Your ride today....

[robjh]

A delayed report from this Wednesday. The weather was promising to be pretty good for late October, and it being the last week of summer time I set out for what may be one of the last long day rides of the year, from home (near Cambridge) to Melton Mowbray where I could catch an evening train home.
I headed out through St Neots, and along the old A45 (now B645) to Kimbolton where I had café break #1 at 36 miles. Then on to Thrapston, and a look at the Eleanor Cross at Geddington at mile 56. It was all fairly flat to here, but got gradually lumpier as I turned northwards, and positively hilly in the lovely east Leicestershire countryside around Hallaton. Just off the A47 at Tugby, and at mile 76 for me, lies Café Ventoux which bills itself as a cyclists' café, though at 3pm this afternoon I was almost the only one there. Nice pea soup though. By this time there was real warmth in the sun, but the temperature dropped quickly again by the time I left. I looked round the iron age hill fort on Burrough Hill, and descended finally to Melton Mowbray on a slightly roundabout route via Saxby to make it up to 100 miles. Sadly the pie shops had closed by the time I got into Melton, but I found one coffee shop still open, and caught my 18.35 train home. A very good day.

Geddington, the Eleanor Cross ; signpost to Café Ventoux

Tilton-on-the-Hill ; John o'Gaunt disused railway viaduct

Burrough Hill - the hill fort, and ridge and furrow in late afternoon light

 

[13 rider]

A delayed report from this Wednesday. The weather was promising to be pretty good for late October, and it being the last week of summer time I set out for what may be one of the last long day rides of the year, from home (near Cambridge) to Melton Mowbray where I could catch an evening train home.
I headed out through St Neots, and along the old A45 (now B645) to Kimbolton where I had café break #1 at 36 miles. Then on to Thrapston, and a look at the Eleanor Cross at Geddington at mile 56. It was all fairly flat to here, but got gradually lumpier as I turned northwards, and positively hilly in the lovely east Leicestershire countryside around Hallaton. Just off the A47 at Tugby, and at mile 76 for me, lies Café Ventoux which bills itself as a cyclists' café, though at 3pm this afternoon I was almost the only one there. Nice pea soup though. By this time there was real warmth in the sun, but the temperature dropped quickly again by the time I left. I looked round the iron age hill fort on Burrough Hill, and descended finally to Melton Mowbray on a slightly roundabout route via Saxby to make it up to 100 miles. Sadly the pie shops had closed by the time I got into Melton, but I found one coffee shop still open, and caught my 18.35 train home. A very good day.

Geddington, the Eleanor Cross ; signpost to Café Ventoux
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Tilton-on-the-Hill ; John o'Gaunt disused railway viaduct
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Burrough Hill - the hill fort, and ridge and furrow in late afternoon light
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Some nice rolling Leicestershire terrain there . Down Burrough hill is a nice descent looks a lovely ride. Did you look at the expensive Boardman bikes in Ventoux

 

[robjh]

Some nice rolling Leicestershire terrain there . Down Burrough hill is a nice descent looks a lovely ride. Did you look at the expensive Boardman bikes in Ventoux

I had a quick look in the shop - those prices were certainly 'aspirational'

Never been to Ventoux before - in fact I only found it was there when googling some routes the night before - but I love that east Leicestershire/Rutland area, some good little climbs and great scenery.

 

[Buck]

I’d not been out since the 30th September until this week as very busy at work and no free weekends but being on holiday this week (Buck Jrs and Mrs Buck all on school holidays) I was keen to end the cycling drought and had ambitiously aimed for three rides this week.

I managed a ride out on Tuesday to blow away the cobwebs with just shy of 17 miles on one of my regular routes https://www.strava.com/activities/1244661649. The strong winds made certain that there were no cobwebs left!

