Your ride today....

[Elybazza61]

In and out commutes yesterday; going in was a bit harder work and the HRM was very flaky (sorted with new battery and cleaning all contacts.

Ride home was distinctly quicker with a tail wind

 

[Andy in Germany]

Tinybug wanted to go on a bike ride to a playground in a forest a few kilometres away, so we set off...

And got distracted when we found another path to explore.

Then we made "mini houses" for a bit.

...then Tinybug got ambitious, so we built a "Tipi"

Then she felt hungry, so we headed back home...

 

[cyberknight]

peaks ride to monsall head
we stopped at monsall head cafe for a cuppa after 50 miles then again after 76 miles in brailsford .A lot of climbing so i rode within myself as i knew it would be a long day and i wanted to still have legs at the end of the ride .
When we got back to moira furnace there was a fair on so a trip to the beer tent was in order

 

[Spiderweb]

I’m a bit behind posting some of my rides so here goes.
Wednesday 17th, a morning commute of 6.7 miles followed by an extended ride home of 28.2 miles with an average speed of 15.1 mph.

 

[Spiderweb]

August 19th, a morning commute of 6.7 miles followed by a ride home from my colleagues house in Cattal. A quick stop for a photo of the duck pond (water levels are really low) in Askham Richard. 26.86 miles with an average of 17.6 mph. Finally feeling less tired after Covid👍

 

[Spiderweb]

Todays ride with David & Suzanne from our village. Out at 11.15pm to Boroughbridge for lunch at one of my favourite cafes. Pretty windy out but a lovely warm day, fab ride.
45.8 miles with an average of 17.2 mph.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

As a lover of local rides for local people, a the pilgrimage to Royston Vasey was made today:

Through skill, dedication and fortitude I actually did manage to leave, over the climb of Holme Moss, where I was joined for a very pleasant chat by a fellow velocipedeist, on his case returning to Wakefield.

The view from the Moss is stunning, the whole of West and South Yorkshire laid out before, and the descent rapid and thrilling.

Thence to Meltham over Digley Dam, looking as parched as an Australian in a temperance bar:

Views around these parts always feature the Jubilee Tower atop Castle Hill, in my case reached via the somewhat brutal climb of Lockwood scar.

Lunch at Holmfirth was on a bench opposite the rather stiff climb to follow, which featured wonderful views to start, then wonderful heather in regal bloom, but a rather draining total ascent of about 300m.

Next all around the disappointingly busy Strines road to Ladybower, then over Snake Pass to Glossop.

I had some more hills yet in mind, but also a date with son 3 to watch the footie and the sands of time were ebbing away. So after a brief stop at the summit of Chunal Hill featuring the consumption of a Holmfirth Eccles cake the size, shape and weight of an Olympic discus, the flat route home via the A6 was taken.

105 miles, 3300m climbing.

 

[buzz22]

With a free afternoon to myself after heading over and mowing my elderly parent's lawns I headed out for a loop to Kurnell.
First stop was in Taren Point and a brief stop at a popular bird watching site.

From there I headed along to Kurnell with a helpful tailwind, 3rd gear most of the way.
A short break and time for reflection by the water....

Then it was heading home time, into a mighty headwind and the blinding sun. 2nd gear most of the way but there was no hurry and I enjoyed reaquainting myself with my 1977 Raleigh Grand Prix.
I bought it as an original 10 speed and more recently have converted it to a 3 speed hub geared flat bar bike and the perfect commuter.
41km in total and happy tired.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Yesterday:

An afternoon jaunt was called for and of the two routes I fancied doing I chose the hillier one having been told that the traffic round town was quite busy. I used the knockabout bike for convenience (and because I want to do some fettling on the Raleigh before using it next), heading up Lyth Hill for starters, over to Annscroft and round to Plealey. I met a handful of vehicles on the climb up to Oaks and one of the drivers could do with taking it a bit slower. Fortunately I didn't meet him further up where it's narrower. Taking the climb steadily it felt pretty good this time, however the lane was full of flies which all seemed to want to get a piece of the sweaty cyclist. This is where a buff under the crash hat comes in handy as I could pull it down to protect my ears.

