Your ride today....

[Shearwater Missile]

With a sun in the sky I thought I`d have a ride out to Cotton and what I call the open lands, that is, open to the winds. The sun did`nt stay out for long but did get a couple of photo stops, now I know how much longer they add to the time out. As a consequence I cut the route I was going to do as I`d already told Mrs S that I`d be back at about 14:25. If I am not Mrs S worries in case I am in a ditch somewhere in the barren lands of Suffolk ! At least I did get a tail wind back from Cotton to Old Newton, I normally go back via Mendlesham but thought I`d take the free lift with the tailwind. All I needed was a sail, I must consult my drawing board. As it was, at one stage I was touching 26mph on the flat. The speed sign at Old Newton said I was doing 20mph and my Cateye agreed.
One thing I will mention is that both my bikes have the Cateye Velo 9 and to achieve accuracy I have them set for 700x23 size tyres and not 700x25 as I ride. If I set them to the 25 they always tell me that I am faster and travel more, not a lot but enough to annoy me ! If I ride 10 miles I like it to be 10 miles and not 9.8 or so.
The last part of the ride from Gipping to Stowupland has a nice downhill and then a climb, it may be called a technical downhill as at the bottom there is a 90 degree left hand bend and then a right bend before the climb. A very nice lady pulled in for me as I was half way up the climb and gave me a wave and a cheery smile. It was lovely to see, she may have been on the school run but certainly would have been early. Nice ride despite the 16mph northerly wind. I have also overtaken last years total mileage and with a few more weeks to go. I did`nt set a target, I had enough of targets whilst I was at work. Perhaps I will now ! Now on 3165 so perhaps 3400 weather and health permitting.

 

[Aravis]

With a day of glorious sunshine in prospect I was glad to be able to go for a ride. I think the minor road must have dried up enormously and I had few problems; just one temporary ford, but the large rivers were still very high and I had to pick my route with care. Here's what I came up with - 104.7 miles, anticlockwise:

Eckington Bridge, near Pershore was still shown as closed, so I took the route through the Combertons, a first for me in that direction. Out to the Salt Way at Feckenham for several miles, round the north of Worcester to the Severn crossing at Holt Fleet. It's difficult to be certain because of the flickering sunlight through the trees and harassment from a long tail of impatient motorists, but it looked as though the weir just upstream was completely submerged.

I then broke new ground, heading through some lanes to Martley. Some were quite wide and clean, but one in particular was covered in a layer of moss - pretty, but it removed all pleasure from the descents. There were fine views of the hills behind Great Witley which I've attempted to capture here:

I then headed back to Worcester past Edward Elgar's birthplace and crossed the Severn again at Powick. The river Teme, which joins there, has become an inland sea:

From there it's largely A38 back to Gloucester, never too unpleasant, with a couple of wanderings on either side. Where the Avon joins the Severn at Tewkesbury there is a fine view of Bredon Hill which doesn't usually have this foreground:

It wasn't always easy to deal with, particularly in the latter stages when it was directly ahead, but I really mustn't complain about the sun.

 

[gavgav]

Finished a depressing work day, early and was in need of a ride to attempt to restore some sanity, so I dragged myself out into the cold, for my longest ride since July, following my broken finger.

Cycling around Shropshire is not easy, at the moment, due to either having to avoid the closed roads/towpaths that the River has flooded, for what seems like weeks now, or coping with the muddy flooded lanes. I went for lanes, this evening, which wasn’t the best choice, as you’ll see!

I set out and within 30 seconds, encountered a boy racer, in a Corsa (what else) who came out of a side road, in my estate, without looking and almost wiped me out. I questioned his eyesight as I passed him at the traffic lights, leaving the estate.

First mistake of the ride was to only don fingerless gloves, was way too cold for that and I should have donned the winter ones.

I had to negotiate the short section on the A458, which was horrid, as always, before joining the lanes to Cantlop, Pitchford, Acton Burnell, Frodesley and Longnor. Loads of traffic on these lanes, it does suffer from being a bit of a rat run and today was no exception.

