Your ride today....

[DCBassman]

And another one. A bit further, and certainly a bit harder. And to top it off, my nether regions and my Charge Spoon are having a serious dispute about life, the universe, and everything. Hmmphf. However, made it into double figures, so now just a case of keep on keeping on! Puncture at four miles, so had a rest. Front, so nice and simple, although my pump briefly fell apart before I could re-inflate anything. Massive amounts of twig and leaf litter everywhere after all the wind.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Got the week of work and the forecast for today was a bit breezy, but dry. So out of the door around 06:45. Plan was to head south to Bishop's Itchington to have a pasty at the Village Store and grab a few veloviewer squares around there.

Set off and immediately I know it is going to be a hard day, legs just didn't want to know, but it is better than being at work, so I grit my teeth and enjoy the clear blue sky, the relatively quiet roads and take my time. After a couple of hours my legs have woken up.

Get to the Village Store order a coffee and a cheese and onion pasty. Lady behind the till asks me where I've come from. Usual response when I tell her, "your mad"etc. She asks me where I am heading, I said I'm here, I've come for a pasty

Pasty was blooming lovely.

Rested and fed I set off back towards home, hopefully with tail/crosswinds - which they mainly were.

I come across a road closure and first fella is happy for me to go through, second one not so much. Have a brief friendly chat and he offers to let me ride behind one of the work vans down to the work and then they will escort me through them. I felt like I was riding behind the director sportif (or whatever he is called) on the neutralised part at the beginning of a TDF stage. He must have thought I was rubbish though as he crawled along

Get to the end and there is no work going on, but they turned a cyclist away coming from the other way.

Loads of temporary lights around Coventry.

I get to Hinckley and stop at McDonalds for a brew and an ice cream and then the last hour home.

102 miles, lovely weather, glad I went out and did the ride.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9599539506

 

[Jameshow]

20 miles or so with Bradford cycling club fast 18mph AVG club run to skipton

All the guys had £10k machines...

I hung on with my £500 carbon bike!

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

Today Frau Fritz and I rode about 20 laps of the area around the Trek dealership I work at.

On many different bikes.

Even with the excellent employee discount it cost me a bundle, but her new e-bike makes her happy and I got a nice road bike out of it.

 

[Spiderweb]

Finally some dry weather in North Yorkshire! A steady ride after work, a slightly different route than the usual, out to Thorner, Barwick-in-Elmet and Aberford then a flat loop out to Church Fenton and Cawood.
36.29 miles with an average of 15 mph.

 

[Chislenko]

65 mile this morning and dieing at the end (been a bit lethargic of late and not done many long ones)

The final nail in the coffin for me though was the t--t at about 60 miles who nonchalantly sailed past me on a hill on his E bike! (Judging by the speed he went uphill I would say it was deristricted)

Just out of interest why is Your Ride Today, which is about cycling, not in General Cycling Chat rather then General Chat?

 

[geocycle]

Took advantage of a dry day to do something a bit different. Rather than starting at home I commandeered the car and took me and the bike to Layburn. From there it was over Grinton Moor to the lovely Dales Bike Centre near Reeth. They have made an amazing business, with bike shop, rentals and exceptional cafe. Suitably fortified with coffee and cakes I headed up the largely empty Arkengarthdale which is a long climb but not particularly steep. The highlight is pub shaped and right at the top of the valley. Unfortunately Tan Hill seems to be undergoing one of its periodic revivals and was absolutely rammed with no chance paying homage to the Ted Moult feather. I carried on across the tops and dropped into Swaledale, Keld, Thwaite, Muker and then a late lunch at Gunnerside. Swaledale is always stunning although was looking like a recently shorn sheep with the hay having been gathered. Back to Layburn via the army ranges with ominous warnings of Tank drivers under training. 82 km with 1510 m of climbing.

Pictures of Castle Bolton in Wensleydale, view back down Arkengarthdale and two from the top of Swaledale.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Planned to ride to Lincoln today. Set off and the gears are playing up, jumping, not changing smoothly. I get over Borough Hill and snap, gear cable goes. Luckily it is down hill from there to Oakham. Now sat in the baking sun at the station. Did 27ish miles.

Completely my own fault, last couple of rides the gears haven’t been right, I should have sorted them out before the cable went.

 

[wafter]

Yesterday the weather was fantastic, but I was cheated out of the usual partial commute on the Brompton as I needed to carry some stuff into town in the car. For the record the journey in was almost a pleasure now the schools are out; journey out was crappy as ever however; in any case all a frustrating waste of time as the bloke I was giving the bits to couldn't make it in the end


Anyway, I did get a little bit of bike time in thanks to a chance need to drop some stuff off to a client in the city. For the first time in two months the Routier was dusted off, tyres inflated, necessary bits lashed on and I was off.