When the road levelled out at Oaks I was able to put on a burst of speed to leave the flies behind and head for the next climb after Wrentnall. There were flies to irritate me here too. The following climb is short and sharp followed mostly by descending to Pulverbatch. It seems that this lane is closed for three weeks from Monday so I'll have to remember to avoid it if I'm riding out this way again.

I got some good speed up on the descent after Pulverbatch then was into the undulating section through Wilderley. I did briefly think about climbing up to Picklescott but decided not to this time so headed for Smethcott and down the hill to Leebotwood - apart from meeting a couple of cars it was all pretty quiet round here. I carried on to Dudgeley then my usual way across the A49, on the other side of which I met the first cyclists I'd seen since Plealey.

I got along well through Hollyhurst to Longnor and decided to take the longer way back through Acton Burnell, Pitchford and Cantlop as that should give me about 30 miles for the trip. Just after Pitchford there was a car stopped at the roadside. As I approached the driver waved me down and asked if she was anywhere near Bomere Pool (she wasn't). I gave directions but did explain that to the best of my knowledge it's part of a private estate. (There is a public footpath but I'm not sure where would be a safe place to leave the car.

Not long after Cantlop it started to rain - lightly at first but quickly turning into a bit of a downpour. That wasn't in the forecast, but fortunately I did have my rain cape in my bag. That stayed on for the rest of the ride through Condover and the direct way to the A49 which wasn't too busy.

30.7 miles at 12.2 mph average. Enjoyed that despite the unexpected rain.

The view from the top of Lyth Hill.

At the top of the Broomhill climb looking back towards Oaks.

En route to Wilderley and looking towards The Wrekin.

Not far from Smethcott. Some eathworks have been going on since I was last here. Hopefully it's for a reservoir rather than a slurry pool. If it's the latter I can write this place off for photo stops.

On approach I assumed this was just bunting - closer inspection showed that they are Buddhist style prayer flags. Not an everyday sight in Salop.

 

[lazybloke]

This was 11th August, on holiday in France. Not a cycling holiday, but I had my MTB with me.
The flat countryside would have been perfect for fast road riding in cooler weather, but I was happy to potter at a slower speed.

I threw a GPX together and headed out, no particular towns, destinations or landmarks, just a meander through farmland about 60 miles west of Paris.

A woodland path in the UK is usually a rutted bridleway choked with brambles., but I started with this bit of woodland tarmac which was seemingly built to the standards of a racetrack., and beautifully shaded too. Lovely.

After 3 miles the trees gave way to farmland. I was cool whilst moving but got my first blast of heat when I stopped to take a photo of the parched fields.

The track joined a small road past houses and a large cemetery at the outskirts of a town. I wasn't interested in going into urban landscapes, so turned and headed back out into farmland again. The landscape was dotted with water-towers, farmhouses and agricultural buidings, but I was loving the novelty and adventure of cycling in another country.


Even the trains put me in a holiday mood, with cute graphics on the carriages instead of ugly spray paint.

But holy hell I had the sun beating down on me, and the land was arid. Sunflowers were over, which felt right, but maize looked seriously stunted and dry. Some harvested fields looked more desert than arable.

Felt too hot for riding, so I cut short my ride and headed back, passing an apparently empty chateau and stables.

Finished with just over 15 miles on the clock, in an unhurried 82 minutes, but felt seriously overheated. My Garmin data revealed it was 99F, 37.2 C. My hottest ride ever!

Only a short ride, but wonderful fun, and it revived my long-standing dream of doing some cycle touring one day. Maybe the Loire Valley....

 

[wafter]

What's wrong with the Fuji?!

