Oldhippy
Cynical idealist
Fabulous last photo @Andy in Germany we can only dream of the day we get infrastructure like that in the UK.
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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Completely agree, might suggest a more subdued colour though!
Elybazza61
Guru
Very late posting this but second 100k of the year done on Wednesday on a partially rolling route in to West Suffolk.
Had planned to do longer but a combination of roadworks, what I thought was a through road but was signed as a Private road and a missed turning kept it to the 100k.
Got a bit warm by the end so a nice double scoop cone of vanilla gelato was consumed at the end.
St Stephens Church in Higham.
Had planned to do longer but a combination of roadworks, what I thought was a through road but was signed as a Private road and a missed turning kept it to the 100k.
Got a bit warm by the end so a nice double scoop cone of vanilla gelato was consumed at the end.
St Stephens Church in Higham.
Or all of us cyclists could move to Germany! I wonder if there is room?
figbat
Former slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
A few of our regular Wednesday night cycling group set out for a two day ride today. Mostly off-road, on MTBs. Tough day but ended with decent beer and pizza in Spire and Spoke in Watlington. Ride back home tomorrow.
There are some great trails in the woods along the way, along with some spicy climbs. The weather was just about perfect - mostly sunny, cooling breeze, dry.
There are some great trails in the woods along the way, along with some spicy climbs. The weather was just about perfect - mostly sunny, cooling breeze, dry.
Windy! So much so I nearly went for a walk instead but as Mrs G wanted to garden I set off on two wheels. It was a strong southwesterly, and living near the coast makes it hard to avoid coming home into a headwind, so I struck out in a southerly direction and then picked up a route to the west and the Bowland fells. I found a route through Dolphinholme out to Abbeystead and then along the trough of Bowland Road. It was in Abbeystead that my first encounter the Sportif event that was sharing many of the roads I had planned, although in the opposite direction. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a sportif and was pleased to note several hundred riders taking part despite the weather. From Dunsop Bridge there was no choice but to plough into a headwind past the Wild boar park to chipping. I enjoyed an excellent bacon sandwich before more headwinds to Garstang, after which, conditions became more favourably on the way home, especially along the Lune estuary path. Lots of egrets on the estuary but my favourite was a goldcrest in a hedge by the path. 85 km with 1107 m of climbing.
Not a good day for pictures but here’s one of the road toward Bowland and one by the Lune estuary at Glasson
Not a good day for pictures but here’s one of the road toward Bowland and one by the Lune estuary at Glasson
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Once again I haven't been logged in for a while. With various things going on I haven't had much time to ride apart from commuting. These are the ones I have got in:
31st of March. Afternoon: I was supposed to be working on a bike but it was clear that the parts I was expecting weren't going to arrive that day. The weather was too good to waste so I grabbed the knockabout bike (I wanted to test an adjustment I'd made) and went to make the most of it.
Heading over Lyth Hill to start it wasn't very busy. The road through Little Lyth is particularly bad at the moment as it's well overdue for resurfacing and people have been using it as a rat run while the A49 was being resurfaced. That new surface on the main road was great for the short time I was on it then I headed into Condover and along Lyons Lane. I wasn't sure what direction the wind was actually coming at the start of this ride. It felt like it was against me at the start of Lyons Lane then like it was helping as I got about half way along it.
Getting to Cross Houses I unexpectedly found the road to Atcham closed. The signs said the closure was at the Atcham end which I thought would be annoyingly far to go and have to turn back if I wasn't able to walk the bike through the closure. I decided to ride the A458 for a short stretch then take Chilton Farm Lane instead, which went fine but a few vehicles were doing the same from the other end. The wind seemed to hinder a bit to Upton Magna. I was surprised not to see any cyclists at the cafe at The Haughmond but I've since learned that the cafe has been shut. Surprising as it always seemed to have people there.
I had a proper headwind to Uffington but the old canal path is relatively sheltered, which gave a little respite. It was busy along here with walkers and a few cyclists, plus a youngster on a motorbike.
He was at least going very slowly.
Sydney Avenue was popular this time and on seeing the Weir Cafe open I could almost have been tempted to have a stop, however any thoughts about that quickly disappeared on seeing that an argument was breaking among a group of people at their entrance.
The riverside path after the weir was even busier than the paths I'd been on so far so I made steady progress to The Quarry which was about as busy as you'd expect for the Easter holidays. I decided to make a loop of it here by climbing up to St. Chad's Terrace then dropping down to the river again at Victoria Quay before heading back towards the Quarry. It was pretty busy this end and I didn't fancy weaving my way through the crowds again so I crossed Porthill Bridge and took to the signed cycle routes to Roman Road and then back towards home.
22.6 miles at 13mph average. Strava states 1005 feet of climbing. I really needed that ride. The Hawk felt pretty good after the adjustment and I set a couple of personal bests despite this being my heavy, slow bike.
Looking up the drive at Chilton Grove.
A couple of views from the old bridge at Atcham.
Heading along the riverside path towards the English Bridge.
Lots of folk enjoying the day at The Boathouse.
