welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Back from an 18 mile bimble. When the haze burnt off it was very warm even though the sun seemed to have been hiding behind clouds.
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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A bit late this morning, breezy and bright outdoors so no excuse to have a lazy morning. Things to be done this afternoon, the grey cell produced a route that turned out to be exactly twenty two miles long, just far enough to take me out of the door and back again. There is lucky.
Jack Lane is the way into Holbeck, or one half of Jack Lane is. The other half still has the railway lines that the Engine Company used for, presumably, their railway engines. Anyway, I rode along the half I used as far as the old library, a rather nice building ( terracotta? ) which must be listed and seems to be being used in some way, I see people going in at times. Turn right and right again to ride along Great Wilson Street as far as Crown Point Road. Over the river and out to Oakwood and its clock, where I turned left to continue climbing past the posh gates of Roundhay Park and further on, along Street Lane to the A 61. Right again, heading towards Harrogate and still a couple of miles of suburbs to ride through before reaching the left turn to Eccup Reservoir. On the way to the turnoff I was passed by three, yup, I counted them, three Aston Martins. I wonder where folk can drive cars like that properly . . .
Looking at the map, the road to the reservoir is a restricted byway, not for use by mechanically propelled vehicles. A bicycle is mechanically propelled. Ignoring all this, I rode along the dam wall, the byway twiddles around three sides of Owlet Hall and then stays north of the reservoir all the way to Eccup and its street.
At the end of the street, turn left, this road crosses King Lane / Arthington Road and continues to Adel and shortly after that to the often ridden A 660. One more time, down the hill to Headingley, take full advantage of the next loss of altitude to Kirkstall and escape the road traffic by riding onto the towpath there. Today this is early enough that the towpath joggers are still deskbound which makes riding a little easier. There are folk using this peaceful path through Leeds, but not in rush hour numbers and I am certainly not in any kind of rush. Leave this at Office Lock, another whizz along Great Wilson Street but this time turn right to head for home, a shower and a welcome from our lass. Which always pleases me.
Still cannot ride in circles,
Jack Lane is the way into Holbeck, or one half of Jack Lane is. The other half still has the railway lines that the Engine Company used for, presumably, their railway engines. Anyway, I rode along the half I used as far as the old library, a rather nice building ( terracotta? ) which must be listed and seems to be being used in some way, I see people going in at times. Turn right and right again to ride along Great Wilson Street as far as Crown Point Road. Over the river and out to Oakwood and its clock, where I turned left to continue climbing past the posh gates of Roundhay Park and further on, along Street Lane to the A 61. Right again, heading towards Harrogate and still a couple of miles of suburbs to ride through before reaching the left turn to Eccup Reservoir. On the way to the turnoff I was passed by three, yup, I counted them, three Aston Martins. I wonder where folk can drive cars like that properly . . .
Looking at the map, the road to the reservoir is a restricted byway, not for use by mechanically propelled vehicles. A bicycle is mechanically propelled. Ignoring all this, I rode along the dam wall, the byway twiddles around three sides of Owlet Hall and then stays north of the reservoir all the way to Eccup and its street.
At the end of the street, turn left, this road crosses King Lane / Arthington Road and continues to Adel and shortly after that to the often ridden A 660. One more time, down the hill to Headingley, take full advantage of the next loss of altitude to Kirkstall and escape the road traffic by riding onto the towpath there. Today this is early enough that the towpath joggers are still deskbound which makes riding a little easier. There are folk using this peaceful path through Leeds, but not in rush hour numbers and I am certainly not in any kind of rush. Leave this at Office Lock, another whizz along Great Wilson Street but this time turn right to head for home, a shower and a welcome from our lass. Which always pleases me.
Still cannot ride in circles,
skudupnorth
Cycling Skoda lover
- Location
- Astley,Manchester
Well i'm finally back on the bike after nearly ten weeks off due to a couple of operations. Got my trusty Boardman Fixie out which is now 8 years old and still looking mighty fine.
