Your ride today....

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Just Jules H and me this morning. We took a fairly standard run out through the Wadborough lanes to cross the ford at Pinvin. A pause here revealed how little water is flowing now. No rain for weeks and weeks. The Mallards were fairly happy with our presence, one tucking her bill under her wing while we watched. Over the airfield lead us towards the Lenches but we just skirted them heading for Radford and on for Stock Green, Bradley Green and the wonderfully named Flying Horse Lane. The fishing lakes at Ditchford Bank was our stop. I was given a free cup of tea when I asked for another!

Jules and I had chatted about a different route back a few times so I asked did he fancy a go this trip. He was on for the adventure so we headed for Wychbold and it's huge transmitter masts to cross the busy A38 and get under the motorway with no need to get involved with the busy roads. Elmbridge had a sneaky surprise for us with a steep hill and as we crossed another busy road we discovered a new cafe at Cutnall Green. Another ride destination for the future? Doverdale lined us up to cross the A449 and it's fast traffic at Dunhampstead and then not long after we were back on known lanes at Lineholt. We followed the lanes for Holt Fleet but had problems with deep sand washed from the fields. Impossible to ride on safely and no sign of the highways department sorting it out. From here we tolerated some traffic to get across the River and into the lanes for Ockeridge and Wichenford. We had been drinking routinely in the heat and Jules was getting low on supplies so as we rounded by Upper Broadheath we headed for Laylock's and some Tea and Coffee and bottle refills. Not far to got now as we crossed the A449 again for Hawthorn Lane. The Polish pilot's memorial was our parting spot as Jules headed for Worcester and me the few miles home. It had been something different in the circling to the north. New lanes for Jules and some less known ones for me. 70 smiles

 

[Donger]

Took advantage of the midweek sunshine to go out and grab me a few more miles on the local country lanes. Headed out along the Severn to Arlingham, where I took a little break and drank half of my water, intending to head off to the bottom of the green in Frampton and then straight home. Half way between Arlingham and Frampton, just as I was chatting to another cyclist I was overtaking, I heard a shout from ahead of me. Three of my clubmates were heading the other way, so I did an about turn and headed off once more to Arlingham with @Dark46 , Tina and Wayne:

From a solo ride it suddenly turned into a pleasant social one. We stuck together through Frampton and until Epney, where Wayne had to turn for Stroud, with the three of us then riding back to Quedgeley via the Pilot Bridge on the canal. I hadn't quite done enough miles by the time I got home, so I headed off for the river bank again at Stonebench, where I parked up in the shade and finished off my water in a gap between the trees that allowed an nice cool breeze to rustle my vest and cool my brow.

The eagle-eyed will notice that I was riding my old bike (now my number 2 bike). In fact I have done for four of my last five rides, as it is running so smoothly and quietly at the moment, and there were no big descents that would require disc brakes. Nice to keep both bikes in good running order and give them both a ride out. By the time I got home, I'd done another 37 miles, bringing up 300 miles for the month and 1,800 for the year. One unusual "mechanical" I had today was that the glue appeared to have melted in my sunglasses, causing the rubber bit that goes over my right ear to keep detaching from the arm of the glasses. Not something you normally expect in our climate. Superglued it as soon as I got home.
Enjoy your rides everyone. Cheers, Donger.

 

[cosmicbike]

After a sweaty morning shifting sheets of plasterboard around, and an afternoon fettling the dynamo lights on the commuter, I headed out for a steady spin around WGP after dinner. An enjoyable 21 miles on quiet roads, and relatively cool (26 degrees) weather.

 

[delb0y]

My ride today was a 260 mile loop to Carmarthen and back via the Brecons. Luckily I had a 1200cc motor hidden in the frame to help...

 

[Reynard]

Since it was such a lovely evening (and Wiggy was glaring at me in that "I want to go for a ride" way), I thought I could just as well go for a bimble.

