Your ride today....

[Spartak]

Took advantage of a day off & the glorious spring weather today.

100km ride to Monmouth via Aust, Itton, Trellech & back via Tintern.

https://www.strava.com/activities/265943977

 

[Dirk]

First decent ride of the year on my Focus Cayo. Rode the hilly way into Barnstaple then the hilly way to Bideford. Came back through Yelland and Fremington, turning off onto the Tarka Trail and back to Barnstaple. I followed the trail back to Braunton, went around the marshes and back home.
Glorious Spring day, sunny and a bit of warmth in the air.
Total 35.2 miles, 2125 feet of elevation gain and 14.6 mph average speed. Max speed 39.5 mph. 15 PRs and 14 other achievements.
Well happy with that - not bad for an old 'un!

 

[nickyboy]

Today's ride is titled "I hate you Garmin"

I get bored riding the same roads and I'm always looking for some lanes I've not ridden before. Forecast for today was very good so out came ridewithgps last night and a hard 50 miler with about 5,500ft of climbing planned. Basic idea was Glossop - Marple - Disley - Rainow - Wildboarclough - Langley - Bollington - Poynton - Glossop.

Shorts were out again but, to tell the truth, it was a bit chilly as it was cloudy in Peak District. Pretty uneventful heading out. Stupid hilly of course but I've done quite a few "soft" Cheshire miles recently so I needed the masochistic miles to balance them out. I routed up Charity Lane off the Cat and Fiddle road......and it just sort of petered out after half a mile or so. Became a bridleway. But not the sort of bridleway you can have a sneaky ride on with a road bike. No, this had rocks all over it and a stream running down the middle. No idea of an alternative route so no option but to get off and walk. So I did....for a whole mile.

Here's what Charity Lane looks like (not my photo)



More bonkers hills but all was going OK until I got to Bollington. Now I know this village well enough but I hadn't noticed ridewithgps had sent me up a little lane called Beeston Brow. Never been up before. What a nightmare. 20%, irregular cobbles, sharp bends, broken tarmac

This is it (again not my photo)



Finally got home, legs shattered. Vowed to pay a bit more attention to ride mapping in the future

 

[Geoff Crowther]

Today's ride is titled "I hate you Garmin"

I get bored riding the same roads and I'm always looking for some lanes I've not ridden before. Forecast for today was very good so out came ridewithgps last night and a hard 50 miler with about 5,500ft of climbing planned. Basic idea was Glossop - Marple - Disley - Rainow - Wildboarclough - Langley - Bollington - Poynton - Glossop.

Shorts were out again but, to tell the truth, it was a bit chilly as it was cloudy in Peak District. Pretty uneventful heading out. Stupid hilly of course but I've done quite a few "soft" Cheshire miles recently so I needed the masochistic miles to balance them out. I routed up Charity Lane off the Cat and Fiddle road......and it just sort of petered out after half a mile or so. Became a bridleway. But not the sort of bridleway you can have a sneaky ride on with a road bike. No, this had rocks all over it and a stream running down the middle. No idea of an alternative route so no option but to get off and walk. So I did....for a whole mile.

Here's what Charity Lane looks like (not my photo)



More bonkers hills but all was going OK until I got to Bollington. Now I know this village well enough but I hadn't noticed ridewithgps had sent me up a little lane called Beeston Brow. Never been up before. What a nightmare. 20%, irregular cobbles, sharp bends, broken tarmac

This is it (again not my photo)



Finally got home, legs shattered. Vowed to pay a bit more attention to ride mapping in the future

I rode up Beeston Brow for the first a few weeks ago. Actually, I chickened out abut 2/3 way up, frightened I'd fall off with my clips (that's my excuse). It really is a sod! Well done to you.

 

[Geoff Crowther]

My ride today... the 5th on my trike and just shy of 10km... perhaps a touch too much for me because I promptly had to take some morphine when I got home but it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride punctuated by photos - but I did make it to the old Whitegate railway station. So I'll let them talk rather than me. 1 photo per km... (actually it was a lot more, but the 10 photo upload limit made me reduce the numbers I am going to inflict on you! )

View attachment 82051
The first bridge and a lovely sandstone structure with a great puddle for a reflection. This bridge carries the A556 over the old Whitegate Way railway which leads to the salt mines. (The salt mines are still there and now house 25km of the National Archives because salt acts as a desiccator and provides a nice dry environment for storing paper)

View attachment 82052
A touch of nice light and another bridge - this one a pedestrian only bridge. On the far side lies the scout camp and a lot of mud!

View attachment 82053
I could not resist the light and taking the photo from my new angle. In the foreground are 2 pieces of the old railway line, just to prove it was once a railway!

View attachment 82054
Whitegate Station... not my intended destination, that was further down the line, but I made it to here and turned around. Time to go home.

View attachment 82055
Some nice light and a handy bench over looking the mere.

View attachment 82056
Looking back the way I have come and the light is still great!