Decided to "take it easy" and headed along the guided busway from Tyldesley towards the Roe Green loop line and onto the Bridgwater way at Monton. Carried on towards Stretford,Sale ect but have not been any further since i was living in the area as a kid. What a pleasant suprise the path is now from Brooklands and onwards. A lot of the canal side has changed dramatically since i was last there including the demolition of all the old warehouses to make way for some fancy office/appartment blocks. Sad to see the old Linotype building reduced to a single building now but at least they are looking to preserve it.Nice and smooth to a point just after Broadheath but still doable on 23's. Carried on to Lymm on smooth ground and then joined the Trans Pennine back towards Oldfield Brow where i rejoined the Bridgewater way and returned home past Worsley and onto Astley,riding on the Leeds-Liverpool canal which also has a good path all the way to Wigan.
38 mega smiley miles completed and just glad to be able to be back on the bike.
The more pictures like Donger's of rural bits of France I see, the more appealing it becomes. Love how unspoilt these places seem, the lack of modern eyesores like chain stores, blocked paving and gaudy bloody horrible houses just makes it seem so much nicer.
Anyhow...
today was revisiting one of my favourite local rides. Nothing too taxing or fast, just a little route I took one day and it grew on me.
Cycle path to town (Chester), over the old Dee bridge and on the Duke's Drive...
Quite quiet there today, the odd jogger and dog walker about but not many. Nice breeze going the same way, was tempted to gun it and see how quick I could do end-to-end, but it's one of those routes to be enjoyed imho so no need to go fast.
From there it was a right turn into Eccleston, a photo in the usual place...
..then down to the river (Dee) where I just caught a passing passenger trip boat, the Mark Twain...
A left turn here (not in the river, obvs!) and onto the meadows, where I stopped to chat with a lady who had a dog the size of a small horse. Turned out to be a Black Russian Terrier, fantastic thing and friendly too, luckily. Hadn't seen one before, the lady explained they were reputedly bred for Stalin as the ultimate guard dog. She would have dwarfed our little Bichon, shame he wasn't with me at the time.
Off I go again, under the A55 and past what I assume is a pumping station. Hadn't been up the gate before, so went for a nose and a pretty awful attempt at an arty photograph...
Switch to my snazzier 'phone now for the next couple of pictures, the welcoming sight of my home city nearing, still on the meadows and near the little ferry they have in the summer...
Looking back the way I had been...
Suspension bridge now, always a good point for a picture or two, even though these are just average snaps...
After that, had plans to 'conquer' the daft '3 peaks' challenge I invented to keep myself amused. Try and get my best time on Lower Bridge Street climb, along Newgate Street, down Sandy Lane, back to the river, then climb again at the side of the park. Made a dog's dinner of it and wasn't 'feeling' on point, so a fairly good ride up LBS, but the back of the park was a poor challenge today, just didn't hit it right, and there's a sort of point where I can feel a good time coming. Get that wrong and it just means a slow time on the ascent. Silly how a mental block or lack of concentration can lose you time. Still, it was supposed to be a leisure ride, so hardly the end of the world.
Just after that it was a spot of window shopping at The Bike Factory (God, those Trek Powerfly bikes are sexy!) and a look through Bill Smith Motors' window at the latest Triumph Bonnevilles. How long before I go in and spend some of my redundancy money? Arghhh, must keep away!
Anyhow...
today was revisiting one of my favourite local rides. Nothing too taxing or fast, just a little route I took one day and it grew on me.
Cycle path to town (Chester), over the old Dee bridge and on the Duke's Drive...
Quite quiet there today, the odd jogger and dog walker about but not many. Nice breeze going the same way, was tempted to gun it and see how quick I could do end-to-end, but it's one of those routes to be enjoyed imho so no need to go fast.
From there it was a right turn into Eccleston, a photo in the usual place...
..then down to the river (Dee) where I just caught a passing passenger trip boat, the Mark Twain...
A left turn here (not in the river, obvs!) and onto the meadows, where I stopped to chat with a lady who had a dog the size of a small horse. Turned out to be a Black Russian Terrier, fantastic thing and friendly too, luckily. Hadn't seen one before, the lady explained they were reputedly bred for Stalin as the ultimate guard dog. She would have dwarfed our little Bichon, shame he wasn't with me at the time.
Off I go again, under the A55 and past what I assume is a pumping station. Hadn't been up the gate before, so went for a nose and a pretty awful attempt at an arty photograph...
