Your ride today....

[GuyBoden]

Plenty of blue sky and sunshine today, so I put on the yellow sun glasses and headed out. The wind was a bit stronger than I'd expected, so the 100Km ride was cut short to a 50miler. A BMW pulled out of a junction and gave me a close shave in lymm, so I gave him a friendly wave.

Redesmere revisited, with yellow sunglasses and blue sky.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Had last week off work, but what with one thing & another, I didn't get many rides in - not worthy of note anyway
Day-off today & tomorrow
(A/L again soon; finish on Friday 17th - go back on Saturday 25th)

Meant to go up to Tadcaster today, to look at the re-opened bridge (maybe tomorrow?)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-38852930

However, a lack of time, ,meant just a saunter through Castleford, along Barnsdale Road, up 'Mary Pannal', over 'Peckfield Bar', along the 'ridge-road
Down to HookMoor cross-roads (where the 'Great North Road' crossed the Wakefield - Aberford - Tadcaster road)
Past Lotherton Hall, over to Sherburn-in-Elmet
Past http://www.squires-cafe.co.uk/
Back over the 'new' A1, under the old 'A1', & into Ledsham, dropping down New Road, to The Chequers, which was until not too long ago, a
6 day licence pub!! - closed on Sundays
http://thechequersinn.com/history/ (see 2nd paragraph)

 

[gavgav]

After the sort of day at work that could turn me superstitious (13th and utter chaos all day) I needed a ride this evening.

Blustery wind from the East but noticeably milder than it has been for the past week, meant good progress around town, as it's behind me most of the way on the route. I added a loop through the grounds of the hospital to extend the ride to 13.0 miles.

 

[cosmicbike]

Sorry but I've removed my original image and the link. I've been doing a bit of digging and decided that I'm involving the police on this matter

Oh come on the suspense was killing me..
In all seriousness if it's worth of the Police then best kept off the public forum for now...

 

[Deleted member 1258]

After yesterday's damp and dismal Sunday I woke up to a bright breezy and cold Monday, a lovely day for a bike ride. The trouble was I was due to see the optician this morning so a morning ride was out of the question, but I'd done the housework yesterday so I had time for an afternoon out on the bike. So after a spot of lunch i got changed and got the fixed out, I did a direct route out to Shenton and Whitemoor Antiques and a direct ride home, a 36 mile ride. I would have liked to have ridden a bit further but I'm still very slow and I had to be careful with how far I rode because of how early night falls, I haven't any lights on the bike and I didn't want to finish the ride unlit and in the dark, I got home about five with it still light just. A lovely afternoon ride in the sunshine, slow into the breeze but flying with the breeze behind me.

View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/12950666

 

[Aravis]

Notably, after seeing a couple of commuter cyclists in the first few hundred metres, we never saw a single cyclist for the next hundred kilometres. This either means there are a whole lot of fairweather cyclists in Gloucester, or else I really am that stupid.

As it happens, my window of opportunity was today (Monday), not the weekend. This explains why you didn't see me on Saturday. Whether I'm a fairweather cyclist or not is open to debate. Today there was nothing whatsoever falling from the sky, but the breeze was stiff and very cold, so I'm hoping honour was satisfied.

My car was booked for its service and MOT at my trusted garage in Lydney (where I used to live), so I had a chance to start a ride from there for a change. I'd been looking at heading for Newport and then up one of the valleys, but I was a bit spooked by the forecaster this morning talking of "severe gales around coasts and exposed places". The road between Brynmawr and Blaenavon is very much exposed, so I decided not to risk it.

I ended up doing one of my usual rides, with a pitstop at Café Chez Aravis. Clockwise:

https://www.strava.com/activities/865177656

No major climbs, but the final 10 miles straight into the wind blowing off the Severn Estuary felt like a sufficiently noble finale. Pretty slow too.

There was just enough light for a photo at journey's end, the sea lock at Lydney Harbour. Very considerate of someone to put railway sleepers in such a useful position:

The bike was running very sweetly after my servicing efforts of a few days ago. It would have been nice if the car service had cost the same, but sadly, not by a long way. So no new bike for a while. Not that I need one, as I tell myself several times each day.

