Your ride today....

[HLaB]

Nearly everyone was away or injured for my group ride today, so I plotted a route to explore, but on the off chance someone turned up I rode to the meet. As I figured, no one turned up so I loaded the route. Lol, I couldn’t see the phone screen at first and when I seeked shade I barely got a signal and it took ages to say ‘down load complete’, but the route never appeared. I sought more shade. The same result after a long wait. So I tried once more. If it didn’t work this time I was going to do a familiar route. I lied, just as I was about to set off on a familiar route, it dawned on me the 130+ hasn’t the same capacity as my 1030, so I deleted things and this time the sync worked

I followed it out by a mainly off road route out to Gretton and to geocache an OS tile just east of it. Just to the south of Gretton at Corby I was back in familiar territory so I just did my own thing. It was a strange day weather wise, it was really bright first thing and warmed up fast but with that strong wind it clouded over after an hour or two then changed often from grey and cool to sunny, and visa versa, and the occasional time you were shielded from the wind it was rather quite warm or even hot. The drip wax has done a good job of keeping the drive set clean but I better get by but off this chair and wash down the tyres.

 

[Dave 123]

Did you grow the pimentos? They do look a very good approximation of the original ones.

I do. They are lots more spicy grown by me than the Spanish ones!

I bought these as small plug plants in February. This was my 3rd picking this year.

 

[C R]

I do. They are lots more spicy grown by me than the Spanish ones!

I bought these as small plug plants in February. This was my 3rd picking this year

There's a saying in Galician "pimentos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non" (pepers from Padrón, some are hot, some are not). Part of their charm is that it is a bit of a lottery if any particular peper will be hot or not. If too many are hot, or aren't, it sort of spoils the fun. I think it is the plat that determines if the pepers are hot, so maybe you got a lot of hot producing ones.

 

[Dave 123]

Dull and breezy out tonight. I went down Widey hill and along the bridleway at Preston. The cows had a stampede.

Up to Battisborough and then out along my favourite cheeky ride. The ferry was coming in from France and there were a couple of tankers sat on the Sound.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9382460077

 

[biggs682]

PS - I've mentally started to set my mind to take a photo on a ride - yes it slows me up and I have to 'unpack' the phone, but some of the views you get on a bike is worth preserving, even if only for my forgetful mind. Mindfulness is a wonderful thing.

It takes a bit of getting use to but it's worth it and like you say the views and sights you see on a bike can be fantastic and fun .
Yes it slows your average speed down but hey who cares.

 

[biggs682]

Nice 13 miles this morning taking the scenic route through a couple of local villages to drop off the hard plastic waste at a local supermarket.

 

[bluenotebob]

Yesterday’s ride was my longest of the year – 107km and just over 6 hours’ cycling time. I hadn’t planned to go so far – and I hadn’t taken enough food – but on my descent to the NtB canal south of Ploërmel I encountered loads of children – they were all over the Voie Verte despite the best shepherding attempts by supervising adults (@Cathryn would have been impressed).

I knew that if I followed my plan of turning round just after the canal and heading straight back to the van, I’d end up stopping and starting, and avoiding kids, for at least 5km .. so I kept going south – and a new plan took shape. I realised that by going onto Pleucadeuc I’d end up with over 80km – and so finish my 2023 Annual Lunacy Challenge – or if I went right down to Questembert, I’d do over 100km and get another 3 points.

So that’s what I did, and I made a slight diversion on the way back to the outskirts of Molac to do a bit of research for a future ride.

Heading back north and into the Oust valley, the bike said she needed a rest (yeah, I know) so we stopped for 5 mins and I scoffed some wonderful vanilla fudge .. hardly the sausage + chip butties that some on here delight in – but it gave me enough to get back to the van safely.

This is where we stopped – pleasantly cool, quiet and shaded.

 

[Cathryn]

I’m always impressed at people trying to shepherd small children! Your photo is beautiful!!!

 

[gavgav]

2 weeks ago tomorrow I badly sprained my ankle ligaments and tendons, playing cricket, so have been off the bike since. It had improved enough to try a very short ride after work tonight, in the sunshine, to see how it coped.

I set off very gently through Sutton Farm, to Reabrook, a loop via Rocke St, down to Meole Brace and back, with a loop around the estate.

Not far from home, on the way back, I saw my brother and nephew in the car, so had a wave off them.

The ankle didn’t feel too bad. Yes it ached a bit at times and rough ground wasn’t overly pleasant from vibration through the pedal, plus I could tell the strength wasn’t there, but it’s a start. No hills yet though. Just hope I can still walk tomorrow!

5.18 miles at 11.6mph avg.

