Your ride today....

[Dave 123]

We had a kitchen refit in October. The greenhouse became a dumping ground for stuff….

This morning I sat and played my guitar and watched the rain out of the window….. I felt like doing something more productive. The greenhouse got a clean!

My spa is housed in the greenhouse at present, it received a clean of the chain and a general rub down…..

Then I had to go to the tip in Ivybridge AGAIN!

Once home I actually got out on my Spa. Stone the crows!

19.5 miles of wet, mucky lanes with huge puddles to boot.

Just a few sheep in the fields and the occasional horse (a bit like an occasional table), not much else.

I ought to ride that bike so much more!

https://www.strava.com/activities/8359502447

 

[wafter]

Yesterday's ride as it happens.. After a few days of 80% binging / 20% productivity I was buzzing with nervous, sketchy carb-fuelled energy, so used a few small wins as a springboard and got out for a therapeutic, totally necessary and somewhat now-semi-regular night ride.

Upon getting out it seemed about as warm as the weather forecast had said; rather than my own more favourable assessment after a brief appraisal while sticking my head out of the back door. Allegedly 5 degrees but accompanied by a fair SW breeze.

The night sky was largely bereft of clouds; the roads similarly devoid of cars. For the most part I was left alone with only the sound of the wind and my tyres for company. As usual I headed west then north, as the routes to the south are less hospitable.

My core was initially cold in my single base layer, but by mile 3 I was only chilly, and by 4 reasonably comfortable. I'd only planned to do a quick loop but inevitably once in the saddle I was happy to go further. I followed the same route as my previous noctunal excursion; thankfully this time it didn't rain.

I ended up doing about 22 miles to the local grotty town and back in a bit of a loop. As usual getting out has restored a bit of mental balance and it continues to feel like progress that I'm pushing my fair-weather-cyclist boundaries with some night-time forays into the countryside in the dark / cold / rain.. again largely thanks to the Fuji and it's stoic, low-ish budget dependability.

While it feels good to be getting out, I'm under no illusion that it's currently driven by anything other than sheer desparation. Got to be more frugal than a smack habit however and I live in hope for the warmer, brighter days to come when getting out on the bike is so much more of an easy decision to make for it's own sake.

 

[cwskas]

I didn't get any rides last week. It was a busy week, but I can't put all the blame there.

So I was determined to start this week off right. I managed to get away shortly after eleven. 10 degrees C but warming to a high of 18 C. Wind out of the NNE at 8-10 knots. Beautiful sunshine all day!

I have been meaning to extend one of my favorite rides to include some new roads I just discovered but haven't had a chance to ride yet. So today was the day.

It was a lovely day in the neighborhood!

Everything after about 10 miles, was new riding. I repeated about 7 miles on the end.

Many beautiful trees

These with leaves are Live Oaks, they replenish their leaves year round

This yard had many cool older pieces of equipment

This windmill is probably as older than me! But I am still moving . . . sometimes.

These are Pecan trees which get make in the fall

Long shadows

There were quite a few horses on this property, but they normally run away when the
trike approaches. I think it is my great speed that is threatening.
I went really slowly this time to see if I could capture a few of them!

50.8 miles, 5h33m trip time, 4h33m moving, 11.2 mph avg, 26 mph max

​

 

[cwskas]

And now a surprise addendum to the above ride. After finishing the 50.8 miles on the trike. I did my first 5 miles on this scary thing!

​

I am not very steady on my feet and I haven't ridden a real bicycle in over 30 years. Starting and stopping are quite tentative for me. But I hear 'it is just like riding a bicycle' applied to other skills!

 

[gavgav]

4th time lucky in getting a ride in with my mate Paul, as we’ve been trying since the Saturday before Christmas, due to the incessant rain and wind! Looks like this evening will be the only chance this week as well, with the forecast….

That’s not to say it wasn’t windy, as I set out and found it a real battle to get over to meet Paul, outside a nearby school. It was a South Westerly/Westerly and so we were riding directly into it along the very busy main road through Hook a Gate and Annscroft. Paul is getting over the Flu bug that virtually everyone in the country seems to have had over Christmas and so he was a little behind me as we got to the crossroads where we turn off into the lanes and so I paused to wait for him.

He soon arrived and after a breather we set back out, now with a tailwind at times from the West and so that helped speed things up. Paul was enjoying his new lights that he’d had for Christmas and they seemed very powerful to me, much better than his old ones.

We continued through Exfords Green and onto Stapleton, pausing at the A49 crossing for Paul to sort his helmet out. Apparently his son had borrowed it recently and Paul now felt as though his throat was being cut by the strap. Whilst doing this, he somehow pulled the inner from his gloves out and so took an age to get that sorted. We crossed the A49 and descended under the railway line, when I heard a shout from behind, as Paul’s chain has dropped off. We sorted that and then at Gonsal I had something sharp blow into my eye and so had to stop to sort that!! Thankfully things settled down afterwards.

