Your ride today....

[TigerT]

I’m well behind on writing up my rides so I'll skip past the last few commutes and Sunday Coffee and cake runs and jump to last Tuesday.

Tuesday was my last day at work in Zürich before 7 days in the UK visiting my parents. I’d taken my e-bike into work and when it came time to leave, the weather was gorgeous. I just cycled straight past my house and out into the countryside taking a fairly random route and trying to stay on the flat (not much battery and the bike is heavy). Managed to get 47kms in and arrived home with range 0 on the display. So a good start to the holiday.

On Wednesday I flew to London and stayed the night before travelling down to my parents in Devon the next day. A text message from my Dad on Thursday morning revealed that he’d borrowed a bike for me so we could go riding together. I had know idea what type of bike, but decided to head into the bike shop and pick up a new kit just in case I needed it (Any excuse!)

Friday morning we checked the Map to find that there is only really One option regarding cycle routes in the area Route 28 - The Stover Trail. So that’s what we decided to do. So time to check out the bikes. It turns out my ride would be my Uncle’s e-bike. I didn’t really want any motor assistance so I just left it switched off. It’s actually not a bad bike to ride even with the extra weight of the motor and battery. The route Is only about 10kms long but it ends up at Cafe 3 Sixty, a very nice cycle friendly cafe in Bovey Tracey. We enjoyed a nice lunch of Quiche, cake and coffee before riding back via Newton Abbot. A really enjoyable 27kms.

Today we just decided to ride the same route out and back.

Definitely one of my slower rides. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what your riding. It was just nice to be able to share a couple of rides with my Dad.


Stopped for a 2nd coffee in Newton Abbot

 

[Supersuperleeds]

nice relaxed ride today.

Out of the door at 6:15 for a gentle 7 miles to meet @13 rider. Get to the meet point 15 minutes early, so a mile loop in very misty weather. It was that bad I rode without my specs and I'm blind as a bat!

5 minutes and @13 rider turns up and it is 12 miles to Belton to meet @Chris Doyle. As we get to the junction just before Belton, @13 rider decides to go straight on, I tried to turn left to follow the route, front wheel collides with his rear, luckily we both stayed up, but I decided after that I wasn't riding alongside him for a while

Get to the meet point earlt, but it isn't long before @Chris Doyle turns up. Congratulate him on his epic Etape ride and we are on our way. Mist by now has cleared and the three of us head north west up to Yeaveley for a bit of square grabbing and to get the letter Y for @13 rider for the A-Z village photo challenge.

A dead end and turn back for a square grab, which as is normally the case is down hill, turn around and come back up the hill. The t'other two are ahead of me and I get a burst of speed, shout coming through and shoot up the hill, chuffed to see I got a top ten place on Strava on the segment when I got home - well I presume it was that hill as I did my usual impression of a tortoise on all the others.

Getting close to Derby and we decided to stop at a unscheduled cafe stop that I'd been to before. It was off route but it's okay I know exactly where it is
Well after a bit of confusion and head scratching we find it were I was good and only had a coffee, t'other two had lovely looking cake (flapjack I think, one with chocolate)

On our way and skirting around Derby, I was worried about this part of the route (I'm a real lazy route planner!) but we got through it fine.

Through Shardlow and onto the cyclepath to avoid the big roundabout on the A50. Travellers had gotten through the barriers and they had made a right mess, broken glass everywhere. Anyway, we get through it and I get a puncture. I remove the wheel and t'others dive into my saddle bag to get a new tube out. Pop the tube in, tyre on, Co2 to inflate - that stuff is brilliant.

Bonus, I'd misplaced a power bank ages okay, turned the house upside down looking for it, was in the saddle bag.

By now we are back on familiar roads and the long but steady climbing up to Nice Pie for the second cafe stop. @13 rider and myself had sandwiches, @Chris Doyle had some savoury pastry (might have been a sausage roll?)

Refreshed and it's time to head down hill back towards Leicester.

Part ways with @Chris Doyle at Cropston and then with @13 rider at Anstey.

Bit of a loop through Leicester and I arrive home with another double metric century in the bag. Imperial centuries for the other two.

Cracking days ride at a leisurely pace. two cracking cafes and great company as always. Having done all my big rides in July solo, was good to get back to doing one in fine company.

Another bonus, no stupid towpaths or bridleways, which normally make an appearance when I plan a route

https://www.strava.com/activities/2587221153

 

[RoadRider400]

Ride started at 05:30 and almost turned back within a few minutes. Visibility in the fog could not have been much more than 40 metres. Was a bit concerned heading out in such conditions even with lights, as the first four miles of my ride was down a fast road into the countryside. As I had not been out for 2 weeks I kept going. Im glad i did as it was one of my most enjoyable rides to date. A leisurely 30 miles in 2 and a half hours. The mist was so thick it was dripping off the crash helmet as well as fogging up my sunglasses so had to ride without the glasses but the countryside was stunning in what looked like an autumnal morning. Well worth it as there was hardly anybody else about.

