Your ride today....

[Elybazza61]

Bit late but yesterdays ride home was slightly slower than the first

As glowworm mentioned above the weather here is pretty miserable and with a head/side wind plus some drizzle it wasn't the best ride I've had.

Still i HTFU and ground it out before popping in at a club members house to drop off my details for him to sign on for me for the TOC fondo.

Then pooled home via a stop to take this pic for the bike against a wall thread;

https://www.strava.com/activities/596309313

Got to pop out tomorrow to pick up my numbers so might have a little poodle with the other half if she fancies it then 130k on Sunday.

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.strava.com/activities/597274818

I had to go get the pain and suffering done, at the dental hygienist today, the roads were FUBAR, so I rode it.

No pics, no time, but it worked well.

 

[User19783]

Alston to Tynemouth,
Sorry @DCLane our paths must of cross at some point,
Great ride and highly recommend the c2c route .

 

[DCLane]

Alston to Tynemouth,
Sorry @DCLane our paths must of cross at some point,
Great ride and highly recommend the c2c route .

If you were passed by 3 riders; 2 adults and a child all on road bikes then yes. No-one went past us on any of the days unless we were stopped at a cafe.

And if so ...

 

[mybike]

A tad under 40 miles here today heading home from north Norfolk in the gloom. I see from @Gravity Aided above it was 81 degrees in Illinois today, my Garmin failed register above 48 degrees here. Brrrr.

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Near Anmer. One of those days where any stop for more than a few minutes had the teeth chattering.

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Nice and quiet though, and near West Newton, on the Sandringham Estate the rhododendrons are looking good. When I lived in Wales we spent forever pulling the things out but here they are tolerated.

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Caught my train from Kings Lynn for the short trip to Ely and then headed south along the river. Still freezing.

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Burwell Lode. Cycling through Wicken Fen a little girl and her mum were walking on the cycle path and the girl held out her hand for a high ( or in this case more of a low) 5 as I cycled past. I've never been high fiived by a small child before!

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And the home straight. It had been drizzling most of the day and was now getting very wet indeed.

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Not much of a welcome when getting home after all that either. Very underwhelmed they were. 39 very damp miles.
Back to the commute tomorrow if I can face it, and not just fancy pissing off to somewhere which might actually ever get to see the sun every now and again!

It better warm up for week after next. I'm staying in Heacham.

 

[mybike]

I've not been out for a couple of weeks, having visited my mother on the South Coast and the weather. I was therefore getting a bit desperate. Can cycling become addictive, like drugs?

For some reason I failed to go out yesterday, and a friend posted a 10.8 mile ride, so I had to do at least that. last year I did a 20 mile ride along the canal, so that was my target. As others have said, it's not warm in these sunny climes at the moment and my 2 layers could have been 3 with no disadvantage.

I got as far as this and decided my rear tyre was a bit too soft, so pumped it up. I find 35lb is about right for the towpath, giving some comfort. Anyway you can see what the weather was like, November was brighter!

So I was riding along, peering into the gloom, when I espied a heron perched on the edge of the canal.

carefully waddling the bike along I endeavoured to get closer, while setting my 99p camera's lens to telephoto. It seemed nervous of this strange apparition.

Sure enough, as I got close enough to take a shot with the lens at the better setting, it took off and I pointed the camera in the general direction and pressed the shutter release. I do hate cameras without viewfinders but 99p is 99p.

In Berhamsted, the water fowl were more cooperative. maybe it was the food they were getting. They've certainly grown.

And these swans have two cygnets, very close to mum & almost hidden by her reflection.

I achieved my goal, but the mud was quite unpleasant after Cow Roast, so I decided to seek an alternative route. I was also concerned about the time. Aldbury was the obvious choice, and while there was a hill that way, it was only little. I stopped under a tree and ate what I had and drank some water. A group of cyclists with flat bar bikes passed me, from the direction I was planning to go, and were obviously headed for the pub, one did say hi. Three others were over the far side and headed up the hill toward Ashridge.

So having decided to risk life and limb on the road I headed off toward home. I recognised the road after a while as having a restricted byway heading in my direction, so deviated once more onto the rough. And it was not so much rough as lined with long grass, which I think contributed to my later problems. But at least I got to see the poppies bloooming in the fields of rape.

