Your ride today....

[ianrauk]

Last night was the last Flemish Night Ride to the Kust. (Brussels to Ostend)
An awesome pootle through the very best tarmac that Belgium can offer.
Near the end of the ride at Ostend. 4 of us broke away to cycle on to Dunkirk to catch the afternoon ferry back to Calais.

 

[Stonechat]

Buy yourself a speed sensor to avoid 'the bleep of death'. it's common on the mtn bike for me. I manage to find the breath to yell at it that I haven't farking stopped than you very much!

When going up very steep hills - such as Wrynose Pass - your speed can get so slow, thatit thinks you have stopped

 

[Buck]

The last week or so has been a week of no riding thanks to a visit from the not so friendly Gastro-enteritis bug. Knocked me for 6 ending in a visit to the emergency doctor last weekend. Anyways, enough of my personal woes - I've started to feel much better these last couple of days and after watching the Tour de Yorkshire yesterday I was determined to get out on the bike (a) as I was missing riding (b) I am on a 50 mile 'fun' tandem ride this next weekend for my friends 50th and (c) the weekend after we are joining @nickyboy on his Manchester to Llandudno ride which looks a fantastic ride and I don't want to be off form for this.

So, when Mrs Buck was back from her morning jog, I left the young Bucks in her charge and got out the door to be met with a nice rain shower (it was supposed to rain at 7am and be dry from 10am onwards !!) At this point I wasn't too concerned even though I had decided on bib-shorts rather than leggings but unfortunately it did get heavier as I progressed on the ride.

Up out of the village then a stretch on the top road with lots of road spray from passing cars, I then retraced our steps from yesterday towards Bedding Edge Road (near where we watched the TdY come up from Hade Edge/Holmfirth) to be greeted by what would have been a rather nice Range Rover clearly having taken the bend too fast and gone straight through the dry stone wall and rolled in the field below. There was nobody around so must have happened last night. The car was a write-off with smashed glass and dented roof/pillars !! Hopefully nobody was hurt.

Just after the junction with Penistone Road I stopped for a breather (feeling bit light headed) and weighed up my options. I decided to go straight on and get some miles in the legs - I seemed to be heading into the wind and the rain but heck you can only get so what can't you?!

Turning left to head towards Dunford Bridge I descended past Winscar reservoir - not that I could see much as the rain was driving across - at this stage I'm sure I could have taken my shoes off and poured water out of them it was that wet. Turning left at the junction I had the Brook Hill climb up to Carlecotes - not my quickest time today but I made it. I then took right and Headed onto Bents Road - the route of yesterday's TdY - they would have been going so much faster than me on this stretch as it took them through Millhouse Green and into Penistone. Where they took a right into the town itself I headed left and up past the grammar school and Scout Dike reservoir.

By now the rain was easing and there was some blue sky on the horizon.

Taking a left I came off the main roads and went up past the reservoir then onto the steady Broadstones Road. As I went past the quarry the wind was still blustering around but it was now dry and as sods law likes to be, just as I pulled onto the drive, the sun broke through !!

My wife laughed at me when I took my shoes off and the wrung my socks out! Despite the ass-saver mudflap thingy-ma-bob my back was black and the bike is needing a good clean down which I'll do shortly.

A hot shower and scrub down got the road grime off the legs. Despite the weather it was good to get out - just wish it had been a bit nicer but hey ho it's only May!!!

21.4 mile 879ft of climb

https://www.strava.com/activities/965897851/segments/23656901847

 

[Dave 123]

A ride with friends today. We took the tandem as they aren't so fast.
I was cruel and took them up Chapel Hill. Andree had to stop half way up with cramp. We waited at the top, two roadies went by... we flew by them before the bottom of the hill. 39.4mph was our top speed!

We stopped at Shepreth wildlife park for a brew. The car park was full up. On around to Thriplow we went and got away from the headwind for a bit.

From Newton we headed back to Haslingfield, I threatened to go up the hill again, not a popular suggestion!