View attachment 82057
OK - I balls up. I admit it, but I was getting rather tired and I have yet to get the crutches onto the trike (wait for some parts to arrive).
If you are wondering what I balls up, it is I cut the shadow of the trike off the bottom of the photo.

View attachment 82058
Back to the scout camp and whilst the light is great, there is no grip in the path to the right and the path to the left is interesting on a trike... bottom gear and take it slowly.

View attachment 82059
Potentially a new use for the mirrors, but the view back is great... Mind you I may have to start carrying a cloth to clean the mirror

View attachment 82060
Hummm... wishing I was going the other way again... I love taking photos into sun, they seem to come out so very well for my style of photography...

So the longest write up for something under 10km - perhaps. It will also count as the slowest ride I suspect, but I am still enjoying the trike, the weather was great, the light fantastic and I enjoyed myself, but I'm hurting now... Probably too far, too soon I suspect. https://www.strava.com/activities/265861179


Edit: I also have my first encounter with a horse and rider.... luckily I know this horse & rider and though it was uneasy at first, the rider is keen to introduce the horse to new things and asked if she could bring the horse over to meet me... so I kept talking to the horse (as I would normally) and once he came over and had smelt me, we said hello and he realised there wasn't an issue.... I suspect not every encounter will be that easy, but as the rider and I chatted about recumbents (she is considering one for her bad back after a fall from a horse) the horse calmed down and was fine.

Really pleased to see you getting out on that wonderful machine. I'd love one but, space, money and common sense prevail. i may have missed it on here but it's the first time I've seen your trike. Take care and enjoy!

 

[Goonerobes]

The afternoon off & a little bit of sunshine meant a window of opportunity for a ride so just a 31 mile loop on one of my regular mid-week routes around the New Forest, taking in Furzley, Bolderwood, Emery Down & Minstead.

Nothing much of note on this ride other than I have noticed there would appear to be a slight improvement in the attitude of the local drivers lately which I must say is very welcome after my near miss a couple of months ago has left me a little over cautious on recent rides.

Oh, & I did consume my first fly of the year today!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/265964467

I come across a lone holly tree this afternoon still loaded with berries although I'm not sure whether this is meant to be a sign of a good or a bad summer?

There's still peace & quiet on the forest roads at the moment but come a few more weeks & that'll change.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Really pleased to see you getting out on that wonderful machine. I'd love one but, space, money and common sense prevail. i may have missed it on here but it's the first time I've seen your trike. Take care and enjoy!

I've taken my Rohloff hub over from the Thorn Nomad... its set so that I only need to switch an axel plate over and the wheel will go straight back on to the Nomad.
So front derailleur and Rohloff Hub - plenty of gears!

 

[Geoff Crowther]

With my End to End gettin' closer by the day I realised I've done no serious distances for a while. So, with a good forecast, I set off on the road bike for lunch at the cafe here:

I charged down the A6 then out through Woodford, Alderley Edge and Chelford. Hi to the three folks riding in close formation in, what looked like, GB kit; two blokes and a young lady. Despite my friendly "hi" as they passed, they blanked me. I find it so annoying; p'raps it's just me.

Sneaking up on the Lovell telescope, it tried, and failed miserably, to hide behind the tress.

The cafe was filled with friendly cyclists. Having fuelled up with the most glorious of bacon butties, a large Americano and a sumptuous frangipan cake I reversed the route to get back home.

There were plenty of other cyclists about, including a young woman who flew past me as I waited for the red light at the bridge under the railway at Chelford. It's not only narrow, but a blind bend. Heaven knows what the consequences might've bin if she'd met a wagon coming t'other way. Maybe she was Superwoman; made of steel?

I had a great ride. 45 miles in 4 hours, including lunch. Might not seem much to some of you but it's a longish ride for me and, by my standards, quite quick (14mph average). I was pleased with myself anyway.

PS Shameless reminder that I'm doing LEJOG in May for Cancer Research UK. See my page at www.justgiving.com/geoff-crowther

 

[nickyboy]

I rode up Beeston Brow for the first a few weeks ago. Actually, I chickened out abut 2/3 way up, frightened I'd fall off with my clips (that's my excuse). It really is a sod! Well done to you.

I nearly came to a standstill but thankfully I've fitted a new cassette with a 27 tooth sprocket and that was just enough. The gradient is hard but the surface makes it a real challenge

 

[Saluki]

Just in from a quick wee ride from mine down to the Marriotts for a couple of hundred yards and then along Gunton Lane into Costessey (That's Coss-ey for the non-Norfolk among you). I made the mistake of cutting the corner off and going up Falgate Road and had forgotten just how uppy it is. It rises a good 110' over not flipping far enough. I got half way up and saw the sign for Carrs Lane or whatever it's called but I read it as Carbs . Down the other side was nice though. I followed the road around, over the river and to the Drayton End of the Marriotts Way. I jumped on the cyclepath and then rode home.

