Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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Today I was booked to do an annual Charnwod forest charity ride forecast in the week was wet but slowly improved . Woke this morning to overcast but dry checked BBC weather app rain at 12 might stay dry . Target milage for the day was an metric century So an extended route to the start 5 miles away from home became 10.5 miles .All registered and number pinned on . Off in the second wave started steady when two young guys (25ish ) past me and but only slowly dropped me but stayed in sight .On the the first climb of the day Beacon hill managed a pr up it and cut the gap to the youngsters by half . On to Priory lane 2 climbs and by the top of the second I've reeled them in . On to the descent of Polly Botts lane where they were a bit hesitant but knowing the road well I flew past them . As I turned right the Marshall said I was first on the road . The two guys ( Ben and Ed I found out ) caught up and the mini peleton was formed . One more climb up Sharpley hill and were now flying taking turns on the front. Swithland back to Rothley and on to the 30 mile slightly flatter loop . Cossington and up Humble lane and despite the three of us pressing on we were dropped by quite an elderly gentleman with the least aero shirt I ever seen 
. Kudos to him
we caught and past him into Ratcliffe but despite us doing 20 mph he hung on the back of the pack. Thrussington ,Hoby we went left towards Ragdale he went straight on .I hope I'm that fit at that age . Long drag of a climb into Ragdale quick drop then the last big climb of the day out of Ragdale which is quite steep .With all the majors climbs done it's a thrash to the finish .Walton on the wolds ,Barrow ,Mountsorrel ,Quorn ,Woodhouse ,Swithland were we start passing riders doing the 20 mile loop Cropston ,Rothley .On the last incline before Rothley I put an effort in drop the others and keep a lead to the finish so first one round 
. We had done the 48.6 miles at an average of 18.9 mph 
a victory for the 52 year old over 2 whipper snappers and for Cyclechat as I proudly wore my Jersey ( but remember it's not a race ). The weather is now was glorious 
so much for the forecast . Free homemade cakes were consumed 
while we relaxed chatting away . Still needed a few miles to make the metric ton . Slightly extended route home and done 66.1 miles in 3.35.08 at 18.4 mph .
. Kudos to him we caught and past him into Ratcliffe but despite us doing 20 mph he hung on the back of the pack. Thrussington ,Hoby we went left towards Ragdale he went straight on .I hope I'm that fit at that age . Long drag of a climb into Ragdale quick drop then the last big climb of the day out of Ragdale which is quite steep .With all the majors climbs done it's a thrash to the finish .Walton on the wolds ,Barrow ,Mountsorrel ,Quorn ,Woodhouse ,Swithland were we start passing riders doing the 20 mile loop Cropston ,Rothley .On the last incline before Rothley I put an effort in drop the others and keep a lead to the finish so first one round . We had done the 48.6 miles at an average of 18.9 mph a victory for the 52 year old over 2 whipper snappers and for Cyclechat as I proudly wore my Jersey ( but remember it's not a race ). The weather is now was glorious so much for the forecast . Free homemade cakes were consumed while we relaxed chatting away . Still needed a few miles to make the metric ton . Slightly extended route home and done 66.1 miles in 3.35.08 at 18.4 mph .
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- Location
- Egham
After more smashing off of bathroom tiles yesterday (and no ride), today was about making up lost miles. There's an annoying Explorer square which I haven't nabbed yet as it sits on a rather busy part of the A322, and the only other way of getting it would be to pretend to play golf. Since I can't hit a ball for love nor money, the A322 it was
Caught it at a good time, and though it's a national speed limit dual carriageway, most of the cars seemed to be going slower and gave me loads of space, even so I was relieved to get off it at The Lookout where all the grubby MTB types were getting ready for the trails
I rather enjoy doing them myself, but the lad had other plans...
Along Nine Mile Ride, new to me, won't do it again, horrible road surface made my hands hurt. Dropped down to Camberley via Crowthorn and Yately.
Now I reckon it's a teenage thing. My lad asked what time I'd be back today, and I said maybe 10, 10:30 ish. Which explains why he texts me at Camberley saying he's arranged to meet his mates at 10. And I have to ride there with him. Head down, bum up time, and I made good pace back along the A30 then home via Windlesham, passing @Stonechat and the HDW on their ride out as I came back through Thorpe village.
Lad collected, up Egham Hill, lad dropped off. Round for a cuppa with Dad and home on 57 miles, more than intended but no complaints from me. Took the Yukon with mudguards following yesterdays rain, but TBH would have been fine without as the roads were mostly dry.
