Your ride today....

[PeteXXX]

The main route round is all tarmac but there are trails into the woods in several places round the area.

It's not something I've tried (apart from a bit of misguided pathfinding the first time I rode over there) but there's no shortage of mountain bikers in the area in the warmer months so the route information must be out there somewhere.

If you fancied a bit of road riding, Bwlch y Groes and Hirnant Pass (not the one from this ride - confusingly there are two Cwm Hirnants) can both be accessed from the western end of the lake.

Looks like I'll have to take severall of my bikes then, just to be sure...

 

[booze and cake]

I only managed a 12 mile ride before it got dark, a quick jaunt up to Holland Park and back. Hard to believe this is central London, just a stones throw away from the retail hell of Kensington High Street.

There's a bronze statue called 'walking man' which startled me when I turned around to see it, extra creepy at dusk or in the shadows, a slight modification and he's now 'walking man with bike'

Step away from all the hustle and bustle in the dazzling and relaxing Kyoto Garden

A short ride but still crammed with an eye watering amount of autumn colour.

 

[Salty seadog]

Great pics! Is there an Off Road trail around Lake Vyrnwy or is it all tarmac? Just thinking of a trip there sometime in the future and which bike to take.

Hi Pete, http://www.trailforks.com/ is a good site for finding wild trails that people have found or built up. There is quite a bit of detail on them too such as how much is climbing decending or flat with distance and incline. Also they are mostly graded to the national standards of blue, red and black. There is also an app for the site for the phone too.

Happy trails.....

 

[PeteXXX]

Hi Pete, http://www.trailforks.com/ is a good site for finding wild trails that people have found or built up. There is quite a bit of detail on them too such as how much is climbing decending or flat with distance and incline. Also they are mostly graded to the national standards of blue, red and black. There is also an app for the site for the phone too.

Happy trails.....

I'll check that out, thanks

 

[Spartak]

Took a 'Boris' bike for my journey across London this afternoon rather than the Tube.

Used the Cycle Superhighway from Tower Hill to Whitehall then past Buck' Palace to Hyde Park & back to Paddington.

Lovely ride taking in lots of sights ;-)

 

[Mrs M]

Went out tonight for a nice evening toddle (or so I thought) on the Pashley
Mr M joined me for his first night ride Slightly chilly but we soon warmed up.
The wee toddle turned into an 80 minute ride locally, then along some unlit roads in a big loop, then home.
The big full moon light up some of our way but some sections were very dark.
A spontaneous bike ride but really enjoyed it (Mr M is keen to do it again)
I'll borrow the bright front light from other bike next time though

 

[Gravity Aided]

I thought that was Colonel Walter Kurtz, from Apocalypse Now

 

[Salty seadog]

I thought that was Colonel Walter Kurtz, from Apocalypse Now

The horror....the horror....

 

[Gravity Aided]

He's out there, operating
without any decent restraint,
totally beyond the pale
of any acceptable human conduct.
And he is still in the field,
commanding troops.

 

[Elybazza61]

Another day and another commute.

Usual run down the Twenty pence and a bit of a slog against the wind;cadence sensor still not workibg espite a new battery so will have to try and re-pair if not it might be new sensor time,HRM ok after a wash and fresh battery apart from a huge burp causing a spike while easing down in Cambridge.

Apart from that a hassle free commute.

https://www.strava.com/activities/776863694

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Left for Woodlesford, down the hill past the station, the road still has a large amount of leaf cover and I did not want to see how grippy it might have been. Every time I cross the canal and river on that narrow bit of road there seems to be a lot of traffic stuck on my back wheel, and once up the rise into Swillington the traffic sort of vanishes. Odd.

I've noticed that, at times too

Peckfield Bar provides more practice at roundabouts, and I kept on along the A 63 to turn left at the next roundabout. Micklefield these days is a tidy, almost pretty, village, more a dormitory these days really

I would love to see film footage, during its hectic days, as the 'Great North Road'.went through it



Quite an impressively sized railway bridge, carrying the Leeds-York line

 

[Old jon]

I've noticed that, at times too


I would love to see film footage, during its hectic days, as the 'Great North Road'.went through it

Hope I got that quote right.
Oddly, I do not recall it being hectic, trucks were slow in the early sixties, so clogged with traffic aye, but that meant bikes moved faster . . .
Years ago, a friend ( Alan Dailey, no longer with us ) who worked at YTV in Leeds unearthed some film footage from the fifties, some of which he put on video tape and passed to me. Nothing to do with the old A 1, but it might be worth making some enquiries in that direction, if indeed YTV still exists. I will ask around Alan's mates from those days, see if there is anything.
Pete Middleton, motorbike shop in Cleckheaton, hmm, I doubt he is alive but he had hours of archive footage, mostly motorcycle stuff but some other. And of course the Lampkin clan, up until about eight years ago one of them was still involved in bicycle trials, one of my apprentices was taught or trained by him.
Possibly your best chance would be here:--

www.wyjs.org.uk

if they cannot help directly they may be able to point you further on.

