Your ride today.... (part 1)

[theloafer]

has a hospital app today at Darlington so rather than take the bus with the out again I got the tricross out again pleased I did to the 167 was chock a block ... I just sailed pass it after I got out thought the best way back would be cockerton then back lane to Walworth gate into heighington and drop down to home , of course as I had to pass close to http://www.archersjerseyicecream.com/ would be remiss of me not to call in

 

[robjh]

London Cambridge London.
Have been looking forward to this one for a while, i had promised my 9 year old granddaughter i would take her to Cambridge on the tag along bike, She also has been looking forward to it, Sunday morning nice and early we met Holly at the start, hitched up the tag along and set of about 7-20, felt a bit wobbly for the first few miles but we soon tuned into the way the bike felt.

I had Debi my other half riding behind for a bit of protection not that we needed it the drivers were fine on the way there,

This was about halfway, she was working really hard, did not moan at all, we had two feed stops on the way kept her well hydrated, she was loving it, the attention she got from a lot of the other riders made her feel special, she was lapping it up. lol.

She got so much applause at the end it bought a tear to my eye, she even got interviewed by the commentator,

It was so nice to be able to share this ride with her, i think it will be a memory that stays with her for a long time, she has already booked me for next year.

After a nice pint and a bite to eat, the tag along was unhitched and Holly was taken home by car, i met up with the rest of the club and we all rode back together, 112 mile round trip, the ride back was a lot easier. a few of us ended up in the pub for a well deserved beer.

I do not as a rule ask for any sponsorship, but Holly has a just giving page thought i might put it on here, it says a little bit about her.
https://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Ne...t=Sarah-Nelmes3&utm_campaign=pfp-share-mobile
This is what she normally does,


Was a day i will never forget, was a hard ride there but everytime i turned round she had such a big smile on her face it just spured me on.
Looking forward to next year.
http://www.strava.com/activities/171720047

I saw hundreds - literally - of people doing that ride when I was out with the club on Sunday, and the ride came through my village. Everyone looked like they were having fun, glad it was a good day for you.

 

[robjh]

Went for a pottle this afternoon. The weather has changed. Its rather dull, and there is a breeze and the sky was rather dark. As it turned out, it started to rain, but never mind. Today I was on my flat(ter) route again and I was concentrating on speed rather than distance per se. I surprised myself by managing a 14 ph average. Yayyy. I only took a couple of photos today View attachment 51925


time to get out of dodge before the rain methinks View attachment 51926

You just try and make us jealous with all that scenery.

 

[welsh dragon]

You just try and make us jealous with all that scenery.

Is it working? well i never

 

[Saluki]

I do not as a rule ask for any sponsorship, but Holly has a just giving page thought i might put it on here, it says a little bit about her.
https://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Ne...t=Sarah-Nelmes3&utm_campaign=pfp-share-mobile
This is what she normally does,


Was a day i will never forget, was a hard ride there but everytime i turned round she had such a big smile on her face it just spured me on.
Looking forward to next year.
http://www.strava.com/activities/171720047

A Flash noseband & a Grackle nose band on ponies Crikey. I had a Grackle on my 3 day event horse but that's a serious bit of tack on a kid's pony!

That looked a great ride for your young'un - Cambridge to London. So pleased that she had a blast.

 

[Saluki]

Back from a quickie around the block with the changes made to the bike. Before I went out I changed my SPDs for some Looks and then discovered that I couldn't reach the pedals now. We dropped the saddle 1/8" then another 1/8" and that was much better. I went off around my Wreningham - Hethel Cyclepath loop. 11.01 miles in 44 minutes dead so averaged 15mph.
The hills felt better with the raised saddle height but I'm going to change the saddle I think. I'm still getting numb bits and my left hand is still getting numb too.

