Your ride today....

[EltonFrog]

It’s quite possible that I have got my mojo back, not certain but possible.

This morning, after selling my BSA Tour de France to a nice man from the Vintage Cycle Club, without any procrastination, sodding about, I pumped up my tyres on the Madone , got my gear on and I was on my way.

I set off via Wallingford for the hamlet of Exlade Street to blag a sign for the ABC challenge thread, it was a lovely morning, so I carried on down to Goring (very fast down hill) stopped for coffee and cake and set off home via photo stop at George Michael’s house, the Moulsford, Cholsey for a another photo stop, Aston Clinton , Blewbury then home.

A little over 32 miles and I really enjoyed it.

Lovely quiet place this.

Crappy Land Rover spoiling my photo.

Millionaire Shortbread, well you have to really don’t you?

George Micheal’s gaf.

St Mary’s Church Cholsey, Agatha Christie is buried here.

Didcot Cooling Towers in the distance.

 

[NorthernDave]

With stuff to do yesterday ruling out a ride, I was determined to get out this morning, even if only for an hour or so.

On the Pro Carbon again and a route I must have done a hundred times or more.
Coal Road, Skeltons Lane and the drop down Sandhills into Thorner.
Through the village just as the church bells are ringing and onto Milner Lane, getting passed with a cheery 'hello' by a cyclist I'd overtaken coming down the hill into the village. Which just goes to prove any fool can go fast downhill...
The climb up onto the ridge never gets any easier but it must be done, and then there is a nice gently undulating run past Hetchell Woods and all the way to Rigton Green.
Right, then right again onto Bramham Lane, which was totally deserted all the way to Jewitt Lane, then up the slope onto Holme Farm Lane.
Back onto Milner Lane and retraced my route back into Thorner, stopping briefly for a couple of pics:

Back on board and down the hill into Thorner, then the climb up Carr Lane towards the A58.
Just as I was leaving the village I spotted a Red Kite - they're a common enough sight overhead around here, but this was one on the ground in a field about 20 yards away, and on seeing me it took off. What magnificent creatures they are.
Anyway, back to huffing and puffing my way to Wetherby Road, a scoot along there and up onto Coal Road, before local roads down to home.

14.01 miles (22.54 km) in 1h 11m at an average of 11.7 mph with just 679 ft climbed and an average temperature of 15.4°C

Good to get out, even if it did feel like hard work at times. Plenty of other cyclists out too, despite the relatively early hour
Wore a new pair of FDX bib shorts today and they performed without issue, so they look to be a bit of a bargain. They're possibly an inch or so long in the leg, but I am short for my weight.

And to end, the map:

 

[Mr Celine]

Yesterday's ride. Headed out in the morning for a change, firstly because it was sunny and secondly due to a parental visit in the afternoon. I headed south east then south south west into a gently southerly breeze to Hawick. There is a way through the park that avoids having to leave the town on a narrow twisty double white line part of the A7 but as usual I got lost in the park, though I did find this rather splendid memorial to the Boer War.

Proof if needed that Hawick has at least reached the 20th century.

I then tried a climb I've never done before past Old Harden, which was once inhabited by an infamous reiver. The legend says that if the larder was getting low the mistress of the house would serve up a pair of spurs on a plate at dinner time to prompt Old Wat to get on his horse and steal some more cattle.
The bottom half of the climb meanders through beautiful open oak woods which give way to open moorland higher up. This is the view back from the summit looking south.

And looking north 100m beyond the summit, towards the Alemoor windfarm.

The map -

47.5 miles @ 14.6 mph, 989m climbing.

 

[theloafer]

its the Darlington 70 miler in July(new route) so did a pre run just so I know where we are going managed 90 miles rode from home and back poor old legs are goosed

https://www.strava.com/activities/2474855641

 

[oldwheels]

House sitting this week so have the Brompton in the car. Off just after 0900 over to sustrans route 78 at North Connel and north through the camp site and Benderloch to the South Shian junction and down past the Black Castle ( which is not black). Just before the castle stopped for a pee and the back of my jacket caught on the saddle and I toppled onto the soft grass verge. Fortunately no witnesses. At South Shian there seems to be an attempt to discourage folk like me with obstructions which I ignored and got glared at when I said good morning to a holiday tenant. Back up the hill and diverted down a couple of dead end side roads before back to the cycle path to N.Connel. Crossing the A848 I had a first by getting straight over to Bonawe Road with not a car trying to mow me down. I hate that crossing as sight line north not good and traffic is too fast. You all would think it a doddle.Total 22 miles. Weather started overcast and slightly chilly but finished sunny and too hot.

