No, the doctor told me to keep it uncovered at all times. He discharged me after the procedure without a dressing and told me to leave it like that.
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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The weather map showed all the wet stuff was west of here. Makes things simple, take the fixed and head east, maybe south east is more accurate. And it was wet! Not rain, the moisture was just hanging there. Where? Everywhere.
Aiming for Castleford, there was the thought to ride down the river path. Nah, through Hunslet and up the rise to John o’ Gaunts. Exercise, see? But the river way next early morning, for sure. Oulton roundabout next, and then the left to Methley Junction via Mickletown. And on to Castleford, flat riding all the way. Turn left on the outskirts, aiming for Lock Lane and cross the River Aire on that. And the Calder, the two rivers joined, just over to my left . . .
And the road starts to go up. Passing Allerton Bywater and Kippax on one side, Ledston Luck to the right, and then things level out again. Third exit at the roundabout at Peckfield Bar, this is the A63, heading to Selby. It is a mile and a bit to the left turn to Micklefield, in that distance I did wonder if I wanted to ride further east. Nope, let’s make it a two Mickle ride.
There must be some kind of magnetic attraction built into the gates at Lotherton Hall, that or all roads around here lead to them. The last stretch to those gates, I had a truck behind me. Glad to reach the junction with Lotherton Lane, turned left and the truck followed me! Pulled in to the side and waved it past. Aberford was a bit busy, had to stop before I could turn onto Main Street. Cattle Lane was quiet though, except for the racket of my breathing on the ups. Sometime in the last ninety minutes all that hanging moisture has gone, the view of Barwick is pretty clear.
Before the road reaches Barwick it drops into the surprisingly deep valley of Cock Beck, and then climbs out, a bit less steeply, towards the maypole that might just have been the defining feature of the village. The road out to Scholes climbs a bit, from there, Scholes, to the A64 and on to the lanes that go to the A58 is fair flat. And at the end of Skeltons Lane there is a lass pushing her bike. Puncture, she said. Only a mile to go. Good it is only a mile, ‘cos her bike has Schrader valves, my pump only fits Presta.
And it is only a few miles for me. No diversions, the happy twiddle down Boot Hill, not quite 27 mph this morning, pass the spare park gates and the clock at Oakwood. Not yet eight thirty, said that clock, this will be the earliest finish yet for a thirty three mile ride. Something more to grin about as I reached my front door.
The route may have been seen before,
Aiming for Castleford, there was the thought to ride down the river path. Nah, through Hunslet and up the rise to John o’ Gaunts. Exercise, see? But the river way next early morning, for sure. Oulton roundabout next, and then the left to Methley Junction via Mickletown. And on to Castleford, flat riding all the way. Turn left on the outskirts, aiming for Lock Lane and cross the River Aire on that. And the Calder, the two rivers joined, just over to my left . . .
And the road starts to go up. Passing Allerton Bywater and Kippax on one side, Ledston Luck to the right, and then things level out again. Third exit at the roundabout at Peckfield Bar, this is the A63, heading to Selby. It is a mile and a bit to the left turn to Micklefield, in that distance I did wonder if I wanted to ride further east. Nope, let’s make it a two Mickle ride.
There must be some kind of magnetic attraction built into the gates at Lotherton Hall, that or all roads around here lead to them. The last stretch to those gates, I had a truck behind me. Glad to reach the junction with Lotherton Lane, turned left and the truck followed me! Pulled in to the side and waved it past. Aberford was a bit busy, had to stop before I could turn onto Main Street. Cattle Lane was quiet though, except for the racket of my breathing on the ups. Sometime in the last ninety minutes all that hanging moisture has gone, the view of Barwick is pretty clear.
Before the road reaches Barwick it drops into the surprisingly deep valley of Cock Beck, and then climbs out, a bit less steeply, towards the maypole that might just have been the defining feature of the village. The road out to Scholes climbs a bit, from there, Scholes, to the A64 and on to the lanes that go to the A58 is fair flat. And at the end of Skeltons Lane there is a lass pushing her bike. Puncture, she said. Only a mile to go. Good it is only a mile, ‘cos her bike has Schrader valves, my pump only fits Presta.
And it is only a few miles for me. No diversions, the happy twiddle down Boot Hill, not quite 27 mph this morning, pass the spare park gates and the clock at Oakwood. Not yet eight thirty, said that clock, this will be the earliest finish yet for a thirty three mile ride. Something more to grin about as I reached my front door.
