Your ride today....

[13 rider]

After missing sundays ride due to a family holiday and already having missed one weekend in April due to bad winds monthly total was looking a bit light .So day off work out on the bike half imperial century the target. Anstey , Cropston , Rothley. Cossington and up the first climb of humble lane Pr on strava and out through Radcliffe on the Wreake ,Thrussington ,Hoby, Asfordby and onto the quiet lanes heading for the vale off Belvoir .Through Ab Kettleby and Holwell then dropped in to the vale into Hose (I must remember what goes down comes back up more later) on to Harby and Colton Bassett .This is where I turned for home and hit the headwind could be a grind home .Through Kinoulton to Hickling Pastures where I stopped at the canal for a quick snack

Hickling Basin and my bike

After refuel on to Long Clawson and the climb out of the vale (I said what goes down) This climb was a lot worst and longer than I had figured for the first time in months I used my granny gear to grind up the hill but up i made it Headed through Wartnaby then met my outdoor route and retraced my route home mainly into a headwind Target met 56.2 miles at an average of 12.6 mph .Ride started in sunshine but got cloudy and windier the longer I was out ,monthly milage looks at bit healther now .

 

[mybike]

Desperately in need of haircut so decided to cycle into town. What I didn't realise was that the prom is now being dug up so had to divert to the road. Still traffic was quite good & even my daughter didn't hit me. She & the OH were going into town with the grandchildren.

Barbers had quite a queue so I decided to ride further, across the new bridge & up to Asda.. The path was think with sand, courtesy of the high winds lately, & nearly used the granny gear. A little walking where the sand was thick but not impassable.

Met family in town, after pruning, for lunch & then looked around charity shops for a bit before returning with step for gdaughter, who is having trouble reaching the sink. My bike was still where I left it, clearly the reputation of R**l is undeserved, they won't steal anything. Sadly forgot to turn gps on for return so only recorded 7.3 miles.

 

[Goonerobes]

Another sunny(ish) afternoon without work meant only one thing.....another ride was in order & whilst I had no aches or pains from Saturdays 80 miles I decided to stick to the flatter southerly half of the New Forest today & just do a 34 mile loop around Beaulieu, Brockenhurst, Lyndhurst, Emery Down & Minstead.

The nice weather meant that there were plenty of other cyclists about including roadies, family's on mountain bikes & a few heads down speedsters so it was a fairly sociable afternoon & even the car & van drivers seem a little more accepting when there more bikes around.

https://www.strava.com/activities/284621933

I'm guessing it must have been some breeze to bring this down along Rhinefield Ornamental Drive!

 

[Dirk]

Some friends down for the week and the weather is very nice, so I dug out 4 bikes from the garage -2 hybrids and 2 road bikes - and we all went for a leisurely ride into Barnstaple to do a 'Tour de Bike Shops'.
First stop Planet Bike, so my mate could redeem the £30 voucher he won in the Velo Vintage raffle on Saturday. Next stop Carb Cycles for a mooch around and a cup of coffee. Suitably refreshed, we meandered across town to the Bike Shed for a look at the clothing. Quick nip next door into
Bike It for a tube of chamois cream. Next stop Wetherspoons for a Mexican Monday lunch followed by a wobble back along the Tarka Trail to Braunton and South Fork Racing to buy a new pair of gloves. Back home for a cuppa and an afternoon nap. Perfect!

 

[Dark46]

Well yesterday I did Eastgate Cycles Paris-Roubaiux memorial ride. Well £600 was raised the charity of a Eastgate rider that sadly passed away last year.

I would love to explain where I went but as it was on roads I'd never been on before, I would be planning and not making sense. So I will spare you that.

@Donger had a scary moment when we thought his ride was over at the furthest point away from the start/finish point. Luckily Dean was on hand and sorted everything.

All in all a great ride with great people and my longest ride ever and managed to get in over the 100km mark too. For those traditionalists it was 65.9 miles and over 2,600 ft of climbing.

 

[Glow worm]

A lovely 10 miler here after I sneaked off early from work. Rumours of rare (for here) birds called ring ouzels at Tubney Fen had me heading over that way. No rouzles though but a marsh harrier passed by and a possible osprey though too distant to confirm.

Stopped for a brew from the flask by this pond.

Reach Lode from the bridge. Not a soul about- bliss.

One of very few mature elms that survive hereabouts. This one in blossom. These are such beautiful trees, losing most of them was nothing short of catastrophic.

Great to have the daylight for these post- work rides now. Hopefully a long summer of such things lies ahead.

 

[PeteXXX]

A lovely 10 miler here after I sneaked off early from work. Rumours of rare (for here) birds called ring ouzels at Tubney Fen had me heading over that way. No rouzles though but a marsh harrier passed by and a possible osprey though too distant to confirm.

View attachment 85559

Stopped for a brew from the flask by this pond.

View attachment 85560

Reach Lode from the bridge. Not a soul about- bliss.

View attachment 85561

One of very few mature elms that survive hereabouts. This one in blossom. These are such beautiful trees, losing most of them was nothing short of catastrophic.

Great to have the daylight for these post- work rides now. Hopefully a long summer of such things lies ahead.

