Your ride today....

[Marchrider]

just got myself acclimatised to sub zero and it was +10 today, wore far too many clothes

Furthest afield so far this year, was over the refurbished Union bridge near berwick

nice sunset too

Love riding into the dark watching the change in light and the planets ans stars begin to emerge

Venus, Jupiter and mars were first out and my first start I noticed was Capella, Vega getting quite low now in the early evening

YTD 311 / day14 x 365 / 6500 = 25% ahead

 

[iandg]

Out and back to Lockerbie Tesco to pick up a few groceries. Did a fair amount of the ride with no assist from the motor. Only used 15% of the battery for just over 30km. 100% battery with estimated range of 80km when I turned it on which dropped to 70km by the time I got home.

 

[Marchrider]

They are the Eildon Hills near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, they are not very high but are very prominent in the landscape - and they look particularly big with snow on them

and here they are again but from far away - just love riding in the gloaming, esp when there is a bit of a sunset

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Yesterday: I was up early and out on the road before dawn with the intention of starting another go at the Imperial Century A Month challenge. I'd planned based on the forecast from a few days ago and although it was expected to be bright and sunny, I woke to a harder frost than was ideal. I risked going out on normal tyres anyway as I was confident that the first 20 miles would mostly on gritted roads and hopefully it would be starting to melt by the time I got to the lanes....... that was the theory at least.

I started off over Lyth Hill as has been usual lately - partly to avoid the traffic and partly to be sure of adding as much mileage at the start to be sure of getting the required 100 miles. The first few roads were fine as I climbed the hill - I took care on the descent as this isn't on the gritting routes, however the residents have been making liberal use of the grit bins. On the steepest part of the descent I met a lorry coming up the hill - probably trying to avoid the traffic lights but it's way too big a vehicle for this lane and he was scrabbling for grip on the tight bend, which I'm sure will have done the road surface a lot of good.

I made sure to set a relaxed pace through Condover, Ryton and Stapleton as I haven't done this length of ride for almost two years and know that my fitness isn't really where I want it to be yet. I found the road to Exford's Green to be as busy as I've ever seen it as people rat-run to avoid the lights but it wasn't as bad on the lane through Plealey. The main road through Pontesbury was pretty busy so I thought I'd take an alternative way on the back roads of the village. This was good apart from finding a sheet of ice across one of the roads where water had been flowing.

Minsterley, Westbury and Halfway house passed by without incident and I paused at Prince's Oak for a photo, noting that it looked very frosty down in the Severn Valley, which wasn't really what I wanted to see at this point. I paused for a snack stop at Melverley then carried on - the road to Maesbrook started off fine but I soon noticed that the reassuring swish of tyres on a wet road fell silent but the road still looked wet - classic black ice. I slowed the pace down and took it very carefully. The road was fine where the sun had been on it but anywhere sheltered had to be treated with caution. The lane to Llwyntidmon Hall was white over with frost when I turned into it and on the way to Waen Wen there were quite a few large frozen puddles to negotiate. None of this was what I'd been hoping for but I'm pleased to say that there were no slides at any point. It did mean however that my pace was very slow and reaching Ball I was glad to be back onto a main road.

I took the nicer way into Oswestry and paused in the town centre for a couple of photos where an older chap came and complemented me on my bike and we talked cycling for a little bit. After that I headed through the town centre and past the ancient hill fort on the way to Gobowen.
There was more ice on the NCN route to Ellesmere but it was starting to melt by now. I took another break at Old Marton and briefly thought about taking a layer off before changing my mind as it wasn't warming up that quickly. These lanes weren't in a very good state of repair when I last came this way and they are even worse now - I know of gravel tracks that are smoother.

At Ellesmere I briefly dropped down by The Mere then climbed over to Love Lane heading for Lee. My legs were not very happy with this and with 48 miles on the clock I was really worried I wouldn't manage the planned distance. I pressed on towards Whitemere anyway and although I didn't feel great on the climb before Colemere, it wasn't as bad as I feared so I took it a bit easier and the legs seemed to recover a little on the way to Lyneal.

Through Northwood, Dobson's Bridge and Whixall is pretty flat so I got along alright, if not fast. I thought I'd have my lunch stop by Prees Station (a convenient wall to lean the bike against here). While stopped I realised that my phone battery was running down faster than expected. It was a choice of losing the recording on Strava or stop taking photos for the rest of the trip. I reluctantly chose the latter - you probably haven't missed much as my chosen route isn't the most photogenic from here, but the sunset did prove to be a nice one.