We pressed on to Condover and then along Lyons Lane, on which we never saw a single car, which is very rare. We also marvelled at the amazing moon that had risen and was proving a lovely orange glow. I paused to take a photo, which doesn’t really show it in its full glory, but does show the light it was giving off.

The final section together was on through Betton Abbots, to the A458, but then turning back into the now directly Westerly wind and boy was that a battle into it, as far as where we went our separate ways.

Nice to finally get out with Paul again and have a catch up chat when we safely could on the lanes. That wind was brutal and cold, but 15.12 miles were completed at 11.1mph avg.

 

[cadseen2]

Good luck with the COPD, and well done for that ride!

I also have COPD, its limited my performance on the bike somewhat. No ride this year yet due to flu-bug. 2 weeks off which is the most i have had off since i can remember :-)

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Saturday: I'd missed out on a chance to ride on Friday when a band of rain that wasn't in any of the forecasts put a dampener on things, so I tried again when a gap in the weather presented itself the next day. I thought I'd try a loop around the Ford area this time and set out up Lyth Hill to start with. By the time I got up to Lyth Bank I could see more rain rolling in so I decided to shorten it to a bit of a tour round the lanes in the Longden and Stapleton areas before heading back through Ryton and Condover.

It was all enjoyable and nicely uneventful. There were spots of rain falling in the last quarter mile but the bulk of the showers missed to the north-west. I would have got quite wet if I'd continued towards Ford so the right choice was made.

14.3 miles at 12.4 mph average. A slightly shorter ride than hoped for, but good to get out.

At Longden with threatening cloud rolling in.

It still looks really nice in the direction of Lyth Hill though.

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

Yesterday: My brother wanted to get out and get a ride in so I wasn't going to turn that down. We have some hilly rides planned for late February so he wanted to get back into training for that with some hills and some distance this time. Cardington was where he wanted to head so we set out in that direction. We crossed Lyth Hill to start with to try and avoid the worst of the main road traffic then dropped down to Condover and turned towards Ryton then Longnor. The pace was quite leisurely to try and save the legs for later, especially as we had a reasonably strong wind to contend with.

The old Roman road on the way to Comley was pretty muddy and we also encountered a bit of a flood, which unfortunately Doug dipped a foot in when he hit a large stone or similar that was hidden under the water. The climb to Folly Bank was next, which Doug managed pretty well by taking his time. We paused at the top to eat our lunch and Doug asked what height we'd climbed up to. I guessed at about 800 feet (866' is the actual height above sea level) and mentioned that Yell Bank is over 1000' so Doug said, "how about going that way", so we did. It's pretty exposed up there so the wind felt colder and more blustery at the top. Doug's bike blew over while he stopped to take a photo but fortunately he reacted quick enough to catch it.

We didn't stop for long before descending to Chatwall and taking the lanes towards Church Preen. These were also very muddy in places. We met a large lorry that completely filled the lane so needed to turn back to a place where they could pass. After Church Preen we met two more lorries with the same livery and about four cars - I've never met that much traffic before on this particular lane.

By Kenley I realised that we would be short of the distance Doug said he'd wanted to do. With all the hills we'd been up so far he was happy just to head back the most direct way, which was just as well as his legs cramped up at the start of the last climb before Acton Burnell.

Progress was a bit stop-start from there as we headed back via Pitchford, Cantlop and Condover. We decided to brave the traffic on the direct way back as it's flatter - the main road was clear when we joined it but streams of traffic soon came up behind us so Doug pulled in to let them by.

26.2 miles at 9.7 mph average. It was possibly a bit ambitious to do such a hilly route after a month off the bike so I think Doug did pretty well. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can get him out again.

We got lucky with the weather for once as showers rolled in about half an hour after we got back.

Doug has a pause for a drink just before Ryton.

Wet and muddy along the Roman road. The drought of the summer seems a distant memory now.

On the way to Yell Bank.

Great views from the top.

 

[Donger]

The old phrase "A game of two halves" summed up this morning's ride. I didn't have quite enough dirty cycling kit to make up a whole washing load, so I took advantage of the lovely bright sunshine and got out there for a spin down to Epney and back. Stopped at my usual viewpoint outside the Anchor Inn ....

.... where I first noticed that the wind was getting up as I could hear the waves on the Severn. I turned round at this, my furthest point from home, to see some dirty black clouds rolling in directly towards me ....

It immediately started raining. Not a heavy rain, but a cold, penetrating one. And I had no rain jacket with me. By the time I got Back to Stonebench, (a mile from home), I looked like this ...

Sopping wet kit now added to the laundry load and washing machine churning away. I've had a hot bath and all is well with the world. Glad I got out there, even for a mere 14 miler.

 

[Imaginos]

Rode twenty today. Started rainy,ended sunny.

 

[cwskas]

A few more miles on the Surly today, followed by a nice ride with my main riding buddy, Charlie.

Monday evening I dropped into my main bike shop and got a new seat post. I was using a re-purposed mountain bike post, set as low as it would go and it still seemed a bit high for me. Today the balance seemed much better and a bit more comfortable as well. I think I still have some adjustments to make, but this felt much better.