Caught it at a good time, and though it's a national speed limit dual carriageway, most of the cars seemed to be going slower and gave me loads of space, even so I was relieved to get off it at The Lookout where all the grubby MTB types were getting ready for the trails I rather enjoy doing them myself, but the lad had other plans...Along Nine Mile Ride, new to me, won't do it again, horrible road surface made my hands hurt. Dropped down to Camberley via Crowthorn and Yately.
Now I reckon it's a teenage thing. My lad asked what time I'd be back today, and I said maybe 10, 10:30 ish. Which explains why he texts me at Camberley saying he's arranged to meet his mates at 10. And I have to ride there with him. Head down, bum up time, and I made good pace back along the A30 then home via Windlesham, passing @Stonechat and the HDW on their ride out as I came back through Thorpe village.
Lad collected, up Egham Hill, lad dropped off. Round for a cuppa with Dad and home on 57 miles, more than intended but no complaints from me. Took the Yukon with mudguards following yesterdays rain, but TBH would have been fine without as the roads were mostly dry.
Oooh, maybe I did the spoiler thing right.
hopefully you will be back 
soon
NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
Looked at the forecast for today before turning in last night - pretty much rain right through to late afternoon, so I set the alarm for a bit later.
Woke up this morning to the sun bursting through the clouds and by the time I'd sorted myself out and had some breakfast it was blue skies all round and barely a cloud in sight...
So it would have been rude not to go for a ride, even if my legs were grumbling a bit after yesterday. Despite the sun shining it was still a bit cool, so I added arm warmers to the shorts and s/s top and set off up Coal Road (again). onto the A58 and having enjoyed it so much yesterday stayed on from Red Hall, all the way through Scarcroft and Bardsey to Collingham - virtually all downhill and with the roads quiet all good fun. I'm not sure I'd want to ride it at peak times during the week, but it's been difficult to fault this weekend.
And the advantage of all the downhilliness was an average speed of 28mph over the mile between Scarcroft and Bardsey
Into Collingham and across the bridge to Linton for the usual ups and downs, then into Wetherby and down to the river for a breather and a couple of photos:
It had warmed up a bit, so arm warmers off and up that sharp incline out of the car park and across the A1(M) bridge on Walton Road, assisted by the wind, then down to Thorp Arch and across the bridge to Boston Spa where a left / right on Main Street saw me heading for Clifford.
Through there and down the hill to Bramham, then up and across the A1(M) bridge and the long way round to Thorner via Milner Lane.
The rapid descent into the village and along Main Street, deciding to tackle Van Zyl Hill instead of the usual route via Carr Lane.
Eventually I reached the top and turned onto Skeltons Lane where I got the only stupid pass of the day from a twit in a Transit , immediately followed by an even closer pass from the caravan they were towing...it was close enough that I could have opened the door and gone in to make a cup of tea - maybe I do need to buy a camera...
Anyway, idiot avoided, it was onto Coal Road and then local roads down to home.
23.58 miles (37.95km) in 1h 46m at an average of 13.2mph with 1,138ft climbed.
One fool aside, another great ride and while I wouldn't choose to attempt parts of the route at other times, it's always nice to have something different in the bank. I can't believe how wrong the forecast was for today, but it would have been rude to pass up the chance of a ride in such near perfect weather - long may it continue.
And to end, the map:
Woke up this morning to the sun bursting through the clouds and by the time I'd sorted myself out and had some breakfast it was blue skies all round and barely a cloud in sight...
So it would have been rude not to go for a ride, even if my legs were grumbling a bit after yesterday. Despite the sun shining it was still a bit cool, so I added arm warmers to the shorts and s/s top and set off up Coal Road (again). onto the A58 and having enjoyed it so much yesterday stayed on from Red Hall, all the way through Scarcroft and Bardsey to Collingham - virtually all downhill and with the roads quiet all good fun. I'm not sure I'd want to ride it at peak times during the week, but it's been difficult to fault this weekend.
And the advantage of all the downhilliness was an average speed of 28mph over the mile between Scarcroft and Bardsey
Into Collingham and across the bridge to Linton for the usual ups and downs, then into Wetherby and down to the river for a breather and a couple of photos:
It had warmed up a bit, so arm warmers off and up that sharp incline out of the car park and across the A1(M) bridge on Walton Road, assisted by the wind, then down to Thorp Arch and across the bridge to Boston Spa where a left / right on Main Street saw me heading for Clifford.
