Your ride today....

[Rickshaw Phil]

Commuting miles again today. I've been lazy the first couple of days this week (weather related) but made the effort today which meant the rain started as soon as the bike was out. Just a shower though so I went for it anyway.

Not too bad a ride in apart from more showers rolling across. I had to take a slight detour on the approac to Atcham as the lane I usually use is flooded. All the rain from the last few days has worked its way down from Wales and the Severn is at its highest so far this winter.

After a bit of a photo stop I carried on towards Upton Forge where the River Tern is also high and was across the lane. Not too much of a problem to splash my way through though and it's given the bike a good rinse.

After a chilly day in the warehouse I was glad to get moving to warm up a bit. I toyed with the idea of taking the short cut along the main road but with a lovely clear sky meaning I'd be riding directly into the sun for a couple of miles thought it might be safer to stick with the usual longer but quieter route, so splashed back throught the River Tern and retraced the morning journey.

Again I had a pause at Atcham for a few more snaps and watched a motorist who attempted to use the closed road to Cross Houses then thought better of it and ended up reversing back to the main road. Good move - judging by where the flood water is currently up to, I believe it would have been over his bonnet at the deepest point.

The rest of the trip was straightforward apart from following a trail of something strange (looked like runny mashed potato) left by a farm vehicle for the next four miles. Don't know what it was and I'm not sure I want to .

That's another 22.6 miles at 13.1 mph average. I'm hoping the weather will settle a bit now so I can the commutes in a bit more regularly.

The flood plain at Atcham doing what it says on the tin.

........and the River Tern wants to play at that game too.

Since I started commuting this way I've wondered if it floods here. Apparently it does.

More like a harbour than an arbour in the garden at the Mytton and Mermaid.

Looking from the old bridge at Atcham.

Thinking better of it.

 

[gavgav]

More blue in the sky today. The wind was a bit chill out of the north west but compared to recent events nothing to worry about. I met Pete and Sara in the Green. The call had been Broadway but that was altered to Evesham. So we took to the Castlemorton lanes for a crossing of the Marsh. Lots of water about and some creeping up onto the tarmac too. As we dropped off from Bushley Green the water in the Severn Valley could be seen. More water was filling the Avon Valley as we rode towards Bredon Hill. Around the Hill we rode to turn away at Elmley Castle for Evesham. Here the Avon was well within it's banks and at the cafe down by the River no flooding of note. I'm afraid I weakened and had a large chunk of bread pudding. The cafe is famous for it.

We headed back by Elmley Castle heading for the bridge at Pershore as the Eckington bridge is flooded. Then by Rebecca road we had the North Westerly hindering. At Upton we managed to get around the floods by going under one barrier and around another. The road needs to be closed but the footpath was free - so why barrier it off? Now we were able to avoid the diverted traffic and head back on the standard route.

The miles (65) turned out a tad more than I'd thought. But it was a good ride and despite the wind not too tough. Seems my strength may be returning after a bit of a struggle in January.

I used to live in Worcester, so great to hear about those places I know so well. Eckington Bridge floods caused me no end of hassle in my job as a Transport Manager down there!

 

[gavgav]

Commuting miles again today. I've been lazy the first couple of days this week (weather related) but made the effort today which meant the rain started as soon as the bike was out. Just a shower though so I went for it anyway.

Not too bad a ride in apart from more showers rolling across. I had to take a slight detour on the approac to Atcham as the lane I usually use is flooded. All the rain from the last few days has worked its way down from Wales and the Severn is at its highest so far this winter.

After a bit of a photo stop I carried on towards Upton Forge where the River Tern is also high and was across the lane. Not too much of a problem to splash my way through though and it's given the bike a good rinse.

After a chilly day in the warehouse I was glad to get moving to warm up a bit. I toyed with the idea of taking the short cut along the main road but with a lovely clear sky meaning I'd be riding directly into the sun for a couple of miles thought it might be safer to stick with the usual longer but quieter route, so splashed back throught the River Tern and retraced the morning journey.

Again I had a pause at Atcham for a few more snaps and watched a motorist who attempted to use the closed road to Cross Houses then thought better of it and ended up reversing back to the main road. Good move - judging by where the flood water is currently up to, I believe it would have been over his bonnet at the deepest point.