 

[Donger]

Well, it's that time of year again. Time for me to engage in Suffer-Along-a-Tour de France. Last year I managed 409 miles during Le Tour. This time I thought I'd aim higher. The idea is to ride my own bike every day of the Tour, (or as often as possible), whatever the weather conditions. Tonight it was hot and windy. Yesterday and the day before it was just windy. The day before that it rained. But I've been out every day, somewhere or other in the triangle of Gloucester/Stonehouse/Arlingham, and my mileages are: 24.1, 21.9, 20.6, 14.6, 22.9, 22.0 and 25.1. So that's 151.3 miles in the first 7 days. Feeling a bit saddle sore but otherwise good. Might drop the daily mileage and change bikes for the next few days so I don't spoil my upcoming trip to Northumberland.
Just the one photo .... of the Old Passage Inn at Arlingham looking great in the sunshine tonight.

I didn't hang around there, but I admit I might have stopped for a cider at the Anchor at Epney on the way home.

 

[ColinJ]

@GuyBoden was knocked off his bike last year by a doddery old driver who hadn't noticed a red traffic light ahead, or the cyclist stationary at it! Unfortunately, it wasn't just the bike that was damaged in the ensuing collision - Guy ended up out of action for months with his injuries. He did eventually get back on his bike though and started building up his fitness again. I waited until he was ready to tackle the annual Cheshire forum ride, which we did last Saturday with my pal Bill.

We enjoyed the Cheshire ride and decided to do a hillier ride back over here in Yorkshire/Lancashire some time. That is going to be this challenging little ride round Scammonden Water. Super - I can hardly wait!

In fact, I/we did NOT wait... We had an excellent forecast for today and it seemed a shame not to take advantage of it so I planned a metric century ride to get another qualifying ride done for the Annual Lunacy Challenge. Guy and Bill said that they would like to join me, which they did!

We started and finished in Todmorden, heading off to do a scenic loop in the Forest of Bowland and taking in Longridge Fell. Guy is used to the flat(-tish) roads of Cheshire so today's ride was intended to give him a taste of hillier terrain, without ripping his legs off. We therefore started and finished the ride on the A646 along the valley rather than over the harder hill-top alternatives. The ride out was pleasant in the sunshine, with light traffic between 10:00 and 11:00. (It wasn't quite so nice coming back later in the afternoon traffic...!)

We got to Rose Grove and took Guy to Padiham on the excellent Padiham Greenway cycle path.

The A671 from Padiham has a poor safety record and is not my cup of cycling tea, so I always use the alternative, the Old Roman Rd at the back of Read. Unfortunately, the surface is pretty poor, probably because the Romans haven't been back to resurface it recently, and Lancashire council don't seem to bother! We survived the potholed/gravelly cyclist traps, emerged onto the A671, and quickly descended to Whalley. From there we rode over to Great Mitton.

Our Bowland loop went round from there. We headed a short distance west on the B6243, before turning right and climbing up to the road going along the southern flank of Longridge Fell. We passed the exclusive Stonyhurst College... If any of you have annoying sprogs that you want to unload on someone else for most of the year, this could be the answer to your problem, at the bargain full-board price of only £45,000 per sprog-year!

We got up to the ridge road and proceeded westwards. Here are Guy (in orange) and Bill enjoying the sunshine, with the lumpy bulk of Pendle Hill in the distance behind them...

We made our way round to the village of Chipping and stopped there for refreshments. After that we headed up to Cow Ark and then descended through Bashall Eaves back to Mitton, and from there retraced our wheeltracks back to Todmorden.

We said goodbye to Bill in Tod and then Guy and I sat in front of a cafe for a while, enjoying the sunshine and chatting.

So...a good 100 km ride together, and then I did another 2 km to go and pick up a Metro for my weekday crossword fix.

 

[wafter]

Some crackers as always folks

I've been largely absent from this thread due to the mundanity of what I had to offer, plus much of my time being taken up with the newly-acquired Brompton - which has its own thread.

The last week or so has been very "good" in mileage terms, if somewhat hectic.

Last Sunday evening saw a much-needed mental health ride on the Fuji of around 23 miles.

Around 20 miles were covered on the Brompton each day over Monday to Wednesday; both during the commute and other little errands around Oxford.. with little to report other than getting home damp and exhausted on Tuesday.

Thursday saw another 25ish miles into the local grotty town on the Fuji to score some touch-up paint for that bike, finally sort out a mate's bike and do a bit of grocery shopping.

Yesterday I was going to have a day off to recover from the uncharacteristic five-consecutive days of riding, however had a bit of a crappy day and by 10pm it was baking inside the house, so I went out for a night ride. The newish head torch worked fantastically and my new MP3 player arrived yesterday too; so I had a faster-than-anticipated ride thanks to the additional motivation of having some tunes.

So... that's about 133 miles / 4400Kcal over the past seven days - unprecendented for me in recent times and I hope of some physical benefit. I've not done this many miles since the heady days of lockdown; although granted gently hustling along the flat tow path on the Brompton isn't going to be as exerting / beneficial as the "proper" rides I was enjoying back then on the Genesis.

