Your ride today....

[Cush]

View attachment 91699 It's View attachment 91700 been a long time since I rode anywhere worth talking about, but yesterday I dressed up like a cyclist with padded pants and everything and did a whole 23miles.
I'm helping with a children's party at this place www.watchtree.co.uk, on Sunday so figured I better see if I could make it there! Turns out I can, I just hope nobody's put off by my red face when I do.
It was a lovely day and there was very little traffic, and I only got scalped once. I planned on taking more photos but I didn't want to cut short the wheeeee moments of downhill and wasn't sure I'd get going again if I stopped before the up.
Things I learned on this ride are
I can't reach all of my back with sunscreen.
I don't cycle fast enough to get past the roadworks before the light at the other end goes green
Roads that look flat on a map probably aren't.
My 29er is my favourite bike.

Agree with all of that you learnt, might add one more, when ever I think I am going fast some one will scalp me. I am also intrigued by the sign post and am tearing my hair out trying to work out where it is.

 

[coffeejo]

Nothing exciting for me this afternoon, simply a 30 mile pootle around the Vale of Taunton Deane, mostly on country lanes I tend to ignore either because I seem to go further afield these days. It was good to rediscover the sights and sounds of rural Somerset, albeit under a grey and grim sky. This led to the only downside of the ride as before leaving, I decided I couldn't be bothered to change the lenses in my sunglasses for a colour more suited to such gloomy conditions and left them at home. As a consequence, I spent most of the ride with little hitch-hikers glued to my eyeballs.Nice. However, a highlight was my encounter with a cat who was happily curled up in the middle of the road - I assume the tarmac was warmer and drier than the grass. It just blinked at me as I approached, so I got off my bike and shooed the now rather surprised moggy onto the verge. From the glare aimed in my direction as I picked up my bike, it's safe to say that my efforts were not appreciated.

It was too dull for any landscape photography - this is the best I could manage:

13 June 2015

• coffeejo
• 13 Jun 2015

 

[Racing roadkill]

120 miles today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/324750001

I really dislike the hill from Cliddesden to Farleigh wallop.

I offered them a marmalade sandwich. They didn't get it.

There's somebody at the door.

 

[Gravity Aided]

35 miles this day,613 ft elevation. I rode in the Spring Metric Century, but didn't do the repetitive returns to the central area that made up parts of the loops, I just changed from routes 1, 2, and 3 where they intersected. This made for a more interesting ride for me, and it got quite hot as well, 86F, or 30C, with great humidity, at about 90% to start with. Winds were quiet for here, 12 mph from the south.

A cow in a field was contemplating green energy. This area has a lot of livestock, especially Black Angus Cattle. Some parts are quite hilly.

I also went past the dam at the reservoir, quite full with the recent rains.

Things got quite hilly after that, from time to time.

Even in a farm field at the county line, one can have a brush with history.

I descended toward the town of Carlock, as I decided to get some orange soda. No pub picture for the photo challenge today, as here I am entering dry country.(Anabaptists)

My Specialized Sirrus in the park at Carlock. I had Mrs GA pick me up at the service station, where I got a couple of orange sodas and sat by the ice box, where everyone comes by, and said hello to the folk. (volk)I also encountered a farm cat today, going down by some flooded fields to hunt frogs while a hoot owl chanted alarms from a nearby tree. (Edited for elevation and cat/hoot owl incident.)

 

[Keith Oates]

I went out this morning and did nearly 60 Kms. but I left it a bit late to go actually and the temperature was over 30 deg. C when I went out and by the time I got back it was 32 deg. C. I'd used all of the water in my bottle which is unusual for me in a ride of this time and distance. I think I've earned a beer this evening.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Billy Wizz]

Out early into Central London along the Thames path.

Everything was going good and then the first spill of 2015.

Pride as usual was the hurt, a nice morning otherwise.

 

[coffeejo]

Out early into Central London along the Thames path.
View attachment 91863 Everything was going good and then the first spill of 2015. View attachment 91864 Pride as usual was the hurt, a nice morning otherwise.

Ouch. Hope the bike's ok.

 

[User169]

Metric century this morning taking in Kinderdijk. Action shot of my Dutch riding buddy sporting his Dulwich Paragon colors...

 

[Billy Wizz]

Ouch. Hope the bike's ok.

