills there that i never knew existed and they were knackering, managed to get 9.88 miles with all the hills though
also saw a new sign warning about a bull........
last cycle i had before that was on the road bike
here's some pics of tonights ride and i was messing about with my note 4 phones hdr option on a few
oops... so i go to the miller and carter steak house then i messed about exploring dalmeny estate, found some hills there that i never knew existed and they were knackering, managed to get 9.88 miles with all the hills though
also saw a new sign warning about a bull........
last cycle i had before that was on the road bike
here's some pics of tonights ride and i was messing about with my note 4 phones hdr option on a few
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
Due to lack of space under the stairs my bike currently gets parked up in the livingroom.
I can't escape the glares it gives me when I'm not out riding it.
I tried that but it wasn't the bike glaring at me.
welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Breaking away from just banging in the miles on regular routes today: I did start off by following the route I rode yesterday but after Longnor I turned south and headed up the climb to Folly Bank, over to Cardington then tackled a meandering route to Plaish, Church Preen, Kenley, Harnage Grange, Harnage, Cound, Cantlop and back via Condover and Lyth Hill.
Traffic wasn't too bad on the main road at the start and I wondered whether I'd encounter the reprobate hound again but there was nobody about today. I haven't done the Folly Bank climb for a while and was pleased to fairly breeze up it compared to the last few times.
After taking a tour of Cardington just for the heck of it (doesn't take long) I decided on a whim to head for Plaish, then once in the village fancied going left instead of right so carried on climbing into the hills which was very pleasant and gave some good views on the way.
I hadn't seen a soul since Plaish and that continued through Church Preen and into Kenley where I greeted a chap working on a wall. The first vehicles I encountered weren't for another mile after that.
On the way to Harnage I encountered a tractor that completely filled the lane and there was no way we'd be able to pass one another so I had to double back to the last junction I'd passed. I got an appreciative wave for it though.
Having crossed Lyth Hill I had the only annoying moment of the ride when I was going well down a descent and a car was waved out of a driveway into my path forcing a stop - I obviously don't count as a real vehicle that you have to give way to.
I bit my tongue and didn't make a scene.
Apart from that last bit, a very nice ride that left me feeling
.
33.1 miles at 14.2 mph average. Pretty respectible for a hilly route.
The two fords on the old roman road have completely dried up.
Ah, so that's where @Spinney has been hiding.
Climbing through Plaish on the lane to Broome.
View on the way to Church Preen.
It feels quite remote up here, an impression heightened today by not having seen anyone for the last three or four miles.
Looking quite bucolic at Bowling Green Farm, Kenley
Traffic wasn't too bad on the main road at the start and I wondered whether I'd encounter the reprobate hound again but there was nobody about today. I haven't done the Folly Bank climb for a while and was pleased to fairly breeze up it compared to the last few times.
After taking a tour of Cardington just for the heck of it (doesn't take long) I decided on a whim to head for Plaish, then once in the village fancied going left instead of right so carried on climbing into the hills which was very pleasant and gave some good views on the way.
I hadn't seen a soul since Plaish and that continued through Church Preen and into Kenley where I greeted a chap working on a wall. The first vehicles I encountered weren't for another mile after that.
On the way to Harnage I encountered a tractor that completely filled the lane and there was no way we'd be able to pass one another so I had to double back to the last junction I'd passed. I got an appreciative wave for it though.
Having crossed Lyth Hill I had the only annoying moment of the ride when I was going well down a descent and a car was waved out of a driveway into my path forcing a stop - I obviously don't count as a real vehicle that you have to give way to.
I bit my tongue and didn't make a scene.Apart from that last bit, a very nice ride that left me feeling
.33.1 miles at 14.2 mph average. Pretty respectible for a hilly route.
The two fords on the old roman road have completely dried up.
Ah, so that's where @Spinney has been hiding.
Climbing through Plaish on the lane to Broome.
View on the way to Church Preen.
It feels quite remote up here, an impression heightened today by not having seen anyone for the last three or four miles.
Looking quite bucolic at Bowling Green Farm, Kenley
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Wiggy lives in the hallway. And yes, it does kind of glare at me whenever I walk past and leave it behind.
I only have myself to please.
