Your ride today....

[Dave 123]

2 rides in 2 days!

up to Membland, west and down into Noss. Over the Voss and back via cinders path. 8 wet miles.

 

[Andy in Germany]

So after jealousy watching the rest of Germany under snow this winter it was finally our turn on Friday, with over 10hours of snowfall. Last night the temperatures were down to -12 and with clear blue skies this morning, I needed to get out into the forest. It had warmed up to a barmy -10 by the time I set off and the snow was firm and crisp. I'm running tubeless tires, so I'd dropped the pressure to 20 psi and they were gripping the snow really well. The first few kilometres were on fairly busy tracks which had been heavily walked on the previous day and the low temperatures had turned them into compacted ice. Before long I was seeking out the deeper snow to the sides and started to fly along.

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Before long I was one quieter forest trails and the path was less compacted, the bike was handling beautifully and I was having an absolute ball.

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After several kilometres in the depth of the forest with out a soul to be seen I emerged onto the track to Stedden.

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My water bottle had almost frozen by this point and a pondered wether tea would have been better, or even gin to go with the ice! The streets of Stedden were iced over and I tiptoed gently through the village. On the other side I headed down to the Hydro Electric plant and crossed over the river there. The route swings around here and heads back towards home. Tarmac roads soon give way to gravel tracks buried under several centimetres of snow. i make good progress despite the snow, the bike skating and dancing on the icy surface, but never threatening to throw me off.

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After riding through the next small village, it's back into the forest. Rather than take the direct line towards home, I turn to the South and start riding a lazy zig-zag route through the forest. In clear weather it provides some amazing singletrack riding, dipping and twisting between the pines. Today the added challenge was finding the way under the blanket of snow. One of the turn off's is signposted by the tracks of a deer in the soft snow, other than that i'm the only soul to have been this way.
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The wheels sink in several centimetres before finding traction and I change up the cassette as I power on through. The forest is eerily silent as I weave and twist between the trees, all too soon the track ends at a major pathway which is all iced up. Thankfully I only follow this for a few hundred metres before diving back off into the canopy and onto little travelled trails.

View attachment 571365

Again, the snow is tugging at my wheels, providing lots of resistance and my muscles are burning from the workout. Several kilometres later the fun finally draws to an end as I emerge from the forest and out onto the streets near home. A few more kilometres of sketchy icy paths await before I pull into my garden, after possibly one of the most enjoyable rides I can remember. Overall I rode 28km through the snowy forests, the bike was impeccable, a real delight to ride and the weather was sublime. A perfect Winters day.

I always enjoy your posts: amazes me how different northern Germany is to the south.

 

[itboffin]

Tried chasing a bike up milk hill today (highest point in Wiltshire) usually I’m pretty good up that 1 mile climb but the stiff headwind and falling snow I struggled to bridge the gap, when I did get to the top the rider had stopped turns out he was on a bloody ebike 😂 my best time up that hill was in summer on a super light carbon bike with an average of 15.4mph so technically I am capable of catching an ebike, just not in winter 🤪

 

[Glow worm]

So after jealousy watching the rest of Germany under snow this winter it was finally our turn on Friday, with over 10hours of snowfall. Last night the temperatures were down to -12 and with clear blue skies this morning, I needed to get out into the forest. It had warmed up to a barmy -10 by the time I set off and the snow was firm and crisp. I'm running tubeless tires, so I'd dropped the pressure to 20 psi and they were gripping the snow really well. The first few kilometres were on fairly busy tracks which had been heavily walked on the previous day and the low temperatures had turned them into compacted ice. Before long I was seeking out the deeper snow to the sides and started to fly along.

View attachment 571363

View attachment 571368

Before long I was one quieter forest trails and the path was less compacted, the bike was handling beautifully and I was having an absolute ball.

View attachment 571366

After several kilometres in the depth of the forest with out a soul to be seen I emerged onto the track to Stedden.