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31st of March. Evening: Gav had invited me out of a ride and I was at the meeting point with the Raleigh in good time, having made another small adjustment to the new Brooks C17 on the way down. We set off at a good brisk pace through Meole Brace to Hook A Gate and Annscroft. The pace did allow us to chat when the traffic allowed and with the time of the evening it was there was plenty of traffic about. Mostly well behaved, although a few could have been a bit more courteous.
At Plealey, Gav took me along a lane I haven't cycled before, followed by a short stretch of the main road which I drive fairly regularly but, again, have never cycled before. There is an electric sign that warns drivers of overheight vehicles to turn left at the next junction to avoid a low bridge and it made me snort with laughter when we set it off.
We were going that way anyway and back onto roads I know well. I had to warn Gav about the state of the road to Nox as it has really deteriorated over the winter and there are numerous deep potholes, including one that takes up about half of the width of the road. Fortunately there wasn't any traffic at that point so we could use the whole width of the road to avoid it.
The climb out of Nox is a pull as always, not helped by having to make room for 3 tractors. We were then onto some quieter lanes for a bit before looping round onto the road for Cruckton then Hanwood, picking up the tailwind that we'd been hoping for. The big climb of the trip up Pound Lane went pretty well, although I was feeling the legs a little bit from the earlier ride. We kept the wind at our backs to Exford's Green and Stapleton and had an easy crossing of the A49.
We had a good run into Condover despite it feeling like we had a headwind and Lyons Lane was an easy cruise with hardly any traffic this time - not even on the steep bit where we seem to meet a car most trips. There was a bit more traffic on the way to Weeping Cross, but not enough to impede our progress much.
By the time I parted from Gav I was running out of energy a bit. Knowing that there was pizza to look forward to kept me going but I was definitely flagging in the last couple of miles.
28.5 miles at 13.6 mph average. 1316 feet of climbing showing for this one. A great ride in good company once again and nice to get home in the light on an evening ride for the first time this season.
No pictures from this one.
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4th of April: Gav and I had planned a ride in the morning to hopefully avoid the worst of the winds from Storm Dave. I chose the Raleigh again, Gav came over to me for about 9.30 and we set off to Condover, Longnor, Hollyhurst and Church Stretton. The roads were pretty quiet on the way out and we didn't see our first cyclist until Longnor. After that there were a handful more and the motor traffic also started to increase once we joined the road through All Stretton as people headed for Carding Mill Valley.
When we reached Church Stretton we found the Hollybush Cafe doing a good trade but not too busy to fit us in. I enjoyed a ham and cheese panini and the coffee was alright (instant as their coffee machine was on the blink).
When we came to head back the wind had increased and it had got a bit colder than when we'd arrived. I needed to put on an extra layer before we'd got back to Hollyhurst. That tailwind made it a pretty good ride back, cruising at 18-20mph for long stretches. We have both set a few new personal bests on Strava. There was more traffic about on the way back, particularly between Longnor and Acton Burnell. The dip at Pitchford should have been a good fast bit with the wind helping but the road surface is getting quite bad now. The dip at Cantlop made up for that though, getting over 30 on the descent. There was a scrambling event going on in one of the fields just after the brook, which was a bit noisy.
The good run continued to Weeping Cross but I had to turn back into the wind after parting from Gav which slowed things down again.
A tad over 29 miles by the time I got back as 13.8 mph average. 1231 feet of climbing. Another good ride. No photos for this one either.
31st of March. Afternoon: I was supposed to be working on a bike but it was clear that the parts I was expecting weren't going to arrive that day. The weather was too good to waste so I grabbed the knockabout bike (I wanted to test an adjustment I'd made) and went to make the most of it.
Heading over Lyth Hill to start it wasn't very busy. The road through Little Lyth is particularly bad at the moment as it's well overdue for resurfacing and people have been using it as a rat run while the A49 was being resurfaced. That new surface on the main road was great for the short time I was on it then I headed into Condover and along Lyons Lane. I wasn't sure what direction the wind was actually coming at the start of this ride. It felt like it was against me at the start of Lyons Lane then like it was helping as I got about half way along it.
Getting to Cross Houses I unexpectedly found the road to Atcham closed. The signs said the closure was at the Atcham end which I thought would be annoyingly far to go and have to turn back if I wasn't able to walk the bike through the closure. I decided to ride the A458 for a short stretch then take Chilton Farm Lane instead, which went fine but a few vehicles were doing the same from the other end. The wind seemed to hinder a bit to Upton Magna. I was surprised not to see any cyclists at the cafe at The Haughmond but I've since learned that the cafe has been shut. Surprising as it always seemed to have people there.
I had a proper headwind to Uffington but the old canal path is relatively sheltered, which gave a little respite. It was busy along here with walkers and a few cyclists, plus a youngster on a motorbike.
He was at least going very slowly.Sydney Avenue was popular this time and on seeing the Weir Cafe open I could almost have been tempted to have a stop, however any thoughts about that quickly disappeared on seeing that an argument was breaking among a group of people at their entrance.
