Your ride today....

[CanucksTraveller]

With blue skies this morning and all the family out for the day, I decided today was a good day for getting an early 50 in for April.
The blue skies were a red herring as it turned out, and the promise of warm weather never materialised, and my choice of a single layer was a poor one... I spent much of the afternoon wishing I had a base layer on too.

I headed northeast to start with, through Willian and Great Wymondley, before turning south to shadow the route of the A1 along the quieter B roads as far as Welwyn, where I headed west through Kimpton, and then on to the long drag uphill to Peters Green which is pretty much next to the back fence of Luton Airport. I stopped for a quick refreshment break here. Next, on to Breachwood Green, a very fast and exciting (40mph) decent into the valley before climbing up again to King's Walden and then Preston; From there it was a quick blast through Gosmore, and I was home.

Lots and lots of other cyclists out today. After just getting in March's 50 with only a couple of days to spare, I was pleased to get April's qualifying ride in so early. Pressure off!

Great Wymondley, with the early promising blue skies:

Kimpton Church:

The TCR between Kimpton and Peter's Green:

Peter's Green:

Refreshments:

King's Walden church:

https://www.strava.com/activities/925006637

51k, 32 miles.

 

[Mike_P]

Cold vanquished so no quite 24 miles this afternoon. Headed west on the anticipation of little headwind given the weather forecast and managed to find one although the turbines at the local wind farm thought otherwise

Crossing the A59 the Police were closing that road westbound, it has a reputation of being one of more dangerous A roads - the name of the crossroads just to instill confidence is "Dangerous Corner"

Seemingly compulsory "golf ball" shot, with a cyclist going the other way

Looped back to the A59 to find it open eastbound, but only me going west

Crept along a narrow lane to the north of the reservoirs, wondered just how deep the puddles/potholes were.

The cyclist topping this climb had drafted behind me to the foot of it and then annoyingly shot past

Gave these two horses a wide berth just to be sure

1292ft climbed making the total this year 3/10th the way up Everest!

 

[RedRider]

Down to Brighton today with @rb58 and @RedRider, to bag Aprils qualifying ride for the imperial century a month challenge.
What a lovely day's cycling. So nice to see blue skies. It was a little nippy this morning at first. But decided to go with shorts for the first time this year. For some reason I was relieved that rb58 & RedRider were too. We were also blessed with very light winds for down and for the return.
With very little wind and light traffic we were enjoying the roads. The Gatwick rush was a rush and the swooping roads down to Staplefield were a dream.
We got to Brighton in Record time. So much so that the fish and chip place on the beach hadn't even started frying yet. But they got on the case when confronted by very hungry cyclists. As usual, the fish and chips didn't disappoint. We hung around for @StuAff to turn up as he was cycling from Portsmouth. Had a bit of a chat then we where back on our way home. By now you could feel the warmth of the sun. It's a bit of a mare getting out of Brighton with the traffic and the hill. The route home was the A23 cycle path all the way back to Handcross. Surprising good and clear of debris. But.. yeah.. one of us had to get a puncture.. me.
Once back on the main roads we were making very good progress back towards home. I left the other 2 just after Croydon and cracked out the last few miles to home.. to a very nice cup of tea.. and a demanding 7yo wanting me to play on the trampoline.

A lovely days cycling, it rarely gets better.

View attachment 345271

Great day out followed by two recovery pints in the ivy house pub and a recovery kebab in Lewisham. @rb58 is a bit of a beast and led the way for much of the way down and sprightly @ianrauk was itching to get off the front on the way back. A welcome stop at a garage after Gatwick on the way back along with a chicken butty and chocolate milk gave my own legs the lift they needed to make it home.
For the record we 'bagged' one of the rare bona fide cols on the eastern side of England when we went past pyecombe on the a23 cycle path. (I reckon @StuAff who'd made his way from Portsmouth probably crossed one of the others before meeting us.
Also Ian, my top speed today was 34.3mph which means my legs were spinning around 2.6 times per second so no wonder you were laughing!
105 miles and my first fixed century.

 

[Stonechat]

HDW club ride to Clandon House
Good turn out - over 20 perhapos about 24, two groups.

