Thanks - likewise with yours and the other local chaps.. makes it seem all the more real and a little odd to see that you've potentially passed other folks from the forum but you'd never know at the time
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
footloose crow
Veteran
- Location
- Cornwall. UK
14 April. Go East, where the air is clear
I am suffering from cognitive dissonance. I am trying to hold two opposing ideas in my head at the same time. It is a recipe for madness, if madness needs a recipe and doesn't just drop in uninvited when it is least expected.
As I cycle through a springtime Cornwall there is a green exuberance, a bursting out of the bonds of winter. Hawthorn hedges are full of the white froth of blossom, the granite banks are covered in wild garlic, the shady places have native bluebells shyly exposing themselves, purple vinca and yellow celandines vie for attention. There is a cold easterly wind today finding the spaces between my layers but the sky is blue from green horizon to distant sea. And yet despite all the spring beauty, the birds feeding eagerly, watching as I pass with their usual indifference, the new calves in the fields, the new lambs, new life, the natural world continuing as it has for thousands of years, yet despite this 'normality'; we are living in a plague that may kill us, will leave our economy shattered, jobs gone not to return for a decade perhaps. How can life be so savage and so benign at the same time?
I find it hard to remember the plague on my bike, automatically crossing to the other side of the lane when I meet a walker without consciously thinking about the cloud of virus that hangs around them. Life just seems so normal in these quiet lanes. But it isn't. The quietness, the lack of traffic, the ability to cycle along lengths of A road without (much) concern....this isn't normal.
Looking across to the St Austell 'Alps' - the china clay workings still stain the land.
I leave the house, cold and unsure of the challenge I have set myself. One I don't dare share with with Madame Crow, one I should not share with you in case of your opprobrium and disregard. I feel a need to stretch my wheels, to spin a bit further than Mr Gove's daily allowance. I don't want to endanger the NHS although our friend who works in the only critical care facility in Cornwall told us (electronically) last night that there is still capacity in the hospital, things haven't got bad yet. That is not an excuse for my selfishness, my need for the bike, my ego scratching wish to go further. The need to spin until the sinews have gone, the breath has scratched the lungs dry, leaving me an empty husk and ready to come home and face the reality of lock down, the imprisonment of social distancing. I will decide when I get far enough away if I want, have to go further.
The first miles are familiar and pass quickly in a blur of recognition, breathless as always on the hills. Up Truck Hill, it's gradient less now than six months ago when I first started riding a road bike on these lanes, the gradient easing every time: I must be wearing it down.Through Probus, no one stirring, streets empty except for parked car and then along the broken back lane past three farms: the farmers must be suicidal right now, no market for milk, nowhere to sell this years calves. The high lane after Grampound Road gives view both sides of the road, just a low hedge, newly ploughed fields dropping away into shaded valleys on either sides, a tractor pulling a muck spreader and in the distance the white topped hills we call the St Austell Alps, china clay stained like spring snow in the Alps. Then into Trenowth Woods, a relief from the questing east wind that has been holding me up. The trees are old beeches and their peace calms my mind, allows me to bathe in the green filtered light. A fast downhill - glad not to be going the other way, a mile of 6-8%. Then the shaded village of Coombe, deep in its own valley overhung with the granite viaducts of Brunel's railway soaring a hundred feet higher.
From here it is uphill to a dizzy 700 feet above sea level, as high as we get in this part of Cornwall. I am into secret Cornwall now, weaving between clay pits and abandoned workings, houses scattered along the road randomly and then occasionally agglomerating into a a deserted hamlet of granite walled, white washed cottages. It a long uphill but never more than 5% and it is going easily, allowing me to get into a rhythm, legs spinning, mind wandering, bike pushing the wind aside.
From the top I can see across Goss Moor to the distant sea on the north coast. Not that distant. We are never far from the sea in Cornwall but it is hard to reach the coast nonetheless, except for the infrequent beaches and occasional small harbours. Most often the sea is glimpsed from a distance, winking blue, promising warmth and light but unreachable, so near and yet so far. Nearer to me is the tall chimney stack of the incinerator at St Dennis. It is high enough to be visible from my house across numerous valleys and intervening hills. At night we can see the winking red lights on its top. A warning to the aircraft that no longer fly.