So went where the legs decided to take me - in this case Coveney, via Downham, the Hythe and Way Head. Raising my saddle a tad has worked wonders, and I knocked a good 5 mins off what it usually takes me. Mind, the rather brisk tailwind might have had something to do with that too...

Stopped for a drink outside St Peters before doing an about face and riding home the way I'd come. Decided to put some real welly into it, especially on the long climb from Way Head back to Red Caps Drove. Was sort of running out of steam when I hit the headwind on the high ground, but then spotted a friend walking her dogs, so stopped for a chat. After a pleasant 10 mins or so catching up and fussing a couple of very excitable mini schnauzers, I turned for home. Now I had a tailwind again, so rode the last couple of miles at a fair old lick.

Saw a lovely sunset, startled a muntjac deer grazing on a verge and got a lovely "thank you" from a farmer after I pulled over to let her pass me with a tractor and trailer.

12-ish very enjoyable and hilly (well, what passes for hilly here) miles.

 

[cosmicbike]

Out early this morning, 32 miles done. Now back to being a sweaty plasterboarding person, too hot for this lark

 

[13 rider]

Change of scenery and pace today . Needed to bag a couple of veloviewer squares that required riding a couple of rough bridle paths which didn't fancy on the roadie . So I hatched a plan for a towpath ride and Divert up the bridlepath . Out in the car with the hybrid stashed in the boot to the side of the Canal at Stoke Golding . On the bike by 0700 headed to Hinckley where I had to cross the A5 to get to the bridlepath a mile up and back so first square bagged . Back on the canal heading towards Bedworth enjoying the quiet countryside .past through the other square on the canal so job done . At Bedworth a bit of road riding to bag a couple of bonus squares then retraced my steps back to the car . 27 miles at a sedate 11.1 mph completely different to my normal rides really enjoyed the change . The 2 squares expanding my max square so target achieved managed to got round before the heat of the day .

A bit of idyllic countryside

 

[s7ephanie]

8am slow 10 miles around the countryside xx

 

[Dark46]

I had arranged on Sunday to go for a ride this afternoon with Tina one of the other riders in the Social group in KCC.
After the ride on Sunday I mentioned about today's ride and he said he would like to come , not a problem I As I the more the merrier.


I was a bit rushed getting the meeting point with Tina as I only had arrived home 1/2hr before from seeing MI Fall Out. Which I personally think is the best from the MI series.

Put on my Sky jersey and bibs thought I might as well, trying to keep my KCC kit clean for the weekends.

I headed out to the Pilot bridge where I was to meet Tina and Wayne. I got there with about 5 mins to spare.

Tina turned up and then Wayne not far behind. We have no planned ride and just really made the decisions along the way.

So it was a similar route as @Donger and I did last week on the Longley loop.
As we were heading up Elmore lump I noticed a slight creek from the bottom bracket on the nearside down stroke. So that's something I'm going to have to get sorted.

I'm starting to get to somewhere near I used to be, there's a long way to go but I can tell improvements already.

From here it was around the loop until we turned off towards Epney. There was a temp set of lights controlling 3 directions and I thought we could be here ages depe ding where in the sequence we got there.

We headed to Epney and the River Severn with hardly any traffic compared to normal because of the school holidays .

The weather was great for riding not too hot I found and a gentle head wind went keeps you cool .

We went through Epney and Saul and then turned sharp right toward Arlingham. It was along here we saw a familiar sight of @Donger going in the other direction. Obviously a shout went out and we came to a halt and turned round. @Donger said he'd had just come from where we were heading but was pleased to go back with us for some extra few miles.

So 3 became 4. Riding with KCC is always a pleasure . Everything seems to run well in the Social group and everyone gets on with everyone.

The ride down to the Severn is always a good one as it's mainly downhill and we had a slight head wind, never an issue when your downhill. The traffic was slightly more here which was a slightly surprising.

