Your ride today....
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- Start date
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iancity
Guru
- Location
- Ashington, Northumberland
Today at 09:55 · Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM 3
· Northumberland, England
· Northumberland, England
Quick one before baking commences!
- Distance
15.37 mi - Elev Gain
407 ft - Time
1h 17m
sevenfourate
Devotee of OCD
- Location
- Lowestoft, Suffolk
An early start (Tell me something new 🙄) saw me arrive at the River Waveney - which also separates Suffolk and Norfolk exactly at Sunrise:
And onto the Quaint Town of Beccles: about the furthest point from home on this ride. Which also provided me another Broads / River themed picture:
One more stop before home to admire the rapidly rising Sun…..
Another 50k / 1point under the belt for the Cycle Chat Challenge 😁
And onto the Quaint Town of Beccles: about the furthest point from home on this ride. Which also provided me another Broads / River themed picture:
One more stop before home to admire the rapidly rising Sun…..
Another 50k / 1point under the belt for the Cycle Chat Challenge 😁
a.twiddler
Veteran
25/5/26
Recumbent Ride
A Day of Sweat and Suffering.
I’ve been champing at the bit to get some longer rides in for some time. It’ll soon be the end of May, people will be talking about Midsummer rides soon (only next month). Since I read the post about riding your age in miles I realised that I’ve inadvertently been doing it for the previous few years, so I’ve been hoping to get that done at least.
As for Sir Arthur Eddington, I’d like to show willing to increase my lifetime number by a few digits, given the chance
Weather and gardening are the main deterrents. Today, I managed to set off by 10:00, later than I’d intended. It was already warming up but I’d chucked on a long sleeved white shirt in the hope of keeping the sun off. With a floppy sun hat and clip on shades I hoped that I was prepared for the worst. The object of the exercise was going to be temperature management. I definitely don’t do heat, and my performance declines rapidly if I overheat.
Left out of the gate, on to the road, into high gear and gently pedalling downhill. Riding steadily to try to keep the temperature down, approaching Darnhall bridge traffic lights which stayed red until I was virtually at a standstill causing me to have to blast up the other side with the inevitable rise in temperature. As I neared the top of the climb a hot dry wind simultaneously held me back and failed to cool me down.
Fortunately as the lane wound about there were patches of shade in places. So I carried steadily on, down another dip needing another blast up the other side, along a straight undulating stretch through Wettenhall then a terrible stretch of road full of potholes. Still straight with only the occasional tree to give shade, I was grateful to reach the railway bridge then the bridge over the canal before turning in to Wettenhall Marina.
It was quite crowded. After a sit down in the shade and an ice cream I’d cooled off enough to set off again. The next stretch was more shady and a bit more sheltered.
I managed to stay cool until I reached Poole bridge and had a breezy downhill but heated up getting up the other side. Fortunately after reaching the top it was smooth and shady so I was able to take it easy and cool off a bit. Soon I reached the Chester -Wrexham road and turned left for Nantwich.
I flowed through the town with the traffic
and got on to the A530 Whitchurch Road. I turned in to Coole Lane for a photo with the sign. Wishful thinking that it might be actually cooler, but enough adolescents have called out “cool bike!” as I went past to make it worthwhile.
Amongst the crowd of signs the one missing was Coole Pilate to which Coole Lane leads. Don't know why Hack Green Not so Secret Bunker needs TWO signs.
Then it was left up the slope to Baddington Bridge with its traffic lights. I only had a couple of miles before my turn off. I hoped that the lights would give me some traffic free spells in between bursts of vehicles. I stopped at the lights on red and saw traffic accumulating in my mirror. I waved them on at green then followed them over the top and down the other side.
I felt pressurized to push on a bit with the impending traffic behind. A fairly narrow road with high hedgerows but little shade. I stopped in an entrance to let some traffic past and cool off in some rare shade. Further on, not far from my turn off I pulled in again to let a truck and its attendant stream of smaller vehicles go by. There was an uncomfortable amount of traffic about. There was no shade at this point and I felt the sun striking through the long sleeves of my shirt. I felt my temperature rising as if I was being cooked.
I got going again and gratefully turned left in to a shady Heatley Lane. Appropriate name in view of the rising temperature! It was only a short stretch but it took me away from the baking main road, with the intention of using a cut off back to it a bit further on, to a crossing for the road to Sound, then Wrenbury. I passed the entrance to Mickley Hall Lane and was impressed how straight it ran into the distance so turned in to it as the first few yards were shady. I ventured further into the sun, took a photo then retreated into the shade.
