Your ride today....

[ianrauk]

I used to have and ride a recumbent a few years back, a fantastic low racer which was as much fun as you could ever have riding a human powered vehicle. However, my knees just wouldn't and couldn't take to recumbent riding. So reluctantly I sold it on. One of my great regrets.

Mr @arallsopp , has a recumbent tendem, he's had it a while now and we have always said that we should head out for a ride. He popped round this morning riding the beast solo as we had decided on a short trip to Box Hill and back. It was a test to see if my knees would hold up to it.

Before heading out, Jnr wanted to have a go.. so we popped him on board (in his excitement he forgot his trousers and shoes, as one does ).

So all aboard and off to Box Hill

Being a stoker means you have to trust the pilot and his braking skills. It really is an odd feeling of not being in control of the bike, its brakes and gears. It didn't take long to get used to it though. My old recumbent riding skills all coming back. Leaning into bends at speed is wonderfully exhilarating. And for a machine that weighs a fair old bit, with 160kgs of human on board, we could cruise along at a cracking pace.

By the time we had got to the rolling lanes of the Chipstead Valley we where really flying along up, down and round the lanes.

A couple of tight, fast turns meant I was gripping on for dear life... turning off the GPS machine I had in my hand at the time... Are we going to make this turn? Phew.... just about... When it all goes right.. a high speed turn on a bent is a most magical feeling due to being so low down. You really feel the speed.

As per usual on our rides.. we took a wrong turning... no matter.. Walton On The Hill was a lovely village. Well worth a ride through... and back again when trying to get back on route.

But back on route we got.. and it wasn't long before we were joining the Sunday Club Ride throng ascending Box Hill.

Box Hill isn't really a taxing climb, with the couple of switchbacks and a gradual, consistent gradient, you just throw into a comfortable gear and spin your way up. With 2 pairs of legs spinning away, Box Hill was climbed far quicker then if I was on my upright.

At the Cafe at the top.. it was as I expected..an always great sight, hundreds of cyclists.

After a coffee, a snack and all the usual questions Andy has to field about the Bent, it was time to head back. Down Box Hill, time to open up the accelerator and see how fast she can go. Well, there was a fair few other cyclists on the way down and a bit of motor traffic so we couldn't go as fast as what I think we could do, but we topped nearly 38mph anyway, without really trying. Once again.. thoroughly exhilarating. Back through the Chipstead Valley meant for rapid progress to home. But.. my knees were starting to play up. I had that same pain I had when I rode recumbent. A great shame as we did have plans of entering and riding the Bent in an Audax in a couple of weeks. But it's not going to be. Disappointing. My knees are just not made for Recumbent riding and they were telling me so once again.

Got home through some really crappy traffic meant a bit of stop/start which didn't help matters either as you need a fair old push to get the bike moving. Upon arriving home, Jnr wanted another ride, and Andy is not one to say no . So popped him back on the bike (this time with trousers and shoes) and they were off. Sheer enjoyment.

His legs needs to grow a little before he can be the pilot

All in all.. such a great morning cycling. Muchos Gracias Andy.
Only my knees telling me to keep to upright riding was the only downer.

 

[cosmicbike]

Only time for a quick 11 miles this morning, and early enough to be long sleeves with the Garmin showing 10 degrees C. Legs are starting to feel better following Tuesdays hill walking adventures.
Popped out again this afternoon for a steady little pedal with my daughter, so 17 miles today, and back to the commute tomorrow.

 

[BrynCP]

Just 30 miles today. Had intended for 40 but totally misjudged the weather - saw grey clouds and put on a base layer and a long sleeve Jersey, after 10 miles and the sun came out I was far too hot and uncomfortable.

Took in some roads I haven't ridden on since last summer.

​

Unfortunately that includes the what I consider "cyclist unfriendly" roundabout that puts all straight on traffic into the outside lane with no easy way to get back into the cycle lane if it's busy.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I used to have and ride a recumbent a few years back, a fantastic low racer which was as much fun as you could ever have riding a human powered vehicle. However, my knees just wouldn't and couldn't take to recumbent riding. So reluctantly I sold it on. One of my great regrets.

Mr @arallsopp , has a recumbent tendem, he's had it a while now and we have always said that we should head out for a ride. He popped round this morning riding the beast solo as we had decided on a short trip to Box Hill and back. It was a test to see if my knees would hold up to it.

Before heading out, Jnr wanted to have a go.. so we popped him on board (in his excitement he forgot his trousers and shoes, as one does ).

