Your ride today....

[Spiderweb]

Out on the Mountain bike with David this afternoon. Local tracks, trails and woods, so lucky to have these on our doorstep.
21.2 miles, feeling knackered!

 

[Mike_P]

A good few weeks after the physio, with regard to the damaged ligaments in my left ankle after the tumble off the ebike last April, said to try a push bike rather than an ebike the Defy was awaken this afternoon from its slumbers in the bike shed. Tyres pumped up, battery replaced in the cadence sensor for which I ended up deleting it from the Garmin and reinstalling to discover whether or not the replacement battery was working or not (turned out to a poorly fitted battery cover) and a few drop of oil put on the chain.

Headed out on short ride to check it and me. Out onto Penny Pot Lane and a fair number of cyclists including a couple on a tandem.

Loop around Menwith Hill and back via Penny Pot with a couple of lengthy 25-33 minute non stop rides in contrast to using the ebike around town where into double figures is rarity. One noticeable issue of an annoying creak seeming to come from the left pedal/cleat (and which no doubt will prove itself to be somewhere totally different). And an annoying Garmin that kept on saying it was preparing the light network then obliterating the bottom of the screen saying no light network found; the Varia was working fine. 14.45 miles with 650 ft of climbing @ 14mph avg.

 

[Jenkins]

I had headed out with a rough 3 hour plan in my mind just to get away from the blanket coverage this morning, but that was changed when the wind turned out to be a bit stronger & from a different direction than anticipated, so this was the result. As I got nearer to home, a bit of googling/caculation gave me the mileage total to aim for and a couple of loops around a local estate at the end produced the exact distance.

 

[DCLane]

Not me, but son no. 2, took this when he went to visit the National Holocaust Museum when on holiday last week at Center Parcs in Sherwood:

I suggested it might have been a tad inappropriate. Although him doing 20+ miles on it to get there/back (he got lost!) was decent going. Oh, and the place needs better signage apparently

 

[Andy in Germany]

Yesterday I decided that riding to the Rhine and following the French border again would be a bit dull.

Expatriate life is so hard sometimes.

Out came the map. I wanted a shortish ride because I had work the next day and I didn't want to be exhausted, up to 50k (30 miles) was about the idea. On the map I found the ideal place, the Simonswälder Valley, a side tributary from the Elz Valley which I've followed a number of times. It's fairly short but leads deep into the lower Black Forest. Also, being Monday it would be quiet.

This isn't the Simondwälder Valley; this is Waldkirch, where I got lost. This is for two reasons.

Firstly, my new apartment is a couple of hundred metres from the long, straight riverside cycle path which follows the Elz river almost the whole way to Waldkirch. I was rather enamoured by this idea so I just followed it instead of my usual route and ended up on the opposite side of Waldkirch to normal.

At this point I discovered the other reason: my map was on the kitchen table.

What with this and a lack of cycle signage I was a bit busy to take pictures but eventually I followed a long distance footpath sign through a housing estate, over a railway and under a road, and suddenly I was in the Simonswaldtal.

The thing with the Black Forest, is that it's very definitely the Black Forest.

It's not just that it's obviously not say, Cleethorpes or Basingstoke, it's also very different from the Rhine valley, a mere 20km/15 miles away.

25 km to the west from my village I'd cross the border into France, and unless you accidentally missed a bridge and landed in the Rhine, you'd not really notice. Here, it feels like I'm in a different country.

It's a shock to pull up next to a big Black Forest type Gasthaus like this and see the bus stop has the logo of the Freiburg Transit Authority on it.

For want of anything better, I'd aimed to ride to the Kapelle ohne Glocke, the "Chapel without Bells" which was almost exactly 25km from my apartment. It turns out that the reason it's the "Chapel without Bells", is that they probably couldn't fit any in.

On the way back I bemused the locals by taking this picture:

I'd been climbing all he way and getting lost, et c, so it felt like I'd come a long way. Of course the return down the valley was rather faster, even with photo stops (and getting lost in Waldkirch again, but we'll ignore that) and suddenly I was back in then open flat Rhine plain, following the cycle path by the river.

With one last crossing, a few more K's and I was at the end of my street. I could get used to this...

 

[wafter]

Four boring, pictorally-vacuous rides for the price of one

Monday morning saw an egg run on the CdF as the Fuji is still out of action, so sensible clothes and silly shoes were donned. Having found the cupboard bare at the he usual farm in the village to the east I made my way home along the shifty bridleway that sort of disappears; branching off into a permissive path that passes through a "farm" (now more of a workshop / office complex) and is separated from the nearest public road by a short private road.

