Your ride today....

[Dave 123]

A 10 mile after work Battisborough loop on my road bike. Even though I’m out in the sticks the roads were pretty busy.

The Carswell cows were ready to go back out, and further on there were fluorescent signs saying ROS LOC, there were security guards that I didn’t even bother asking what was going on!

https://www.strava.com/activities/11596815741

 

[All uphill]

A bit late reporting this ride.

A friend and I had agreed to go out on our first ride together for more than a year. We usually share hilly rides and this was no exception.

Our aim was to have a sandwich at Clatworthy Reservoir, just 20 km from our starting point in Taunton.

We headed out through Bishop's Hull and upwards past Brompton Ralph; Cycle.travel routed us along a lovely bridleway, which became impassable muddy.

We retraced our route and after some more climbing arrived at the reservoir.

The climb out of Clatworthy village pushed my limits, but I knew that the rest of the ride would be predominantly downhill.

A quick visit to the beautiful Marsh Langley Church was welcome.

Coffere and cake in Wiveliscombe was equally welcome. Back to Taunton via Milverton.

57km and 900m of climbing.

 

[All uphill]

A quick ride out to The White Post cafe in Langford Budville. A beautiful day and my legs were raring to go!

After two coffees and a piece of cake I headed home.

 

[geocycle]

Where to go? With 1000s of bikers heading to Barrow for Hairy Biker Dave Myers, hundreds of wild swimmers heading to Windermere and Romany caravans trundling to Appleby horse fair, options were limited. As is often the case, the answer was Bowland. Strong, cool westerly wind and early rain required longs and layers but good just to be out. First call was the climb up Jubilee Tower where the views out to sea were good, next I descended down through Marshaw and took on the Trough with a tailwind. Lots of birds on the tops including Oyster catchers, lapwing, curlew, sky larks, meadow pipit and patrolling kestrels. I headed deep into the forest of Bowland and emerged at Chipping for lunch. Suitably fortified I headed up Beacon fell with views across Ribble Valley and then westward to Garstang. The bridge over the M6 had drawn a crowd of 50 or so, all waiving as bikers honked horns beneath them. Overall 88 km with 1170 m of climbing.

Pictures from Jubilee Tower, Trough of Bowland, and Beacon Fell.

 

[Donger]

I met up with my old audaxing buddy Jem at a mutual half way meeting point, then we set off through Frampton on Severn, Frocester and Lower Cam before climbing up Wootton Pitch to Upper Cam and the Leaf & Ground cafe for cakes and coffees. A nice relaxed ride and a chance to have a catch-up chat as we rode along. The cafe is up on a hillside overlooking Cam. In this shot you don't really get an idea of how high up it is except for the fact that you can glimpse the distant Severn estuary in the background (with the hills of the Forest of Dean beyond).

We carried on a little further southwards through Stinchcombe before turning west and heading off to the edge of Berkeley. There we turned back northwards and headed home via Wanswell and Slimbridge before parting.

This was my first ride of the year with Jem. Neither of us has audaxed since the whole covid thing and we only rode together once last year, so it was nice to ride together again. When I got near Frampton on Severn, I did a few mental calculations and added a couple of small detours that would up my mileage to the required number, stopping off at Splatt Bridge on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.

By the time I got home I'd done 50.5 miles .... my first 50 miler of the year. The rain kept away and the wind wasn't too bad. A great ride out.
Nice to have a bit of company too.

 

[Dave 123]

Up to Princetown, Lisa and Georgia walked the dogs and I did the loop around to Sheepstor. After about 1/4 of a mile I realised I hadn’t turned my Garmin on!

Lots of foals, wheatear, skylark, meadow pipits, mistle thrush and a buzzard.

Plenty of cows and sheep, but not many people 👍🏻

https://www.strava.com/activities/11604973434

 

[Dave 123]

A road bike ride today, my legs felt a little wooden at first after yesterday’s ride, but they eventually eased up.

Down to Bull and Bear then past Yeo Park to get to the Lyneham Estate to take pictures for the photo competition.

Then through the new town of Sherford and along through Plymstock and Hooe.