Switch to my snazzier 'phone now for the next couple of pictures, the welcoming sight of my home city nearing, still on the meadows and near the little ferry they have in the summer...
Looking back the way I had been...
Suspension bridge now, always a good point for a picture or two, even though these are just average snaps...
After that, had plans to 'conquer' the daft '3 peaks' challenge I invented to keep myself amused. Try and get my best time on Lower Bridge Street climb, along Newgate Street, down Sandy Lane, back to the river, then climb again at the side of the park. Made a dog's dinner of it and wasn't 'feeling' on point, so a fairly good ride up LBS, but the back of the park was a poor challenge today, just didn't hit it right, and there's a sort of point where I can feel a good time coming. Get that wrong and it just means a slow time on the ascent. Silly how a mental block or lack of concentration can lose you time. Still, it was supposed to be a leisure ride, so hardly the end of the world.
Just after that it was a spot of window shopping at The Bike Factory (God, those Trek Powerfly bikes are sexy!) and a look through Bill Smith Motors' window at the latest Triumph Bonnevilles. How long before I go in and spend some of my redundancy money? Arghhh, must keep away!
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
I went to see a mate for coffee this afternoon, I usually drive the fifteen miles to Theale, mainly because of time restrictions and also the A417 isn’t a very nice road, but it was a nice day, and I M’dTFU got out the Trek Madone and rode the busy lumpy road via, Blewbury , Streatley, Pangbourne, Tidmarsh and Theale had my coffee, a chat and cycled the same way back.
No time for photos , not that there was any much to see except fields of agriculture.
A smidge over 30 miles. Cripes it was warm today.
When I got back I swapped bikes and went and did a couple of errands on the hybrid. A smidge under 6 miles.
Ride 1
Ride 2
No time for photos , not that there was any much to see except fields of agriculture.
A smidge over 30 miles. Cripes it was warm today.
When I got back I swapped bikes and went and did a couple of errands on the hybrid. A smidge under 6 miles.
Ride 1
Ride 2
Last edited:
AndreaJ
Veteran
Todays ride was dodge the bin lorries and large agricultural vehicles, I decided to do a bit of both of the weekends rides so started towards Wolverly, onto Loppington and took the first turning towards Lyneal which I haven't used for a while, passing some lovely houses on the way through Lyneal Wood and into Lyneal where I took the diversion I found yesterday to Welshampton, Hampton Bank, Northwood then turning to Whixall. Carried on past the end of our lane to Hollinswood where a large tractor and bin lorry met on the lane, didn't wait around to see how they sorted that out, onto Coton, Abbeygreen, Waterloo back into Northwood and back home.Lovely sunny day and quite a few cyclists, dog walkers and horse riders out again today.21.3 miles average speed 16.2mph.
Elybazza61
Guru
Couple of weekend rides to report.
First yesterday's club ride; nice ride up to that Norfolk past Downham Market,stop at Stow Bardolph then across to Upwell and then Welney and home via Black Bank road.Nice pace from the group of seven and had forgot how low one's heart rate can be on a group ride
.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2511482348
Coffee and Lemon drizzle cake;
The Ridley;
Saturday was a shorter but harder commute;
https://www.strava.com/activities/2507858889
That ridley again;
First yesterday's club ride; nice ride up to that Norfolk past Downham Market,stop at Stow Bardolph then across to Upwell and then Welney and home via Black Bank road.Nice pace from the group of seven and had forgot how low one's heart rate can be on a group ride
.https://www.strava.com/activities/2511482348
Coffee and Lemon drizzle cake;
The Ridley;
Saturday was a shorter but harder commute;
https://www.strava.com/activities/2507858889
That ridley again;
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
A couple of rides to report on:
Yesterday I was busy during the day so it was another evening ride using the Raleigh this time and aiming to do one of my regular routes. I hadn't gone four miles when I felt an insect bounce off my right knee, followed immediately by being stung on the back of my leg where said insect had gone up the leg of my shorts. Cue the sudden stop then hopping about and trying to make sure the thing had gone (it had) which a passing tractor driver seemed to find amusing.