View attachment 130048

So all aboard and off to Box Hill
View attachment 130049

Being a stoker means you have to trust the pilot and his braking skills. It really is an odd feeling of not being in control of the bike, its brakes and gears. It didn't take long to get used to it though. My old recumbent riding skills all coming back. Leaning into bends at speed is wonderfully exhilarating. And for a machine that weighs a fair old bit, with 160kgs of human on board, we could cruise along at a cracking pace.

By the time we had got to the rolling lanes of the Chipstead Valley we where really flying along up, down and round the lanes.

View attachment 130050

A couple of tight, fast turns meant I was gripping on for dear life... turning off the GPS machine I had in my hand at the time... Are we going to make this turn? Phew.... just about... When it all goes right.. a high speed turn on a bent is a most magical feeling due to being so low down. You really feel the speed.

As per usual on our rides.. we took a wrong turning... no matter.. Walton On The Hill was a lovely village. Well worth a ride through... and back again when trying to get back on route.

But back on route we got.. and it wasn't long before we were joining the Sunday Club Ride throng ascending Box Hill.
View attachment 130053

View attachment 130054

Box Hill isn't really a taxing climb, with the couple of switchbacks and a gradual, consistent gradient, you just throw into a comfortable gear and spin your way up. With 2 pairs of legs spinning away, Box Hill was climbed far quicker then if I was on my upright.

At the Cafe at the top.. it was as I expected..an always great sight, hundreds of cyclists.
View attachment 130056

After a coffee, a snack and all the usual questions Andy has to field about the Bent, it was time to head back. Down Box Hill, time to open up the accelerator and see how fast she can go. Well, there was a fair few other cyclists on the way down and a bit of motor traffic so we couldn't go as fast as what I think we could do, but we topped nearly 38mph anyway, without really trying. Once again.. thoroughly exhilarating. Back through the Chipstead Valley meant for rapid progress to home. But.. my knees were starting to play up. I had that same pain I had when I rode recumbent. A great shame as we did have plans of entering and riding the Bent in an Audax in a couple of weeks. But it's not going to be. Disappointing. My knees are just not made for Recumbent riding and they were telling me so once again.

Got home through some really crappy traffic meant a bit of stop/start which didn't help matters either as you need a fair old push to get the bike moving. Upon arriving home, Jnr wanted another ride, and Andy is not one to say no . So popped him back on the bike (this time with trousers and shoes) and they were off. Sheer enjoyment.

View attachment 130058

View attachment 130059

His legs needs to grow a little before he can be the pilot
View attachment 130060

All in all.. such a great morning cycling. Muchos Gracias Andy.
Only my knees telling me to keep to upright riding was the only downer.

View attachment 130061

Interesting machine.

 

[Donger]

A tad under 50 miles for me today ... the return visit of Caerphilly CC to Gloucestershire after our visit to Wales on the last bank holiday. We threw in a bit of the very best that our area has to offer, some Severnside villages, a Stroud valley or two, a couple of proper climbs, some open Cotswold scenery and some lovely woods, with a great four mile long descent through Buckholt Woods, and down Nut Hill. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and we had glorious sunshine all the way round.
My jinx with the canal bridges struck again, but it gave us a while to take a breather and a few photos.

An inspired choice of cafe stop saw us take another breather in a Yurt (called the "Jolly Nice Cafe") after the big long climb out of Chalford. Jolly nice it was too.

Funnily enough I was there yesterday, too, and came across the absolute doppelganger of @Banjo! Sorry if it was you, Banjo. Didn't want to make a twonk of myself by asking!
It was widely agreed that we will make this Kingsway/Caerphilly thing a regular event in future as both rides have gone down so well. Enjoy the bank holiday everyone. I'm off to watch the cheese rolling on Cooper's Hill tomorrow..... now there's a truly lunatic event for real headbangers. Cheers, Donger.

 

[gavgav]

My ride today, and first one of the week, was a princely 1.2 miles round the block to see if the legs were working well enough for an MTB ride tomorrow with the kids.
Just returned from North Wales, not for the Velothon, but for hill walking. June 2013 saw me at the peak of Ben Nevis, having done Snowdon in 2012, and Scafell Pike in 2011. 2 weeks after getting down from 'The Ben' I found myself in hospital and the next 2 years or so were hell.
This was my return to health, and the biggest sense of achievement so far. A view from the top of Cadair Idris.
View attachment 129787

Superb! Well done

 

[Dave 123]

Today's ride was from my mums house. We met up with my brother Pete, his wife Lyn and her cousin Helen. After a couple of miles we were out through Ellesmere Port and into Cheshire loveliness, and bugger me it was looking fantastic today!
Out through villages like Mickle Trafford and on to the ice cream farm at Tattenhall. Although ice cream was had this was the low point of the ride. It's just a commercial honey pot these days.

