Your ride today....

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Nice brisk ride around the standard Strensham loop this morning. Lots of other riders out and about and Buzzards were conspicuous too. One or two numpty drivers unfortunately. I can only shake my head. 34 smiles at a goodly pace for me these days.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

First ride in 3 months (broken hand) fun on the lumpy bits but painful on the bumpy/jarring ones. Bar tape may be double wrapped for a while

 

[Mr Celine]

After yesterday's debacle (see above) I was keen to get out this morning for a 30 miler before the promised rain moved in.
Mrs Celine had cooked a mexican dinner last night, which had been preceeded by a couple of large tequila sunrises, was washed down with a bottle of strong spanish red and followed up by a rather large Talisker.
Not surprisingly I was feeling a little woolly headed this morning, but I did encounter one cylist even more woolly headed than myself.

It wasn't just the cyclists, either.

The Selkirkshire Yarnbombers have been at it again. This year's theme is a tea party.

Complete with teapot.

I stopped again at the top of the Swire. The forecast southerly wind had brought some hanggliderists up, but they were hanging around rather than gliding, apart from a model glider which I presume they were using to test the wind, though they appear to be dive bombing themselves in this pic.

All downhill from here.

With some added excitement supplied by some re-enactment enthusiats, presumably commemerating the battle of Philiphaugh. (13/09/1645)

30 miles in all at 15.1mph.

 

[Donger]

Where does all the time go? Being a stickler for recording all my rides, I turned up for my Kingsway CC club ride this morning with the realisation that two and a half years had passed in the blink of an eye and that it was, unbelievably, my 100th club ride today. I had resolved to get the coffee and cakes in to commemorate the occasion in when we made it to the Upper Lock café in Stroud .... so I'll admit I was more than a little relieved to find that most of the large crowd of cyclists at the meeting point were heading off on the intermediate ride and not our social one!

Five of us set off on a 35 mile ride thought up by my buddy @Frazzle (occasionally of this parish), and it was a sadistic one with four big hills. First up came a vicious and unrelenting 18% climb from Harescombe to Edge that I had never (and have still never) mastered. I'm afraid I did the walk of shame on that one, having lost control of the front wheel and started to unicycle my way up it (but mostly it was just too damned steep and too damned long for me). Then down into the Painswick valley and back up another little brute of a hill to Holcomb before riding through Painswick to Sheepscombe. I had previously made a mental note that there is a defibrilator in Sheepscombe, but I didn't quite need it today. The climb back out of the village is a real beast, and I had to dismount for about 10 yards on a nasty, steep little left hand bend, but otherwise successfully rode it in one. Some great scenery to be had after that, including notably a great distant view of the River Severn from way up above Stroud near Bisley.

My squealing front brake caused much amusement as we got down into Stroud, wailing like a banshee and only just coming to a halt in time when we got to a T junction. A case of "café legs" ensued after The Upper Lock, leaving one more big climbing effort on the road to Gloucester over the back of Horsepools Hill. As usual, I was the last one over the top (accompanied by @Frazzle, as ever being a much appreciated wing man), but felt pleased with my efforts after managing to stay out of the granny ring for once ... despite the cumulative effect of all the previous climbs. According to @Frazzle's garmin, that was over 2,800 feet of climbing in 35 miles today, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Three of the four main climbs were all considerably over 10% gradients, mostly including stretches of 14-18%, so it was a real slog. It might have been my 100th club ride, but I reckon I'll also be remembering it as one of the very toughest. A great ride in decent weather.

Saw lots of other cyclists out there today .... often as we emerged from steep little side roads to see other groups of cyclists staying to the gentler slopes of the main roads. We did it the hard way. I shall ache again after this one. Cheers, Donger.

Edit: Blimey! make that three and a half years. Time really does fly.