We went via Staple Hill and Newlands Corner
Good refershments from the garden centre cafe at Clandon house

rather fragmented ride back, managed to clip of part of the return.,
Estimated total including this
45 miles @ 15.5 mph ave moving speed
1939 feet climbed
https://www.strava.com/activities/924828807/

 

[Nomadski]

Went for a ride last week on a rare sunny warm day in Manchester to head over to a nasty hill called Gorsey Brow in Broadbottom (*chuckles*) that has come to my attention via a Rapha employee, which is at the backend of the B*stard (aka Kegs n Legs) ride @themosquitoking and I are signed up for in May.

Planned quite a hilly 34 miler to try and get some hills in the legs as I've been lazy these last few months.

Got some good prep in for Gorsey with the 0.4 mile 9% average Werneth Low Road Hill which caused my out of shape legs to start crying until I stopped to take photos, then a second long climb on the Compstall to Glossop road that for a section hit 9%-14%, a 2 mile climb averaging 5% on Longhurst Lane where the last 0.3 mile averages 10%, and then finally the Gun Road climb, 8% for 0.3 miles.

The route was beautiful so it seemed inappropriate not to stop and take lovely pictures for you all, and it had nothing at all to do with being unfit and needing to stop for breathers.

Horsey Selfie

After this, I knew I was treated to a nice downhill before hitting the main event, Gorsey Brow. As I turned the corner at the top of Gun Road, a 4x4 came speeding up the narrow country lane, and I moved to the verge as we crossed. Seconds after moving back to the middle of the road my rear tyre made a distinct banging kind of noise (it was a bang) and I came to a sudden stop.

My Spidey senses advised me the amount of green suddenly thrown on the rear of my bike meant my slime inner tube had suffered a puncture beyond its capabilities to self heal,

and upon taking the tube out, took me no longer than mere seconds to find the hole itself....

The tube had splashed it's innards all over the tyre like an excited Hulk.

Worse still, the spare I had in my saddle bag was for the Cube CX bike with 33mm tyres I had ridden previously. I guessed I could get away with partially pumping up the spare....the tyre now told me otherwise....

Seemed the tyre had suffered the same fate as the inner tube, no amount of roadside staring was going to fix it so after all the hard work getting up the hill, I had to walk down it again to get to a landmark to avoid telling the nearest taxi firm I was "by a bush, directly under the sun".

Hours later, and £40 lighter I checked out the true state of affairs with my tyre...

Not too good after 40 miles on an endurance tyre.

I checked the rim to make sure it wasn't my wheel trying to kill me but the rim looked fine.

Written a quick note to Wiggle to have them look at the tyre as I didn't feel I'd ridden over anything worthy of causing such rubber annihilation, nor did I find any debris in the tyre or inner tube.

So anyway, my first ever abandoned ride, 4 miles away from the elusive Gorsey Brow, meaning I have to do it all over again.

I still like bikes though.

 

[galaxy]

Spent most of Yesterday Gardening and Dog walking. Had a nice shepherds pie in the oven and a Caed needed posting. So we jumped on mountain bikes and of to post box. Took the road there to Kimbolton, then The of road version back. Only 5 miles but at a great time of the evening. Back as the sunset and dusk kicked in. Good few cyclists pass by our new house. It's so cool to watch them go by from the Garden

 

[galaxy]

 

[The_Weekend_Report_Guy]

My Sunday was like....

We did this ride... https://www.strava.com/activities/924504308 61 km and 1150 meters of elevation gained.

Some pics? Here we go...

The group all over the climb...

Getting to the top..

Celebrating...

Mandatory sign picture with the group..

11:30 am we were back in town... But to me was already beer o'clock... Refueling time.

If you planning to visit Malaga one day and need a bike guide that knows the area... I can recommend you one...

 

[PeteXXX]

Went for a ride last week on a rare sunny warm day in Manchester to head over to a nasty hill called Gorsey Brow in Broadbottom (*chuckles*) that has come to my attention via a Rapha employee, which is at the backend of the B*stard (aka Kegs n Legs) ride @themosquitoking and I are signed up for in May.

Planned quite a hilly 34 miler to try and get some hills in the legs as I've been lazy these last few months.

Got some good prep in for Gorsey with the 0.4 mile 9% average Werneth Low Road Hill which caused my out of shape legs to start crying until I stopped to take photos, then a second long climb on the Compstall to Glossop road that for a section hit 9%-14%, a 2 mile climb averaging 5% on Longhurst Lane where the last 0.3 mile averages 10%, and then finally the Gun Road climb, 8% for 0.3 miles.

