Your ride today....

[LeetleGreyCells]

I'm rather envious of that as I took a bit over 7 hours today. Some of that was wandering around Tübingen, and trying to get the blood to circulate in my extremities, but still...

You would also need to factor in elevation as hills can slow progress considerably.

 

[AndreaJ]

Happy New Year everyone. Still sunny in Shropshire today but a bit chilly and seemed like a good day to do a 50 km ride and join the monthly challenge. I worked out a route to add some miles to last Sunday’s ride which would do it but did it in reverse. Started off to Wolverley, into Loppington and through Nonely and Tilley through the mud to Wem, turned off to Barkers Green and Aston , back to Wem, over the railway crossing and out to Creamore, Edstaston, Waterloo, Braynes Hall, Coton through the flood to Coton Wood and on to Prees, Tilstock, Alkington, Fenns Bank, Whixall, Northwood and back home. Checked Fitbit to see if it was far enough 50.02 km so went to the end of the lane and back just to make sure. 31.9 miles @15.1 mph. Lots of people out walking today and had to shout hello or ring bell to get past most of them.

 

[Donger]

I'm rather envious of that as I took a bit over 7 hours today. Some of that was wandering around Tübingen, and trying to get the blood to circulate in my extremities, but still...

My metric tons generally take me between 6 hrs 20 to 7 hrs, depending upon the hills. Only one really tough hill today, and no cake stop, hence considerably faster.

 

[Jenkins]

Another one who got their metric 100 in today. It had been a lovely sunny morning with virtually no wind and was only around 4-5°C when I finally set out just before midday. Within 15 minutes the sun had disappeared and was replaced by cloud and grey, misty conditionswhich remained for the remainder of the day. About the only colour in the ride from there on was the last of the Christmas lights and glow from the industrial greenhouses in Great Blakenham

The ride itself was just a trip up to Stowmarket taking the 'B' road out and my preferred back road home and a bit of faffing around in the villages inbetween.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2973119194

 

[hondated]

30 December. Through the gates of Hayle to Mounts Bay

There is a steep hill out of Truro that I have not done before. I will not do it again. I have been playing psychological games with myself, pretending I have no intention today of getting to Marazion and St Micheal's Mount. The distance is too great.

'Just get to the top of the first hill' is my initial target, no point in intimidating myself, something I find all too easy but the hill leaves me breathless as it steepens more and more all the way to the top. I cannot see how I will make it to Marazion, to see St Michael's Mount, just to see if I can. Or can't. Thirty-two miles there, thirty miles back; it's a metric century but a random number of miles. The barrier is mental, not physical. Actually on the hills the barrier is both.

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A fast downhill to the Bissoe Valley, once more down to the valley, that wasteland of blasted hillsides patched here and there with russet bracken and gorse. Then new (to me) lanes but oh so quiet. Ten miles and five cars. The sun is out on the hillsides although the tops are in cloud. I am cycling more up than down and gaining height for once, heading for the roof of Cornwall although it is just a bungalow roof, a mere 750 feet high but all of those feet are above sea level and they all count. Cornish feet are longer than English feet.

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I transit villages whose names roll off the tongue in a thick Cornish rumble - Cusgrane, Crofthandy, Frogpool and then at the top of the bungalow roof of Cornwall, next to the TV aerials you can see from Truro, is the prosaic Four Lanes. A Saxon name, not Celtic. There are four lanes - perfectly accurate but no soul. Its cold up here though and mist is falling on me, beading on my jacket and face.

Some downhill now: this is not the sawtooth kind of ride I have endured further east in Cornwall. The hills here are time-worn granite domes and the lanes lead you up and down majestically, gracefully and without hiding sudden gradient changes after every bend as the knavish hills further east are wont to do. I can see over the broken roadside walls to the lines of hills that mark the beginning of the granite landscape of West Penwith. This is an uncompromising land and farmers make little impact with ploughs or drainage - leaving tufts of moorland, brown now in winter time and rock strewn pastures. The walls here may have been in place since the Bronze Age - they enclose small, irregular fields making no logical pattern to my 21st century eyes.

Praze-an Beeble has a traffic jam. A tractor and trailer is trying to pass a lorry and there are several cars backed up. A number of people are standing and watching. I thread the needle between the cars and head off up another quiet lane. The GPS tells me to turn right but it is just a field. Not even a path. I ignore it. After a hundred yards of hissy buzzes and red flashing LEDs it goes into sulk mode.