Downhill now: how is that the downhill is always less than the uphill? Onto Goss Moor, a site of special scientific interest if you have special scientific interests. Trees grow to just ten of fifteen feet from the mires, tall grasses, ponds, bogs: enough variation in the ecosystem to fund a great variety of plants and animals. I spin through it on a lane that is quiet at the best of times and is graveyard quiet today, houses shuttered up and closed down, gardens empty despite the spring sunshine.
From here I could carry on eastwards to Bodmin and then onto the Moor and beyond opening up the lower lands by the Tamar before Devon starts and then the grind over Dartmoor. It is tempting.....
But invisible strings are pulling me back. Duty. Responsibility. Protect the NHS. I can go no further this time....but I promise to return once this is all over and keep pushing east to see what is there, to go down lanes that I still haven't explored in my winter of cycling these lanes on ever longer circuits. Pointing the wheels back towards Truro and all too soon I am back on familiar ground again, lanes that I last travelled a few days ago in the warmth of last week, the brisk east wind that has been holding me up all morning is now on my back and I am flying.
This is the original A30. Once two lanes of nose to tail traffic all summer long and now forgotten....
The return journey passes too quickly. I am feeling the hills....but I know I could go further and feel an overwhelming desire to turn around and keep the journey going, to see some more. But I won't. Up the last hill and into the lane that leads to our isolated house, hunkered down in the valley bottom. Back into the parallel universe of home, watching the plague through the internet and the laptop screen.
It is calm here tonight and cold enough for overnight frost. Tomorrow there are gales forecast and there is work to do in the garden. The bike has been locked away. My wheels of freedom.
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire....
I am suffering from cognitive dissonance. I am trying to hold two opposing ideas in my head at the same time. It is a recipe for madness, if madness needs a recipe and doesn't just drop in uninvited when it is least expected.
As I cycle through a springtime Cornwall there is a green exuberance, a bursting out of the bonds of winter. Hawthorn hedges are full of the white froth of blossom, the granite banks are covered in wild garlic, the shady places have native bluebells shyly exposing themselves, purple vinca and yellow celandines vie for attention. There is a cold easterly wind today finding the spaces between my layers but the sky is blue from green horizon to distant sea. And yet despite all the spring beauty, the birds feeding eagerly, watching as I pass with their usual indifference, the new calves in the fields, the new lambs, new life, the natural world continuing as it has for thousands of years, yet despite this 'normality'; we are living in a plague that may kill us, will leave our economy shattered, jobs gone not to return for a decade perhaps. How can life be so savage and so benign at the same time?
I find it hard to remember the plague on my bike, automatically crossing to the other side of the lane when I meet a walker without consciously thinking about the cloud of virus that hangs around them. Life just seems so normal in these quiet lanes. But it isn't. The quietness, the lack of traffic, the ability to cycle along lengths of A road without (much) concern....this isn't normal.
Looking across to the St Austell 'Alps' - the china clay workings still stain the land.
I leave the house, cold and unsure of the challenge I have set myself. One I don't dare share with with Madame Crow, one I should not share with you in case of your opprobrium and disregard. I feel a need to stretch my wheels, to spin a bit further than Mr Gove's daily allowance. I don't want to endanger the NHS although our friend who works in the only critical care facility in Cornwall told us (electronically) last night that there is still capacity in the hospital, things haven't got bad yet. That is not an excuse for my selfishness, my need for the bike, my ego scratching wish to go further. The need to spin until the sinews have gone, the breath has scratched the lungs dry, leaving me an empty husk and ready to come home and face the reality of lock down, the imprisonment of social distancing. I will decide when I get far enough away if I want, have to go further.
