Your ride today....

[Dave 123]

A Friday afternoon ride to Battisborough via the Luson bridleway then out on to the coast path at the tea house. On stopping to admire the view a pair of Peregrines started yelling and then knocking lumps out of one another. One beat a hasty retreat.

There were more gannets than usual, fairly close by too.

A hare was spotted skittering away from me.

Out to sea there was a storm. Poking out of the bottom was an ever lengthening finger of cloud, getting thinner and thinner…. Eventually what could have been a tornado petered out.

There were lots of parasol mushrooms in the grassland. I walked here on Sunday and didn’t see one.

Not much livestock about, but coming into Noss I did see a couple of South Devon cattle, known as orange elephants.

15 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12630489339

 

[Dave 123]

Just a ride around local lanes and Bridleways, and down into Flete. Not much about really….

14 and a bit miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/12635295173

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Popped out to do a gentle 25-30km on the good slow bike (Trek District).

Lovely sunshine when I set out - but the skies quickly got dramatic with layers of dark clouds interspersed by hazy sunshine. The wind picked up too. And then came the dreaded downpour. Thankfully it didn't last long.

Also, I must learn to stop confronting motorists. I had quite the case of carbrain to contend with, following a pointless and extremely close pass.

 

[sevenfourate]

Wow…..Welcome to ‘Winter’ cycling ❄️ That was fresh ! Even kitted out in my new Winter clobber. What I forgot to put on were my Big Boy Pants I think…..🤣🤣

Wasn’t silly cold. But enough to make you think. Irrespective of that I had a thoroughly enjoyable 27 miles in good company on dry roads. Top that 👌

 

[Donger]

A chilly one today. Possibly my last ride of the year in shorts and short sleeved jersey.

Made my way out to the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Slimbridge via Whitminster and Eastington and a couple of sections of A38.

Then stopped off at the Black Shed Cafe nearby for a hot bowl of soup before plodding home. Another 50km ride in crisp, clear and windless weather. Enjoyed that.

 

[HLaB]

Yesterday was the normal group ride to the pub but it started pouring when we were there so we had a 3rd pint and being a bit p1ssed I lost the 53.5 miles to the Pub (Falcon in Fotheringhay).



I did get home though.



Today was another group ride but in the exact opposite conditions it had cleared overnight and temperatures dropped to 4deg C and suffering from chemo induced neuropathy I deliberately overdressed.





When I was cleaning the bike I decided I’d go out for a short recovery on the gravel bike before dinner. First time I’ve ridden it in a bit. I think I need to up my core strength and adjust the right shifter I might have knocked it crash earlier in the year.

 

[Witzend]

45.66 miles; 294m of ascent; one stop (to de-cake the bike); 21 other cyclists seen (including 15 on a club ride).

Having thoroughly cleaned the bike and chain; replaced a broken spoke and re-tensioned the back wheel over the weekend, what did I do? I decided to stitch together as many tracks and bridlepaths as I could to get some miles of grinding off-road into the legs.

Unfortunately, the Moto-X and off-roaders had been out at the weekend and one lane in particular was barely passable. I don't remember ever being as muddy. Some of the lumpy downhills were a test for the back wheel and I nearly came a cropper when I broke my own rule of avoiding afternoon school-run traffic, but a good work-out and everything is clean again. About 60/40 on-/off-road.

 

[bluenotebob]

Yesterday’s ride involved a return to the rigole d’Hilvern and my continuation north of the V8 Voie Verte (which links Lorient on the south coast of Brittany and St-Brieuc on the north coast). One of my most enjoyable rides of the year even if I was a bit pushed for time and therefore hurried in a few places that I’d have preferred to linger in.

Started from Cadoret on Katie-Mae (my gravel bike – better suited to the lumpy bumpy canal towpath and the gritty surface of the rigole ... but not ideal for some of the hills that I encountered on part of the return leg).

What follows are my notes of the ride – perhaps not very readable but they are my only record of where I went yesterday (and I will have forgotten some of the details by the end of the week) …

Up the canal – through Rohan, then off at the écluse du Guer. Followed the road through Coët Prat to Keriffé and the écluse de Boju. Followed the road towards St Maudan then left before the bridge and on to la Métairie de la Plaisse and la Ville Pain. Continued north under the D706 expressway then through St Urbain, le Nézy and Larlan up to the D69. Turned left and followed that into Hémonstoir.