Next I turned towards Ryton, up a lane that I know can be a muddy and watery mess, at this time of year and I really should have known better than to use it, but nothing quite prepared me for how bad it was, certainly the worst I’ve ever seen it.

I passed through 2 floods, not too bad and was able to free wheel without getting wet, then copious amounts of mud, but with it now being properly dark I hit a 3rd flood and free wheeled for a fair distance, only coming to a stop as it got deep enough to be near enough knee level I had to put feet down and it was a freezing horrid mess. The bow wave was enough to splash me at arm height and I struggled to then pedal enough to get out of the flood.

I continued on into Ryton and stopped to pour water out of my shoes, and wished I could just stop the ride there and then. No option for that though and so instead it was a freezing cold wet ride back through Condover, Betton Abbots and home, having lost most of the feeling in my feet and hands.

I was so glad to get home and get a warm shower. Not my finest moment and ride.

19.4 miles at 11.8mph

 

[Shearwater Missile]

Finished a depressing work day, early and was in need of a ride to attempt to restore some sanity, so I dragged myself out into the cold, for my longest ride since July, following my broken finger.

Cycling around Shropshire is not easy, at the moment, due to either having to avoid the closed roads/towpaths that the River has flooded, for what seems like weeks now, or coping with the muddy flooded lanes. I went for lanes, this evening, which wasn’t the best choice, as you’ll see!

I set out and within 30 seconds, encountered a boy racer, in a Corsa (what else) who came out of a side road, in my estate, without looking and almost wiped me out. I questioned his eyesight as I passed him at the traffic lights, leaving the estate.

First mistake of the ride was to only don fingerless gloves, was way too cold for that and I should have donned the winter ones.

I had to negotiate the short section on the A458, which was horrid, as always, before joining the lanes to Cantlop, Pitchford, Acton Burnell, Frodesley and Longnor. Loads of traffic on these lanes, it does suffer from being a bit of a rat run and today was no exception.

Next I turned towards Ryton, up a lane that I know can be a muddy and watery mess, at this time of year and I really should have known better than to use it, but nothing quite prepared me for how bad it was, certainly the worst I’ve ever seen it.

I passed through 2 floods, not too bad and was able to free wheel without getting wet, then copious amounts of mud, but with it now being properly dark I hit a 3rd flood and free wheeled for a fair distance, only coming to a stop as it got deep enough to be near enough knee level I had to put feet down and it was a freezing horrid mess. The bow wave was enough to splash me at arm height and I struggled to then pedal enough to get out of the flood.

I continued on into Ryton and stopped to pour water out of my shoes, and wished I could just stop the ride there and then. No option for that though and so instead it was a freezing cold wet ride back through Condover, Betton Abbots and home, having lost most of the feeling in my feet and hands.

I was so glad to get home and get a warm shower. Not my finest moment and ride.

19.4 miles at 11.8mph

That sounded like an ordeal but well done for effort. Although Suffolk has`nt had the floods that other parts have had, the roads are certainly the worst I have seen them. I used to think it bad enough with the tractors plying mud over the roads but actually what is worse is where the verge gets taken down by the larger vehicles, ie sugarbeet lorries. I must not complain as by reading your report and plenty others too, we here are lucky by comparison. Hope you warmed up quickly and looking forward to the next ride !

 

[AndreaJ]

A beautiful day in this part of Shropshire if a bit cold and I decided to go the wrong way round a Colemere route hoping there would be no flooded lanes left. I started towards the Moatshed to Horton then turned back to Northwood just to add a few extra miles on to the ride. Through Northwood towards Hampton Bank where I turned to Lyneal, past the caravan park towards Colemere, over the canal and round the mere using some really muddy lanes and disturbing loads of pheasants and partridges on my way, back over the canal and into the village of Colemere following the family cycle route towards Loppington but taking a detour to Burlton before heading back to Loppington, Wolverley and home.17.8 miles @14.8mph and no floods for the first ride in weeks although there was plenty of mud and mushed up leaves so the bike is even filthier than yesterday. A lovely autumn day to be out.

