Your ride today....

[HLaB]

After yesterday's windy Tour of Cambridgeshire TT I planned on a steady gravel ride today. In our group though only the superfast rider got back to me but he did say one of my other mates was coming. Good I thought that would keep it steady. So I rode out this morning pre the ToC road closures to meet them in a local village. Well it was steady until we got near the cafe, then my other mate said he'd go the short way and meet us there. No worries I thought a blast through Fineshade, a relaxing coffee and then a steady ride back. However, when we were there my mate who didn't have the legs decided to go straight home and it was too beautiful a day to do that. So that left me with the fast guy again so I chased after him again for an hour. I think he turned right but I had already said to him that if he lost me to carry on as he needed to be back for 11am. So I deliberately went straight and enjoyed a bimble. Lol, an instant drop from an 80-90% max HR to 50-60%.

 

[Mike_P]

The ebike has had a relatively quite week venturing no further than the town centre (Waitrose) but nevertheless gained bragging rights in the bike shed for feet climbed by 1359ft over the Defy in 76 fewer miles. Another non stop commute included although as it was half term that was less of a surprise.
A visit to the dentist for a check up this morning, necessitating at least half a day off work and consequently a full day taken, gave an initial slight puzzle over where to lock it then I remembered across the road there is a 2014 TdF stage 1 celebratory bike stand outside the council offices – put there after a few years in store whilst they worked out where to put it. I presume its size and needing access to the bench across its rear were adverse factors for a number of possible locations.

30 May-5 June 23.87 miles 1836ft elevation gain.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

One from last Wednesday: Doug and I wanted to do something reasonably long and opted to reverse a recent route we'd done and I threw in a few changes to keep it fresh.

We headed out of Kendal using the old canal path then the road to Natland, just south of which we found an unexpected road closure. The work going on looked to be on overhead cables so we erred on the side of caution and took a diversion to get to Sedgwick. Doug seemed quite keen while climbing and was pulling away from me, which I hoped wasn't going to cause an issue later on.

He did slow down on the climb over to Levens and our second unexpected closure came up in the village so we ended up seeing more parts of it that we hadn't been through before. A gentle tailwind helped on the flat section to Town End, much of which uses the old main road which is wide but quiet. We crossed the new road using the underpass here and headed the flat but indirect way to Lindale via Meathop. Joining the main road into Lindale the traffic was a little on the busy side and Doug was starting to flag a bit so we paused after turning onto Back O' The Fell Road and tool things a bit more gently when we moved on.

This is a gently rolling road with some great scenery as we headed up the valley towards Cartmel Fell. A lunch stop was taken with a nice view then the roads that had been rolling have more of an element of up as we made our way though Bowland Bridge and Winster. As we approached Crook Road the planned route into Windermere town then the fairly steep climbs on the path alongside the A591 didn't seem as appealing as it had been. I took us right towards Crook then left towards Borwick fold as an alternative - still a bit of a slog in places and there was a bit of traffic to contend with on the main road, but better scenery. On a whim we decided to take the turning that goes through Blackmoss which turns out to be a better way (in my opinion) than the signed route to Ings as most of the gates have new cattle grids alongside and it has been resurfaced in the not too distant past. A pause for a pint was taken at The Watermill in Ings before we plodded into the wind through Staveley and back towards Kendal. Doug found a second wind here and we had some decent cruising speeds showing around Burneside, although the last climb of the day slowed things down quite a bit.

39.5 miles according to my speedometer at 11.6 mph average. Strava has 2,443 feet of climbing.

On the old road past Whitbarrow Scar.

A couple of shots between Lindale and Cartmel Fell.

Lunch stop with a view at Cartmel Fell.

A couple from the lane towards Borwick Fold.

On the lane to Blackmoss with the Langdale Pikes as the backdrop.