Well, and the cats... Poppy and Lexi were a bit leery of the bike initially, but now they guard it. 
Sunny day today (sick of saying that) so after a walk with the dog (who was as sick as a dog last night) and a leisurely breakfast I decided that it was time to get out rather than sitting around waiting for the dog to throw up again.
So I had a plan to go west and inland and pick up the Sustrans Route 68 which runs alongside the east of the Northumbrian hills. Through Alnwick and after the climb up of the town it was a right and I took the road towards Whittingham. A lovely long, long run down from the hills of about 3.5 miles not quite all down hill but very nearly. At the junction with the A697 I stopped and dithered.
The road opposite was the one I wanted but it was flagged as closed east of Netherton. I checked the map and the diversion was nowhere I had planned on going so I took a chance and carried on anyway. A beautifully resurfaced road carried me for around 5 miles to where the road works were and I got past with no problems apart from missing a turn I wanted.
After looking at the map I sorted another route into Netherton, then onto a place called Biddlestone. Which really isnt a place at all it seemed to me.
I had planned on turning south on Sustrans Route 68 at this point and making for Rothbury and then back towards the coast.
Instead I turned the other way. No idea why, I just did.
Route 68, narrow, up and down, a mix of good tarmac, old track, crumbly gritty and pot-holed sections and grassy stretches, farm gates to unlock and re-lock, cows, sheep and not much else. Loved it.
The route seems to cling to the east side of the hills and it's about as far removed from city riding as is possible unless you actually get off road.
I did come across a bunch of riders coming the other way but other than them no one and nothing. Even once I was back on tarmac proper nary a car nor a van passed me for an hour or so. One socking great truck though.
I thought I might stay with the Sustrans route for a few miles maybe as far as Wooler but a call from Mrs Colly had me turning for home. That took me through Glanton, Bolton, East Bolton into Alnwick again and then back to Lesbury. The route and places all of which are worth riding to and through. Terrific countryside.
So all in all it was 46 miles or so and about 3600ft of up. Slowish to be sure but with landscapes and weather like this.............. who wants to rush it?
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/25912588
Edit: The dog is back to normal.
So I had a plan to go west and inland and pick up the Sustrans Route 68 which runs alongside the east of the Northumbrian hills. Through Alnwick and after the climb up of the town it was a right and I took the road towards Whittingham. A lovely long, long run down from the hills of about 3.5 miles not quite all down hill but very nearly. At the junction with the A697 I stopped and dithered.
The road opposite was the one I wanted but it was flagged as closed east of Netherton. I checked the map and the diversion was nowhere I had planned on going so I took a chance and carried on anyway. A beautifully resurfaced road carried me for around 5 miles to where the road works were and I got past with no problems apart from missing a turn I wanted.
After looking at the map I sorted another route into Netherton, then onto a place called Biddlestone. Which really isnt a place at all it seemed to me.
I had planned on turning south on Sustrans Route 68 at this point and making for Rothbury and then back towards the coast.
Instead I turned the other way. No idea why, I just did.
Route 68, narrow, up and down, a mix of good tarmac, old track, crumbly gritty and pot-holed sections and grassy stretches, farm gates to unlock and re-lock, cows, sheep and not much else. Loved it.
The route seems to cling to the east side of the hills and it's about as far removed from city riding as is possible unless you actually get off road.
I did come across a bunch of riders coming the other way but other than them no one and nothing. Even once I was back on tarmac proper nary a car nor a van passed me for an hour or so. One socking great truck though.
I thought I might stay with the Sustrans route for a few miles maybe as far as Wooler but a call from Mrs Colly had me turning for home. That took me through Glanton, Bolton, East Bolton into Alnwick again and then back to Lesbury. The route and places all of which are worth riding to and through. Terrific countryside.
So all in all it was 46 miles or so and about 3600ft of up. Slowish to be sure but with landscapes and weather like this.............. who wants to rush it?
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/25912588
Edit: The dog is back to normal.
Last edited:
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
Yehuda Moon for the day. Work truck in for an MOT so jobbing my gardening clients from the back of my Surly Disc Trucker. Pannier full of tools and sandwiches. Managed to clock 60kmh down one hill. Must have been enjoying myself. Living the dream.
