Velo Viewer

[steverob]

Five new tiles between St. Albans and Harpenden today, out on the eastern edge of my cluster.

Got a future ride lined up where I might (finally) be able to extend my max square - found a way to get one tile that seemed completely impossible at first glance. It will require about a 3km detour to an existing route, of which 600 metres will be riding on gravel by the looks of it (300m out, 300m back) and as I only have access to a skinny tyred road bike, I may change my mind when I get to see it up close and personal (StreetView stops about 50m before the tarmac part ends), but it's worth a try.

 

[tallliman]

Which square @steverob? One of us may have it already.

 

[steverob]

In the following screenshot of my planned route, it's the square I'm just briefly entering at the 26 mile marker. This is on the north-eastern outskirts of Luton, with the main road I've turned off being the A505 towards Hitchin.

The road past the Memorial Garden is tarmac as far as the left hand bend where the dotted line veers off to the right, then it looks like gravel/dirt after that point. Certainly there are bike riders going up that way because there's a Strava segment that continues on up that track, but it must be mountain bikers, because after that they all seem to head up to Warden Hill, which is all grass paths.

 

[tallliman]

I've done that one, I think the track was broken but just rideable on thin tyres. My memory is cloudy on that as just after I got the square, the heavens opened for a torrential downpour so I hid under a tree!! there were lots of dog walkers up there so the strava bits could well be walkers.

 

[Solocle]

Yesterday's ride sealed up one hole, now it's just that wannabee tetris and Dorset will be done in the North East!

 

[Solocle]

View attachment 585463
Yesterday's ride sealed up one hole, now it's just that wannabee tetris and Dorset will be done in the North East!

Aaaaand it's gone.

Max square: 19x19->23x23
Max cluster now at 1364

 

[Solocle]

Another failed attempt at the Lulworth Ranges tile.

 

[Tribansman]

I've done that one, I think the track was broken but just rideable on thin tyres. My memory is cloudy on that as just after I got the square, the heavens opened for a torrential downpour so I hid under a tree!! there were lots of dog walkers up there so the strava bits could well be walkers.

That's just weird - I had exactly the same experience, veered off to get that square and the enormous black clouds finally gave way to a ferocious thunderstorm. The tree I hid under was pretty inadequate from memory.

I was also in a hurry to get home so went back to Hitchin on the A505. Never again,nhad some frighteningly close passes from vands and lorries

 

[steverob]

I was also in a hurry to get home so went back to Hitchin on the A505. Never again,nhad some frighteningly close passes from vands and lorries

Hmmm, my planned route does involve going on the A505 afterwards. I’m only on it until the first junction and then turn off for Lilley, and it is almost all downhill to that point so thought I might be able to get away with it but maybe I need to rethink.

 

[Tribansman]

Hmmm, my planned route does involve going on the A505 afterwards. I’m only on it until the first junction and then turn off for Lilley, and it is almost all downhill to that point so thought I might be able to get away with it but maybe I need to rethink.

I think that section should be ok (although still busy - maybe do early Sunday if you can?)

The uphill stretch after that and the downhill into Hitchin - with a couple of very long slip road entries and people belting to get a last overtake before it turns back into two-way road - is lethal

 

[tallliman]

That's just weird - I had exactly the same experience, veered off to get that square and the enormous black clouds finally gave way to a ferocious thunderstorm. The tree I hid under was pretty inadequate from memory.

I was also in a hurry to get home so went back to Hitchin on the A505. Never again,nhad some frighteningly close passes from vands and lorries

Was it this tree? That's the one I hid under!!

Rode 100miles today to get 52 new square but missed one due to carelessness.

 

[Tribansman]

Was it this tree? That's the one I hid under!!

Rode 100miles today to get 52 new square but missed one due to carelessness.

Looks familiar! 😂
Impressive square bagging that 👍

 

[Solocle]

Failed attempt at this tile yesterday...

And success today, although I may have misinterpreted the region to which some signage applied...

At least that's the only tile in Dorset that was at one point held to be "impossible"!

No, I wasn't the first.

 

[steverob]

Got my missing Luton tile crossed off - path turned out to be compacted mud, albeit with lots of potholes all filled with water, but was navigable on a road bike. Probably would have been a complete bog in winter, but the warm temps over the weekend certainly helped make it rideable. Also got another tricky-ish tile crossed off nearby in the village (hamlet?) of Little Offley that turned out to be a little more straightforward than I'd at first feared.

17 new tiles in total, 21 added to max cluster, but most importantly, max square has finally gone up (after about a three year wait with nothing happening) from 24x24 to 26x26! Unofficially it was 24x31 and now it's 26x27, but that just goes to show how far north/south I'd gone because I felt I couldn't expand east/west any more.

 

[13 rider]

Finally got off the mark for this year as I have been staying local and as I'm at 37*37 with home in the centre is a decent ride to get any tiles . Today's ride got me 19 tiles total now 4754 max cluster up by 16 to 2145
Got the last few Nottingham city tiles