Through there and down the hill to Bramham, then up and across the A1(M) bridge and the long way round to Thorner via Milner Lane.
The rapid descent into the village and along Main Street, deciding to tackle Van Zyl Hill instead of the usual route via Carr Lane.
Eventually I reached the top and turned onto Skeltons Lane where I got the only stupid pass of the day from a twit in a Transit , immediately followed by an even closer pass from the caravan they were towing...it was close enough that I could have opened the door and gone in to make a cup of tea - maybe I do need to buy a camera...
Anyway, idiot avoided, it was onto Coal Road and then local roads down to home.
23.58 miles (37.95km) in 1h 46m at an average of 13.2mph with 1,138ft climbed.
One fool aside, another great ride and while I wouldn't choose to attempt parts of the route at other times, it's always nice to have something different in the bank. I can't believe how wrong the forecast was for today, but it would have been rude to pass up the chance of a ride in such near perfect weather - long may it continue.
And to end, the map:
Spiderweb
Not So Special One
- Location
- North Yorkshire
Lovely ride today out to York with cafe stop at Cycle Heaven. First time crossing the River Ouse via Millennium bridge and Home via Acaster Malbis and Bolton Percy.
32.8 miles with an average of 16.2mph.
Biff600
Veteran
Pretty rubbish really, just 21 miles in 1h 10m around the local area, my legs are still aching after yesterdays 30miler on the MTB, so I cut todays road ride short.
I suppose I can't moan too much as it brings this weeks total mileage to 96 miles
I suppose I can't moan too much as it brings this weeks total mileage to 96 miles
Mrs M
Guru
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
First things first, GWS @Old jon.
Beautiful day this morning, but only an hour available for riding, so went for the just over 14 mile loop through Wadborough, Drakes Broughton and the A44 back to Spetchley and the County Hall. Wasn’t feeling all that energetic, so took it easy, or so I thought. When I checked the ride later I was about a minute faster than last time and pb in two segments.
Just over 70 miles so far this month, so looks like a target of 75 to 100 miles per month until the end of summer should be achievable.
Beautiful day this morning, but only an hour available for riding, so went for the just over 14 mile loop through Wadborough, Drakes Broughton and the A44 back to Spetchley and the County Hall. Wasn’t feeling all that energetic, so took it easy, or so I thought. When I checked the ride later I was about a minute faster than last time and pb in two segments.
Just over 70 miles so far this month, so looks like a target of 75 to 100 miles per month until the end of summer should be achievable.
Noodle Legs
Winging it
- Location
- Coalville, Leicestershire
First and foremost, well done to @13 rider and @Lilliburlero on their respective sportive efforts, big miles and averages done by powerful riders
Not to be outdone (on the sportive effort anyhow!) I took part in the annual Tour of the Peak sportive. There were five of us in total- one dropped out- and the plan was for three to do the long one and two of us the medium one. It ended up three on the medium and two on the long!
The weather proved exactly why I never believe weather forecasts- especially the BBC’s “end of the world is nigh”- style ones and the predicted rain thankfully never materialised and gave way to beautiful sunshine and a few clouds!
My plan was very simple- just go the distance! No time for average speeds and all that just survive the course!
Two of the lads shot straight off and that was the last I saw of them, so the remaining three stuck together for a while. Both Rob and Martin are incredibly strong riders and I repeatedly said to them “don’t hold back on my account, get yourselves off” to which they both replied “nah, we’re good”
....until we reached Castleton. A lumpy 10 mile slog had given way to a long descent and their super aero steeds left mine for dust! And just to put a perspective on this I hit 42mph myself on said drop!
Then came major climb no 1, winnats pass. A 2 mile ish 20%er crossing over two cattle grids to mark either end of the segment. Changing my rear cassette to a 30 was a very good choice, and my legs coped well with the new gearing up it. At least until 100 yards or so from the second grid! The tightness in my chest returned and I had to stop for 40-60 seconds to get my breath and so for the second year I was defeated. That said I managed to keep riding for the photographers so it looks like I made it!!
By now Rob and Martin were long gone so I was Billy No Mates through the lumpy roads to the feed station at Macclesfield where I met back up with them. The feed station was very well stocked this time as opposed to last year and so we refuelled and made our way for the second half of the journey. The cat and fiddle was the next major climb and was immediately after the feed station.
I don’t mind admitting I am a hopeless climber however even by my standards this really was a piece of p1ss! It was four or five miles of very gradual ascent and I even got up it in my middle chainring! I kept up with Rob and Martin for the first couple of miles but their climbing prowess soon shone through again and I was left as Billy No Mates for a second time.
