Your ride today....

[sanddancer]

Strong headwind and rain along the river on my commute this morning
The bloke riding towards me in a large high vis work coat was flying along and not even pedaling lol
I bet the wind has turned for my ride home knowing my luck

 

[andytheflyer]

30 miler to Wem and back on the recumbent for a cuppa, and no cake (I made a Victoria sponge on Tuesday..)

Was supposed to have been sunny, but it wasn't. Definitely time to put the Defy to bed for the winter - had to give the Performer a severe hose down when I got back to disperse the cow muck and everything else I'd picked up. The townies have it easy - only broken glass to deal with. We bumpkins have to deal with everything the farmers have to throw at us - including hawthorns from the flail mowers that would pierce 1/4 inch steel plate.......

 

[toffee]

In Copenhagen with Mrs T for our anniversary, thought we would see some of the sights by bike, why not they are everywhere. So this morning I registered with http://bycyklen.dk/en/ and then we set off to pick up a couple of bikes from the nearest point to our hotel.

Got the bikes out of the racks OK but we struggled to adjust the seat height, worked it out in the end, release handle and push the seat down.

Then we set off which was a strange experience. First of all the bikes are heavy, very heavy and to help you they are electric assist and this was the first time we had ridden them. Bike is king in Copenhagen and it is very strange to see cars waiting for you to pass on the inside before they turn right.

Any way spent a couple of hours riding round visiting places and going over the Bryggebroen bridge. Will be back to ride around more of Denmark in future years.

Slower than usual but we had a very enjoyable couple of hours

Derek

 

[Old jon]

No ride yesterday, the rain again. Some drizzle this morning, which turned to rain along Red Hall Lane and mostly stopped by the time I reached the maypole in Barwick.. Must find a better(?) waterproof. 29.8 miles of a mixed up route to Lotherton Hall and back, the high point was ascending Boot Hill without stopping for a rest, a first for me since I started riding again. I rode there, Barbs went by bus and Shanks's pony to renew our membership, which gets you in for nothing for twelve months. I have wondered a bit, 'cos cyclists get in for nothing anyway, but walkers either pay yearly or per visit. Does not seem fair to walkers. All was told when I asked, if you do not pay you are expected to patronise the café and then off you go. No wander around the bird garden or the deer park and certainly no looking round the house. Now I know.

 

[Spartak]

A very damp ride today - cycled over to Bitton to meet up with the BTOTC group.
Fourteen riders set off with the destination being the Fox & Hounds at Acton Turville.

Passing thru some very wet & muddy lanes - through the villages of Doynton, up Dyrham Hill, crossing the very busy A46 then onto Marshfield, Castle Combe & Grittleton.
I didn't have time to stop at the pub for refreshments so carried on back to Bristol via Burton, Hinton & Pucklechurch.

Wet 66 kms but still enjoyable !

 

[Saluki]

https://www.strava.com/activities/422775530
Home to hospital again. Took the roadie and had a blast, averaging 16.25mph tonight, over 11 and a bit miles.
I scalped a couple of young men on MTBs. I called out 'on your right' as I approached them, one looked around and then tried to kick on a bit. I said 'evening' as I passed him, at a bit of a pace. I could hear him say to his mate "Flipping heck, my lovely friend, that seems to be a person of a female persuasion who has just passed us and left us in her dust" or words to that effect.

After grooming, guitar practice and eating macaroons, a ride was just what I needed. Now I need a cup of tea.

 

[Stonechat]

Having been doing longer rides and concentrating on climbing, and having coompleted Strava Climbing CHallenge, Wanted to do something different

Had less time than I normally do on a Fri, as 1) Mrs S arranged a social thing later this afternoon, and 2) I did not get going quickly enough
So just blasted around a couple of loops, tried to keep HR high
So did 15.18 miles @ 18.4 mph, no climbing to speak of (just one motorway bridge twice)
Still it was nice to push it for a bit in a way I have not done for a little while


https://www.strava.com/activities/423062990

 

[Old jon]

Out again, early weather was not encouraging, so I believed the forecast. I decided on a different route out of Leeds towards Otley, and discovered that Meanwood Road is uphill all the way to Stonegate Road, which is uphill all the way to King Lane, and roadworks had closed King Lane with a mile and a half diversion to return to King Lane a hundred yards further on . . .
I was rewarded for my efforts towards the end of the road, I had forgotten the descent to the Wetherby - Otley road.



and I stopped further along for a cheese sandwich and a look at the hill I was soon to climb

From there ( the Pool to Otley stretch ) I took the main roads home to clock up 30 miles for the trip.