Up to Hirgouët and finally back onto the rigole (28km of cycling to get here). I followed the rigole all the way to the D7 outside St Caradec (another 12km on the bike). Dropped down to the outskirts of town – took a photo for the ‘ABC of Saints’ thread and then headed back up the hill (also took a photo of the V6, heading towards St Guen).

I followed the VAB (Voie Abbaye Beauport – one of the Compostela pilgrimage trails) back to Hémonstoir, via the calvaire at Kerdrain and la chapelle de St Marcel (I had to push the bike up the rough track from the chapelle). Stayed on the VAB to la Gare then turned L to Larlan. Followed the ‘out’ road back to la Ville Pain then took a R up to St Gonnery. Followed the rigole around St Gonnery then took the GR37 south. Followed the rigole (and GR37) back to the écluse d’Hilvern.

Returned from Hilvern on the canal all the way back to Cadoret. 79km done at this point so I dropped the day bag off in the van and then went down to Pomeleuc on the canal, over the bridge then back up the road on the other side of the valley back to Cadoret to get the ride over the 54-mile mark.

87.21km in 6 hours 3 mins cycling time (it was nearer 7 hours in total on the bike with all the stops to check maps, have a drink, take photos etc).

A remarkably mild evening for mid-October .. it was 17C in Guilliers at 8pm when I drove back through there on the way home.

Leaving Cadoret and heading towards Rohan

Approaching le Hinguet, south-east of Hémonstoir – almost totally derelict and crying out for someone to renovate it (“Help! I Bought A Village” springs to mind)

Back on the rigole near Hirgouët – after a 4-month delay

The rigole near Sémenville – there’s even some water in it …

A route map of the rigole, showing how it does indeed wriggle

The rigole at the start of la Tranchée de Pestuan

The calvaire near Kerdrain

la chapelle de St Marcel

 

[Witzend]

^^^^^ Nice one, Bob. I always fancied the Canal du Midi myself. ^^^^^

63.86 miles; 349m of ascent; non-stop; on- and off-road; 22 other cyclists seen today.

From the off, a damp and breezy ride through acres of mostly flat, agricultural land - quiet, but exposed. 19 miles of off-road, including a 10-mile stretch of old railtrack on which all but 4 of the other cyclists encountered were. Non-stop apart from a red traffic light.

Mercifully uneventful, but a lot more deer about than normal, and a few red kites. There were a number of cars in one remote spot that were parking up in gateways, getting out, getting back in, driving a bit further and doing the same - clearly looking at/for something. I've seen this when they used to follow fox-hunting, but I couldn't fathom what they were up to.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Half the month has gone since I last logged in so I have a little catching up to do.

Wednesday 2nd of October: I had an unplanned day off work (weather related) and as the day was dry took myself out for a ride on the Hawk instead. I wanted to get a decent distance in and haven't been to Wroxeter in ages so that seemed like a plan.

I thought I'd head past Boreton Ford and have a nose to see if there was any sign of the car that got swept downstream a couple of days earlier - I couldn't see anything so I presume that it had already been recovered. The driver was rescued alright by the way, but from the photos in the Shropshire Star the incident could very easily have turned tragic.

I took the very sandy lane towards Berrington then had a good run to Atcham despite a blustery headwind. I can't recall when I last rode through Upton Forge so it was good to revisit my old commuting route. I found the River Tern still in flood but fortunately the bridleway was clear of the water - good job I didn't come this way a day or two earlier. Something really nice was that after climbing out of the little valley I found the lane to have been completely resurfaced. Such a contrast to the potholed obstacle course it used to be.

Viroconium looks much the same as always. I paused for a couple of photos, one of which needed to be carefully angled so as not to get the school group that was touring the site in shot. The hills between here and Cressage don't get any less steep and the climb of Shore Lane was a pull as ever. I had a tailwind by now, which was good but didn't make me fast. I encountered a car which had something dragging underneath and stopped when they pulled over to see if everything was alright. The driver says airily "Oh, it's always doing that".

The tailwind continued helping through Acton Burnell to Longnor and I was enjoying myself so I thought I'd extend the ride so took a left at Ryton to go through Gonsall and Stapleton before crossing Lyth Hill. While taking a photo at the top I got bounced on by a springer spaniel who had decided I was his new best friend.