On Wednesday we all went on a family ride around Howden and Derwent reservoirs -a lovely family ride and we even had a little sunshine but it definitely felt autumnal. https://www.strava.com/activities/1246632760

Today the weather looked stunning but it certainly felt chilly first thing so I decided I’d go out for a lunchtime ride. As it was still chilly when I set off I braved the shorts but did wear my new Perfetto (aka Gabba) jacket - great bit of kit and I was just right temperature wise for all of the ride.

I set off through Stonesman’s wood with a quick descent then a short but steep climb into Stocksmoor before heading down through Fulstone and then into New Mill before riding into Honley. Lots of good driving and safe passing on this relatively busy road made it a nice section of the ride.

A double left at the lights had me heading back on myself but this time on the Holmfirth Road and once through the queue of cars in the centre of the village I was heading towards Holme Moss but took the turning for Acre Lane and after a short ramp I was heading up the hill on the opposite side of the valley with great views across to Holme Moss and Digley reservoir.

The climb continued and a right turn took me up the hill and then the descent down past Winscar reservoir. As I crested the hill, for some reason a couple of cyclists set off from a lay-by on the right and then “loitered” in the road almost as though they hadn’t seen me. I had to swerve around them but bit my tongue and carried on.

At Dunford Bridge I took the left turn and up to Carlecotes stopping at the bench at the top for a drink and snack bar and to take in the views. It appeared a bit hazy here as they were burning off the heather across the valley.

Recharged I went through Millhouse Green and to Penistone lights. They’d recently resurfaced a good part of the road so it was a smooth ride until I got within a few hundred yards of the lights where the road was still planed with exposed ironworks. The guy in the Defender followed me all the way to the lights and didn’t try and overtake which was great and deserved a wave of thanks as I turned left up the hill past Penistone grammar school.

A headwind up Horn Lane made it harder work before taking the road home up Broadstone. I decided to go down Piper Wells which had also recently been resurfaced but again the last section was still unsurfaced and was a little treacherous even at low speed.

A final push on and then down into the village, passing my second to last junction in the village itself (not a busy road) when an old man in his car just pulled out of the junction across my path. Luckily low speed and my sixth sense meant I could go around the back of him but not before a shout and arm wave at him -the last I saw was his wife cringing then telling him off for this. I was safely home a couple of minutes later.

27.7 miles and 2283ft of climbing

https://www.strava.com/activities/1249060947

 

[cosmicbike]

Thanks for all the well-wishers.

2 broken ribs. Just rest. Also have to go back for Shadow on lung to be investigated.

Hope you fix quickly.

 

[johnnyb47]

A pleasant ride out tonight. It was a bit cool but the roads were deserted and the sky was clear with some amazing views of the stars above. The best thing though, was seeing a barn owl fly right in front of me. It then flew adjacent to me in the field and no more than 20 feet away. After a day of computers and paperwork at work, it was really nice to get back to nature and unwind seeing the world in its true light :-) :-)

 

[Dave 123]

That's bad news @Stonechat . I hope the ribs don't give you too much grief.
Get well soon!

 

[delb0y]

Day of jobs to do today, so I nipped out before dawn for a quick hour or so. In fact I did exactly the same ride as last week as I'm determined to nail the various hills that have beaten me this year, and I wasn't happy with last week's score draw against Portway. The good news is that this morning I sailed (*) up it. Well chuffed. I also hit 42.5 mph coming down Horsepools hill. Which was scary and about as fast as I care to go, can go, or ever have gone. But it just felt right to give it a go this morning. So an excellent ride.

(*) Well, when I say sailed...

 

[delb0y]

Thanks for all the well-wishers.

2 broken ribs. Just rest. Also have to go back for Shadow on lung to be investigated.

Hope you mend quick and that the shadow is nothing untoward. Fingers crossed for you!

 

[Dave 123]

This time last week I was riding round a balmy Menorca, today was slightly different! We were dressed up head to toe for our first tandem ride in 3 weeks. Just a trip out to Waresley GC. On the way we saw a cracking buzzard just above us and a few sheep and cows.
26 miles, a nice tailwind on the way home

https://www.strava.com/activities/1250213074

Next stop, the Olympic velodrome for a bit of 6 day fun!

