Your ride today.... (part 1)

[tug benson]

Was out first thing this morning, was planning on doing a few local climbs, they weather turned a bit wet so i stayed a bit more local...Well my chain snapped so that ended my morning cycle, it was looking like i had a 8 mile walk back to Stirling to get the train back home to Alloa..i had walked/free wheeled it almost 5 mile when a policeman in a 4x4 stopped and gave me a lift back to the train Station, he was a cyclist himslef so we had a good chat about cycling...The weather man was saying the rain was to come a bit later on so i decided to go out in bib shorts...eh wrong idea, it started to get really wet, i was frozen and wet so i am so glad the policeman stopped when he did, i was one big puddle away from doing a recorded video message to my loved one as i had visions of me not making it home.


http://www.strava.com/activities/127799325

 

[Diggs]

Went out for a pootle (at the weekend - sorry for delay!) to check local spots for watching the TDF when it hits Essex

 

[HLaB]

My last post on this thread probably for quite a while as I go in for a shoulder op tomorrow

Good luck and recover fast :-)

A bit of a boozy long weekend for me.
Thursday over to Flanders, then a fast loop to check the bike http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475088483
Then some Belgian beer
A longer test on Friday, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475034773
Got changed and went to head for more beer but decided to oil my chain first, good job I noticed I'd shaken loose and lost one of my chainrings. Freewheeled down to a lbs and cycled back up http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4389451
Then more beer.
Cycled to the start of the Tour of Flanders http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475088444
Did the Tour (what a contrast to last year -3deg last, +20deg this year (snow to blue skies) and the small difference of a hundred miles (last year = circa 180miles) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475088378
Cycle back http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475088331
That'd been my April CC Century.
Then more beer.
Some of my mates were leaving early so I got up at 5:30am with them and strangely couldn't get back to sleep so by 8am I was chomping at the bit to go for a ride and got dressed in lycra, however when everybody else emerged they wanted to drive to the Pro Race instead. Just had one small beer there and got loads of pics and videos but you'll have to wait, they're on faceboke which is blocked at work.
Got back around 10pm having gained an hour but I was totally shattered, surprisingly I woke up for an hour or so to catch up on faceboke but I am totally shattered today!

Loads of pictures: http://s878.photobucket.com/user/HLaB/library/Tour of Flanders 2014

 

[Wayne Tully]

I remember the Pirate at Blackgang Chine from family holidays when my lads were small, how much more of the Chine have they lost?

Not sure to be honest, accidentally turned right at the roundabout on the climb and ended up in there took the opportunity to have a Powerbar and got back on the accent so didn't stop there for more than 2 minutes.

My last post on this thread probably for quite a while as I go in for a shoulder op tomorrow, very nervous about the whole thing but that is another story.
This weekend therefore was important for both of us to get some quality miles in, preferably memorable ones. Because there was so much other stuff to do on Saturday I chose a 30 mile route that was the hilliest possible in this part of the world, lots of arrows on the map of the route so we knew it was going to be seriously hard as we were going at it hard. It takes me about 11 miles to warm up, dr_pink much less and the first 5 miles is nearly all uphill so you don't get off to a quick start.
After that I only managed to snap off one quick photo, a familiar sight

The last 3 miles run into Oakham were gently rolling and the speedo never fell below 22 mph. A tough, memorable and hugely enjoyable ride.
Yesterday was intended to be a bit more sedate, probably my last ride though I may get out later when the rain stops for a short one. We took in a lot of our favourite lanes and were rewarded with seeing Buzzards, Red Kites, Kestrels and best of all, a Peregrine Falcon.
Another of our special lanes

Every year there are lambs in this field and they are always quite tame, they never seem to be afraid of our bikes

We went out prepared to get wet, but in fact not a drop of rain fell all day, the wind however made up for it. We were only a couple of miles from home, I was in front at this point riding into a headwind so I couldn't hear much. A few hundred metres further on I expected dr_pink to come through and do a turn but no sign, I looked back no one there! Obviously something was seriously wrong, I quickly turned around and headed back to find dr_pink sat at the side of the road with a car pulled up alongside. It turned out that a gust of wind had thrown the bike sideways and she had come off, the car had seen her fall and had turned around and come back to see if they could help, nice lady.
Back at home the damage was skin off shoulder and knee and sprained wrist but bike essentially fine just the brake levers needed straightening. A memorable ride for all the wrong reasons. 45 miles in all.
I will continue to read this thread and dr_pink hopefully will start racing again this month. Safe riding to all.

Hope you come back totally fixed.

 

[gavgav]

Best wishes for the op @totallyfixed and I hope @dr_pink doesn't feel too bad after the off. Hope you both heal quickly.

