Your ride today.... (part 1)

[Saluki]

Quick ride from home to the hospital to meet Hubster. 8.45 miles in 34:23 or so. Averaged just under 15mph. I walked miles and miles yesterday and my legs were letting me know that they were unimpressed with it all today. Lovely weather though. Might go out again later if Hubster fancies it. Then again, I might stay in and drink tea.

 

[Alex H]

Autumn seems to be creeping upon us slowly. Although there's lots of , it was 12° in the barn when I left the house and a mere 17° when I got to Rochechouart. Helped by a following wind, I was fairly zooming along.

The road to La Rochefoucauld is like this a lot.

Which is great when it's sunny, but it was feeling a tad cold this morning, but the short sleeved jersey was a must as the weather person said it would be hot later

The railway station at La Rochefoucauld is not very photogenic, so here's a picture of the bike and the railway tracks

Today i was going on a westwards loop, so the first stop was St. Sornin. This area is mostly used for wine grapes.

Here is one of the places responsible.

And here's a sample of their product.

The wines are named after prehistoric man and his artifacts for some reason (and the shop is similarly decorated) so we have Sapiens, Erectus, Silex and various others. I have bought wine here before, but never on a bike. I got some 'amusing' remarks from the owner and a guy in a car when I was packing it away.

After passing through Montbron, the next stop was Chatain-Besson

I know it's not exactly the Alps, but that's all there is round here.

The wind was now totally against me and progress was slow. So back via St Mathieu ( which is also not very photogenic) to Rochechouart. there was road resurfacing going on and the nice man held up a car to let me through

Should anyone not know, this is the chateau at Rochechouart

Got back rather tired - the temperature courtesy of S.A.R.L Chene was now 27°

110km in 5hrs 17min - average a lowly 20.7

 

[EltonFrog]

31.21 miles today with the missus along the K&A canal again to Newbury and back. Saw the lady on the Cornish Crabber boat again, got a puncture, then had a nice pasty from the Cornish Pasty shop and a FAB ice cream from an Artisan Ice Cream maker. Delish!

A lovely day along the canal.

Bugger!

PASTY! In Newbury.

On the way back, Ice cream fuel starting to kick in.

Cycle Route 4, The Newbury to London Railway, and the A4 in the background.

A brand new bridge over the railway. Heightened to make way for new trains and overhead cables apparently.

EDIT: I SHOULD'VE ADDED THAT TWO VERY KIND CYCLISTS OFFERED TO HELP WITH THE PUNTURE, WHICH WAS NICE.

 

[EltonFrog]

Seems to close/change hands regularly, I was told it had re opened, but when I got there it was closed!
Not a place to be depended on.

Indeed. It's under new ownership, but I think they have gone on hols!

 

[Berties]

speedy trip into Romsey from home ,cup of coffee a few meetings ,daily admin and back on bike,just clipping in first foot swiped my garmin to front page,and a car nearly brushed my leg ,damm me it was a rogue sky cycling jaguar estate,full livery,....with that fresh in my mind straight up the test valley dropped some letters off in Stockbridge and then home 40 miles of riding done

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A quick spin to loosen the legs and to test a tweak to the saddle on the Raleigh, done after not being happy with the set up on the last ride (cramping legs and a pulled Achilles tendon).

I went for the short version of my Acton Burnell route and headed out of the village into an easterly wind which, not being the usual direction, seemed surprisingly hard work to ride against. In reality it only slowed me a little bit and I wasn't really having to work as hard as I thought to make progress. It's really hazy out there today - I could barely see the hills on the run into Condover.

Climbing up to Cantlop I picked up a drunken hitchhiker (wasp). The gentle climb through Pitchford and Acton Burnell to Frodesley felt easier than usual and I had a good run down to Longnor before turning back north.

There was a rapid overtake of a chap on a Brompton near Ryton and a long wait for a gap in the traffic to join the A49 for a short section (don't like this bit).

The bike felt great, the legs don't feel strained and the tendon didn't ache this ride - I must be doing something right with the set up at last.

Just over 17 miles at 15.2 mph average.

 

[Garry A]

Added some earlier routes together today and broke the 50 mile mark for the first time. Gutted when i got to Culross and the ice cream van was gone Passed plenty of happy cyclists on route and some miserable gits too. The strava fly by page is good to find out about the people I passed and where they went....mibbe i'm just nosey.
http://www.strava.com/activities/189315277

 

[coffeejo]

Took myself off for a 50+ mile ride to the Levels this afternoon (not that "level" ... 600 meters of climbing!) which cleared some cobwebs. I had to put in an early diversion due to road works and chose the wrong lane - freshly cut hedge, not swept. Guess which tyre picked up a thorn?! I pulled out most of it but as the tube showed no signs of deflating I decided to continue without taking off the tyre, and spent the next 40 miles compulsively looking under my shoulder to see if it was still solid. Amazingly, it lasted the course and got me home without so much of a hint of a problem. Will sort it out before Saturday as knowing my luck, it'll explode at the worst time on a fast descent...

