Your ride today....

[Windle]

After a hiatus of a few weeks due to other commitments & weather, I finally got a chance for a Saturday afternoon West Auckland / Aycliffe bike path circuit. We'd been through Bishop Auckland this morning and there was a classic car show on in the market place so I decided on the spur of the moment to have a look there first. I parked in West Auckland as usual, having a look over the village green to the war memorial,

then out via my usual route, this time stopping rather than just passing the Eden bus garage. It may be the former Eden bus garage as I'm not even sure they're still operating.

Along the usual bike path past Tindale retail park then riding alongside the massively busy South Church bypass and diverting across the field at Auckland Park to the bottom of Durham road it was a short climb up into the market place. The town was surprisingly busy, even up the main street not just due to there car show.

After a mooch around the motors I retraced my route, with the exception of crossing one of the footbridges over to the other side of the South Church bypass and along the path beside the river Gaunless up until the fire station, which also had an open day or something going on. After this is was the usual route, out via Shildon and back via Redworth this time round. The replica of Rocket was running trips up and down the line out of Locomotion again. I'm not entirely sue it's even a real steam engine, as a few weeks ago when I passed it was sat in the yard ready for the off and sounded very like a diesel ticking over!

I stopped for a quick photo of the Trek in front of Locomotion's massive entrance. I quoted the unusually complex steel frame for this building twenty odd years ago, we didn't win the job though, which as a railway enthusiast peed me right off .

Heighington station for bait stop and where annoyingly my computer decided to go back to zero . I'm sure I had about fifteen miles on by then and about five hundred feet of climbing, but I checked by measuring the map after I'd got home.

Heading back down the secluded part of the Shildon to Tindale bike path on the way back.

As usual I braved the road through the middle of the retail park to meet the wife on her break for a catch up, after which it was back via the usual route to West. By this time it was getting a bit chilly, about ten degrees C and I wished I'd kept my base layer on that I'd shed on the way out. A good ride though, with a bit of a twist. There were a few brief rain showers on the way round but not enough to get wet. 24 miles done with about 1,000 feet of climbing.

 

[Dave 123]

As tomorrow looks very wet I decided to treat myself to a Princetown loop.

The stretch around From Princetown to Foggintor catches the wind so after a few hundred yards I stopped to put a wind proof jacket on. Once down beyond Kings Tor it was lovely.

Eventually the jacket came off at Norsworthy bridge for the climb up from Sheepstor. That was soon followed by the climb up to Eylesbarrow, it was like the Bahamas!

On the the Fox tor cafe, the kitchen had closed… so I had cake!

17 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12524386132


Dartmoor pony foal

Looking down to Plymouth Sound

Cox and Staple Tors

Old bridge over former railway

Norsworthy Bridge

Porcelain fungi (?)

Sheepstor church

Sheepstor

Siwards (nuns) Cross

 

[sevenfourate]

6.00am start for some in the dark off-piste activities. First ride since the temps have dropped; and was adorned in full gloves, long pants, long sleeved top with under layer and a beanie hat 😳

New beater bike performed faultlessly. And we found a lot of new and very scenic byways / tracks etc. A good Morning on 2 wheels…..😎

 

[kapelmuur]

I believe there have been water towers featured in this thread so here’s the Art Deco tower in High Legh, Cheshire.

It was featured on the TV show Restoration Man in 2017 after having been converted into a house and was on the market 2 years later for £1.7 million.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

It's been a frustrating couple of weeks cycling-wise. I missed the nice spell of weather as I was doing other things then the weather has been bad most of the other days I've been free. If not for the occasional ride to work I'd have been getting a bit stir-crazy.
On Saturday though it was dry and my brother was free so we got out together to try out the change I'd made to his bike.

I'd suggested the ride to Church Stretton for a cafe lunch then a pub stop on the way back. Doug was obviously keen as he was ready before I was. We headed towards Condover to start with and found the main road section not too bad. The different cranks seem to suit Doug's riding style better and we got along at a decent enough pace.

Not much to report on the way to Church Stretton other than it was a pleasant ride. We got to the cafe in good time to get a seat outside and enjoy some late September warmth. Lunch was good and once we were done we retraced our steps for a couple of miles before heading through Dudgeley on our way to Leebotwood. I wondered whether there might be issues on the lanes after some torrential rain only a couple of days before, but it was fine.

