Your ride today....

[13 rider]

Today's target Nov 100km ride . Out the door at 0930 and it's and windy wearing longs and a gillet to take the wind off .plan was to follow a sportive route I'd done in Sept looping anticlockwise round Leicester . The day I did the sportive it rained all day and it was just a case of getting round and getting the ride done so I just followed the arrows so navigation might be an issue today Anstey to Rothley to pick up the route ,Cossington ,Rearsby ,Gaddesby . Got to Ashby Foeville to find the bridge still close which should have been open yesterday the workman said I could squeeze through on the path so a four mile detour saved . Twyford ,Cold Newton ,Hungarton ,Billesdon . Along the exposed ridge from Billesdon to Gaulby I had a massive crosswind and I seemed to be riding at a 45 degree angle into Gaulby and the Hunting set are out so there horse boxes everywhere and people just wandering across the road into Kings Norton where the Navigation went slightly awry but managed to refind the route and onto Kibworth and out to Kilby and across the A5199 into Foston and down the road where the last time I put me and my bike in a hedge no spills this time . Again the Navigation went wrong into Countesthorpe back out to Croft no plotting a new route home . Thurlaston ,Desford ,Ratby ,Groby and home .65.5 miles in the bag so target achieved a bit cold so a nice bowl of pipping hot soup and a hot coffee and slowly warning up

 

[NorthernDave]

I was awoken during the night with a pain in the knee. For goodness sake, I'm only 45 and stuff is wearing out already...
Anyway, knee was OK in the straight up / down plane, if not in the twisty turny plane, so I was out on the bike just before 8am.
Had decided to use the Road Comp for the first time since August on account of it having mudguards and grippier tyres - the forecast was dry, but the roads were likely to still be damp from overnight.

By 'eck it was chilly. Glad I'd put my warm bib tights on and layered up. Think it might be time for the shoe covers though - or double socking.
Local roads to get the legs going then up Leeds Road to Scholes and really noticed the wind from the north. Past the Coronation Tree and the climb before the descent into Barwick. Something was rattling though so I hopped off by a convenient bench for a roadside fettle - a tweak of the mudguards looked to do it (this should teach me to leave bikes unused for 2 months...). It didn't fix it though and the rattle continued to taunt me throughout the ride, stopping whenever I did, then starting again after I'd set off again.
Back on and down the hill towards Barwick, taking a buffeting from the crosswind at every gap in the hedges - fortunately there wasn't much traffic about as I was taking a pounding and was glad to get into the shelter of the houses in the village.
Right onto Long lane with the wind briefly at my back for a speedy run down to Garforth, quick pause for a drink by the lights and then up the A642 towards the M1 roundabout.
Onto the roundabout and the wind made itself felt again, now a head wind and being a right pain. Fortunately much of the road to the Aberford turn enjoys the shelter of a wall / woods on the Parlington Estate, but as soon as I turned onto the Old Great North Road into Aberford itself I was straight into the teeth of it.
This is slightly downhill and it isn't difficult to maintain 30mph along here usually, but today I was working far too hard for the 17mph that the Garmin was showing. At this point I decided that plans to squeeze in a cheeky metric half were going out of the window.

So, through the village and onto Cattle Lane for the lumpy ride to Barwick. If it hadn't been for the wind it would have been a great day to be out on the bike, chilly but glorious sunshine and blue skies.
Down to Cock Beck and then the drag back up into Barwick completing the circle and retracing my ride out along to Scholes, battling that crosswind again before turning onto Leeds Road at the Coronation Tree and down the hill, before local roads straight into the wind for the last mile or so up to home.
Then to add insult to injury the bike moved slightly as I stopped the Garmin, meaning my sausage fingers hit "discard" rather than "save"
Fortunately I also had Map My Ride running, so they are providing todays stats:

14.97 miles (I know...) (24.09 km) in 1h 4m at an average of 13.9mph with 544ft climbed.

Sorry there are no photos, but I was too busy trying to find that blooming rattle each time I stopped.
Tomorrow looks grim weather wise (colder and windier than today AND raining as well!), so I think the half century ride might have to wait until next weekend...

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.strava.com/activities/766790595/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-GB&v=1478368887

Eventually I got ( nearly ) the whole ride downloaded. There are about 20 miles missing, because the Garmin is officially allergic to Chichester ( it turned itself off inexplicably on both bits of the ride at Chichester), then the phone inexplicably turned itself off at Emsworth, so I lost the phone tracking on Strava. Anyway, That's this month's imperial ton ride done and dusted.

It was a nice day for a ride, so I took myself off to Littlehampton, via Wickham, Fareham and Bognor. It was really chilly on the way out, and just started to get risky ( ice etc. ) at the end.

Bugger Bognor.

Littlehamp(ton).

Chichester ( where wierd tech stuff happens ).