 

[PeteXXX]

Todays ride today!
After wimping out yesterday afternoon due to the weather, I got the chance for a nice Road ride around the town once my Grandfatherly duties had finished.
I still had the lottery ££ to collect from a friend in Duston, so headed round the south side of town and past Upton Mill then into Duston village for a chat and a nice cold drink. After this, it was into rush hour so I chose the back lanes as much as possible but had to ride through Harleston village which is a narrow 'A' road. Luckily there was an old horse box following/trying to keep up with me, but as I kept at the 30 speed limit most of the time I wasn't overtaken round the bends. (Speed cameras are useful sometimes!)
A mate had hoped to get out this evening if he was fit enough, but he txt'd me to say he couldn't make it. I'd planned a route that would have passed near his place at the right time, but would not be a problem if he wasn't coming out to play. This took me through Chapel Brampton, Pitsford and Holcot.
On parts of the ride towards Sywell I got PB's on several segments, sadly others had ridden them on 8th of May
Alice Maria Arzuffi, Ruth Winder, Marianne Vos, Sharon Laws, Katie Archibald, Ellen van Dijk
etc etc...
I was only 8mph slower on one though (but I had sunshine and a tailwind and they had wet roads and drizzle...)

Onwards to Sywell Reservoir which was quite quiet this evening. Few dog walkers and cars parked up, surprisingly. Cycling is not allowed round it though, but it does have a nice coffee shop there during the day.

I got back home on 30 miles and treated myself to a glass of Stout while the wife burned the salad for tea..

My average was just under 16mph, though I thought I'd cracked on fairly well most of the time.
This ride brings me up to 500Km for the month. I don't think I'll get the chance for another ride until the weekend now as Granddaughter is staying during the school hols and I'm back on shift tomorrow.. Booooo

http://www.strava.com/activities/172578403

 

[Spartak]

Last night I rode my clubs Evening 10 TT & managed to get a 5 second PB

 

[EltonFrog]

This morning we set off at stupid past bonkers o'clock to ride the enemys last 50 miles each way commute for this year. 50 miles each way for her, 65 miles for me in the morning then 35 in the evening when I meet her on the way back. So, off we go and 15 miles in she says, " I don't think I'll go in this morning, I want to go and look at kitchens instead"

So we detour, stop for a coffee and croissant in Didcot then head back 33.67 miles this morning, showered, and we are off out in a minute to John Lewis.

The woman is nuts.

Coffee outside here

Lovely morning

Another Field

The "Phone Of I" panoramic view

 

[Donger]

Glorious sunshine in Gloucestershire today, and it was one of my non working days, so I headed off to the hills for a climbing fix. First up, Frocester Hill - over a mile of quite steep stuff, starting just after Frocester, and leading up onto the Cotswold Edge. This first picture is of Frocester's tythe barn, with the road slanting up Frocester Hill in the background. Didn't get any other picture of the hill, as that would have offended my "no stopping on hills" rule.


At the top I turned right and glided down through the lovely village of Uley. Couldn't stop for pictures due to nervous driver 2 feet behind me for the next mile or so, too scared to overtake. Next came another twisty, lumpy stretch on the side road to Coaley, including one ridiculously steep little bit. The road here is your classic "Rolling English Road", winding around the long barrow known as Hetty Pegler's Tump (seen here), then appearing to head straight

at the next hill, before suddenly lurching to the right at 90 degrees again. No traffic whatsoever around here at around 2:00pm on a weekday.


Then down the hill at Cam, with nice distant views of the Forest of Dean, with the Severn appearing as a thin silvery line in front of the hills.


After having enough climbing for one day, I made my way back home via Slimbridge and the Cambridge Arms Bridge on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Followed the gravelly canal towpath from there to Frampton. It's always nice to have good tough tyres on, so you can leave the roads on a whim like that. Had to wait at the canal bridge at Frampton for a couple of big tour boats and this narrow boat to go by.


Back along the lanes on my bread and butter route, Elmore Court being my "2 miles to go" marker.


I can recommend all of these roads for anyone wanting to try out Gloucestershire for a bit of quiet cycling. Some of the hills can be challenging, but there's also plenty of flat to be found, and you could fill an album with a day's photos round here.
Cheers, Donger.