I got to the top of the hill to turn right to get to the wee cyclepath home and discovered, after 2 full cycles of the traffic lights, that the filter light for turning right was broken. I left all the cars and got of and pushed across the road via the Pelican Crossing then got back on and rode home. I had discovered by now the Garmin had failed to record anything so I just popped my stopwatch on to record my stationary time. 3 whole wasted minutes at those lights. Heigh ho. It was nice in the sun anyway.

6.97 miles(wish I'd ridden down the road now) in 36.45 or so minutes. Taking off the 3 stationary minutes and putting the course into Garmin Connect manually, as it's a fun ride and I'll do it again. Gorgeous day out so it would just be wrong to not take advantage of it.

I took Hubster's Vivitar on my handlebars. He will see how steep that hill was. People from Yorkshire please stop laughing already.

 

[Geoff Crowther]

Just in from a quick wee ride from mine down to the Marriotts for a couple of hundred yards and then along Gunton Lane into Costessey (That's Coss-ey for the non-Norfolk among you). I made the mistake of cutting the corner off and going up Falgate Road and had forgotten just how uppy it is. It rises a good 110' over not flipping far enough. I got half way up and saw the sign for Carrs Lane or whatever it's called but I read it as Carbs . Down the other side was nice though. I followed the road around, over the river and to the Drayton End of the Marriotts Way. I jumped on the cyclepath and then road home.

I got to the top of the hill to turn right to get to the wee cyclepath home and discovered, after 2 full cycles of the traffic lights, that the filter light for turning right was broken. I left all the cars and got of and pushed across the road via the Pelican Crossing then got back on and rode home. I had discovered by now the Garmin had failed to record anything so I just popped my stopwatch on to record my stationary time. 3 whole wasted minutes at those lights. Heigh ho. It was nice in the sun anyway.

6.97 miles(wish I'd ridden down the road now) in 36.45 or so minutes. Taking off the 3 stationary minutes and putting the course into Garmin Connect manually, as it's a fun ride and I'll do it again. Gorgeous day out so it would just be wrong to not take advantage of it.

I took Hubster's Vivitar on my handlebars. He will see how steep that hill was. People from Yorkshire please stop laughing already.

How did you know I was laughin' Saluki?

 

[Glow worm]

Had the afternoon off so sauntered over to Wicken Fen (again!). Although I do go there a lot, I never get bored as there's always plenty to see and the largely traffic free routes make it a joy.

Nice light here in the flatlands today.

Was pleased to see a couple of Whooper swans. They have yellow beaks rather than the more orange ones of our native mutes. This pair will be heading back to Iceland or Siberia any day now.

Further along, a roe deer out for a paddle.

On Burwell Fen, there was a roadblock- the Konik ponies.

One was intrigued by my bicycle and stared at it for ages. I reckon he fancied a go on it!

I followed a barn owl hunting the verge for a good half a mile on the approach to Swaffham Prior. One day I'll get a photo of one. Home by dusk just as my hands started to freeze!

 

[gbb]

Miniscule stuff in the scheme of things, but driving home tonight, suns still shining.....despite my poor showing on the bike lately (like 2 years worth )...I thought....'I'm getting out there when I get home if there's still enough light'
The urge was like the old days. Just half an hour, i'll push along and make the most of it, build some fitness, speed, whatever, just get out there and get those lungs working again.
But I got home, got my gear on super quick...and our hairdresser turned up ...we'd forgotten he was due.
The wife said GO...half an hour and mine will be done, you can quick wash your hair when you get back...and so it was.
Twenty minutes, pushing as hard as I could...it's nothing, but it's a small step towards where I used to be.

 

[thetribe]

21.1 miles in the sunshine after work, sadly still bloody windy and cold. Really getting cheesed off with this wind now, it's a bloody nightmare at work too trying to keep hold of letters when there's a gust catches you unawares when you turn a corner.

http://www.strava.com/activities/266038941

 

[Dark46]

Well looking at the weather is decided I tackle my first proper hill on the Orro.

While I was cycling along Naas Lane in cruise mode is was thinking of where I could go. I decided on Horsepools hill which we in the club called Edge.

So at the end of Naas Lane I hung a left towards Brookethorpe then right at the roundabout towards Edge. I started up the hill and the road surface kept changing from smooth to rough. To be honest I was getting a bit worried on how it was going to work out. I passed a woman on a Giant hybrid who seemed to be struggling, that just spurred me on. Well I made it up without getting out of the saddle.
With the club went usually stop to wait for stragglers (me) but I just carried on. I went straight into Stroud and then turned right by Tesco and on to Cainscross. Basically just carried on following the road to Stonehouse and then the usual way home.

I just took it steady not the Way back but trying to keep the average speed above 15. There was too much headwind to think about segment chasing on the home stretches.

All in all it was just over 20 miles and over 15 mph average and 900 ft climbing. But best of all for me I improved my PB over Edge by 3m16s