Your ride today....

[Rickshaw Phil]

A chance to get out this afternoon was taken and, although I picked another one of my stock routes I thought I'd go for something a little longer and hillier. I'd not gone half a mile before rain rolled in and it stayed with me until I'd crossed Lyth Hill. After that I was into a a brisk and blustery headwind on my way to Plealey then the climb to Oaks. The road to Oaks has been worked on ahead of planned surface dressing later in the year. It's actually not a bad job and it seems a shame that they'll be roughening it up later. As the climb ramped up I went for low range only to find that it wouldn't shift down. Unlike when this happened recently it wasn't a sticking mech but one that had gone out of alignment. Not sure how that happened - possibly when the bike fell over the other day, but it didn't go down on that side.....

Having worked my way round to Pulverbatch via Broom Hill I picked up the tailwind I'd been hoping for which helped nicely on the undulating section to Wilderley then Smethcott. The descent to Leebotwood was on pretty wet and muddy roads - two rides and the bike is filthier than before I last cleaned it. Coming back to Shropshire has had its downsides.

I felt good enough to extend the route to Dudgeley before crossing the A49 quite easily and turning back towards home. Again, these lanes are filthy and both of the fords along the old Roman road have plenty of water to splash through today - I took the first one a little fast and soaked my legs. I had to pull in for three vehicles on this stretch today - must be rush hour.

After a few more miles of mucky lanes I reached Condover and turned in to the road for Lyth Hill without thinking about it. It was a good thing as the A49 was now quite busy and the crossing here is easier when it's like this.

The legs felt much better this trip despite the extra hills but I felt pretty low on energy by the time I came to put the bike away so there is still some recovering to do post-illness.

28.1 miles at 11.1 mph average from my speedometer. Strava shows me 2012 feet of climbing.

Pretty wet as I reach the lower car park on Lyth Hill. From here you can get an indication of how many fields are waterlogged.

But by the top car park the rain is clearing off to the east.

Turned out nice again by the time I reach Oaks.

View of the Wrekin as I make my way to Wilderley.

From the same spot looking back towards Pulverbatch. The clouds looked a lot more threatening than they appear in the picture and I was a little worried I would be getting wet again.

The Lawley and Caer Caradoc viewed from the descent towards Leebotwood.

 

[wafter]

The plan was simple... in celebration of sorting out the Fuji's rear wheel and re-waxing the chain after yesterday's damp debacle, a rattly run of shame to the bottle bank followed by a short victory lap through a few adjacent villages in the late afternoon sun.

Due to the impulsive departure and assumption I'd not be going far I left pretty ill-prepared; although seeing the dark sky to the north I did at least have the sense to pack my new waterproof.

No sooner had I finished banking the bottles and it started to spit; the villages across the valley already swathed in rain beneath the leaden sky. I didn't really feel like going home however, so donned the waterproof, stuck the shower cap on the rucksack and headed into the gloom. This was rewarded by instant regret as my trousers were saturated within a few minutes, and the rain on my face bordering on painful on the fast descent down into the valley.

By the time I'd reached the road on the other side it'd eased off a bit, and instead of heading left for the intended ACW loop home I hung a right; my thoughts having turned to the need for provisions and the likely lack of opportunity over the weekend to get to the shops.

What rain was left was tolerable in the warm early evening air and I toured the supermarkets with no drama; the rain finally ceasing when I'd finished shopping. As the dark descended I did realise I'd screwed myself slightly by failing to bring either gloves or my head torch; as it happens my hands were fine once warmed up and I just about got by with the lights on the bike on the unlit country roads.

Another 20-odd miles under far more pleasant circumstances than yesterday, bringing my week's total to about 86 miles; right at the upper end at what I'd hope to cover

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Beautiful weather today with a sight frost, and wanted to get a decent ride in the tandem just to be doubly sure everything is shipshape.

So we went up the brickworks in brilliant spring sunshine then Windgather rocks to Pym chair where we had a breather with the lovely view of Kinder Scout.

Next was the Cat and Fiddle up the Goyt valley, the river sparkling in the sun. Finally a fast but cold descent to Macc, then home.

35 miles, a smidge under 1000m climbing. Not too shabby before lunch!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A ride with @gavgav today. He has been off the bike for a while due to an accident and is just getting back into it. I'd done one ride with him already but then covid got in the way for me.