The first miles are familiar and pass quickly in a blur of recognition, breathless as always on the hills. Up Truck Hill, it's gradient less now than six months ago when I first started riding a road bike on these lanes, the gradient easing every time: I must be wearing it down.Through Probus, no one stirring, streets empty except for parked car and then along the broken back lane past three farms: the farmers must be suicidal right now, no market for milk, nowhere to sell this years calves. The high lane after Grampound Road gives view both sides of the road, just a low hedge, newly ploughed fields dropping away into shaded valleys on either sides, a tractor pulling a muck spreader and in the distance the white topped hills we call the St Austell Alps, china clay stained like spring snow in the Alps. Then into Trenowth Woods, a relief from the questing east wind that has been holding me up. The trees are old beeches and their peace calms my mind, allows me to bathe in the green filtered light. A fast downhill - glad not to be going the other way, a mile of 6-8%. Then the shaded village of Coombe, deep in its own valley overhung with the granite viaducts of Brunel's railway soaring a hundred feet higher.
From here it is uphill to a dizzy 700 feet above sea level, as high as we get in this part of Cornwall. I am into secret Cornwall now, weaving between clay pits and abandoned workings, houses scattered along the road randomly and then occasionally agglomerating into a a deserted hamlet of granite walled, white washed cottages. It a long uphill but never more than 5% and it is going easily, allowing me to get into a rhythm, legs spinning, mind wandering, bike pushing the wind aside.
From the top I can see across Goss Moor to the distant sea on the north coast. Not that distant. We are never far from the sea in Cornwall but it is hard to reach the coast nonetheless, except for the infrequent beaches and occasional small harbours. Most often the sea is glimpsed from a distance, winking blue, promising warmth and light but unreachable, so near and yet so far. Nearer to me is the tall chimney stack of the incinerator at St Dennis. It is high enough to be visible from my house across numerous valleys and intervening hills. At night we can see the winking red lights on its top. A warning to the aircraft that no longer fly.
Downhill now: how is that the downhill is always less than the uphill? Onto Goss Moor, a site of special scientific interest if you have special scientific interests. Trees grow to just ten of fifteen feet from the mires, tall grasses, ponds, bogs: enough variation in the ecosystem to fund a great variety of plants and animals. I spin through it on a lane that is quiet at the best of times and is graveyard quiet today, houses shuttered up and closed down, gardens empty despite the spring sunshine.
From here I could carry on eastwards to Bodmin and then onto the Moor and beyond opening up the lower lands by the Tamar before Devon starts and then the grind over Dartmoor. It is tempting.....
But invisible strings are pulling me back. Duty. Responsibility. Protect the NHS. I can go no further this time....but I promise to return once this is all over and keep pushing east to see what is there, to go down lanes that I still haven't explored in my winter of cycling these lanes on ever longer circuits. Pointing the wheels back towards Truro and all too soon I am back on familiar ground again, lanes that I last travelled a few days ago in the warmth of last week, the brisk east wind that has been holding me up all morning is now on my back and I am flying.
This is the original A30. Once two lanes of nose to tail traffic all summer long and now forgotten....
The return journey passes too quickly. I am feeling the hills....but I know I could go further and feel an overwhelming desire to turn around and keep the journey going, to see some more. But I won't. Up the last hill and into the lane that leads to our isolated house, hunkered down in the valley bottom. Back into the parallel universe of home, watching the plague through the internet and the laptop screen.
It is calm here tonight and cold enough for overnight frost. Tomorrow there are gales forecast and there is work to do in the garden. The bike has been locked away. My wheels of freedom.
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire....
Attachments
Return today to the false normality of work at home and once again a complete waste of time as having picked up the “new” laptop it failed to work properly with the office systems on the main connection and the secondary connection which worked fine on the previous faulty laptop also failed to work in any sensible manner. So a smidge after 4 and thoughts quickly turn to what the wear for todays cycling exercise, clearly warmer than yesterday but not as much as Sunday. The bottom half was resolved when I opened the wardrobe door and a pair of bib knickers fell out
Normal “auto-pilot” route through Hampsthwaite but on climb to Clapham Green what sounded like the spokes hitting the rear derailleur occurred. At the top of the climb there is a wooden bench ideal to prop the bike against to investigate while the GoPro surveyed the nearby signs and daffodils.