(A like for the write up BTW, not for the incident)

Same here

 

[Deleted member 1258]

My last post on this thread probably for quite a while as I go in for a shoulder op tomorrow, very nervous about the whole thing but that is another story.
This weekend therefore was important for both of us to get some quality miles in, preferably memorable ones. Because there was so much other stuff to do on Saturday I chose a 30 mile route that was the hilliest possible in this part of the world, lots of arrows on the map of the route so we knew it was going to be seriously hard as we were going at it hard. It takes me about 11 miles to warm up, dr_pink much less and the first 5 miles is nearly all uphill so you don't get off to a quick start.
After that I only managed to snap off one quick photo, a familiar sight

The last 3 miles run into Oakham were gently rolling and the speedo never fell below 22 mph. A tough, memorable and hugely enjoyable ride.
Yesterday was intended to be a bit more sedate, probably my last ride though I may get out later when the rain stops for a short one. We took in a lot of our favourite lanes and were rewarded with seeing Buzzards, Red Kites, Kestrels and best of all, a Peregrine Falcon.
Another of our special lanes

Every year there are lambs in this field and they are always quite tame, they never seem to be afraid of our bikes

We went out prepared to get wet, but in fact not a drop of rain fell all day, the wind however made up for it. We were only a couple of miles from home, I was in front at this point riding into a headwind so I couldn't hear much. A few hundred metres further on I expected dr_pink to come through and do a turn but no sign, I looked back no one there! Obviously something was seriously wrong, I quickly turned around and headed back to find dr_pink sat at the side of the road with a car pulled up alongside. It turned out that a gust of wind had thrown the bike sideways and she had come off, the car had seen her fall and had turned around and come back to see if they could help, nice lady.
Back at home the damage was skin off shoulder and knee and sprained wrist but bike essentially fine just the brake levers needed straightening. A memorable ride for all the wrong reasons. 45 miles in all.
I will continue to read this thread and dr_pink hopefully will start racing again this month. Safe riding to all.

Best wishes for a quick recovery from the OP, and may dr_pink heal quick after her fall.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I managed to drag Doug out for another quick ride this afternoon, heading anti-clockwise around a variation of my Acton Burnell route.

As the wind was quite strong from the south west when we set out, we went via Lyth Hill rather than the more exposed direct road to Condover before heading to Ryton and Longnor. The roads were busier than normal which took some of the fun out of it and Doug was finding it hard work.

After a pause at Longnor we set off again with the wind in our favour - or so I thought. On the section from Frodesley to Acton Burnell I couldn't seem to get up to the sort of pace I'd usually expect and on the way to Cantlop the wind was definitely against us, to the extent that on the nice downhill section to Condover I was having to push to achieve 12mphrather than the 18 to 20 I'm used to. (Checking later on the Met Office site confirms that the wind veered round to the north while we were out.)

For the last few miles back we experimented a bit with slipstreaming which did help Doug keep up a reasonable pace, but that was a harder ride than it should have been for the speed we managed.

17.6 miles this time at 11.5 mph average.

Doug at the drink stop near Longnor

 

[coffeejo]

Hope you told him it was all good training (and then ducked)...

 

[ScotiaLass]

I managed a lovely 15.6 miles today, from Lock 1 to Lock 16 then onto the Falkirk Wheel.
I didn't take my camera, so the only photo I took was this one on my phone as I sat on the bike and waited on the lad to catch me up before we headed through the woods and along to the Roman Fort.

It was a grey day but stayed mainly dry, apart from some light drizzle from time to time.
We headed back via the Union canal.
Priscilla was on top form and it was an excellent ride. The week is set to be dry with sunny intervals
I just hope I have the energy to get out on most of the days!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Hope you told him it was all good training (and then ducked)...

Funny you should say that.......

 

[i hate hills]

You know you've let things slip when you need to puff on your inhaler just getting the bike out of the shed. Not to be put off that signalled the start of my first serious ride for a long time. Managed ten mile on the MTB and boy did i feel my knees tonight . This will no doubt not have been helped by my golf at Balnagask where the hills are so severe they really should look at supplying sherpas with every green fee. Quite a pleasant run although i could have done with a hat later on. Kept getting buzzed by several Chinook helicopters. I thought they are either training or we are in the process of being invaded. A run past the City Hall with the flag still flying confirmed it to be the former rather than the latter. Then on to Mr Tesco for some refreshments as in my haste to leave i'd forgotten my water bottle. Hope this signals the start of the cycling for me after a few false starts. Keep safe everyone.....

 

[welsh dragon]

You know you've let things slip when you need to puff on your inhaler just getting the bike out of the shed. Not to be put off that signalled the start of my first serious ride for a long time. Managed ten mile on the MTB and boy did i feel my knees tonight . This will no doubt not have been helped by my golf at Balnagask where the hills are so severe they really should look at supplying sherpas with every green fee. Quite a pleasant run although i could have done with a hat later on. Kept getting buzzed by several Chinook helicopters. I thought they are either training or we are in the process of being invaded. A run past the City Hall with the flag still flying confirmed it to be the former rather than the latter. Then on to Mr Tesco for some refreshments as in my haste to leave i'd forgotten my water bottle. Hope this signals the start of the cycling for me after a few false starts. Keep safe everyone.....

Congratulations. Hope you now go onward and upward with your cycling

 

[i hate hills]

Congratulations. Hope you now go onward and upward with your cycling

I fully intend to as long as my 42 year old knees let me......

 

[welsh dragon]

I fully intend to as long as my 42 year old knees let me......

A youngster then

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I fully intend to as long as my 42 year old knees let me......

Only 42? as welsh dragon said only a youngster, my 62 year old knees are holding up very well at the moment.