Your ride today....

[CanucksTraveller]

It was the last chance for a proper training ride today before next Sunday which is my first attempt at a 100k. My intention was to complete a ride in excess of 75k to give me some confidence that I might finish next week's course.

Out to Baldock first to join up with the friendly group I met a few weeks back. From there, we headed south east through blustery conditions passing Weston, Wood End, and the delightfully named village of Nasty where we turned north to pass through West Mill and then Buntingford.

The first pub stop came at the lovely village of Mill End:

From there we continued north through Therfield and took a small detour up to Abington Piggots for another pub break:

Turning west and into a prevailing head wind we rode through Steeple Morden and Ashwell and over the final few climbs into Baldock, where I said farewell to the group to do the final 5 miles home on my own.

79k distance, which I was pleased with and didn't cause me significant issues.
12.5 mph average, not so great, but on a hilly route on a windy day, I'm not going to be challenging any records. Today was about mileage and time in the saddle after all.

 

[Brandane]

Like Donger, I too am in France, but in the flatter Normandy!
Arrived in St. Malo last Thursday morning.
Day 1, St. Malo to Avranches (insert photo of Le Mont St Michel here).
Day 2, Avranches to Barnevulle Carteret.
Day 3, BC to Barfleur.
Aujordhui, Barfleur to Carentan.
Tomorrow, Carentan to Bayeux or Caen.
Then a couple of days touring about without the weight of 4 panniers, can't wait!!
Ferry home on Wednesday followed by a nightshift drive home. Refuse point blank to face the A38, M6 etc. during the day. It was torture southbound.
Only brief details as using crapomatic fone.....

 

[Glow worm]

Just a quick 10 miler here today on the fen.

Just the one pic today, this is Tubney Fen near Reach. You just have to dodge the cow pats- apart from that it's a fairly smooth ride!

Some annoying clicking sounds suggest I might need a new BB and my rear brake pads have fallen in love with my wheel rim to such an extent that no amount of fettling will truly separate them. I suspect the spring has gone (V brakes). A new set required. Yet another LBS trip on the cards.

 

[DCLane]

Today was Ravensthorpe Cycling Club's annual 120 mile ride, which raises funds for Kirklees Cycling Academy (rider training age 6-16). I'm in Ravensthorpe and my 12 year-old races for KCA.

We both took part; it was his first time over 100 miles and we made sure he cleared the 200k barrier as well: https://www.strava.com/activities/700495039

Photo: he's the little one in the front and I'm somewhere on the back row, RH side.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Well, I did like that. I see I forgot to mention the onion rings and Stilton sauce.
They were good too

A hundred over a weekend is nothing to sneeze at either.

 

[Gravity Aided]

15 miles this day, before the heat sets in again. covered some ground, but saw only two other cyclists and a little tractor the city sent out on the trail.
79F
26C
Winds SE10
Relative humidity 56%
Barometer 30.13
Partly cloudy.
Heat will come on up to about 90F the next three days, then cooler, as the hot spells get shorter.

 

[Elybazza61]

Couple of rides again.

1st was yesterdays combo of the Strawberry 55 from Impington and there and back to make up the 100k challenge and Strava fondo.

Nice morning but once out knew it would be a tough day as the wind had not calmed down so a bit of a slog it would be.

Got to Impington just before 9:00 for sign on which was done in a few minutes and with numbers attached went off;it was a low key event and not a sportive as such with the majority it seemed doing the smaller routes and lots of family groups too.

Wind still strong but made headway as the route headed out to Dave 123's parish at Hardwick and through the Gransdens to Gamlingay;then down to Wendy,Bassingbourn,Barrington and up Chapel HiLL

After a slight detour it was back up to Barton,Comberton and Long Road and then back the way we came via Dry Drayton.

Waited a bit at the finish and was tempted by the scones and jam but decided to head home as the clouds were looking threatening.

Back on the Twenty pence for a total of 143kms(88 miles) in a minute over 5 hours;was tempted to do the Imperial ton but the legs had had enough and I'd had my fill of the wind as well.

https://www.strava.com/activities/700269022

A (mostly) enjoyable ride and nice to do a more chilled out event;the only downer was the Garmin HRM loosing the plot and reading firstly high then going off and on and reading low,seemed to re-calibrate itself at the finish and was stable on the ride back home.


