Your ride today....

[lazybloke]

I'd originally planned a 100km ride today.
But the local school rang last night. I was expecting to do some work for them next week, but had to go in this morning as well.
Also had chores to do this morning, and then my wife needed me in this afternoon to sign for a parcel she was expecting.

So I only had 70 minutes for my ride, and didn't quite manage 100km.
It was just a short loop out to RHS Wisley, taking an offroad shortcut. Saw some sloes - seems a poor harvest but I might go harvesting to flavour some gin. Also some nice rosehips looking colourful in the sunshine.

It was nippy; my Garmin teased that it was 11 degrees, but it was a false reading from being stored somewhere warm. In fact, I had to be fairly cautious in places due to icy roads.
Got to Wisley and decided there wasn't time for coffee or cake, so turned and took the fast (road) route home.

Got home and waited all afternoon for my wife's parcel. It got here the same time she did, so I could have gone my 100km.
Oh well, am pleased with my 13.4mph average speed, considering ice, an offroad stretch, and a lot of faffing on pavements and a car park. On the heavy/slow bike too.

Focus!

 

[8mph]

A late ride across the moors to pick up a new car. The moors were snowy, and not just a sprinkling on the tors. A slightly wiggly 23 miles from Buckfastleigh to Chagford arriving just after dusk

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Day off for Christmas shopping ruined by the weather*

*far too nice to go shopping all day!

[Monday addendum: just realised I never pressed "post reply" button on this last Thursday! D'oh]

 

[PeteXXX]

I've not been on here for a while!! (4 years? 🤔)
About time I did.. 👍
Today's ride was a Post Bert Bimble around the town.

Wondering which paths would be open, I did an anticlockwise circle around Hamtun.

First blockage was on Sustrans 6. 8' deep at the moment but the flood had subsided from at least 12' judging by the reeds on the scaffolding!

Next diversion was under the arches by the railway station...

The path alongside the Nene was a bit slippery but at least it was now flood free.

The back entrance to the aptly named Riverside Retail Park contained mud, water and cars. Rideable on the raised path, though 👌

Further up, by The Quays pub, it got quite a bit deeper.. Enough to ruin the Beemer that gave it a go!

Road & bike path too deep to attemp so I backtracked past the BMW and crossed the A45 via a bridge.

Anyways.. The water was this deep when I pedalled through it.
At least my waterproof trainers worked by keeping the water in until I got home..

Back on 18 miles feeling quite warm as I'd dressed for the chilly temperatures at the start of the ride!

 

[PeteXXX]

Pleasant but nippy ride around Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon..

Parking in Pitsford village is easier, and closer for me, than the car park there. Free, too 👍

A bit icy in the shadows but, at +4 in was ok once on the move.

Chips & a coffee at the café after a couple of miles..

The res is full to the brim with the recent rains 💦

Back before it got too dark..
10 peaceful miles 😊

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Yesterday: After no rides for over a week it was good to get out in the afternoon. Before starting off I thought I'd fit the new pair of pedals to the Hawk after finally having to accept that I've had my moneys worth out of the previous set over the last 10 years/30-odd thousand miles. The new ones have sealed bearings which should be better since this bike gets used in all conditions. The Acton Burnell route is a favourite one for testing new bits so I set out to do that.

I went over a very wet Lyth Hill to start and thought I'd extend the route to make a change but crossing the summit and dropping down to Exford's Green then Stapleton. Oddly the saddle felt way too high with the new pedals on so I stopped at the top to lower it a little before continuing. From there all felt good.

The lane to Stapleton was relatively busy (traffic trying to avoid the temporary lights on the A49) but I've seen it worse. After crossing the main road to Gonsal it was much quieter on the way to Ryton then Longnor. The wind was light, which was good as I was riding into it to Frodesley and Acton Burnell. Not much traffic but the one van that did come up behind me was very reluctant to overtake until the road narrowed, then he went past.

I let a tractor by on the way to Cound Moor but found myself catching up on the next descent and when he pulled in to let a car overtake I went past too - the tractor didn't catch me again. The long straight wasn't as quick as usual as I needed to pull in for a couple of vehicles - one was a Range Rover and the driver gave me such an unexpectedly cheery wave it had me smiling for the next mile.

The climb to Harnage seemed a bit more of an effort than I'm used to, which I put down to the cold weather, then I noticed that some of the worst bits of road on the descent to Cound have been patched. Flag of the day in the village was the Union Jack which I found oddly disappointing this time.

