Your ride today....

[itboffin]

First MTB ride of the year for me today and with a set of new suspension forks fitted, my that makes such a difference over rough ground and of course no MTB ride would be complete with a black thorn puncture at which point I remember I’d picked up my road pump which is about as much use as a glass hammer, thankfully I had a co2 canister. I can hand on heart say I’ve never ridden off road down here without at least one puncture, when I was commuting on a hybrid bike with MTB tyres I recorded over 50 punctures in a single year one of which was my own knee

 

[Donger]

Another 24 mile ride down to Arlingham and back tonight. Lovely late afternoon sun. Two noteworthy events:
(1) Nearly headbutted a duck. He and his missus flew up steeply from a ditch to my left. She banked away when she saw me. He didn't. Missed my bonce by less than a foot and I felt the draft from his wings.
(2) Passed 1,000 miles in lockdown. No, not a couple of return trips to Barnard Castle. Just lots and lots of rule-compliant local exercise rides.
On the way home, I came across a clubmate coming the other way and we had a pleasant chat, making plans for when this is all over. Which it will be, one day.
Take care everyone. Cheers, Donger.

 

[itboffin]

BC latest update is club rides lockdown extension until 4th July for now

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I thought I'd explore some new and little known lanes. But first I had to deal with a flat tyre I discovered when I grabbed the bike. Sorted I headed for the Teme Valley negotiating the works repairing the winter flood damage at Ham Bridge. I climbed out of the valley by Pensax and Rock. At Bliss Gate I took to new tarmac and navigated to Bayton and Mamble. Neen Sollers is one of those spots that can't be forgotten. I'd been this way before so I knew of the steep stuff. At Milson I recognised bits and pieces until I dodged to Nash. The church here provided a lovely spot for me to eat my sarnies. Underway again I looped to Greete where I could rely 100% on brain nav. Along the Teme Valley is always a lovely run. At Martley I opted to take the Doddenham and Knightwick route back for a change. Super ride on the flanks of Clee Hill. 75 smiles

 

[Mike_P]

Then I saw it.
Front and back tyres were blathered in tar and chippings.

Pretty unlucky, North Yorks CC have been talking about doing surface dressing for a month but every time I worryingly go back to a road that has been closed for a day or so it turns out they have been patching. Yesterday evening did the clockwise Little Armscliffe Penny Pot circuit and managed to get passed twice by the same cyclist such that Strava has us down as riding together! Difference was he went down to Swinsty Reservoir whilst I plodded past on the B6451 and looking at his stats with PRs and 2nd seems pretty certain the closure of that road was also because of patching. Signs were up in Beckwithshaw saying the road was closed for 7 days from next week. The uphill drag thereafter was another case of spinning into the wind. Earlier on in the ride turning onto the Otley Road I noted these two banners which admirably sum up 2019 and 2020

Went straight along Otley Road, wary downhill just in case the new traffic lights changed, they didn't so that was unnecessary braking but it did make me wonder why their cannot be an advance warning of say 20 seconds that they are going to change with a flashing green or an amber green combined, if only on sets of lights on hills. 16.62 miles @ 13.7mph avg and 1148ft climbed.
This evening a short ride up the eastern Clint Bank

and down Whipley Bank where at top I got a fright playing the video back as I do not recall seeing the two boulders in the carriageway that I obviously avoided. At the foot speed had to dropped rapidly for a slow moving vehicle ahead, turned out to be a tractor cutting the road side verge.

Wind odd today, a relatively light for once north-north-easterly, perfect for a new PR between Killinghall and the A59 and a full 1min 41 sec faster than the gusty crosswind encounter on Monday. 11.26 miles @ 13.5mph avg and 909ft climbed

 

[AndreaJ]

A day off work today so another ride in the sunshine passing 5 of North Shropshire’s meres. Set out to Northwood, Bettisfield, Welshampton, Coptiviney down to Ellesmere turning up Sandy Hill to Trench, Elson past the expensive houses on what is known locally as millionaires row and back through Ellesmere which wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be although people would probably have been at the Mere, past the marina and over the canal to Tetchill, Lee, past Whitemere, up to Colemere, between Newtonmore and Kettlemere, back into Welshampton, Lyneal, Loppington, Tilley, Wem and home . 34.36 miles @15.2mph. Not too much traffic on the lanes today and only a few cyclists and walkers but more horse riders than usual. Photo of a railway bridge with no railway on a lane in the middle of nowhere and Newtown Mere.

 

[gavgav]

After a day off the bike, yesterday, to let the legs recover from Mondays long ride, out in the beautiful warm evening sunshine, for just over an hour. Also a big milestone set today, more of that shortly.