 

[gavgav]

That sounded like an ordeal but well done for effort. Although Suffolk has`nt had the floods that other parts have had, the roads are certainly the worst I have seen them. I used to think it bad enough with the tractors plying mud over the roads but actually what is worse is where the verge gets taken down by the larger vehicles, ie sugarbeet lorries. I must not complain as by reading your report and plenty others too, we here are lucky by comparison. Hope you warmed up quickly and looking forward to the next ride !

Absolutely, it will be one I look back and laugh at soon! I think I will be a bit more selective about the roads I choose, next time, with these current deluges.

 

[Landsurfer]

Todays ride was with my fellow WIMP Chris. Asda carpark at Dalton to Hillsbrough Sheffield. Along the canal again to Meadowhell then following the Five Weirs Walk to the centre of Sheffield and on up to Hillsbrough, very icy along the canal at Ickles lock, the the silt deposits had frozen making it a bit of an epic to ride along ... But ... beautiful sunshine and a good coffee at Atlas added to the trip.
According to my work diary I was with a customer in Preston, , the rest of the staff know that when Chris and i both disappear on a sunny day were probably cycling ....

 

[Reynard]

I just *needed* a bike ride today - you know, it's like an itch that wants scratching.

Nothing special, just a ride to Littleport via Downham Common and Black Bank, with a couple of loops around Parson's Lane thrown in for good measure. There was lots of standing water on the fields, though nothing like what others were posting, but the signs were up that the road into Welney is flooded.

I love riding at dusk, but it was right proper cold. Good job I'd dusted off the winter gear as I really needed it. But it was fabby to be out, even if the legs weren't really on a going day. Mind, I've been spending a lot of time cutting and hauling firewood (solid fuel heating here) to get ahead while there's been a break in the snorkel and flippers weather.

Only 10 miles, but I feel much more chipper for it - even if it will take me a while to thaw out.

The one downside - my glasses kept on steaming up...

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Yesterday's ride:

It's challenge ride time again but I haven't had a great cycling start to November. For various reasons I'd only done one ride so far this month - a 21 mile loop on Friday which was shorter than I'd planned after, like @gavgav, I found a deeper flood than expected and ended up heading home with wet legs and sloshing shoes. I knew that there was a good chance of finding very muddy and/or flooded lanes if I did one of my routes round the north of the county and didn't think that I could cope with the many undulations if I headed for the south so decided to try my route to Lake Vyrnwy as even though there are a couple of good hillclimbs to do I should have the gradient and the wind helping on the way home.

It was my usual 7am start into the pre-dawn of a cold and clear morning. There was a bit of ice on the cars but just on the roof not the bonnet so although I didn't expect ice on the ground I still took it carefully on the bits I knew wouldn't have been gritted. The start went well as I headed to Montford Bridge, Great Ness, Pentre, Knockin and Llynclys without incident. After a pause for a bite to eat by the Cambrian Heritage Railway station I found the notorious Llynclys crossroads clear and the road up the Tanat Valley was less busy than usual (no holiday makers travelling on a Monday morning in November). The only incident of note along here was finding a branch lying in the road shortly after Llanyblodwel which I stopped to remove.

The issue I did have with this first section of the ride was that a lack of miles ridden over the last couple of months and the cold weather was making it very hard work. I was feeling it from as early as 10 miles so needed to pace myself carefully to save something for later - particularly the main climbs of the outward leg which come just before and just after Pen-y-bont-fawr. These were very slow in a low gear today and on the latter one I needed my very lowest gear and a certain amount of stubbornness. The valley on the other side was noticably colder so a change into fingerless gloves was very short lived.

It was a slow and steady first lap around the lake, although my cruising speed did creep up to around 14 mph towards the end of the lap, then a hot chocolate and a seat inside in the warm was very welcome at Artisans. The second lap was again slow to start with but improved a bit as I went round. I paused in a gateway with a view to eat my lunch where usually all is peace and quiet but today there was a couple asking for directions (they'd set out for a walk and had lost where they'd parked the car), a motorist who wanted to know if the road to Bala was passable (I hadn't been that way so couldn't advise on that one) and a shepherd somewhere up in the hills who in an increasingly frustrated tone of voice was trying to work a recalcitrant dog. Some of the words of command that drifted down to me on the breeze are definitely not ones you'd hear on One Man And His Dog.