At Cound Stank I had the usual choice of routes and, not fancying going on the A458 with the sun low in the sky, I chose to go left and head towards Pitchford. The descent into the dip here was fun, as was the one at Cantlop but my right knee felt strained so the climbs weren't as good. I may need to look at the set up of the bike again - I hadn't expected a simple change of pedals to make this much of a difference.

The sun was going down by the time I reached Lyons Lane and made for some nice views towards the Long Mynd. There was quite a lot of traffic (more rat runners) so I decided to try the lane through Allfield and hope that it wasn't flooded - it wasn't and looked like the drainage has had some work not too long ago which is useful to know.

Heading through Little Lyth there were more rat-runners but this time many of them were going much too quick for such a narrow and twisty lane.

27.5 miles at 11.9 mph average. Strava claims 1589 feet of climbing. Great to get out on a sunny but cold afternoon. I'd have gone out again today but the right knee is really not happy after this one.

Today's view from the top of Lyth Hill.

Stapleton.

View to The Wrekin on my way to Harnage.

Harnage.

Looking towards the hills from Lyons Lane.

Crossing Lyth Hill for the second time.

From the same spot, it's a nice sunset in the other direction.

 

[wafter]

My opportunity to ride has really taken a hammering over the past two weeks - last was only one commute into the office and a bit of utility mincing for a pitiful 25 miles total, while this week I had to drive to another location for work which, thanks to the thoughtlessness of a mate / colleague now sees me stricken with whatever pox is currently doing the rounds.

I came down with it yesterday and suspect it'll mean an attempt to WFH next week to avoid expiring on the commute and exposing others.

As such getting a ride in ASAP if possible seemed prudent; so this morning despite feeling rough I set off on a pseudo-commute several hours later than usual; stopping at the butchers for a selection of weekend meats and a hitherto unsampled steak and ale pie.

From there I wafted sedately around the city for a bit; my attempts to head out east and come back into the city on the cycle / tow paths being repeatedly thwarted by the non-trivial flooding at Sandford on (under) Thames and the river generally.

Ended up doing about 25 miles which at least equals last week's piffling effort; although now I feel pretty shafted, can't feel my toes and am expecting my legs to stop working soon.

To the bath for some damage limitation..

 

[sevenfourate]

After a busy morning on a day off work: doing a few jobs around the house: I made it out for a short ride to literally blow away the cobwebs. By heck it was blustery beside the sea 😳

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

It's a grey, cold and blustery day here but I got out in it anyway. The saddle was adjusted about 3mm lower after the knee issues last time and it did feel better from the off. I found the headwind from the off as well and it was quite a struggle to ride into initially - it did make me wonder whether I was that keen to do this ride after all, but by the time I had climbed Lyth Hill I'd got into a rhythm and it felt fine.

I was starting off on the same route as last time but when I dropped down to Exford's Green I took a detour through Lower Common which made a change and got me out of the wind for a short while. When I rejoined the road to Stapleton it wasn't as busy as two days ago, which was appreciated. Reaching the village I took a right and headed towards Pulverbatch. The knee was still feeling alright and this would be a good test as I'd be climbing for the next couple of miles.

It all went pretty well until I got to Church Pulverbatch. The gradient ramps up in the village and I should have gone down a gear but thought I'd be fine just pushing a bit harder until the knee reminded me it's only a couple of days since I strained it. Backing off a bit everything was good again and I put aside any thoughts I'd had about extending the route.

The downhill stretch to Longden Common then into Longden itself was good as ever. I cut the corner by heading down School Lane back to Exford's Green then decided to head back via Hunger Hill and Little Lyth as this is less of a climb than if I'd retraced my steps. Again, there was less traffic than I thought there might be, which was particularly welcome on the narrow lane through Little Lyth.

17.8 miles for this one at 11.5 mph average. 1177 feet of climbing. I found the wheelie bin had blown over while I was out so I feel vindicated that it was quite blowy. Oddly the Met Office reckons the wind speed was only 9mph during the ride.

Not really the weather for getting good photos today so please accept these few snaps:

The track heading up to the top of Lyth Hill has actually dried a bit since I was last here.

The Stretton Hills are hiding today.

Gloomy where I am but the Wrekin is bathed in sunshine.

If I carried on south of Pulverbatch I'd be climbing into the cloud today.

 

[Dave 123]

Well I may have put a deposit on a clockwork bike yesterday….

