Your ride today....

[EltonFrog]

A six'ish mile pootle down the shops to buy some groceries, along the 544 NCR which in part runs along the old railway embankment that used to go From Didcot to Newbury before Lord Beeching got his hands on it.

Not a lot in the way of photos today, the Phone of I battery went flat.

A nice gently ride on the Kingpin, its a silly bike but fun to ride.

Along this section of the 544, which is paved there are various wooden pieces of art dotted along it.

The white building is a village hall, I thought it looked like it was sinking in the field.

Map nicked from the Sustrans site, part of NCR 544

 

[Spartak]

Short ride today ( 10 miles ).
Visiting family in Cheddar so took my bike on the roof bars & Mrs S. dropped me off at the top of the gorge - just as the heavens opened !

It made a slippery descent with extra care on the corners !
Went all the way to the roundabout & turned round and started the ascent - this has got to be one of the best climbs in the West Country, even in the rain !
Mrs S. managed to capture me in motion on the climb .....

https://www.strava.com/activities/351478472

 

[coffeejo]

Short ride today ( 10 miles ).
Visiting family in Cheddar so took my bike on the roof bars & Mrs S. dropped me off at the top of the gorge - just as the heavens opened !

It made a slippery descent with extra care on the corners !
Went all the way to the roundabout & turned round and started the ascent - this has got to be one of the best climbs in the West Country, even in the rain !
Mrs S. managed to capture me in motion on the climb .....

View attachment 97298

https://www.strava.com/activities/351478472

When you're next in the area, go up the Gorge and come down Burrington Combe

 

[coffeejo]

It's about ten days since my last non-utility ride and with the TDF heading into the Alps today, I decided to get a short ride in first thing, thinking I'd beat the rain home. Alas, such plans never work out very well. It was all about blue skies and bright sunshine as I walked the dog, so much so that I even put on sunscreen before leaving. Shouldn't have bothered.

Here comes the rain (heading east from Exmoor)

• coffeejo
• 22 Jul 2015

22 July 2015

I stopped to take this photo at the top of a hill after about ten miles. The rain clouds caught up with me a few miles later and kept me company for about an hour. It wasn't even proper rain, the type that makes for a great anecdote after the fact, but enough to make the roads greasy and the corners slippery.

Only 33 miles but it was good to blow away the cobwebs, and I was home with enough time for a shower and to cook some lunch before Le Tour started.

 

[coffeejo]

Mrs R going up through the gorge in 2012

View attachment 97307

I'm trying to think where that is on the climb but can't remember. Or is she pointing down the hill towards Cheddar?

 

[Hill Wimp]

Mrs R going up through the gorge in 2012

View attachment 97307

Where is Fabian to carry her bags ?

 

[coffeejo]

It's the ride up out of Cheddar. Pretty near the start as I recall.

I know which road but I'm absolutely certain that's a view of the road going down the hill. Could be wrong though.

 

[Spartak]

When you're next in the area, go up the Gorge and come down Burrington Combe

View attachment 97301

Did the BSCC Hill Climb up Burrington Combe a few years ago

 

[coffeejo]

Did the BSCC Hill Climb up Burrington Combe a few years ago

In that case you definitely deserve the descent. And you don't need warning about the cattle grids.

 

[coffeejo]

I can't really remember but I know we were heading towards Bristol. Perhaps she'd cycled up and left me behind and that was her coming down again. It's happened a few times before.

I stand corrected. According to street view, t'was my memory at fault, not yours. Good to know, however, that there are even more reasons to like Dr Mrs RM.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Had a very physical day today ,then out for a 2hr taz in the woods at wakerley and fineshade..
soaked in sweat and about done in today ..day off tomorrow as im picking up father in law from Milton Keynes.
Think driving a car 120 miles round trip will be enough..lol
gorgeous evening here..

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Three rides for me today. First was the commute in to work. Pretty uneventful (I like that) and with a tail wind I got on so well I had time to take a detour through Attingham Park, which is always nice, and the forecast rain failed to materialize which was even better.

The ride home was against the wind and was bloomin' hard work this evening. The Met Office says it was an 11 mph wind at this point which I find very hard to believe as it felt a whole lot stronger than that.
You can tell the schools are on holiday now as there is less traffic on the main roads and people are being that little bit more polite.

@gavgav came over this evening and I have fitted his new pedals for him. A test ride was therefore required and we had a pleasant jaunt up to Lyth Hill then on the lanes round Condover in the evening sunshine. We parted at Allfield then carrying on I caught and chatted with nice lady rider before turning for home.

A fraction under 29 miles for the day.

A couple of views from Lyth Hill on the evening ride. The hills look great in this light and I wish the camera could capture it better.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Replaced an overly stretched chain tonight, then went for a test.

https://www.strava.com/activities/351838676

That's better.

 

[gavgav]

I headed up to @Rickshaw Phil 's after an early finish at work, for him to very kindly fit my new Shimano MX Pedals .

It's only 2 miles up to Phil's, but it was bloomin hard work into the as normal howling wind from the West. I did catch another chap on a bike, which is a rarity for me!

I arrived at Phil's and he expertly fitted them in no time, despite some "assistance" from Rubens (the dog) who wanted to make off with his paper towel covered in grease .

We then enjoyed a lovely Beef Casserole, made by his brother and sister, before embarking on a ride to test the pedals. We rode together up Lyth Hill, down into Condover, passing a lady on a horse in the village, and along to Allfield, where Phil headed the shorter way back to his and I continued along to Betton Abbots and home. I had a moment climbing the short steep bank, as my chain attempted to come off when shifting back from low to mid range. I caught it just in time, as it jammed, and enticed it back on without too much trouble.

My final adventure of the ride occurred at home when I tried to remove my right cycling shoe, only for the buckle to completely jam! I tried for 10 mins to sort it, but with shoe stuck on foot I had to unscrew the buckle in order to get it off. Sounds easy, but try getting your leg into a comfortable position to unscrew a shoe off

Eventually got it off and unjammed the buckle!

11.1 miles

 

[Donger]

Took my Ridgeback in to my LBS yesterday for a new rear brake cable. Having an extra pair of high level brake levers on the bars in addition to those on the hoods makes replacing cables a bit too much like playing 3-D chess for my liking, so I was happy to let someone else do it for me. Went out on a test ride tonight, which was a bit of a bonus as we'd had a monsoon earlier in the day in Gloucestershire. I think my brakes must have been deteriorating gradually for some time, because the improvement was remarkable. For several weeks I have had the stopping distance of an oil tanker, but today I could stop on a sixpence.

Covered 24 miles in glorious sunshine and only a very light breeze. Lovely jubbly. Came across a lad called Rohan, who I hadn't seen out on the road for a couple of years, and changed my route to chat with him as we rode along for a couple of miles before going our separate ways. Ended up doing a bit of a figure-of-eight route in the end. The highlight was having to come to a sudden stop in Longney to allow a mother duck and 11 fluffy ducklings to cross the road to the duckpond by the churchyard. Hate to think how that would have turned out if I'd not had my brakes fixed.

Cheers, Donger.