The riverside path after the weir was even busier than the paths I'd been on so far so I made steady progress to The Quarry which was about as busy as you'd expect for the Easter holidays. I decided to make a loop of it here by climbing up to St. Chad's Terrace then dropping down to the river again at Victoria Quay before heading back towards the Quarry. It was pretty busy this end and I didn't fancy weaving my way through the crowds again so I crossed Porthill Bridge and took to the signed cycle routes to Roman Road and then back towards home.
22.6 miles at 13mph average. Strava states 1005 feet of climbing. I really needed that ride. The Hawk felt pretty good after the adjustment and I set a couple of personal bests despite this being my heavy, slow bike.
Looking up the drive at Chilton Grove.
A couple of views from the old bridge at Atcham.
Heading along the riverside path towards the English Bridge.
Lots of folk enjoying the day at The Boathouse.
----------------------------------------------------------------
31st of March. Evening: Gav had invited me out of a ride and I was at the meeting point with the Raleigh in good time, having made another small adjustment to the new Brooks C17 on the way down. We set off at a good brisk pace through Meole Brace to Hook A Gate and Annscroft. The pace did allow us to chat when the traffic allowed and with the time of the evening it was there was plenty of traffic about. Mostly well behaved, although a few could have been a bit more courteous.
At Plealey, Gav took me along a lane I haven't cycled before, followed by a short stretch of the main road which I drive fairly regularly but, again, have never cycled before. There is an electric sign that warns drivers of overheight vehicles to turn left at the next junction to avoid a low bridge and it made me snort with laughter when we set it off.
We were going that way anyway and back onto roads I know well. I had to warn Gav about the state of the road to Nox as it has really deteriorated over the winter and there are numerous deep potholes, including one that takes up about half of the width of the road. Fortunately there wasn't any traffic at that point so we could use the whole width of the road to avoid it.The climb out of Nox is a pull as always, not helped by having to make room for 3 tractors. We were then onto some quieter lanes for a bit before looping round onto the road for Cruckton then Hanwood, picking up the tailwind that we'd been hoping for. The big climb of the trip up Pound Lane went pretty well, although I was feeling the legs a little bit from the earlier ride. We kept the wind at our backs to Exford's Green and Stapleton and had an easy crossing of the A49.
We had a good run into Condover despite it feeling like we had a headwind and Lyons Lane was an easy cruise with hardly any traffic this time - not even on the steep bit where we seem to meet a car most trips. There was a bit more traffic on the way to Weeping Cross, but not enough to impede our progress much.
By the time I parted from Gav I was running out of energy a bit. Knowing that there was pizza to look forward to kept me going but I was definitely flagging in the last couple of miles.
28.5 miles at 13.6 mph average. 1316 feet of climbing showing for this one. A great ride in good company once again and nice to get home in the light on an evening ride for the first time this season.
No pictures from this one.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4th of April: Gav and I had planned a ride in the morning to hopefully avoid the worst of the winds from Storm Dave. I chose the Raleigh again, Gav came over to me for about 9.30 and we set off to Condover, Longnor, Hollyhurst and Church Stretton. The roads were pretty quiet on the way out and we didn't see our first cyclist until Longnor. After that there were a handful more and the motor traffic also started to increase once we joined the road through All Stretton as people headed for Carding Mill Valley.
When we reached Church Stretton we found the Hollybush Cafe doing a good trade but not too busy to fit us in. I enjoyed a ham and cheese panini and the coffee was alright (instant as their coffee machine was on the blink).
When we came to head back the wind had increased and it had got a bit colder than when we'd arrived. I needed to put on an extra layer before we'd got back to Hollyhurst. That tailwind made it a pretty good ride back, cruising at 18-20mph for long stretches. We have both set a few new personal bests on Strava. There was more traffic about on the way back, particularly between Longnor and Acton Burnell. The dip at Pitchford should have been a good fast bit with the wind helping but the road surface is getting quite bad now. The dip at Cantlop made up for that though, getting over 30 on the descent. There was a scrambling event going on in one of the fields just after the brook, which was a bit noisy.
The good run continued to Weeping Cross but I had to turn back into the wind after parting from Gav which slowed things down again.
A tad over 29 miles by the time I got back as 13.8 mph average. 1231 feet of climbing. Another good ride. No photos for this one either.
Andy in Germany
Legendary Member
- Location
- Rottenburg am Neckar
This seems to be the Tübingen colour scheme for cycle lanes. It does mean they are visible, possibly from space.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Today's group ride was pretty easy as we merged the slower social ride into our ride rather than leaving the two or three that showed up for that on their own in the high winds and in the fashion of todays
we had quite a few p'ture stops.
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Über Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
Been feeling dreadfully fatigued since race #2 in yesterday's Tiny Races on the turbo, where my heart hit 185bpm for the first time in ages during a sprint, to just miss a rare podium spot. Slept far too much overnight, but eventually kicked myself out of the door late afternoon for ~75mins.
Loads of motor assist on the ebike, but nice to get out in the breezy sunshine on the flatter more local lanes, hopefully will feel more human tomorrow!
Loads of motor assist on the ebike, but nice to get out in the breezy sunshine on the flatter more local lanes, hopefully will feel more human tomorrow!