Mrs Dave and an old cow....

Back on the bike and a slightly different route to Mickle Trafford.
We had another stop at the end of the greenway at Meadow Lea farm.

From the greenway we dropped onto Burton marsh and back to the Wirral.
Home to my mums, 48 and a bit miles.


https://www.strava.com/activities/591998262

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Great Rollright the destination, 95 miles the journey. A bit of an adventure this morning, my longest ride this year, and possibly for a couple of years and my first visit to great rollright since 2014. it was like a ride from my early days of cycling, because I spent a lot of time on roads I rarely ride so I spent a lot of time unsure of exactly where I was. I walked into the cafe at the Wyatts garden centre to be told they were only doing bacon baps so I didn't stop, I went on to the stones themselves to take a couple of pictures then headed home. Dropping down the descent into Whichford I remembered that I'd seen a cafe sign on the way up earlier so I pulled into the Pottery place for something to eat, friendly staff and good service, a tad expensive but lovely place for a stop. I went out through Warwick, Wellesbourn, Past Walton Hall and thorough Pillerton Priors, I came back through the Tysoes to Kinton then picked up my usual route home from Kinton.

I'll get some pictures up later, pictures uploaded now.

http://www.whichfordpottery.com/main/straw-kitchen/

 

[Crackle]

Today's ride was from my mums house. We met up with my brother Pete, his wife Lyn and her cousin Helen. After a couple of miles we were out through Ellesmere Port and into Cheshire loveliness, and bugger me it was looking fantastic today!
Out through villages like Mickle Trafford and on to the ice cream farm at Tattenhall. Although ice cream was had this was the low point of the ride. It's just a commercial honey pot these days.
View attachment 130079
Mrs Dave and an old cow....

Back on the bike and a slightly different route to Mickle Trafford.
We had another stop at the end of the greenway at Meadow Lea farm.

View attachment 130080

From the greenway we dropped onto Burton marsh and back to the Wirral.
Home to my mums, 48 and a bit miles.


https://www.strava.com/activities/591998262

Hah! I passed you going down Picton lane as I was coming up. Wish I'd known it was you.

https://www.strava.com/activities/591782662

 

[NorthernDave]

Third ride in three days.

Out of the road bike again just after 8, still chasing those miles. Even though it looked a bit grey, the forecast was for warm and sunny again, so shorts and a short sleeved top seemed sensible...
In fact I was so excited at getting out for a third consecutive day that I forgot to start the Garmin until I was over half a mile from home...
Anyway, Coal Road, then a quick blat up the A58 and Carr Lane to Thorner. From there it was on to Milner Lane, but instead of heading for Bramham I took the turning to East Rigton, before taking a tight right onto Compton Lane. I haven't been this way since the start of last winter due to the seemingly never ending amount of mud on the road and I'd forgotten what a nice route it is. Best of all though was where the lane runs right on the edge of the hill and just for a few seconds a Red Kite flew alongside me, probably about 6-8 feet away but feeling almost close enough to reach out and touch. Marvellous!
From there it was left onto Jewitt Lane and the downhill to Collingham. At points this is virtually single track and a nice van driver heading up the hill pushed his way through forcing me onto the mud. Which was fun on the roadie with narrow, slick tyres...
Anyhow, back onto the A58 at Collingham and then up the A659 to Wattlesyke Roundabout, taking the left to Wetherby down the hill.
The forecast "breeze" was again right in my face here and slowed progress a fair bit, and the rest of the weather was nothing like it should have been either. The promised sunny and 18 degrees was actually cloudy and 9 degrees. I was glad I'd put my arm warmers on.
A couple of numpty drivers didn't appreciate me taking the correct lane at the roundabout on the way into Wetherby so pushed past where they shouldn't. One of them (a private hire) was just dropping a fare off in the town centre as I passed him, but almost immediately whizzed past me and then braked to turn right, stopping right next to a parked car meaning that I had to stop. He then waved another car out of where he was going, just to prolong the moment...
Anyway, onwards heading for Spofforth and the chain jammed when I went to change up onto the big ring at the front. Fortunately it was easily sorted without getting blathered in oil and I was on my way, although at the next hill it became obvious that it wouldn't change back down under any sort of load at all.
Into Spofforth and straight on at the roundabout up to the castle for a drink and a photo:

There must be some money round here - in the few minutes I was stopped I was passed by a Tesla Model S (c.£80k), a Mercedes AMG GT (c.£97k) and an Aston Martin DBS (c.£120k). Oh, and just after setting off again, a Wolseley 1800 went by...
Anyway, left and over the causeway, then a right up the hill to North Deighton where I paused to adjust an annoying front mudguard. From there it was a right and on to Kirk Deighton and the descent back into Wetherby. The wind was behind me now and it was certainly making a difference.
From Wetherby it was out along Walton Rd to the Thorp Arch turning, adding an extra loop out via Church Causeway, then over the bridge and up into Boston Spa.
From there to Clifford, then down the hill to Bramham and the climb back up to Paradise Way where it was time for another photo...