Sadly the elm tree in my old garden in Ramsgate had to be felled. Such a shame to lose most of them

 

[PatrickPending]

My ride on Saturday, don't normally do long rides on a Sat, but weather was sooo nice. Anyway 104Km Blaby - Peatling Parva - Arnesby - Saddington - gumley - foxton -East Langton - Welham - Medbourne - Drayton - Great Easton - Eyebrook Reservoir - Hallaton - Goadby Carlton Curlew - Great Glen - Wistow - Foston - Countesthorpe - Blaby. Lovely, and that's April's 100Km ride done for the 100Km per month challenge. Photo is the church and packhorse bridge in Medbourne - sooo quiet out there......

 

[Glow worm]

Sadly the elm tree in my old garden in Ramsgate had to be felled. Such a shame to lose most of them

Very true. The landscape must have been so much richer before Dutch elm disease. There's a huge, very old elm tree up the road from me in a place called Burwell, and I always pause to admire it. Reckon it's at least 200 years old. They're so rare, the few that survive really do catch the eye.

 

[PeteXXX]

After a weekend away in Somerset, I'd planned to meet up with some mates to get some miles ridden (to burn help off the weekends food and wine excesses!). It turned out the there were five of us, as an old workmate came along. He's one of my London Brighton team from last year and I've not seen him for months now.. Always good to meet up with friends I've not seen for a while.
We'd arranged to be at our usual start point, The Canoes by the River Nene Nr Brackmills at 09:30 ish as it's central for all of us to get to. Today, we were on several types of bikes. My CX, Dev on his S-Works MTB, the others on various Road bikes. Still, we were in no great rush. I'd planned on getting my Defy 2 out, but didn't have enough time to prep it for today. I knew the CX was ready to go though, so went with that.
With no particular time restraints, for a change, and no particular direction in mind, we set off for a loupe around Cogenhoe, Wollaston, Bozeat and then towards Salcey Forest for coffee and cake.

Wollaston provides us with a well known photo opportunity... (Really must grow up one day!!)
At this point, we were on the route of the Ladies Tour from last year, and we continued to criss cross their roads several times on our ride.

Salcey is always good for a coffee & cake stop!
We lazed there for about half an hour then set of back towards Northampton were we spilt up and headed our separate ways home.
I think we were on about 45 miles at this point, giving me a 50 miler by the time I reached home. As I had some time to spare before Mrs Pete's meter ran out, I decided to add a loupe at the end to get a metric century under my belt..
Bit of a mixed weather day. Started off with ice on the cars and sunshine, followed by a bit of cloud, a slightly stronger wind than forecast, plus a few raindrops falling on our heads.. (I feel a song coming on.. lol) then sunshine at the end of the ride.

All in all, a smashing day out, and back home on 63 miles, 101 km.


https://www.strava.com/activities/284628356

 

[gavgav]

Decided to investigate some new lanes this evening and take a couple that I haven't ridden on for absolutely ages.

There was still a strong, gusty and cold wind blowing, although thankfully not as bad as yesterday, so it was back to trousers and jacket after last weeks brief sojourn into shorts.

Headed up Lyth Hill, with the wind slowing me down considerably and down to dads for a quick 10 minute chat, to say thanks for the errands he had run today for me. Just before Stapleton I appeared to set off an alarm in a field!! I am guessing that it was an elaborate bird scarer of some sort, but it was more like a cyclist scarer and certainly made me jump !

I then continued in the direction of Gonsal and took the alternative route to Frodesley, which I haven't used in a long while. I had forgotten just how much climbing there is along there and also had a dog come charging out of a house and chase me along for about 1/2 a mile before he lost interest. I think he wanted to play but I wasn't hanging about to find out!!

After Frodesley I had the wind behind me all the way to Acton Burnell, so cruised nicely at 20 to 25mph and then took the road past Concord College, before turning towards Acton Piggott and some lovely downhill lanes to Upper Cound (seems a misnomer to me.....!)

I then took new lanes to Eaton Mascott, Berrington and Betton Abbots, but there was a surprising amount of climbing that I wasn't expecting!

I then returned through Sutton Farm and back home.

What really pleased me today was that, without fail, I encountered really courteous drivers who were patient and gave me loads of room. Wish it was always like that....

21.5 miles with a surprising 1000 ft of climbing.

 

[ColinJ]

32 miles going up the infamous Sheephouse lane in Rivington.A quite windy and surprisingly cold morning.I was wise to wear full gloves and put the fingerless ones in the back pocket.On top of Rivi i changed over to the fingerless but only for five minutes,it was too cold,especially on the downhills. View attachment 85537 View attachment 85538 View attachment 85539

I have only been over there once, to watch the Commonwealth Games Road Races.

I have been meaning to ride over there one day and climb that hill. I'd forgotten that I had plotted a route for a forum ride taking in that area for a change. Maybe later this year ...

 

[PeteXXX]

Very true. The landscape must have been so much richer before Dutch elm disease. There's a huge, very old elm tree up the road from me in a place called Burwell, and I always pause to admire it. Reckon it's at least 200 years old. They're so rare, the few that survive really do catch the eye.

Hopefully it is the future of the species if propagated. Maybe it's immunity to the disease can be passed on for the next few hundred years..

 

[Accy cyclist]

I managed 28 miles this evening. Quite a few crunchy miles too as they've been out gritting the roads again!

 

[vernon]

I managed 28 miles this evening. Quite a few crunchy miles too as they've been out gritting the roads again!

Expecting frost?