Carnhell Green, a bastard Saxon/Celtic name and then Gwinear, a name to say slowly with the emphasis on the second syllable, leads to Angarrack and I am almost in Hayle. The road surface is corrugated, shaking the bike and me, a deep vibration through my fore arms and some bad tempered clicks and rattles from the bike. This is daffodil country, our own flowers and not imported by jet, but who will pick them next month? They are ready now, green stalks pushing through the earth with a yellow fuse about to light.

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Down into Hayle, a fast downhill and now some traffic. The world has woken up. Holiday timings where the urgency of a 8 am start has gone for many but now it is 11 am and everyone is on their way to somewhere, to do something with the day. Out through the gates of Hayle and onto the NCN route to Marazion. It's quiet and reasonably flat - at least to my eyes that have been led up, up, neck bendingly up so many Cornish hills this last month. The GPS begs to differ and says it is uphill.

Marazion is heaving. The car parks are as full as they are in August and people are sitting on the beach despite the cold wind and temperatures around 8c. Time for a photo. I have made it. More than halfway along my self imposed target. Two flapjacks disappear before shivering I turn the bike around and tell it to head for home.

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Back to Hayle. It is 'Heyl' in Cornish and that sounds even more like the land of the Devil, but its name means 'estuary'. I pun on the name, invoking Meatloaf songs and old films as I spin through the traffic. Out on the road to Gwithian it is very busy, lines of cars waiting to get into the car park, VW camper vans and conversions, surfboards and dogs, families on walks. Sand lies across the road after the recent gales. Up the steep hill then until a quiet lane gives me respite from the traffic always just behind me, itching to get past. Views across Hayle Bay to St Ives, lit up by a winter sun in the clearer skies offshore. I can see a full moon, a pale orb, through the clouds that are moving faster this afternoon. The moon is bisected by the bare branches of the hawthorn and sycamore, oak and ash that line the road.

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I am two hundred feet above the hungry Atlantic that waits just ten yards away sometimes, just a thin line of blackthorn and bramble between us. The sun has illuminated the sea in places, creating pools of turquoise. The coast strides off, headland after headland until lost in the mist on the horizon. The road is flat and fast but all too quickly come the hairpin bends down into Portreath, sweeping views across the bay, depositing me with hot brakes on the beach. It's doing a winter impression of summer here, well wrapped visitors on the sands, some body boarders playing in the soupy swash. No lifeguards today and this can be a dangerous beach. Time for another photo. I send it to my son who has just returned to Hong Kong and get a testy reply as he finishes his 28 hour journey home and faces reporting to work in a few hours.

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Madame Crow is equally unimpressed as promises made of tasks to be done today have been sacrificed to my obsession with a number. She takes delight in telling me that the septic tank drain has blocked and I have a specific and unpleasant job to do with rods on my return.

I am tired now and the long hill up from the coast to the heights of Redruth feels harder than it should be. Scorrier follows and then the dip and climb around Chacewater. The legs keep spinning, the lungs keep inflating and I know I can make it. Down into Truro, through the traffic and then home, watching the distance covered until it hits 62.6 miles at the top of my lane.

A hundred kilometres is just a number. I am happy to stop. It was a psychological barrier for me but there is no sense of victory now. Just five hours the saddle, watching the landscape unfold and lost in my own thoughts as always. Another circle around Cornwall, a snail track of electrons.

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I wouldn't say it was long ago but the last time I was in Hayle I was driving a Ford Cortina 1600E with the two kids in the back. Even my three grandsons are adults now so I really must get back there as its a lovely part of the UK.Thanks great report.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Happy New Year all!
Taking advantage of the almost traffic free roads on new year's day, some of the Glasgow Belles and I went for a wee ride.
We normally stick to segregated paths because we ride quite slowly, but the first of January is great for some on road cycling without getting abused by motorists!
Nothing major, just around 20 miles, some minor hills to keep us warm, finished off in town for a coffee: there are several places open in Glasgow centre on new year's.
A couple of pictures of the ride for you, plus I'm going to show you how I've transported the Christmas log I made to my friends house, on the bike

Argyle Street: this reindeer is a bit creepy imo.
The two sets of bikes between the reindeer's legs are ours.

Some slightly chilled Glasgow Belles on Bikes:

How to transport cake on a bike without damage:
One - make cake, of course

Two, find a box to match said cake:

Three: pack with some bubble wrap, insert cake, secure to bike rack, then ride away!

 

[Old jon]

Outdoors felt sort of warmer this morning, all the encouragement I need. Add a blue sky and what might have been the sun, it’s time to ride.