The climb at Prees is one I hadn't been looking forward to but I managed to plod up it without the legs cramping, which has often been an issue before. I bounced my way along Morton Street then headed in the direction of Ightfield. This is a long gentle climb but the legs were feeling relatively good at this point so I got along alright. I met some people out walking on this lane - dinging my bell the one thought her phone had gone off and another checked around to see what had fallen out of her pocket.

The feeling of fatigue came back as I headed to Calverhall and Longslow. The climbs were slow but the flatter bits were alright. Reaching Longford I found a mudfest on the lane into Market Drayton - the bike had stayed relatively clean until this point. I had enough miles in hand that I didn't have to go through the town centre. I did manage to miss the road to Sutton and had to turn back for it - my excuse is that I didn't recognise it with roadworks on the junction.

The climbs on the way to Sutton were a plod and the chain deciding to shift to the small ring unexpectedly didn't help but with those done I had a long stretch that was flat or slightly downhill which allowed me to cruise along at a more respectable pace. The issue here was that I was riding directly into the sun. The roads had dried out a bit but not completely so some bits were quite dazzling.

After enduring more mud covered lanes after Stoke on Tern, another snack break was taken at Ollerton which gave the energy to continue, and the couple of climbs I'm not keen on on the way to Cold Hatton didn't seem too bad this time. It was the same with the undulating bit to High Ercall. The short stretch of main road here was directly into the sun again and a bit on the busy side so it was good to turn off.

I had 90 miles on the clock now and at least 13 to go so I knew the distance was good. I managed to miss the sunset, which must have happened around Rodington Heath. The light looked fabulous as I headed through Withington (very temped by the pub, but i'd never have got going again if I had). The road past Atcham was quite busy but it wasn't too bad to Cross Houses.

After passing through Berrington I really started to run out of energy. I passed the 100 mile mark on Lyons Lane so knew that I'd be fine to take the short cut through Allfield. It was tempting to take the direct route home but when I got to the next crossroads I could see a line of tail lights on the A49 in the distance so I decided to cross Lyth Hill again. This was probably a mistake - the traffic on the lane through Little Lyth was busy and I was out of puff and feeling sick as I tried to tackle the last serious climb of the day. I just about managed it though and the descent the other side was a relief.

105.2 miles for the day at 11.4 mph moving average. 10 hours and 55 minutes total including stops. The phone battery did just last to the end of the trip and Strava claims 3936 feet of climbing.

It's good to have got a qualifier in to start the challenge but it's highlighted that I do need to work on my fitness. I also realise that I need more time to acclimatise to the new shorter cranks - I am feeling a benefit though as I'm certain I'd have cramped up at least once with the old cranks.

My first pre-dawn start for almost two years.

Dawn approaches as I reach Stapleton.

Looking towards Coedwy as I approach Prince's Oak.

Crossing the Severn at Crew Green. Looks frostier than I'd hoped it would be.

A couple of shots in Oswestry. The chap coming through the gate in the second one chatted with me for a while.

Elevenses stop at Old Marton.

A quick pause at The Mere, Ellesmere.

Colemere. A lot of it is still iced over.

Last pic before trying to save the phone battery. An express dashes through Prees Station.

 

[sevenfourate]

Feels an eternity since I posted here…..

Cold, misty, dark and my fingers and toes were freezing. BUT I LOVED IT 😁

Meeting point early doors. 3 of us riding today 😀

Up the Coast to Gorleston. And this is the coastwatch building at the end of the Pier / Harbour entrance….

Over the Bridge to Gt Yarmouth:

Along The Golden Mile (Gt Yarmouth Seafront):

Onto the Venetian Waterways. Funded / created by a pool of money that paid to give World War 1 soldiers jobs creating this ornate features on their return back from the battlefield.

………as this depicts [Soldier digging]:

Back home via some gravel paths:

I stopped Strava and forgot to restart at one point. So did more miles than it suggests. Either way lovely to get first decent ride for 2025 done 🤩

 

[cyberknight]

Very cold social club ride to the factory heads cafe at Donnington , the person who took these photos reckons his phone showed the temp from -4 c to a max of -1c
Mixed bag of abilities and ages today so we kept the pace steady especially on the hills so i spent fair bit of time on the front to try and keep warm, the yellow windproof stayed on the whole ride and apart from the tips of my fingers and toes i was warm enough so that my reynauds didn’t have a bad episode .
One section where we use a underpass to miss a very busy junction was flooded so we ended up riding along the path around the junction to get to the other side
Planned ride was 45 miles from the meeting place so by the time i had ridden there for 6.5 miles and we got back i only needed 10 miles to get the 62 miles/ 100 km in so i took a slightly longer route back to get this months ride in the bag
Cafe was ok with bits of motorbike memorabilia attached to a saleroom but a bit overpriced for the grub it served and one guy asked for poached egg on toast and the were cooked solid !.They didnt have and teacakes so i had to suffer a bacon sarnie .....