The route was beautiful so it seemed inappropriate not to stop and take lovely pictures for you all, and it had nothing at all to do with being unfit and needing to stop for breathers.

View attachment 345392

View attachment 345393

Horsey Selfie
View attachment 345394

View attachment 345395

View attachment 345396

View attachment 345397

View attachment 345398

View attachment 345399

After this, I knew I was treated to a nice downhill before hitting the main event, Gorsey Brow. As I turned the corner at the top of Gun Road, a 4x4 came speeding up the narrow country lane, and I moved to the verge as we crossed. Seconds after moving back to the middle of the road my rear tyre made a distinct banging kind of noise (it was a bang) and I came to a sudden stop.

My Spidey senses advised me the amount of green suddenly thrown on the rear of my bike meant my slime inner tube had suffered a puncture beyond its capabilities to self heal,

View attachment 345400

and upon taking the tube out, took me no longer than mere seconds to find the hole itself....

View attachment 345401

The tube had splashed it's innards all over the tyre like an excited Hulk.

View attachment 345402

Worse still, the spare I had in my saddle bag was for the Cube CX bike with 33mm tyres I had ridden previously. I guessed I could get away with partially pumping up the spare....the tyre now told me otherwise....

View attachment 345403

Seemed the tyre had suffered the same fate as the inner tube, no amount of roadside staring was going to fix it so after all the hard work getting up the hill, I had to walk down it again to get to a landmark to avoid telling the nearest taxi firm I was "by a bush, directly under the sun".

Hours later, and £40 lighter I checked out the true state of affairs with my tyre...

View attachment 345404

Not too good after 40 miles on an endurance tyre.

View attachment 345405

I checked the rim to make sure it wasn't my wheel trying to kill me but the rim looked fine.

View attachment 345406

View attachment 345407

Written a quick note to Wiggle to have them look at the tyre as I didn't feel I'd ridden over anything worthy of causing such rubber annihilation, nor did I find any debris in the tyre or inner tube.

So anyway, my first ever abandoned ride, 4 miles away from the elusive Gorsey Brow, meaning I have to do it all over again.

I still like bikes though.

That's raised the p*ncture fairies game to a new level! Glad you didn't lose control and hit the tarmac..

 

[nickyboy]

Went for a ride last week on a rare sunny warm day in Manchester to head over to a nasty hill called Gorsey Brow in Broadbottom (*chuckles*) that has come to my attention via a Rapha employee, which is at the backend of the B*stard (aka Kegs n Legs) ride @themosquitoking and I are signed up for in May.

Planned quite a hilly 34 miler to try and get some hills in the legs as I've been lazy these last few months.

Got some good prep in for Gorsey with the 0.4 mile 9% average Werneth Low Road Hill which caused my out of shape legs to start crying until I stopped to take photos, then a second long climb on the Compstall to Glossop road that for a section hit 9%-14%, a 2 mile climb averaging 5% on Longhurst Lane where the last 0.3 mile averages 10%, and then finally the Gun Road climb, 8% for 0.3 miles.

The route was beautiful so it seemed inappropriate not to stop and take lovely pictures for you all, and it had nothing at all to do with being unfit and needing to stop for breathers.

View attachment 345392

View attachment 345393

Horsey Selfie
View attachment 345394

View attachment 345395

View attachment 345396

View attachment 345397

View attachment 345398

View attachment 345399

After this, I knew I was treated to a nice downhill before hitting the main event, Gorsey Brow. As I turned the corner at the top of Gun Road, a 4x4 came speeding up the narrow country lane, and I moved to the verge as we crossed. Seconds after moving back to the middle of the road my rear tyre made a distinct banging kind of noise (it was a bang) and I came to a sudden stop.

My Spidey senses advised me the amount of green suddenly thrown on the rear of my bike meant my slime inner tube had suffered a puncture beyond its capabilities to self heal,

View attachment 345400

and upon taking the tube out, took me no longer than mere seconds to find the hole itself....

View attachment 345401

The tube had splashed it's innards all over the tyre like an excited Hulk.

View attachment 345402

Worse still, the spare I had in my saddle bag was for the Cube CX bike with 33mm tyres I had ridden previously. I guessed I could get away with partially pumping up the spare....the tyre now told me otherwise....