The lunch break helped but what helped more was having the wind behind me as I completed this lap and the cruising speed improved on the way back to the dam. I caught up with a slow motorist on the descent into Llanwddyn then had to tackle the hills again which, with a metric century under my belt by now, was tough but not quite as bad as I'd feared. I carried on with the climbing to take my alternative route back to Pen-y-bont-fawr and on the climb out of the village was just thinking that I'd got away without any cramp on this ride when that uncomfortable feeling ran up my right thigh. I pulled over immediately and it eased after a short rest so I was able to continue up the grade in a lower gear.

Once over the top of this climb it' is mostly downhill for the next 12 miles so I was able to get along at my best pace of the day. The traffic was busier at this time of day, especially after the junction where it becomes the A495. An articulated lorry overtook where there wasn't really enough room, forcing the oncoming traffic to a halt, then when another came up behind me and I knew the road coming up was too twisty for an overtake I pulled over to let them through which got a thankyou.

I'd made surprisingly good time back to Llynclys but due to being so slow earlier in the ride was there about an hour later in the day than I wanted to be. The roads were getting busy with the evening rush so I got off the main road as soon as I could and took the lane through The Wood, Llwyn-y-go, Argoed and into Kinnerley. It was getting properly dark by Pentre and cold with it so I ended up with four fleeces on to keep warm. With the busy Montford Bridge to Shelton section still to go I also made sure I had as much reflective stuff on as possible. This stretch wasn't particularly pleasant to ride in the dark but almost everyone gave enough room so I'm content with that.

The last few climbs were done very slowly indeed but at least I didn't get off and push. November's century is in the bag and just one more to tackle to complete this years challenge.

103.17 miles this time at 11.8 mph moving average. A maximum speed of 31.2 mph. 10 hours and 50 minutes total when all the stops are included.

Sunrise over the former Forton Heath airfield.

Drink stop near Knockin

Climbing up through the Hirnant valley which looks fabulous in the sunshine.

In the wild looking landscape at the top of the climb.

Arrival at Lake Vyrnwy

Almost at the end of my first lap of the lake.

Heading back round after the cafe stop.

Lunch stop.

Climbing back over the hills and heading for home.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Yesterday's ride:

It's challenge ride time again but I haven't had a great cycling start to November. For various reasons I'd only done one ride so far this month - a 21 mile loop on Friday which was shorter than I'd planned after, like @gavgav, I found a deeper flood than expected and ended up heading home with wet legs and sloshing shoes. I knew that there was a good chance of finding very muddy and/or flooded lanes if I did one of my routes round the north of the county and didn't think that I could cope with the many undulations if I headed for the south so decided to try my route to Lake Vyrnwy as even though there are a couple of good hillclimbs to do I should have the gradient and the wind helping on the way home.

It was my usual 7am start into the pre-dawn of a cold and clear morning. There was a bit of ice on the cars but just on the roof not the bonnet so although I didn't expect ice on the ground I still took it carefully on the bits I knew wouldn't have been gritted. The start went well as I headed to Montford Bridge, Great Ness, Pentre, Knockin and Llynclys without incident. After a pause for a bite to eat by the Cambrian Heritage Railway station I found the notorious Llynclys crossroads clear and the road up the Tanat Valley was less busy than usual (no holiday makers travelling on a Monday morning in November). The only incident of note along here was finding a branch lying in the road shortly after Llanyblodwel which I stopped to remove.

The issue I did have with this first section of the ride was that a lack of miles ridden over the last couple of months and the cold weather was making it very hard work. I was feeling it from as early as 10 miles so needed to pace myself carefully to save something for later - particularly the main climbs of the outward leg which come just before and just after Pen-y-bont-fawr. These were very slow in a low gear today and on the latter one I needed my very lowest gear and a certain amount of stubbornness. The valley on the other side was noticably colder so a change into fingerless gloves was very short lived.

