Your ride today....

[gavgav]

An extremely mild morning, as I set out at 08:30, with a bit of sun poking through it felt like Spring! Quite windy from the south west, but that was mainly behind me for the first 10 miles or so.

I followed the cycle paths up to Heathgates and then went through Sundorne estate, down to Pimley, where I joined the old canal path to Uffington. The road junctions were all very quiet and easy to cross, with me being up and about before most of Shrewsbury, who were probably nursing their Xmas party (or business meeting and quiz) hangovers.

There were a few people out on bikes already and that number increased as the ride went on, which was good to see. I joined roads to Upton Magna and then enjoyed the wind behind me on the descent to Withington, before turning and climbing up to Charlton, which was my first section into the wind and it was pretty strong.

I was taking the lane to Wrockwardine, which was muddy and wet, with indeed a proper flood to contend with that necessitated knees up around the chin to avoid wet feet

I passed through the village and then began the slog into the wind to Burton and Aston, pausing for a picture of the Wrekin

The wind made the climb up to Eaton Constantine hard work, but I enjoyed the descent down to the crossroads and then to Cressage, where the River Severn was back in its banks but still plenty of water left in the flood plain.

The A458 was quiet and easy to cross, before I climbed up Shore Lane and then onto CoundMoor, Evenwood and up to Acton Burnell, where I finally turned out of the wind again. The sun was properly out now and I was down to just a t-shirt, in December!

The section down to Pitchford was good fun, before I climbed up to Cantlop and then up and down to Betton Abbots and home.

The Half Century Challenge is complete for 2021, always a good motivator to get out and ride, plus I passed 2000 miles for the year so far and also past my previous best for a calendar year, with 31.5 miles today at 11.4mph avg speed.

Really enjoyed that

 

[geocycle]

Wet, drizzly but mild. Having been housebound yesterday decided to go out whatever. Was surprised by how warm it was meaning I was over dressed and moisture was moving in both directions. Had the roads to myself so headed up on to the limestone of Silverdale and Arnside. Lots of woodland over the limestone pavement, some argue that’s how it would be without the sheep grazing. Roads had been heavily mulched with soggy leaves. Sausage roll and flapjack on the prom in Arnside then back home. 36 miles with 700m of climbing all I was up to in the rain.

pictures of the moss covered limestone beneath the woodland, bike posing beside a gate and the view of the Kent estuary in the mizzle.

 

[Ian H]

A quick afternoon spin to the coast and back. I thought I'd see if I could winch the Blue Hallett up Peak Hill, and to my surprise I got there without dying. 'Twas a dank, drear, murky day, but not too cold. 56km and about 800m of climbing.

That's the sea in the distance

A Bicton pillar

Three arrows on Peak Hill

The route

 

[Dave 123]

Another mountain bike ride. I was going to put it in the van and go to Dartmoor….. couldn’t be bothered.
So just a local loop down to Noss, then up a long bridle way to The Warren. Along the coast road to the Alston turn.
Down
Down
Down
Then a long 12% trudge up to Battisborough Cross.
Home along dirty roads.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6374952645

 

[geocycle]

@Dave 123 like the pic of the bike and window. Expect to see that in a Rapha catalogue! Very atmospheric.

 

[Dave 123]

@Dave 123 like the pic of the bike and window. Expect to see that in a Rapha catalogue! Very atmospheric.

There is a B& W version in the cycling photo challenge thread
Here it is-

 

[Mike_P]

Sunday and the morning rain died away to a dry afternoon complete with a weak sun. Defy equipped with its strap on / clamp on mud deflectors and off to deliver christmas cards but first the resolution of the next ABC road name, being “S” Skipton Road was self evident and what of note on it was resolved by the nameboards location next to the Donald Skepper Memorial Garden – the first sub-postmaster victim, in 1974, of the “Black Panther”, shot dead in his home above the post office that use to stand hereabouts before the A59/A61 junction was made a roundabout.

Up the hill and onto Bilton Lane, then the Nidderdale Greenway; the further end of which had plainly had a vehicle drive along it with deposits of mud adding to the horse droppings to avoid. The trees had lost their foliage to make the River Nidd visible.

Through Ripley and then along the A61 before turning to Bishop Monkton; someones early!