The rest of the trip was straightforward apart from following a trail of something strange (looked like runny mashed potato) left by a farm vehicle for the next four miles. Don't know what it was and I'm not sure I want to .

That's another 22.6 miles at 13.1 mph average. I'm hoping the weather will settle a bit now so I can the commutes in a bit more regularly.

View attachment 118580
The flood plain at Atcham doing what it says on the tin.

View attachment 118582
........and the River Tern wants to play at that game too.

View attachment 118581
Since I started commuting this way I've wondered if it floods here. Apparently it does.

View attachment 118583
More like a harbour than an arbour in the garden at the Mytton and Mermaid.

View attachment 118584
Looking from the old bridge at Atcham.

View attachment 118585
Thinking better of it.

Never seen the Tern out there before!

 

[Glow worm]

Must have been something in the air today locally as like @Elybazza61 i skived off early for a ride.

Blue skies, hardly any breeze- who could resist? Just an 11 miler here in the flatlands.

Newnham Drove. I was thinking about the 'pics from your favourite climb' thread when I took this one!

Some travellers have just moved on from this track in the last few days and I was trying to work out how many bikes they'd left among this lot. I counted 4 frames among the Prams and other stuff! They were a nice bunch though and I hope they've found a good spot to move on to.

Burwell Fen. I'd just flushed a short eared owl out of the long grass on the left. Had a great view of it. He went and sat on a post (in the middle of the picture, 3rd post from left at back, but a bit too far to see properly). I tried to get closer but he wasn't having any of it and off he went.

It's one of my favourite times of year and the sun is getting high enough now for the light to have changed quite noticeably. Today is also our first ( hereabouts) post 5pm sunset of the year - hooray!

Here it is- 5:01pm! Yay!
11 or so miles in total here today.

 

[Katherine]

I managed a lovely 16 mile ride after school today, just down the East Lancs Rd cycle path. Dry, bright and sunny on the way out, into the sunset. Home in rainy darkness. Before this evening, we'd not seen rain for 2 days, but the ground is saturated and there are flooded fields and paths everywhere.

 

[PeteXXX]

Bah! And may I add for good measure bollix.

Set out for an 18 mile round trip to Wantage and back to deal with some sundry matters that I sure are of no interest to anyone and one mile out of the village the chain snapped. Bollix Bum Arse and Rot. Good job it happened right at the top of the hill, I coasted most of the way back down to home. Bloody nuisance, when I got home I got the old chain measurement doodad on it and the chain was really worn out, I didn't think I had done that many miles on it, new one is on the way from the Wigglemeisters.

View attachment 118507


View attachment 118510

Not good! Lucky you weren't further into the ride!

 

[biggs682]

Only the std 4 x 2.1 miles of commuting on the recently acquired Boardman Road Sport ltd edition , which was a ride of making adjustments as i went along ie saddle height , bar rotation , fr mech adjuster and then pull the slack out of both calipers so all in all a day of test riding to finish up with a nice riding bike

 

[Accy cyclist]

I went out with the Wednesday group to Airton in North Yorkshire today. I said last week that i wouldn't be doing a run the day before again because it knackered me out, so what did i do yesterday? Yes you've guessed it, a silly 38 mile run! I was ok going, even though the low sun hitting the wet roads was blinding and some of those pot holes that've opened up recently are scary!! On the way back i struggled. I couldn't get into a rhythm, i kept misjudging my gears and to make matters worse most of the other group seemed to be putting their foot down and trying to keep up was too hard!
Maybe i might have few weeks break from the Wednesday run. It's becoming a bit monotonous going to the same few places every time, and i miss being able to stop for a breather or to to have a hedgerow pee!