Chilly but nice.


https://www.relive.cc/view/766790595

 

[Gravity Aided]

My ride (yesterday) was 8.2 miles, later in the day for the last time, as our clocks went back overnight. A few cyclists out, and a couple of runners, the trail has been restored after a few weeks of construction.
60F
Winds SW8
Relative humidity 80%
Barometer 30.35 and steady in the glass
Fair, with more garage work forecast.

 

[bruce1530]

Yesterday, I got an early start - quite cold and a touch of frost here on the coast, but no wind. Glad I had wrapped up well - this was the first trip of the year with the woollen hat under the helmet. Followed a few local roads until I reached the NCN73, and followed that towards Kilwinning. From there, followed the B roads and farm roads inland towards Stewarton. Much more frost as I headed inland, and even a touch of ice at the sides of the road.


I was heading for the cycle path that runs alongside the A77 from Kilmarnock to Glasgow. This used to be a 4 lane road with no central reservation, but since the M77 opened, the old A77 is pretty quiet. It’s now a normal 2-lane road, with a separate cycle area.

I don’t know those back roads very well, and missed a junction, so ended up unexpectedly doing a few miles on a busier bit of road. It’s still a B-road, but was busy and a bit hilly. Fortunately no mad drivers....

About a mile before the A77, I went over a small pothole, and immediately felt something was wrong with the bike. Rattling and shaking noises from the front every time the bike went over anything rough, although handling was fine. I was sure it was front mudguard - noise definitely seemed to be coming from the front. But couldn’t see any problem. Maybe it was the water bottle rattling in the cage - no, it’s fine.

Stopped, and got off for a closer look - and realised that the rear mudguard had completely snapped through, just where it passes through the bracket at the seat stays. Bodged a quick repair - it’ll need replaced, and I could have just taken it off, but nowhere nearby to dispose of it - and pushed ahead.

Followed the A77 cycle path north for a few miles, then turned onto the old Eaglesham Moor road and headed uphill. That used to be a notorious accident blackspot - a busy, narrow, exposed road over the moor - but since the motorway extension opened, the moor road is practically deserted. For much of its length, it’s now marked as a single track road with passing places for motor vehicles, with cycle paths at both sides.

Arrived at the visitor centre for the Whitelee wind farm, and went to the cafe. The cakes looked great, but I opted for coffee and bacon roll - good coffee, plenty of bacon, and great value at 2.50!

Decided to check my distance on Strava, and realised I hadn’t turned it on... guess it was about 25 miles.
Back on the bike, and headed towards Kilmarnock - another 12 miles or so - to meet the family.

 

[Dave 123]

The last forecast I saw yesterday was for rain all day from 9am this morning.
I was up and about by 8, and although it was fairly blowy it was looking beautiful and sunny, not a cloud. The forecast said the rain would start at noon.

I got togged up, thermal top and a buff on my head (there was more than that I assure you!) and my winter boots. The first couple of miles to the Knapwell turn were cold, but after that I was just right. So my first 10 or so miles would be into the wind. It was a struggle at first! After our tandem ride yesterday we rode the 7 miles into town at 4.30 on the tandem, went for food with friends, then watched the fireworks, then went to the pub (I had 5 pints!) and rode home in the dark.
I'd like to say that the struggle was due to the cold, wind and late night cycling, but it was probably more to do with beer induced lethargy!

Up over the hill at Elsworth, a kestrel on a wire kept a beady eye on me as I rolled by. I kept my eye on him, he looked hungry! I rolled on into Hilton then turned for Graveley. Two blokes turned in just behind me. Half way to the A1198 junction one of them came alongside for a nice chat. They were heading for Grafham Water.
From Graveley I went to Croxton, I'd now turned to a more southerly direction and the sun was a problem. This road is a nice gentle downhill for half a mile or so, but the surface is sketchy. There are some quite interesting potholes. Luckily I avoided them. Then a car crested the hill and I had to move over to the left. The bright sun and deep shadow at the edge of the road baffled me for a moment and I almost had a run in with the grass verge!

Home through the Gransdens and Toft. On the road up to Hardwick I was running out of gas... I probably need to top up the beer level!

31 sunny, chilly, lovely miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/767401764

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.strava.com/activities/767691308/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-GB&v=1478440472

A short one down to Beaulieu today.

Feeding the 5000 with this bad boy.

A lovely day today.

Autumn at Exbury.

https://www.relive.cc/view/767723561

Another 48 miles done. A very nice, but chilly ride.