 

[Spinney]

Yesterday's ride...
Ahead of schedule with the work I've got on, and a sunny day forecast, so a day for a bike ride rather than sitting at the desk looking out at the sunshine. Particularly since the whole weekend had been cloudy and drizzly.
So, planned a 63 mile ride (to go for a metric century). Off up Wotton Hill again, down to Dursley and then across the flattish bits south of Stroud to Selsey and up that hill.
Stopped at Coaley Peak for a bit of a bite - it was rather hazy, but the Forest of Dean and the Welsh hills were visible - the phone camera just doesn't see them!

But instead of going back down to Wotton and home for a metric half I continued south towards Acton Turville through pretty Cotswold villages like Sopworth, then looped back up through Badminton, Hawkesbury Upton and then to Waitrose in Chipping Sodbury. (This was a shopping trip really - we were nearly out of bananas!). Cuppa and a sandwich there, and then the last leg home.

By this time I was getting tired. Going more or less straight home would make about 55 miles, and the extra bits to turn it into a metric century were just taking a longer loop along roads I ride quite often, so I decided it wasn't worth the extra. Not knackering myself too much was more important than an extra point in the challenge. And my bum is also not in training - this was the longest ride I'd done for a few months, and my rear end was also starting to complain.

But a grand day out all the same, and still 2 points for the challenge.
Strava
Relive

 

[13 rider]

Today's ride was a test ride for the hybrid new front derailleur fitted by LBS for 2 weeks I been stuck in the middle ring at the front . So out after lunch and for the first time in weeks with no thick gloves ,no overshoes and just base layer and long sleeve top in was quite pleasant in the winter sun .Anstey ,Cropston ,Swithland and then some climbing around the back of Bradgate park up to old John up Warren hill to test the granny gears and everything spinning nicely . Back home with 10.9 miles in the bag really nice pleasant ride . Makes a change to use the hybrid for a leisure ride as normally to confined the commuting

 

[Maverick Goose]

It started off sunny with lovely clear blue skies this morning, so I was really looking forward to getting out for a ride in between shifts....sadly by the time I'd finished toiling at the great coalface of housekeeping, it had clouded over and the temperature had plummeted (baby, it's cold outside...). A nice mainly downhill blast from Far Sawrey towards Hawkshead, then right through Colthouse, and a couple of short sharpish climbs and a nice long downhill towards High Wray. It was too misty to really enjoy the views towards the Langdale and Coniston Fells, or the Fairfield Horseshoe (but last Sunday was spectacular -I thoroughly recommend the road down the east side of Coniston Water via High Nibthwaite). Still an enjoyable little blast though, especially heading down the lane that joins the Windermere lakeside path, and then along the shore before rejoining the road near the ferry pier opposite Bowness. The hill climbing up from the ferry isn't as bad as it looks, honest-the worst bit is near the bottom and it's only a 1 chevron climb. Also you can enjoy a fine ale in the Cuckoo Brow Inn afterwards (after work for me though). Peak Epic long route in just over 3 months!

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

Twenty miles-ish this morning. My bike computer was having a laugh, at one point it alleged I was cycling uphill at 27mph, which is faster than I usually ride downhill, so I don't entirely believe it. Very cold north east wind and my nostrils were having a competition to see which had the fastest flow rate.. I think they came out even in the end. But it was all good.

 

[galaxy]

A nice 9 miles on the Mountain Bikes, mostly through woodlands and cycle tracks, with a detour to Asda . Then home for the Mrs to make some smashing Burgers and Garlic Spiced wedges.

 

[The Bystander]

It was only Friday since I last rode but it seemed like an age since I was out on the bike.

The improvement in the weather was welcome but it meant I was overdressed by about half a layer. A bit warm when the sun tried to break through but I was glad of the extra layer when the wind caught me.

A 20 mile day, came home smiling and wanting more.

 

[Gareth C]

Shaun, yes they are. There are loads up the Northumberland coast, plus the odd machine gun bunker. There are even some on the County Durham coast where the odd valley might have allowed a landing to get established.

There's a blog by "coastkid" or "coast rider" (am out-and-about, so can't check). He mentions a bit about them on his blog. I think he even has a picture of a couple painted up as dice!

