Your ride today....

[C R]

Yesterday's ride.

Forecast was for a nice day, next to no wind, starting cool and warming up quickly. It is nice to ride out in daylight.

Set off at about quarter past six, aiming to go Evesham way and then see where to on the way back. It was a bit foggy through Littleworth and Wadborough, with this interesting view where it looked like the fog was pouring out of the field onto the road.

The lanes were quiet, and didn't see any cars until I got to Pershore. The fog had now cleared, and the sun was shining all the way to Evesham.

Stopped by the river for a quick snack, and saw there was a hot air balloon drifting north, so I decided to go north too, to see how far I could follow it. The route took me through town, on through Norton, and into Warwickshire. I was more or less still keeping up with the balloon, and on reaching Weethley the view over the Avon Valley towards Stratford was spectacular

Now the balloon was turning east, it was time for me to start thinking of a route back and turn west, first to Inkberrow, and then to Shell Ford. I stopped at the ford for a rest, and spent some time admiring the water fowl.

There's a duck in there, honest.

The final stretch was through Phepson an Crowle, and then the County Hall site, where Park Run was about to start. I would have joined if I wasn't wearing cleats, .

Got home with about 41 miles in the clock in around 3 hours. Loverly ride.

The map

 

[ianrauk]

Today's cycling shenanigans. A Kent countryside loop of some of the best Kent highways, byeways, roads & lanes, with the bonus of meeting my lovely partner for lunch at her workplace.
Such a lovely day for it too. Loads of cyclists on the roads today taking advantage of the bank holiday and the very nice weather.
Scores on the doors - 75 very nice & easy going miles for the day

 

[AndreaJ]

It’s a lovely sunny day in Shropshire today and a Sunday group ride on the wrong day. Set off to to Ellesmere to meet the others and 7 of us headed out Duddleston Heath, St Martins and Gobowen. Turned off to Whittington past the castle to West Felton before heading into new territory along some quiet lanes through Elbridge into Ruyton XI Towns which is a contender for the worst road surface in Shropshire. A bit of a climb out to Baschurch where we turned off down more quiet lanes to Weston Lullingfields, Bagley , Lee and back into Ellesmere for coffee at The Boathouse sitting outside by the Mere in the sun.
After coffee and chat it was back home via Welshampton and Northwood. 46 miles on a lovely morning to be out.

 

[Spiderweb]

Out at 10.15am for a meet up with friends Martin & Gaynor for a ride to York for Coffee. A bit cooler but still a lovely day for a ride.
We did a 35 mile loop, I left my friends and carried on to complete my April Gran Fondo.
65.4 miles with an average of 15.3 mph.

 

[Arjimlad]

Staying in Coniston at the moment and we rode along the railway path towards Torver.


Felt like whoever signed off on the shared path must have had shares in a gate company, there was one every 200 metres!

Then we joined the main road round the south of Coniston returning up the eastern shore road, with a café stop at Lower Bank Farm.

Lovely day for a ride!

 

[gavgav]

Staying in Coniston at the moment and we rode along the railway path towards Torver.


Felt like whoever signed off on the shared path must have had shares in a gate company, there was one every 200 metres!

Then we joined the main road round the south of Coniston returning up the eastern shore road, with a café stop at Lower Bank Farm.

Lovely day for a ride!

Enjoy! That’s a lovely route, one I’ve done many a time when staying in Bowmanstead.

 

[Mike_P]

Back on the Defy and back up Humps and a Hill; in fact the rides route started and ended as per that of Sunday 10th; wind was more noticeable, a nominally moderate WSW.

Variation came at Jn 45 where I took the A659 to the edge of Boston Spa and then the road to Clifford; the upwards stretch to the junction with High Street had been resurfaced. Snack break taken then via Bramham to Aberford. Turned west, with the wind particularly noticeable, to Barwick-in-Elmet and stopped for a further snack figuring it could be some time before a further bench appeared.

Activated the route on the Garmin at this point and headed towards Scholes and then through Manston on the edge of the Leeds conurbation; the Garmin guiding me successfully after a couple of hiccups – it failed to to note the turning on the edge of Scholes presumably because the road remained Leeds Road and using seemingly non-existant parallel roads - the pavements were plainly not shared surfaces.

Reaching Cross Gates I knew I needed a left turn onto the ring road but the display showed a right turn then a left! The ring road had a marked cycle lane passing the train station.