Home via The Eversdens and Kingston. Goldfinches, kestrels and the star of the day- a stoat ran out in front of us!

https://www.strava.com/activities/965999893

 

[derrick]

Another club ride out to the Blue egg, But when we got there it was shut, So set of to Andrews Air field where we had a really nice lunch.The rain started just as we walked into the cafe, by the time we where ready to leave it had stopped. good timing or what. Nice ride back apart from the last 6 miles the rain caught us, We did get a bit wet and cold so we gave the pub a miss, Had a nice hot shower instead. lol. Might have to go for a beer a bit later.
https://www.strava.com/activities/966149610

 

[Spinney]

We've just spend a long weekend near Church Stretton, and yesterday went for a bike ride. Me, being a wimp on hills, planned a ride around the Long Mynd. OH, not being a wimp on hills, decided he wanted to go over it, via the Burway, which features in his book of 100 best cycling climbs (and gets 9/10, no less).
The day had been forecast to be cloudy, but actually we had hazy sunshine most of the day. The lanes around and to the west of the Long Mynd were both quiet and pretty, and we ended up at Stokesay Castle, just sound of Craven Arms, for tea and a look around. One of the good things about being a member of things like English Heritage is that you get in free (if you ignore the annual membership fee!), and so you can take as long or as short a time as you like, without feeling you have to spend ages there to get your money's worth.
Then back to our holiday cottage, making 34.7 miles in all.
Relive
No pics of the bike, but here is part of the wonderful Stokesay Castle.

 

[Elybazza61]

Out on the tandem and our ride today took us up the busway for one reason alone. Earlier in the week I'd seen ox eye daisies flowering, and up the busway verges are thick with them..... in the past few weeks they've mown the verges to about 5mm. Bastards!

On our way up to St Ives @Elybazza61 's club came the other way.
We stopped at the riverside tea rooms for a brew and enjoyed the view
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Out of St Ives, but not before having 'w4nker' shouted at me from a passing car, oh how utterly hard!

We went in to Houghton village, never been in. How pretty. We stopped at the mill for a photo
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Soon enough we were in Huntingdon, again at the side of the River Ouse

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In through Godmanchester and up to Offord Darcy. On the long 4% draggy hill we had 2 scalps, an overtake to be proud of....
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I'm certainly counting it as 2, even though the dog is small!

From Graveley we went to Hilton and up over to Elsworth. We usually do this road the other way round. We stopped in Elsworth for a shandy
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40 miles, slightly soured in the last mile from a silly close pass by a black Mercedes taxi with a private plate, when I shook my head he gave me the finger.
Private plate, Panther taxis in Cambridge.... it won't take me long to find him.

https://www.strava.com/activities/962815522

Sadly I wasn't in the group Dave,working Saturdays now.

Taxis in Cambridge are getting worse, had a few 'incidents' with them.

 

[13 rider]

Having bought a new GPS (wahoo bolt ) Today's ride was a trial of following a route on unknown roads I have tried in on local roads. So route plotted on ridewithgps and upload last night .Out the door at 0930 select route then start and I'm off .Was heading to Waterloo farm near Market Harborough for plans for a future forum ride . Anstey ,Cropston ,Cossington ,Syston and now on new roads following the route easily .Beeby ,Billesdon ,Gaulby ,Nosely ,Glooston ,Great Bowden and into Market Harborough found the Brampton trail and out to Waterloo cafe .35 miles done over rolling terrain . Refuelled with my staple of beans on toast and coffee ,reversed the route on the GPS and retraced my route back home . Total of 71.8 miles GPS worked brilliantly couple of errors on my part but warning bleep told me I'm wrong . Managed to stay dry despite threating clouds most of the day . More new roads discovered and plans for forum ride firmed up

 

[Donger]

Loaded up the top box with every bit of kit I could put together, and set off for the land of flat caps and whippets, not knowing what to expect from the weather. Laid it all out systematically last night, but it became all too clear that I was coming down with a chest infection and a sore throat. Dang! Oh, what the hell, you only live once, so I determined not to feel sorry for myself, and to just get out there and do some stupid o'clock cycling anyway. Hacked up a lung this morning, but got myself out there, and I have to say I absolutely loved it. Went slower than usual (tourist pace), but actually found that it's easier to cycle, breathing deeply through your mouth, than to sit around struggling for breath in the house. This is what a week's kit looks like, btw:

Got out at 06:45 and headed off northwards from Leyburn (N.Yorks) to Bellerby, where I hung a left to pick up a little lane over Leyburn Moor to Redmire and Castle Bolton in Wensleydale. It didn't rain, but as you can see, it was hazy enough to spoil most of the views across the Dales:

Saw plenty of signs like this one, varying from 14% to 25%, both up and down, but I have to say they seemed to be exaggerating a bit. (I don't know whether Yorkshire folk are really prone to exaggeration .... I only have that Monty Python "Three Yorkshiremen" sketch to go by). Anyway, I got up Church Bank in Aysgarth quite comfortably, with a dodgy chest and without doing any involuntary wheelies, (which seemed mighty suspicious) yet they would have you believe it was a 25% climb. Another "17%" climb on the way back from Aysgarth can't have been more than 10% either. This particular one was a steep descent, though, over the escarpment known as Preston Scar (which can also be seen in the background to the next picture). My brakes were squealing all the way down this one:

Preston Scar/Redmire Scar in the background:

Missed a little right turn at one point, and had to climb back up sharply to regain a road that took me into Castle Bolton:

Then followed a great little empty lane to Carperby:

A pretty good start to the week, this. A castle and a waterfall, all before breakfast on the first day. These are Aysgarth Falls ..... with the start of the "25%" Church Bank (just before the hairpin) visible on the left:

20.7 lumpy miles for me today, over hill and down dale. Literally thousands of rabbits out and about at that time of day, along with one stoat and several pheasants, grouse, curlew, plover and goldfinches. The dawn chorus was quite different around here from back home in Gloucestershire. The roads were very quiet, and almost everyone was courteous and careful when passing. What an absolute pleasure, despite the effects of the oncoming lurgy.
Mind you, if that was a 25% hill, then I am a dutchman.
Cheers, Wim van Donger.

 

[13 rider]

Loaded up the top box with every bit of kit I could put together, and set off for the land of flat caps and whippets, not knowing what to expect from the weather. Laid it all out systematically last night, but it became all too clear that I was coming down with a chest infection and a sore throat. Dang! Oh, what the hell, you only live once, so I determined not to feel sorry for myself, and to just get out there and do some stupid o'clock cycling anyway. Hacked up a lung this morning, but got myself out there, and I have to say I absolutely loved it. Went slower than usual (tourist pace), but actually found that it's easier to cycle, breathing deeply through your mouth, than to sit around struggling for breath in the house. This is what a week's kit looks like, btw:
View attachment 350294
Got out at 06:45 and headed off northwards from Leyburn (N.Yorks) to Bellerby, where I hung a left to pick up a little lane over Leyburn Moor to Redmire and Castle Bolton. It didn't rain, but as you can see, it was hazy enough to spoil most of the views across the Dales:
View attachment 350295
Saw plenty of signs like this one, varying from 14% to 25%, both up and down, but I have to say they seemed to be exaggerating a bit. (I don't know whether Yorkshire folk are really prone to exaggeration .... I only have that Monty Python "Three Yorkshiremen" sketch to go by). Anyway, I got up Church Bank in Aysgarth quite comfortably, with a dodgy chest and without doing any involuntary wheelies, (which seemed mighty suspicious) yet they would have you believe it was a 25% climb. Another "17%" climb on the way back from Aysgarth can't have been more than 10% either. This particular one was a steep descent, though, over the escarpment known as Preston Scar (which can also be seen in the background to the next picture). My brakes were squealing all the way down this one:
View attachment 350296
Preston Scar/Redmire Scar in the background:
View attachment 350297
Missed a little left turn at one point, and had to climb back up sharply to regain a road that took me into Castle Bolton:
View attachment 350298
Then followed a great littel empty lane to Carperby:
View attachment 350299
A pretty good start to the week, this. A castle and a waterfall, all before breakfast on the first day. These are Aysgarth Falls ..... with the start of the "25%" Church Bank (just before the hairpin) visible on the left:
View attachment 350300
20.7 lumpy miles for me today, over hill and down dale. Literally thousands of rabbits out and about at that time of day, along with one stoat and several pheasants, grouse, curlew, plover and goldfinches. The dawn chorus was quite different around here from back home in Gloucestershire. The roads were very quiet, and almost everyone was courteous and careful when passing. What an absolute pleasure, despite the effects of the oncoming lurgy.
Mind you, if that was a 25% hill, then I am a dutchman.
Cheers, Wim van Donger.