Getting the bike out it was a really beautiful Spring morning, sunny, a little cool and not a cloud in sight which boded well for the ride. By the time I got down to the rendezvous point though a layer of thin cloud had formed. My bike still isn't quite right after adjustment so Gav arrived to find me tinkering - it didn't take long to sort though and we set off for a meandering route round the edge of town before heading away towards Uffington. There were lots of polite and friendly motorists about, making me wonder what's up today. A jogger on the old canal path had a pair of headphones on so was oblivious to our presence behind him and it was too narrow to be able to squeeze past.

The lanes to Upton Magna were nice and quiet. On our climb across Haughmond Hill one car came past us three times - I wondered whether they were looking for the visitor centre which, to be fair, isn't well signposted from this side. It was good to see a group of club riders come past in the other direction. Heading to Rodington Heath was good on the long fairly straight descent. We could have gone a little faster if not for an apparent headwind here.

Having gone round to Withington, we ended up passing through Upton Magna for the second time. The cloud was thicker by now and the wind had gone cold so I needed a stop to don an extra layer. There were a few more cyclists out and about, most of them quicker than us. It seemed we were lucky as there were signs up telling us that the road should have been closed from yesterday but there was no actual closure in place.

Rain started to fall when we reached Cross Houses but not too heavily. Thankfully it was a fairly brisk ride back via Weeping Cross and the rain eased on the way. It started again once I'd parted from Gav which gave an incentive to push on a bit for the last couple of miles or so.

An enjoyable ride despite the weather and it's great to be out with Gav again.

26.8 miles at 11.4 mph average. Strava says 955 feet of climbing this time.

 

[Spiderweb]

First ride since mid November!
20.5 miles with an average of 14.8 mph, felt good.

 

[Donger]

Went a tad further afield today. Fancied trying out a decent off-road cycle path out to Nailsworth, then a little climbing and looping around using the Devil's Elbow. Rode out to King's Stanley and crossed the Stroud By-pass, picking up the cycle path to the old Dudbridge Station. The track had recently been relaid with nice new tarmac, though the roots of every trackside tree formed a series of natural speed humps. Still much better than the busy road alongside.

At Dudbridge, I crossed the by-pass again and headed off through the tunnel on the old railway path along the Woodchester Valley.

Glimpses of old mills and mill ponds through the trees all the way, with the occasional view across the valley.

Not many cyclists out, but quite a few joggers and dog walkers. Eventually I arrived in Nailsworth:

I didn't fancy climbing the hill known locally as the "W", opting instead to take a gently climbing lane along the hillside and through Box Woods (which are just below the village of Box and Minchinhampton Common).

The road then jack-knifes back the opposite way at a place that has become known as the Devil's Elbow:

From there, I had another short climb before dropping down a steep little lane to the right and down through the old Longford Mill (now converted to a bijoux housing development).

Then back into Nailsworth, which was still quite quiet. You wouldn't have guessed that the mighty Forest Green Rovers were going to be playing at home today in a big relegation 6 pointer. I retraced my route along the Woodchester Valley and the ring road cycle track before returning home via Kings Stanley, Eastington, Frampton on Severn and Elmore. 40.1 miles and a little bit of climbing today.

 

[Windle]

Had the chance to get a ride in today and the weather was looking to be OK, sunny or light cloud so the opportunity was taken. Due to the general clartyness of most of my usual local 'gravel' routes I decided to give the Cannondale a run out on the road. I'd recently put a set of cheap 32 mm hybrid type tyres on it which came from my failed Giant Chicago gravel bike project. The old 23 mm tyres that were on it weren't to be trusted due to age and wear. The 32's fit but have very little clearance at the front fork, barely a mm either side so maybe I'll seek out a set of 28's for it instead. I took the lazy option (so as not to have a four mile climb back home at the end) and parked up at my usual spot in Langton near the postbox & telephone kiosk opposite a field of very noisy sheep (I was going to take a photo of them but they were bleating on about privacy laws when I pointed the camera at 'em).

I headed down Hulam Lane which was as messy as my last visit, then along to Staindrop, the bridge at the north end is undergoing some maintenance.

On through Staindrop and off up to Cleatlam where I took a picture of my little home village (just behind the narrowest bit of the wood atop the farthest hill), it's definitely there somewhere,

before turning round and retracing, then passing through South Cleatlam and after crossing the former Darlo to Barny railway trackbed on through Little Newsham before crossing the A67 and heading down the long decent into a headwind to Whorlton to stop at the closed bridge for a pie (a pie not a pee). The road is partly blocked at the top but with enough room for a bike to get through, the last bend is fully closed off.