What was interesting was that I was overtaken quite early on this climb by some Cheshire club riders only for me to spin past them five miles later! Once that was done it was fairly plain sailing with no more major climbing of note save for one at Monyash and I managed to draft behind a couple of lads to power up it. They were quite pleasant and I ended up sticking with them for the remaining 10 miles which was pretty much all downhill. I crossed the line in 4hrs 43 on my garmin although I was on 61.5 miles so I rode around the car park until I hit exactly 62.14 miles to get my metric century! Official time came in at 5h 21 as they measure total time not moving time. A great day, great ride and great company.
At the end ^
Winnats pass ^
Prepping the bike ^
An incredibly happy young (ish) man ^
https://www.strava.com/activities/1569648749
Check out Tour of the Peak 2018 on Relive! https://www.relive.cc/view/1569648749
Not to be outdone (on the sportive effort anyhow!) I took part in the annual Tour of the Peak sportive. There were five of us in total- one dropped out- and the plan was for three to do the long one and two of us the medium one. It ended up three on the medium and two on the long!
The weather proved exactly why I never believe weather forecasts- especially the BBC’s “end of the world is nigh”- style ones and the predicted rain thankfully never materialised and gave way to beautiful sunshine and a few clouds!
My plan was very simple- just go the distance! No time for average speeds and all that just survive the course!
Two of the lads shot straight off and that was the last I saw of them, so the remaining three stuck together for a while. Both Rob and Martin are incredibly strong riders and I repeatedly said to them “don’t hold back on my account, get yourselves off” to which they both replied “nah, we’re good”
....until we reached Castleton. A lumpy 10 mile slog had given way to a long descent and their super aero steeds left mine for dust! And just to put a perspective on this I hit 42mph myself on said drop!
Then came major climb no 1, winnats pass. A 2 mile ish 20%er crossing over two cattle grids to mark either end of the segment. Changing my rear cassette to a 30 was a very good choice, and my legs coped well with the new gearing up it. At least until 100 yards or so from the second grid! The tightness in my chest returned and I had to stop for 40-60 seconds to get my breath and so for the second year I was defeated. That said I managed to keep riding for the photographers so it looks like I made it!!
By now Rob and Martin were long gone so I was Billy No Mates through the lumpy roads to the feed station at Macclesfield where I met back up with them. The feed station was very well stocked this time as opposed to last year and so we refuelled and made our way for the second half of the journey. The cat and fiddle was the next major climb and was immediately after the feed station.
I don’t mind admitting I am a hopeless climber however even by my standards this really was a piece of p1ss! It was four or five miles of very gradual ascent and I even got up it in my middle chainring! I kept up with Rob and Martin for the first couple of miles but their climbing prowess soon shone through again and I was left as Billy No Mates for a second time.
What was interesting was that I was overtaken quite early on this climb by some Cheshire club riders only for me to spin past them five miles later! Once that was done it was fairly plain sailing with no more major climbing of note save for one at Monyash and I managed to draft behind a couple of lads to power up it. They were quite pleasant and I ended up sticking with them for the remaining 10 miles which was pretty much all downhill. I crossed the line in 4hrs 43 on my garmin although I was on 61.5 miles so I rode around the car park until I hit exactly 62.14 miles to get my metric century! Official time came in at 5h 21 as they measure total time not moving time. A great day, great ride and great company.
At the end ^
Winnats pass ^
Prepping the bike ^
An incredibly happy young (ish) man ^
https://www.strava.com/activities/1569648749
Check out Tour of the Peak 2018 on Relive! https://www.relive.cc/view/1569648749
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Well done Chris with your health issues leading up to the event that's a great effort. Your winter training paid you back todayFirst and foremost, well done to @13 rider and @Lilliburlero on their respective sportive efforts, big miles and averages done by powerful riders
Not to be outdone (on the sportive effort anyhow!) I took part in the annual Tour of the Peak sportive. There were five of us in total- one dropped out- and the plan was for three to do the long one and two of us the medium one. It ended up three on the medium and two on the long!
The weather proved exactly why I never believe weather forecasts- especially the BBC’s “end of the world is nigh”- style ones and the predicted rain thankfully never materialised and gave way to beautiful sunshine and a few clouds!
My plan was very simple- just go the distance! No time for average speeds and all that just survive the course!