The roads, and the towpath when I reached it, were dry. The sun was shining, but only enough to cast a shadow and the illusion of warmth. So a swift ride to Office Lock and along the canal to Viaduct Road. Descend to cross the river and then ascend Cardigan Road. Soon warms things up. Headingley was quiet this morning, a zig and a zag and Otley Road is rising in front of me. The road levels after crossing the Ring Road, and there were no intentions of using any side roads today, so straight along the A660 to Bramhope. Where I noticed someone on my back wheel.

I dunno if this was a compliment. Most of the hair I have left is white, you might be polite and call it light grey. My beard is white. I will soon be seventy years old. ( how did that happen? ) This young person sat on my wheel for a mile or more, eventually grunting as he slowly passed on the rise by the puritan chapel. There is strange. How do I know he was young? Hair and beard were black, either youth or Cherry Blossom.

Anyway, on to the lights by the Dyneley Arms and turn right for a twiddle down Pool Bank. Not the quickest twiddle but fun anyway. Reach the village and ride most of the way through to take the left turn to Otley, where I stopped to eat and drink at the foot of the maypole. And then it is time to ride out of town up the Leeds Road. No problem to choose a gear, the bike only has one, so pedal it up there. And enjoy the level stretch at the top, back to Bramhope.

Stay on the A660 all the way back to Headingley. Traffic was busier in patches and totally absent on occasion. One of the occasions was the drop from Headingley to Kirkstall, though it is rarely busy along there. Back on the towpath for a peaceful pedal all the way to the end of the canal, in Leeds. From there to home was not quite far enough, I wanted thirty miles for the first ride of the year. So a left turn from Leathley Road onto Pearson Street. Which was where most of what the Hunslet Engine Company made left the factory, despite the three sets of railway lines across Jack Lane at the other side of the site. Which I rode across after two right turns more. Up the last hill to home, big grin for the ride ‘cos it feels like I put a bit more effort into it this time.

And a bit of geographical doodling . . .

 

[EltonFrog]

Another utility ride on the hybrid today to the shops and post office but instead of doing an out and back I did a 10.28 loop. A dry overcast with sunny spells sort of a day, incredibly mild too.

Bloody easter eggs for sale in Sainsbury’s! FFS!

 

[chriswoody]

I'm on a bit of a mission to make the most of my Christmas break, so with clear blue skies and no wind, today was a perfect day for a longer ride. The thermometer was nudging -6 as I steered the bike out on to the lanes and up towards the forest. Everything was frosted white and really still and quiet as I headed first towards Rebberlah and then on towards Wildeck. A graveyard of old and broken hunters stools lies next to the track.

The forest changes it character and nature frequently as I wind my way North, from tightly packed stands of Douglas Fir, to wider spaced and more natural stands of Scots Pine. A short section of road leads me to a frozen Angelbecksteich and another quick break.

A short section of gravel track in the forest winds it's way steadily uphill and on to the Tiefental, an area of heathland that is deserted today, but when the heather is in bloom, this area is swarming with tourists.

From the Tiefental, I carry on North, mixing roads and gravel as I wind further on. Then the ride swings around and back onto the heathland. The track weaves through stands of Scot's Pine and reminds me of the Rothiemurchus in the Cairngorms, all that's missing is the Mountains in the background. At the half way point I stop at a small wooden shelter for a slightly frozen flapjack and some trail mix. Drinking in the solitude and silence before I set off again. The freezing temperatures have frozen the ground and made the going much easier, the last time I was here in April, the sandy soil was a nightmare to cycle through. The kilometres fly by and the ride dips and rises though a variety of scenery until I enter I tunnel of trees, pierced through with shafts of sunlight that provides a magical cycling experience.

The ride continues to head South until eventually we enter the town of Eschede, were several kilometres of road riding leads us up and back to Rebberlah. My legs are tired and cold and the last kilometres through the forest are really hard going. The weak winter sun has a little warmth to it, but then as soon as I ride into the shade, it's like going into a walk in freezer. Slowly we eak out the last kilometres back to home and a hot coffee.

A fantastic, if tiring day's riding in perfect Winter weather. Overall it was 88km in a shade over 5 hours at a pace of 20.8 km per hour, bringing my total for the Christmas break to 246km.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A couple of rides to report on:
Yesterday: After a fairly slow get up having seen the New Year in I decided to stretch the legs (and clear the head a bit) in the afternoon and make the most of the sunshine breaking through. Unfortunately on getting the bike out I was greeted by a flat rear tyre so a fettling session was needed (yet another failed Halfords tube rather than a puncture) and thought that while the wheel was out I might as well fit the new mudguard-mounted rear light bracket that I've made.

