Your ride today....

[gbb]

17.1 miles at 16 mph average. Okay, so my gentle ride to keep the legs moving freely turned into a bit of a sprint. Very enjoyable though and the knee feels fine at the end of it. I now feel confident of it being okay for the Lakes trip next month and for the next century ride whenever I get to fit that in.

View attachment 89052
Quick stop for the view at Great Ryton. Nice to travel light for a change.

View attachment 89053
I like the lanes at this time of year when the cow parsley is blooming in the verges.

Nice bike, impressive average on it .

 

[derrick]

Nice ride to Brighton today, 5 off us set of at 7am this morning, Managed to get a puncture on brand new tyres, Found a shard of glass in it, anyway soon under way again, Not to much traffic as we went through London, once out the other side it started to warm up a bit, we had a bit of sunshine, A few more miles in and another puncture, not me one of the other guy's, soon fixed and of again, A few more miles in and one of the guy's had a broken spoke, Here we go again, the wheel had a low spoke count was a bit wobbly, we tied the broken spoke to one off the others then nipped up a couple of loose spokes and we rode of a bit carefully, it seemed to be ok for the time being, we went through Haywards heath and found a cycle shop, the guy in the shop really helpful got it fixed and the wheel trued while we had a coffee across the road. Then on our way again, the rest of the ride was trouble free, Had a couple of pints in the weatherspoons pub, the fish and chips on the beach, Then found the train station and took the easy way home, A great day out with good friends, Whoops i forgot to turn the garmin of for the return journey
https://www.strava.com/activities/306609067

 

[Bobby Mhor]

As the crow flies, that's about 300 miles! If I ever ride there, they'd best be darn good chips!!

I was too early..
I'll do a report for you on my next visit..
I am a connoisseur of fish suppers

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Willoughby the destination, 55 miles the journey, strange day on the bike, the weather was a mixture of cloud and sunny intervals, when cloudy I wasn't warm, when sunny I was over dressed, all with a strong cold wind blowing, the ride felt slow and hard but when I ticked over 50 miles I checked the computer and found to my suprise I'd managed 50 miles in around three and a quarter hours with an average around 15mph, it certainly didn't feel anywhere near that quick. I also changed my mind three times about where I was going, originally it was Upper Stow, but riding through Baginton I changed my mind and decided on Kinton, riding into Long Itchington I got to the turn for Bascote Heath and I changed my mind again and instead of turning right I carried on turned right then left across the main road then turned left for Broad Church then across Grandborough Fields through Sawbridge and on to Willoughby. I came out of the cafe to a flat back tire, the tube had failed at the base of the valve. My ride back followed my wheel tracks to the Leamington road where instead of turning for Baginton I turned right through Bubbenhall and Ryton, crossed the A45 and headed for Wolston and into Coventry through Binley Woods.

 

[Gravity Aided]

14 miles my distance today, riding south into 30 mile per hour winds, 28C or 82F temps. Lovely day, although the threat of thunderstorms was present, none actually materialized, so it was a great day to ride. The Fuji doing a fine job, a little slower than the hybrid and a bit faster than the expedition tourer. I stopped by the cabin to see what was up. The cabin is a strange structure on the south west side of campus, a sort of hangout, where you can also build a fire in the hearth.

 

[Keith Oates]

I went for ride yesterday and the weather was sunny and not too hot. However, I had a visit from the 'fairy' so I changed the tube and got underway again but after about 10 Km another visit from the 'fairy' and so I ended up walking the 8 Km back to the house. The first fairy visit in over 2000 Km so can't complain I suppose.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Elybazza61]

Got out yesterday after missing Saturday's club ride(had sinus head-ache);felt pretty good considering how I was Saturday and ended up doing 100k at a good pace.Must keep doing the menthol/steam inhaling to keep the sinuses clear.

https://www.strava.com/activities/306413602

 

[PeteXXX]

Yesterdays ride, as usual, now I have the time to post it.

I needed a decent length ride as recently I've been doing 25 - 30 ish milers.
As the weather was supposed to be reasonable, I set out in the morning towards and past, sadly, my place of w*rk as it's on the way to where I planned to ride.
Heading towards Grafham Waters via Kimbolton, I turned off the road towards Easton before Grafham as I knew the res would be heaving on a sunny weekend, and then had a few hundred yards of the main A14 to survive as the road I was aiming for is a staggered crossroads. As it was Sunday morning (part of my plan as I've wanted to tackle this hill for a while) the traffic was quite light.