Nothing obvious seemed adrift so set off down Stock Stile Lane and but the issue kept on occurring. Carried out with my intended route as to turn round would involve necessary use of the low gears where the problem was arising. That route being along the enclosed valley, in terms of road access as all exits go uphill, that lies between Knabbs Ridge and Nidderdale and in which the largest settlement is Kettlesing with the war memorial being 100 years old this year.
Not the best day to exit the valley south west to Kettlesing Head as confirmed by a wind turbine but the maximum of a 7.7% gradient had its benefits in the circumstances.
A brief wait at a staggered crossroads over the A59 with once again a lot of eastbound traffic passing by to drop down to Penny Pot Lane, along which I quickly caught up with two slower riders alongside Knabbs Ridge windfarm and had to wait for passing traffic to clear before passing by at the requisite distance.
Further on noted that despite the presumably limited traffic since I had last cycled along here a nasty bike tyre width rut just before the highway depot had turned into a fully-fledged pot hole. 13.54 miles @ 13mph avg 979 ft climbed.
A look at the bike back home revealed the issue as being the short end of the gear cable catching the cable between the jockey wheels. Altered the cables route so the end is away from the mechanism, maybe it was meant to go that way, changes fine and the alignment of the cable is no worse.
Normal “auto-pilot” route through Hampsthwaite but on climb to Clapham Green what sounded like the spokes hitting the rear derailleur occurred. At the top of the climb there is a wooden bench ideal to prop the bike against to investigate while the GoPro surveyed the nearby signs and daffodils.
Nothing obvious seemed adrift so set off down Stock Stile Lane and but the issue kept on occurring. Carried out with my intended route as to turn round would involve necessary use of the low gears where the problem was arising. That route being along the enclosed valley, in terms of road access as all exits go uphill, that lies between Knabbs Ridge and Nidderdale and in which the largest settlement is Kettlesing with the war memorial being 100 years old this year.
Not the best day to exit the valley south west to Kettlesing Head as confirmed by a wind turbine but the maximum of a 7.7% gradient had its benefits in the circumstances.
A brief wait at a staggered crossroads over the A59 with once again a lot of eastbound traffic passing by to drop down to Penny Pot Lane, along which I quickly caught up with two slower riders alongside Knabbs Ridge windfarm and had to wait for passing traffic to clear before passing by at the requisite distance.
Further on noted that despite the presumably limited traffic since I had last cycled along here a nasty bike tyre width rut just before the highway depot had turned into a fully-fledged pot hole. 13.54 miles @ 13mph avg 979 ft climbed.
A look at the bike back home revealed the issue as being the short end of the gear cable catching the cable between the jockey wheels. Altered the cables route so the end is away from the mechanism, maybe it was meant to go that way, changes fine and the alignment of the cable is no worse.
Last edited:
Jenkins
Legendary Member
- Location
- Felixstowe
Today I was suppposed to be working the late shift from home, so I had to go to Felixstowe to get some essetials to see me through the shift. Unfortunately I accidentally took the wrong turn at the end of my road and had to keep going there's nowhere to turn round and take the correct direction until you get to Ipswich - honestly 
. Finally got the essentials and, as I had to work Easter Monday, a few bits as a treat that were reduced in price since Easter is now over...
. Finally got the essentials and, as I had to work Easter Monday, a few bits as a treat that were reduced in price since Easter is now over...
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
It's another fabulous spring morning so I got the Raleigh out for an early spin around my Condover, Acton Burnell, Harnage, Cross Houses loop. I was a little sore around the sit bones following the last ride on this bike so I did a small saddle adjustment (nose up another notch) and set out.
In the light wind I got along well but not quite as easily as last time and I'm not sure if that's down to the saddle tweak or, perhaps more likely, the hilly ride on a heavy bike yesterday.
The ride went without incident and the big thing to report is just how quiet it was out there. With the exception of the main road sections, which were a bit busier than of late, everywhere else was much more like I had imagined a lockdown would be. I met a handful of walkers, saw a few vehicles and there was only one other cyclist in the first 23 miles. A father and his two young children were the only other cyclists seen when I was nearly home.