After the byway I headed back onto the road, and found a route that led into Northchurch and then Berhamsted. Apparently I achieved 231st place in the Berko Sprint Garmin segment. Perhaps I'd have been quicker if it hadn't been for the traffic, or maybe not. I've driven this way often enough but thinking of the best way to cycle was a concern. Sorry to the drivers I upset.

I then left the main road for my back route, made a dodgy gear change and found a lack of power! Yes, my chain had come off. Having got it back on, I resumed the route, but I think that I'll have to have a closer look at the front changer etc.

22 miles (from Garmin Basecamp) max 19 avg 7.7mph. Year to date, 219.1 miles, Target 400 miles

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

More commuting miles. Yesterday I used the knockabout bike but only for the ride to work. I used one of my longer routes that is mainly cyclepath for the first few miles and with the current nice weather it was quite pleasant even if the wind was against me for at least the first half. I was in a pootling frame of mind so the speed wasn't high but I still got a comment from the boss that "you were really motoring" after he overtook on the approach to the estate.

During the day a transaction took place and suddenly I have two bikes to take home. Fortunately I have a kind brother who came over to transport me and the bikes home after work.

The drive back was more eventful than the ride in as we witnessed a crash at Atcham where a guy in a Focus completely failed to notice the Volvo Estate stationary and waiting to make a right turn ahead of him until it was too late to stop.

11.11 miles for the ride in at 13.4 average.

For todays commute the Raleigh had an airing as the weather was so nice. I had a swift run to work, apart from having to wait as two lorries negotiated their way past each other on the lanes after Condover, and arrived early despite setting out later than I usually do.

The legs felt a bit fatigued on the way home but I still had an enjoyable ride in the and warmth with a tailwind on some of the most flowing bits of road. The only difficulty was lots of traffic so my two main-road crossings included long waits for a gap to pull out into.

21.9 miles at 15.2 average.

A childhood wish fulfilled. I have plans for it which will be revealed in due course.

 

[Brandane]

A perfect day for cycling. Warm, with a gentle cooling breeze. For me, this is what cycling is all about - I'm not a fan of slogging it out in the wind, rain, or cold!
I set off to do a local loop of about 25 miles, but was enjoying it so much that I got a tad carried away and took a few ferries and a 25 mile detour. Enough chat; the pictures tell the story:

This is where I went (anti-clockwise). Strava link.

The seafront at Gourock, with the tempting hills of Cowal in the background. So tempting that I went and caught a ferry across the water..

Those Cowal hills are quite steep....

But that turned out to be a warm up ......

The effort was worthwhile on reaching the Kyles of Bute....

A 5 minute ferry trip takes you from Colintraive on the Cowal peninsula onto the north end of the Isle of Bute (my place of birth).

From Bute, looking across the Clyde towards my current home town of Largs...

The very gate which I walked through one day in August 1967 to start my edukashin....

A school with a view...

Leaving Rothesay on ferry #3, heading for Wemyss Bay.....

Crossing paths with the sister ship heading the other way....

A final 6 mile cycle home from Wemyss Bay, using the hillier option of the minor roads to avoid the madness of the A78 on a sunny evening. In this photo are the 3 main Clyde islands of Arran (background) Bute (the south end is in the middle ground) and Cumbrae (foreground - if you ignore the curious cows!).

Best ride of the year so far! More of this weather, pleeeeeaaaase.......

 

[Bazzer]

Last full day before Mrs Bazzer returns from abroad, so got child 2's rabbits outside in their run, loaded up a couple of drink bottles, some nutrition and headed off for a few hours of make it up as you go along.


Mainly back roads through Warrington up to the roads around Arley Hall, then decided I'd head over to Northwich, with possibly Chester to follow. So headed to Comberbach, Great Budworth and Wincham before arriving at Northwich. Once at Northwich was diverted to the Anderton boat lift as recently visited by @Katherine


Started towards Runcorn/Frodsham, but decided that was getting too close to home, so went South(ish) towards Tarporley, but then shortly after Delamere decided on a detour to Winsford and from there to Middlewich.
Had a smug git moment on the way into Middlewich, as I got close to the town centre and bypassed a rapidly lengthening queue of traffic, which turned out to have been caused by an Audi , which was at 90 degrees to the footpath and completely blocking the opposite lane and part of my lane. Sadly the moment lasted but a few minutes as some Eastern European registered artic, passed me within what felt a couple of inches of my right elbow.