But today I went and got my Scott bike wet and dirty. I only did a Battisborough loop and some of the roads were dirtier than the bridleway!

https://www.strava.com/activities/13013900068

A beautiful sea view!

 

[bluenotebob]

Misty start to the day here today. It had been forecast but it looked like the afternoon would be clearer so I’d planned a 30km ride for after lunch. The murk was starting to clear by 10am so I reckoned I could do a 50km ride. Thought about it a bit more and realised that if I added in a short section of the G347 footpath that I hadn’t cycled before then it could be a 60km ride. Then I decided to shift the starting point further north, so it would be a 70km ride. I only needed another 78km today to have cycled 1000km in November for the first time – and I only needed one more ride over 79km to get to Eddington E79 Metric so I decided to shift the end point further south to make it at least an 81km ride.

Katie-Mae (gravel bike) in the van along with day bag, camera, some food (not enough as it turned out) and a full bidon of diluted sirop de cassis (in other words, Ribena) and three pairs of cycling gloves (having been caught out earlier in the week by a heavy shower and not having my neoprene gloves with me). 10-minute drive into Mauron then off down the V3 Voie Verte in slightly misty conditions but, as the cycle path is traffic-free, not a problem. Hammered through Ploërmel, over the canal at le Pont-des-Deux-Rivières, past la Chapelle Caro and up to the V3/D10 junction north of Malestroit.

Left the V3 and took a farm track heading south for a few hundred metres then right on a grassy, muddy track heading west to Trélan. There’s an allée couverte (burial chamber) marked on the map near where the GR347 crosses the D10 and I was hoping to get some decent photos of it. Cycled past it twice before I realised where it was – or rather, where the remains of it were. Two parallel lines of large stones and somewhat overgrown. Rather disappointing – there’s another one about 10km north of here which is still standing – it’s not quite up to the standard of Wayland’s Smithy, but it’s pretty good nonetheless. Anyway, I took a couple of photos and managed to get both feet soaking wet. Damn.

Followed the GR347 to le Pissot (odd name) then back onto the V3, over the hill by the old railway station at Malestroit and then took a right just before la Tayée to join the D774. Followed that towards Pleucadeuc for less than 1 km then turned left and back onto the V3 and headed north. Having changed my mind so much this morning about how long the ride would be, I’d packed enough food for a 50km ride – not for an 80km ride with a diversion included. I’d eaten all my food by the time I’d left the shelter at the old railway station at Malestroit – so I just concentrated on getting back to the van before nightfall. Ended up riding the last 45km with wet feet – not particularly enjoyable.

A good day out, despite having wet feet for over half the ride … 82km cycled in just under 5.5 hours.

The Lac au Duc, north of Ploërmel, on the southward leg

What remains of the allée couverte near Trélan

On the GR347 between Trélan and le Pissot

 

[HLaB]

Just me and a slower mate out and despite it being 10deg C (eventually 14degC) warmer than the other day the wind was freezing and my hands numbed up big time. We eventually came across a flood and turned to find another mate just a few miles behind. At the cafe we met other folk and with it warming up a bit and being a bit faster my blood was flowing better in my hands.





I forgot to say I had the winter/commuter bike out and Im glad I had it the roads were filthy.

 

[sevenfourate]

I’ve never professed to be very clever. So it was unsurprising I chose today to do my first ever (?) 50k. I’ve done alot of 25-30 mile runs. Not sure I’ve ever made 50k though. And it was a breezy day to do it. Straight back wind all the way out. So have a guess what that meant coming home……

Seems fitting on Dec 1st:

Beach-huts at Gorleston, Norfolk:

Er, Yea. Not sure B+Q sell this paint ……

Gt Yarmouths new £200m 3rd Crossing:

Great Mural at Lacons Brewery:

One of the oldest Wooden roller Coasters on the Planet:

Gt Yarmouth Seafront ferris wheel:

Hopton Church:

Coastal Route:

 

[Dave 123]

Another variation on a Battisborough loop. This time I went down the Preston bridleway. It was mucky. There was also the rare sight of 2 cyclists coming the other way.

Up the killer hill to Alston and back through to home via Bull and Bear.

Coming into the village Lisa was driving out to go shopping. I gave her a 2 handed wave, she’ll probably tell me off later!

https://www.strava.com/activities/13023525598

 

[HLaB]

Wore my heated gloves today and I’m glad I did the weather was dreich which put off most of my Sunday group so the fast group and slow groups merged. I sat on the front all the way round but it wouldn’t have been fast enough on its own to keep my hands from going numb without them.