I'm tempted to go out again today to make it seven days straight; however various bits are protesting and I'd probably do well to ease off for a bit and recover for next week's commute..

 

[GuyBoden]

@GuyBoden was knocked off his bike last year by a doddery old driver who hadn't noticed a red traffic light ahead, or the cyclist stationary at it! Unfortunately, it wasn't just the bike that was damaged in the ensuing collision - Guy ended up out of action for months with his injuries. He did eventually get back on his bike though and started building up his fitness again. I waited until he was ready to tackle the annual Cheshire forum ride, which we did last Saturday with my pal Bill.

We enjoyed the Cheshire ride and decided to do a hillier ride back over here in Yorkshire/Lancashire some time. That is going to be this challenging little ride round Scammonden Water. Super - I can hardly wait!

In fact, I/we did NOT wait... We had an excellent forecast for today and it seemed a shame not to take advantage of it so I planned a metric century ride to get another qualifying ride done for the Annual Lunacy Challenge. Guy and Bill said that they would like to join me, which they did!

We started and finished in Todmorden, heading off to do a scenic loop in the Forest of Bowland and taking in Longridge Fell. Guy is used to the flat(-tish) roads of Cheshire so today's ride was intended to give him a taste of hillier terrain, without ripping his legs off. We therefore started and finished the ride on the A646 along the valley rather than over the harder hill-top alternatives. The ride out was pleasant in the sunshine, with light traffic between 10:00 and 11:00. (It wasn't quite so nice coming back later in the afternoon traffic...!)

We got to Rose Grove and took Guy to Padiham on the excellent Padiham Greenway cycle path.

The A671 from Padiham has a poor safety record and is not my cup of cycling tea, so I always use the alternative, the Old Roman Rd at the back of Read. Unfortunately, the surface is pretty poor, probably because the Romans haven't been back to resurface it recently, and Lancashire council don't seem to bother! We survived the potholed/gravelly cyclist traps, emerged onto the A671, and quickly descended to Whalley. From there we rode over to Great Mitton.

Our Bowland loop went round from there. We headed a short distance west on the B6243, before turning right and climbing up to the road going along the southern flank of Longridge Fell. We passed the exclusive Stonyhurst College... If any of you have annoying sprogs that you want to unload on someone else for most of the year, this could be the answer to your problem, at the bargain full-board price of only £45,000 per sprog-year!

We got up to the ridge road and proceeded westwards. Here are Guy (in orange) and Bill enjoying the sunshine, with the lumpy bulk of Pendle Hill in the distance behind them...

View attachment 697927

We made our way round to the village of Chipping and stopped there for refreshments. After that we headed up to Cow Ark and then descended through Bashall Eaves back to Mitton, and from there retraced our wheeltracks back to Todmorden.

We said goodbye to Bill in Tod and then Guy and I sat in front of a cafe for a while, enjoying the sunshine and chatting.

So...a good 100 km ride together, and then I did another 2 km to go and pick up a Metro for my weekday crossword fix.

Thanks for another excellent ride @ColinJ , with great weather too. I even had a traffic free motorway drive home, after rush hour had gone.

Looking forward to the next ride.

You should be very pleased with yourself getting up all those hills on your dinglespeed bike, it looked hard work.

I'm convinced that different muscles are needed on hill climbs than flat rides. My fitness and hill climbing ability will improve with more rides.

 

[ColinJ]

You should be very pleased with yourself getting up all those hills on your dinglespeed bike, it looked hard work.

It is no longer a dinglespeed (D-ouble s-INGLESPEED) since I got tired of dismounting and getting my hands oily changing the chain over to the climbing gear!

My attempt to make it a 2-speed with a good chainline but using a derailleur failed so I had to add some extra sprockets to make it work properly. It is now what I call a 6-er!

I did do most of the ride in my 42/15 gear (which was hard work at times!) but used the 42/29 to get up that nasty 15-20% ramp on the Old Roman Rd and a couple of the other ratios at other times.

Basically, I try to ride the bike as if it is still a singlespeed and only use lower gears if I have to. (I also used a higher gear for the fast run down into Todmorden when I was spinning out.)

I enjoy riding that bike that way. I especially like carrying my stuff in one of the panniers that I recently bought off @Vantage. Having a backpack on in very warm conditions is not nice. I will definitely use my CAAD5 for our next, very hilly ride though - I will make full use of its triple chainset for that one!

 

[cyberknight]

i dont usually do rides on a saturday but the club was short of ride leaders as its holiday season so i stood up and led the "faster " group which was a mixed bag of bikes because the weather was chancy ranging from full on aero road bikes to knobbly gravel bikes and different abilities .
the route was planned so we could turn for home early if the rain came in , thankfully we only got the odd passing shower and managed the full distance and i managed to bag another metric century . 14 for the year so far with another one planned tomorrow