I nearly cut the ride short but thought I'd go a little way and see how I got on - the pain wasn't too bad so I decided to continue heading for Atcham, Upton Magna, Withington, Walcot and Charleton. Not a lot of traffic on the roads on a Sunday evening so when I got to Bluebell I decided to stay on the old A5 for a while and head towards Wroxeter instead of going through Eaton Constantine. This stretch of the road is slightly downhill so I cruised along at around 20mph quite nicely. The Horseshoe near Norton is closed and boarded up - none of the landlords has lasted very long just lately.
At Wroxeter I was going to go though the village and along the lane through Eyton on Severn but the B4380 was completely empty of traffic so I took that instead which turned out to be a sound move as I only saw 3 cars before the turn for Cressage.
After climbing Shore Lane the bike cruised along easier than expected to Cound Moor, Acton Burnell and Longnor so I must have had a tailwind. I had the gradient helping for most of the last few miles and added a loop round the village to round up the mileage.
A fraction over 36 miles at a pretty respectable 15.7mph average which surprised me.
----------------------------
Today I brought out the Galaxy and decided to do a loop round the north of the town. I started off on the same roads as yesterday as far as Upton Magna then headed over the edge of Haughmond Hill for Astley, Hadnall, Merrington ad Yeaton.
The legs were rather tired so even though I started off well I wasn't matching the same sort of pace, especially on the hills. I thought I'd have the wind helping for much of the first half but it didn't seem to be coming from the direction I was expecting.
The ride was fairly uneventful up until after Yeaton and heading for Baschurch as there seemed to be more traffic than I'd expect on this lane. Getting to Baschurch I understood - the lane I was going to take to Little Ness is closed for the next 5 weeks so everyone was diverting. The only options were to head back to Yeaton or go round to Ruyton XI Towns which was a bit further than I'd intended today.
Going back to Yeaton the drivers I met were a lot grumpier than on the way out, apart from one van driver who not only waited in a passing space to let me by but folded in his mirror for clearance (not needed but the gesture is very much appreciated
).
It was all a bit slow and mundane on the way back into Shrewsbury but I found a second wind at Shelton so stayed on the road to make the most of being able to get some speed up rather than taking the cycle path.
35.5 miles at 15 mph average.
Some snaps from today:
Drink stop overlooking Bomere Heath.
A couple of shots from the second pass through Yeaton.
Yesterday I was busy during the day so it was another evening ride using the Raleigh this time and aiming to do one of my regular routes. I hadn't gone four miles when I felt an insect bounce off my right knee, followed immediately by being stung on the back of my leg where said insect had gone up the leg of my shorts. Cue the sudden stop then hopping about and trying to make sure the thing had gone (it had) which a passing tractor driver seemed to find amusing.
I nearly cut the ride short but thought I'd go a little way and see how I got on - the pain wasn't too bad so I decided to continue heading for Atcham, Upton Magna, Withington, Walcot and Charleton. Not a lot of traffic on the roads on a Sunday evening so when I got to Bluebell I decided to stay on the old A5 for a while and head towards Wroxeter instead of going through Eaton Constantine. This stretch of the road is slightly downhill so I cruised along at around 20mph quite nicely. The Horseshoe near Norton is closed and boarded up - none of the landlords has lasted very long just lately.
At Wroxeter I was going to go though the village and along the lane through Eyton on Severn but the B4380 was completely empty of traffic so I took that instead which turned out to be a sound move as I only saw 3 cars before the turn for Cressage.
After climbing Shore Lane the bike cruised along easier than expected to Cound Moor, Acton Burnell and Longnor so I must have had a tailwind. I had the gradient helping for most of the last few miles and added a loop round the village to round up the mileage.
A fraction over 36 miles at a pretty respectable 15.7mph average which surprised me.
----------------------------
Today I brought out the Galaxy and decided to do a loop round the north of the town. I started off on the same roads as yesterday as far as Upton Magna then headed over the edge of Haughmond Hill for Astley, Hadnall, Merrington ad Yeaton.
The legs were rather tired so even though I started off well I wasn't matching the same sort of pace, especially on the hills. I thought I'd have the wind helping for much of the first half but it didn't seem to be coming from the direction I was expecting.
The ride was fairly uneventful up until after Yeaton and heading for Baschurch as there seemed to be more traffic than I'd expect on this lane. Getting to Baschurch I understood - the lane I was going to take to Little Ness is closed for the next 5 weeks so everyone was diverting. The only options were to head back to Yeaton or go round to Ruyton XI Towns which was a bit further than I'd intended today.