South to Knaresborough where having posted a card I then realised I was one street south of where I should be; fortunately the card was trapped in the letter box and I managed to retrieve it.
Down to the Nidd Gorge where the necessary use of the bell was hampered by its striker breaking off – restorted to excuse mes with an explanation of the bell being broken. Up the hill towards to Starbeck and the intention to use the NCNs branch was cancelled by the sight two pretty large horses turning onto it – not much room of any to get pass. Instead west along Kingsley Drive acquiring the days only PR and across the Stray to pick up a normal route home. 27.77 miles 1434ft climbed.

 

[Donger]

I learned a hard lesson today. If you are going to do a qualifying ride for the Metric Century-a-Month Challenge, don't leave it exactly a month since your previous ride. I had lost so much conditioning and fitness it came as a real shock today and I had to call on every ounce of determination and effort I could muster. I joined the club ride for a trip up into the Cotswolds up the Slad Valley from Stroud and over to Lypiatt. I suffered more than ever before on that climb. I almost blacked out near the top of the climb, just above Bull's Cross, and was extremely lucky that it happened right next to the only wooden bench for miles around. Actually it is the bench Laurie Lee used to sit on with the eponymous Rosie of "Cider with Rosie" fame. I'm afraid I left the others waiting for quite a while today and kept feeling the need to apologise. After the cafe stop at the 30 mile mark, I said my goodbyes and left them to it. I'm pretty sure if I'd gone with them, when I got back I would have given up and gone home. So I went in the opposite direction, increasing my distance from home to make sure I didn't fail. Well, you always get home, don't you?

Called in at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Slimbridge, then took a couple of side roads near Frampton to add the requisite distance. I was inordinately pleased to see that what I hoped might be a 3 mile loop turned out to be a 3.05 mile loop. Bumped into a friend at the waterfront in Epney on the way home, just as i was feeling sorry for myself. @jembullo lifted my spirits, though, and I made it home on 100.2km with not an ounce of effort wasted. That's the sixth time I've completed the challenge, but the last 3 rides have nearly wiped me out. I think it could be the last time. Then again, I'm left on 91 x 100km rides now, and it might prove just too tempting to bring up the century of centuries. Good luck to @KingswayRider who now needs just one more century to bring up that achievement. I am already aching. Tomorrow I may not be able to move.

Once more I can vouch for the mental benefits of solo cycling. I had been really struggling with the wording of my brother's eulogy, but found the words just came to me as I pounded away today. I always find that, in the bad times, cycling either gives you the opportunity to think things over, or it lets you completely let go and clear your mind. Today it was the former.

 

[cwskas]

Once more I can vouch for the mental benefits of solo cycling. I had been really struggling with the wording of my brother's eulogy, but found the words just came to me as I pounded away today. I always find that, in the bad times, cycling either gives you the opportunity to think things over, or it lets you completely let go and clear your mind. Today it was the former.

Well said!

 

[Dave 123]

I was at a loose end this evening, so I jumped on my mountain bike to go for a little ride in the dark.
Down Widey Hill and up the long arduous climb up to the top if Darkie Hill Cross .

I stopped to play with my phone camera, trying to take some long exposures

I was quite impressed with thequality of the pictures, all hand held.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6379446928

https://www.strava.com/activities/6379446928

 

[Fat Lars]

Yesterday: After a week without a ride due to a failure of good weather and free time to coincide with each other, Friday afternoon looked promising. My brother was free too and agreed to come out to have a ride round and be nosy about how high the river had got following storm Barra earlier in the week.

Setting out we headed along the main road to Condover then along Lyons Lane with a bit of a tailwind helping. A couple of riders overtook us but weren't going that much faster so we were following them for a couple of miles or so. We were heading for Atcham and usually I prefer to go via Cross Houses as it's a quicker road - this time though I knew that on top of the possibility that there may be flooding, the road was already closed for repairs to storm damage from a couple of years ago .

We headed round past Chilton Farm and, since there were no signs, aimed to follow the lane straight to Atcham, only to find water across the road and the BMW that had just overtaken us being turned around. After giving the driver directions to get round the flood we followed to the main road ourselves. Taking a closer look at the flood depth when we got to Atcham, we could possibly have waded through without getting wet feet......... maybe.

After getting photos we carried on towards Upton Magna and found that here the wind was in our faces when I'd hoped it would be helping a bit - misjudged that a tad. It was a crosswind along Pelham Road which helped but then we had to turn back into it on the way to Uffington so couldn't make the most of the nice straight descent. We overtook another rider along the way so we weren't that slow really.