Found it: link

 

[Reynard]

Took advantage of a nice sunny afternoon to pootle around my usual 14 mile loop. Hadn't been out on the bike since last Wednesday (have been a tad under the weather), so it felt good to get out, even if the legs weren't being as co-operative as usual. Mind, a pretty stiff headwind in places might have had something to do with that.

Rode into Downham, dropped off the new Tesco magazine for a friend and spent five minutes or so convincing her outdoor cat (a feral she took on from a local business) that a bicycle isn't scary. Apparently my helmet was scarier than the bike, because as soon as I took my lid off, she came running for her treat stick and proceeded to apply copious amounts of white cat hairs to my black lycra leggings.

After fussing the cat, it was back on the bike out of Downham and onto the Hythe Road towards Way Head. Quite a few tractors out on the road today, and I think they were muck spreading somewhere as it got very stinky for a while. The hard frosts we've had these past couple of weeks have caused the road into Way Head to really deteriorate. It's passable at the moment, but some of those potholes are getting mighty big.

Saw a jogger coming the other way - he waved and said hello, and I reciprocated.

Onwards up the hill into Coveney. The whooper swans have moved to a field on the Downham side of Coveney since the last time I rode out this way. Had my obligatory stop at St Peters to blow my conk and partake of some Haribo and M&Ms before turning left and heading down the other side of the hill towards Ely. The four miles to Ely were pretty hard work into that stiffening breeze, and it had clouded over some, so by then it was starting to feel a wee bit nippy.

Encountered a cyclist coming the other way at a gazillion miles an hour - not sure he even noticed me as he was kind of riding head down and arse up.

Then it's up onto the A10 for half a mile to join the B1411. Now with a tailwind behind me, the climb up to Orwell Pit Farm wasn't too bad. Just where the road levels out at the top of the climb, I bumped into the same jogger as I had earlier - this time we both had a good giggle about it. He'd run about 5 miles while I'd cycled 12 in the mean time. Shortly after, I encountered head-down-arse-up cyclist again. This time he was huffing and puffing into the headwind, no longer going at quite the rate he had been earlier.

Saw a Heron near Black Bank on the run in home. I was out for just over an hour and a half, had a couple of stops, and didn't have the hammer down at any time, just rode well within myself.

Only downside was a close pass from a local builder's long-high trannie van a mile and a bit from home. He was coming the other way on a single track road with passing places, could have pulled over into the convenient passing place (and avoid the mud on the road) but didn't. Instead he drove straight through the mud, didn't slow down, and as a result I got bombarded. One clod was large enough to knock me and the bike sideways as it hit.

The mud hit my rear wheel, which acted as a cheese grater on said clod. You can imagine the mess. Front derailleur clogged, chain coated, rear brakes totally bunged up, a layer a finger thick on the chain stays, muddy legs, muddy arse, the full works. Now I don't mind a muddy ride - they're a bit of a given out here in the winter - but this was taking the mick...

 

[Racing roadkill]

I've been a proper lazy bar steward over the weekend, preferring the warmth and comfort of inside, and doing no cycling at all. Thankfully the sun was out this afternoon and so it was a bit easier to force myself out, and besides that weekend jaffa cake ballast isn't going to magic itself away....Nothing particularly exciting, just a gentle 33 mile dawdle about town.

I did come across this Hummer for Hobbit-ses which made me chuckle. Shonky parking, only a short walk to the curb...
View attachment 337507
And just round the corner from this I stumbled upon Stirling Moss' house in Mayfair, it was for sale a few years ago so I'm not sure if it is still his. Apparently he bought the plot of land in the 1950's as the plot was damaged by German bombing in WW2. The plot of land cost £5000, he then built a 2500 sq ft house over 5 storeys for another £25,000. It features an automated bath, an electro-hydraulic dining table that can move from the kitchen on one floor directly down into the dining room on the floor below (how cool is that!) and a letter tray which transports post from his office directly to his wife’s. It also has a carbon fibre lift built for Sterling by the Williams Formula 1 Team (bling).
Note at the top of the house the old style F1 cars images. It was valued for sale at between £6-8 million. Wow that was a good investment.
View attachment 337508
Despite only having a pedal cycle, powered by a middle aged man with a jaffa cake habit, I still made racing car noises all the way home.

I've seen that mini Hummer thing down near Kensington.