For the first time I got verbally accosted by someone on the farm as I rode past; politely declining their attempts to make me stop. I try to be law-abiding, considerate and respectful to people; however persist in using this route out of defiance as I really don't understand why they choose to exclude cyclists since it's wide open and a public right of way anyway..

Irritated by this latest illustration of why I struggle to like / respect the privileged muppets that apparently surround me, I pushed out west to another source of eggs and scored a couple of boxes.

I'd hoped that getting out on the bike would spur me on to go out for a proper ride later, but the weather was lacklustre and I wasn't really feeling it. However.. later that day I had cause to walk up through the village and was struck by how quiet it was / how good the weather had become, so got out for a leisure ride on well-ridden B-roads an bridleways.

It seemed I wasn't alone in taking our day of national mourning as an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors without it being spoiled by an excess of bellends, and I saw plenty of other folks cycling / jogging / walking. I was also struck by how pleasant everyone was - complying faultlessly with my bell's shrill request to GTF out of my way on shared paths and responding positively to my subsequent thanks as I passed.

I can't remember the last time I had so many positive interactions with others while out on a ride. My blackened heart was warmed by the smile of a small kid on a bike - apparently in awe of my kit as a passed - perhaps one of those experiences that might hopefully galvanise a lifetime's love of cycling.

Two pretty polar opposite rides totalling a modest 33-ish miles for the day.



On to yesterday; the morning seeing a short utility ride to a client on the Routier. As usual it couldn't all be plain sailing and after spending some time straightening out my rubbing lash-up of a mudflap on the front guard I stuck a bit more air in the tyres coutesy of the novelty of my mate's track pump.

This was pretty much the first time I've actually known how much pressure I've put into tyres, and encouraged by the fact the 50psi showing on the gauge was pretty much in the middle of their stated pressure range, I set off - to find the bike now sounded like a broken e-bike as the knobbles on the shoulder of the rear tyre consistantly rubbed the mudguard

I let a little air out and cracked on; still with some noise but nowhere near as bad as it was. This bike really wants slick 32mm tyres or even 28s, however I'm too tight to put my hand in my pocket for replacments unless I can find a way to wring out the remaining value from the current rubber in another application.


That journey came to about 8 miles and was pretty uneventful. Later after work I got out for a leisure ride around the city; doing a bit more than usual for about 17.5 miles total. It was good to get out but the bike still refuses to play nicely - my council mudflap again getting caught in the wheel; requiring its roadside removal and trimming before I could continue. Straight afterwards my one remaining bungee managed to get caught in the wheel without me noticing - resulting in the end being ripped off and fired across the road after the cord had wrapped itself around the outside of the hub

The speedo also stopped working after this episode and by the time I got back my arse was sore thanks to the new saddle..

On the up-side I'm still appreciating the much-improved, squeal-free braking courtesy of the new rims and pads and have to remember how far this bike has come since I found it; even if it evidently still needs more work to make it as reliable / comfortable as I'd like..

 

[ianrauk]

Yesterday I decided that riding to the Rhine and following the French border again would be a bit dull.

Expatriate life is so hard sometimes.

Out came the map. I wanted a shortish ride because I had work the next day and I didn't want to be exhausted, up to 50k (30 miles) was about the idea. On the map I found the ideal place, the Simonswälder Valley, a side tributary from the Elz Valley which I've followed a number of times. It's fairly short but leads deep into the lower Black Forest. Also, being Monday it would be quiet.

View attachment 661789

This isn't the Simondwälder Valley; this is Waldkirch, where I got lost. This is for two reasons.

Firstly, my new apartment is a couple of hundred metres from the long, straight riverside cycle path which follows the Elz river almost the whole way to Waldkirch. I was rather enamoured by this idea so I just followed it instead of my usual route and ended up on the opposite side of Waldkirch to normal.

At this point I discovered the other reason: my map was on the kitchen table.

What with this and a lack of cycle signage I was a bit busy to take pictures but eventually I followed a long distance footpath sign through a housing estate, over a railway and under a road, and suddenly I was in the Simonswaldtal.

View attachment 661795

The thing with the Black Forest, is that it's very definitely the Black Forest.

View attachment 661796

It's not just that it's obviously not say, Cleethorpes or Basingstoke, it's also very different from the Rhine valley, a mere 20km/15 miles away.

View attachment 661797

25 km to the west from my village I'd cross the border into France, and unless you accidentally missed a bridge and landed in the Rhine, you'd not really notice. Here, it feels like I'm in a different country.

View attachment 661803

It's a shock to pull up next to a big Black Forest type Gasthaus like this and see the bus stop has the logo of the Freiburg Transit Authority on it.