At Jennycliff I sat and watched the world go by for 10 minutes.

Up the newly resurfaced Jennycliff hill and on to Staddon Heights, from here you can see all the way back to Western Beacon, maybe 12 miles away.

Down through Spriddlestone and Brixton before finishing off with Puslinch Hill , a long 14% job with about 20 yards of 18% near the top. Lovely!

21 sunny miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11612345450

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Yesterday: I hadn't been able to get out in the week due to being busy so grabbed a chance in the afternoon. A hilly ride appealed and I thought a variation of my route to Dudgeley and Pulverbatch would be good with some extra climbing to Picklescott before heading for Pulverbatch and Oaks. The knockabout bike was most convenient to get out at short notice so I used that.

The day was nice and sunny but the wind was cold so I started off with a fleece on and didn't feel the need to remove it during the ride. I wasn't expecting to break any records on this lump of a bike but did start off decently well with a tailwind for the first 10 miles through Condover, Longnor and Hollyhurst. Not many cyclists out this time - perhaps they'd already been out as I was starting in the afternoon. I had a holdup for cattle crossing near Longnor then another for a couple of horses later on at Dudgeley.

Having climbed through Smethcott to Picklescott I did toy with the idea of carrying on to Thresholds - perhaps next time. The descent from Picklescott was good with the views looking fabulous in the sunny weather.
Reaching Pulverbatch I decided I would take the longer way this time as I was enjoying the climbing so headed round Broom Hill to Wrentnall then to Oaks and down the hill to Plealey. I did remember the "speed hump" near Longden Manor this time but it's still a bit of a thump hitting it at low speed.

From Plealey I took another little detour cutting across to Arscott, fortunately joining the road there just after a large tractor towing a trailer. I caught that up later on near Annscroft. Here another rider joined the road in front of me on a much ligher bike but I found I could keep up fairly well until the next junction where i turned off to climb Lyth Hill. On this bit of road my bike started making some odd noises - investigating later it seemed the left hand pedal bearings were in a bad way. Something to be sorted out later.

28.4 miles at 11.9 mph average. 2030 feet of climbing according to Strava so fairly hilly.

Rural traffic hold up.

Taking the turning for Hollyhurst.

En route from Smethcott to Picklescott.

A couple of shots from Picklescott.

On the descent to Wilderley.

This view from the Broom Hill climb looked good in the sunshine.

Crossing Lyth Hill.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Today: There were a few things going on so my only decent chance for a ride was to get out early. I was out just after seven, got the Hawk out since it's easiest to reach........ and then remembered the knackered pedal bearings. A quick swap to a pair from my spares box just took a few minutes and I was on the road by 7.20.

The day was a bit grey and quite cold at this time of the morning. I dressed as per yesterday but the shorts probably weren't the best idea.
Not having a lot of time for the ride I went for a variation of my Acton Burnell route, heading out over Lyth Hill and through Stapleton so as to keep it from being too samey. At this time on a Sunday there wasn't too much traffic about. Not many cyclists either but a reasonable number of people walking the lanes.

No hold ups and the wind seemed more of a westerley than in recent days so it worked nicely with riding the route in this direction. Longnor to Acton Burnell went nicely then the straight at Cound Moor was quick enough to set a PB on Strava. Flag of the day when I reached Cound was that of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry.

I haven't been through Eaton Mascott for quite a while so decided to go that way. The gardens at the hall were open to the public today under the National Garden Scheme. I did think about another change of route at Berrington but a road closed sign made me stick to the usual way.

At Condover the road was unusually busy so I decided to go for Hunger Hill and Little Lyth rather than mix with the traffic. The A49 wasn't very busy after all that but I did avoid a plod into the headwind on the exposed stretch of road.

27.1 miles at 12.9 mph average. 1479 feet of climbing recorded.

View to the Stretton Hills from Stapleton.

Ryton.

Harnage.

On the bridge at Cound Stank.

Poppies on the road to Eaton Mascott.

And to finish; the Stretton Hills again viewed from Lyons Lane.

