Supersuperleeds
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
Got up this morning and cleaned all my bikes. Was a bit cold first thing, but by the time I had cleaned the last one it was much warmer. Our lass by that time had set of for Abingdon with her brother to go see another brother and her dad - in the car, not on bikes. Eldest lad was out at his girlfriends and youngest was still in bed. Sod it, I'm going out for a spin.
I decided to go climb Polly Botts after @13 rider taking the mickey out of me avoiding it on another thread. It's roughly 12 miles away, so a 25 mile round trip sounded just about right.
I decided to take it nice and steady and went straight into town and then jumped on Route 63 which would take me to Groby. After 4 or 5 miles of really struggling I realised the back brake was sticking tight on one side and I couldn't get the lowest gear; I can't have put the wheel back in properly after cleaning the bike so loosened it and retightened it; quickly tweaked the indexing and was away. Obviously every slight climb I was thinking the back brake was stuck again, but it seemed to be okay and the gears were shifting better.
At Glenfield I found a shared path that took me all the way to Ratby, was called the Ivanhoe Trail - was brilliant, tarmac all the way for a good two miles, completely traffic free and got me across the A46 and the M1, will use that more often I think.
Got to Polly Botts, there was a cyclist stopped at the bottom, slowed to check he was okay, he was. So I shot up the first part of the climb in the highest gear got round the first bend and out of sight of the other cyclist, dropped the bike into the lowest gear and blew out of my arse all the way up
(When I got home I noticed I was a tiny bit quicker than someone else on here 
)
After that I went up Priory Lane, which I think is harder than Polly Botts, then up to Beacon Hill and then 3 miles of downhill and with the car behind me staying well back I had the opportunity to really push it (for me!) I was surprised when I only hit 40mph, I've done faster on much shorter descents - though a bit steeper.
After that it was a nice meander through a couple of villages, back through town and home. 39 miles done
https://www.strava.com/activities/409996886
I decided to go climb Polly Botts after @13 rider taking the mickey out of me avoiding it on another thread. It's roughly 12 miles away, so a 25 mile round trip sounded just about right.
I decided to take it nice and steady and went straight into town and then jumped on Route 63 which would take me to Groby. After 4 or 5 miles of really struggling I realised the back brake was sticking tight on one side and I couldn't get the lowest gear; I can't have put the wheel back in properly after cleaning the bike so loosened it and retightened it; quickly tweaked the indexing and was away. Obviously every slight climb I was thinking the back brake was stuck again, but it seemed to be okay and the gears were shifting better.
At Glenfield I found a shared path that took me all the way to Ratby, was called the Ivanhoe Trail - was brilliant, tarmac all the way for a good two miles, completely traffic free and got me across the A46 and the M1, will use that more often I think.
Got to Polly Botts, there was a cyclist stopped at the bottom, slowed to check he was okay, he was. So I shot up the first part of the climb in the highest gear got round the first bend and out of sight of the other cyclist, dropped the bike into the lowest gear and blew out of my arse all the way up
(When I got home I noticed I was a tiny bit quicker than someone else on here )After that I went up Priory Lane, which I think is harder than Polly Botts, then up to Beacon Hill and then 3 miles of downhill and with the car behind me staying well back I had the opportunity to really push it (for me!) I was surprised when I only hit 40mph, I've done faster on much shorter descents - though a bit steeper.
After that it was a nice meander through a couple of villages, back through town and home. 39 miles done
https://www.strava.com/activities/409996886
I am quicker on the bottom half 
Agree about priory lane is worst that way than Polly Botts . I'll stop joking about your hill avoidance now as you keep going quicker than me 
. Mine you I'm quicker up priory lane 