Looking down to the site compound next to the Tees, Cannondale still shiny at 16 years old.

Phonebox library opposite the scaffolded pub.

It's quite a climb out of Whorlton back to the A67 but the tailwind helped, even on the 10% bits. I hadn't been looking at the mileage but the climbing was already over a thousand feet as I rode back through Little Newsham past the forge and down Westholme Lane before going down the NCN Selaby Lane and over the bridge next to the pretty full ford.

I was being careful here as this is where I had a ruddy snakebite in the back wheel last summer after running over a rock, no such problem with these tyres though. Back to Langton a couple of miles later for a surprisingly tough feeling (but thoroughly enjoyable) 17.2 miles with 1,139 feet of grippy south west Durham hills. I was only about 90 feet of climbing short of my 35 mile ride up to Consett on the Lanchester railway path a few weeks ago so maybe that's why it felt harder than it should. There were daffodils blooming all over though, birds singing and squirrels running about ~ it must be spring then! Pity it's hardly stopped raining all year so far .

 

[EltonFrog]

The Fragrant MrsP wanted an avocado.

The nearest shop is 2 miles away, but I don’t like going there so a went to the Sainsbury’s local about 3miles away, a mere matter of 15 minutes there and back. Set off along the usual route via the railway track path, through the very unattractive housing estate, to my destination.

But, a sign in the shop announcing cash and card payments only, no Apple Pay or Smart Shop! What is this the feckin dark ages?! Anyway they didn’t have any avocados, not even for ready money.

So, I set off the big shop, they’ll have aforementioned Persea Americana in the big shop won’t they? A further mile down the road along the Broadway I arrived in the busy hell hole of shoppers, screaming children, and phone zombies dads.

I folded up the Brompton and wheeled it shopping trolley style to the department of fruit and vegetables. Guess what! Four avocados in a split pack. That’s it. It gets worse dear reader. The Smart Shop wasn’t working there either, I went to the tills, the queue was endless. Bollix, I set the avocados down with oranges, I had past caring.

Leaving the shop empty handed, I was flummoxed as to know what to do, unfolding the Brompton I remembered the Farm Shop about four miles away.

I set off on my last ditch attempt to avail myself of the oily fruit, riding out of the town down the country lanes of West Hagbourne, towards Blewbury, where a Jedi overtook me on a blind left hand bend. He must’ve been a Jedi, he was using THE FORCE, there’s no other way the driver could have known that there was nothing coming the other way.

Upon arriving at the farm shop I was delighted to be rewarded with a profusion of excellent just ripe avocados, I picked one paid for it, and cycled the 1.5 miles home. A 10 mile mostly enjoyable avocado ride. Quite warm too, no need for a jacket.

 

[cyberknight]

only a short one today , i did ride home around midnight from work so i was late getting out and not enough sleep but this might be my only opportunity what with the weather forecast and available time .
Took the latest boardman project bike and although it needs a few tweaks it performed well enough until i was overtaken by someone on a very nice bike who looked about 8 stone wet through

 

[HLaB]

I was tempted to take my good bike out on todays group ride but the rain the train passed through last night convinced me otherwise. Most of my mates missed it and there was a few joking choice words about their good bikes getting dirty. Although when I got to the meet I had a feeling I had made a mistake at first.







I was a bit cautious after upset stomach on Thursday night but think things turned OK . After Thursday night’s workout I think I ate my dinner too fast after it. My stomach has been good after and after 12h I hand only lost 0.7% of my weight and it was back again the day after. If it happens again giving my history I might see the doc.

 

[Dave 123]

Just local lanes for me today. I’ve been feeling rough all week so today was a bit of an amble.

Primroses are everywhere at the moment along with celandine and stitchwort.

I saw some nice birds too, buzzards, kestrels, a beautiful pair of bullfinch and I heard a Chiffchaff.

There were a couple of sizeable puddles too!

https://www.strava.com/activities/10979846553

 

[All uphill]

Ms AU and I decided to celebrate a dry day by taking the mudguardless bikes on the train to Exeter. This felt like a big deal after all the rain and mud of the winter.

Great Western got us there in their usual friendly way and we set off towards Exeter Quay for two coffees (Ms AU) and a black tea for me.

Our pace was noticeably quicker after the coffee, and we soon reached Topsham. The return journey was equally easy taking a route north of the river.

The ride stats?

12 cormorants, 6 egrets and a kingfisher.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

After trying and failing to persuade my brother out for a ride I went off to do my own thing. The legs were aching a bit after the recent rides but I still fancied some hills so picked out a route that would hopefully not be too bad and it had some bail out options if I needed them.

