England : Cheshire 200 km 'audax-style' forum ride, Sat, 27th June, 2015

[ColinJ]

No problem.

Checked the calendar after I posted and found that we go away that day - so can't join you anyway, which is a pity as I want to join in one of your rides and this goes right under my nose. Would be good to meet some faces to go with the names.

I'd be happy up to about 140k or so, just done the Anglesey Lanes (104k) on my 'bent and I'll be doing the Legend of Gelert again next month (132k) on my road bike.

I'll keep watching to see what you come up with next! Have a good ride - hope the weather is kind.

Cheers,

My next forum ride after Cheshire is going to be in the Yorkshire Dales at the end of July. That's quite a trek from S. Cheshire, but it should be a good ride!

 

[andytheflyer]

Dales not a problem as my SiLs live in Silsden. Date might be though as the Gelert (round Snowdonia) is on the 26th! Did it last year but know I know that the 20 miles into Conwy are the crux - not the 800ft climb out of Beddgelert!

 

[ColinJ]

I will also be organising a ride in August (or maybe several over a week). One of my Scottish cousins is planning to come down with his bike for a holiday.

 

[ColinJ]

@Littgull - if I send you some more detailed maps of the route, do you think you could print them out at work? My GPS has been very reliable over the years, but I wouldn't have a clue where we were if it packed up in Cheshire!

(I'm thinking of upgrading my Memory Map full mainland OS map to a new version which I could upload to my phone, but I may not have done that in time for the ride.)

 

[Littgull]

@Littgull - if I send you some more detailed maps of the route, do you think you could print them out at work? My GPS has been very reliable over the years, but I wouldn't have a clue where we were if it packed up in Cheshire!

(I'm thinking of upgrading my Memory Map full mainland OS map to a new version which I could upload to my phone, but I may not have done that in time for the ride.)

Hi Colin,

Not a problem. I've pm'd you.

 

[andytheflyer]

I did see earlier that Tilly's at Bunbury may have been an option for a stop. Whilst I've been past many times, I've never been in - so in the best interests of CC'ers I modified a 42 miler route and braved the half a gale this pm to test out this establishment on behalf of CC. Why is it that on a 3 hour circular route, you have a headwind for 75% of the way? How can that be?

Anyway, I can report that Tilly's is excellent, plenty of room, bikes outside in full view, warm welcome, excellent service and a very reasonable £3-60 for a pot of tea and a brownie. The tea came in one of those mini-pots that sits on top of the cup and saucer - very natty.

The menu board had lots of writing on it - but I had the sun glasses that let me read the cockpit GPS and computer but not a wall menu - so I have no idea what was on it - but I'm sure it would be good.

I'll be going back again......it's open 7 days a week, 9-5, 10-4 Sundays.

And yes, I did pay for my own cake stop!

 

[ColinJ]

I did see earlier that Tilly's at Bunbury may have been an option for a stop. Whilst I've been past many times, I've never been in - so in the best interests of CC'ers I modified a 42 miler route and braved the half a gale this pm to test out this establishment on behalf of CC. Why is it that on a 3 hour circular route, you have a headwind for 75% of the way? How can that be?

Anyway, I can report that Tilly's is excellent, plenty of room, bikes outside in full view, warm welcome, excellent service and a very reasonable £3-60 for a pot of tea and a brownie. The tea came in one of those mini-pots that sits on top of the cup and saucer - very natty.

The menu board had lots of writing on it - but I had the sun glasses that let me read the cockpit GPS and computer but not a wall menu - so I have no idea what was on it - but I'm sure it would be good.

I'll be going back again......it's open 7 days a week, 9-5, 10-4 Sundays.

And yes, I did pay for my own cake stop!

Thanks Andy!

You have just reminded me that I had a similar experience with headwinds when I rode the Mere 200 audax about 10 years ago - it was very hard work!

I feel like I am flogging a dead horse on this and other recent forum rides, but hope springs eternal and all that, so ... COME AND JOIN US - MONEY FOR NOTHING AND THE CHICKS (AND GUYS) FOR FREE!

 

[skudupnorth]

Are we still on for Saturday chaps ?? How many are daring the ride

 

[ColinJ]

Are we still on for Saturday chaps ?? How many are daring the ride

Yes, but despite my best efforts it looks like only 3 of us, unless anybody decides to join us for part of the ride.