That small adjustment has made a difference to the saddle comfort. No fidgeting about this time and no soreness after the ride. Looks promising. Today would have been great for a longer ride to give it a good test but that's not happening at the moment.
23.6 miles at 15.3 mph average.
The Wrekin from near Acton Burnell.
Looking across the fields to Berrington.
On my way to Condover and looking to The Lawley and Caer Caradoc.
Blossom at the church in Condover. I could have sworn this one was level when I took it.
In the light wind I got along well but not quite as easily as last time and I'm not sure if that's down to the saddle tweak or, perhaps more likely, the hilly ride on a heavy bike yesterday.
The ride went without incident and the big thing to report is just how quiet it was out there. With the exception of the main road sections, which were a bit busier than of late, everywhere else was much more like I had imagined a lockdown would be. I met a handful of walkers, saw a few vehicles and there was only one other cyclist in the first 23 miles. A father and his two young children were the only other cyclists seen when I was nearly home.
That small adjustment has made a difference to the saddle comfort. No fidgeting about this time and no soreness after the ride. Looks promising. Today would have been great for a longer ride to give it a good test but that's not happening at the moment.
23.6 miles at 15.3 mph average.
The Wrekin from near Acton Burnell.
Looking across the fields to Berrington.
On my way to Condover and looking to The Lawley and Caer Caradoc.
Blossom at the church in Condover. I could have sworn this one was level when I took it.
Beautiful spring morning just made for cycling.
More local-ish stuff. I saw lots of bodies on bikes and because like me they were doing loops of local lanes we all passed one another several times.
Before getting into the loops I went out to East Keswick came up to East Rigton via Rigton Bank. No pics, my phone ran out of battery, probably because, and this is only a wild guess, I didn't plug it in last night.
So 29.5 miles and 1900 ft of up.
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/47204767
More local-ish stuff. I saw lots of bodies on bikes and because like me they were doing loops of local lanes we all passed one another several times.
Before getting into the loops I went out to East Keswick came up to East Rigton via Rigton Bank. No pics, my phone ran out of battery, probably because, and this is only a wild guess, I didn't plug it in last night.
So 29.5 miles and 1900 ft of up.
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/47204767
A good morning, seen out of the window. In reality a bit cool but with the promise of warmth later. Better take a bit of exercise, choose the geared bike and go.
The back tyre had held a fair bit of pressure since Monday, soon increased. Everything else seemed OK. A new set of road works in Holbeck prompted a bit of a diversion, about as exciting as Holbeck ever is, eventually reached the end of Water Lane and turned left to cross the river on Victoria Bridge. And then enjoy an almost empty town centre to ride through. Up to Headingley on Cardigan Road, and more up to Lawnswood. Ride through Adel to Five Lane Ends and pass Eccup on the way to Weardley.
Thank you Google Earth.
And the good old A659 is next. Turn left to head for Otley, one of those quick decisions the whole ride has been subject to. The village of Arthington is spread out along this road, in bits here and there, and then Pool, which is a more compact place. But I reckon it has more houses. A short stop in Otley, featuring me scratching the itch about the rear tyre. And then Leeds Road in the increasing warmth of the day.
Through Bramhope, the new building site with lake has generated yet more roadworks, with the inevitable traffic lights. That is OK, I have a rest. No inspiration though, just stay on the A660. Looking at things, I do not often travel in this direction on this road. So a change to ride past the western side of Golden Acre Park. Headingley and Kirkstall followed by another trek through Leeds’ centre on my way to cross the river and find the street I live on. A surprisingly quick thirty three miles, for me. Grin time.
Slightly different map,
The back tyre had held a fair bit of pressure since Monday, soon increased. Everything else seemed OK. A new set of road works in Holbeck prompted a bit of a diversion, about as exciting as Holbeck ever is, eventually reached the end of Water Lane and turned left to cross the river on Victoria Bridge. And then enjoy an almost empty town centre to ride through. Up to Headingley on Cardigan Road, and more up to Lawnswood. Ride through Adel to Five Lane Ends and pass Eccup on the way to Weardley.
Thank you Google Earth.