The Garmin then corrected itself to correctly show a right turn, but with three possible routes off the right turn I took the wrong one and complied with the demanded U turn. Snag was on the correct road it still wanted a U turn – flipping sat nav I commented to a pedestrian who was obviously curious at my staring at the Garmin.

A 10% max climb lead to a staggered crossing of the Selby Road and down Colton Road to the second word ABC of Temple Newsam - a Tudor-Jacobean house set in grounds landscaped by Capability Brown.

Adjacent to the sign was a signed cycle route to Garforth, convenient but that was the extent of the signage along the route which I discovered was that plotted on the Garmin – again a bit unclear at times ; there was one junction which was a simple right turn but the display had roads flying all over the place. Eventually found the A63, just before its junction with the M1 and took the cycle route around the junction, onto the A road and then the A642 through Garforth and onto the B1217 to rejoin the previous route south of Aberford. Snack stops at Aberford and the edge of Knaresborough.
54.46 miles 3038ft climbed 13.4mph avg

 

[Old jon]

Another bright morning, seems a good idea to take a bike for a ride. And having thought about where to go, I pedalled the Bob Jackson away towards Holbeck and the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

And the towpath was busy this morning, as towpaths go. Only rode as far as Viaduct Road then under the viaduct itself and start going up to Headingley. Which was steeper than usual this morning, or so my legs told me. Turned right onto North Lane, and a smokescreen. Not seen a burning Reliant for a very long time, and could not see much of this one either. Didn’t stop to take a picture . . .

A bit more uphill, across the Ring Road by Lawnswood School and carry on, grateful that the road has levelled a bit. There is a long length of single line traffic to negotiate on the A660, I made a mental note to divert myself on the return journey. Anyway, through Bramhope, passing the puritan chapel on the way to the sunlit view of Wharfedale at the top of that rise, and along to the Dyneley Arms, and the descent of Pool Bank.

Straight through the village, cross the river and take the next left turn. This road goes to Leathley, but I do not. There is a bridge across the River Washburn, and I use that. The hill up to Farnley comes next, and I was glad of the smallest chainwheel. Took a bit of huffing and puffing that bit did. But once the crest is reached, after a couple of false horizons, there is that drop into Otley.



And a banana at Wharfe Meadows park, just to watch the bowling. And try to photograph the weir with a bike in the way.

Leeds Road again, out of here, and being overtaken by a recumbent rider. The bike had full size wheels, the rider not much lower than me. But a lot faster. I mused a bit, the thing must be heavier, ‘cos the pedals are a long way out front. Nah, I don’t want one. Back passing the Dyneley Arms and what looked like a furniture delivery. Very optimistic to open that place again, methinks. Anyway, back through Bramhope and turn left at the roundabout, up Kings Road. What I called diverting myself. Through Adel then back to the A660 and all that downhill to Headingley.

A bit more descent to Kirkstall and then back along the towpath to canal’s end, followed by a crossing of Hunslet on the last leg of the trip home. Thirty two miles and 1631 feet going up, no wonder my legs are feeling it. Big grin though, an enjoyable ride out.

And the other stuff,

 

[geocycle]

Last day of holiday. Forecast looked good so put bike in car to Clapham to allow me to explore the more central dales. Headed out through Austwick and then the long climb up the flank of Penyghent. Lots of birds including curlew, lapwing, oyster catchers, meadow pippet, wheatear (colloquially known as white arse), and skylarks doing their best drone impressions. Then the steep descent to Halton Gill before the ride down Littondale, one of my favourites. Back roads took me to Grassington then Linton and Rylestone (no sign of WI activities). Late lunch at the lovely Airton farm shop. Up until this point it was cool when the clouds came over and cold on the descents but dry and bright. I then embarked on the climb up the hill leading to Settle. Darkness came over and it started hailing! Not only that but I heard the characteristic sound of the tyre sealant Catherine wheeling against the mudguard. I pressed on to the summit and then checked the tyre, fortunately it was still pretty firm so I left well alone. By now the hail had become rain so donned waterproof and felt sorry for the way of the roses folk heading toward me. Mad descent into Settle on wet cobbles, then backroad to the car. 51miles or 83km with 1500 m of climbing.

Pictures show the end of the tarmac by Penyghent , top of Littondale and the point the sky turned black!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Slightly delayed report again.

