Your ride today.... (part 1)

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cosmicbike

Perhaps This One.....
Moderator
Location
Egham
Despite the forecast of rain, which varied from one report to another, I went out today as it's 'bike day' for me. Really struggled to get going this morning which I put down to being so late out (1030 ish having had to go to the bank first..). Still, it was cloudy but warm, so shorts and s/s jersey were in order. Todays target was 20 miles plus a few if I felt that way inclined. Perhaps unsurprisingly I headed to Windsor Great Park, simply because there is shelter if it really pours with rain. Just after I arrived some 5 miles into the ride the rain started, and stayed for about 45 minutes, but was so light that I didn't really get wet. Once that cleared it was lovely, if a bit windy. First run along the Polo Club/Smiths Lawn was into a headwind, so I made sure later laps were in the opposite direction! Lots of friendly bikers out today, had a brief chat with a road biker along the Polo Club as he went by, and got a response from everybody I gave a nod or good morning to, which is always nice. Spotted a tandem at the Village Post Office, and later spotted the same on the move, wonder if I could interest SWMBO as they do look fun.
I've posted plenty of pictures of this place before, so instead of some landmark or other, here's a picture of a tree:
27 June 2014 Bleeding Gums Tree.jpg

Now, I see 'Bleeding Gums Murphy' from The Simpsons, and that's why I took the photo...
Just beyond here I spotted hundreds of deer, all doe. The bucks and 2 huge stags were further along, and almost within touching distance. Fabulous to be able to get so close to these creatures, sorry no photo but they were watching me with interest and I had no desire to disturb them. That aside they all had big antlers!
A steady 26 miles in the end, and an extra mile added tonight to set up the brakes and gears on the MTB which has been hung up for a couple of years. Apparently when I feel fit enough I'm going off road with the lad:smile:
 

EltonFrog

Legendary Member
@cosmicbike a bit off topic, but did you go to the Magna Carta day in Egham a couple of weeks ago?
 
Despite the forecast of rain, which varied from one report to another, I went out today as it's 'bike day' for me. Really struggled to get going this morning which I put down to being so late out (1030 ish having had to go to the bank first..). Still, it was cloudy but warm, so shorts and s/s jersey were in order. Todays target was 20 miles plus a few if I felt that way inclined. Perhaps unsurprisingly I headed to Windsor Great Park, simply because there is shelter if it really pours with rain. Just after I arrived some 5 miles into the ride the rain started, and stayed for about 45 minutes, but was so light that I didn't really get wet. Once that cleared it was lovely, if a bit windy. First run along the Polo Club/Smiths Lawn was into a headwind, so I made sure later laps were in the opposite direction! Lots of friendly bikers out today, had a brief chat with a road biker along the Polo Club as he went by, and got a response from everybody I gave a nod or good morning to, which is always nice. Spotted a tandem at the Village Post Office, and later spotted the same on the move, wonder if I could interest SWMBO as they do look fun.
I've posted plenty of pictures of this place before, so instead of some landmark or other, here's a picture of a tree:
View attachment 48769
Now, I see 'Bleeding Gums Murphy' from The Simpsons, and that's why I took the photo...
Just beyond here I spotted hundreds of deer, all doe. The bucks and 2 huge stags were further along, and almost within touching distance. Fabulous to be able to get so close to these creatures, sorry no photo but they were watching me with interest and I had no desire to disturb them. That aside they all had big antlers!
A steady 26 miles in the end, and an extra mile added tonight to set up the brakes and gears on the MTB which has been hung up for a couple of years. Apparently when I feel fit enough I'm going off road with the lad:smile:
I was within a mile or so of you going towards Windsor towards Marlow (from Ashford near Staines, NO rain ata all the whole ride
 
due to the weather warningissued by the Met Office i decided against riding and went for preparing the bike for the Ride 100...

i fitted the new cassette on wednesday night and then decided to finish everything off today as i was going out to meet mumski last night.

i struggled and swore as i changed the brake pads - using the metal rod of the chain whip to force them into place. i then tracked down my chain splitter and struggled and swore a lot more splitting the chain... then faffed measuring the new one... then swore like there was no tomorrow splitting the new chain before i used up every swear word i knew (as well as inventing some new ones) as i tried to join the chain with the 'magic link'.

all is done now.

the weather has been nice all day!! :cursing:
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
A nice morning 45 miles. A little cool which is always nice & got to practice my under power high speed bike handling skills on the low racer thanks to the ludicrously high number of suicidal furies running across the road. Also got drafted by an owl which ended up plucking up the biggest mouse I've ever seen from just in front of my front wheel. I'll take that as a vote of confidence in my bike handling skills :laugh:.

i struggled and swore as i changed the brake pads - using the metal rod of the chain whip to force them into place. i then tracked down my chain splitter and struggled and swore a lot more splitting the chain... then faffed measuring the new one... then swore like there was no tomorrow splitting the new chain before i used up every swear word i knew (as well as inventing some new ones) as i tried to join the chain with the 'magic link'.
:huh::blink:... for basic bike maintenance it sounded like you managed to make a meal of that one!
 