 

[Dave 123]

A lovely ride on the tandem today. I'd been intending to get to Saffron Walden for ages. A blustery headwind on the way out was ok, but we could have got over the 40mph mark down into Barrington. 39.4 will have to do.
On the hill up to Great Chishill is a really nice bit of landscape. Farmer Fred was out on his tractor

I love the pale, chalky corner at the bottom of the far, central field.
A brief stop at the church, the bike had a rest

The next bit of the ride is sweet. Down hill bends on quiet roads, I cut a few sneaky bends.

We rolled past Audley End

A stop in Saffron Walden at Bicicletta for a drink and a bite to eat. They had a Colnago Arabesque in the window, what a work of art
https://www.biciclettavelo.com/arabesque
The picin the link doesn't do it justice.

On and up out of Walden past the old WW2 airfield, another farmer Palmer

Through Linton and then Balsham, rolling along at 30mph, the wind finally helping.
More chalky fields

Into Cambridge for a stop at Jacks Gelato. Dark chocolate fondant for me, gin & tonic sorbet for Jo, it tasted just like it!

2 separate tandem riding blokes on family days out came for a chat. It always amazes me how people want to talk, smile or wave at us. Without the tandem we get ignored!

54 miles at just about 14mph, with a few decent hills. A grand day out!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1199472947

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Bike selected; CGR (as @NorthernDave , stated the roads around HookMoor were muddy, & I wasn't fully decided on where I was going)
Weather; overcast. warm, dry, headwind (on the return)
Photographs from today (unless captioned otherwise)

Not much of a ride really, as I was feeling a bit 'under the weather', & have a sore knee, after bashing it at work on Friday (didn't even ParkRun yesterday, because of it)


Under the M62 (jct 31), towards Castleford, up to Whitwood Roundabout
Straight over into HighTown, over the level crossing on Albion Street, & past the Bus Station

A brief stop, by Castle Motorcycles, & the (closed) Bridge Inn, to photograph the bench there, or 'The Forum' as its known (as in a meeting/talking place, & a nod to the towns Roman history, as a Garrison)



Over the River Aire, & the 'cut' (Canal)
Out along Barnsdale Road, up towards Allerton Bywater, with roadworks & 3-way temporary traffic-lights on the junction
Up 'Mary Pannal', on what is the 'HookMoor Branch'
Past Ledston Luck (old colliery, now a business park)

Over 'Peckfield Bar', & looking into the hedgerow to the right of the road, trying to spot the remnants of the narrow-gauge railway that was there, between Ledston Luck, & the Leeds - York railway

For a change, I headed up to the new roundabout, on the top side of Garforth (jct 47/M1), with the last exit, towards HookMoor
(normally, I'd have gone up the old 'Ridge Road', towards HookMoor)

Dropping down towards the A1 flyover, it was a sharp left onto the old 'GNR', into Aberford
Noting 'The Late Rose & Crown Inn' on the crest of the hill, before dropping towards the bridge over Cock Beck
(the right 'half')



After leaving the village, it was a fast sprint, on the A1/A64 roundabout, as it was quite busy
A turn onto Spen Common Lane, was gladly takan, with an immediate right to the back of the old cottages
The road in front of the cottages is the 'Great North Road', with the junctions kerb-stones still to be seen, from when it was a roundabout
The big house was the 'White Hart' pub



I had intended riding up to Bramham, & photographing there, but timewise, I was limited
Thus it was a turnaround, into a headwind

Dropped back down through Aberford, but this time, straight over at HookMoor, & back onto the old (bypassed) stretch of Ridge Road

I got caught up for quite a while, at Allerton Bywater, whist the contractors rearranged cones & temporary traffic-lights
No worries, I still had time in hand

Once back in Castleford, it was a slight detour, via Bridge Street, towards Lower Oxford Street, to see which estate agents was selling a favourite house of mine (I'd seen the sale notification, via Wowhaus, on FaceBook)
http://www.wowhaus.co.uk/2012/08/14...ed-art-deco-property-in-castleford-yorkshire/
http://www.themodernhouse.com/past-sales/castleford-west-yorkshire/