The old canal path was quite muddy despite the newish surface and so was the tunnel under Telford Way. Reaching Sydney Avenue the road closure signs were up but the actual flooding was well out of sight round the corner. We then took the long way round to the other end where the high river level was rather more obvious by the weir.

We had a couple of options to continue the ride and Doug chose to try going into town and along Smithfield Road which turned out to be very slow moving and difficult to filter along. It was nice to reach the end and turn off onto Victoria Quay. After a quick check on the boat (all seems secure) and some more snaps we carried on into the park along Victoria Avenue. I knew that we wouldn't be able to ride the full length and sure enough it was blocked under Kingsland Bridge, with tracks that suggested someone had at least tried to ride through.

We headed out of town across Kingsland Bridge round to Belle Vue and Meole Brace, getting a good view of the sunset as we rode towards it.

20.7 miles at 11.1 mph according to my speedometer. Doug's Strava thinks it was somewhat slower but I suspect that it doesn't cope as well with lots of stop-start riding.

View attachment 621515
The road between Cross Houses and Atcham. Flooded but not too bad this time.

View attachment 621516
View from the old bridge at Atcham.

View attachment 621517
The flood plain at Atcham.

View attachment 621518
At Castlefields the weir is just a ripple in the flow.

View attachment 621519
Carved into the end of the Welsh Bridge.

View attachment 621520
View from the Welsh Bridge along Victoria Quay.

View attachment 621521
The Boathouse public house and Porthill Bridge.

View attachment 621522
Our way is blocked at Kingsland Bridge.

View attachment 621523
Shrewsbury School and the school boathouse.

There's nothing worse than hitting the flood assuming you can get through it and then slowly getting dragged slower and slower until you are forced to stop and put your foot down in the middle. So whose bright idea was that then?

 

[gavgav]

I learned a hard lesson today. If you are going to do a qualifying ride for the Metric Century-a-Month Challenge, don't leave it exactly a month since your previous ride. I had lost so much conditioning and fitness it came as a real shock today and I had to call on every ounce of determination and effort I could muster. I joined the club ride for a trip up into the Cotswolds up the Slad Valley from Stroud and over to Lypiatt. I suffered more than ever before on that climb. I almost blacked out near the top of the climb, just above Bull's Cross, and was extremely lucky that it happened right next to the only wooden bench for miles around. Actually it is the bench Laurie Lee used to sit on with the eponymous Rosie of "Cider with Rosie" fame. I'm afraid I left the others waiting for quite a while today and kept feeling the need to apologise. After the cafe stop at the 30 mile mark, I said my goodbyes and left them to it. I'm pretty sure if I'd gone with them, when I got back I would have given up and gone home. So I went in the opposite direction, increasing my distance from home to make sure I didn't fail. Well, you always get home, don't you?

Called in at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Slimbridge, then took a couple of side roads near Frampton to add the requisite distance. I was inordinately pleased to see that what I hoped might be a 3 mile loop turned out to be a 3.05 mile loop. Bumped into a friend at the waterfront in Epney on the way home, just as i was feeling sorry for myself. @jembullo lifted my spirits, though, and I made it home on 100.2km with not an ounce of effort wasted. That's the sixth time I've completed the challenge, but the last 3 rides have nearly wiped me out. I think it could be the last time. Then again, I'm left on 91 x 100km rides now, and it might prove just too tempting to bring up the century of centuries. Good luck to @KingswayRider who now needs just one more century to bring up that achievement. I am already aching. Tomorrow I may not be able to move.

Once more I can vouch for the mental benefits of solo cycling. I had been really struggling with the wording of my brother's eulogy, but found the words just came to me as I pounded away today. I always find that, in the bad times, cycling either gives you the opportunity to think things over, or it lets you completely let go and clear your mind. Today it was the former.

That’s so very true. Thoughts with you

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

There's nothing worse than hitting the flood assuming you can get through it and then slowly getting dragged slower and slower until you are forced to stop and put your foot down in the middle. So whose bright idea was that then?

Very true and I have ruined a few pairs of shoes in the past getting caught like that, so we went round a drier way this time.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The weather is dry and quite mild for December so a ride beckoned this afternoon. I thought I'd head up to Oaks, Pulverbatch and Wilderley as I enjoy getting up into the hills.