Going back to Yeaton the drivers I met were a lot grumpier than on the way out, apart from one van driver who not only waited in a passing space to let me by but folded in his mirror for clearance (not needed but the gesture is very much appreciated
).It was all a bit slow and mundane on the way back into Shrewsbury but I found a second wind at Shelton so stayed on the road to make the most of being able to get some speed up rather than taking the cycle path.
35.5 miles at 15 mph average.
Some snaps from today:
Drink stop overlooking Bomere Heath.
A couple of shots from the second pass through Yeaton.
A short after work ride, on a cloudy and very muggy evening, with virtually no wind.
As I left the house, some big spots of rain started to fall and so I wondered whether it was a good idea to head out, but they’d stopped by the time I’d got to Reabrook and didn’t return.
I followed the cycle paths, in the direction of Heathgates and there were long queues along the inner ring road. Whilst it does back up along here, sometimes, this seemed particularly bad and I soon found out why. As I approached the roundabout for Telford Way, there was a Police Accident sign and a whole host of blue lights, from 2 fire engines, 1 ambulance and 1 police car. The cycle path was blocked and so I had to cross and head up the other carriage way. Goodness knows what has happened, as I could see large bits of black plastic all over the paths and in the hedge, but no sign of a car? Just glad I wasn’t cycling up that bit of the path, when whatever had mounted the pavement had done so. Hopefully all are ok and no serious injuries.
I continued down through Castlefields and along the Towpath into the Quarry. After going under Kingsland Bridge, I came across fences blocking the main route through the park. That meant having to mix it with the numerous pedestrians on the narrower path. As I reached Porthill Bridge, where the closure finished, I could hear someone giving the Security Guard a right mouthful, with the guard trying to explain that it was closed for the erection of the stage ready for the “Back to the 80’s” concert which is happening this weekend. Some people get irritated by the smallest of inconveniences
I climbed up through Porthill and then along the nice flat section to Shelton, before passing the Mental Hospital. As I did so, I came across a number of police and nurses on the path down to the nearby road, presumably looking for someone who’d escaped from the hospital!
Next was Copthorne, where some hoon came storming around a corner and parked car, on the wrong side of the road and swerved to miss me, with a nod of his head. This after I’d headed for the path to avoid him
Suffice to say he got something different than a nod of the head from me.
Thankfully the rest of the ride was uneventful, through Radbrook, Nobold and Meole Brace.
Only 13.6 miles, but much more to write about than normal on this route!
As I left the house, some big spots of rain started to fall and so I wondered whether it was a good idea to head out, but they’d stopped by the time I’d got to Reabrook and didn’t return.
I followed the cycle paths, in the direction of Heathgates and there were long queues along the inner ring road. Whilst it does back up along here, sometimes, this seemed particularly bad and I soon found out why. As I approached the roundabout for Telford Way, there was a Police Accident sign and a whole host of blue lights, from 2 fire engines, 1 ambulance and 1 police car. The cycle path was blocked and so I had to cross and head up the other carriage way. Goodness knows what has happened, as I could see large bits of black plastic all over the paths and in the hedge, but no sign of a car? Just glad I wasn’t cycling up that bit of the path, when whatever had mounted the pavement had done so. Hopefully all are ok and no serious injuries.
I continued down through Castlefields and along the Towpath into the Quarry. After going under Kingsland Bridge, I came across fences blocking the main route through the park. That meant having to mix it with the numerous pedestrians on the narrower path. As I reached Porthill Bridge, where the closure finished, I could hear someone giving the Security Guard a right mouthful, with the guard trying to explain that it was closed for the erection of the stage ready for the “Back to the 80’s” concert which is happening this weekend. Some people get irritated by the smallest of inconveniences
I climbed up through Porthill and then along the nice flat section to Shelton, before passing the Mental Hospital. As I did so, I came across a number of police and nurses on the path down to the nearby road, presumably looking for someone who’d escaped from the hospital!
Next was Copthorne, where some hoon came storming around a corner and parked car, on the wrong side of the road and swerved to miss me, with a nod of his head. This after I’d headed for the path to avoid him
Suffice to say he got something different than a nod of the head from me.Thankfully the rest of the ride was uneventful, through Radbrook, Nobold and Meole Brace.