An hour later than planned I set out to do a shortish local loop (Lyth Hill, Condover, Atcham, Uffington, Shrewsbury town centre and home). It was a little colder out than I'd expected but I warmed up well enough on the first climb of the day. The small car park on Lyth Hill was packed to overflowing with cars as people perambulated on the hill and there were quite a few walkers and runners out on the lanes and the odd family group out on their (probably new) bikes.

I needed to adjust the new lamp bracket near Berrington as I hadn't tightened one of the bolts properly but after that it seemed fine. The A458 was empty of traffic for the short stretch I used. I wasn't sure whether Attingham Park would be open today but it was so I enjoyed a little detour up the drive and found the place as busy as I've ever seen it.

On the old canal path I encountered a lady leading a horse and a dog so paused to let them by. I wasn't sure how to respond to "We're a wide load, aren't we?" without putting my foot in it. I took to Sundorne Road rather than tackle the rough part of the canal path, which wasn't too bad, then took a tour round the town centre before dropping down to the Welsh Bridge. The Quarry was extremely busy with people out walking and the roads on the way out of town seemed to be getting busier so I took the slightly longer way back which uses more cycle paths and arrived home as the light was fading.

A fraction under 23 miles at 12.4 mph average.

Misty over the fields looking towards Berrington.

The view from the old Atcham Bridge.

In Attingham Park

Nearing sunset in The Square, Shrewsbury.

Today: Just a short utility ride in order to fix a puncture for a friend. There turned out to be two thorns in the tyre, one of which was long and at such an angle it had pierced the tube in two places. It also turns out that she has been riding round with the quill stem loose so I secured that as well.

Headwind both ways.

Just a couple of miles at 11.3mph average.

Happy New Year everyone.

 

[EltonFrog]

Another cobweb blower this evening about 4:30pm. My watch was nagging me that I hadn’t closed my exercise ring, so I nipped out on the hybrid for 20 minutes or so.

4.19 miles.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

The meet was in Colwall so I had already climbed up and over the Wyche when I met John B and Pete M. Off to Bosbury and Harbour Hill took us towards Ashperton for the dodge to Trumpet and coffee with cake. Much chat later Falcon Lane meant the ramp to Ledbury for the up and over to Petty France and back to Colwall. Just the Wyche climb for me to complete a lovely social one today. 33 smiles

 

[Landsurfer]

Chris and I today ... 35 mile circuit based on the village / town of Bawtry, south of Donnie.
Rain and soggy weather for the first hour turning into bright sunshine around Gainsborough.
Only 216 meters of climbing but it was in one hill, the 20mph headwind on the northern leg of the trip made for some hard work to keep 15mph on the Garmin's.
However, yet again my Garmin 200 recorded the ride, was saved to history but provided no download .... i took mine from Chris's shared STRAVA.
Feel free to advise ...
Great cafe at Beckingham .... Coffee, crispy bacon and egg in a fresh soft cob ..... "Real Food Works" .... bin the gels folks ....

 

[Shearwater Missile]

I started the year of with a 22.4 miler this afternoon, at least it stayed dry unlike this morning with lots more rain. I took the direct route to Mendlesham ( is there one ?) via the A1120 through Stowupland. I don`t usually use this stretch but it was`nt too bad for traffic today. The wind was from the NW so had a bit of a headwind of 14 mph for the first half of the ride to Finningham and then Wyverstone. Once I had the tail wind it did`nt really propel me must faster but just felt easier. I did`nt quite feel 100%, just one of those rides I suppose.
I managed to see 4 or possibly 5 kestrels today, an all time record for one of my rides. I suppose it could have been one kestrel 5 times, if it was trying to keep pace with me. I will consult Chris Packham. Traffic was a bit busier than of late, no surprise really. No close passes and people driving sensibly, that won`t last I am sure. So with the batting opening at 22.4 at a 17 mph average I had a smile on my face and a warm glow as I put the bike up and went inside for a cup of tea and cake. Sorry, no photos.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

Another utility ride on the hybrid today to the shops and post office but instead of doing an out and back I did a 10.28 loop. A dry overcast with sunny spells sort of a day, incredibly mild too.

Bloody easter eggs for sale in Sainsbury’s! FFS!
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I like the bit about the easter eggs. We have seen Valentine cards in Tesco, probably there on new year`s day.