To start with it was the very familiar short way to Condover, seeing the guy with his naughty derestricted e-mountain bike (it'll do 40+ from what I've seen) and a couple of drivers who didn't think the limit in Condover applies to them. After heading through the village in the direction of Cantlop the roads were quieter and, with the wind briefly helping, easier riding. That respite didn't last very long though and it was a bit slow on the way to Acton Burnell. At Evenwood I went straight on rather than my usual left turn aiming for Kenley. It's quite some time since I've climbed to Kenley from this side and although it's a bit of a pull I plodded up alright, looking on jealously at the riders whizzing past in the opposite direction.

It's more undulating after this with a general trend of climbing as I make my way past Church Preen School towards Longville then Cardington. Nice uneventful riding but where have all the cyclists gone? I haven't seen anyone since Kenley and as it turned out wouldn't see another rider until much later in the trip.

At Cardington the scene at the Royal Oak could almost have been any time in the last 70 years or so with a Land Rover and a couple of horses outside. Tempting as it was I didn't stop and carried on to climb up to Folly Bank. This was another plod but not too bad. The descent the other side was great though - after a photo stop I followed a car down the hill and didn't have too much trouble keeping up. My speedometer shows the ride maximum of 34.1 mph cropping up here.

At the bottom of the hill I picked up a good tailwind and made the most of it along the old Roman road then decided to carry on through Frodesley and back to Acton Burnell before retracing my steps to get back home. This was done at a much brisker pace than the journey out.

31.2 miles at 12.7 mph average. 1778 feet of climbing according to Strava. The legs are now telling me they'd like a break after 110 miles in a week.

A good display of daffs at Pitchford.

The Wrekin viewed from near Acton Burnell.

Church Preen School. The village of Church Preen is about a mile up the lane.

Looking towards Cardington from near Longville.

At Cardington.

About to start descending from Folly Bank.

 

[EltonFrog]

Two rides today.

Ride 1.
Probably the shortest ride ever.
Been doing a lot of jobs around the house today, to-ing and fro-ing to the garage for tools and what not, then about 13:30 …hark! I hear the dulcet ring tones of John’s Whippy ice cream van down at the other end of the village. He never comes up this end, so I whipped the Brompton into action and sallied forth to find the vendor of iced dessert.
At first I thought he might be down the rec, so I headed there first, to no avail, doing a quick U-eee, I pedalled down Main Street, and behold there was the van, notching up a gear to catch him, I pulled up behind the van as he was about to pull away, but a quick ‘hail there young fellow’ and the brakes went on, and I was able to avail myself of the creamy iced comestibles.

On offer were the usual items that are seen on the side of these vehicles since I was a child, but new to me where Caramel Biscotti Waffle cones with a Cadbury’s Chocolate Flake. I purchased one for me and one for the Fragrant MrsP, and wobbled back on the B one handed and successfully delivering the iced without dropping them. Probably less than a mile.

Ride 2.
The Fragrant MrsP wanted to get on the bikes for quick blast via the Tea Room in Blewbury a mile and a half down the road, nothing of not to mention except the weather was mild and dry, a quick hot chocolate, then the long way back via East Hagbourne. About 6.2 miles.

 

[geocycle]

The heavy overnight rain relented and I took a gamble on a forecast with only 80% rain all day. Fortunately it was the right move as it was pretty dry most of the time and relatively warm. Headed northward toward Farlton and then along increasingly small roads to Old Hutton. Lots of standing water could have led to some quite wet feet but mitigated by waterproof socks. I then climbed up past the wind farm and phone masts and dropped down into the Lune valley to Kirby Lonsdale. I explored the area around the church and got close to Ruskin’s View as painted by Turner although the path is now closed due to erosion by the river. Lunch was taken and I headed homeward. All was going well but 5 miles from home I had a rear wheel blowout. The tubeless tyre deflated instantly as a result of a 5 mm gash. I probably ran over glass or a screw in the wooden bridge I’d just crossed. I tried the worms and the darts I carried for this event but neither worked so I decided to put the tube in but couldn’t shift the nurled nut on the tubeless valve. So for the first time ever I had to call Mrs G. Still 72 km with 723 m of climbing which Is better than I feared when I opened the curtains.

pictures of road near Old Hutton, view from hill over look ing Lonsdale and view from Kirby Lonsdale churchyard close to Ruskin’s view.