Your ride today....

[Jon George]

t It took an age to get round the roundabout when I hit the outskirts of Ipswich.

If you're referring to the one at Bucklesham Road, you have my sympathies - you really have to be quick off the mark to grab a gap from that direction. If it keeps presenting a problem, you could always dismount and use the crossing to the right about fifty metres further down on the Bixley Road - I've seen quite a few people use that tactic.

 

[mybike]

[MEDIA=youtube]NVJHY5n6Zng[/MEDIA]

I can only tell you about this 'cos I could slow down faster than the car was slowing down . . .

Is that plate deliberately blurred?

 

[galaxy]

Had a nice leisurely 25 miles today. Apart from Mr 7.5 toner who decided to attempt to overtake on a blind corner then locked up the wheels as 2 cars appeared round the corner. Shuck me up a little so had 2 have a calmer in the Shoulder Of Mutton.

Just so happens to be half way round too. Nice uneventful ride home. Also only see 2 drivers on mobile fones today.

 

[Old jon]

@mybike not by me it isn't, I have not checked on a frame by frame basis though.

The little camera produces pretty good images, but it must get the heck of a battering.

 

[Saluki]

Off to visit a friend in Ipswich today. I tried out a slightly different route to bypass the horrible roundabout on Bucklesham Road that I need to turn right on. I went off my new normal route, along a road called Straight Road, then I went straight on instead of turning left there and came into Ipswich on the Foxhall Road instead. A bit more exploring required as there is another road that runs parrallell with this, that is quieter. Sunday exploring maybe. The weather forecast is good.

The start of the ride was different. Hubster needed to pop into town to order a repeat prescription so we rode up Convalescent Hill. Interesting one that. Short and steep. I loved it. Hubster not so much. I am the 13th fastest (women, not everyone) up there. Room for improvement and I am starting to enjoy hills a bit now.

We put my friend's address into my garmin and followed it. We'd had a plan to ride around the Ring Road but Christine the garmin (I still think that it's possessed) had other ideas and took us through the middle of Ipswich for some strange and unknown reason. It's probably shorter but the route is a PITA in the extreme. The Ring Road has cyclepaths all the way along. A few roundabouts for sure but fat cyclepaths on good surfaces - which is more than I can say for some of the road surfaces Christine led us along. Thank God for CX bike.
https://www.strava.com/activities/418715376/segments/10070937462 The ride there.

The ride back was better. We took the ring road and the most direct route home. Hubster was fine for the first 20 minutes and then the next hour was a bloody nightmare. Stopping every 100 metres, even though it was downhill. We found a shop and I sent him in for biscuits. He came back with a pack of digestive biscuit bar things and ate 4 of them. They were like chocolate topped cheesecake bases. Quite yummy and a doddle to make I would think. We got another 2 miles and I gave up and left him to it. He said to go home and let the dogs out, so I did. The stop start stop start every 100 yards or so is very tiring. He was in 2 minutes after I was in the end. Once over the bridge, it's properly downhill all the way home. Downhill as in not needing to even turn a pedal if you don't want to. I did. He didn't.

The ride home: https://www.strava.com/activities/418715443
The vast 20 metres of climbing, on the way home is what did for Hubster.
30.26 at an average of 11.5mph or so. I'm knackered now and have had a cheese toastie and a mug of hot chocolate.

 

[gavgav]

A couple of contrasting rides on the commute today. I had a great ride in with a good tail wind and the Raleigh just seeming to fly along. So much so that I varied the route, adding two miles so that I wouldn't be in too early. The 12 miles was rattled off quicker than 10 miles usually takes on the other bike.

The journey back wasn't quite so good. I needed to be home in good time this evening so took the short route but it was against the wind which slowed me down, the new saddle seemed slippier than this morning for some reason which made maintaining a good pedalling rythm difficult and the other traffic wasn't overly polite in passing.I topped this disappointing trip off by riding through a long stretch of fresh hedge cuttings and picking up a thorn in my front tyre (first puncture since fitting Marathons to this bike about 6000 miles ago ). I may avoid that route for a while until the motor traffic has cleared the cuttings a bit.

20.4 miles for the round trip at an average of 14.9 mph - not too shabby really.

Where are the hedge cuttings?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Where are the hedge cuttings?

On the road from Condover to the cross roads for Betton Abbots. We may want a couple of alternative routes for Sunday.