 

[HLaB]

My first Early Birds Ride of the year (actually it’s not that early, it was once when lots of folks had young kids). It was a birthday so it was the typical cafe stop.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A leg loosener today after my recent exertions. I fancied riding to Oaks even though it's hilly - the advantage of that is that it gives a good number of options to shorten the route if the legs weren't up to it.

Before starting off I had to replace the bottle cage as the one on the bike broke during the century ride (something I forgot to include in my write up). Fortunately I had a couple spare having bought some bargains when the former cycle shop in the market was selling off their stock.

The day was cold and misty. There wasn't a lot to see from Lyth Hill this time. The descent to Exford's Green then onwards to Plealey went fine - I found myself wanting to push on but the legs weren't feeling at their best. The climb to Oaks went fine, however my perception was that I was very slow on the climb and it felt like I could have gone quicker if the legs would allow it. At the time I wasn't sure if it was just fatigue or whether this bike doesn't climb as well with the new cranks. Only 2 days after a century ride the former was most likely.

An annoying squeak developed whilst climbing and I stopped to check the bike over at the foot of the Broom Hill climb - I'm not sure where it's coming from but the left hand pedal seems most likely and I notice that there is a bit of play in the sealed bearings. I'm not overly impressed with these pedals so far.

The undulating section to Pulverbatch, Wilderley and Smethcott went without incident apart from that nagging feeling that I was very slow. By Leebotwood I decided that although the ride was good I wasn't enjoying the cold weather so I headed back from here. The ride back went fine on roads that were a bit drier than last time I was out this way. I thought I'd risk taking the direct way back from Condover as I didn't expect there to be as much of a queue as on a weekday. I was right about that but when I got to the A49 there were streams of traffic in both directions so I had a bit of a wait before joining the main road. I later had a message that @gavgav's brother had spotted me waiting at the junction.

24 miles at 11.6 mph average. Strava tells me 1656 feet of climbing. Good to get out but the day felt bitter so I'm glad I headed back when I did. The legs don't feel bad after the ride and checking the Strava stats later I find that I was actually faster than the last two times I rode this exact route previous to the latest modifications on the bike. Surprised and fairly happy with that.

It wasn't really the day for photography so I just grabbed these snaps:

A bit too misty to enjoy the view from Lyth Hill.

The highest point of the trip; at the summit of the Broom Hill climb and looking towards Eastridge Woods.

Passing through Leebotwood.

 

[geocycle]

First long ride of the year. Very cold with a max of 3 degrees but no ice today, although I noted gritters were out expecting more of the slippy stuff tomorrow. As this was my only chance to get a 100 km in I headed to Windermere. The AONB was lovely as always and the ride up the Kent estuary was rewarded by a Great White egret. We have lots of Little egrets but it’s big brother is something else. I crossed the Lyth valley and through the coppiced birch woodland at the foot of Whitbarrow. The forest was partly flooded which gave it a primordial feel. Then came the big climb of the day past the Masons Arms to Gummer How. The views of Windermere were muted but the descent was fun as I headed for lunch at Fellfoot. The return leg took me through High Newton and then a slightly different line home. Exhausted by the cold and undulations. 105 km with 1347 m of climbing.

Pictures are of the Kent estuary, coppiced birch, Windermere, the impressive tea room at Fellfoot and looking back toward Lyth valley.

 

[geocycle]

Yesterday: I was up early and out on the road before dawn with the intention of starting another go at the Imperial Century A Month challenge. I'd planned based on the forecast from a few days ago and although it was expected to be bright and sunny, I woke to a harder frost than was ideal. I risked going out on normal tyres anyway as I was confident that the first 20 miles would mostly on gritted roads and hopefully it would be starting to melt by the time I got to the lanes....... that was the theory at least.

I started off over Lyth Hill as has been usual lately - partly to avoid the traffic and partly to be sure of adding as much mileage at the start to be sure of getting the required 100 miles. The first few roads were fine as I climbed the hill - I took care on the descent as this isn't on the gritting routes, however the residents have been making liberal use of the grit bins. On the steepest part of the descent I met a lorry coming up the hill - probably trying to avoid the traffic lights but it's way too big a vehicle for this lane and he was scrabbling for grip on the tight bend, which I'm sure will have done the road surface a lot of good.