Began by heading through Meole Brace and then along the very busy main road to Hook-a-Gate. Had to pause at traffic lights, for roadworks, just after the village and they are long enough, plus up an incline, to make it necessary to pedal fast, to get through before the lights change at the other end. Just got through in time!

Just after I’d climbed the hill, I then had to pause again, for a traffic jam.......cows being moved across the road from one field to another! The joys of rural living . A few cars joined the queue and so the farmers shut the gates, to let us through, before they continued.

Onwards to Annscroft, where I turned onto the lane to Exfords Green and Stapleton, loads of traffic along there as well, plus 3 ladies out riding horses and a good number of cyclists

Had to wait quite a while to get across the A49, which I’ve not had to do since lockdown started, further evidence that rush hour is starting to materialise again now.

The lanes to Ryton, Condover, Betton and home were quieter, but unfortunately 2 prat’s in vans, from local electrical firms, decided to overtake me, around a bend, almost wiping out some ladies cycling 2 abreast, coming from the other direction. Some choice hand gestures were given from one of the ladies and quite rightly so!

Back through Sutton Farm estate, to ensure the mileage crept over what i’d needed it to be, at 15.8 miles, 13.6mph avg.

Back to that milestone, which was me passing the 10,000 mile mark, just before I got home, since I got back into cycling in 2013. It’s taken me 452 rides, so averaging 22 miles per ride.

Onto the next 10,000 now 👍🏻

 

[JPBoothy]

A day off work today so another ride in the sunshine passing 5 of North Shropshire’s meres. Set out to Northwood, Bettisfield, Welshampton, Coptiviney down to Ellesmere turning up Sandy Hill to Trench, Elson past the expensive houses on what is known locally as millionaires row and back through Ellesmere which wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be although people would probably have been at the Mere, past the marina and over the canal to Tetchill, Lee, past Whitemere, up to Colemere, between Newtonmore and Kettlemere, back into Welshampton, Lyneal, Loppington, Tilley, Wem and home . 34.36 miles @15.2mph. Not too much traffic on the lanes today and only a few cyclists and walkers but more horse riders than usual. Photo of a railway bridge with no railway on a lane in the middle of nowhere and Newtown Mere. View attachment 525484

View attachment 525485

I love the old Railway bridges that you can suddenly stumble across in the middle of nowhere.

 

[wafter]

First ride of the week having given the legs a rest after Sunday; although I have done about 5hrs of walking over the past two days.

The pull of outside was an easy sell over being stuck inside my head in the house; however the body was less willing than the mind having achieved some spectacular sunburn on my pasty shoulders / neck / back / chest on Monday. Thankfully I'd recovered just enough to tolerate the rucksack of important things.

Today's ride was a bit of a mess as I had no inspiration as to where to go (or motivation tbh). I headed down the (bumpy) Thames path from Sandford on Thames to Abingdon, minced around there for a bit then found myself heading south into @EltonFrog territory..

I had fun leaving Abingdon when some dozy old sod pulled out of a junction to my right onto my side of the road; completely failing to acknowledge I was there. Had I not braked I suspect he'd have gone right into me as he swung close to the kerb as he made the turn. I took the opportunty to offload some choice vocabulary and belt the back of his car to announce my presence. He passed me later with the window down and said something, however I didn't catch it so couldn't gauge his intent although I think it might have been an apology.. which if so was most deserved.

I'd not planned to stay out long so had only taken one water bottle to avoid having to put the other in the rucksack and load up my scorched shoulders too much. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd have had two bottle cages; which would have been the case had Topeak not been a bunch of dicks for making their cages on the pish, and had the as-yet undisclosed supplier I bought them from not followed Topeak's lead and responded to my request for a refund within less than the 10 days that's currently elapsed.

Anyway, en-route to Deadcat on NCR5 I was getting a bit concerned about the water situation as it was bloody hot too. This combined with my aching feet, ruined neckskin and lack of energy wasn't making the ride one to savour.. I did stop for a shot of what's left of the power station:

I continued to follow NCR5 and ending up in Sutton Courtney; running wide on a bend (because to have stayed on my side would have involved launching myself off a particularly deformed bit of tarmac in the middle of the road). This suitably shat-up the bloke in the car coming in the other direction; however it wasn't close (I'd gone in at a speed based on what I could see, and he was just outside of that envelope). The driver's caution was acknowledged and thanked with a wave.

Fap knows where I went after that; trying to make out routes on the trip computer without trying to zoom in as that requires dexterity and it can be a bit glitchy. Got lost on a load of large private roads on the Hanson(?) site, before finally escaping onto the road and making my way back to Abingdon.

I stopped at the Spar in Abingdon for more water and a mint magnum (since that seems to be the custom round these parts); initially got told to do one for dragging my bike into the shop (I had no lock) but the shopkeeper conceded when I just asked for water (and presumably he clocked that I wasn't a scally). The Spar had quite an impressive selection of glass bongs for a small-town convenience shop.