 

[Stonechat]

Local club doing another time trial, so I decided to do a hilly ride.

I went through Chertsey Byfleet and Ripley to Newlands Corner, to discover the bottom part was freshly resurface with soft and stony chippings top dressing.

I tried not to bust a gut on the climbs, so no fast times. After Newlands it was straight on to Combe Lane. At the top I stopped for a coffee and a bite, and reconsidered my options Instead of a circuit.

I decided on a down and up on Staple Lane, and another on Combe Lane again. Staple Lane too had been resurfaced too, though it was ok. After these I went up Crocknorth.

Back via Effingham and Cobham.

47.2 miles at a meagre 14.2 mph, 2336 feet climbed.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2473737737

 

[cyberknight]

no one turned up for the club ride today so a solo plod
<iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='View: https://www.strava.com/activities/2473752795/embed/0828a66edec818e4ad1d6b332cd39e247f1cc02d
'></iframe>

 

[postman]

It’s quite possible that I have got my mojo back, not certain but possible.

This morning, after selling my BSA Tour de France to a nice man from the Vintage Cycle Club, without any procrastination, sodding about, I pumped up my tyres on the Madone , got my gear on and I was on my way.

I set off via Wallingford for the hamlet of Exlade Street to blag a sign for the ABC challenge thread, it was a lovely morning, so I carried on down to Goring (very fast down hill) stopped for coffee and cake and set off home via photo stop at George Michael’s house, the Moulsford, Cholsey for a another photo stop, Aston Clinton , Blewbury then home.

A little over 32 miles and I really enjoyed it.

View attachment 472137

Lovely quiet place this.

View attachment 472138

Crappy Land Rover spoiling my photo.

View attachment 472139

View attachment 472140
Millionaire Shortbread, well you have to really don’t you?

View attachment 472141
George Micheal’s gaf.

View attachment 472142

View attachment 472143
St Mary’s Church Cholsey, Agatha Christie is buried here.

View attachment 472144

Didcot Cooling Towers in the distance.

View attachment 472145

View attachment 472146

Well done sir,great report great photos nice bike also.Keep going,it is great when the mojo comes back.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Today was a lesson in stupidity. I set off on the E-Bike after mowing the lawn to do a quick loop around the 12 mile route I've been doing lately intending to be gone about 50 minutes then return to replant some rhododendrons. The bike was fully charged, I never noticed what the phone was on, the forecast was rain so I put a cheap pac-a-mac on the pannier and filled up one bottle with water and a tablet.

One of the things I love about where I live is being in the country within minutes of rolling the bike out the gate and so, when I reached the point where I usually branch left, the wide open countryside called out to me and I thought "fuggit", I'll do a bigger loop.

I had to resist the impulse to recreate Reiver's famous avatar but you can see why I was tempted in the next pic (23kg put me off)

Obligatory "bike in front of a waterfall" pic

The scenery was lovely and a plan started to form in my head. I'd been studying Google satellite maps yesterday and thought I'd spotted an interesting route. Instead of turning left at the Carron Valley Reservoir, if I turned right instead then went up into the hills around a wind farm, there looked to be a track that I could take to Gargunnock and then home. So that's what I did, ignoring the warning signs -

The other worrying sign was my battery dropped to 50% just as I headed up into the hills. I figured that the shortcut to Gargunnock would probably cut a third off the distance though so I headed on. It was beautiful up there. I had a young deer running alongside me for about 200 yards downhill before it leapt with deceptive grace over the fence and across the moors. As I rode on I started to look for a track to my right and explored a lot of blind alleys. Then the moment came when the battery fell to 25%. At this point I got worried - should I push on and find the short cut or turn back, knowing there wasn't enough power in the battery to get me home? I decided to push on and yes, you guessed it, I never found the shortcut. At 18 miles, I switched off the electrics and headed home. An E-Bike without power is a pig of a thing - 23kg of dead weight added to which the motor has a resistance - it felt like pedalling through glue and there was no way I could get up the hills so had to walk. By now I was geting concerned about liquids and I had no food. It was also getting cold and looked like rain wasn't far off. To make things worse, my phone now died so I couldn't call my wife to tell her what was happening. I plodded on, jumping into the saddle for the downhill bits, but saving the battery for the help I'd need to get over the big hill between me and home. I should add this route has no shops, no pubs, no cake stops and very little traffic (2 cars all day). I was needing sugar and the water had run out.

When I made it back off the windfarm and turned onto the track home,m I switched on the electrics again at the lowest setting and headed up the long hill. Needless to say, the battery never made it and I resorted to shoving the thing up the hills again.

