Your ride today.... (part 1)

[postman]

One word will describe todays ride,'Orrible,with a big O.
I thought i would go out on my own,over the same route as earlier this week,plus i was going to add ,Swinsty,Fewston and Lindley Wood resevoirs.All near Otley because it was market day and i like to have a nosey.
Well after only 20 mins of being out,i knew this was not going to be a good day,legs were 'dead'.But i thought get to Otley and see what you feel like.Well i got slower and slower.Colder and colder.So into otley,nice idea a breakfast latte,then onward,nah,a second latte.A visit to an art shop,to buy a small postcard print,then to the market for cheap Twix bars.
Out of Otley at 8mph,oh the shame.I have burned the CC Jersey in a bucket since i got home.I am not worthy of wearing such a quality top.Things got better on the flat part of Otley Road in Bramhope and into Headingley,and so onto home.
27 miserable miles,at this rate,Strava and me will not be meeting,i do not want the world to know how crap i am.

 

[babytiger]

Well we got up early(ish) for a Saturday after deciding to explore the cycle paths around Scunthorpe a little bit better than yesterday.........and take some photos this time.
We couldn't hang around as the temp was reading 6.1f on the Garmin but the wind chill was bitingly cold, luckily there wasn't any frost or ice about this morning.
So off we went and who decided to go up a hill called Cemetery hill...........it aint called cemetery hill for nothing, its only half a mille long but you need to be a goat to climb it, it gets so steep that nearly every pedal strok spins the rear wheel, it was too dodgy for Eileens knee so she had no choice but to walk half way up, which was a good call as I only just made it up, Eileen has just worked out the gradient of this short but brutal climb 24.2degree climb

Anyway on to some pics and a little commentary.

Here we are just admiring how nice Scunthorpe can actually look if you use the cycle paths instead of the roads, as you can see it is also lit all the length of the routes.

The track is well kept and very clean.

There are bridges crossing the busy roads but some roads are normal green crossings which most drivers tend to ignore, but today we found some decent motorists who actually gave way to us.

This is the view overlooking the infamous Westcliff estate made famous by CH4s Skint.

Yet another bridge with Eileen ready to throw something heavy at me if I didn't keep stopping for photos...haha
All the bridges have CCTV and even some of the routes have it, but you can see from the photos just how well this cycle route is kept.........kudos to N Lincs council for looking after it so well.

Eileen even found a new friend.

Heres me looking cool as..........not......

Even I made a little friend, lovely little (well large actually) Jack Russell and only 2 years old

 

[babytiger]

We've just been up that hill in the car and the sign says 14% ,no wonder we were ready for dying by time we got to top

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

One word will describe todays ride,'Orrible,with a big O.
I thought i would go out on my own,over the same route as earlier this week,plus i was going to add ,Swinsty,Fewston and Lindley Wood resevoirs.All near Otley because it was market day and i like to have a nosey.
Well after only 20 mins of being out,i knew this was not going to be a good day,legs were 'dead'.But i thought get to Otley and see what you feel like.Well i got slower and slower.Colder and colder.So into otley,nice idea a breakfast latte,then onward,nah,a second latte.A visit to an art shop,to buy a small postcard print,then to the market for cheap Twix bars.
Out of Otley at 8mph,oh the shame.I have burned the CC Jersey in a bucket since i got home.I am not worthy of wearing such a quality top.Things got better on the flat part of Otley Road in Bramhope and into Headingley,and so onto home.
27 miserable miles,at this rate,Strava and me will not be meeting,i do not want the world to know how crap i am.

Have a like for telling us about it anyway. Hope the next one is better.

 

[compo]

We've just been up that hill in the car and the sign says 14% ,no wonder we were ready for dying by time we got to top

You just wait till you do it on a bike

 

[cosmicbike]

I managed 2 rides today Both with the kids in tow (though only one of them in the afternoon), and a chance to blow the dust off the hybrid. Gentle trundle around the Guards Polo Club this morning, a not so grand 4 miles but a good effort from the youngest who had tired legs by the end. Once back in the swing of it she'll be back to her normal 10 mile rides. Stopped for a quick pic of the Prince Consort horse.