A reasonable little ride, if a bit overdressed ('summer' bib-tights, & long-sleeve club jersey)
I could have used the Gran Fondo, but what the heck!!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

My first visit to Upper Stowe since 2013 and I picked a good day for it, cool at first but warming up nicely as the day progressed, the only fly in the ointment was the breeze, I climbed out of Priors Marston on Keys lane, turned left onto Hellidon Road and turned straight into the breeze, and found myself slogging into it all the way to Farthingstone. On the way back I rode straight on at the first crossroads and then turned right descend into Everdon, then nearly chucked the bike at the scenery after hitting a group of potholes that I didn't see as they were in deep dappled shade, fortunately, I hung onto it and continued through the village surprised I hadn't punctured or damaged a wheel. The other side of the village I rode through Newnham and onto Staverton and the main road descent past the Skylark Farm then turned right through Flecknoe and across Granborough fields to pick up one of my regular routes through Princethorpe and into Coventry, past the speedway and across the city home. I got my hydration wrong today, I ran out of water riding through Binley Woods about eight miles from home and needed a big drink by the time I got home, a pint of weak orange squash saw me go from hot to dripping with sweat in a few seconds. 71 miles covered my longest ride this year and another enjoyable outing on the bike.


View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/17932938

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Another forum ride with @13 rider and @tallliman and if we had not been so eager to get off @Lilliburlero would have joined us.

I left the house around 06:50 to do 30 miles to the 09:00 start. Was cool at that time and the wind was a bit stronger than I was expected. Nothing to note for the first 13 miles when I stopped for a call of nature and snagged my shorts on a gate, tore a huge hole in them so had to go home to get changed.

21 miles I'm back at home and changed and out of the door to now take the direct route to the start. Get there with time to spare but t'other two are waiting for me and not expecting anyone else we set off - sorry @Lilliburlero we honestly didn't know you were coming otherwise we would have waited

@13 rider had planned a particularly nasty ride to Cafe Ventoux, some nasty climbs, nasty descents and some nasty roads. Karma paid him back though when he rode straight into a gate - We can laugh now as he is fine and more importantly so is his bike, but it could have been very nasty. Anyway we get to Cafe Ventoux and it was my first visit, mainly because I had been told it was expensive and being a tight Yorkie that was enough to stop me going in. Anyway it isn't the cheapest cafe, but for £9.20 I had a latte, big bacon sarnie and a decent slice of flapjack, which I thought was quite reasonable.

At this point we decided to cut out some of the lumps on the way back, I was knackered, I think last weekends jolly has finally caught up with me. @tallliman was knackered from his tour and I suspect @13 rider was aching from his scrap with the gate.

Now we were sure @13 rider was okay every gate we saw he was given a warning, nothing like mates taking the Michael

Weather was glorious and @tallliman bagged another metric century and us other two bagged imperials.

105 miles in total for me.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1199597345

On a serious note @13 rider take the next few days easy, I'm sure you will be aching tomorrow.

 

[13 rider]

Another forum ride with @13 rider and @tallliman and if we had not been so eager to get off @Lilliburlero would have joined us.

I left the house around 06:50 to do 30 miles to the 09:00 start. Was cool at that time and the wind was a bit stronger than I was expected. Nothing to note for the first 13 miles when I stopped for a call of nature and snagged my shorts on a gate, tore a huge hole in them so had to go home to get changed.

21 miles I'm back at home and changed and out of the door to now take the direct route to the start. Get there with time to spare but t'other two are waiting for me and not expecting anyone else we set off - sorry @Lilliburlero we honestly didn't know you were coming otherwise we would have waited

@13 rider had planned a particularly nasty ride to Cafe Ventoux, some nasty climbs, nasty descents and some nasty roads. Karma paid him back though when he rode straight into a gate - We can laugh now as he is fine and more importantly so is his bike, but it could have been very nasty. Anyway we get to Cafe Ventoux and it was my first visit, mainly because I had been told it was expensive and being a tight Yorkie that was enough to stop me going in. Anyway it isn't the cheapest cafe, but for £9.20 I had a latte, big bacon sarnie and a decent slice of flapjack, which I thought was quite reasonable.