I ate my magnum in the shade of the deserted shopping centre, decanted the foul water into my bottle and was on my way - through the park, Radley, Kennington and into town on the tow path then home.

Ultimately about 42 miles at 12.6mph and 128bpm. Polar thinks it was a big effort but the HR wasn't that high, there wasn't a lot of climbing and I felt rinsed before I started anyway, so expected it to be a bit knackering. At least it got me out and actually got some miles under this week's belt - doesn't look like it's going to be a big one, although I only need another 20 or so to get to 500 miles for the month, which seems like a reasonable milestone.

 

[C R]

Short ride around the Kempsey, Croome, Wadborough loop this evening. Quite warm, but no wind. Lots of cyclists about, some looking quite inexperience in their behaviour, but we've all been like that at some point, and nice to see fewer cars than bikes on the road. Bikes on the road included a trike with a disabled girl sitting in the front, she seemed to be having the time of her life.

A bit more than 14 miles today takes my total for the month over 200.

 

[Mr Celine]

A quick 30 miler after 'work', completely non-stop so no proper photos. I did have the go-pro on but must have been going really fast at the start of the ride as it sustained a fly swat (well a midge) right in the middle of the lens.
There was slightly more traffic but it was still quiet enough to use the A68 in relative safety, though I still witnessed a couple of stupidly impatient overtakes. However, none of them annoyed me as much as this ugly lardbucket did -

She's going nice and slowly, but that not for my benefit ....

It's for pooch number one....

...or possibly pooch number two which has shorter legs and can't keep up.
A warm sunny evening, quiet rural lanes in the middle of nowhere but too bone idle to walk the dogs. What hope is there for this planet?

Tonight's map -

31 miles @15.6 mph, 754m up. The route included 400m of the B6340 only six miles from home which I'd never cycled before. Thanks to @screenman for the idea to seek out nearby unexplored territory!

 

[JPBoothy]

Short ride around the Kempsey, Croome, Wadborough loop this evening. Quite warm, but no wind. Lots of cyclists about, some looking quite inexperience in their behaviour, but we've all been like that at some point, and nice to see fewer cars than bikes on the road. Bikes on the road included a trike with a disabled girl sitting in the front, she seemed to be having the time of her life.

A bit more than 14 miles today takes my total for the month over 200.

I got a bit impatient with young lad of about 18yrs old out on his mtb yesterday after he kept whipping out his phone and then suddenly losing speed right in front of me and other cyclists creating an immediate hazzard. If anybody overtook him he seem to get the hump and then race past them only to repeat the process again. At one point he cut in front of a poor chap as he approached a crossing point who had to break to avoid him or be knocked off and, then he cut in front of two young girls to beat them through one of those staggered cyclist gates and they had to do the same. The icing on the cake was when he passed through the staggered gate and then braked to a complete stop within 20ft of the gate and one of the girls almost crashed into the back of him.. It's definitely not always the motorist that we need to watch out for when out for a ride

 

[C R]

I got a bit impatient with young lad of about 18yrs old out on his mtb yesterday after he kept whipping out his phone and then suddenly losing speed right in front of me and other cyclists creating an immediate hazzard. If anybody overtook him he seem to get the hump and then race past them only to repeat the process again. At one point he cut in front of a poor chap as he approached a crossing point who had to break to avoid him or be knocked off and, then he cut in front of two young girls to beat them through one of those staggered cyclist gates and they had to do the same. The icing on the cake was when he passed through the staggered gate and then braked to a complete stop within 20ft of the gate and one of the girls almost crashed into the back of him.. It's definitely not always the motorist that we need to watch out for when out for a ride

In my case was someone about my age (late 40s). I was catching up with him getting ready to overtake, when he slowed even more and looked like he might be turning right, but he didn't, instead, he almost stopped to let out a car from a side road on the left, to great confusion from the driver, who didn't expect to be let out, and myself . There was no pressing reason that I could see to let the car go first, as there was no other traffic on the road.

 

[colly]

I woke at just before 5am. Wide awake despite not into bed until nearly 1am.
A ride out then but not too far, just along the ring road and into town and back out. Roads I rarely travel on a bike.
Plotted again rather than recorded.

16.5 miles 900ft

View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/49690302

 

[JPBoothy]

I woke at just before 5am. Wide awake despite not into bed until nearly 1am.
A ride out then but not too far, just along the ring road and into town and back out. Roads I rarely travel on a bike.
Plotted again rather than recorded.

16.5 miles 900ft

View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/49690302

I can see a sleep coming on for you soon then so make sure the sun cream goes on before you cook in your garden

When I used to cycle to work at 5am for my 6-2pm shift it was always so peaceful in the summer with no traffic around