 

[Jon George]

Just a couple more pics from Monday's Tour De Cochon: -

Yours truly waiting for the pub to open at Laxfield after an extremely pleasant 25 miles in the autumn sun.

Me with food and beer inside. pub.

Me dealing consequences of first excursion into ditch and hedge. I don't know if I'm kissing the bike to celebrate not breaking anything or fixing the back brake.

 

[Racing roadkill]

It was peeing down today, so I cracked out the winter bike.

https://www.strava.com/activities/423015845

It stopped raining as I got back home.

 

[Katherine]

My first solo ride into Cheshire and the furthest and longest solo ride.
Over Warburton Bridge and through the lovely autumnal Cheshire countryside all the way to Alderley, to meet a friend at a National Trust garden called Hare Hill. Back past the airport, through Altrincham and onto The Bridgewater Way at Timperley. I had to leave the canal at Trafford, it was dark and I had a bright enough light to see where I was going, but I was getting dazzled by too many commuting cyclists with ridiculously bright flashing lights in my eyes. So I had to filter in the rush hour traffic.

 

[Katherine]

I saw quite a few of these amazing carved owls on my route through the Cheshire countryside today.

 

[Goonerobes]

A slight lack of imagination on my part today I'm afraid as the unexpected fine weather meant I could get another decent size ride in to my favourite area before it becomes too waterlogged so it was back along the lines of last weeks ride with a just a different route in the middle part.

A south easterly breeze meant a pretty nippy trip across the forest to Fordingbridge where, as last week, I headed up through Cranbourne to Sixpenny Handley, passing along the way a ploughing competition for what seemed like old tractors.

It was now time to change the route & today I headed through Tollard Royal for a shallow 3 mile hill up to Donhead Hollow where, following lunch, it was down the soggy Chalke valley to Broad Chalke & up & over the Howgare Road hill to Martin & Damersham.

I was now heading into the breeze that had been enjoyed on the outward leg as I passed through Sandleheath, Harbridge & Ibsley into the forest again & home for a very pleasant 73.9 mile round trip.

https://www.strava.com/activities/423686635

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.strava.com/activities/423750574

A lovely day for it today, so I went for a short, slow, flat ride.

It's supposed to look like that apparently .

1 more visit from the p*ncture fairy, but no matter, the bike now has self healers on the front and rear, so up yours bitch.


Oh yeah, and I caught some sort of Sportive, near Alton, on the outbound, and the return. There were a lot of puzzled expressions when I went a different way to the rest of 'em

Oh, and massive kudos to the guys at Hargroves cycles at Winchester, who let me use their track pump to get the pressure back up in my replaced tube.

 

[gavgav]

What a glorious and warm day, more like July than the last day of October. Shorts and light jacket were back out of hibernation again, as I took my mileage for October up to 187.3 which is my second highest monthly total of 2015 so far, showing what a great month for cycling it has been.

22.7 miles, began with a trip through the estate and along the old railway bed, before climbing up into Bayston Hill and up Lyth Hill. Encountered a nobber in a Ford Focus estate, who squeezed past me on a narrow section on Lyth Hill Rd, when there was a wider section coming up if they'd waited 10'seconds. They'd parked up at the top, when I got there, but unfortunately/fortunately (delete as applicable) were nowhere to be seen and so I couldn't give them a piece of my mind. Total idiot

It's getting quite muddy and wet on Lyth Hill now and so I may stop taking this route to dads until the Spring.

Descended to Exfords Green and then spent half an hour with dad, before continuing to Ryton and Longnor, where I met a Peacock waltzing towards me !

From there it was the nice flat section to Frodesley, Acton Burnell and Pitchford, before a bit of climbing to Betton Abbots, where I had a really patient tractor driver follow me up the hill and wait until the view was clear, where I waved him through and he gave me a wave and a thanking peep of his horn

I felt very lethargic on the bike today, probably to do with the 3 pints of Shropshire Gold that @Rickshaw Phil forced me to drink last night