Today was a heavy legged easy roll in to work on a dreary morning down the A10 with the heat rate kept in z1 and 2(HRM beaving itself today).

https://www.strava.com/activities/701047368

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Today was Ravensthorpe Cycling Club's annual 120 mile ride, which raises funds for Kirklees Cycling Academy (rider training age 6-16). I'm in Ravensthorpe and my 12 year-old races for KCA.

We both took part; it was his first time over 100 miles and we made sure he cleared the 200k barrier as well: https://www.strava.com/activities/700495039

Yes, I saw that on the Clubs FaceBook pages

 

[kapelmuur]

Old haunts, great memories - thanks for sharing

Me too, I was born and grew up in Shrewsbury.

 

[MikeW-71]

Tour of Britain day in Carlisle and thanks to a last minute shift-swap at work, I had the day off!

So I came up with the brilliant plan of riding out along the stage to Kirkoswald and Lazonby, watch them go through there, then I would have 1 hour to cross 15 miles to Hesket Newmarket, to see the sprint.

Packed a rucksack with waterproofs and some sandwiches and off I set at 9.30am. It was soon apparent after 5 miles that my climbing legs were still tucked up in bed at home. This was gonna feel like a loooong day. Whatever, I'm gonna give it a try anyway.

Arrived in Lazonby in plenty of time, time for a snack whilst waiting for the race and got chatting with some fans. My plan was to leave as soon as the main peloton came through as I was taking a different road.

These guys make climbing Lazonby hill look insultingly easy:





And off I went! Can I make it? There's a good bit of climb to be done, but also some longish descents... Well, every incline was a struggle, the flat was OK, the descents were welcome... And I came up short by 1.5 miles as the outriders were closing the roads down. On another day, I might have made it, but the junction I ended up at with some other fans was just fine to watch the riders through again.

I think that's Cav I spotted there:


And Wiggo chilling out at the back



I rode through to Hesket Newmarket anyway, finished off the food and headed for home, struggling up every hill until I finally reached the "downhill all the way home" point and rounded off a 44 mile day out, in nice weather too! I even got back before the rain started, bonus!

https://www.strava.com/activities/701347681

 

[Gravity Aided]

7 miles this day, as it was hot and humid already by 10:30 a.m.. Quite a few cyclists out there, and one of those power walker fellers, dressed like a character from Monty Python

as well as a few people not representing the Ministry of Silly Walks.
86F,30C
Winds SW14, G 20
Relative humidity68%
Barometer 30.12
Partly Cloudy

 

[Dave 123]

After my ride home me and me bird went out for a short 16 mile ride through the gloomy old gloom of South Cambridgeshire

No rain fell, but it was just a grey, muggy blanket. The cloud was locking in some nice rose and lavender smells, but in Barton there was a farm trailer that was honking!

Mrs Dave was trying out her new prescription sports glasses from Boots and a new shorter stem. I've renamed her bike the Karma Sutra.
Then We stopped so she could tilt her handle bars!

Glasses and stem get the thumbs up

https://www.strava.com/activities/701613654

 

[Dave 123]

Couple of rides again.

1st was yesterdays combo of the Strawberry 55 from Impington and there and back to make up the 100k challenge and Strava fondo.

Nice morning but once out knew it would be a tough day as the wind had not calmed down so a bit of a slog it would be.

Got to Impington just before 9:00 for sign on which was done in a few minutes and with numbers attached went off;it was a low key event and not a sportive as such with the majority it seemed doing the smaller routes and lots of family groups too.

Wind still strong but made headway as the route headed out to Dave 123's parish at Hardwick and through the Gransdens to Gamlingay;then down to Wendy,Bassingbourn,Barrington and up Chapel HiLL

After a slight detour it was back up to Barton,Comberton and Long Road and then back the way we came via Dry Drayton.

Waited a bit at the finish and was tempted by the scones and jam but decided to head home as the clouds were looking threatening.

Back on the Twenty pence for a total of 143kms(88 miles) in a minute over 5 hours;was tempted to do the Imperial ton but the legs had had enough and I'd had my fill of the wind as well.

https://www.strava.com/activities/700269022

A (mostly) enjoyable ride and nice to do a more chilled out event;the only downer was the Garmin HRM loosing the plot and reading firstly high then going off and on and reading low,seemed to re-calibrate itself at the finish and was stable on the ride back home.