Only 13.6 miles, but much more to write about than normal on this route!
Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
An epic ride today. This was always going to be the longest of my holiday rides, but it ended up being extended a bit and with me getting home about an hour later than I'd promised. I usually manage to get my rides in before breakfast so as not to affect Ms D's holiday experience. I'd overstretched myself today, and didn't fancy returning the same way due to the lumpy terrain. I'd ridden out through the hills to the Dordogne's equivalent of Symonds Yat and decided to take the flatter route back west on the other side of the river. Turned out I still had a couple more big hills to climb to get home, and it was getting bloomin' hot. Fortunately both of our phones were working, so I was able to let Mrs D know of the delay. A few photos:
(1) Tremolat:
(2) The Dordogne, from a viewpoint between Tremolat and Limeuil (quite a climb in the hot sunshine):
(3) Limeuil from the riverbank (was disappointed to find the nearby cafe wasn't open yet):
(4) View from the Vezere bridge towards the Dordogne bridge at Limeuil. I'd never crossed two rivers in such quick succession:
(5) Limeuil from across the Dordogne:
(6) After slogging my way back westwards, I finally reached another crossing point opposite Lalinde, before climbing back up from the river towards the house:
(7) Today's Flatnav shot. 36 miles in all, with lots of hills:
Only just took enough drink with me today. Arrived back at the house soaked through in temperatures in the high 20s and after several sizeable climbs. A great ride though. Will have to do a shorter one tomorrow to stay in Mrs D's good books.
Cheers, Donger.
(1) Tremolat:
(2) The Dordogne, from a viewpoint between Tremolat and Limeuil (quite a climb in the hot sunshine):
(3) Limeuil from the riverbank (was disappointed to find the nearby cafe wasn't open yet):
(4) View from the Vezere bridge towards the Dordogne bridge at Limeuil. I'd never crossed two rivers in such quick succession:
(5) Limeuil from across the Dordogne:
(6) After slogging my way back westwards, I finally reached another crossing point opposite Lalinde, before climbing back up from the river towards the house:
(7) Today's Flatnav shot. 36 miles in all, with lots of hills:
Only just took enough drink with me today. Arrived back at the house soaked through in temperatures in the high 20s and after several sizeable climbs. A great ride though. Will have to do a shorter one tomorrow to stay in Mrs D's good books.
Cheers, Donger.
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EltonFrog
Legendary Member
Looks like you’re having a great time, I like that you show the route on a proper map.
Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
Fantastic, thanks .... and yes, I've always loved proper maps.
A couple of rides to report on:
Yesterday I was busy during the day so it was another evening ride using the Raleigh this time and aiming to do one of my regular routes. I hadn't gone four miles when I felt an insect bounce off my right knee, followed immediately by being stung on the back of my leg where said insect had gone up the leg of my shorts. Cue the sudden stop then hopping about and trying to make sure the thing had gone (it had) which a passing tractor driver seemed to find amusing.
I nearly cut the ride short but thought I'd go a little way and see how I got on - the pain wasn't too bad so I decided to continue heading for Atcham, Upton Magna, Withington, Walcot and Charleton. Not a lot of traffic on the roads on a Sunday evening so when I got to Bluebell I decided to stay on the old A5 for a while and head towards Wroxeter instead of going through Eaton Constantine. This stretch of the road is slightly downhill so I cruised along at around 20mph quite nicely. The Horseshoe near Norton is closed and boarded up - none of the landlords has lasted very long just lately.
At Wroxeter I was going to go though the village and along the lane through Eyton on Severn but the B4380 was completely empty of traffic so I took that instead which turned out to be a sound move as I only saw 3 cars before the turn for Cressage.
After climbing Shore Lane the bike cruised along easier than expected to Cound Moor, Acton Burnell and Longnor so I must have had a tailwind. I had the gradient helping for most of the last few miles and added a loop round the village to round up the mileage.
A fraction over 36 miles at a pretty respectable 15.7mph average which surprised me.
----------------------------
Today I brought out the Galaxy and decided to do a loop round the north of the town. I started off on the same roads as yesterday as far as Upton Magna then headed over the edge of Haughmond Hill for Astley, Hadnall, Merrington ad Yeaton.