View attachment 661804

For want of anything better, I'd aimed to ride to the Kapelle ohne Glocke, the "Chapel without Bells" which was almost exactly 25km from my apartment. It turns out that the reason it's the "Chapel without Bells", is that they probably couldn't fit any in.

On the way back I bemused the locals by taking this picture:

View attachment 661805

I'd been climbing all he way and getting lost, et c, so it felt like I'd come a long way. Of course the return down the valley was rather faster, even with photo stops (and getting lost in Waldkirch again, but we'll ignore that) and suddenly I was back in then open flat Rhine plain, following the cycle path by the river.

View attachment 661807

With one last crossing, a few more K's and I was at the end of my street. I could get used to this...

View attachment 661808

You are so lucky having all the fabulous cycling where you are.

 

[Legs]

I had a site visit over in Shropshire yesterday so I packed the MTB into the back of the car and took an early and long lunch break. Parked up just outside Church Stretton. Rode up the Burway twice to get descents down Minton Batch (only one little tumble and one puncture) and then down the steep, rocky Mott's Road into the Carding Mill Valley.

It was an absolute stunner of a day.

Had to be pretty careful not to break myself because I didn't have anyone to rescue me if I snapped a femur or anything...

https://www.strava.com/activities/7837822496

 

[theloafer]

today's ride was planned to be longish, but in theory i did not get started soon enough..lol but the weather was great and i had been shown an off-road route from Brandon to Sunderland bridge about 3 weeks ago so thought it wise to re-visit to make sure i had it in my memory banks correct (it's an AGE thing).
it turns out i am not as senile as i thought, on reaching the bridge which used to be the old A1 i got talking to 2 guys also on e-bikes from Spennymoor... after a good natter re each other's bikes off they went , taken a sharp right alongside the river via a bridleway... so off down it i went just to see where it came out at, and would you know it was on my intended route but missing out the section of the A167 result.
we all made our way thorough Tudhoe Village it was suggested a pit stop for a pint at the Green tree where the guys paid for my pint ... there are still good people about. home was via the Auckland way -Gurney villa -Eldon then Aycliffe, sometimes a best rides are not planned.... only 33 miles but good miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/7844036366

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Three rides to report on:

Sunday: I had a couple of hours free in the afternoon so grabbed the knockabout bike and headed to do a regular loop in the foothills of the Long Mynd. The wind was quite brisk from the north west so I had a good tailwind on the way to Condover and a sort of helping crosswind from there to Longnor, Hollyhurst and on to where I cross the A49. The climbs from Dudgeley were done on nice quiet roads and the hills seem to have been sheltering me a bit as I got along fairly well.

I hadn't been expecting rain from the forecast I'd seen but on the way up to Smethcott the sky looked pretty threatening ahead of me and at the top of this climb I could see several showers rolling across. Cutting the ride short and heading along the road to Dorrington to make a dash for home seemed like a good idea but something had spilled a wide trail of diesel along that lane which put me off. I thought I'd carry on in the direction of Wilderley and see how things went as I could just as easily take one of the lanes to Stapleton instead.

By Wilderley I could see that the showers were going to miss me and it didn't look as though any more were coming in my direction so I carried on to Pulverbatch then took the road to Longden. As I've mentioned before, this is a nice stretch that is mostly downhill and you can really push on in places. I wasn't going to be as quick as usual with what was now a headwind but it was still enjoyable. Turning towards Exford's Green I think the wind had shifted more to a westerly as I got on quicker than I'm used to. The road was wet between here and Westley and there was a bit of drizzle in the air but that was as bad as it got all ride. I finished off heading via Little Lyth.

25.9 miles at 12.6 mph average. If it hadn't been for the diesel spillage I'd probably have ridden into the rain while trying to get home quickly.

Looking back to The Lawley from the climb at Walkmills.

Crossing the Picklescott - Dorrington road and it looks pretty wet in the direction of home. The stripe of spilled diesel down the middle of the road is clear to see in this pic.

At Pulverbatch.

------------------------------------------

Tuesday: I had promised to fit new tubes to a friend's bike so cycled over to do that shortly after lunch (it's an electric bike so took a while to do) then thought I'd make a ride out of it. Out to Condover again and along Lyon's Lane to Berrington and Atcham. It was a nice day; warm enough for a t-shirt and not much in the way of wind so was pretty pleasant going. I thought I'd detour through Attingham Park then rejoined the usual route to Upton Magna, Uffington and along the old canal path. There were a handful of cyclists about but otherwise it was reasonably quiet as far as Sydney Avenue.

