Your ride today....

[ColinJ]

Pretty much one of my standard routes, but it is an excuse to post some pictures of snowy hilltops, so here's a little report ...

Oh, I forgot to mention something ...

Bit embarrassing though, when you don't notice a stealth drafter listening to you, especially if you are doing a Harry Enfield 'Angry Frank' at the time!

Er, not that I have ever done that ...

I did it again - aaaaaaargh ...

I was having a very intense conversation with myself yesterday as I rode up onto the moor above Cragg Vale. I didn't realise how animated I had become until a stealth drafter decided to overtake me!

He looked like he was checking to see if I had a Bluetooth headset on and having discovered that I was NOT having an argument with a distant third party via a nifty hands-free phone connection, he had come to the inevitable conclusion that my mental picnic was lacking a sandwich or two, and all of the cake!

 

[Accy cyclist]

I waited till the low sun went down before going for a ride yesterday. I went for a "power walk" early afternoon and thought it was unsafe to ride as i couldn't see much ahead of me due to the blinding low sun. When it went dark i managed a 14.5 miles loop. I'd have liked to have done more but my tea was waiting and any pleasure from cycling in near freezing temperatures is short lived.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Quite a chilly commute for me this morning.

https://www.strava.com/activities/249362055

I was giving my new electrically heated gloves a go. They are too cumbersome for the road bike, but okay for the crosstrail.

 

[Dirk]

Quick 5 mile ride around Braunton marshes to pick up a couple of rolls for lunch. Made a break from decorating.
Managed to finally get the wife's average over 13 mph. At least she's happy now.

 

[IDMark2]

Managed to finally get the wife's average over 13 mph.

That's a fairly good rate but I'd keep it at that if I were you, mine's still on 20 moans per hour so I'm looking forward to getting her average down.

 

[Goonerobes]

Today was my first ride for 6 days due to some delayed pain from my Dumbo on ice impression the other week.

I decided to keep it flat & head south across a cold New Forest, through Colbury & towards Beaulieu. Once there it was a turn to the east, through the village & down to Lepe Beach via Blackfield & past the now decommissioned Fawley power station. After a quick stop & a chat with some locals out for a walk it was time to head back, going past Exbury Gardens & again through Beaulieu to home for a 32 mile round trip

https://www.strava.com/activities/249501571

A millpond Solent today looking towards the Isle of Wight.

Spot the two oystercatchers digging for food..........

 

[Oldbloke]

A chilly 50 kms around the villages, stopping off for a dinner plate sized pastry. Temperature plummeted around 4 pm prompting a very quick return home.

 

[fatjel]

The new bike is finally behaving properly , the sun was shining so did 50k around my fave local lanes
Even stopped to take a pic of the bike a couple of miles from home

of course shortly thereafter we had another puncture

https://app.strava.com/activities/249521671

 

[cosmicbike]

51.07 miles my longest ride to date .set off from home Anstey 7 mile ride to sileby to pick up mate then set off to Walton on the wolds ,Stanford on soar ,normanton on soar. Stopped at normanton to watch air ambulance land at the sailing club where there some sports pitches not sure what had happened ,off to Sutton bonnington ,Kingston on soar,Gotham( no sign of batman),E Leake ,Costock,Wysall,Willoughby on the wolds,Sileby where dropped mate off and headed home via Cossington,Rothley,Cropston and home .enjoyable ride this week despite the cold blustery wind which made some stretches at bit off a grind lower average speed of 12.9 but got home just tired instead off last week shattered

Well done, 2 points for the imperial half

 

[Saluki]

A quick commute sort of ride today. Firstly from home to @StickBouncer's place, where I struggled up the steps to his front door. Bike is light but the steps are narrow and a bit twisty at the top of each flight. 3.18 miles in a very steady 15:35, mostly down hill except for the 38' of climbing

On the way back I persuaded SB to join me. We had a false start as we got outside to discover that the Defy had a flat, dodgy valve as it turned out, so SB went back to his home to grab his front Aksium, which is masquerading as a spare over the winter (he has Giant wheels on for the season of road salt). We then rode along the Marriotts, which I couldn't keep up on. I blamed it on the fact that I'm on a CX bike with knobblies and he is on a Defy with slicks. It's actually because SB is fitter than me and I am fatter than him.
We didn't go up Marlpit as I couldn't face it but carried on for a couple of hundred yards along the Marriotts and up the hill at New Costessey instead. 4.1 in 24:28 on the way back with 114' climbing. Still pretty laughable but it's Norwich and hills are not plentiful on our side of the city (not that plentiful on the other side but there is Gas & Kett's Hill, not to mention Gurney, none of which will see me riding up in one hit).

Nice rides. 7.28 miles in total today so I'm up on the drag curve this month. I've targetted 56 miles (2 miles a day) as it's bloomin' cold and I'm not sure how work is panning out this month. I have set a low target -which hopefully I will smush and increase as the month goes on - so that I don't get stressed about it.

I am now about to go peel some spuds as I need some mashed potato to go with my veggie bangers.