 

[Donger]

I was scraping at the windows all morning today, wanting to get out there. I've been putting in such long hours at work lately that I had to take an afternoon's flexi leave to avoid having the hours taken off me, so I had a "special" planned. By which I mean a ride a bit further from home than normal, and I had been hankering to get out and explore a bit of Wiltshire. Drove down to Sherston and rode the lanes down to Corsham and back via Castle Combe, ending up with a route that looked like a reef knot:

One of those flat grey days, today, that always looked like it was about to rain, but it never quite did. Started off along the old Fosse Way Roman road, which was every bit as straight as it looked on the map:

... followed by a series of wonderfully quiet and flattish lanes. I was joined by a friendly local rider at one point, and he rode with me, chatting for a while, and pointed me in the right direction at a junction with no signpost. Apparently it is always that quiet around there. Next stop Biddestone (somewhere I had never been before, but with a couple of nice pubs I wouldn't mind going back to):

Then onwards to my planned destination, Corsham. Stopped for a moment at Corsham Court:

.. before turning back towards Sherston again. A nice little place, Corsham:

Took a nice minor detour along a very narrow lane through the woods and up a steep little hill to take in Castle Combe on the way back. At one point I heard a car approaching fast with a loud roaring engine and screeching brakes, and I prepared for the worst..... only for it to turn out I was right alongside the Castle Combe racetrack! What a beautiful little place the lower (old) part of Castle Combe is. I'd been there several times by car, and had always liked the idea of cycling there, and today was the day for it. Anyone who doesn't know the place might still recognise it anyway ... as it was one of the film sets for "War Horse":

Cracking little place ...

Ended up doing 28.6 miles today, and enjoyed every one of them. It's always nice to have a change of scene and ride some new roads. I can certainly recommend these parts of North Wiltshire. Have just noticed that I've done about 1,000 miles more than my norm for end of October, and 500 miles more than my previous best. I've also already passed my previous best end of year total mileage, with two months still to go. Loving my cycling, right now, and this was the sort of ride I like best, when you slow it down and just go exploring. Happy cycling everyone.
Cheers, Donger.

 

[Jon George]

I went off my new normal route, along a road called Straight Road, then I went straight on instead of turning left there and came into Ipswich on the Foxhall Road instead.

That lane that carries on from Straight Road is a notorious 4x4 rat-run - so please be careful if you use it again. Can I suggest modifying your ride in from Felixstowe so that you turn right at Trimley St Martin, head towards Kirton, take a left into innocence Lane, then turn right at the end and head to Bucklesham and follow the road into Ipswich - okay, it's a tad longer and you'll have to divert to use the crossing rather than endure the roundabout, but it's just as flat and the scenery (and quiet) makes up for it. Have a happy weekend!

 

[Gravity Aided]

Innocence Lane. That's one I'm not familiar with...

 

[gavgav]

On the road from Condover to the cross roads for Betton Abbots. We may want a couple of alternative routes for Sunday.

Plan is to do Little Stretton and so we should be fine.

 

[13 rider]

Back at home after a few days away . Got up latish 9.00 look out at grey sky's checked BBC website rain by 10.00 so can I beat the rain .Set off up through Newtown Linford approaching Ulverscoft lane was catching another cyclist just sat behind for 30 sec in case they were going up Sharply hill . They turned left same as me so I pulled up along side said good morning and we both realised we had met before .I had bumped into her when she was doing the tour de Leicestershire and I was just out crossing the route and I rode 5 miles with her and two friends .So a nice sociable ride chatting while we were climbing Polly Botts lane ( so @Supersuperleeds strava time was safe for today .I ll try to beat it next time) .I think this is the first time I've climbed Polly Botts and been able to chat as normally I attack the climb so it made a nice change. At the crossroads at the top we parted company as I went left and Sylvie went right and I promised to see her on this years tour ( what have I done !). started descending priory lane and the rain started so no I couldn't beat the rain .So out round the back of Markfield and then past south Charnwood school and the descent into Thornton were I discovered hail hurts at 30 mph .Through Thornton down past the reservoir and head back towards Markfield .Rain wasn't too bad so swung right to Ratby . Into Ratby then Groby and Home 16.4 miles done in 1 hr 7 min. Manage not to get too wet as I sit typing the rain getting worse so might have timed it right. Nice ride despite the weather and nice chance meeting

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.strava.com/activities/419162677

I scoped out a new route for my Ride Social's.

This could easily be extended to an imperial super loop

 

[Saluki]

That lane that carries on from Straight Road is a notorious 4x4 rat-run - so please be careful if you use it again. Can I suggest modifying your ride in from Felixstowe so that you turn right at Trimley St Martin, head towards Kirton, take a left into innocence Lane, then turn right at the end and head to Bucklesham and follow the road into Ipswich - okay, it's a tad longer and you'll have to divert to use the crossing rather than endure the roundabout, but it's just as flat and the scenery (and quiet) makes up for it. Have a happy weekend!

Thank you for that. I will explore it tomorrow in the daylight.

At Trimley roundabout? Is that where to turn right? I will pull up google maps and have a good look. I think that we have ridden back that way.

 

[Old jon]

I usually leave the house at about ten a.m. for a ride, but I wimped at the weather today. Finally got moving about one thirty, wearing newly bought top and gloves, it was well cold yesterday. By the time I had ridden a few miles the hands were way too hot for comfort. Stop and take off gloves. A few miles further on and the rain returned. Stop and put on waterproof. And in between those stops discovered I had forgotten my drink bottle. Stop and buy bottle of water. 28.3 miles, from home to Oakwood Clock, Boot Hill, Scarcroft, Bardsey, Collingham, turn right on the Boston road and right again for Bramham, Thorner and back to Leeds, noticing it had stopped raining by the time I reached the Ring Road and I had a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds in front of me. Life, as the saying is.