I thought I'd head into the town centre and after being let into traffic by a nice driver I headed for High Street then dropped back down to the riverside at Victoria Quay and headed through the Quarry. I spotted my brother at work but he was busy so didn't see me.

After crossing the river on Greyfriars Bridge I thought I'd leave town through Belle Vue as Hereford Road was quiet. Further on it wasn't as quiet as it was the end of the school day. It didn't cause me too much of an issue on the cycle paths but the rest of the traffic was crawling round Meole Brace.

21.4 miles at 12.8 mph average.

At the gates to Attingham Park.

Heading up the drive to the house.

Sabrina takes another load of visitors on a tour round the river loop.

---------------------------------------

Yesterday: I thought I'd like to get a longer ride in so took the Raleigh out to do my loop to Melverley and back. It was still mild in the afternoon but a little more windy, however I thought that the west-south-west direction would work as I'd have it helping on some of the faster sections.

I used the cyclepaths round the old town bypass to Shelton then joined the road to Bicton and Montford Bridge wheer I took a left for Montford and Shrawardine. I was enjoying the riding and it was nice to see the odd fellow cyclist (this is a signed NCN route). From Pentre I'd expected to find it hard going into the wind but it wasn't too bad to The Royal Hill then Melverley. I did notice it a bit more on the way to Crew Green though.

Trying to sprint through a set of temporary lights at Prince's Oak I was so pleased at having managed 20mph on the slight uphill gradient that I almost rode past my junction. I then had the slog of a climb as I headed for Halfway House. The wind direction seemed wrong as I headed for Westbury, feeling much more like a southerly. Checking later it had changed so I didn't get the boost I was hoping for on the way to Nox, but I did still get along respectably fast.

I'm not a fan of having to cross over the A488 at Lea Cross and today was a good example of why, as two vehicles overtook after I'd stuck my arm out to indicate a right turn. The road to Arscott was fairly quiet then to Exford's Green I was slower than I'd been on the knockabout bike due to having a crosswind rather than the hoped for tailwind.

Crossing the A49 at Hunger Hill it was quite busy but a nice driver made up for the earlier ones by slowing and waving me across so I could turn right towards Condover. I was taking the flatter and faster route home so I had to cross the A49 again but it wasn't too bad this time.

35.1 miles for this one at 14.9 mph average. Great fun and left me feeling buzzing with energy afterwards.

On the way to Montford.

The church at Montford.

Twisty lanes on the way to Wilcot.

The Royal Hill.

 

[Mike_P]

Half past six with light starting to fade ebike ride to Sainsburys was enlivened by the appearance of a rainbow descending into Rudding Park as I headed down showground hill towards the store with far too many empty shelves - no need for all the carrying capacity of two panniers and a rucksack.

 

[gavgav]

A beautiful warm and sunny evening, so a good way to finish my first working week back after holidays, with a ride. The Carbon was out for its first ride in a few weeks. Shorts and t-shirt weather again, but a brisk North Westerly made it a little hard going for the first few miles through Reabrook and up the cycle paths to Heathgates.

I then had the wind mostly behind me through Castlefields and along the towpath by the River, into the Quarry. Very busy in there with strollers, dog walkers and cyclists. There was also a small Funfair in Town and they were starting to put the tents up ready for Oktoberfest next weekend, which I’m heading to 🍺

I crossed Porthill Bridge and then climbed up to Roman Rd, along the cycle paths to Shelton and down through the new estate at Bowbrook. Set some new Strava bests through the segments there, including a top 25 on the leaderboard, which whilst I’m not at all competitive, felt quite good!

I then went along Mousecroft Lane and through Nobold, Meole and home with 12.78 miles clocked at 12.9mph avg.

 

[Dave 123]

10 miles exactly this evening around the Warren as it went dark. The amount of bats out on the coast path was fantastic.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7855858803

 

[Dave 123]

A very short ride on Dartmoor around Widecombe.

It was one of those rides when I was tired before I began. Thinking about it, I’ve done lots of physical stuff this week, some you win, some you lose!

https://www.strava.com/activities/7858964887

 

[cyberknight]

Rare saturday free morning so i put my name down to lead a club ride .
originally there were 6 of us for the fast paced listed ride but one was feeling off it so him and his mate went for a steadier paced ride so 4 of us set off for canalside at greater haywood .
All strong riders including one chap who had done an iron man and is a good 20 years younger than me !, unfortunately he hadn't charged his di2 so it had stopped shifting the FD by the cake stop and abvout 15 miles from home it had packed up completely so he went a shorter way home as he limped on in what looked like 36x14.
52 miles for the listed club ride at a cracking 18.1 average , over a metric ton for me by the time i got home at 17.7 i think.
group photo at the start showing all the various groups for today