Today was a heavy legged easy roll in to work on a dreary morning down the A10 with the heat rate kept in z1 and 2(HRM beaving itself today).

https://www.strava.com/activities/701047368

Someone in work, a member ofH&I bicycle club asked if I'd like to do it. I looked at the website, £17 to ride my usual roads! So I went to Toft beer festival on Saturday night (£2.40 a pint) then had a lazy Sunday morning.

 

[NorthernDave]

Today was a day off work, although with everything we had to do it didn't feel like I'd had a rest so when the chance came to grab a quick ride on the bike I was in the lycra before you could say boo!

On the carbon again, and just a local spin up to keep the legs working. Down to Crossgates, keeping off the main roads due to the time of day, looping around onto Manston Lane for the nearly always fun mile long blast out into the countryside (for now).
Head down, backside up and legs spinning, I managed to keep the average speed over 20mph for the full mile, although I was huffing like a wounded buffalo at the turning point.
Manston Lane is a rare hidden gem for cyclists - a straightish mile run out into the countryside on a well surfaced and generally deserted road through rolling farmland. At the end there is a good sized area to take 5 before heading back, or if you're on a suitable bike, there are bridleways taking you off to Scholes, or Garforth or across to link into NCN R66 and through the woods at Parlington. Hopefully some of it will survive the council plans for a new road and 'associated' developments...

Took a minute then repeated the same in the opposite direction, only to be slowed by traffic from the construction site so not quite as quick.

I stopped to pop my lungs back in alongside the abandoned former Vickers tank factory at Barnbow (reportedly once the longest building in Europe, possibly still so), which is scheduled to be torn down for housing, once the coal seam beneath it is excavated.

I used to live nearby and it wasn't an unusual sight to see the tanks on transporters heading down past the local shopping centre after maintenance work.
Back on the bike and an extended loop around Pendas Fields, up Barwick Rd and another long loop around Manston to push the mileage on before heading for home.

7.11 miles (11.44km) in 31mins at an acceptable average of 15.7mph, with a nearly negligible 252ft climbed. All good fun on a grey but surprisingly humid afternoon.

 

[Donger]

Day 2 in the Alps. Up and out at sunrise again, this time to take on the Col du Marais. Raced over to Faverges again and took a left turn to head off through St Ferreol in the exact opposite direction of yesterday's climb of the Col de Tamie. A beautiful little village, St Ferreol, with more than its share of geraniums and a fine old watermill:

As with yesterday's ride, this was a comfortable, 4% gradient on average over 10km, though this one topped out at 843m at the Col, officially making it a little under 400m of height gain. The raw stats are a bit misleading, though, as the ride starts with 2km @ 5%, followed by 2 more @ 6%, but then there is a rather dis-spiriting drop of about 75m that has to be won back again just below the village of Serraval. This also meant doing a further 75m of climbing on the descent too, which seemed perverse. Pleased to report that I "beat" this col too, by getting to the top without stopping. Arrived at the col in a light shower, but decided against getting into my rain jacket. The col itself was unremarkable, but the ride up to it was very picturesque. I was sorely tempted to carry on to Thones or take a right onto the road leading to the Col de la Croix Fry for a couple of miles before turning around ... or to return via the Col de L'Epine, which was my first successfully climbed Alp back in 2013. But time waits for no man.

As I'd not stopped on the way up, I stopped for photos a few times on the way back down. With wet brakes, the descent was "interesting", but I got round these lovely hairpins below Serraval alright and never had any real scares.

Here is a shot taken about half way down, looking back up..... with quite a precipice on the right. (On the climb, I made sure I looked where I was going instead of going where I was looking):

Some of the great views I'd had on the way up had disappeared in the clouds by the time I got the camera out. Still looked great though, and the descent was accompanied by the tinkling of cow bells and the sound of rushing water:

Stopped off for a selfie at this lovely old bridge over a ravine. Didn't mess about after that, as there was a ruddy great trench of a drainage ditch on my side of the road that made the Rio Olympic road race route look positively wrapped in cotton wool. With the rest of this part of France now wide awake and some large trucks starting to trundle past, I was taking no chances, and kept my eyes on the road all the way back to St Ferreol.

Got back to Doussard 1 minute before my promised ETA. Got this col bagging down to a fine art now .... run like a Swiss train service. That's another 25.0 miles to add to yesterday's 24.5, and two of my four targetted cols successfully done. Tomorrow we are off out to Annecy mid morning, so I'll head off at sunrise to do a brisk but spectacular circuit of Lake Annecy instead of doing any climbing.
Cheers, Donger.