 

[Salty seadog]

25 miles at 15.2mph. After 7 twelve hour night shifts I feel pretty good, got a pb up the Whitfield hill (@Hill Wimp ) too. Now sweating in the bath.

 

[Donger]

A once-a-year "special" of a ride for me today. A decent-sized Severn Bore was predicted to arrive during daylight hours, in nice weather, and on one of my days off. These four factors seldom coincide, so it was definitely the right time for this year's Severn Bore Chase. A couple of years ago, I managed to photo it in three different locations .... Framilode, Epney and Stonebench, so I knew where I would need to sprint, and where I could take it a bit easier. Armed with a bit of tide table information and a set of internally stored pace notes compiled from another year of cycling, I also had an idea I would be able to make another final long sprint to the old bridge at Over to catch it a fourth time this year, so that was my aim. Set off before sunrise, wearing my high-viz and with all lights blaring. I was curious to find out what effect the "super moon" would have on the tide today, and was pleasantly surprised, when I reached the waterfront at Epney, to see that the moon was still visible in the morning sky (though not particularly "super"). Over my shoulder, the sun was just rising over the Cotswold Hills, and its first rays can be seen reflecting back from the windows of houses in the hilltop village of Littledean in the Forest of Dean, opposite:

I carried on down the lane another half a mile or so to Framilode, where I joined a little group of bore watchers standing on the flood wall by the church and watched a small flotilla of surfers heading out to meet the wave. The bore arrived about five minutes late, giving the sun just enough time to light up the reeds on the opposite river bank with a golden glow:

Not that big a wave, it turns out, but predicting the wave size is never an exact science, depending as it does on so many different factors, such as river levels, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure etc. But it is always an event. Sprinted half a mile to Epney and screeched to a halt just in time to get my camera out again. Not my best bore picture, but a rarity for having the moon in shot:

There was another little crowd of bore watchers on the front at Epney as usual. This is known as one of the best spots for watching the Severn Bore, as you get a good clear line of sight in both directions, and plenty of space for car parking:

I had plenty off time to roll along to Stonebench over five miles away for my next sighting, though this is not a particularly good viewing spot. The lane runs along the riverbank, but there is only one small break in the tree line, and you only ever get a very fleeting view. You can opt for the field just down the road, but that is usually really muddy and requires wellies to be worn. In any event, this was a really damp squib, as there was no "wave" as such at this point in the river, just a large swell and a bit of a splash (though not the drenching that it gave Berney and @Dark46 last year!):

Lots of support vehicles for the various surfers were speeding past by this time, and I had to let several 4x4s and vans go past before I made my quick getaway. Sprinted past my own house and out onto the cyclepath to Hempsted and onwards alongside the Gloucester Western By-Pass. Got to a great viewpoint on the road bridge at Over in about 17 minutes, leaving me 3 minutes to get my camera ready:

And here it came, now re-formed as a complete wave stretching right across the river. Still a little bit late, but exactly 20 minutes after it passed through Stonebench ... just as predicted over a year ago in the official tide table:

My favourite bit of bore-watching is always just after the wave, when the river churns up wildly and the river races at 20mph in the wrong direction, carrying trees and other flotsam with it:

So that's it for another year. Now I know I can catch it four times between Framilode and Over, my target for next year is to follow virtually the whole course of the bore, from Arlingham to Maisemore. It is only about a 20 minute ride from Arlingham to Framilode to tag on at the beginning, and by all accounts the wave took 20 minutes to cover that stretch of the river today, and normally does the same. And I now know I can beat the bore from Stonebench to Over, so next time I'll sprint past and get myself to the next bridge along, to finish the chase at Maisemore. This bore chasing is getting quite addictive now. If anyone ever fancies having a go, I'm happy to pass on some tips, as I guess I've probably now done it as often as any cyclist anywhere. There are no massive Severn bores due next year, but I reckon I'll have a go at the first three star one of next Spring.
Four viewings of the Severn Bore before breakfast! Over and out. Cheers, Donger.

 

[GuyBoden]

Rain, wind and a rainbow, nice amble along the Cheshire lanes ending up at peaceful Dutton locks on the river Weaver. They promised rain and wind, and they didn't disappointed. Much quicker on the way back with the wind pushing me home.
https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/osmaps/route/930734/38mile-Dutton-Locks-and-Back