 

[nickyboy]

I have some sympathy. I think it's worth considering why some CC rides are so popular and some are not. Input from those on the popular rides (like FNRttC-type rides) would be good. I get the feeling that the appeal of these rides, in addition to the ride itself, is the pre and post ride socialising and being in a group of friends

@User @User13710 @theclaud @wanda2010 .....perhaps you can comment?

There is no problem producing rides that are as nice as the Friday night ones but maybe it needs to a bit less about the ride and a bit more about the social side to attract folk?

FWIW the reasons I'm not doing your ride are:

It's a really big time commitment and there is no real social aspect pre/post ride (nor could there be given how long the ride will take)
20kmh is a bit slow for me. I like to go a bit faster and feel a bit frustrated if I have to go more slowly. Not the case for everyone of course, but that's just me.

It would be lovely to build up a core group of riders in N England who are up for CC rides on a regular basis. There are plenty of regulars here to draw from. I just think we need a bit of feedback as to what sort of rides or "cycling experiences" people are interested in because, based on numbers, it seems that these are not hitting the spot

 

[nickyboy]

Your comments about the Fridays are true @nickyboy, but they don't go far enough. Those rides are within the reach of larger numbers of cyclists because in many respects they are less challenging and much more inclusive. The routes are carefully planned to be within most people's capabilities when it comes to climbs (and where this doesn't apply, for example the Manchester to Morecambe/Blackpool ride, the fact that the route is hilly is emphasised and the ride doesn't take place very frequently) and overall distance. The timings are worked out to give everyone the opportunity to stop, whether for mechanicals or for a real rest half way, and so they might appear too generous to the more racy riders.

I think there is a smaller pool of riders who want to go flat out and climb mountains, and a much larger pool of riders who can ride all day and do long distances, but at a true touring pace and without time pressure - and no single organised ride is going to appeal equally to both groups. Having said that, it seems obvious that fast riders can ride more slowly, but slower riders cannot match the faster ones in terms of speed and endurance no matter how hard they try. So if you want to grow a programme of organised rides, slower more inclusive routes seem to me to be the way to go.

Thanks TMN (and sorry for hijacking your thread Colin). My Peak District rides will only ever appeal to a small number of CC riders, I'm just running them cos they require virtually no planning being my local roads and if you're into hilly stuff they're great. I'm gonna start a general thread to see what sort of rides folk want to do in N England. SE England seems very well served so I'm going to focus on N England as there are loads of active CC members but ride take up is modest at best

 

[skudupnorth]

Its going to be a bigger one for me as i will be riding 20+ miles to and from the start On the return leg i can jump off and head home if the legs say "No more" !!!!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

June's qualifying ride done to stay in both this and the Imperial challenge. Played it safe and repeated the north Shropshire loop from last time out so that it would be easy to abandon if I had to (I didn't have to ). The downside is that this showed I'm not ready for a metric double yet so won't be joining @ColinJ for his forum 200km.

January - 102.81 miles (165.42km) 1 point
February - 103.2 miles ((166.04km) 2 points
March - 104.02 miles (167.36km) 3 points
April - 115.13 miles (185.24km) 4 points
April - 106.9 miles (172km) 5 points
May - 75.22 miles (121.03km) 6 points
May - 102.41 miles (164.78km) 7 points.
June - 103.27 miles (166.16km) 8 points

But my ride is flat ...

Well done on your century ride, anyway!

(Just to confuse everyone, the above is copied from the Metric century thread.)

Thanks Colin. To be honest I'd given it some thought while away and it occurred that jumping straight back into long rides after a strain by doing my longest ride ever might not be the wisest move and that if I had to abandon it would be easier to do if I was on a relatively local ride. In the event the 100 I did on sunday was plenty.

I will catch up with you again eventually. I hope the ride goes well and that you have a dry day and light winds for it.

 

[400bhp]

Hacienda has pointed to me this thread. I'm can't be arsed a bit pressed for time so is there a summary of the route, the gpx file and the cafe stop. I saw Bunbury tea rooms mentioned. Cracking cafe that.

 

[ColinJ]

Hacienda has pointed to me this thread. I'm can't be arsed a bit pressed for time so is there a summary of the route, the gpx file and the cafe stop. I saw Bunbury tea rooms mentioned. Cracking cafe that.

First post in the thread.