I made it home, 5 hours after I set off on a 50 minute loop. Whilst I'd been panicking a bit about my wife not knowing where I was and not able to phone me, turns out she wasn't worried at all. Strava died on me at 18 miles or so and recorded a straight line from that point. I reckon I did 35 miles with 4000ft+ of climbing.

I'm absolutely shattered !

 

[EltonFrog]

Today was a lesson in stupidity. I set off on the E-Bike after mowing the lawn to do a quick loop around the 12 mile route I've been doing lately intending to be gone about 50 minutes then return to replant some rhododendrons. The bike was fully charged, I never noticed what the phone was on, the forecast was rain so I put a cheap pac-a-mac on the pannier and filled up one bottle with water and a tablet.

One of the things I love about where I live is being in the country within minutes of rolling the bike out the gate and so, when I reached the point where I usually branch left, the wide open countryside called out to me and I thought "fuggit", I'll do a bigger loop.

View attachment 472218

I had to resist the impulse to recreate Reiver's famous avatar but you can see why I was tempted in the next pic (23kg put me off)

View attachment 472220

Obligatory "bike in front of a waterfall" pic

View attachment 472222

The scenery was lovely and a plan started to form in my head. I'd been studying Google satellite maps yesterday and thought I'd spotted an interesting route. Instead of turning left at the Carron Valley Reservoir, if I turned right instead then went up into the hills around a wind farm, there looked to be a track that I could take to Gargunnock and then home. So that's what I did, ignoring the warning signs -

View attachment 472223

The other worrying sign was my battery dropped to 50% just as I headed up into the hills. I figured that the shortcut to Gargunnock would probably cut a third off the distance though so I headed on. It was beautiful up there. I had a young deer running alongside me for about 200 yards downhill before it leapt with deceptive grace over the fence and across the moors. As I rode on I started to look for a track to my right and explored a lot of blind alleys. Then the moment came when the battery fell to 25%. At this point I got worried - should I push on and find the short cut or turn back, knowing there wasn't enough power in the battery to get me home? I decided to push on and yes, you guessed it, I never found the shortcut. At 18 miles, I switched off the electrics and headed home. An E-Bike without power is a pig of a thing - 23kg of dead weight added to which the motor has a resistance - it felt like pedalling through glue and there was no way I could get up the hills so had to walk. By now I was geting concerned about liquids and I had no food. It was also getting cold and looked like rain wasn't far off. To make things worse, my phone now died so I couldn't call my wife to tell her what was happening. I plodded on, jumping into the saddle for the downhill bits, but saving the battery for the help I'd need to get over the big hill between me and home. I should add this route has no shops, no pubs, no cake stops and very little traffic (2 cars all day). I was needing sugar and the water had run out.

When I made it back off the windfarm and turned onto the track home,m I switched on the electrics again at the lowest setting and headed up the long hill. Needless to say, the battery never made it and I resorted to shoving the thing up the hills again.

I made it home, 5 hours after I set off on a 50 minute loop. Whilst I'd been panicking a bit about my wife not knowing where I was and not able to phone me, turns out she wasn't worried at all. Strava died on me at 18 miles or so and recorded a straight line from that point. I reckon I did 35 miles with 4000ft+ of climbing.

I'm absolutely shattered !

View attachment 472228

I like for the report. I guess you have had better days out on the bike.

 

[Mike_P]

Wind was strange today – quite obvious on some roads but not others of a similar direction. Defy headed up the A61 to Wormald Green, west to Markington and then followed the route of NCN67 up to How Hill with its tower

A short moment later on the subsequent descent passed a horse and cart with Fountains Hall nestling in the valley.

Turned west immediately before reaching Fountains and climbed through Green Bank Woods and across Sawley Moor to the B6265 which undulated upwards to the turning for Brimham Rocks. It was quite chilly up their so did not stop and headed very slowly down Hartwith Bank with brake blocks squealing - the start of the steep section was marked by an old sign which presumably has been overlooked.

The bank drops all the way to the crossroads in Summerbridge; I turned east on the B6165 and then further on turned off to cross the River Nidd on Ross Bridge, a toll bridge for motorised traffic.

Back west on the southern side of the valley through Darley to Thornthwaite and up Day Lane in a new PR, a 0.7 mile climb of 7.1% avg and 17.9% max. Then east and south and finally my good luck with crossings of the A59 ended with a noticeable wait for a clear route across. Heading east along Penny Pot it dawned on me that it was devoid of any other cyclists. In fact the last cyclist I had seen was before I reached How Hill, very strange for a Sunday.
33.56 miles 2251ft climbed Avg 12.4mph

 

[colly]

Yesterdays ride out on a forum ride.