And the good old A659 is next. Turn left to head for Otley, one of those quick decisions the whole ride has been subject to. The village of Arthington is spread out along this road, in bits here and there, and then Pool, which is a more compact place. But I reckon it has more houses. A short stop in Otley, featuring me scratching the itch about the rear tyre. And then Leeds Road in the increasing warmth of the day.
Through Bramhope, the new building site with lake has generated yet more roadworks, with the inevitable traffic lights. That is OK, I have a rest. No inspiration though, just stay on the A660. Looking at things, I do not often travel in this direction on this road. So a change to ride past the western side of Golden Acre Park. Headingley and Kirkstall followed by another trek through Leeds’ centre on my way to cross the river and find the street I live on. A surprisingly quick thirty three miles, for me. Grin time.
Slightly different map,
gavgav
Legendary Member
A short ride in the Afternoon sunshine. Warm enough for shorts and t-shirt again.
A loop via Betton Abbots, Boreton, using the bridge to avoid the ford (water not car variety) Condover and then Cantlop. Rather bizarrely, the narrow lane to Cantlop was the busiest part of the ride, for traffic, with 2 vans and 3 cars. Also had to stop for a queue of local residents to cross the road.........of the Black and White Cow variety
into the farm, from their field. A nice thanks from the farmer, for waiting patiently
Back via Betton and then loop around the Business Park. I was astonished how many cars were still parked at offices there, with most being Solicitors, etc, thought more would be working from home, to be honest.
11.6 miles at 13.7mph avg
A loop via Betton Abbots, Boreton, using the bridge to avoid the ford (water not car variety) Condover and then Cantlop. Rather bizarrely, the narrow lane to Cantlop was the busiest part of the ride, for traffic, with 2 vans and 3 cars. Also had to stop for a queue of local residents to cross the road.........of the Black and White Cow variety
into the farm, from their field. A nice thanks from the farmer, for waiting patiently Back via Betton and then loop around the Business Park. I was astonished how many cars were still parked at offices there, with most being Solicitors, etc, thought more would be working from home, to be honest.
11.6 miles at 13.7mph avg
pawl
Legendary Member
- Location
- Desford Leicestershire
Went through Market Bosworth this morning Wednesday is usual market day.Suprised to see it open today.Looked fairly busy As far as I could see it was mainly vegetables and the usual mobile fish monger.
May be had theOK of the local council.Not sure how street markets are affected under current restrictions.
May be had theOK of the local council.Not sure how street markets are affected under current restrictions.
DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
Shakedown ride for the re-geared Scott. I did try the other day, but threw the chain at a mile out and freewheeled home again. Today it all worked smoothly except for some oddities with the left-hand shifter, but nothing to impede progress.
South out of Tavistock to the Leg O'Mutton ramp and back. Busy with walkers, some cyclists also.
11.12 miles, 8.8mph avg, improving, 1007 feer of up.
Need to check the Trek also at some point...
Nice weather, summer kit.
South out of Tavistock to the Leg O'Mutton ramp and back. Busy with walkers, some cyclists also.
11.12 miles, 8.8mph avg, improving, 1007 feer of up.
Need to check the Trek also at some point...
Nice weather, summer kit.
Shearwater Missile
Veteran
A lovely day here for a ride, sunny and 14 degrees. I thought I would have a slight change and head up to Wickham Skeith, slightly further away from home but only by about a mile and a bit. I realised why I had`nt been on this road lately as there were more people about and the penny dropped, hey ho ! On the stretch from Mendlesham to Wickham, not much more than single track with passing places there were two vehicles coming the other way with a 500 yard or so gap between them. The first, some large saloon kept coming and coming passing a passing place and the look on his face said "I eat cyclists". The other vehicle which was a van and to my amazement he pulled in for me. Well done Mr van driver. He got a cheery wave and acknowledged back. Talking of cheery waves, I also had one from a lady pushing a lawnmower along the pavement at Old Newton, she was obviously happy to be busy.