View attachment 345403

Seemed the tyre had suffered the same fate as the inner tube, no amount of roadside staring was going to fix it so after all the hard work getting up the hill, I had to walk down it again to get to a landmark to avoid telling the nearest taxi firm I was "by a bush, directly under the sun".

Hours later, and £40 lighter I checked out the true state of affairs with my tyre...

View attachment 345404

Not too good after 40 miles on an endurance tyre.

View attachment 345405

I checked the rim to make sure it wasn't my wheel trying to kill me but the rim looked fine.

View attachment 345406

View attachment 345407

Written a quick note to Wiggle to have them look at the tyre as I didn't feel I'd ridden over anything worthy of causing such rubber annihilation, nor did I find any debris in the tyre or inner tube.

So anyway, my first ever abandoned ride, 4 miles away from the elusive Gorsey Brow, meaning I have to do it all over again.

I still like bikes though.

Unlucky. Those are all my local climbs. Joel Lane (the one to the top of Werneth Low) is a tough one but Longhurst Lane is really nice except the final kicker isn't it?

I do Gorsey Brow every now and then as it's only a couple of miles from me. One tip though...only do it on a dry, warm day. The steepest bit (and we're talking 25%) needs you to get out of the saddle. If it's damp you'll spin and it becomes a real struggle. One final tip for Gorsey Brow.....if you come from Charlesworth (as you were planning on doing) cycle past the turn off to GB for a bit, then turn around to get a run at the left turn. It starts v steep so a bit of momentum will help

 

[EltonFrog]

Another quick ride on the Kingpin into town today to the bank, then to Timpson's to collect the Fragrant MrsP's jacket that was in for repair...but they've lost it!

Then back along the cycle path were I got accosted by some people from a local Methodist church who were giving away free chocolate Easter Eggs on the corner of the road, well it seemed rude not to take, so I did and just had it with a cup of tea.

Then I got stopped again by a rather charming cat that seemed lost, I picked her up to make sure she was OK and had a collar, gave her a tickle and a cuddle and sent her on her way.

A lovely day, but I was feeling a bit tired on the way home, I'm still a bit crook.

 

[I like Skol]

All this talk of Gorsey Brow got me wondering where this fearful climb was. I know the road, have been down a couple times and don't remember it being anything impressive. Guess I know where I will be heading next time the opportunity arises......

 

[hondated]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee, I got my first ever 40k in!

much to the amusement of the motorcyclist at the top of the hill who had stopped to make a phone call. Didn't dare call it quits while someone was watching - my sense of pride, you know.

QUOTE]
Reynard understand what you are saying and I don't know why but very often when I am out on my motorbike and I see cyclists particularly struggling up hills I often think that I wish I was out on my bike.
Ok I will go and book a visit to a therapist now.

 

[hondated]

Ian bit ni

Down to Brighton today with @rb58 and @RedRider, to bag Aprils qualifying ride for the imperial century a month challenge.
What a lovely day's cycling. So nice to see blue skies. It was a little nippy this morning at first. But decided to go with shorts for the first time this year. For some reason I was relieved that rb58 & RedRider were too. We were also blessed with very light winds for down and for the return.
With very little wind and light traffic we were enjoying the roads. The Gatwick rush was a rush and the swooping roads down to Staplefield were a dream.
We got to Brighton in Record time. So much so that the fish and chip place on the beach hadn't even started frying yet. But they got on the case when confronted by very hungry cyclists. As usual, the fish and chips didn't disappoint. We hung around for @StuAff to turn up as he was cycling from Portsmouth. Had a bit of a chat then we where back on our way home. By now you could feel the warmth of the sun. It's a bit of a mare getting out of Brighton with the traffic and the hill. The route home was the A23 cycle path all the way back to Handcross. Surprising good and clear of debris. But.. yeah.. one of us had to get a puncture.. me.
Once back on the main roads we were making very good progress back towards home. I left the other 2 just after Croydon and cracked out the last few miles to home.. to a very nice cup of tea.. and a demanding 7yo wanting me to play on the trampoline.

A lovely days cycling, it rarely gets better.

View attachment 345271

Ian bit nippy is an understatement as I went out down here in Eastbourne and did an 18 mile loop at 5.30 am and it was freezing cold so you did better than you thought.

 

[hondated]

Glad I am now old as I ride my motorbike sensibly these days. I am surprised to read about speeding motorcyclists in your area as I thought you had average speed cameras all around the notorious for speeding areas.