It goes on much further in a straight line beyond that rise in the distance.
I took a photo of a farm entrance which had a pair of pinnacles on top of the gateposts which looked like they came from a church.
Back to Heatley Lane, then took the cut through to cross the A530 into a lane to Sound. It was wooded here, and shady. I stopped at an entrance with a sign for Suddenstrike and sat on a shaded rock for a drink. I’d hoped to do 50 or 60 miles today but the way the temperature was rising I decided to just go to Wrenbury and see how I felt.
I continued through Wrenbury Heath and was soon in Wrenbury.
I spotted a shady bench opposite Wrenbury Primary School and took another cooling break. Then I pressed on to the place where the road meets the Llangollen Canal at a bascule bridge. I turned on to the towpath and sat on another shady bench. I could see that the road straight on from the bridge to the A49 and Cholmondeley Castle had road closed signs, starting today, though the road that branched left after the bridge was clear.
If not for the heat, I would have seen the road closed signs as a challenge, with the bonus of a traffic free ride. I didn’t take it up today, but since the closure is for a couple of weeks I hope to come back another day when it’s cooler. Meanwhile I took some photos and set off back the way I’d come.
After a short time a SUV full of girls pulled alongside and one of them called, “Hey! Wanna race!” to an accompaniment of giggles. “No”, I replied, “But I’d appreciate some air conditioning!”
“Have a nice ride!” Was the response, as they zoomed off.
The wind that I’d been riding into must have been stronger than I’d realised as together with the downward trend in the direction towards Nantwich it made for easy going. The drawback was that there was no cooling effect running downwind and the shady patches were all the more precious. The sky had been a relentless blue all day.
There were a couple of dips in the vicinity of Ravensmoor and I gave it some of my diminishing stock of beans in order to get up the other side. My temperature rose sharply but I was soon at the steep canal bridge where the road comes into Nantwich and I was able to freewheel for a shady half a mile or so on the other side as compensation.
Left into Welsh Row, right at some lights then left into Welshman’s Lane. Intensely hot between the shady spots under trees. I stopped in a well shaded field entrance for an unpleasantly warm glug of water before pressing on to the Chester-Wrexham road.
Traffic was non stop so I went for the signposted cycle crossing rather than brave the charge across two lanes into Wettenhall Road. An obliging motorist towing a trailer waved me across so I followed the pavement cycle lane round into Wettenhall Road. Making the most of the following breeze on the subsequent smooth surface, down the dip at Poole Bridge to stop most of the way up the other side in a shady spot for another tepid glug of water.
A gentle climb followed, just about balanced out by the tailwind. A motorcyclist came the other way with his helmet on his arm, riding a vintage Honda CD185 or CD200. Obviously too hot for him, too!
I turned in to Wettenhall Marina for another break, this time a full fat Coke out of the chiller. I sat at a picnic table under a parasol. I noticed that the sunlight was throwing intense shadows on the old worn steps of the lock on the other side of the road bridge so took a few shots to try to capture them.
Since the staff were beginning to put away the signs and parasols I gathered myself together for the last few miles to home.
Once over the canal bridge and under the railway bridge it was fairly plain sailing with the wind assistance. The potholes seemed even worse on the way back I wondered if the heat had made some difference to the air pressure in the 40mm tyres giving a harder ride. I wasn’t about to mess with the Presta valves now that I was nearly home.
A tall rider hurtled past. He had time to say, “That looks like a comfortable ride” and I had time to say, “It is” just before I crashed through another pothole. The intense sunlight made it hard to see the blighters under the trees with shades on, and it was uncomfortable to ride without them.
I recently thought I’d found a solution in the form of flip up sunspecs which clip on to your glasses. I didn’t think they were still available. Very 1970s. Cheap and cheerful, though those craters can still catch you out.
A little further on, I saw a cyclist in the distance. Initially thinking it was the tall rider who’d passed me setting off again after a break, I realised it was someone else. As I slowly caught up, I thought it might be someone who’d been even more wrung out by the heat than me. This gave me something to think about as I got closer to him just before Darnhall bridge. I actually got past near the top of the climb on the other side, realising that it was quite a young club rider in all the gear. Oh well.