After lunch my lad decided we needed to go out again, wanted to look at the river Thames flooding so off we go. He's not done much on road riding, so I use the back alleyways and cyclepaths, or was planning to until we got to the first alley

It doesn't look that deep, so off I went. Bad idea, by the first posts it was up to the bottom bracket I got wet feet, very wet feet, so a quick detour home for dry footwear and off we go again, this time by drier means. So some road practice for my lad which was good. All was very nice until we reached the underpass below 'The Glanty' off the A30, another no go

So we had to cross the road instead, not something I would try in the week, but it was pretty quiet today so safe enough (though I had both the bikes, just to be on the even safer side..). Up the other side and alongside the A30/M25 on the path, my lad really not impressed with the noise and cars going quickly, but was good to get a photo of the Thames downstream of the M25 crossing. FWIW, the Runnymede Hotel is on the upstream side of this bridge and still rather submerged.

From here it was downstream along the Causeway to Staines Bridge to have a look at the levels there, somewhat worse than they were 3 days ago

Onwards from here to have a look at the Lammas Park, including a nice sprawl off the bike by the lad, followed by advise of how to approach and ride up a kerb by Dad. No injuries or damage so off to look at the swings and slides, more submerged too..

That's about the lot for today, 7 miles this afternoon. Only one one more pic, and that's of the poor Jag who seems to have been left to swim..

Another 3 days before I'm allowed out again

 

[compo]

I am beginning to despair of ever going out and just having a ride. A few weeks ago I mashed up my front wheel by riding into the bottom of ditch and hitting a tree. New wheel obtained and fitted. Today, 20 miles from home, twang, yet another rear wheel spoke given up the ghost. I have had to replace several during the past few months but am calling it a day now and getting a new wheel. Rather than just twisting the broken spoke around its neighbour I decided to remove it altogether. I didn't consider what would happen to the nipple! A mile of it rattling around inside the rim was all I could take and was glad to see a bus shelter with a bench where I could sit in comfort and remove the wheel, tyre, tube and rim tape to extract the nipple. The ride home from there was OK. There is a slight kick in the rim but nothing to worry about and as I use disc brakes braking wasn't affected. Apart from that little interlude it was a good ride out in the sunshine, Harlow to Writtle and back.

 

[arranandy]

45 miles this afternoon. Waited until the back of 12 before I went out as the local streets were like an ice rink early on. Once I got out the main roads were fine but some of the side roads and lanes were still a bit icey. Lovely ride out through Kirkmuirhill and Sandford before returning home via Strathaven and Hamilton. Meant to be icey again tonight so it might be later tomorrow morning before I venture out.

 

[Rustybucket]

http://www.strava.com/activities/105489864

Brilliant ride today round Richmond Park– loved the weather once the sun came out. Was going to try and complete the Strava Gran Fondo 1 Challenge, but my knees started to go at the end so decided to be sensible and head back home and get some Ice on them.

Fitness is improving as got some personal best lap times. Still slow but getting better.

Still lots of flooding, Sunbury in particular looked half underwater & the Thames by Staines running very high! Took some photos but not really worth posting, need to improve my artistic eye.

Looking forward to next Saturday to try and beat my lap times!

 

[derrick]

Nice club ride today. went out with the boys and let the girls do there own thing, we had a really good ride apart from two of the guys suffered broken chains, no punctures so that was good, nice bright weather, finished in the cafe at Potter Bar, i had never been in there before but i must say they were very cycling friendly, big pot of tea to wash down a lovely toasted egg and bacon sandwich. then to the bike shop for a coffee. Perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. and the girls ended up doing 30 miles. well done them.

http://app.strava.com/activities/105530669

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

It was beautiful here today, though a bit cold which is to be expected at this time of year and I got out for the long ride I'd planned the other day.

Today's route was out to Ellesmere and back taking in Montford Bridge, Ruyton XI Towns, Rednal and Tetchill on the way out and Welshampton, Cockshutt, Baschurch, Walford and the centre of Shrewsbury on the way back.

The wind was a little on the annoying side today - one of those cross winds that feels like you're riding against it almost regardless of what direction you're going. As a result I may have pushed a little hard early on and the legs felt a bit lacklustre for the second half of the trip.

There were quite a few cyclists out today, which was nice and all seemed friendly which was better. The motorists were all behaving well too and I can't complain of any close passes this time.

The Mere at Ellesmere made for a good place to break the trip and looked great in the sunshine before I pressed on and headed for Welshampton. The route there was via NCN 31 which ironically was the least cycle friendly bit of the route with surface dressing that had been broken up by the weather, hedge cuttings across the road* and possibly the muddiest section of lane I've ridden this winter. Remind me, why is it I clean the bike at this time of year?