We enjoyed a pint at The Pound, sat out in the sun again but we were the only ones. After that it was a return towards Longnor, Ryton and Condover. Doug started to struggle a bit on the way back and cramped up only about a mile from the end, which was something I was hoping the change of cranks would fix.

25.5 miles at 12.4 mph average. 979 feet of climbing. Overall a good ride but a shame about the last few miles. I'm not sure if the issue is going a bit quick for his first ride in a month, the changes I've made being wrong or the setup just needs sorting out. We'll see how things go on the next few rides - I can change things back easily enough if it's that.

The usual view from Ryton. Nice to see some sunshine.

Things have gone well in the first few miles.

I forgot to take pictures at the cafe but made up for it at the pub stop.

..................................................................

After we got back I had notification that some parts I'd ordered were available to pick up so it was back out on the bike to pick them up from Dave Mellor's. Good to get out twice in a day and I made a nice ride out of it by coming back through The Quarry.
There has been a motor cruiser moored on the river in a questionable spot for a couple of weeks and the owner had neglected to loosen the ropes when the river level came up, so I went to be nosy.

Just under 8 miles at 10.8 average for this one and 404 feet of climbing. Shrewsbury is surprisingly hilly.

Oops!

 

[Dave 123]

Just a Warren ride this evening.
As beautiful as ever. There was hardly any wind and the sea was just gently bobbing up and down slightly.

Meadow pipits were plentiful, a single tawny owl and a few bats flying around.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12550831467

 

[sevenfourate]

No work today 😊

So after getting out with the dog - I thought I’d then get a ride in myself. Just some enjoyable, steady miles lapping up some gorgeous October weather…….

 

[sevenfourate]

Short ride for me today: as off out with the wife…..

Glorious October Morning to be out - short sleeves and not in the slightest bit cold. And came up with a route to take in a few sights I’d not seen. And a new £150m Bridge I’d not crossed on 2-wheels yet !

Furthermore: the Carrera ‘beater’ bike still looks, feels and sounds great 😊

 

[geocycle]

Having experienced the deflating side of hedge cutting season twice this week I decided to head to safer roads of dry stone wall country of the Dales. I headed eastward into a strong cross head wind and made my way through Austwick to Stainforth and the climb up to Malham. No surprise that the wind at 400 masl was challenging. At least it was bright and not too cold so having hauled the spa elan up to the plateau I elected for a tour around the Tarn’s bridleways. Had some lovely views, sparrowhawk, ravens, buzzards and a chop on the waters of the tarn. I headed down the steep descent to Langcliffe and had a late lunch in Settle. I joined the outward route and headed home. A slow 111 km with 1410 m of climbing.

pictures are of outbound ride view from Mewith Lane, bike by Malham Tarn and lovely limestone further along the bridleways.

 

[Dave 123]

I had an after work ride yesterday that was quite unremarkable, other than the Preston bridleway still held the proceeds of last Sunday’s weather

Today, after a dog walk along the coast path I decided to take advantage of the dry weather and do a fungi foray at the same time.

I parked at Cadover Bridge and then went towards Meavy. I did it this way around so I didn’t have to come up the shocker of a hill!

Up to Dousland and then I went off road looking for devils fingers fungi… loads there last year, not a sausage today. It’s also a good area for waxcap fungi- I found one.

I went through the woods above Burrator and found shaggy scalycap and sulphur tuft a plenty.

Down to Norsworthy Bridge, then I cycled through a portion of Burrator arboretum…. Not much about. I was just about to leave when I spied a bit of red… was it a half eaten apple? No, a half eaten Fly Agaric. There was a pristine young one next to it.

A slow climb out of Sheepstor and back to the van.

Just over 10 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12581367830

Marchants cross, Meavy

Yellow waxcap

Burrator

Shaggy Scalycap

Sulphur Tuft

Common Earthball

Fly Agaric

Sheepstor

 

[Gunk]

Short one today on the Carlton about 14 miles mainly to check the new SPD SL pedals and replacement Ultegra calipers. Anyway it rode like a dream, if I’d had more time I would have stayed out longer. I love this bike!

 

[wafter]

Illness, crap weather and general apathy have kept me off anything other than the necessary Brompton for the past month or so.