Two of the lads shot straight off and that was the last I saw of them, so the remaining three stuck together for a while. Both Rob and Martin are incredibly strong riders and I repeatedly said to them “don’t hold back on my account, get yourselves off” to which they both replied “nah, we’re good”
....until we reached Castleton. A lumpy 10 mile slog had given way to a long descent and their super aero steeds left mine for dust! And just to put a perspective on this I hit 42mph myself on said drop!
Then came major climb no 1, winnats pass. A 2 mile ish 20%er crossing over two cattle grids to mark either end of the segment. Changing my rear cassette to a 30 was a very good choice, and my legs coped well with the new gearing up it. At least until 100 yards or so from the second grid! The tightness in my chest returned and I had to stop for 40-60 seconds to get my breath and so for the second year I was defeated. That said I managed to keep riding for the photographers so it looks like I made it!!
By now Rob and Martin were long gone so I was Billy No Mates through the lumpy roads to the feed station at Macclesfield where I met back up with them. The feed station was very well stocked this time as opposed to last year and so we refuelled and made our way for the second half of the journey. The cat and fiddle was the next major climb and was immediately after the feed station.
I don’t mind admitting I am a hopeless climber however even by my standards this really was a piece of p1ss! It was four or five miles of very gradual ascent and I even got up it in my middle chainring! I kept up with Rob and Martin for the first couple of miles but their climbing prowess soon shone through again and I was left as Billy No Mates for a second time.
What was interesting was that I was overtaken quite early on this climb by some Cheshire club riders only for me to spin past them five miles later! Once that was done it was fairly plain sailing with no more major climbing of note save for one at Monyash and I managed to draft behind a couple of lads to power up it. They were quite pleasant and I ended up sticking with them for the remaining 10 miles which was pretty much all downhill. I crossed the line in 4hrs 43 on my garmin although I was on 61.5 miles so I rode around the car park until I hit exactly 62.14 miles to get my metric century! Official time came in at 5h11 as they measure total time not moving time. A great day, great ride and great company.
View attachment 409081
At the end
View attachment 409082
Winnats pass
View attachment 409083
Prepping the bike
View attachment 409085
An incredibly happy young (ish) man
https://www.strava.com/activities/1569648749
Check out Tour of the Peak 2018 on Relive! https://www.relive.cc/view/1569648749
Decided to investigate a bridleway that I have been meaning to do for some time. So dragged the Hybrid from its slumbers and set off vIa Ripley to Nidd Lane much like last Monday but used the cycle paths rather than the A59 to get to Old Spring Well Roundabout. Nidd Lane was its typical slumbering self unlike last Monday, then just before reaching the Brearton turning I took the bridleway aiming for Burton Leonard. Um.. I do not recall a church at this end of the village.
Carried on, the main road at the end looked oddly busy - as I reached it I realised it was the A61 and I was at South Stainley
Retraced my route to a junction on the Bridgeway and took the other fork. After some distance I grinded to halt when I realised I was heading for a private property only and the actual route was across the ford (or footbridge). The ewe with its lambs had obviously seen it all before.
Wheeled the bike over the footbridge and was greeted with a couple of stiff climbs therefore, one nice smooth tarmac, the other not.
Eventually, and far longer than envisaged, Burton Leonard was reached
Headed north to Bishop Monkton
Then east in the general direction of Roecliffe/Boroughbridge but truncated short so as to head south, via a further bridleway to Copgrove ("cut through reverse" on Strava) then south to Knaresborough and a ride along the Nidd Gorge. As normal on a sunny Sunday it was popular and progress was rather slow.
NCN636, Bilton Lane, A59 homewards.
28.6 miles, 1499ft climbed
Carried on, the main road at the end looked oddly busy - as I reached it I realised it was the A61 and I was at South Stainley
Retraced my route to a junction on the Bridgeway and took the other fork. After some distance I grinded to halt when I realised I was heading for a private property only and the actual route was across the ford (or footbridge). The ewe with its lambs had obviously seen it all before.
Wheeled the bike over the footbridge and was greeted with a couple of stiff climbs therefore, one nice smooth tarmac, the other not.
Eventually, and far longer than envisaged, Burton Leonard was reached
Headed north to Bishop Monkton
Then east in the general direction of Roecliffe/Boroughbridge but truncated short so as to head south, via a further bridleway to Copgrove ("cut through reverse" on Strava) then south to Knaresborough and a ride along the Nidd Gorge. As normal on a sunny Sunday it was popular and progress was rather slow.
NCN636, Bilton Lane, A59 homewards.