I expected him to come past on the slight downhill on the other side but he turned right at the next junction.
I'd seen quite a few cyclists out and about today, less this afternoon. but this was the only one I'd actually overtaken.
Arriving at my back gate I felt like a radiator and I spent some time spread out on the living room settee under the ceiling fan before I felt up to getting my stuff in. I definitely don’t do heat. Although I've just realised that it's a metric half century, which is some consolation.
Distance 32.93. Max speed 26.9 mph. Average Speed 8.1 mph. According to Cateye Velo 7
Ascent 569 ft. According to Bikehike
Recumbent Ride
A Day of Sweat and Suffering.
I’ve been champing at the bit to get some longer rides in for some time. It’ll soon be the end of May, people will be talking about Midsummer rides soon (only next month). Since I read the post about riding your age in miles I realised that I’ve inadvertently been doing it for the previous few years, so I’ve been hoping to get that done at least.
As for Sir Arthur Eddington, I’d like to show willing to increase my lifetime number by a few digits, given the chance
Weather and gardening are the main deterrents. Today, I managed to set off by 10:00, later than I’d intended. It was already warming up but I’d chucked on a long sleeved white shirt in the hope of keeping the sun off. With a floppy sun hat and clip on shades I hoped that I was prepared for the worst. The object of the exercise was going to be temperature management. I definitely don’t do heat, and my performance declines rapidly if I overheat.
Left out of the gate, on to the road, into high gear and gently pedalling downhill. Riding steadily to try to keep the temperature down, approaching Darnhall bridge traffic lights which stayed red until I was virtually at a standstill causing me to have to blast up the other side with the inevitable rise in temperature. As I neared the top of the climb a hot dry wind simultaneously held me back and failed to cool me down.
Fortunately as the lane wound about there were patches of shade in places. So I carried steadily on, down another dip needing another blast up the other side, along a straight undulating stretch through Wettenhall then a terrible stretch of road full of potholes. Still straight with only the occasional tree to give shade, I was grateful to reach the railway bridge then the bridge over the canal before turning in to Wettenhall Marina.
It was quite crowded. After a sit down in the shade and an ice cream I’d cooled off enough to set off again. The next stretch was more shady and a bit more sheltered.
I managed to stay cool until I reached Poole bridge and had a breezy downhill but heated up getting up the other side. Fortunately after reaching the top it was smooth and shady so I was able to take it easy and cool off a bit. Soon I reached the Chester -Wrexham road and turned left for Nantwich.
I flowed through the town with the traffic
and got on to the A530 Whitchurch Road. I turned in to Coole Lane for a photo with the sign. Wishful thinking that it might be actually cooler, but enough adolescents have called out “cool bike!” as I went past to make it worthwhile.
Amongst the crowd of signs the one missing was Coole Pilate to which Coole Lane leads. Don't know why Hack Green Not so Secret Bunker needs TWO signs.
Then it was left up the slope to Baddington Bridge with its traffic lights. I only had a couple of miles before my turn off. I hoped that the lights would give me some traffic free spells in between bursts of vehicles. I stopped at the lights on red and saw traffic accumulating in my mirror. I waved them on at green then followed them over the top and down the other side.
I felt pressurized to push on a bit with the impending traffic behind. A fairly narrow road with high hedgerows but little shade. I stopped in an entrance to let some traffic past and cool off in some rare shade. Further on, not far from my turn off I pulled in again to let a truck and its attendant stream of smaller vehicles go by. There was an uncomfortable amount of traffic about. There was no shade at this point and I felt the sun striking through the long sleeves of my shirt. I felt my temperature rising as if I was being cooked.
I got going again and gratefully turned left in to a shady Heatley Lane. Appropriate name in view of the rising temperature! It was only a short stretch but it took me away from the baking main road, with the intention of using a cut off back to it a bit further on, to a crossing for the road to Sound, then Wrenbury. I passed the entrance to Mickley Hall Lane and was impressed how straight it ran into the distance so turned in to it as the first few yards were shady. I ventured further into the sun, took a photo then retreated into the shade.
It goes on much further in a straight line beyond that rise in the distance.
I took a photo of a farm entrance which had a pair of pinnacles on top of the gateposts which looked like they came from a church.
Back to Heatley Lane, then took the cut through to cross the A530 into a lane to Sound. It was wooded here, and shady. I stopped at an entrance with a sign for Suddenstrike and sat on a shaded rock for a drink. I’d hoped to do 50 or 60 miles today but the way the temperature was rising I decided to just go to Wrenbury and see how I felt.