Clitheroe to (for me Leeds)

I caught the 7.51 train to Clitheroe via Blackburn. On time and for an early Saturday morning train quite busy:

At Blackburn Station I met up with @Littgull and we caught the train up to Clitheroe together where @ColinJ was waiting for us.

I don't know any roads around north Lancashire so I just followed in the wheels for the next 15 miles or so until we met up with @Sea of vapours.
Together we made for Settle where Colin's friends Carrie and Kevin were waiting.
After a brief stop we made for the high country up Constitution Hill which leads up out of the town. Disaster struck immediately as Carrie's chain slipped with a hefty clunk and she promptly fell heavily onto the road. Minor grazes and bumps, fortunately nothing more serious, and a brief attempt again saw exactly the same chain slip.
So there is a bike shop not 30m from the start of Constitution Hill and we waited while Carrie took her bike in and had another chain fitted. 'Cassette is OK' says the mechanic.
So 25 mins later shes on the bike and has a run around the square and another attempt at the hill. Same thing, and unfortunately for Carrie she had another heavy fall. It shook her up badly. So back to the bike shop and.....well, it's a long story, and to catch the rest of it you will need to read @ColinJ 's ride report.
So we did set off eventually sans Carrie (for the time being) and it was a slow climb up through Langcliffe and eventually onto Malham Moor. It was steep for most of the climb, the signs say 20% but how accurate they are I can't say. So steep in places my front wheel kept lifting off the tarmac. Kind of unsettling.


Kevin, ColinJ, Littgull, Sea of vapours at the top of the climb.

Across the moor then for around 8 miles or so which naturally included some more serious uphill. Somewhere across here we collected Carrie again and it was up and down for a few miles. The scenery around was magnificent so it was a choice of looking around or looking at the road.

I chose to look around:

Before getting to Arncliffe there was a steep, twisty, unrelenting climb. Not long at around 0.8 of a mile but it was hard work all the way up. After that though there was a long fast twisty decent into Arncliffe. Little gravel, smooth well metalled surfaces and a clear view ahead. Great stuff.

The next 11 miles through hills and villages gradually took us down off the higher moor and into Appletreewick.
On the way I stopped to take a couple of photos of Burnsall:

It was here I lost the company, or maybe they lost me. I imagined I would catch them up in Appletreewick but at the cafes and pubs I saw no familiar bikes or faces. I pressed on after texting Colin to let him know I was breaking for home. That was the plan all along but it would have been so much better to have shared a tea and cake stop with everyone else before saying farewell. As it turned out they stopped, I think, in Barden, just down the road a couple of miles and while I did pass throught and keep my eyes peeled I never saw them.
I stopped for a much needed break myself at the Stridwood tea Rooms and after cake and tea I set off again in the direction of Bolton Abbey and the back lanes towards Ilkley through Beamsley.
It was through Ilkley and I hooked a right over the bridge at Ben Rhydding to collect the main road into Otley by passing Burley-In-Wharfdale. Into a strong headwind it was hard work but I made quite good time and at Otley I opted to take the lower flat road out to Pool-in-Wharfdale and Arthington. As a result I avoided the long grind up from Otley to Bramhope.
There was a price to pay eventually and I had to make the climb up the side of the dale around the back of Rawden Hill and up Bedlam Lane. It's a steep little climb of about a mile but it is, thankfully, over quickly.
Familiar roads back home from here around the back of Eccup Resrevoir

All in all about 78 miles and a bit under 5000ft of climbing.

Here is the link to the route but my Garmin has some odd ideas on what happened yesterday so take it with a pinch of salt. Essentially it's correct from Clitheroe but certainly not some of the metrics.

View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/36294641

 

[MrBeanz]

Got my wife out for a ride. First one since her son (my stepson) passed away last month. Terrible thing, he second son is also in very bad shape from kidney disease. Both dialysis patients. One passed last month and the other had a major stroke and heart attack last year (blind and couch bound). He seems OK now but for how long?

Anyway, got her out on a 26 miler today. First one in a couple months, good for the soul!

She did very well considering there was a super stiff headwind.

 

[Cavalol]

Not such a long one again today (7.4 miles) but finally found Cromer lighthouse. Can't lie, there was a fair bit of pushing this morning (up and down hill) but it was still glorious. Can't be too long before we buy a caravan down here, absolutely love the area.

 

[Leaway2]

Sunday, a pair of Snap on cutters in the road. Bonus!