From Middlewich across to Holmes Chapel. The viaduct at the latter:




From Holmes Chapel past Jodrell Bank


and through the pretty village of Goostrey.
Then the homeward bound route of Byley, Knutsford, Lymm, Warburton Bridge and Culcheth.
After all of those miles had a couple of knobbers nearly take me out half a mile from home, as they decided to overtake a parked car way over on my side of the road!

Last 20 miles were OK for energy levels but right sit bone was getting a bit sore. A bit of a weird ride for temperature. Up to about 10am long sleeves and a bit cool in the shadows. From about 10am definately warmer and finished the ride with sunburn.
New territory for a single ride for the Garmin. 82 miles at just over 15mph average travelling speed.

 

[albion]

Not that I'd recommend riding so far only 5 weeks after breaking 6 ribs but I completed the Coast-to-Coast with my 11 year-old son today:

Tuesday - We took the train to Workington and rode 31 miles to Keswick for the evening ( https://www.strava.com/activities/594175528 ). It seemed to make sense as it helped alleviate the long ride to Alston and would make a nice introduction for him. What we hadn't counted on was the Workington route around Whinlatter being shut which meant a long detour and going up Whinlatter itself . The Youth Hostel at Keswick was fine even if they're not fully open yet after the floods there.

Wednesday - Keswick to Alston - 47 miles. Breakfast at 'Laura in the Lakes' (expensive but nice) in Keswick set us up for a good day's riding. We went up to Castlerigg standing stones due to the usual C2C route not being open. Then through Greystoke (good café!) to Alston. Hartside was cold and misty with a strong headwind but we all made it up, albeit slowly: https://www.strava.com/activities/595081832 Overnight was at Highfields, Alston - decent accommodation, a lovely welcome and brilliant food

Thursday - Alston to Sunderland - 65 miles and my youngest's first metric century. Up Nenthead (cold), with a lovely stop at the Hemmel café in Rookhope. Then slowly up Crawleyside but neither him nor myself stopped. We then took the long route down to Sunderland with a stop by the beach before the train home: https://www.strava.com/activities/596243202

And my injuries? Fine. No major issues but no telling the doctor or she'll be

My youngest's happy. He found some bits tough going but made it through without issue. Next up for him? He's got an Under 12's race in Nottingham on Saturday but we've been talking about riding some audaxes later this year.

Following on from the path crossing scenario, I headed across to Helvellyn Wednesday for another mini round tour, this time the wind being to my advantage.

I left Hartside TOP cafe sometime after 4 pm, passing through Melmerby maybe 4.40.
It might have been near there I crossed a family group(3?) in slight surprise that the lead youngster was in such fine spirit for a much tougher than expected ride. I'm quite vague in memory so am guessing the youngster was in red or had a red bike. There really can't have been that many 'professional' looking youngsters on the road that blustery day.

For me, Penrith was where the sun finally started to shine. It was drizzling in Newcastle and then again whilst over Alston moor.

 

[albion]

If you were passed by 3 riders; 2 adults and a child all on road bikes then yes. No-one went past us on any of the days unless we were stopped at a cafe.

And if so ...

You drafting your young un certainly helped.

 

[DCLane]

Following on from the path crossing scenario, I headed across to Helvellyn Wednesday for another mini round tour, this time the wind being to my advantage.

It might have been near there I crossed a family group(3?) in slight surprise that the lead youngster was in such fine spirit for a much tougher than expected ride. I'm quite vague in memory so am guessing the youngster was in red or had a red bike. There really can't have been that many 'professional' looking youngsters on the road that blustery day.

That sounds like us. And yes, he spent quite a bit of time on the front. It's good training.

You drafting your young un certainly helped.

 

[Smithbat]

11 miles for me this evening. Looking at views over hedges you can't normally see when driving. Out of Aylesbury towards Risborough then turn right and came back through Marsh and Bishopstone and back down to Aylesbury. It was my first ride out of town on my own so I am proud of myself.

 

[albion]

Yes, a 'red' herring in there somewhere.

You pics have only just appeared on screen DC.

 

[rugby bloke]

Took a week of after a really crap ride last week, niggling injuries, a cold and pretty unseasonable weather all putting me off. Had a sharp word with myself today and went out for a very enjoyable evening 26 miles around the countryside to the south of Northampton:

Feeling much better for it now, hoping to find time for a longer ride in the sun on Sunday.