I made sure to set a relaxed pace through Condover, Ryton and Stapleton as I haven't done this length of ride for almost two years and know that my fitness isn't really where I want it to be yet. I found the road to Exford's Green to be as busy as I've ever seen it as people rat-run to avoid the lights but it wasn't as bad on the lane through Plealey. The main road through Pontesbury was pretty busy so I thought I'd take an alternative way on the back roads of the village. This was good apart from finding a sheet of ice across one of the roads where water had been flowing.

Minsterley, Westbury and Halfway house passed by without incident and I paused at Prince's Oak for a photo, noting that it looked very frosty down in the Severn Valley, which wasn't really what I wanted to see at this point. I paused for a snack stop at Melverley then carried on - the road to Maesbrook started off fine but I soon noticed that the reassuring swish of tyres on a wet road fell silent but the road still looked wet - classic black ice. I slowed the pace down and took it very carefully. The road was fine where the sun had been on it but anywhere sheltered had to be treated with caution. The lane to Llwyntidmon Hall was white over with frost when I turned into it and on the way to Waen Wen there were quite a few large frozen puddles to negotiate. None of this was what I'd been hoping for but I'm pleased to say that there were no slides at any point. It did mean however that my pace was very slow and reaching Ball I was glad to be back onto a main road.

I took the nicer way into Oswestry and paused in the town centre for a couple of photos where an older chap came and complemented me on my bike and we talked cycling for a little bit. After that I headed through the town centre and past the ancient hill fort on the way to Gobowen.
There was more ice on the NCN route to Ellesmere but it was starting to melt by now. I took another break at Old Marton and briefly thought about taking a layer off before changing my mind as it wasn't warming up that quickly. These lanes weren't in a very good state of repair when I last came this way and they are even worse now - I know of gravel tracks that are smoother.

At Ellesmere I briefly dropped down by The Mere then climbed over to Love Lane heading for Lee. My legs were not very happy with this and with 48 miles on the clock I was really worried I wouldn't manage the planned distance. I pressed on towards Whitemere anyway and although I didn't feel great on the climb before Colemere, it wasn't as bad as I feared so I took it a bit easier and the legs seemed to recover a little on the way to Lyneal.

Through Northwood, Dobson's Bridge and Whixall is pretty flat so I got along alright, if not fast. I thought I'd have my lunch stop by Prees Station (a convenient wall to lean the bike against here). While stopped I realised that my phone battery was running down faster than expected. It was a choice of losing the recording on Strava or stop taking photos for the rest of the trip. I reluctantly chose the latter - you probably haven't missed much as my chosen route isn't the most photogenic from here, but the sunset did prove to be a nice one.

The climb at Prees is one I hadn't been looking forward to but I managed to plod up it without the legs cramping, which has often been an issue before. I bounced my way along Morton Street then headed in the direction of Ightfield. This is a long gentle climb but the legs were feeling relatively good at this point so I got along alright. I met some people out walking on this lane - dinging my bell the one thought her phone had gone off and another checked around to see what had fallen out of her pocket.

The feeling of fatigue came back as I headed to Calverhall and Longslow. The climbs were slow but the flatter bits were alright. Reaching Longford I found a mudfest on the lane into Market Drayton - the bike had stayed relatively clean until this point. I had enough miles in hand that I didn't have to go through the town centre. I did manage to miss the road to Sutton and had to turn back for it - my excuse is that I didn't recognise it with roadworks on the junction.

The climbs on the way to Sutton were a plod and the chain deciding to shift to the small ring unexpectedly didn't help but with those done I had a long stretch that was flat or slightly downhill which allowed me to cruise along at a more respectable pace. The issue here was that I was riding directly into the sun. The roads had dried out a bit but not completely so some bits were quite dazzling.

After enduring more mud covered lanes after Stoke on Tern, another snack break was taken at Ollerton which gave the energy to continue, and the couple of climbs I'm not keen on on the way to Cold Hatton didn't seem too bad this time. It was the same with the undulating bit to High Ercall. The short stretch of main road here was directly into the sun again and a bit on the busy side so it was good to turn off.

I had 90 miles on the clock now and at least 13 to go so I knew the distance was good. I managed to miss the sunset, which must have happened around Rodington Heath. The light looked fabulous as I headed through Withington (very temped by the pub, but i'd never have got going again if I had). The road past Atcham was quite busy but it wasn't too bad to Cross Houses.