The route may have been seen before,
Off for a walk around Swinsty and Fewston Reservoirs today with Mrs Colly so I needed an early up and out if I wanted a ride.
Out the door at around 5.20am to a cool, bright and almost, but not quite drizzly morning. It got brighter and less ''almost' as time passed.
A loop around the block and up and out through Thorner and other local lanes. Back via Shadwell and an up and down of Wigton and Alwoodley Lanes.
And the sun was shining when I got home.
29.2 miles and 1700ft of up.
Out the door at around 5.20am to a cool, bright and almost, but not quite drizzly morning. It got brighter and less ''almost' as time passed.
A loop around the block and up and out through Thorner and other local lanes. Back via Shadwell and an up and down of Wigton and Alwoodley Lanes.
And the sun was shining when I got home.
29.2 miles and 1700ft of up.
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One of these days we'll bump into one another. Not literally I hope.
Yup, it does seem likely. Wonder how long the odds are?
Nice gentle ride this afternoon, just under 13 miles through the city and back via Godstow and Wytham on my freshly restored 1962 5 speed Claud Butler. The bike was lovely, really smooth and just very nice to ride. I'd also forgotten how useful a pannier is, as it was a newly built bike, I took a tool roll, inner tube and pump. However nothing was needed as the bike was perfect!
Yawn.. think the lack of sleep in the hot weather has finally caught up with me so it looks like this mornings ebike trips to the Co-Op and Aldi are the months riding done. Checkout worked properly in the Co-Op with the latest card offers so no freebies but 2 pints of milk, a bar of Lindt chocolate and eight frozen free from yorkshire puds for a smidge under £3 cannot be complained about. Managed to get caught by TTLs on the A59 going to Aldi, made that bit more busy by the fact A61 traffic was also being diverted along it, so on the return did a back street silly gradient in places route with the rucksack reasonably full but that ebikes are for. On the only climb of any note managed to match on both return trips my best KOM time on a ebike, a full 10 secs ahead of others at 11.5mph avg. Despite pausing Strava whilst in store it still went crazy so that some splitting and cropping needed.
So whatever miniscule miles that works out at plus 265 miles for the month.
So whatever miniscule miles that works out at plus 265 miles for the month.
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Archie_tect
De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
- Location
- Northumberland
A dark, blustery ride out to Harlow Hill p[ast the reservoirs on the old Roman Road towardsChollerford but turned towards Matfen after the Corbridge junction, to get the tail wind all the way home! Just over 27 miles in an hour and a half- wind assisted!
Spiderweb
Not So Special One
- Location
- North Yorkshire
I saw you this morning John, just approaching Lotherton Hall!
I live just up the road in Towton and was driving to work.
Ah, not in that big truck then? You would have been travelling in the other direction.
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
With one thing and another I haven't been out on the bike for a few days so I took the chance this morning, despite legs aching a bit from a hill walk with @gavgav yesterday, and grabbed the knockabout bike for convenience. The route was over Lyth Hill to Condover, Ryton, Longnor, Folly Bank, Cardington, Plaish, Hughley, Harnage, Cound, Berrington and back via Condover again.
Still a good crowd flocking to Lyth Hill for their exercise. Not too much traffic on the roads which suits me just fine. There were a couple of small groups of cyclists about but otherwise not many out riding this morning and only a handful out walking or running.
I was pleased at how well the climb of Folly Bank went this time but pushing on with tired legs meant I ran out of puff a bit later on in the ride. Played a game of leapfrog with a delivery driver round the Harnage area as he kept stopping, then I'd have to pull in to let him past as the lanes are narrow. The flag of the day at Cound was the unofficial Shropshire one.
The last few miles were mostly into the wind which slowed things down a little.
33.3 miles at 12.8 mph average.
Pausing for a drink on a very peaceful lane en-route to Plaish.
The view across to Holt Farm which hasn't come out as well as I'd hoped.
Hughley
Still a good crowd flocking to Lyth Hill for their exercise. Not too much traffic on the roads which suits me just fine. There were a couple of small groups of cyclists about but otherwise not many out riding this morning and only a handful out walking or running.