We were surprised at the end of the road to see people in the water even when there are signs saying " Danger! quicksand".

We hung around for a drink and a gel for me just to make sure and I was ok on the way back up to Frampton.

On the way back @Donger decided it was going to be a magical mystery tour as soon as the road widend we hung a left for a extra mile between some houses that probably not many people go past.

The ride back up the hill was better than expected and I decided to stay with Wayne as the slight climb started . I was quite pleased on how long I stayed with him but I know he probably wasn't trying , my legs were hurting after lol.

We waited for Tina and @Donger at the bridge. It was at Frampton we headed along the Green to towards Audi drive as @Donger calls it. I mentioned there were signs saying "no parking on the green" but all I could see was Brown? Lol

We went passed the church and to the end if the road and as we got there there was a bridge swing in process. So another quick drink and rest was had before we turned around and headed for home.

So it was back to Saul and Epney were Wayne left us to head for home. Getting to the traffic lights I turned right and @Donger and Tina turned left. Oops! I had gone through the lights so had to wait again after doing a u-turn to catch up with them. They thought I wasn't going to turn around for some reason.

I thought we were going to be other way to complete the loop, obviously not. I haven't been keen this way around due to some of the inclines. ( I'm not calling them hills as someone is bound to say it is flat lol)

This time we didn't go through Stonebench on the way back and headed back over the Pilot bridge and back into Quedgeley. First it was Tina to say goodbye before @Donger said his goodbyes.

A great ride with great friends again and these rides always make cycling fun . There's still one person I'm looking forward to riding with since I've got back on the bike. Hopefully that will be sorted soon.

The ride ended up being my fastest average speed again which is always a bonus, plus it shows I've still got along way to go up to other people in the Social group .

 

[Dark46]

8am slow 10 miles around the countryside xx

They all count no matter how small or slow!!

 

[colly]

Quick spin out this evening before going out to dinner:

Lesbury - Warkworth - Lesbury - Longhoughton - Boulmer - Alnmouth - Lesbury

No electronics so plotted it on the map instead.

16 miles or thereabouts and about 700 ft of up.

View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/25951184


A few photos.........My bike in front of a Phantom:

 

[Spiderweb]

A bit tentative around the corners tonight as these roads haven’t seen rain for weeks.
An extended home commute, 28 miles with an average of 15.7 mph.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

After a hard day's work clearing our pond Mrs 26 and I decided a ride to the pub would be a good way to get some well deserved nourishment. So we took to the dodges down the Guarlford Road. On crossing for Priestfield John B appeared so we chatted till we parted at Hanley Swan. Mrs 26 got the navigation muddled so we went by Clive's Farm for Hillend. Then is was am easy approach to the Farmer's Arms. It was quite busy so we had extra time to sample extra cider before our order appeared. Certainly worth the wait. Eventually we levered ourselves back out onto the bikes. Just a standard run back by Castlemorton and Brotheridge Green before we departed from normal to take to the rough road by Blackmore Park estate for something of a change. The sun was disappearing below the ridge of the Malvern Hills as we rode. Lovely evening for a wee ride out. 27 smiles

 

[xzenonuk]

took the mtb out this evening but it was way too hot so i only went along silverknowes from queensferry but got in 15.18 miles, it was pretty packed there and there was a large group of older people on bikes when i arrived there

grabbed some pics as well and the bike was running well

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Here's how my last ride concluded:

I was only 4 miles in when the dreaded twang/bang noise sounded to tell me all was not well. Pulled over and checked the back wheel and, sure enough a snapped spoke. I suppose it couldn't handle the power being pumped out by the guns!
Even with the brake lever in 'remove wheel' position, the rim was hitting the blocks. This bike has no wiggle room at all. I certainly couldn't fit anything larger than a 25 tyre under the calipers. A slow ride home was all I could do.
Had to take the cassette off again and fit my last spare spoke. Just ordered ten more for future emergencies!