Had a bit of a moment when I noticed a crossroads become visible rather last minute. Turns out thick fog plays havoc with the stopping ability of rim brakes. Got the bike to a halt just in time, though there was nobody about anyway. Glad I learnt that at 6am rather than a busier time.

Posted this photo in the bike in front of a gate photo album but it really sums up the ride perfectly so putting it here too.

 

[MrBeanz]

Solo ride up into the mountains. 26 total miles, 13 mile climb with 3,022 ft of gain. Nice day, much cooler. Temp was 78 when I was at the top. Very nice compared to the 90's I've seen in the last few rides up there.

At the top, figured I'd take a pic of the bottle I got from my friend who owns his own shop.

 

[iancity]

First time out on the new bike (if anyone has been following the 'dilemma' thread, picked it up this morning :-)

Just a short ride to get used to it...

 

[jongooligan]

Set off on Thursday night to ride down the Vale of York. Lovely night with plenty of stars to see and it didn't get cold. Dead easy getting through York at 2:30 too.

Went out through the Ouse & Trent villages to cross at Keadby then climbed onto the ridge at Kirton in Lindsey. Thought I'd picked a quiet route into Lincoln but at 8a.m. it was hectic and there were lots of fast and totally unecessary close passes then getting through Lincoln took an absolute age due to a massive road building scheme. Think the Romans established Lincoln - you'd have thought it would have been finished by now.

Then some nice lanes down to Sleaford for a massive breakfast, my third of the day. From there I headed East, again on some quiet lanes but then hit the A17. More speedy close passes but now it was HGVs. Dropped onto the tri bars and gave it what for to get off that road as quickly as possible.

The best bit of the ride came next. Up the river Witham to Langrick Bridge, Tattershall Bridge to Kirkstead Bridge. It's here where the water railway is picked up, a railway path with water to either side. No chance of any close passes along here, just the putter of an occasional boat and the splash of a jack pike chasing small fry in the shallows.

And the view! It's magnificent. Lincoln Cathedral towering over the flat landscape. Visible from miles away it just keep getting bigger and bigger as you approach the city.

More road scheme bother on the way back through and I'd timed my ride badly so was there in the peak of tea time rush hour. Briefly back up onto the ridge before aiming North through the Isle of Axholme (Plaice 2 Be chip shop in Belton is ace) to arrive at t'owd lasses house for a brief sleep.

Up at 2a.m. to continue my ride after three whole hours sleep. Through Market Weighton and Sutton on Derwent I felt good but then fatigue caught up with me at Stillington. Woke up for the second time to the sound of the York bus doors opening. I was stretched out on the village bus stop bench with the backs of the waiting bus passengers a silent reproach to my trespass. Very kind of them not to wake me.

The rest of the ride is a painful tale of pills, ibuprofen gel and ever spreading saddle sores as I made my way up through Boroughbridge, Thirsk, Northallerton and Yarm. I'd deliberately plotted a route through those towns envisioning a leisurely pub crawl back up the vale but hadn't thought about what a PITA they'd be to get through on a Saturday afternoon.

No pics except -

 

[Edwardoka]

Day 3 of my idiot self-imposed "how quickly I can injure myself from overuse while completely untrained" challenge thankfully contained a lot less emasculation than Day 2.

After wandering around to avoid the notorious Arenberg-but-with-idiot-drivers Hurlet Road, I reached Elderslie, then followed NCN7 down to Lochwinnoch with a view to climbing the road up to Muirshiel Visitor Centre (at the top of a 5 mile climb with about 800 feet elevation gain). I got about 200 yards up the road with 60 feet gained - hadn't even left the village - before my legs told me "no!" in terms that brooked no argument.. So instead I went down to Castle Semple Loch for a bit before riding back.

A pretty terrible performance given how flat the rest of the course was, but 33 miles is better than none.

 

[galaxy]

Thanks.

It was new old stock, that Condor were selling.

26” wheels, but a much better fit for me , coming from my previous Woodrup ( which was a little too long in the top tube).

Very nice, stable, excellent quality, was simply a matter of swapping the components over.