I was pleased at how well the climb of Folly Bank went this time but pushing on with tired legs meant I ran out of puff a bit later on in the ride. Played a game of leapfrog with a delivery driver round the Harnage area as he kept stopping, then I'd have to pull in to let him past as the lanes are narrow. The flag of the day at Cound was the unofficial Shropshire one.
The last few miles were mostly into the wind which slowed things down a little.
33.3 miles at 12.8 mph average.
Pausing for a drink on a very peaceful lane en-route to Plaish.
The view across to Holt Farm which hasn't come out as well as I'd hoped.
Hughley
Nice work - bike fits perfectly with the environment too
So... today was pencilled in a longish ride I'd had planned for a while. Upon waking and checking the weather the worst of the rain appeared to be over by about 12pm. However, periodically checking the forecast throughout the morning saw this "front of acceptability" pushed ever-further back in the day.. to the point where I was so sick of the waiting, uncertainty and horrific prospect of having to spend a whole day stuck in my head with little to do other than argue with people on the internet, I got my sh*t together, flipped the bird to the brooding sky above and headed out on the CdF.
The target was White Horse Hill some 20-25 miles SW of the city and one of my favourite local spots. The original attraction (in a cycling context) had been to smash it up the hill on the road bike, but the allure of being able to ride a bit of the ridgeway meant I took the CdF instead. The wind was pinned at 14mph-ish SW, meaning against me on the way out and behind on the way back.
The journey out provided little fun; almost constant headwind (which to be fair felt less severe than forecast), overcast, muggy (despite the relatively cool temperature meaning I stupidly wore trousers) with the ever-present threat (and occasional short and light reality) of rain. I felt pretty detached on the way out and the journey was pretty uneventful; save for a few stops to roll up my trouser legs and grease my threatening-to-become-sore arse
Uncharacteristically I'd actually planned this route and did my best to keep it to small, quiet roads - passing through Cumnor, Appleton, Netherton, Hinton Waldrist, Gainford, Hatford, Cocklington-Gladys, Shellingford and Fernham before hanging a left at Shrivenham to Ashbury - the first part of the ride with no perpetual headwind!
Just after Ashbury (following a bit of a climb) I took another left, following the route on my head unit and signposts to White Horse Hill.. Unfortunatley maybe half a mile in I realised the route was wrong (EDIT: NOT my ball dropped while mapping the route - appears that the .gpx conversion failed to recognise the ridgeway and defaulted to the nearest road instead) and I was actually skirting around the bottom of the hill. Doubling back I continued up the hill from Ashbury - a reasonable climb but not as punishing as I was expecting; according to Strava being 0.6 miles at 7%.
Once at the top I was stoked to find signs to the Ridgeway; the weather remaining grim but the light drizzle quite welcome following the climb.
I hung a left onto the Ridgeway and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the path; making good comfortable progress over the flattish chalky surface.
First stop was Weyland's Smithy; a little wooded area with a burial mound and on this occasion a pair of older women with an unfeasible amount of small dogs between them.. I sat for a bit and took a few photos before getting underway again..
Onward to White Horse Hill..
As my journey progressed the weather started to clear, a few holes in the clouds allowing the sunlight to illuminate isolated spots of the landscape around me...
Finally, some clear blue once I finally reached the summit of the hill
After a bit of sightseeing I made my way back to the Ridgeway; the downhill bit on the east side of the hill being fairly deeply rutted in places, unlike the west side that had apparently been re-surfaced (and very welcome it was too!).
The journey back was a lot more pleasant than that out; more sun in the sky, probably less humid, a pleasant tailwind, destination reached and climb conquered.
The descent towards Kingston Lisle was "interesting" at a signposted 10%: anxiety causing me to drag the brakes lightly for most of it - something I was thankful for as I approached the bottom to meet a crossroads with the need to give way... stopping just inside a "comfortable" envelope with a lot less drama than would have been involved had I not bothered the brakes on the way down!
I continued toward home past Uffington, Baulking and Goosey... at one point doubling back to rescue a fat bee that was bumbling around in the road. I dismounted and simply laid my hand out on the road in front of it - the bee instantly climbing aboard to be hoisted to safety on a nearby flower.. which it seemed to appreciate (although too much nectar might have been the reason it was in the road to start with, but who am I to judge?