I continued through Wrenbury Heath and was soon in Wrenbury.
I spotted a shady bench opposite Wrenbury Primary School and took another cooling break. Then I pressed on to the place where the road meets the Llangollen Canal at a bascule bridge. I turned on to the towpath and sat on another shady bench. I could see that the road straight on from the bridge to the A49 and Cholmondeley Castle had road closed signs, starting today, though the road that branched left after the bridge was clear.
If not for the heat, I would have seen the road closed signs as a challenge, with the bonus of a traffic free ride. I didn’t take it up today, but since the closure is for a couple of weeks I hope to come back another day when it’s cooler. Meanwhile I took some photos and set off back the way I’d come.
After a short time a SUV full of girls pulled alongside and one of them called, “Hey! Wanna race!” to an accompaniment of giggles. “No”, I replied, “But I’d appreciate some air conditioning!”
“Have a nice ride!” Was the response, as they zoomed off.
The wind that I’d been riding into must have been stronger than I’d realised as together with the downward trend in the direction towards Nantwich it made for easy going. The drawback was that there was no cooling effect running downwind and the shady patches were all the more precious. The sky had been a relentless blue all day.
There were a couple of dips in the vicinity of Ravensmoor and I gave it some of my diminishing stock of beans in order to get up the other side. My temperature rose sharply but I was soon at the steep canal bridge where the road comes into Nantwich and I was able to freewheel for a shady half a mile or so on the other side as compensation.
Left into Welsh Row, right at some lights then left into Welshman’s Lane. Intensely hot between the shady spots under trees. I stopped in a well shaded field entrance for an unpleasantly warm glug of water before pressing on to the Chester-Wrexham road.
Traffic was non stop so I went for the signposted cycle crossing rather than brave the charge across two lanes into Wettenhall Road. An obliging motorist towing a trailer waved me across so I followed the pavement cycle lane round into Wettenhall Road. Making the most of the following breeze on the subsequent smooth surface, down the dip at Poole Bridge to stop most of the way up the other side in a shady spot for another tepid glug of water.
A gentle climb followed, just about balanced out by the tailwind. A motorcyclist came the other way with his helmet on his arm, riding a vintage Honda CD185 or CD200. Obviously too hot for him, too!
I turned in to Wettenhall Marina for another break, this time a full fat Coke out of the chiller. I sat at a picnic table under a parasol. I noticed that the sunlight was throwing intense shadows on the old worn steps of the lock on the other side of the road bridge so took a few shots to try to capture them.
Since the staff were beginning to put away the signs and parasols I gathered myself together for the last few miles to home.
Once over the canal bridge and under the railway bridge it was fairly plain sailing with the wind assistance. The potholes seemed even worse on the way back I wondered if the heat had made some difference to the air pressure in the 40mm tyres giving a harder ride. I wasn’t about to mess with the Presta valves now that I was nearly home.
A tall rider hurtled past. He had time to say, “That looks like a comfortable ride” and I had time to say, “It is” just before I crashed through another pothole. The intense sunlight made it hard to see the blighters under the trees with shades on, and it was uncomfortable to ride without them.
I recently thought I’d found a solution in the form of flip up sunspecs which clip on to your glasses. I didn’t think they were still available. Very 1970s. Cheap and cheerful, though those craters can still catch you out.
A little further on, I saw a cyclist in the distance. Initially thinking it was the tall rider who’d passed me setting off again after a break, I realised it was someone else. As I slowly caught up, I thought it might be someone who’d been even more wrung out by the heat than me. This gave me something to think about as I got closer to him just before Darnhall bridge. I actually got past near the top of the climb on the other side, realising that it was quite a young club rider in all the gear. Oh well.
I expected him to come past on the slight downhill on the other side but he turned right at the next junction.
I'd seen quite a few cyclists out and about today, less this afternoon. but this was the only one I'd actually overtaken.
Arriving at my back gate I felt like a radiator and I spent some time spread out on the living room settee under the ceiling fan before I felt up to getting my stuff in. I definitely don’t do heat. Although I've just realised that it's a metric half century, which is some consolation.
Distance 32.93. Max speed 26.9 mph. Average Speed 8.1 mph. According to Cateye Velo 7
Ascent 569 ft. According to Bikehike