Today looked nice on paper and I needed to go to the shops; however anxiety made me hesitant - boiling down to subconscious concerns about muppet drivers and the cold. I told myself that in a couple of months I'd be willing to sacrifice various internal organs to get out in such conditions, so prepped the Fuji and got out amongst it.

The first revelation after a month of Brompton was how beautifully quiet the Fuji was in comparison to the cacophony emitted by the Brompton's back end; and from the off it felt like absolutely the right decision to get out in the sublime autumn sun.

The first inevitable knobhead was a stupid woman in a stupid BMW soft-roader at a newly installed chicane on the outside of village; who had to save all of five seconds by squeezing through despite my priority - hugging the chicane and avoiding eye contact as she evidently realised I wasn't going to pull into the gutter to get out of her way.

From that point on things got better; a bridge closed for repairs a few villages out meaning a couple of miles of road with very little traffic; the deserted highway and gorgeous sun taking me back to the utopian days of Covid..

Village number three yielded another brief holdup as another bellend in another BMW soft roader crawled nearly fully onto the path on some zigzag lines next to a crossing.. thankfully shortly after it was onto a bridleway to the town that shall not be named; encountering a few pleasant folks then into the shop for the necessaries.

Panniers well-stocked I stopped at the cemetary to consume my reduced not-duck wrap (which was passable for a meat substitute) and drink in the peace and tranquility in the afternoon sun

The route back was somewhat less pleasant thanks to the load, a headwind and a dubious chill setting in, but still no chore. I was held up slightly by two ruined cars dumped in the middle of the road (with dibble in attendance) after some dickhead had apparently collided with another; probably because they were unable to complete a right turn thanks to the 1200 kilos of metal and plastic in the way they'd failed to notice.

Returning to the village and the inevitable raft of generally crap behavour ruined the end of the ride, and I was glad to get home and shut out the world.

It was good to get out however; today's 24ish miles bringing this week's distance covered up to a reasonable 77 miles after last week's poor showing which was less than half that (although I did get some walks in).

Dreading the onset of winter..

 

[HLaB]

A little variation to the regular group ride today to avoid flooding and a few members joined us at the cafe, as a result the first half was a bit faster. It was quite a chilly start though
, which plays havoc with my neuropathy so I was dropping back big time on descents and as a result getting an interval in chasing back. Lol, when we got to a cafe three mates were already there, two hiding the warmth of inside and one who came on his own was sitting outside. It probably was still a little cold. By the time we got round to the pub though it had warmed up a bit so we enjoyed an unexpected Beer Garden stop (the beer wasn’t unexpected only the outside in the garden bit

 

[cyberknight]

Determined to get the 100 km in for the ride challenge although the forecast was iffy so i decided to do my short training loop a few times with a cafe stop at Rosliston forestry centre after the second loop which was packed full of other cyclists , ruddy lycra louts slowing down service
Somehow i managed to get a top 5 on a loop that i dont usually do and i wonder how much higher i could go if i actually was trying to get a good time as i was trying to not burn too many matches in one go although i could have done with some more cake at the stop as after 60 miles my average plummeted as i ran out of oomph , it didnt help that i got caught in road works too so sitting at traffic lights so how many seconds do you lose off your moving time from the slow down , stop and restart ?
At least i stayed dry and had a roast dinner waiting when i got home .
EDIT after changing the cassette the shifting was perfect , which i was glad for on the hills at the end

 

[sevenfourate]

Determined to get the 100 km in for the ride challenge although the forecast was iffy so i decided to do my short training loop a few times with a cafe stop at Rosliston forestry centre after the second loop which was packed full of other cyclists , ruddy lycra louts slowing down service
Somehow i managed to get a top 5 on a loop that i dont usually do and i wonder how much higher i could go if i actually was trying to get a good time as i was trying to not burn too many matches in one go although i could have done with some more cake at the stop as after 60 miles my average plummeted as i ran out of oomph .
At least i stayed dry and had a roast dinner waiting when i got home .
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Well done. Nice (dry) hassle-free ride 😎 Just looking at the map: I bet that’s a pretty ride in places.

Slightly OT: Anyone know if theres a Strava thread here: for users of the forum to friend / follow others progress / activities ? Or is that not a thing……