At this point we decided to cut out some of the lumps on the way back, I was knackered, I think last weekends jolly has finally caught up with me. @tallliman was knackered from his tour and I suspect @13 rider was aching from his scrap with the gate.

Now we were sure @13 rider was okay every gate we saw he was given a warning, nothing like mates taking the Michael

Weather was glorious and @tallliman bagged another metric century and us other two bagged imperials.

105 miles in total for me.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1199597345

On a serious note @13 rider take the next few days easy, I'm sure you will be aching tomorrow.

A lovely ride in great company 102.1 miles for me . Bit sore now but can't believe I got away with what could have been really serious accident without much more than a scratch and the bike completely fine carbon forks are stronger than expected

 

[Deleted member 1258]

A lovely ride in great company 102.1 miles for me . Bit sore now but can't believe I got away with what could have been really serious accident without much more than a scratch and the bike completely fine carbon forks are stronger than expected

I've been close to dropping it this morning so we've both had a scare, how did you do it?

 

[13 rider]

Basically we were on a road with no gated road signs. Dropping down a descent there was a bit between hedges that was in the shade with a poor surface I braked for the poor surface but didn't see the gate across the road and just hit it hard . @Supersuperleeds didn't see it either he was a bit behind . But the gate wasn't bolted so it sprung open . So thankfully didn't hit a completely solid object . But looking back I can't believe how lucky I was to get away with the odd scratch and the bike was fine

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Basically we were on a road with no gated road signs. Dropping down a descent there was a bit between hedges that was in the shade with a poor surface I braked for the poor surface but didn't see the gate across the road and just hit it hard . @Supersuperleeds didn't see it either he was a bit behind . But the gate wasn't bolted so it sprung open . So thankfully didn't hit a completely solid object . But looking back I can't believe how lucky I was to get away with the odd scratch and the bike was fine

I was pretty surprised when you just got up and dusted yourself off and we carried on

Anyway, found your favourite song to cheer you up:

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Basically we were on a road with no gated road signs. Dropping down a descent there was a bit between hedges that was in the shade with a poor surface I braked for the poor surface but didn't see the gate across the road and just hit it hard . @Supersuperleeds didn't see it either he was a bit behind . But the gate wasn't bolted so it sprung open . So thankfully didn't hit a completely solid object . But looking back I can't believe how lucky I was to get away with the odd scratch and the bike was fine

At least no serious damage done. My problem was deep dappled shade, because of that I didn't see the potholes till I was right on top of them, as the first one I hit was part of a group of them I had nowhere to go I had to plough through them, not a good idea at close to 30mph, fortunately I stayed on and don't appear to have done any damage, I'll have a close look tomorrow.

 

[13 rider]

I was pretty surprised when you just got up and dusted yourself off and we carried on

Anyway, found your favourite song to cheer you up:

At least no serious damage done. My problem was deep dappled shade, because of that I didn't see the potholes till I was right on top of them, as the first one I hit was part of a group of them I had nowhere to go I had to plough through them, not a good idea at close to 30mph, fortunately I stayed on and don't appear to have done any damage, I'll have a close look tomorrow.

Glad you stayed upright Dave it was the shade that caught me out . How can 2 of us not see a gate across the road ? .Lesson learnt let @Supersuperleeds lead out on descents

 

[NorthernDave]

A day of two rides today.

First was the ride home after picking the hybrid up after a service so just 1.8 miles

Then, a couple of slight adjustments and out on it again for a proper shakedown ride. Regular reader might recall that this is the first time the hybrid has been out in 9 months. My bad.