The legs were rather tired so even though I started off well I wasn't matching the same sort of pace, especially on the hills. I thought I'd have the wind helping for much of the first half but it didn't seem to be coming from the direction I was expecting.
The ride was fairly uneventful up until after Yeaton and heading for Baschurch as there seemed to be more traffic than I'd expect on this lane. Getting to Baschurch I understood - the lane I was going to take to Little Ness is closed for the next 5 weeks so everyone was diverting. The only options were to head back to Yeaton or go round to Ruyton XI Towns which was a bit further than I'd intended today.
Going back to Yeaton the drivers I met were a lot grumpier than on the way out, apart from one van driver who not only waited in a passing space to let me by but folded in his mirror for clearance (not needed but the gesture is very much appreciated
It was all a bit slow and mundane on the way back into Shrewsbury but I found a second wind at Shelton so stayed on the road to make the most of being able to get some speed up rather than taking the cycle path.
35.5 miles at 15 mph average.
Some snaps from today:
View attachment 474609
Drink stop overlooking Bomere Heath.
View attachment 474610
View attachment 474611
A couple of shots from the second pass through Yeaton.
Some lovely roads round there I recall from van driving days in that area. Have you ever attempted going to Newtown via Minsterley, Churchstoke, Sarn and Kerry? It always looked like one of those brilliant routes to cycle.
Jenkins
Legendary Member
- Location
- Felixstowe
I blame the "Your bike in front of a church" thread in the photography section for today's ride. As a result of that, I have a habit of looking out for the unusual round tower churches that are a feature of (mostly) Norfolk and Suffolk despite having no interest in religion or history. With a little bit of planning I was able to put together a 50 mile loop from Diss which was almost all on roads that have a name, not a number that passed by 11 of these unusual buildings. Don't worry, I won't show them all here!
Setting out from Diss & heading northwards the first one was at Gissing...
followed by Aslacton which was undergoing restoration, Forncett St. Peter and then up towards Tasburgh where I passed the Norfolk Tank Museum
Having crossed the A140 there followed a nice run out to Woodton where in quick succession there were further, almost identical churches at Bedingham, Topcroft & Fritton (below)
Then Morningthorpe, Long Stratton and the final church at Wacton completing the "hit list" in around 35 miles.
That left another 15 miles to do around the South Norfolk countryside through Pulham Marcket and Dickleburgh before heading back into Diss, reloading the bike back into my car and heading home.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2514581464
Setting out from Diss & heading northwards the first one was at Gissing...
followed by Aslacton which was undergoing restoration, Forncett St. Peter and then up towards Tasburgh where I passed the Norfolk Tank Museum
That left another 15 miles to do around the South Norfolk countryside through Pulham Marcket and Dickleburgh before heading back into Diss, reloading the bike back into my car and heading home.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I had something similar happen to me, only the wasp in question managed a successful 3-sting penile assault before I finally despatched it!Yesterday I was busy during the day so it was another evening ride using the Raleigh this time and aiming to do one of my regular routes. I hadn't gone four miles when I felt an insect bounce off my right knee, followed immediately by being stung on the back of my leg where said insect had gone up the leg of my shorts. Cue the sudden stop then hopping about and trying to make sure the thing had gone (it had) which a passing tractor driver seemed to find amusing.
Okay, if we are doing unexpected pains in the delicate bits today...
I was out riding a few summers back when a wasp flew down the front of my jersey. I leapt off my bike and starting slapping my chest and and tummy regions in the desperate hope of killing it before it stung me.
When I stopped, I could feel a little lump under my jersey and concluded that I'd despatched the wasp so I lifted the jersey to brush its corpse away, only for the stunned creature to wake up and start buzzing in a very intimidating fashion!
I panicked and tried to swat it off me, but only succeeded in knocking it down the front of my bibshorts! I experienced a sense of full-on terror and started leaping up and down, pummeling my nether regions and screaming "Die, bastard, DIE!"
The wasp stung me 3 times where it really hurts before I finally managed to flatten it. I don't know what was worse - the throbbing pain down under, or the embarrassment of looking up and seeing a gobsmacked farmer staring at me from the cab of his tractor in the adjacent field!