It was a slow and steady first lap around the lake, although my cruising speed did creep up to around 14 mph towards the end of the lap, then a hot chocolate and a seat inside in the warm was very welcome at Artisans. The second lap was again slow to start with but improved a bit as I went round. I paused in a gateway with a view to eat my lunch where usually all is peace and quiet but today there was a couple asking for directions (they'd set out for a walk and had lost where they'd parked the car), a motorist who wanted to know if the road to Bala was passable (I hadn't been that way so couldn't advise on that one) and a shepherd somewhere up in the hills who in an increasingly frustrated tone of voice was trying to work a recalcitrant dog. Some of the words of command that drifted down to me on the breeze are definitely not ones you'd hear on One Man And His Dog.

The lunch break helped but what helped more was having the wind behind me as I completed this lap and the cruising speed improved on the way back to the dam. I caught up with a slow motorist on the descent into Llanwddyn then had to tackle the hills again which, with a metric century under my belt by now, was tough but not quite as bad as I'd feared. I carried on with the climbing to take my alternative route back to Pen-y-bont-fawr and on the climb out of the village was just thinking that I'd got away without any cramp on this ride when that uncomfortable feeling ran up my right thigh. I pulled over immediately and it eased after a short rest so I was able to continue up the grade in a lower gear.

Once over the top of this climb it' is mostly downhill for the next 12 miles so I was able to get along at my best pace of the day. The traffic was busier at this time of day, especially after the junction where it becomes the A495. An articulated lorry overtook where there wasn't really enough room, forcing the oncoming traffic to a halt, then when another came up behind me and I knew the road coming up was too twisty for an overtake I pulled over to let them through which got a thankyou.

I'd made surprisingly good time back to Llynclys but due to being so slow earlier in the ride was there about an hour later in the day than I wanted to be. The roads were getting busy with the evening rush so I got off the main road as soon as I could and took the lane through The Wood, Llwyn-y-go, Argoed and into Kinnerley. It was getting properly dark by Pentre and cold with it so I ended up with four fleeces on to keep warm. With the busy Montford Bridge to Shelton section still to go I also made sure I had as much reflective stuff on as possible. This stretch wasn't particularly pleasant to ride in the dark but almost everyone gave enough room so I'm content with that.

The last few climbs were done very slowly indeed but at least I didn't get off and push. November's century is in the bag and just one more to tackle to complete this years challenge.

103.17 miles this time at 11.8 mph moving average. A maximum speed of 31.2 mph. 10 hours and 50 minutes total when all the stops are included.

View attachment 493493
Sunrise over the former Forton Heath airfield.

View attachment 493494

Drink stop near Knockin

View attachment 493495

Climbing up through the Hirnant valley which looks fabulous in the sunshine.

View attachment 493496

In the wild looking landscape at the top of the climb.

View attachment 493497

Arrival at Lake Vyrnwy

View attachment 493498

Almost at the end of my first lap of the lake.

View attachment 493499

Heading back round after the cafe stop.

View attachment 493500

Lunch stop.

View attachment 493501

Climbing back over the hills and heading for home.

This is on my 'to do' list. Spent two days on one of those corporate wilderness type deals a few years back, you know, building rafts, analysing teamwork, blowing smoke up our collective back passages. If only it had involved bikes. Such a stunning and remote part of the UK

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

This is on my 'to do' list. Spent two days on one of those corporate wilderness type deals a few years back, you know, building rafts, analysing teamwork, blowing smoke up our collective back passages. If only it had involved bikes. Such a stunning and remote part of the UK

It's a great place to ride as long as you can manage the hills. The two passes that cross over to Bala are quite spectacular too.