TigerT

Veteran
Location
Zürich
Woke up early this morning and checked the weather forecast - Fine until 1pm then rain and thunder all weekend. So.... got straight out on the bike. Was a nice ride, A 42km loop round a nearby lake, sun stayed out but there was a warm breeze most of the way round. Saw the vintage Junkers Ju52 from Dubendorf Airport flying overhead at a drink stop. Home by Midday to finish some strawberries left over from watching the Tennis yesterday for lunch.

Storms are on the way in, looks like I'm staying in for the rest of the weekend :-(
 

BSRU

A Human Being
Location
Swindon
Another early ride our into the countryside this morning, 81km with 780m of going up.
Very pleasant except for a guy in a chaved up silver fiesta attempting to do a an "Emma Way" to me:angry:.
Him, coming round a blind right hand bend at warp fact 7.3 taking the racing line, meaning I was in line of sight to end up smashed to pieces.
Fortunately, I was on a bike and could just squeeze down his right side and the hedge at the side of the road, any other vehicle it would have been a serious head on crash.

After a nice hot bath, some cake and tea, time for a sleep.
 
:huh::blink:... for basic bike maintenance it sounded like you managed to make a meal of that one!

not done it in a while! the brake block were a real pain - especially when i started pushing the front ones out and realised the forks were in the way!

the rain has arrived today in force.
 

Hacienda71

Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
60 Miles for me this morning with FrankW and 400bhp. Woke at 6:30 looked out of the window dry. ^_^ Got dressed had some breakfast looked out of the window raining. :banghead: Lost the sunglasses, on with a gillet, overshoes and a cycling cap. Despite having a bad cold for the last few days, Rules 5 and 9 in full effect. Met at the RV in Ashley at 7:15 then a pleasant run across the Cheshire plain, dodging the heaviest of the rain. Not much to note except 400bhp losing a spoke in Northwhich. Stopped at the Garden Centre near Church Minshull for sustenance. :hungry: I have to say the toast was thicker than anything I have seen sold to the general public before!:eek: Not that I am complaining.
DSC_0257.JPG

@potsy heres what you could have had. ;)
Then a brisk run back into a headwind but keeping a good time. Felt reasonably OK despite the cold. Fairly straight forward until Tatton Park where 2000 ladies of various shapes and sizes dressed in pink were running around the park for a cancer charity. I contemplated taking a photo as it was quite a site, but quickly decided that the risk of being called a pervert outweighred the benefits of you guys seeing the spectacle. :blush:
400bhp lost another spoke near Tatton Park, then split when we got back to Ashley.
Got back noticed both the bike and myself were filthy. The bike could wait, but a nice hot bath for me. All done before midday.
DSC_0258.JPG

Nice and mud spattered.
http://www.strava.com/activities/159006655
 
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Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
Surprise phonecall from my mate whose son 's cricket was cancelled, did I fancy a quick couple of hours? So, a drizzle drenched 21.4 miles with two good climbs and some undulating nonsense in between took us up Standedge from Slaithwaite, via Delph and Denshaw then up to Buckstones and back to Scapegoat Hill. 2121 feet of climbing, mostly on Strava 3s and 4s. Jase doesn't like wet descents, and the headwind on the A640 robbed us of some average speed, but the 9lbs I've lost over the last three weeks is paying off. No less than 24 Strava PBs. Yay. I took 5 minutes off one particular climb over 3 miles, so I must be doing something right!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/529996767
 
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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Surprise phonecall from my mate whose son 's cricket was cancelled, did I fancy a quick couple of hours? So, a drizzle drenched 21.4 miles with two good climbs and some undulating nonsense in between took us up Standedge from Slaithwaite, via Delph and Denshaw then up to Buckstones and back to Scapegoat Hill. 2121 feet of climbing, mostly on Strava 3s and 4s. Jase doesn't like wet descents, and the headwind on the A640 robbed us of some average speed, but the 9lbs I've lost over the last three weeks is paying off. No less than 24 Strava PBs. Yay. I took 5 minutes off one particular climb over 3 miles, so I must be doing something right!
Sounds good! Will you be tempted to tag along with us next Saturday then ...? :whistle:
 

Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
Sounds good! Will you be tempted to tag along with us next Saturday then ...? :whistle:
Just remind me where you'll go from Scape. I have half a plan hatched that would take me to Mytholmroyd from from my house, and when you continue to HB I'll turn up Cragg and head home via the A58, possibly even back up to Buckstones from Ripponden..... (only half a plan mind. You'll spend a lot of time waiting for me on the hills....)
 
D

Deleted member 23692

Guest
Yesterday was work's 'social ride', which takes place on the last Friday of the month. It's a short ride of around 10-15 miles to a pub for a lunchtime pint (or whatever takes your fancy) and crack. It's quite poorly attended considering the amount of cyclists we have, but as I suggested to the organiser, they'd be better off calling it a 'payday pedal and pint', as the majority have a problem with the 'social' aspect of life.

Anyway, I and a couple of others use the event as an excuse to loose some flexitime and thus make an afternoon of it... especially so with the weather being as it is.

No Garmin gen today, and I care not for the distance, time or average speed... however the Cold Fell was particularly delicious :thumbsup:

full_zps0a3599cb.png

(Map plotted after the event)
 
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