Easter Monday. It was a really nice day and I thought that I'd get the Dawes Kingpin out for its first trip of the season. I kept to a familiar route and headed across Lyth Hill to Condover to start with then dropped into Condover and along Lyon's Lane. The traffic on the A49 was quite busy so heading this way was the right choice to keep my time on it to a minimum. Away from the main roads it was pretty quiet which is always nice.

Near Berrington Hall I spotted another rider ahead and ended up following them all the way into Atcham. With my gearing I wasn't going to keep up on the downhill bits, but surprisingly did reel them in a bit on the flat. I had a reasonably good run to Upton Magna then headed towards Uffington and along the old canal path into Shrewsbury. The path was fairly quiet but as I got to Sydney Avenue there were a lot more people out cycling and walking. I took a slight detour for a look at Castle Walk Footbridge then left the towpath to climb up Water Lane (steep - I pushed the bike up the first bit), took a bit of a tour around the town centre then dropped down to Victoria Quay. After pausing to watch the river cruiser Sabrina depart for their latest trip I carried on into The Quarry and weaved slowly through the crowds perambulating along Victoria Avenue.

I thought I'd leave town over the English Bridge, which actually turned out to be a good choice as there wasn't much traffic, then headed to Sutton Lane and along the cycle paths to home.

22.2 miles for this one at 13.4 mph average according to Ride With GPS (using this for the first time as Strava won't play nicely with my phone).

The Mytton and Mermaid hotel viewed from the old Atcham Bridge.

Upton Magna.

Castle Walk footbridge appears to have been yarn-bombed.

Victoria Quay in Shrewsbury.

Sabrina backs away from its berth at the start of another trip.

Porthill footbridge and the Boathouse pub beyond it.

Folk enjoying the weather in The Quarry. There was also a funfair operating elsewhere in the park.

The trek home from holidays in Wales is well under way.

 

[GuyBoden]

I had a ride to Mow Cop today, it's probably the steepest one mile climb in the area. I cycled further up to see the castle and then the views over Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire. Yes, it's steep, but I wasn't in a rush.

 

[Juan Kog]

Today’s alfresco 11’s , bike rest and seat (well more of a perch) provided by a thoughtful landowner.

 

[Arjimlad]

Cycled en famille from Coniston to Elterwater via Tilberthwaite this morning. The shared path beside the main road out of Coniston was hard going without mountain bikes, but we managed most of the rest, on 32-35mm tyres.. beautiful ride and a magnificent flapjack in the Britannia Inn to help us ride back again.

https://strava.app.link/ehK4zNaaopb

 

[Spiderweb]

I left work at lunchtime today to pick up my dog from the groomers, having dropped him off at home I cycled back to work, 6.7 miles with a 17.7 mph average.
I extended my ride home via Naburn with a quick photo stop overlooking the River Ouse. 28 miles with an average of 15.3 mph.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Today's ride today!

My brother had suggested getting out for a ride, which will be his first since we were on holiday in the Lakes, so I wasn't going to pass that up. The route was mostly the same as the one I did on Monday apart from some variations towards the end.

I used the Raleigh this time and we had a pleasant ride up Lyth Hill and over to Condover where we headed along Lyon's Lane. Despite the wind direction not being ideal for this (an easterly) we got along alright apart from having to slow a few times to allow some cars past. At Cross Houses we got a nice gap on the A458 then had a good run to Atcham and Berwick Wharf. We managed to catch up and overtake a couple of touring riders just after this.

There had been talk of a cafe stop at Upton Magna but having set out later than hoped we didn't really have time (Doug has to work this evening) so after a quick drink stop in the village we carried on. The wind was behind us now and helped quite nicely to Uffington then along the old canal path into Shrewsbury. I suggested the slightly roundabout route through the town centre like I'd done last time and Doug was happy with that so we turned up Water Lane where a very young girl demanded to know our names.

There was a bit more traffic in the centre than when I was last here so we made slower progress to the Welsh Bridge than last time, however The Quarry was less busy so it probably evens out overall. We headed out of the centre over Greyfriars bridge which currently has been turned into a memorial to a lad who went missing a couple of weeks ago and sadly his body was found not far downstream from the bridge.

We took a more direct route back than I did last time by heading out along Hereford Road.

20.9 miles for this one at 11.4 mph average. Doug paced it quite well so that he didn't seem to be flagging at any point. Pretty good given the gap since his last ride.

Just the one photo this time from our drink stop in Upton Magna.