33.8 miles at 12.4 mph average. Strava says 1617 feet of climbing, but then it also claims my speed was only 11.8 so I don't know how much I trust it. Great to get out as always and nice to ride some lanes I haven't been along for a while.

Boreton ford is passable but still fast flowing. A couple of days prior the water would have been up to the windows of this pickup!

The light at the end of the tunnel on my way to Berrington.

New and old bridges at Atcham.

Crossing the River Tern at Upton Forge.

The replica villa at Viroconium (Wroxeter).

I'm not going that way but it makes a nice scene at Eyton.

Looking back for a moment on my way to Cressage.

Acton Burnell.

The view I like at Stapleton.

View to the Stretton hills from the top of Lyth Hill.

.........................................

I'd done a service on @gavgav's bike and he came to pick it up later the same day. We took it for a test round Meole Brace, Bowbrook and Radbrook and it was a nice evening for a sociable ride. My service had sorted most of the issues it had, but unfortunately the new chain was not meshing well with the small chainring and it only showed under load - no slippage but it was very noisy. That'll need sorting later on.

10.2 miles at 10.7 mph average. No photos from this one

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Thursday 3 October: Doug's day off coincided with my scheduled one so we got out together to enjoy the decent weather while it lasted. I suggested something shorter than last time we cycled together and before we started I had a good look at the set up of his bike to see if it could be improved. It looked like the saddle was too low despite me having raised it after changing the cranks so I put it up a bit and we set out.

The start of the ride was much the same as I'd done with Gav and is good as it includes some undulations and some nice bits on flowing new estate roads. This test route showed me that the saddle could go up a little further still, so there were pauses for more adjustment. We dropped in at The Boathouse for refreshment, which was very pleasant overlooking the river, then carried on through The Quarry before crossing at Greyfriars Bridge, which is close to The Coleham Tap so we were tempted to have another stop there as well.

Two pub stops meant that we weren't quick on the way back, although we were tempted to have a small detour round an out of the way Strava segment that Gav discovered recently.

A touch over 12 miles at 11.1 mph average. Doug seems happier with the bike after this one so we'll see how it goes over the next few rides. I measured it at the end of the ride and the saddle has gone up 18mm since changing the cranks - 12mm of that just on this ride.

Some shots taken while we were at The Boathouse:

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Friday 11 October: Another day off that coincided with Doug being off.... or at least it was until he was asked to do an extra shift. Ah, well. I aimed to go out on my own and due to procrastination didn't start off until after lunch, by which time the glorious sunshine of the morning was changing to something cloudier.

It may have started sunny but it wasn't warm so I had layers on, which was just as well since colder air rolled in as the cloud bubbled up. I thought I'd aim to do at least 30 miles and set off on the knockabout bike towards Condover, Ryton and Longnor. The A49 didn't cause too much bother this time but there was a noticeable headwind, which annoyingly seemed to provide little in the way of assistance after I changed direction heading through Acton Burnell.

It was good to see a few other cyclists out and about. The lane to Cressage seemed to be busier than usual but that was balanced out by the main road to Eaton Constantine then Uppington being nice and quiet. I found an unexpected road closure on Bluebell Lane and decided to risk it to see if I could walk through the closure, which turned out to be no problem.
A buzzard took off from the roadside and flew with me a short distance before wheeling off to the right shortly after Walcot.

The school day was finishing when I reached Upton Magna so there were lots of vehicles parked but fortunately my timing was good so that the actual rush home started after I'd reached the old canal path at Uffington. There were however plenty of people walking on this path and on Sydney Avenue and the riverside paths into The Quarry. I went past to see if I could spot Doug at work and got a brief glimpse of him as he started clearing up early due to a lack of customers.

I headed through Porthill and along Roman Road to finish, getting overtaken by someone on the squeakiest bike I've encountered in some time. When he braked it sounded like the blocks were down to the metal backing and I was so tempted to chase after him and offer to fix it. I didn't think that would go down too well though.

35.4 miles at 12.2 mph average. Strava says 1434 feet of climbing. Great to get out, but it would have been nicer to have done it in company.

There was blue sky at the start but it didn't last long.

The Lawley and Caer Caradoc from Longnor.

The long straight at Cound Moor. It's mostly downhill in this direction.

The Wrekin from Cressage Bridge.

..... and again from near Uppington.

Taking a pause on the bridge at Walcot.

The Hare and Hounds at Withington seems to have had a bit of a makeover since I was last here.

Heading into Shrewsbury along the river path.