 

[Gravity Aided]

Just 3 miles today, as I heard a pinging from my wheel, and it took me a long time to find the offending spoke.
Then I and Mrs. GA went to Joe's Pub for Italian Beef Sandwiches.
I watched the Baseball game. We won.

 

[Crackle]

My first ride on the road bike since April after a failed knee rehab. Took it very easy on any incline and possibly recorded the slowest 10 miles ever. I think I've pushed harder on the Turbo than I did today. Repeat again on Sunday, physio Tuesday and I'll see what she reckons. Off to stretch, roll and ice now.

 

[ScotiaLass]

I decided to head out to the LBS this morning, as although the mechanic is on holiday, I was told if I brought the bike in, someone could do the adjustment that's needed for the gears.
So, a lovely cycle via the cycle path and park into town. I arrived 10 mins earlier than planned so sat and had my drink while waiting.
Outcome was they wouldn't look at the gears (!) and wanted me to leave the bike there until next Tuesday, when the mechanic is back.
Needless to say I wasn't amused, and didn't leave it.

I cycled back the way I had come, and was dreading the cemetery hill, with no bottom gears!
I got up it in one (slow) go, in 11th. I also stopped at the breakers yard and got a part for the car...they took pity on a poor defenceless girl on a bike, and pulled the part for me

It was a nice ride, despite not getting the gears sorted!
I don't feel I've dropped any fitness level, despite not having ridden for 4 weeks!

 

[BigonaBianchi]

2 miles..pic nic on the beach and back lol!

Just off to LBS for a willier sponsored bike event...could mean i total over 5 miles today ha ha.

 

[postman]

York today 54 miles.The sun which was predicted never got out.No jacket so a cheap newspaper was purchased and stuffed up the jersey.Also met a young guy in Wetherby who was looking for directions to Ripon,we put him off and he came with us.
He was putting some miles in before he does a 100 miler for charity.He has only been riding for five weeks.
Scarborough is his destination from Castleford,sometime soon.So we showed him the best route out of York towards Stamford Bridge,the one you North Yorkshire tribe told me about.So thank you i was able to pass it on to him.
54 enjoyable miles,which included a latte and coffee cake for £3 in York i tell you.Bargain.So since saturday i have done 24,34,41 and now 54.Rest now till Thursday next week.

 

[derrick]

A nice 20 miler with the girls last night, apart from the idiot we encountered, a fairly brisk pace in places, first ride back from hols for one of the girls, but they loved it, going to have to up my training though, they are keeping up to easily. Ended with a nice beer in the local at the end.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Due to the weather forecast last weekend looking really good for this week I arranged on Monday morning to have today and tomorrow off work with the intention of knocking off the September imperial century. I also noticed at the weekend that those lovely people at Strava had come up with the Alpen-Traum challenge which was to ride 252km (about 156.5miles) in one single ride.

So I normally ride around 15-16mpha and my previous longest ride was 128 miles, so I worked on the basis of 14mph just in case I really struggled, which worked out at just over 11 hours of riding, give myself an hour or so for breaks, means it should be a 12 hour or so ride, yeah I can do that I thought.

So last night wrapped the bike locks around the saddle bag, grabbed the triangle frame bag from the commuter and for the first time I ditched the rucksack for a long ride.

Got up at 5am, and it was very misty. Had a big bowl of muesli and a big mug of tea and set off into the mist at 05:30, thinking the mist would soon burn off when the sun came up. Well it stayed misty for a good 30 odd miles before it started to go.

I stopped at 70 miles for about ten minutes to refill a bottle and grab a quick sandwich, an old boy came up to me and asked me where I was going, told him, he didn't believe that I had done 70 miles already - so showed him the GPS, he wished me good luck and I was on my way again.

At around 110 miles my feet started hurting, so five miles later found a bench and sat down and scoffed some of the Haribo I had with me and drank a can of coke I had carried in my back pocket since the 70 mile stop.

128 miles my final stop for more water and another can of coke - this one went straight down my neck. Lady in the shop said I was a bit out of breath and did I have far to go, she was gobsmacked when I told her how far I had done and how far I had left.

As I hit mile 140 I was flagging, I felt like I could keep on riding for a fair while yet, but also felt that if I stopped I wouldn't get going again, so told myself to mtfu and just get on with it.

Finished on 158.3miles and did it in 9 hours 41 minutes - 16.35mph - very pleased with that.

For those that know the area, I took the scenic route out of Leicester, (so by the time I had done 8 miles I was probably only a mile or so from home) and headed out to Saddington, looped back on myself into Kibworth and out to Fleckney and across to Billesdon, then through Kibworth and Fleckney again and up to Bruntingthorpe and through to Gilmorton, Then through Leicester on the Great Central Way and through Watermead Park, up to Rothley and then across to Polesworth which isn't to far from Tamworth. I then headed to Market Bosworth and then down to Lutterworth, from there it was pretty much straight home.

I don't think I will be riding tomorrow


http://www.strava.com/activities/189746335