 

[Dave 123]

A ride just short of 14 miles on my mountain bike. I went around the Warren, but headed west….. sun in my eyes!
There wasn’t a soul on the coast path.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9209254385

 

[Mike_P]

Having got the Defy reassembled from its bottom bracket change yesterday gave it a checking over ride this afternoon. Warm to hot conditions with that flipping easterly wind and it occurred to me just how many local climbs would be adversely affected by it.

So a clockwise circuit with no unduly steep bits in the easterly direction and only halted at two locations where a stop is inevitable but the reversing dust cart and then total confusion at a mini roundabout with the car having priority giving way to another where less predictable.

Up the drag of Norwood Lane from Beckwithshaw; a 1950 MG, which looks to be a TD Midget, headed downgrade.

Paused at the top alongside Little Armscliffe with a vista intermingled with

Then a good half hour plus of uninterrupted cycling home via Bland Hill and into the headwind along Penny Pot Lane with a set of temporary lights being cooperative.

17.16 miles 1047ft climbed 13.7 mph avg

 

[Jenkins]

Just a little shopping trip this afternoon

 

[Donger]

My second ride in the Fens this morning. One or two roads were a bit busy with the school run, but mostly I stuck to very quiet, straight, pan flat minor roads through the fens. Time for a "Spot the Hill" competition now:-

(No, I don't know where it is either, but guess who's claiming the King of the Mountains points).

I headed out generally West/South West from Tydd St Giles, passing through various Tydd/Gedney/Whaplode villages until I got to Moulton Fen (to the South East of Spalding). Some of the lanes were so quiet I could stop in the middle of the road to plot my course on my map. In fact you could have stopped and had a picnic in the middle of the road it was so quiet. Quite thoughtfully, South Holland District Council even supplied bike parking facilities:-

At around the point where the next picture was taken (near Sutton St Edmunds), I was officially below sea level. A cycling first for me in this country:-

Stopped off at the lovely churchyard at Tydd St Giles just before getting back to the lodge we are staying at. Curiously, a few churches around here seem to have separate bell towers like this one:-

Back in time for breakfast with 35.2 miles done ..... the return leg into the wind, but still only using one gear. Turns out that's another metric half century ride done. Lots of hares and rabbits spotted, along with the odd red kite and a kestrel. Another very enjoyable ride.

 

[Dave 123]

I had to go to Ivybridge tip today so I lobbed my mountain bike in the van and had another spin up the Puffing Billy track to Redlake.

Plenty of belted Galloway cattle on the moor, some Dartmoor ponies and a smattering of sheep.

16.5 miles with hardly a soul in sight!

https://www.strava.com/activities/9214574138

 

[geocycle]

@Dave 123 great pictures. The golden brown on the mud by your feet looks like a diatom biofilm… since you ask, unicellular algae that process 20% of the air we breath!

 

[Donger]

Another 50km ride in the fenlands of Lincolnshire this morning. I wanted to explore the countryside on the other side of the busy A17, so I hopped in the car and nipped out to Sutton and parked at the side of a more minor road to start my ride. Out along the Nene first, to the edge of the Wash at Guy's Head ....

....then followed the sea dyke as far as Holbeach St Matthew, stopping off at the dyke wall in one place for a glimpse of the Wash. (Sea just visible across the marshes):-

Incredibly quiet lanes and a stiff breeze off the North Sea made for some interesting cycling. Saw more hares today than in the rest of my life put together. No zoom lens, so this was the best hare shot I could get:

The countryside near to the Wash is somehow different to the fens between Wisbech and Spalding. Couldn't put my finger on it, but it seemed rather like some of the countryside in the Severnside villages that I now call home. Winding lanes and some woodland intermixed with the flat fields, and sluice gates and dykes everywhere.

I was quite amused by this fellow outside Dawsmere Vicarage:

I plotted my course as I looped round and back towards Sutton Bridge. For once, my dead reckoning let me down slightly, and I arrived back at the point where I left my car with about 2km left to go to complete a metric half century, so I rode on by to the eponymous A17 Sutton Bridge:

and then turned around and let the wind blow me back to my car. Another very enjoyable ride. This one entirely in Lincolnshire.