I chose a nice little stretch for some out/back laps - very smooth pavement and very little traffic. About halfway is this marker about a gold mine that the early Norwegian settlers of the area opened. My wife and I lived in an old farmhouse along this route for 8 years when we first moved to Bosque County.

And this was the turn around point.

I loaded the Surly back into the car and headed to my friend Charlie's house. He hasn't retired yet but was able to get finished early enough today for a nice, but very windy ride. A fairly strong cold front is arriving this evening. For this ride winds are out of the west at 18 gusting to 28 mph. Going out was quite tedious and reminded me that I have been doing a lot of mostly flat riding lately! But we might have set records on the return.

The temperature today was the second day in a row of record highs for January, 29 C. The cold front arrived about midnight, with a massive wind shift and a forecast of gusts up to 40 mph tomorrow. The high will be at midnight with temps dropping all day and low tomorrow near a more January like 2 C.

 

[Rusty Nails]

This was almost my ride today

 

[ianrauk]

@cwskas
Thanks for your posts. As you may be aware, this forum is UK based so majority of members and posts are UK centric. So it's nice to see rides from other parts of the world.

 

[galaxy]

It’s been a mixture of to
Wet and windy for me to get out. So I cycled to the post box and back 3 miles. But I stil
Enjoyed it.

 

[bluenotebob]

Took the Shaper 200 (the “Princess”) out for her first ride of the year today – the other four bikes have all rides this year and she’d been languishing in the shed and moaning about it, like a true Princess.

A stiff W wind – but we’ve had a lot of that this month – and I battled my way through St Brieuc-de-Mauron (SBdM), along the D2 then up to Kerminy – also for the first time this year. Dropped down into Evriguet and continued south to Guilliers. A loop around town then back across country to SBdM, via Esquiniac, la Suais and la Ville Geffray. Home before the rain arrived.

Nothing special – just a pleasant 29km potter around the countryside for a couple of hours before lunch.

A black ‘Ushant’ sheep (from the Ile d’Ouessant, out in the Atlantic, so very well adapted to wet and windy weather)

The wind turbines at Ménéac from about 5 miles away (the church at Ménéac is just visible between the 3rd and 4th turbine)

La Suais – the bend to the left is sharper than it looks and there’s often tall maize in that field, making it quite dodgy – and, in years past, I’ve taken a lot of pleasure in going round it as fast as possible (I think my best was 38kph) but not any more (older and wiser)

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A ride with my brother today.

We thought we'd go and do a bit of sightseeing as the River Severn is in flood. Making a ride out of it though, we headed for Condover to start with. Less than a mile from home we overtook a runner who was dressed for summer - Doug and I in contrast were wrapped up in several layers to keep the chill of the strong wind at bay. After Condover we headed along Lyons Lane - we didn't turn towards Berrington like I usually would as the Cross Houses to Atcham road is under water, so it was straight on towards Chilton Farm instead. We got our first glimpse of the flooded fields near here and when we joined the old A5 the water was just a matter of inches from the road surface.

We had a stop for photos at Atcham then were surprised to find the road to Berwick Wharf is officially closed. The flood water was only just lapping onto the edge of the road here so it was clear for us to cycle through. With the water still rising at about an inch an hour it will be flooded by the time I write this.

We carried on to Upton Magna where Doug suggested a stop for a hot drink at the cafe, which we enjoyed, sat outside. A few other cyclists went by while we were having our drinks, including a chap on a hand-operated recumbent trike.

Moving on again we were now headed into the wind but it didn't seem as bad to ride against as expected. We weren't rushing, which probably had something to do with it. We were overlooking the flood plain as we rode along the old canal path. I knew that the underpass at Telford Way would be flooded but even so it surprised me how deep it was. We used the pedestrian crossing instead.

At Sydney Avenue our way was barred as I knew it would be. We took an alternative route to get round to the other end then headed past the old prison and into the town centre where we rode round many of the most vulnerable spots to get photos. Smithfield Road is closed but the water hasn't got to it yet. Roushill was already flooded at the lowest spot.

Having seen the places we wanted to see in the centre we crossed Greyfriars Bridge to Coleham where, again, roads have been closed off and people were driving down and being surprised that they couldn't get through even though there are usually several signs warning of this before you get here. More photos taken before we headed back, thankful we were on bikes rather than in a car as the traffic has slowed to a crawl on most of the major roads round the edge of town.

Just over 21 miles at a fairly relaxed 10.2 mph average. This is the fifth serious flood in four years for my part of the world. More rain is expected tonight so it could go higher yet.

Unsuitable for anyone just at the moment.

The flood plain at Atcham doing its job.

Coffee stop at The Haughmond in Upton Magna.

We're not getting through the Telford Way underpass today.

Sydney Avenue.

Enjoying the rare experience of no traffic on Smithfield Road.

The water has got into its usual spot at Roushill. It comes up through the drains here despite the non-return valves built in.

The Riverbank bar & restaurant is a little too close to the river today.

At St. Julian's Friars.

Coleham Head.