On this occasion a slipping rear QR caused the first off, while it was also just being unrefined / glitchy / noisy / unpleasant throughout. Am slowly getting there with it now though I think


I've not done a whole lot of note recently; did manage to get about 16 miles total in around Oxford yesterday on the Routier - split between seeing a client and the now-customary pre-pub ride. Both were great; improved further both by getting a smile from a hottie in a pub garden and being stopped for a chat with a chap on another example of old raleigh metal, who apparently has a nice example of the Mixte variant of my Routier

 

[bluenotebob]

Woke up this morning just 33km shy of 9000km for the year – but very tired legs, 30C forecast for this afternoon (to be followed by thunderstorms) and I also needed to make some bread. Ignoring the aches in my legs, I went out on the MASSI mountain bike and did some gentle local loops – that accounted for 15km, then despite the building heat I grabbed the road bike and did several fast loops around St Brieuc-de-Mauron .. another 18km ridden, so mission accomplished and celebrated with a slurp of cold coffee and some excellent lemon drizzle cake (I’ll raid the patisserie shelves in the local supermarket tomorrow and then have a good fête du chocolat afterwards).

I’ve written elsewhere on this forum about the enjoyment I’ve had this year riding several bikes in a day. This has morphed into a personal challenge for 2022 and resulted in my determination to make sure that all 5 of my bikes do at least 1000km this year, and that 3 of them need to do over 2000km. July wasn’t the best time of year to plan an annual challenge with monthly etc targets but “better late than never..”.

My LaPierre RAID 200 mountain bike was bought back in 2015 but has always been my ‘last choice’ of bike. Her best year so far was in 2019 when she amassed a fairly paltry 366km. Faced with doing 1000km in 2022, she’s had to do a lot more rides than usual in July and August. I promised her that if she could get to 800km by the end of August then I’d post her photo on the internet.

I started the bread and then I went out on the RAID – a gentle ride on shady offroad tracks … and yes, she’s now done 807km in 2022 – so, as promised, here she is - posing against one of my woodpiles (and ‘mech side out’, per @13 rider instructions..). The bread’s now in the oven and if the threatened thunderstorms stay away for another hour or so, we’ll squeeze in another shady ride before dinnertime.

 

[delb0y]

Actually did a ride for doing a ride's sake today. Most of my riding over the last few years have been to actually get somewhere and do something, so it was nice to just go out and bimble. I have been anticipating doing more of this (as I recently retired) but I have never been so busy and there's been no time...

Anyway, I did a pleasant 32 miles on the old Tricross and discovered that it's very much faster(*) and lighter(**) than the flat-barred wide-tyred Giant SLR2 Toughroad - but way less comfortable.

(*) These things are relative - 12.5 mph versus 11.5 mph
(**) Also relative, the Tricross feels really light to me, but I know it's a heavy beast, just not as heavy as the Giant: 12kg v 15.6kg

 

[Jameshow]

muddy on the tarka trail today, 4 miles uphill from torrington up the valley, with the kids probably wasn't the best decision esp as the cafe we got to wasn't as good as the one we would have got to if we reversed the ride and it would have been down hill! Dad ended up riding back for the car!!

 

[postman]

Today it was the Giant Rincon old and faithfull.Leeds and Liverpool very shallow canal.Destination Roberts Park aptly named Saltaire Shipley.Weather dull.The promised sun did not shine till i was well home.Since my last ride on there,a wonderful job has been done with pea gravel and the surface is in my umble opinion wonderful.So depending on Strava or my Wilkos computer 30 miles or 24 mind you i turned Strava off in Kirkstall before i walked the bike throgh the horrible junction to the railway station before i got back on,the ride was wonderful energy wise and legs just went two streets from home,tired but happy.Not sure when i will get out next.A lot is coming up.I am also using the house computer i have put yahoo search engine on and its working better.Its so old Windows Vista is on it.I am of a mind my little Fire Tablet is giving me eye strain.