Setting out I had an annoyance just yards from home when I checked over my shoulder, signalled to turn right and the driver behind me overtook regardless. Thankfully after that everyone I met seemed much friendlier.

I headed over Lyth Hill, along the rough track over the top and dropped down to Annscroft as I haven't been that way for a while. I headed for Plealey next and the climb to Oaks which is longer and steeper from this side. Quite often I can have this road almost to myself but not today, having to pull in for four or five cars to pass. It was similar on the Broom Hill climb but apart from a brewery van I had the lane to Pulverbatch to myself.

I got some good speed up on the descent out of Pulverbatch before turning off onto the scenic and very undulating section through Wilderley to Smethcott, followed by the descent to Leebotwood. There are more undulations on the way to Dudgeley including one nasty little climb that seemed to take more out of me than usual. After Dudgeley Mill I cross the A49 and head northwards again through Hollyhurst along the old Roman road. I'd picked up a tailwind as well so got along quite nicely apart from meeting several vehicles and having to pull in.

As I was enjoying this part of the ride I thought I'd extend it and head back through Acton Burnell. It felt like the tailwind helped up the climb at Frodesley but oddly I didn't seem particularly quick on the downhill that followed - it was enjoyable anyway, as was the run through Pitchford so I'm happy.

By the time I reached Condover, sunset had passed and the evening rush was about to start. Just after the village you can see the A49 across the fields and it looked fairly busy so I turned left and headed over Lyth Hill instead. The climb was an effort this time but I didn't want to be mixed up in the traffic today.

31.9 miles this trip at 11.6 mph average. Fairly happy with that.

View from Lyth Hill looking in the direction of Oaks and Pulverbatch.

From Oaks looking to the Stretton Hills.

Wrentnall.

Pulverbatch.

Near Leebotwood.

At Dudgeley, someone appears to have had a bit of a "moment".

Looking along the Stretton Valley from the bridge at Dudgeley Mill.

 

[jembullo]

I learned a hard lesson today. If you are going to do a qualifying ride for the Metric Century-a-Month Challenge, don't leave it exactly a month since your previous ride. I had lost so much conditioning and fitness it came as a real shock today and I had to call on every ounce of determination and effort I could muster. I joined the club ride for a trip up into the Cotswolds up the Slad Valley from Stroud and over to Lypiatt. I suffered more than ever before on that climb. I almost blacked out near the top of the climb, just above Bull's Cross, and was extremely lucky that it happened right next to the only wooden bench for miles around. Actually it is the bench Laurie Lee used to sit on with the eponymous Rosie of "Cider with Rosie" fame. I'm afraid I left the others waiting for quite a while today and kept feeling the need to apologise. After the cafe stop at the 30 mile mark, I said my goodbyes and left them to it. I'm pretty sure if I'd gone with them, when I got back I would have given up and gone home. So I went in the opposite direction, increasing my distance from home to make sure I didn't fail. Well, you always get home, don't you?

Called in at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Slimbridge, then took a couple of side roads near Frampton to add the requisite distance. I was inordinately pleased to see that what I hoped might be a 3 mile loop turned out to be a 3.05 mile loop. Bumped into a friend at the waterfront in Epney on the way home, just as i was feeling sorry for myself. @jembullo lifted my spirits, though, and I made it home on 100.2km with not an ounce of effort wasted. That's the sixth time I've completed the challenge, but the last 3 rides have nearly wiped me out. I think it could be the last time. Then again, I'm left on 91 x 100km rides now, and it might prove just too tempting to bring up the century of centuries. Good luck to @KingswayRider who now needs just one more century to bring up that achievement. I am already aching. Tomorrow I may not be able to move.

Once more I can vouch for the mental benefits of solo cycling. I had been really struggling with the wording of my brother's eulogy, but found the words just came to me as I pounded away today. I always find that, in the bad times, cycling either gives you the opportunity to think things over, or it lets you completely let go and clear your mind. Today it was the former.

It was great to see you mate, sorry I couldn't hang around for long as the light was fading and I was only out for a quick 20 mile loop to clear the head a bit. Glad you got round your 100km, we will have to get out a bit more next year I hope, although I have foot surgery booked in for Jan so it might be a while yet. Catch you soon. Jem