 

[HLaB]

I dont think I went hard enough on yesterdays TT, a 15miles TT which turned out to be 15.4miles, perhaps I was saving something for this Auld Pals - An Evening with the Stars of Still Game - New Theatre Peterborough

Surprisingly after 4-5hours kip I woke quite fresh for this:



The great company helped

 

[lazybloke]

Up early on Sunday morning to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine.
Out through Dorking and down towards Horsham, then west to Dunsfold aerodrome, which is going to be developed but so far seems to have little more than an access road, but otherwise looked pretty much as it did on Top Gear.

I'd planned to finish at Godalming and catch a train home, but I was going to just miss the hourly service. The trains from Guildford were no better, so I rode home for a total distance of 65 miles instead of the planned 42.

The guerilla knitters have been at work in Dorking.

And a post-box topper in Warnham:

I would have loved to live in a converted water tower when younger - but the thought of all those stairs.....

These cows formed an orderly queue, but what for? Wimbledon? Taylor Swift?

A Sea Hawk?

And on that bombshell....

 

[Dave 123]

It’s a long time since I’ve had an evening ride around the Warren.

It was beautiful! Loads of birds, lots of flowers, a few cows and views that were perfect!

9 lovely miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11621520365

 

[Jameshow]

It’s a long time since I’ve had an evening ride around the Warren.

It was beautiful! Loads of birds, lots of flowers, a few cows and views that were perfect!

9 lovely miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11621520365

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Come on that's just unkind!❤️

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

@gavgav had some time off today and asked me along for a ride with a pub stop. We set a time then put it back a bit due to showers rolling in from the north west. The day was another blustery and cool one after rain in the early hours, but it did stay mostly dry after showers mentioned went through.

I used the Raleigh and was first at the rendezvous where my bike got blown over even though I thought I'd leaned it fairly securely against a fence.

A few extra scuffs and I'd been meaning to replace that bar tape anyway.

Setting off we headed through Meole Brace and the familiar route through the suburbs to Bicton, Montford Bridge and up to Little Ness. The headwind was quite brisk but we were travelling at a sociable pace so it didn't cause too much of an issue. From Little Ness we headed straight on towards Ruyton XI Towns. A bit undulating but the biggest issue was a couple of drivers who made very heavy weather of passing other traffic on the narrow lane.

From Ruyton we climbed up to Wykey (met a lorry and trailer that was a bit big for these roads really) then on to Eardiston and West Felton with a couple of navigation stops and Gav showed me a route through the village I haven't ridden before. We had sort of hoped for a helping wind by now but it was a crosswind and more of a hindrance really. A lunch stop was taken in a relatively sheltered gateway somewhere near Osbaston.

When we did finally get the hoped for tailwind at Maesbrook it helped us along quite nicely on the flattest section of the ride. We headed to Melverley then turned towards the Royal Hill where we stopped for a pint and I embarrassed myself trying to push the door that opens outwards.
The wind helped tired legs to restart and we headed for Pentre then followed the marked cycle route to Shrawardine. All well and good so far but at Montford an arrogant van driver forced us into the verge. After a short break we continued to Montford Bridge and the main road back to Bicton. While climbing the hill between the two a motorbike overtook at speed - if he was doing less than a ton I'll be surprised.

We headed back round the edge of Shrewsbury using some of the roads from the way out, and a few different ones that I haven't cycled in a long time. Unfortunately we got near to the two largest schools on this side of town just about kicking out time so the cycle paths weren't usable and we needed a change of route.

Gav and I parted near to where we'd met up and I had a decent wind assisted ride back for the last couple of miles or so.

43.8 miles at 12.8 mph average. An enjoyable ride for the most part, just let down by a few bad drivers towards the end.

Not many photos taken this time:

 

[Donger]

Just an 18 miler through the Severnside villages today to keep the legs from seizing up after my 50 miler the other day. Glad I went out as I came across an old friend doing a rehab ride .... just his second since recovering from spinal cancer and a broken back. He was in remarkable form and it was great to meet up again for the first time in years. We will be doing a few gentle rides together soon I'm sure. By the time I got home again I'd passed 1,000 miles for the year so far. Always nice to pass a big milestone.