I'm reet chuffed thee packed your cycle chat jersey ( that's my best to Yorkshire dialect ) have a good week

 

[Spiderweb]

Another fine afternoon in North Yorkshire and a great 17 mile MTB ride on the local tracks and bridle ways. Came across this gargoyle at Hazlewood Castle which has a striking resemblance to the mother-in-law!

 

[Dave 123]

Sadly I wasn't in the group Dave,working Saturdays now.

Taxis in Cambridge are getting worse, had a few 'incidents' with them.

One pulled out on me from a give way the other day. I caught him at the lights.
In a non aggressive way I said 'don't worry about road markings and laws'

'It wasn't my fault, it was the car behind me...'

 

[NorthernDave]

Another time limited ride this morning, but I've got a couple of days off this week so hopefully I'll get a decent run out on the bike at some point...

But back to this morning and it was out on the Road Comp (still nearest the door) and up Coal Road, although I was determined to add a bit of variety to what was going to have to be another local loop, I turned right(!) onto Skeltons Lane and battled the breeze along to Thorner Lane and then the always enjoyable descent down Van Zyl Hill into Thorner.
Through the village on Main Street and onto Milner Lane for the climb up onto the ridge and the pleasant ride all the way along to Rigton Green and up onto Bramham Lane for one of my favourite secluded lanes across the countryside. The surface is still terrible in places and there are bits with far too much cr*p on the road, but I can livewith it for a back road that rarely sees any motorised traffic. Across Jewitt Lane and the climb back onto Thorner Lane, right along there for a little way and right back onto Jewitt Lane to cross my earlier path and climb back up between the fields and the drop down onto Compton Lane and along the ridge, passing a couple of cyclists heading the other way - the first people I'd seen in about 5k.
As the lane started to drop down towards Rigton Green there is a little bench overlooking the distant Wharfe valley, so I stopped for a couple of photos and a drink:

While I was taking photos a pair of red kites were effortlessly circling just too far away to get a decent pic on the phone camera.
Back on the bike and down to Rigton Green then retraced my outbound route onto Milner Lane, where a hare ran across the road just in front of me, and on down the hill into Thorner.
From there it was a familiar furrow along Carr Lane onto the A58 for a sprint down to Coal Road, up the hill and then a wind assisted (at last!) blast down to home on local roads.

17.21 miles (27.69km) in an acceptable 1h 14m at an average of 13.8mph, with just 803ft climbed. Another good ride, on largely deserted quiet roads and lanes - and warm enough for shorts too.
Fingers crossed I'll be able to get out for a bit longer at some point this week!

And another map, as you can never have too many maps:

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Another time limited ride this morning, but I've got a couple of days off this week so hopefully I'll get a decent run out on the bike at some point...

Short time here too, so just a potter up through Castleford, on Barnsdale Road up 'Mary Pannal', with a slight detour to photograph the Windmill
Then back onto the 'Roman Ridge Road' to Peckfield Bar, then a westward turn towards Garforth
After sweeping down Garforth Cliff, past (the old) Savilles Garden Centre, then a left toward Kippax just before the old railway

A few photos taken in Kippax itself, then into Allerton Bywater, & along the river (Aire) bank from The Boat Inn, back to the old Canal Toll/Parcel office

Back home, via Castleford, being held at the crossing gates on Albion Street

and warm enough for shorts too.

Yes, as I'd realised by the time I got to Castleford, & was 'lathered' in thermal bib-tights, long-sleeve jersey & (club) gilet over the top
Well, it seemed cold & threatening of rain, when I left home
(on the CGR again)

 

[Tin Pot]

This is actually a Her Ride Today, as I was running VO2 max intervals with my daughter following on the bike.

Always wanted to train with my kids but it never happened with my son, now my daughter is old enough and she seemed to enjoy it and finished with two laps around he block on her own