While packing I was initially perplexed by the now-familar problem of how to carry my water bottle on such a hot day; only to re-discover the bottle cage already fitted to the bike that I'd forgotten about - thanks again @DCBassman for making this possible!


My first impressions after so long off this bike were that the steering felt over-damped (thanks to most recent rides on the somewhat-twitchy Brompton) and the ride harsh. The Raleigh has always been a bit of a boneshaker; tempered over time by the far nicer saddle (the original mounted directly to the post rather than with rails so offered little compliance) and ally rims in replacement of steel.

I imagine the tyre pressure probably didn't help (60psi rear, 50 front in the 700x32 Decathlon specials) although the higher value (at the rear, which also caused the tyre to rub the guard again) was only halfway through the recommended pressure range. I suspect that ultimately the gaspipe 18-23 frame plays a fair part in the "uncompromising" ride quality.

Anyway, a little 3-ish mile mosey was had.. felt like hard work but I think I had a headwind on the way out, and it was still good to get out as always.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Just had that most German of problems in the Bistro: They were running out of Schnitzel.

I was called and asked if I minded going on a ride along the river to the next village in the sunshine and getting paid for it picking up an emergency order from the butcher in the next village.

It's tough, but someone had to do it.

 

[cyberknight]

Set off this morning around 9 as it took me a while to get motivated this morning and i was aiming for a metric century .
It got warm very quickly along with being a nasty wind so i was working hard from the start and needed plenty of water.
Got to the canalside cafe at greater haywood around 30 miles and had a good chat with a retired couple who were on a tandem then set off for home which should have been with a cross/ tailwind but the wind had changed and it turned into a headwind most of the way home.With the heat i was stopping every 5 miles or so to gulp down air and a good swig of water .The average speed plummeted as i could only plod slowly home and decided to cut it short.
58 miles in total so i was a bit miffed but i didnt want to do the extra 4 miles as i was gasping for water and overheating .

 

[wafter]

Today saw an errand run planned to the town called malice; the key drivers being to drop my bramble-f*ckered baselayer off to be repaired and chuck some bits at a mate.

In my head I'd be out the door by mid-morning, however as usual it took a lot longer to drag my head out of my arse and pack all the necessaries into the various bags and clothing orifices.

I finally got out on the Fuji at about half one and had a nice mosey to town in the pleasant weather; the sun was welcome if a bit warm.

Baselayer repair was advised against until it gets worse (might need a 2nd opinion on that) but I did drop off my faithful, seemingly indestructible-and-old-as-the-hills Craghoppers walking trousers to have the crotch repaired. While there I bothered a few charity shops (unsurprisingly dominated by Burtons Menswear tat) and a decent burger van present at the local market.

Tbh the place didn't seem as bad as I recall from years back, however nipping to poundland for some cheap chav-fuel energy drinks revealed no end of budget smackhead drama kicking off.. did feel bad declining to donate change to a homeless woman who was very polite and I think just appreciated the fact that I'd acknowledged her request. Maybe if she's there next time I'll buy her some food or something.

Dropped stuff off at mate's and meandered back. Continued to attack hills in higher gears at low cadence for most of the journey, and recieved a surprise (well, probably due to the chav fuel) burst of energy near the end - with nearly all of the last fairly hilly 4-5 miles at 80% max HR or greater. I set a fair few PRs on this fairly well-ridden stretch (I think without wind assistance); however I must remember that I'm usually more laden / not trying as hard and the relative novelty of having the tyres at the correct pressure will doubtless help too.

I've not done much high-effort stuff for a long time and it felt good to give myself a decent, sustained thrashing; although I felt like I was on fire by the end of it.

In total, 27.8 miles and 1100ft at 12.5mph and 129bpm for 1300Kcal burned; although I suspect both speed and HR might be under-played as I left the trip computer on whilst mincing around the shops. Cutting these bits out suggest 13.1mph mean, while the HR is probably correct.

One image for posterity from the ride's inaugural leak stop

 

[Spiderweb]

26° and a beautiful day so a slightly longer extended ride home from work. Almost 45 miles with an average of 15.2 mph.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Made the very most of the only day of summer since June with 40 miles through the Peak after work with a colleague and littlist Tuesday.

 

[8mph]

Usual circuit, fastest time yet. Widdecombe - Hameldown - Natsworthy and back the same way. I'm riding less than at any point in the last eight years and can only put the increase in speed down to a change in diet.