After passing through Berrington I really started to run out of energy. I passed the 100 mile mark on Lyons Lane so knew that I'd be fine to take the short cut through Allfield. It was tempting to take the direct route home but when I got to the next crossroads I could see a line of tail lights on the A49 in the distance so I decided to cross Lyth Hill again. This was probably a mistake - the traffic on the lane through Little Lyth was busy and I was out of puff and feeling sick as I tried to tackle the last serious climb of the day. I just about managed it though and the descent the other side was a relief.

105.2 miles for the day at 11.4 mph moving average. 10 hours and 55 minutes total including stops. The phone battery did just last to the end of the trip and Strava claims 3936 feet of climbing.

It's good to have got a qualifier in to start the challenge but it's highlighted that I do need to work on my fitness. I also realise that I need more time to acclimatise to the new shorter cranks - I am feeling a benefit though as I'm certain I'd have cramped up at least once with the old cranks.

View attachment 759225
My first pre-dawn start for almost two years.

View attachment 759226
Dawn approaches as I reach Stapleton.

View attachment 759227
Looking towards Coedwy as I approach Prince's Oak.

View attachment 759228
Crossing the Severn at Crew Green. Looks frostier than I'd hoped it would be.

View attachment 759229

View attachment 759230
A couple of shots in Oswestry. The chap coming through the gate in the second one chatted with me for a while.

View attachment 759231
Elevenses stop at Old Marton.

View attachment 759232
A quick pause at The Mere, Ellesmere.

View attachment 759233
Colemere. A lot of it is still iced over.

View attachment 759234
Last pic before trying to save the phone battery. An express dashes through Prees Station.

Wow that sounds like an epic. 100 mile and 10 h of riding in these temperatures is seriously challenging. Chapeau!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Wow that sounds like an epic. 100 mile and 10 h of riding in these temperatures is seriously challenging. Chapeau!

Thanks. The same could be said of yours with the amount of climbing. At the start of 2023 I was considering cycling to work at Lakeside - Gummer's Howe would have been the shortest route. That idea didn't last long.

 

[biggs682]

First ride of 2025 only 2.6 miles but worth doing and very enjoyable.

 

[straas]

Yesterday - first longer ride in longer than I care to remember (kids)

Doing dry Jan so thought I'd use my "lie in" day for a spin on Saturday, up at 7am for coffee with the aim of being out the door at 7.30 - managed to faff until nearly 8.00, having already committed to picking the eldest up from football at 10.30, the race was on!

Chose a well worn route I used to do pretty much weekly, nothing too strenuous and not too long - out through Urmston, past United's training ground, Dunham lanes through rostherne to tatton then back through hale, wythenshawe, northenden. Around 50km with under 200m ascent.

Started off steady and felt good, the road to the training ground was busier than I've ever seen, seems I arrived as all the players were heading in - none of the autograph hunters seemed to want my photograph.

Into the Dunham lanes my legs started to feel a bit heavy, and I started to get a bit anxious about a couple of small rises, the first near lymm - normally a nice little livener, yesterday it felt like a real challenge, tried to up the power but resigned myself to dropping gears, I was glad the lights were red at the top!

Hadn't had time to get any breakfast so downed an (out of date) energy gel to stave off the bonk.

A couple more little rises went better than expected, but I didn't put any effort in on the tatton mile Strava segment. The little rise out of hale was an absolute chore! The last few miles were steady and I was glad to hop off at home.

Amazing how much your fitness can drop off! But I'm commited to getting out more as it markedly improves my mood, which is a necessity with young kids!

51.9km, 179m ascent, 1:55

 

[Dave 123]

I went up to Princetown in the van this morning and did a reverse of my normal loop.

I think I’d dressed for the 6th mile as the first five were bloody freezing! There were still patches of snow on the ground, especially the track over the high moors between Nuns Cross and Nattor.

Once I started dropping down to Nattor I got out of the wind and it was a little bit better.

Through Sheepstor and around Burrator. The trouble with Burrator is half of Plymouth get around there on a Sunday. Walking 6 abreast, little kids on tricycles, remote control cars and they don’t bother getting out of your way.

I was soon off road again , but caught up in a traffic jam of alpaca walking!

Back up by Swell tor, Kings tor and Foggintor.

North Hessary tor was in cloud, the mast poking through.

Just over 16 miles. It felt hard today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13397182828

 

[iandg]

Dumfries and Galloway CTC Club Run starting at Dumfries lunch stop at the Sandpiper, Powfoot campsite. Ride passed my house so I rode out to the start and left the ride on the way home. The designated ride leader was ill so he'd assigned someone else for the role. They were unsure of the route so I was nominated as navigator. 7 riders at start and another joined us from the other direction (Gretna) at the lunch stop. My longest ride so far for 2025.

Roger and Aemon talk lighting during a "comfort" break.