Wildlife was another slight issue today. I had near misses with two partridge, a pheasant and a squirrel. I'll take that over near misses with cars any day.

I found myself flagging around the Cockshutt area, but fortunately found my second wind and wasn't too bad until after Walford, where the saddle started giving me issues. A break for a snack, a drink and to loosen the tension of the leather another quarter turn helped a lot and I got on okay with it after that.

The centre of Shrewsbury was quite congested - in one queue I repassed all the cars that had overtaken me in the previous couple of miles. it was quite nice to be on a bike at that moment.

Cycling through The Quarry and out of town via Belle Vue completed my first big ride since about September, the longest ride on the new saddle and the furthest I've done on the knockabout bike.

51.2 miles, 12.7mph average. Not too bad I think.

Ruyton XI Towns.

The former Rednal airfield now has a paintball centre, a kart track and a skate park on it among other businesses.

Nearing Ellesmere and looking across the fields at Hogwarts Ellesmere College.

The Mere - looking nice in the sunshine.

Crossing the canal on the way to Colemere. There always seems to be a boat passing when I cross this bridge. There were two today.

Colemere - also a lovely place when the sun shines.

Back to Shrewsbury now with the low sun just lighting up St. Chad's.

*Edit: Monday afternoon and i've just gone to do a couple of minor tweeks to the bike, only to find a soft front tyre. Thought I'd got away with riding through the section with the hedge cuttings. Still, around 3800 miles on these tyres with only 2 slow punctures isn't too bad.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I am beginning to despair of ever going out and just having a ride. A few weeks ago I mashed up my front wheel by riding into the bottom of ditch and hitting a tree. New wheel obtained and fitted. Today, 20 miles from home, twang, yet another rear wheel spoke given up the ghost. I have had to replace several during the past few months but am calling it a day now and getting a new wheel. Rather than just twisting the broken spoke around its neighbour I decided to remove it altogether. I didn't consider what would happen to the nipple! A mile of it rattling around inside the rim was all I could take and was glad to see a bus shelter with a bench where I removed the wheel, tyre, tube and rim tape to extract the nipple. The ride home from there was OK. There is a slight kick in the rim but nothing to worry about and as I use disc brakes braking wasn't affected. Apart from that little interlude it was a good ride out in the sunshine, Harlow to Writtle and back.

Frustrating when that happens. On the bright side you will have fresh wheels on the bike for the summer.

 

[Dangermouse]

You just wait till you do it on a bike

I wont be doing it again in a hurry, have been up it in the car a zillion times, never had any Idea it was such a monster on a bike.

 

[coffeejo]

What a lovely day - lots of but no ice, no wind and no rain. And no photos either . Really must sort out a small camera to take out on the bike: using the one on my phone is just too much of a faff.

Twelve people said they were coming out today - there ended up being twenty! So much for the RSVP setting on the website. Oh well, it was easy enough to split into two groups riding two different routes but meeting at roughly the same time for coffee and cake at the designated spot (Monks Yard, near Ilminster) who coped admirably with the crowds. I had a delicious chocolate and gingerbread brownie which was topped with a thick layer of fudge and several chunks of dried iced ginger thingies. Om nom. Mind you, K's choice of eggy bread with bacon and syrup will be my choice for next time.

We made our way back to Taunton via Ilton and Isle Abbots, which were miraculously flood-free, though the views of North Moor were pretty spectacular with the reflection of the blue skies being thrown back at us, the afternoon sun glistening in the seasonal lakes.

Forty miles all told, with a sneaky snack of bread and brie at a friend's on the way home.

 

[alans]

Today I joined a group of riders from another forum & elsewhere for approx 30 miles north of Birmingham.We started at Town Gate in Sutton Park & went through Weeford,Whittington & onto Fradley Junction for a mid-ride stop.Twas a good cafe but it gave me a dose of cafe-legs which lasted all the way back through Lichfield,,Shenstone,Wall & Little Aston.
It was just about as much as I could manage in my current state of poor fitness & I suffered just enough for it to be enjoyable.Legs & lower back ache now but not my ar$e,neck,wrists nor hands which is an improvement over the riding I did during the Xmas/New Year period.A very clear demonstration of my current abliity & what needs to be done to allow my body to cash the cheques that my mind writes.I think the next logical step is an 80km ride & some training to improve pace on anything resembling "up"
Thanks to Steve for organising it,Paul for chauffeuring me to & from the start/finish venue & the very pleasant company of those with whom I shared the road.