Anyhow, local roads which soon got me somewhere slightly less local and then up to Scholes cross-country, past the old quarry and out onto main Street for a mainly downhill run to the Coronation Tree and across onto the bridleway Bog Lane which is a bit puddly in places but doesn't really live up to the name and once round the first couple of corners develops into a broken surface and gets a bit gravelly.
This put a huge grin on my face - I'd forgotten what fun it was off-roading on loose surfaces where the bike is moving around under you, egging you on to push the limit a bit more
I the spotted the most unusual gate I've ever seen, so stopped for a quick pic for the 'Bike in front of a gate' thread:

Straight on then, with the lane now becoming Barnbow Lane and climbing up between the fields on one side and the wood with the golf course beyond on the other, but still nice and loose under tyre in places. At the top of the hill, the only way is down through a tunnel of trees on a very bump surface - normally I'd fly down here but there were a couple of dog walkers about so I had to be a bit more sensible today.
Through there, ignoring the bridleway to the left which leads eventually across the golf course, over Cock Beck and the steady climb up to Manston Lane where it was time for a breather and a drink.

I was saddened to see the building work for the East Leeds Link Road has reached right out here (it's always been suggested it would only link up to Thorpe Park (an office development, not a theme park sadly), but there is building work going on right up to the farm yard - along with a lot of misleading (hopefully temporary) signs, but more on that later.

Left and through the farm yard and onto the bridleway (Nanny Goat Lane) which eventually takes you under the M1 and up to the stables, where today I decided to use the pedestrian level crossing rather than cycling all the way down to Garforth and back up the other side.
Once across there is a lovely little lane of about 100yds that's tree lined on both sides before you come out onto Barrowby Lane just as it stops being a road and reverts to bridleway - and it's also part of NCR66.

Steadily climbing through the woods, avoiding the 4-abreast family who certainly weren't for moving and before I knew it slogging up the always surprisingly steep slope onto and across the M1 bridge, where I found yet more misleading signage linked to the development work:

Three "footpath" signs there and two of them are wrong - the only one that's right is the one pointing to the right and around the corner which is actually just a footpath (part of the Leeds Country Way). The other two directions take you on a bridleway, which also happens to be NCR66...

Anyway, back on the bike and ignoring incorrect signs, along the bridleway / NCR66, reaching the fringes of the ever expanding office park, where the route used to go straight on, but is now shoehorned between the edge of the development and the motorway slip road, getting progressively narrower before dumping you on a footpath at the road edge by a busy roundabout. It's barely wide enough for single file pedestrians here, so goodness knows how anyone on horseback gets on. Somehow they've gone from a nice wide, well surfaced bridleway to a mess that's going to bring users into conflict and put horses onto a tarmac path right next to a busy roundabout...lets hope this is only temporary?

Followed the equally confusing signs across the office park, which repeatedly swap between referring to the route as 'footpath' (so peds only) or 'bridleway' (open to horses/riders and cyclists too) - and in one fine place direct you straight through a newly erected barrier across the roads at the mouth of a roundabout and straight into a hoarding with nowhere to go...

Given this I just carried on, no doubt being watched on the CCTV cameras that seem to proliferate in places like this now, following more confusing signs until I eventually picked up the original hundreds of year old route, climbing up onto Barrowby Lane and for the rest of the ride on tarmac roads.

From there there's a little climb, then a nice downhill section (where I set a PB which came as a surprise as I've done this section a few times on the road bike so wasn't expecting anything on the hybrid!), across the railway line and through Manston before getting back onto local roads up to home.

8.51 miles (13.7km) in 54m at an average of 10.4mph with 456ft climbed - not hugely impressive stats in isolation, but with the earlier ride it gets me into double figures and it was great fun, which is what it's all about isn't it?

I'd genuinely forgotten what fun off road cycling can be and I've already promised myself it won't be another nine months before I repeat the experience. And I'm going to report the misleading signs and unsuitable diversions up with the PROW officer at the council - although given past experience I'm not expecting too much...

And to end, two maps - one showing the whole route and one showing the diversions around the office park (red line) against what I think was the original route (blue line):