 

[gavgav]

With Steve Abraham knocking out 190+ milers every day what ever the weather for his challenge. To cancel a pootling ride to the seaside and back for a big fry up was always going to be a no-no. The weather forecast was snow, sleet, rain and minus temperatures, it would have been easy to cancel the ride. Lot's of questions were asked on book of face. But being ever the optimist it was 'let's just get out there and see'.

So at 7.30am I met @Mista Preston and @iLB just local for a 15 mile warm up ride to Borough Green in Kent to meet @Trickedem and @rb58 . It was cold, the cloud cover was heavy and dark and it was bloody windy. The wind on our backs helped us to Borough Green pretty quickly and once the gang had met up, in the words of the mighty dellzeqq it was "OK, We're on our way". Saying goodbye to iLB's at Hollingbourne as he had to get home for a prior engagement, it was decided to take the non-Hollingborne route. It didn't take long to get to Whitstable. Some main road and good, clear country lanes and the wind on our backs made for rapid progress, reaching the Waterfront at 11.30am on the dot.

You can't really see it in the pic, but there were some mighty big waves crashing ashore.
View attachment 78584

A couple of 'famous' Waterfront Big brekkies and beans on toast and cake for a couple of others demolished, it was time to head back. Into a raging headwind. It really was tough work and tough going, but you just have to put your head down and keep turning those pedals. Even down some of the descents it was a case of having to keep peddling. But the predicted snow, sleet and rain stayed away. It was still very cold though.

We left Trickdem at Rochester as he was near enough home, but not until he took this pic. rb58, myself and Mista Preston (cheers for the pic TD)

It was still a good 25 miles of cycling into a raging headwind. But we all got there. The rolling hills of the Medway Towns and once across the Medway, the Southern Estuary towns made for slow progress. On a non windy day these are usually dispatched without even touching the sides. Under the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at Dartford and it was a short hop home for the rest if us.

So... 117 hard going miles and for 4 of us, February's ride completed for the 2015 Century a month challenge.
My legs really are feeling it and are enjoying the rest...... but Steve Abraham is still out there cycling for his challenge.

View attachment 78586

Fair play to you!!

 

[ColinJ]

Another very cold, sunny winter day.

We'd had a very deep frost overnight so I didn't want to risk the lanes*** today - main roads only for me. For a change, I decided that I would ride round to Littleborough and ascend to Blackstone Edge from that direction.

So, my route ... Hebden Bridge, A646 towards Todmorden, then turned left and climbed up to Mankinholes, proceeded through Lumbutts, then descended to Walsden. From there, I joined the A6033 and continued towards Littleborough. Normally I turn up Calderbrook Road for a scenic detour, but I could see from the main road today that the lane was covered in ice. (It is shut to motor vehicles due to landslip, so I like to go that way because it is quiet and has good views, but I realised that it would not have been gritted and sure enough, it looked too risky to chance it.) So ... I remained on the A6033 over Summit, and down into Littleborough, where I turned left and began the 4 km ascent to The White House pub at Blackstone Edge. I turned left at the reservoir and descended the B6138 through Cragg Vale to Mytholmroyd (the road I normally climb), and then home along the A646. I added an extra mile loop around Hebden Bridge to bring my total to 35.5 km (22 miles).

I took a few pictures for you ...

Stone sheep at Mankinholes, with Stoodley Pike in the distance.

The climb of the A58 from Littleborough. You can just see The White House pub in the distance, in the far left of the photo.

Here is the opposite view, from the edge of the frozen White House car park, looking back down the A58 towards Littleborough and Hollingworth Lake.

Remember the waves that I photographed on Blackstone Edge Reservoir on Saturday? Things looked a bit different today ...

There was ice everywhere, and the wind was not strong enough to create waves on the unfrozen bits. The big pieces of stone are there to protect the road from waves on the reservoir, but sometimes the wind up there is strong enough to spray water over the top of them and onto the road. What looks like snow on the stones is in fact frozen water from such spray. It would have been pretty unpleasant up there during the night!

So, another 22 miles done to chip away at my 2015 total. I'm not going to do much more than these shortish rides until we get warmer conditions!

Oh, and my ears are still suffering from the freezing buffeting they get on descents. I'm going to have to do something because I think I will be getting hearing loss if I don't tackle the issue. I'm half deaf already, and do not want to lose what hearing I have left ...

*** I did do a few roads which you could describe as 'lanes'. What I meant was 'very minor roads which might not be gritted'!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Another very cold, sunny winter day.

We'd had a very deep frost overnight so I didn't want to risk the lanes*** today - main roads only for me. For a change, I decided that I would ride round to Littleborough and ascend to Blackstone Edge from that direction.