I had a Condor Low Profile back in the 80s, now that makes me feel Old. Lol

 

[Mike_P]

20th Metric Half Century of the year today – headed west on Penny Pot for the first time since some sections were surfaced dress and the old issue of having to drop a gear to cope with the road surface has returned. Was passed by another cyclist who after the road steepened in gradient I sat behind. As once as the gradient eased he shot away and then stopped looking back at his rear wheel. Catching up enquired if he was okay, turned out he had a slow puncture and would resolve it himself. North across the A59 at Dangerous Corner, a motorist turning kindly blocked the very busy westbound carriageway to allow me and other road traffic to cross the junction. West again on Menwith Hill Road and then down Day Lane to Thornthwaite –the sunny conditions I had started out in had now become overcast with some worryingly dark clouds. The descent had to be braked to allow a tractor heading uphill to overtake a sit on lawnmower!
East partly up the hillside the south of Darley before dropping down to the village

and along the road towards Birstwith but turned off crossing the Nidd on the toll bridge

then up to Burnt Yates and down through Bedlam to Ripley where the Defy was allowed to follow its normal route through Nidd and Staveley to Farnham. A car passed with wide load sign, think "extra" might have been a useful addition to the sign.

North west to Burton Leonard, for a snack break on one of the benches on the village green, before continuing onto Markington where the sun broke through the clouds specially to warm up the climb to Bishop Thornton Crossroads. South east to Ripley, the only point where the wind was an irritant, and along the A61 bypass rather than through the village, continuing homewards via Killinghall. 36.67 miles 2255ft climbed, avg 13 mph.

 

[Reynard]

A sort of combo utility / pleasure ride today. I needed luggage capacity, so Wiggy #2, the Chartres, was pressed into service for an eleven-ish mile round trip to Tesco up Angel Drove. So more or less the standard run into Ely via Downham Common, California, Orwell Pit etc. But instead of going down Egremont Street and taking the Prickwillow Road, I rode into town proper and ended up on the Palace Green.

There was the small matter of a Classic Car show on, and of course, me being me, I had to go take a gander. I wasn't the only cyclist looking at the cars, might I add...

First stop was checking out the lovely 1925 Morris that some friends (and fellow CP volunteers) were exhibiting.

And then I had to make a beeline for the (sadly) only Mini in the show - a late Mk2 Morris Mini 850. You can tell it's a late Mk2, as it has some Mk3 parts on it, like the grille...

And then of course, I had to go check out the more exotic stuff. There were some nice Lotuses, an Opel, a Lancia Fulvia, two E-type Jags and a very nice D-type replica that caught my eye.

And last, but not least, Wiggy #2 in front of a church. Well, a bit of one...

From thence is was down Back Hill to Tesco where I picked up the bits I needed, and then the standard ride home from there. Although I did walk up Fore Hill, as it's a bit "not on your nelly" with overloaded panniers...

Was nice to get out and just do stuff without the faffage of taking the car. Although my knees are protesting a bit...

 

[MrBeanz]

A little video I made from today's climb. A little chat, little climbing and the descent in a music video.

 

[Grant Fondo]

With my magical powers of deduction i think Chester Races is on today?

Lots of well dressed people walking past as i took a few mins to rest after a 20 miler, sweaty and bug splattered amongst the au de cologne racegoers.
Thought i would take a look over the road at the castle area, so weaved through the police road closures and all the punters

So the back of Harrisons entrance about 1811 and assume the rest is by him as well

I have never walked around the old part of the castle but it looks closed to public?

Quick shower and bob down to races then? Nah. Crickets on.

 

[Dave 123]

A ride into work to see if I could find my keys...

I’d left them in the door!

Out through Girton and on to Oakington where I stopped to see these little things

No taller than my knee!

20 miles. Nice.

 

[Spiderweb]

Out on the Specialized Crux before lunch. A lovely warm day so was pleased for once to have a cooling headwind for quite a lot of my ride.
30.6 miles with an average of 15mph.

 

[Donger]

A great 42 mile club ride today, down South to Berkeley, stopping for coffees at the yurt in the grounds of Berkeley Castle, then back home via the big hill of the day, Taits Hill near Cam. Very enjoyable, though I did suffer the ignominy of being the first Kingsway CC rider to get into a road traffic accident! We were following a Toyota Aygo past a line of parked cars, accelerating when he did, only for him to do a sudden and inexplicable emergency stop when he spotted a slow-moving oncoming car in the far distance. My brakes locked up and I thudded into the flexible bit of his rear bumper with my rear wheel in the air, landing quite neatly in a rather good track stand. No harm done. Not a mark on the car and no apparent damage to the bike, so after a brief check we agreed to move on ... but that was a tad on the alarming side! One of the faster club rides our social group has done so far, with an average of over 14mph, but also had the chance for some chatting down the quieter country lanes.
Cheers, Donger.