28.6 miles, 1499ft climbed
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Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
That time of year again. The British Heart Foundation's Cotswold Bike Ride had come around again. This is one of the permanent fixtures on my calendar. I have a mate in Brum who always likes to do it too, so I stuck with him around the 30 mile course instead of riding the 50 mile version with my clubmates. That meant riding to and from Cheltenham to make it a 63 miler and a qualifying ride for my Metric Century-a-Month Challenge ride for May.
My mate Andy battled bravely round on a really rather crap bike, and having previously done a total of only 28 miles so far this year. He doubled that today in some quite hilly terrain. I had to wait for him on the hills and carry out four mechanical repairs and adjustments for him, so it was a slow ride.
My KCC club mates arrived back at the finish 5 minutes after us despite having ridden the longer (50 mile) Version. I still had a decent ride by taking in the glorious views on the charity ride, and by belting along (by my standards) at an average of 15mph on my "commute" to and from the start/finish.
As my club mates rolled in just behind me I was able to get a snap of them for the club's Facebook page. The guy in the BHF tent behind them is my mate, complaining that the ride was too hard to be described as "family friendly" !! (He looked whacked).
p.s. Met a fellow Cyclechatter at the start, who introduced himself when he saw me wearing the shirt. It is a rather good social ice-breaker.
After bolting back to Gloucester, I came across the final races of a Dragon Boat regatta going on in the docks, and there was a sizeable crowd. (Arrived just too late to get a decent photo).
Posting this straight after a long, hot soak in the bath. Don't want to ache too much next week, as fellow chatter @Banjo has a mountainous little ride in Carmarthenshire planned for me midweek and I need to be on form so as not to let down the honour of the English.
Cheers, Donger.
My mate Andy battled bravely round on a really rather crap bike, and having previously done a total of only 28 miles so far this year. He doubled that today in some quite hilly terrain. I had to wait for him on the hills and carry out four mechanical repairs and adjustments for him, so it was a slow ride.
My KCC club mates arrived back at the finish 5 minutes after us despite having ridden the longer (50 mile) Version. I still had a decent ride by taking in the glorious views on the charity ride, and by belting along (by my standards) at an average of 15mph on my "commute" to and from the start/finish.
As my club mates rolled in just behind me I was able to get a snap of them for the club's Facebook page. The guy in the BHF tent behind them is my mate, complaining that the ride was too hard to be described as "family friendly" !! (He looked whacked).
p.s. Met a fellow Cyclechatter at the start, who introduced himself when he saw me wearing the shirt. It is a rather good social ice-breaker.
After bolting back to Gloucester, I came across the final races of a Dragon Boat regatta going on in the docks, and there was a sizeable crowd. (Arrived just too late to get a decent photo).
Posting this straight after a long, hot soak in the bath. Don't want to ache too much next week, as fellow chatter @Banjo has a mountainous little ride in Carmarthenshire planned for me midweek and I need to be on form so as not to let down the honour of the English.
Cheers, Donger.
Slick
Guru
As I'm sure was the same for nearly everyone, this morning was beautiful, even better when you know there is 2 brand new steeds getting restless in the stable. Mrs Slick picked up a new ebike yesterday and I've had a new Genesis waiting to go for some time, so this morning was the perfect opportunity to test both bikes out on a small fairly lumpy local loop, but no big climbs yet just until we know what the ebike can and can't do.
First few miles was just both of us finding our feet on our respective rides, up and down the gears and getting a feel for the brakes. Along the flat, Mrs Slick was happy with her max 15 mph which is a bit slow for me but when we did start to hit a few small hills I started to realise I was really struggling to hold her wheel. It became the tortoise and the hare for much of the rest of the ride which Mrs Slick revelled in as she cruised past me climbing at 15mph smilling from ear to ear when I was struggling to hit 10 mph.
It was just a short ride just under 20 miles but we still managed a stop halfway to enjoy a picnic in the sun, which is what its all about.
Note which bike is carrying the pannier though.
First few miles was just both of us finding our feet on our respective rides, up and down the gears and getting a feel for the brakes. Along the flat, Mrs Slick was happy with her max 15 mph which is a bit slow for me but when we did start to hit a few small hills I started to realise I was really struggling to hold her wheel. It became the tortoise and the hare for much of the rest of the ride which Mrs Slick revelled in as she cruised past me climbing at 15mph smilling from ear to ear when I was struggling to hit 10 mph.
It was just a short ride just under 20 miles but we still managed a stop halfway to enjoy a picnic in the sun, which is what its all about.
Note which bike is carrying the pannier though.