 

[13 rider]

Late night last night for both me and Andy so arranged a late meet up 1130 and forecast was rain . Up by 0930 and the suns shining so out the door at 1030 for an extended ride to meeting point 15 mins away . Up through Newtown to Markfield and happy I put my winter jacket on as its got cold yesterday so warmer gear today . Ratby ,Groby back to Anstey ,Cropston ,Rothley got to meeting point 5 mins early .Thankfully Andy was early as well so a quick loop planned . Cropston over the reservoir dam around the back of Bradgate park and straight into a headwind so a change of route right at the crossroads and into Swithland where it's starts to spit with rain .Woodhouse ,Quorn and now its raining properly hopefully my winter jacket which is shower proof will hold it off .Onto Mountsorrel and back to Sileby to drop Andy off at home refuse the offer of a coffee as I didn't want to stop and get cold so press on . Cossington ,Rothley by now I wet through as its got through my shower proof jacket and my feet and hands are wet back to Anstey a few prs on strava as I put the hammer down to get home . 36.2 miles in the bag so Novs 50 km in the bag .Just being to get the feeling back in my fingers and toes was properly soaked when I got home but still enjoyed it I must be mad ! Time for a nice hot and possible some cake

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Similar to @13 rider went out about 10am with our lass, cold but sunny. Couple of hours later it is chucking it down and we are both soaked through and freezing.

Just shy of 25 miles done.

https://www.strava.com/activities/767720417

 

[13 rider]

Similar to @13 rider went out about 10am with our lass, cold but sunny. Couple of hours later it is chucking it down and we are both soaked through and freezing.

Just shy of 25 miles done.

https://www.strava.com/activities/767720417

Cold rain aswell For once I didn't trust the BBC weather app which turned out to be correct just looked out at the sun and thought I won't need my rain jacket !

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Cold rain aswell For once I didn't trust the BBC weather app which turned out to be correct just looked out at the sun and thought I won't need my rain jacket !

I was dressed up like I was cycling in the Arctic. Our lass rides quite slowly so I never get warmed up on our rides and the rain just about finished me off.

 

[Elybazza61]

Club ride yesterday and just 6 hardy souls left Witchford to make up the mods group.Been feeling under the weather all week so wasn't sure if I'd do the whole run but in the end got to the cafe stop ok where we were joined by two others to make it eight on the way back.

Was pretty cold and a bit damp to start but had brightened up and warmed up a bit so after a nice american and bakewell slice it was off again with hat, inner gloves and rain cape removed.

Bit chilly again starting off but soon warmed up and was cosy inside the Isadore jersey and Sportful Fiandre tights.

Wind had got up but was mostly behind us(usually coming over our right side)so an easier ride back but after Earth and the first part of the road to Haddenham the body cried enough so dropped off and cruised back with two others.

So not the quickest club run ever but still a nice ride-out and it keeps the km's ticking over.

https://www.strava.com/activities/766731767

 

[toffee]

Very chilly this morning as as got the bikes out for a 20 mile run with Mrs T.

My road bike had a rear puncture so with Mrs T on her road bike and me on my tourer we set off.

Not too bad in the sunshine but as soon as we went into the shade it as very cold with the wind chill it was not a day for stopping.

Just after crossing the A421 on the way to Nash Mrs T stopped complaining that the chain was rubbing against the front derailleur. A quick look and nothing stood out so off we went again only for the chain to fall off her bike 10 yards down the road.

I couldn't bodge it back together so only thing was to phone for a pick up from our daughter.

How come when you need modern tech to work it falls. Her phone wouldn't answer my calls and texts weren't getting through. As it was very cold we were just deciding which taxi company to phone when she called. We were only a few miles form home so 10 minutes later her bike was in the back of the car and off they went. I then set off to finish the ride.

We were actually stopped for about 50 minutes in total and had got quite cold.

Derek

 

[Surlydave]

A cold and breezy day in Suffolk, with the threat of rain and the lure
of watching the track cycling on tv, I only went as far as 11s at the
Craft Centre in Dedham. We had a great turn out, (30+), as we were saying
goodbye to two of our longest serving members of the Suffolk Ctc. The
outward leg was aided by a stiff tail wind, meaning the return 15 miles
was a little tough.


https://www.strava.com/athletes/8035690

 

[CanucksTraveller]

My wife recently signed up to do Ride The Night next May, she's never ridden a bike seriously before, and today was the first day of training (and the first chance we found to head out together to start to get her used to it). She's not unfit, but of course bike fitness is different and we set our sights realistically for something like a 15 mile loop on local B roads. It was also her first real ride on her new road bike, so lots to pick up.
We set off from home and headed south, with the intention to go down to Whitwell and back via Preston and Gosmore, but the heavens opened after a mile and in the temperatures it wasn't that pleasant for her first outing. She was riding so well though, road positioning was excellent, and the pace wasn't so bad either Gears were getting used too, albeit with some room to improve. After getting soaked and cold we decided a lesser ten miles probably wasn't bad for a first run out, and we gave up on Whitwell and did a shorter loop. Mrs C did well and she could have easily done more on a drier day. Well done wifey!