 

[All uphill]

Out early and off towards the hills.
Forgotten toolkit and water so back home and start again.
Out not so early and off towards the hills.
A gradual climb in the pre-school run traffic. Things get a bit serious as I head towards Fyne Court, I'm very glad of my 30/40 lowest gear.
There are clouds of dust following the few passing vehicles after the very dry weather.Quick break At Fyne Court and then onwards to Hawkridge Reservoir losing lots of that precious altitude.
Onwards to Over Stowey and another break to eat my peanut butter sandwich.

I decide to take a detour up to Triscombe stone and enjoy the long climb through the woods.

A walker shouted at me " good on you, no helmet" That's a first!

From here there's a steep downhill track; mmm my brake pads smell nice!

Gentle ride the rest of the way home.

This was one where I did measure distance. 27 miles and 2700ft of climbing.

 

[geocycle]

Another fabulous day although quite a strong easterly wind. Took a train to Penrith and then picked a long s-shaped route home. I traversed the upper Eden valley which is really stunning riding country. Bucolic landscape, little traffic and not too many hills. This first leg was into the wind past Braugham Castle out of Penrith and made a coffee stop at Kirby Stephen. From there I headed south along the evocatively named Mallerstang beck, with Pendragon castle and views across to Wild Boar Fell, where’s Walter Scott when you need him? Lots of curlew, oyster catchers, lapwing, meadow pipit, dippers and grey wagtail in the stream. The road dropped me out into Garsdale at the Moorcock where I took a right toward Garsdale Head. By now I had a raging tail wind and had accumulated a lot of potential energy through the climbs so I unleashed my inner Pidcock and flew down Garsdale. Lunch was at Farfield Mill before heading south past Sedbergh to Kirby Lonsdale and home. Tired but happy 117 km with 1570m of climbing.

pictures are of, Braugham Castle, a ford in Eden valley, Pendragon Castle, Wild Boar fell and the Dent faultline looking to Howgills.

 

[Dave 123]

@Dave 123 great pictures. The golden brown on the mud by your feet looks like a diatom biofilm… since you ask, unicellular algae that process 20% of the air we breath!

It was my diarrhoea since you ask.

 

[Donger]

For my fourth and final ride in the Fenlands, I went out for a late afternoon ride from Tydd St Giles in the sunshine. After my first ride, I commented that I reckoned I'd only need one gear round here, and a couple of people let me know I might have been cocky. They were quite right. That was quite some wind today. I set off intending to do an anti-clockwise loop, but every time I found myself travelling North East it felt like I was towing a small car behind me and I had to drop down a few sprockets. I quickly changed the route to more of an oval one, travelling mostly East/West or West/East. Near Tydd the farmers all seemed busy this evening and there was the sound of tractors everywhere.

A couple of days ago there were flower pickers at work in this field. Not sure whether they are peonies or not, but there must still be an acre or so unpicked.

The lodge we are staying at is in the northernmost tip of Cambridgeshire, but apart from one ride into Norfolk and back, most of my miles this week have been in Lincolnshire, which was where I headed again today.

Once back in Tydd St Giles, it felt too soon to finish, so I did a further little ride past through the middle of the golf course and one final diversion across the algae filled local main drainage channel and out to the village of Four Gotes. (There were no goats).

Well, that's been a great relaxing holiday with the missus, and I managed to squeeze in four rides totalling just over 124 miles of the lanes of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Here is the map (the larger towns shown are Spalding to the West and Wisbech at the Southern side). I can recommend the area for cycling.16.8 miles today.

Back down to Gloucestershire tomorrow.

 

[Dave 123]

A ride after work yesterday in the gloom. It was only 4pm, but the skies were heavy. This morning it’s resulted in a smattering of rain….

I found a huge crab shell on the path, it was a touch fragrant, the honeysuckle made up for it!

I didn’t go all the way around as the farmer was about…

https://www.strava.com/activities/9233765921