 

[robjh]

There was a fine westerly wind today, so I set off eastwards on the bike for the coast, and I chose Felixstowe as a destination so that I could catch a train back.
There was light rain in the air at first, notably around Haverhill which is an oddly miserable-looking little town at the best of times. I passed a number of chocolate box-pretty East Anglian villages such as Clare, Cavendish, Long Melford (coffee stop) and Kersey, then did an arc north of Ipswich from Claydon to Martlesham, through a landscape of woods and heathland. I dropped down to Waldringfield on the broad River Deben, then continued on rural roads down the middle of the peninsula until I hit Trimley and Felixstowe itself, by which time I was in bright but chilly sunshine.
As well as extensive modern docks, Felixstowe has a long seafront with hundreds of beachhuts and the other usual English seaside paraphernalia, all very closed up at this season. There are also two foot (and bike) ferries at the north and south end of the seafront, but they too are closed at this time of year. I rode to both ends anyway, and enjoyed the views of sea and estuary with off-shore windfarms and large ships at anchor.
I saw the sun set from the train to Ipswich, and watched the horizon fade from red to black as the next train trundled across mid-Suffolk towards Cambridge. I did 91 miles to Felixstowe, and was at 99.58 after riding home from Cambridge - so close to that first century of the year!

Kersey; Felixstowe container port

Felixstowe beach huts

approximate route

 

[Glow worm]

I did 91 miles to Felixstowe, and was at 99.58 after riding home from Cambridge - so close to that first century of the year!

Please tell me you rode around the block to do the last .42 mile ?!
I once rode 98 miles to Dunwich in a day. I was still a relatively new cyclist and I can't believe it never occurred to me to do another 2 miles. I had ended up in a decent pub so maybe it clouded my judgement!

 

[robjh]

Please tell me you rode around the block to do the last .42 mile ?!
I once rode 98 miles to Dunwich in a day. I was still a relatively new cyclist and I can't believe it never occurred to me to do another 2 miles. I had ended up in a decent pub so maybe it clouded my judgement!

I was home before I noticed the missing 0.42 mile - going out again would have felt like cheating

 

[PeteXXX]

Todays ride, posted today for a change..

A lass I used to work with several years ago wanted to meet up to have a go on my Canyon as she's been thinking of getting one. After warning her of the possible delays and recommending that she contacts the UK office to check availability, I said that she'd not be disappointed when it does turn up!

I stuck to tarmac all the way to Salcey as the field routes would have been much too gloopy to make much progress. Once I'd reached the Salcey Forest cafe, our meeting place, we had a chat, coffee and cake.

They do smashing cake there! With a cherry on the top

After putting the world to rights, and her having a pedal around on my bike for a while, (she was suitably impressed, especially with the disc brakes, even though my bike was a bit small for her) we headed off in different directions.
As I had until 14:00 ish to pedal, I thought I'd take the longer way home via Horton, Denton and Castle Ashby to Grendon,

then towards Earls Barton and Sywell, where I stopped for a while to watch The Blades (ex Red Arrows pilots) play around in the sky at the Aerodrome.

I'd love to have a go at that!
The last few miles home was through Moulton village and Lumbertubs.

I got home with enough time to dust the bike down, which was a great change to recent rides where bucket and sponge plus a hosepipe has been necessary!

A really nice 40 miles, with no idiot drivers, not too much wind, and catching up with someone I've not seen for several years.
And on time to pick my granddaughter up from school, feed her pepperoni pizza and pancakes then take her to Brownies.
Happy days.....

https://www.strava.com/activities/490250411

 

[PeteXXX]

Please tell me you rode around the block to do the last .42 mile ?!
I once rode 98 miles to Dunwich in a day. I was still a relatively new cyclist and I can't believe it never occurred to me to do another 2 miles. I had ended up in a decent pub so maybe it clouded my judgement!

Don't you just hate it when that happens!! <DOH>

 

[Elybazza61]

Steady commute this morning but the base fitness is definitely back now,with a nice average again although obv not having a south westerly in your face helps.

No alarms again and a nice ride in;was a bit chilly at first but everything warmed up after 20 minutes or so.

https://www.strava.com/activities/490816211/overview

Oh and bunking off again this afternoon for another ride home.

 

[Jon George]

I now remember why I stopped doing rides that take longer than 3hrs: an aching bum and a complete disinterest in the countryside, both of which takes some of the pleasure out of riding. I suppose one solution would be to up my pace ...
45 miles this morning, mostly in bright sunshine and frost, north of Ipswich to Thorndon. Stuffed my face with pasta and chorizo sausage when I got home, so hopefully I won't be as debilitated as I was on Tuesday. Of course, I've obviously got no work done so far today, but there's still this afternoon.

This looking back to Thorndon.