I had another cyclist about 1/2 mile in front of me for about 6 miles and I gradually pulled the distance back but did not want to pass as it was neither safe or no point in it anyway. However by the time we got into Stowmarket he chose to ride on the cycle path and I chose the road and that is only because the cycle path runs out into only a footpath and no drop down kerb to come off either. As sure as eggs are eggs there were walkers coming down the path so I cheekily went past on the road at which time some wassack in a suped up Mini came past at only about 25 mph but the noise from his exhaust. I still have the deafness and tinnitus caused by him. Other than that it was a good ride. 24.5 miles at 18.1 mph.
The bluebells were taken at Mendlesham on the side of the road. Nice crop of stinging nettles too.
I had another cyclist about 1/2 mile in front of me for about 6 miles and I gradually pulled the distance back but did not want to pass as it was neither safe or no point in it anyway. However by the time we got into Stowmarket he chose to ride on the cycle path and I chose the road and that is only because the cycle path runs out into only a footpath and no drop down kerb to come off either. As sure as eggs are eggs there were walkers coming down the path so I cheekily went past on the road at which time some wassack in a suped up Mini came past at only about 25 mph but the noise from his exhaust. I still have the deafness and tinnitus caused by him. Other than that it was a good ride. 24.5 miles at 18.1 mph.
The bluebells were taken at Mendlesham on the side of the road. Nice crop of stinging nettles too.
Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
Two more nice rides in glorious late afternoon sunshine.
Yesterday: A 14 mile spin around the deadly quiet, almost post-apocalyptic housing estates.
Today: After a day's painting and decorating, left it a bit late to get out before tea, so crammed in a quick 11 mile loop to Epney and back, taking the quick route along the A38 on the way back. Only hit the riverbank once, and looked to see if there were any seals splashing about (There was one filmed in Tewkesbury today!). Needless to say there were not.
Strange times, but although my rides are much shorter than usual, I'm getting out most days, so still likely to hit my usual monthly target.
Stay safe everyone. Cheers, Donger.
Yesterday: A 14 mile spin around the deadly quiet, almost post-apocalyptic housing estates.
Today: After a day's painting and decorating, left it a bit late to get out before tea, so crammed in a quick 11 mile loop to Epney and back, taking the quick route along the A38 on the way back. Only hit the riverbank once, and looked to see if there were any seals splashing about (There was one filmed in Tewkesbury today!). Needless to say there were not.
Strange times, but although my rides are much shorter than usual, I'm getting out most days, so still likely to hit my usual monthly target.
Stay safe everyone. Cheers, Donger.
Last edited:
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
What a beautiful Spring day. Time for a sortie to the North West. So a standard run out to Martley with Buzzards soaring for company. Then up and over to Ham Bridge for the lovely run along the Teme valley. The superb rolling lanes dropped me in Tenbury Wells. Normally it would be a cafe stop here. Not under the present circumstances tho'. I continued along the southern bank of the Teme for Little Hereford to turn and climb to Leysters. Bockleton was the next target and beyond there I stopped for a bite to eat. It was lovely and quiet with just the song of some warblers breaking the silence. I headed for Bromyard and took to the Frome valley to climb out onto Fromes Hill with a pair of swallows not long arrived from Africa for company. I decided to try a bit of road I'd not used before. It dropped me at the top of Stanley Hill. So it was straightforward to run through to Bosbury for a standard run homeward to climb up and over the Wyche. What a wonderful day to enjoy the freedom of the bicycle. 66 smiles
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Take it easy ride today as feeling a bit under the weather, bit of a cold, Been over doing it work wise, so for the next couple of day i will just be riding, Today the wind was not so strong, so it felt easy but still got me a KOM,
. No one else has done the route, but have put it out to the club, 20 mile loop. will see how long it takes for someone to take it. https://www.strava.com/activities/3302564426
. No one else has done the route, but have put it out to the club, 20 mile loop. will see how long it takes for someone to take it. https://www.strava.com/activities/3302564426
Dave 123
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire alps
A late afternoon spin in cool sunshine. Arm warmers were on!
lots of other cyclists out too
https://www.strava.com/activities/3303382072/
lots of other cyclists out too
https://www.strava.com/activities/3303382072/