So, my route ... Hebden Bridge, A646 towards Todmorden, then turned left and climbed up to Mankinholes, proceeded through Lumbutts, then descended to Walsden. From there, I joined the A6033 and continued towards Littleborough. Normally I turn up Calderbrook Road for a scenic detour, but I could see from the main road today that the lane was covered in ice. (It is shut to motor vehicles due to landslip, so I like to go that way because it is quiet and has good views, but I realised that it would not have been gritted and sure enough, it looked too risky to chance it.) So ... I remained on the A6033 over Summit, and down into Littleborough, where I turned left and began the 4 km ascent to The White House pub at Blackstone Edge. I turned left at the reservoir and descended the B6138 through Cragg Vale to Mytholmroyd (the road I normally climb), and then home along the A646. I added an extra mile loop around Hebden Bridge to bring my total to 35.5 km (22 miles).

I took a few pictures for you ...

View attachment 78678

Stone sheep at Mankinholes, with Stoodley Pike in the distance.

View attachment 78680

The climb of the A58 from Littleborough. You can just see The White House pub in the distance, in the far left of the photo.

View attachment 78682
Here is the opposite view, from the edge of the frozen White House car park, looking back down the A58 towards Littleborough and Hollingworth Lake.

Remember the waves that I photographed on Blackstone Edge Reservoir on Saturday? Things looked a bit different today ...

View attachment 78683

There was ice everywhere, and the wind was not strong enough to create waves on the unfrozen bits. The big pieces of stone are there to protect the road from waves on the reservoir, but sometimes the wind up there is strong enough to spray water over the top of them and onto the road. What looks like snow on the stones is in fact frozen water from such spray. It would have been pretty unpleasant up there during the night!

So, another 22 miles done to chip away at my 2015 total. I'm not going to do much more than these shortish rides until we get warmer conditions!

Oh, and my ears are still suffering from the freezing buffeting they get on descents. I'm going to have to do something because I think I will be getting hearing loss if I don't tackle the issue. I'm half deaf already, and do not want to lose what hearing I have left ...

*** I did do a few roads which you could describe as 'lanes'. What I meant was 'very minor roads which might not be gritted'!

You are making me so jealous that I can't get out!

Lovely pictures BTW.

 

[PeteXXX]

After checking the weather forecast this morning, I thought that starting my ride at about 10ish would be a good idea as it was thick frost and about -3.
I spread all my cold weather gear about the bedroom and worked out what was going to be best for the day. I lost one of my Merino socks a while ago but still have t'other one, so that went on my right foot, as that's the one that suffers the most in cold weather.
I didn't feel that I cold go out just wearing one sock, (No photos, folks, sorry!) so I popped the bib shorts, long leggings and a few other layers on to, hopefully, keep warm. I put my shoe covers in my camelback and set off.

The sun was shining nicely and it was hovering on zero by this time and I was planning on 20 or 30 miles, but seem to have got a bit carried away...
On back road from Podington (of Santa Pod fame) I saw a chap pushing his bike along the road. The p*ncture fairy had attacked him I asked if he needed a hand but he said he had all the bits he needed and was just pushing it for a while to get to a sheltered and sunny spot to sort it out. I think he was the only rider I saw on the whole route today.

By the time I reached Grafham Water, I was on 30 miles.

I went 'Full Burka' for a while as I crossed the dam wall. The wind wasn't strong, but it was bitter after blowing over the water.

Then into the café there for some sustenance.

Home made asparagus and brie soup with warm bread, and a coffee. Nice!

Overlooking Grafham Water and the dam.

I rode through Kimbolton on the way back, having skirted it earlier. I turned right up a B road that I've used before, albeit in the opposite direction, towards Old Weston. Somewhere along the way, I took a wrong turn and ended up being 4 miles from Oundle instead of where I'd hoped to be, ie 4 miles form Kettering!

An hour later, I was actually further away from Thrapston.. I did find some nice roads that I'd never ridden before though
Note to self. Take specs with me, not just cycling glasses, then I could have read the map.

By this time, I knew I wasn't going to get home in daylight and was pleased that I had my Knog lights, plus a separate rear light that lives on the bike all the time. I could have done with a proper front light, but as long as folk could see me, I was happy. My last mile or so was up a pitch black lane into the back of Overstone Lodge and I was pleased that I knew the road as the potholes are quite vicious in places.

Back home, freezing cold, but dry.
Half an hour soaking in a hot bath brought the circulation back to my extremities... My toes stung like burgery as they warmed up!

Never mind, we suffer for our winter miles, eh

Back home on slightly more than the planned 20 or 30 ... 82.4 miles to be exact!

https://www.strava.com/activities/249552658

 

[ColinJ]

You are making me so jealous that I can't get out!

Sorry! But I am pleased that you do appear to be making progress, even though it is very slow and painful ...

Lovely pictures BTW.

Thanks! I think the camera in my tiny smartphone is not bad for such a convenient thing, but I do fancy having a decent camera to take on rides, or perhaps I should just buy a new phone with a better camera?

My old Olympus digital camera could take some pretty nice pictures but it was just too big for me to want to carry it when out on the bike. In fact, I got tired of carrying it when walking too! I gave it away as a Christmas present.

I could be tempted by some of the better compact digital cameras, but I feel that smartphone cameras can be good enough for most of what I want to do. (I am not a photographer - I just want to take better snaps on my rides, and don't want to carry more than I have to.)