 

[jongooligan]

Got out for a toddle around the Newlands valley and Derwentwater. Still chilly in the Lakes but the ice has melted now. Think it's coming back though as the gritter overtook me in Borrowdale.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

A nice morning again here in Suffolk so as I had a spare hour or so it seemed a good idea for a ride and it was. Although I have two main routes that I alternate I also try slightly different ways to go, if that makes sense. I had in my mind to go to Brettenham via Rattlesden but as I altered the route I did`nt see Brettenham only went past the private school close by. Instead I came past the end of the runway at Rattlesden airfield, home to the gliding club. There was a solitary glider on the runway but as there was no one operating the winch it would`nt be going anywhere soon. I had a crazy thought, what if I had a winch pull along the runway whilst on the bike, I`d never get airborne but it might be a whizz. I don`t know the take off speed of a glider but would guess at about 30-40 knots whatever that is in todays money ! I have been up in a glider twice and seem to recall that figure, anyway back to the world of dreams.
The route from the airfield then went around on Bury Road towards Hitcham but then taking a left onto Dale Road and then a virtual straight run towards Buxhall and past Granary crafts and then back past the golf club and Combs Ford and home. The route was 25 miles at an average of 17.2 mph and a temperature of 6 degrees with a 6mph SSE breeze. I had some nice quiet dry lanes today so happy days.

 

[Mrs M]

Finished a depressing work day, early and was in need of a ride to attempt to restore some sanity, so I dragged myself out into the cold, for my longest ride since July, following my broken finger.

Cycling around Shropshire is not easy, at the moment, due to either having to avoid the closed roads/towpaths that the River has flooded, for what seems like weeks now, or coping with the muddy flooded lanes. I went for lanes, this evening, which wasn’t the best choice, as you’ll see!

I set out and within 30 seconds, encountered a boy racer, in a Corsa (what else) who came out of a side road, in my estate, without looking and almost wiped me out. I questioned his eyesight as I passed him at the traffic lights, leaving the estate.

First mistake of the ride was to only don fingerless gloves, was way too cold for that and I should have donned the winter ones.

I had to negotiate the short section on the A458, which was horrid, as always, before joining the lanes to Cantlop, Pitchford, Acton Burnell, Frodesley and Longnor. Loads of traffic on these lanes, it does suffer from being a bit of a rat run and today was no exception.

Next I turned towards Ryton, up a lane that I know can be a muddy and watery mess, at this time of year and I really should have known better than to use it, but nothing quite prepared me for how bad it was, certainly the worst I’ve ever seen it.

I passed through 2 floods, not too bad and was able to free wheel without getting wet, then copious amounts of mud, but with it now being properly dark I hit a 3rd flood and free wheeled for a fair distance, only coming to a stop as it got deep enough to be near enough knee level I had to put feet down and it was a freezing horrid mess. The bow wave was enough to splash me at arm height and I struggled to then pedal enough to get out of the flood.

I continued on into Ryton and stopped to pour water out of my shoes, and wished I could just stop the ride there and then. No option for that though and so instead it was a freezing cold wet ride back through Condover, Betton Abbots and home, having lost most of the feeling in my feet and hands.

I was so glad to get home and get a warm shower. Not my finest moment and ride.

19.4 miles at 11.8mph

Well done for getting through it xx

 

[Noodle Legs]

Met up for a Wednesday night social with the self proclaimed Saga CC lot for a cheeky Wednesday evening spin round local Derbyshire lanes.
4 degrees was the highest it reached on a very chilly ride indeed, negotiating most of the villages that cross or run alongside the River Trent.

Luckily the recent weather’s effects had subsided and we were able to stick to the planned route largely without incident except for a little detour to enable us to cross the M1 J24 and A50 near Kegworth safely.


This worked out nicely for me as by the time we got back to the start at Swarkestone I was on 29.1 miles. I knew that the loop was going to be short of the 31.1 miles I needed to get over the line for November’s Half Century challenge but the detour at Kegworth meant the extra miles I needed at the end had reduced, so I pressed on towards Barrow on Trent, turning round after a mile when the GPS unit reached 30.1 miles. The last mile got me over the line and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief with a well earned pint of Guinness at the local pub.

This is probably the only half century I’ll get to do this month as I’ve hit a bit of a rough patch for outdoor cycling time due to work and other commitments.

Still, it’s job done.

31.14 in 1:50.

https://strava.app.link/5QCDwhwnM1