 

[Mike_P]

What is about getting a bike security marked? Got visited by the Collarbone Devil on the way home when I got the road bike marked at Easter and finally got the Hybrid marked today only to get visited by the puncture fairy on the way home For the record a very unmassive 4.9 miles (before it was bike push home time) with 339ft of the uphill stuff including one nasty that nearly constantly varies between flat and 18 percent and I can never work out what is/are the best gears for it

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I met Andy G as arranged in Ludlow. Time for a ride through the Shropshire hills to Montgomery. As we looped over the racecourse and on for Craven Arms we had some lovely sunshine. By the time we had climbed up and up by Edgton the grey stuff was moving in and the temperature was dropping. We cracked on over Plowden for Asterton where we admired the climb - 25% over 1 km. Our route didn't go over that today. Instead we took to the gorgeous beech woods above the River Onny. Superb sight in their green, yellow, gold and brown autumnal livery. Our route followed the border of England with Wales for quite a way. We dipped in and out of each a few times. The westerly wind had been rising so when we eventually turned at Chirbury for Montgomery we rode into the teeth of it. Now that was tough.

Our chosen cafe provided plenty of tea with our baked spuds and beans. Just the antidote for that head wind. We took to a long climb to Bishop's Moat to drop away to Clun. Then followed another tough climb before we could run along a super valley of the River Redlake. We grabbed another valley, this time of the Teme before the final climb through the Mortimer Forest and a drop back to Ludlow.

What a good ride out through the hills of Shropshire. The weather was a tad windier, greyer and colder than we'd thought would be the case but we did get some snatches of sun. Overall it was a lovely ride in the autumnal lanes. 71 smiles

 

[PeteXXX]

A bit late, as usual, but here's last Thursdays ride..

I had the chance, on my day off, for a decent length ride, and I ride I had to do!! .. I'd txt a mate with a suggested route, but he said he wanted to visit Gorilla bikes' new(ish) shop in Oundle. Sounded good to me, though their high end custom build bikes are beyond my budget
Still, a quid for a decent coffee made it worth the 25 mile ride there

They do do some very pretty frames there!

Custom built bog roll holders as well...

Sadly, there was nowhere to park or secure our bikes at or in the shop as, according to the owner, 'Not many people actually ride to the shop'!!

Still, at least we did.. Funny old world, this cycling thing..

Fortunately, I managed to chain my bike up close by..

The highlight of the ride was, along a single track lane, when a bird of prey, standing in the road and consuming its meal, saw us approaching and decide to leave.. It took off and flew at ground level, for a few hundred yards, about 10 feet in front of me before swerving left and skywards!
It was one of those rare moments that I wished I'd had my video running

With no cafe stops apart from the Gorilla shop, we aimed home on almost the same route, with a few diversions.

Home, with a Guinness for sustenance, on just under 66 miles.
My reason a ride of exactly 65 miles? It was the day before my 65th birthday..

https://www.strava.com/activities/1247808047

 

[Dave 123]

Until today we were Boris bike virgins.
She's now got the 6 day bug and wants to get in there herself

But not before she drops her palmares off at a prospective employer

Once she's cleaned up in cycling she's off to play in the Premiership

She'll get right to the top too...

But she might just be due for an early bath!

More smiles than miles!

 

[Jon George]

Whilst at Essex University at the beginning of the '80s, as a Suffolk boi I was pleased to see the film Akenfield - a film by the late Peter Hall set in Suffolk and with parts played by locals. I recently acquired a DVD of this for my birthday and decided to track down as many of the locations as I could using pedal power.
And today seemed perfect!
This at Charsfield (where Ronald Blythe, the author of the book and 'vicar' in the film lived/lives)

And this, a little way up the road, inside of Hoo Church - a more tranquil and wonderfully 'still' and peaceful place I doubt you could ever find.

I also sneaked in a point for the 50km challenge and am now off down the pub!