My Specialized, the work bike, its a rough ride but built for the job.

 

[albion]

...but I followed the Avon to Pershore and then Upton-on-Severn, where the Malverns reared up ahead. The sun was about to sink behind them as I covered the last few miles, and it was about 8.30 and with nearly 70 miles behind me as I climbed up towards Malvern Wells.

That was a regular ride for me 20 years ago. The east west approach to the Malverns in one of the most impacting sights available to cyclists. It was far more impressive than even cycling through Norway.

 

[Simontm]

Out on a 33 miler this morning. Hampton Court-Molesey -Walton (find Hurst Road boring)- along the river to Weybridge then the Ride London route to West Horsley-back round Cobham-Oxshott-home

Have to say, some guys really need to behave better. Some group riders, about 8 of them decided to turn right from Summer Road onto Hampton Court Way - completely illegal. Saw them later displaying extremely poor filtering techniques I Walton - I guess they don't commute

Wet ride but not too disheartening. Hit 40 mph at Oxshott which was a first for me - no wonder no one overtook me

 

[Donger]

A nice club ride this morning, with 6 of us starting out. Threw in a little local loop before the start so I could test my bike out after a bit of fettling, then met up at the usual starting point for a lovely ride up into the Cotswolds via Horsepools Hill, Painswick and (a new one for the club) a great little road down into Sheepscombe and then up a steep little climb back out of there.

Our club rides are all about effort and reward. The effort bits were the climbing up into the Cotswolds and the steep little climb up out of Sheepscombe. The reward, a fantastic long glide on smooth tarmac mostly downwards through Buckholt Woods, followed by another mile of fast A road downhill and another big drop down Nut Hill into Upton St Leonards. (I had to wimp out of going down "the Portway", due to dodgy brakes -as I normally have the stopping distance of an oil tanker anyway, and the view from the top of the Portway is a fearsome drop resembling an Olympic 90 metre ski jump). Covered in dead flies by the bottom, but loved every second.

Once back near the start, three of us decided to throw in another small loop around the lanes between Longney and Elmore before calling it a day around about lunchtime. 38.9 miles for me today, leaving me one ride short of 1,500 for the year. Until 2013 that used to me my whole year's target, and I'm 500 miles up on my very best end of June total. Loving my cycling at the moment, and can't wait to take my No.2 bike off to the South of France at the end of the month.

Enjoy your rides, everyone. Cheers,
Donger.

 

[cyberknight]

Medium club run
https://www.strava.com/athletes/1252463
Just a steady 50 at 18 mph average , fairly easy tbh but a nice run with mates and a nice cuppa here.........
http://www.ferrerscentre.co.uk/

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Skylark Farm Staverton the destination, 56 miles the journey. First ride for just over a week, I've been on holiday in Italy with my good Lady, and I was feeling the lay off quite badly, it took me ages to warm up and once I got going it didn't last and my legs faded away quite quickly, in the end I just trundled round, mind you my tummy does seem a touch upset at the moment, probably the strange food I've been eating. A cool grey day with a strong cold breeze blowing, a bit of a shock to the system after the wall to wall sunshine of the last week. The usual route across Coventry and out through Baginton but instead of turning towards Wappingbury the other side of the village I carried on over Hunningham Hill then turned toward Birdingbury and then right towards Hill, after I turned onto the A426 I ignored the first turn and took the second turn and when I got into Grandborough I turned through Sawbridge and onto Flecknoe then picked up the A425 to the farm. Leaving the farm I turned right through Staverton and on into Daventry then turned through the industrial estate and picked up the A45 through to Willoughby where I turned off across the Grandborough fields back to the A425 then turned off through Hill and onto Marton where I picked up my usual route onto Princethorpe and onto the Fosse way to come into Coventry past the Speedway. I'm knackered and a bit rough now but it was nice to get some miles in.

 

[robjh]

That was a regular ride for me 20 years ago. The east west approach to the Malverns in one of the most impacting sights available to cyclists. It was far more impressive than even cycling through Norway.

Wow, that is praise indeed. But much as I like that ride too, I'm still not sure it beats views in the Lofoten Islands, or alongside the Lyngen peninsula - although having said that I wasn't on a bike in Norway so maybe you know something that I don't ..!