). I absolutely love bees and never get tired of helping them out as they're so obliging and chilled.Shortly afterwards, some 35 miles in I finally got the fat dopamine hit I'd earned from my hard work; no doubt bolstered by the sun, tailwind, bee-rescue and tunes I was listening to.. grinning ear to ear at another happy cyclist passing in the other direction.
Of course the day couldn't end on that high note; finding myself once-more abusing another road user some miles later. This time it was some complete muppet in a Porsche Cayenne (does any vehicle exist that screams louder "I'm a shallow, self-important prick"?) who close-passed me; seemingly intentionally at the precise moment the solitary vehicle coming the other way was level with us both; preventing him crossing the centreline of the road to give me any room. The fact that he couldn't have waited literally two seconds to pass was rewarded by heavy braking straight afterwards as he reached a set of red lights
I made a point of positioning myself in front of him and remaining dead-centre in the carriageway to prevent him passing me again under similar circumstances until the opposing traffic had passed and he had room to cross the centreline of the road; this time doing so at a reasonable speed and giving me plenty of room.. perhaps one of those rare drivers capable of introspect rather than abuse for daring to pull them up on their inability to properly control a car.
Anyway, got home eventually having covered a little under 55 miles and 1400ft at 13.5mph and 122bpm for 2100kcal burned. Despite having covered more distance / expended a lot more energy before I'm utterly shafted today for some reason; really feeling it in my muscles and (more concerningly) joints.. on the bright side tomorrow's weather suggests that going out would be a no-go, even if I was capable!
Edited to include all-important month-end stats of 21 rides over 45hrs, 608 miles covered and 24000kcal burned. I think my biggest month so far
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derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Did a little leg spinner tonight. Just got to keep them moving after Sundays epic ride. 6 of us set of for our normal Tuesday loop. Nice and steady with a few beers in our garden after the ride. Who needs a pub.🤣
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/SsXDezSzK7
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/SsXDezSzK7
Landsurfer
Veteran
Short ride today.... It's my birthday and the family have all these wonderful things they want to do .... I've said no! ... no barbie .... no drinks in the garden ... just me , Julie and the children, a takeaway pizza and a glass or 2, or 3, of wine for Julie ..... thats better ....
So todays pics .....
The upstream lock has floated open .....this one seems to be this way most days ..... Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.
It's hard to describe in words the overwhelming, over powering and beautiful smell of wild garlic along this well surfaced ex rail line.....
The Don Bridge just south of Medowhell with Tinsley Bridge in the background ...... more on that in a minute .....
RIGHT ... This is Tinsley bridge. At Tinsley. Constructed by Tinsley Bridge Ltd. With steel supplied by Brown Best Steel Works of ....Tinsley.
Sheffield. The other end is at Wincobank. ... Not Tinsley. .....
So todays pics .....
The upstream lock has floated open .....this one seems to be this way most days ..... Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.
It's hard to describe in words the overwhelming, over powering and beautiful smell of wild garlic along this well surfaced ex rail line.....
The Don Bridge just south of Medowhell with Tinsley Bridge in the background ...... more on that in a minute .....
RIGHT ... This is Tinsley bridge. At Tinsley. Constructed by Tinsley Bridge Ltd. With steel supplied by Brown Best Steel Works of ....Tinsley.
Sheffield. The other end is at Wincobank. ... Not Tinsley. .....
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LeetleGreyCells
Un rouleur infatigable
- Location
- Whitehaven Mansions
I've really got to get around to riding along the canal here. Which/where is the section of ex-railway line? I can't think where that is near Tinsley.Short ride today.... It's my birthday and the family have all these wonderful things they want to do .... I've said no! ... no barbie .... no drinks in the garden ... just me , Julie and the children, a takeaway pizza and a glass or 2, or 3, of wine for Julie ..... thats better ....
So todays pics .....
The upstream lock has floated open .....this one seems to be this way most days ..... Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.
View attachment 533543
It's hard to describe in words the overwhelming, over powering and beautiful smell of wild garlic along this well surfaced ex rail line.....
View attachment 533546
The Don Bridge just south of Medowhell with Tinsley Bridge in the background ...... more on that in a minute .....
View attachment 533547
RIGHT ... This is Tinsley bridge. At Tinsley. Constructed by Tinsley Bridge Ltd. With steel supplied by Brown Best Steel Works of ....Tinsley.
Sheffield. The other end is at Wincobank. ... Not Tinsley. .....
View attachment 533548