This is from the top looking down. I enjoyed the puffing and panting so much that I belted the mile back down and struggled up it again...

Going through Woolley I stopped for a breather and took a pic or two of these sculptures in a someone's garden. I'm not sure what they are made with, but it looked liked Papier-mâché. They are full size stags, complete with antlers.

Onwards towards home now, and my average speed dropped from 17.8 as I was tacking into a headwind. Not strong, but gusting to 20 MPH, especially as I was on the top of the hills for several miles. Lovely views over the area though .

Out in the boondocks, the old signage still points the way.

Obviously the distance had been miscalculated all those years ago so they had to send someone out to screw on an extra 3/4 of a mile!!

Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance for coffee, cake or even an ice-cream as I didn't pass a café
I did call in at a shop for a mars bar and a can of sugary stuff to see me the last 15 miles back to Northampton.

73 miles, at just under 15 MPH due to the headwinds on the last 30 miles.
Cracking day out though and happy with the route and distance covered.

https://www.strava.com/activities/306289373

 

[Ruthie]

For once I got out before working the late shift, just about 20km but I did enjoy it. I heard a woodpecker!

 

[DCLane]

Not today but yesterday: a brutally windy Etape du Dales. To sum up: I am a leaf in the wind and for 110 miles I was tossed around.

Up to Tan Hill and then back towards Hawes it was a strong headwind / crosswind, particularly up to Tan Hill where it was simply a face first into a gale. I was riding with a clubmate and he ended up 20 minutes behind me on this stretch, rather than the 5 minutes or so elsewhere. I chose to jump groups whilst he simply ground it out into the wind.

The climbs are often difficult enough without the wind, with the descents being precarious. Some people were taking silly risks and I saw one ambulance dealing with a rider whose bike was wedged into a stone wall. Also, quite a number gave up at Tan Hill.

It was definitely a ride for the larger types!

However, I got round in an OK time with no walking or stopping. My unfinished business with the Coal Road is done

 

[Paul.G.]

That descent looks FUN!

Where is that taken?

 

[Jon George]

17 miles or so to blow today's cobwebs away after completing my tax return. Hurrah!

This near Bucklesham.

PS Anyone know why I can no longer place images where I want to in a post? It seems they are automatically inserted at the beginning.

 

[PeteXXX]

Where is that taken?

You will have to ask @Spartak

 

[mybike]

View attachment 89185
PS Anyone know why I can no longer place images where I want to in a post? It seems they are automatically inserted at the beginning.

They go in where I place the cursor as far as I can tell, unless something has changed in the past day.

 

[Saluki]

2 quick ride reports today.
The first was very boring. 5 laps of Exeter racecourse - plus a wee bit to make up the distance. I'd forgotten my lid so I didn't like to go exploring too much as I did have to do a couple of hundred yards on the A38. I know a lid wouldn't actually help any, in my heart of hearts, but still. I took the CX with me, as Eric the CX bike is shorter and easier to get into the caravan (tiny caravan 10' long by 6' wide)
Started from our Caravan, near the caravan site loos and rode around the tarmacked road on the inside rail of the racecourse, going the opposite way to the way that the horses race. It was not a race weekend so I didn't annoy the cameramen who would have been following the race, in a vehicle, on that road and coming towards me.
The first third of the loop was fast but turning to the back straight, the wind hits you but it's downhill, so that's OK then. Then comes the slog up the other side. It's nothing special, that hill. That coming from a Norfolk girl means that the hill really was nothing special, but the road surface and the wind seems to suck every bit of power and speed from the wheels. I stopped once to check that I hadn't got a flat. Nasty top surface on that.
Anyway, I went around 5 times, with my iPod and listened to Gary Moore's greatest hits on shuffle. A good way to start the day.
10.34 in 44 mins and change 360 feet of climbing and a wind assisted half and a wind hampered half.

Second ride was tonight. Basic Home to Hospital route. 22 mins for 5.1 miles. Roads were nice and quiet and it was a nice evening. I would have been out for longer but I had a faff finding my bike lights. Hoping for a ride tomorrow, weather permitting. After being trapped in the car for the best part of 8 hours from Exeter to Norwich (M5 & M4 were a nightmare) I needed to turn my legs.