 

[cosmicbike]

Glorious sunshine in Gloucestershire today, and it was one of my non working days, so I headed off to the hills for a climbing fix. First up, Frocester Hill - over a mile of quite steep stuff, starting just after Frocester, and leading up onto the Cotswold Edge. This first picture is of Frocester's tythe barn, with the road slanting up Frocester Hill in the background. Didn't get any other picture of the hill, as that would have offended my "no stopping on hills" rule.
View attachment 51995

At the top I turned right and glided down through the lovely village of Uley. Couldn't stop for pictures due to nervous driver 2 feet behind me for the next mile or so, too scared to overtake. Next came another twisty, lumpy stretch on the side road to Coaley, including one ridiculously steep little bit. The road here is your classic "Rolling English Road", winding around the long barrow known as Hetty Pegler's Tump (seen here), then appearing to head straight View attachment 51996

at the next hill, before suddenly lurching to the right at 90 degrees again. No traffic whatsoever around here at around 2:00pm on a weekday.
View attachment 51997

Then down the hill at Cam, with nice distant views of the Forest of Dean, with the Severn appearing as a thin silvery line in front of the hills.
View attachment 51998

After having enough climbing for one day, I made my way back home via Slimbridge and the Cambridge Arms Bridge on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Followed the gravelly canal towpath from there to Frampton. It's always nice to have good tough tyres on, so you can leave the roads on a whim like that. Had to wait at the canal bridge at Frampton for a couple of big tour boats and this narrow boat to go by.
View attachment 51999

Back along the lanes on my bread and butter route, Elmore Court being my "2 miles to go" marker.
View attachment 52000

I can recommend all of these roads for anyone wanting to try out Gloucestershire for a bit of quiet cycling. Some of the hills can be challenging, but there's also plenty of flat to be found, and you could fill an album with a day's photos round here.
Cheers, Donger.

Looks like a nice ride @Donger . I see you have a map attachment, is it a home brew effort or off the shelf?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I had hoped to get out for a longish ride today but that didn't happen, so needing to test out a couple of tweaks to the knockabout bike I took that round the short version of my Acton Burnell route instead.

The roads were mostly fairly quiet (although I did have to wait a while to join the A49 on the way back) and having a following wind during the first few miles encouraged pressing on, which I did. Around Acton Burnell I had a long section directly into the wind, so wasn't quick here but made up for it after Longnor. It looked as though I'd manage an average over 15mph (PB on this bike is 15.1 over the same route) but with the wind against me in the last couple of miles that didn't work out.

Just under 17 miles at 14.96 mph - so close. I did hit 32mph into the dip at Pitchford though which is faster than usual.

 

[Donger]

Looks like a nice ride @Donger . I see you have a map attachment, is it a home brew effort or off the shelf?

No it's a Rixen/Kaul fitting map holder. I like it .... but then I'm a bit of a Luddite, and don't go for all this Garmin and Strava stuff. I find it nice to be able to just go wherever you want on a whim and then find your way home by map. Old style. The only problem is that, somewhere between 30 and 35mph on a downhill it starts to act as an aerofoil!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

No it's a Rixen/Kaul fitting map holder. I like it .... but then I'm a bit of a Luddite, and don't go for all this Garmin and Strava stuff. I find it nice to be able to just go wherever you want on a whim and then find your way home by map. Old style. The only problem is that, somewhere between 30 and 35mph on a downhill it starts to act as an aerofoil!

that is where the extra bit of bungee cord comes in useful!

 

[Saluki]

This morning I rode from home to the hospital, the direct route of a mahoosive 8.17 miles in 30:17 so chuffed with that. 3 sets of roadworks on the Norwich road, only one light control, the others were 'get bloody on with it' type roadworks. There was nearly space for 2 cars to pass so every one dithered like mad while I rode around them and was through before anyone twitched.
I really like my new pedals Hubster is whinging about losing something else to me but, as he hates them and took them off his bike and put SPDs on, I cannot see what he is whinging about.