Back in the saddle and across the A1(M) bridge and the long way round to Thorner via Milner Lane and then more or less retracing my outbound route up to home.

33.15 recorded miles (53.35 km) in 2h 31m at an average 13.1 mph, with 1,610ft climbed. That headwind really made itself felt today and my hayfever isn't helping matters, but it's another metric half under my belt and I'm closing in on that 500 miles target for this month, so it's got to be good hasn't it?

Despite the weather, there were a lot of cyclists out and about today and at least the chill kept the flying pests largely at bay.

PS - obviously I can't replicate the front mech issue on the workstand so I've given it a tweak and we'll have to see how it goes tomorrow. Well, it would be rude not to go out for a ride on Bank Holiday Monday, wouldn't it..?

 

[Elybazza61]

Two rides from the past couple of days to report;

Yesterday was a very brisk club ride out to Ten Mile Bank and back via the RSPB place at Welney for the stop.
Was a bit grey and cool at first but soon warmed up so warmers and gilet were removed;return leg was at a pretty quick pace with a top ten and a few bb's along the way.
Turned off on the main road back to Ely rather than go back via Wichford and then a little 'warm down' extra before going home.

63km at a 32kmh average plus the extra 9.2 after at a steadier 24kmh average.


https://www.strava.com/activities/590606122

https://www.strava.com/activities/590606104

coffee stop;

View out to the fens from the RSPB centre;

Friday was a nice ride out with the better half and she was chuffed to be increasing here pace despite not riding for a couple of weeks;


https://www.strava.com/activities/589523230.

So that's 1,081 km's for the month but may be more if I go for a quick spin tomorrow and brave the winds,,,,

 

[Dark46]

Out again with @Donger and the KCC who where hosting the Caerphilly Cycling Club.

What a great ride with great weather and people, it was a shame that @Frazzle couldn't make it today as had been working like a dog in the week.

I think that @Donger summed up the ride very well and I will be glad to go To Caerphilly.
For me the best bits where going down Buckholt and Nut Hill where I set a pb.

When I got back to the starting point I had covered 47.6 miles so went round the block to take it over 50 for the ride.

I just need 2 miles tomorrow to beat May 2015 milage so will be going for a quicky.

 

[Dave 123]

Hah! I passed you going down Picton lane as I was coming up. Wish I'd known it was you.

https://www.strava.com/activities/591782662

Where is Picton Lane....? My local geography is in a different county now!
Cracking weather today, now back in Cambs, freezing!

Googled it now. I remember seeing a bloke in a Welsh jersey with someone else and a lone fella in castelli....

 

[benb]

Rode from Epsom to Dorset today, where I'm on holiday with the family for a week
They drove, I cycled.
115 miles, and I'm knackered!

 

[robjh]

I led a small group from my cycle club in Cambridge on a bank-holiday special down to the Smoke today. 10 of us left at 8 am., and rode through the modest hills of northern Essex through Clavering and Much Hadham, before getting to Roydon about 2 hours later, where we stopped at the quirky little Roydon Lock House café on the canal - not at all easy to find if you're not on the towpath, but friendly and a nice location.
We continued then towards Epping Forest where we passed High Beach, and took the barely-surfaced Fairmead Road before joining the A104 again. One of our number then took over and led us to the Olympic Park. I had little idea what to expect and was struck by the vastness of the site, and it was well worth seeing. We followed then the blue-painted CS2 through Bow and Whitechapel to Aldgate, where we turned north to Old Street and lunch at Look Mum No Hands, which served good food and was as bike-friendly as you'd hope. Why do so many people seem to go there without bikes?
After lunch we had a spin down the Embankment on the impressive new East-West superhighway, dodging the occasional pedestrian but marvelling at the car-free space we'd been given on this prime corridor. Then up Piccadilly to Hyde Park, where after skirting round the Serpentine we headed back through the West End towards Liverpool Street and a train home. I'd thought of riding back, but 50 miles into the wind at this time would have done nothing to enhance my enjoyment of the day.
A good time was had by all. I always enjoy riding through London (well I don't have to commute there) but it was new to some of our group, and I could see it becoming a regular 'special' ride in future.

a very rough map of the route

Cambridge hits Whitehall, and lunch stop in Old Street