View attachment 571367

My water bottle had almost frozen by this point and a pondered wether tea would have been better, or even gin to go with the ice! The streets of Stedden were iced over and I tiptoed gently through the village. On the other side I headed down to the Hydro Electric plant and crossed over the river there. The route swings around here and heads back towards home. Tarmac roads soon give way to gravel tracks buried under several centimetres of snow. i make good progress despite the snow, the bike skating and dancing on the icy surface, but never threatening to throw me off.

View attachment 571369
After riding through the next small village, it's back into the forest. Rather than take the direct line towards home, I turn to the South and start riding a lazy zig-zag route through the forest. In clear weather it provides some amazing singletrack riding, dipping and twisting between the pines. Today the added challenge was finding the way under the blanket of snow. One of the turn off's is signposted by the tracks of a deer in the soft snow, other than that i'm the only soul to have been this way.
View attachment 571364

The wheels sink in several centimetres before finding traction and I change up the cassette as I power on through. The forest is eerily silent as I weave and twist between the trees, all too soon the track ends at a major pathway which is all iced up. Thankfully I only follow this for a few hundred metres before diving back off into the canopy and onto little travelled trails.

View attachment 571365

Again, the snow is tugging at my wheels, providing lots of resistance and my muscles are burning from the workout. Several kilometres later the fun finally draws to an end as I emerge from the forest and out onto the streets near home. A few more kilometres of sketchy icy paths await before I pull into my garden, after possibly one of the most enjoyable rides I can remember. Overall I rode 28km through the snowy forests, the bike was impeccable, a real delight to ride and the weather was sublime. A perfect Winters day.

I think you somehow took a wrong turn there and ended up in Narnia! Great pics.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A ride with @gavgav this afternoon (as allowed by the rules) to do a loop around the south of Shrewsbury.

After meeting up at the lights we took a slightly indirect route to Weeping Cross then headed for Condover and Ryton before following some quieter lanes to Stapleton and Exford's Green. For the first few miles we were facing towards the Stretton hills which looked great with a covering of snow on them. The traffic was fairly light giving the opportunity to chat and the miles passed amiably.

I'd left the route planning to Gav and was expecting to turn back towards town after Exford's Green but instead we carried on to Arscott, Lea Cross and Nox before climbing up the surprisingly steep hill to head for Ford. We avoided the village centre here by taking a right and found this lane had something of a river running along it for a few hundred yards. It wasn't deep and the water was clean so the bikes have had a good rinse.

A short section of main road follows and usually I'm not very keen as this is one of the main routes into central Wales. Today it wasn't very busy at all and the biggest issue was that we were riding into the wind. A left took us towards Montford Bridge, crossing under the A5, then a right pointed us back towards Shrewsbury via another climb and descent into Bicton where we turned off for Calcot Lane and took the less direct route round the edge of Gains Park, the large new estate at Bowbrook and the not very new one at Radbrook before parting at Meole Brace.

Loads of cyclists out this time despite it being quite a chilly day. The majority were seen close to town though

27.3 miles for me by the time I got back with 11.5 mph average. Nice to get out in company for a change.

Just a couple of snaps from this one, both taken at Ryton:

 

[Grant Fondo]

Thanks, It's actually only a mobile phone and a cheap Motorola at that. I was blessed with really good light today. I used to have a reasonably good DSLR, but it's a bit old now and a pain to cart around.

Wow, just shows you if the lights good!

 

[AndreaJ]

Another cold day but finally starting to dry up a bit. Had to wait for the ice to defrost a bit before venturing out. Set off to Northwood taking a long way round to Horton via Foxholes and Ryebank, turned to Loppington passing the church to Nonely, Myddle, Burlton, English Frankton was going to take the lane through the woods to Lyneal but spotted a hedge cutter up there and decided to carry on to Colemere instead then go to Lyneal, past the caravan site to Northwood and back home. 24.6miles and good to see the floods/ puddles are slowly going. Lots of people out walking today and quite a few horse riders too. No pictures because it was too cold to stop and my phone doesn’t like the cold!

 

[gavgav]

As @Rickshaw Phil has reported, above, we met for a ride, to help stave off the sinking feeling I had today, with a return to working tomorrow, after a week and a bit of Annual Leave.

Bitterly cold out and I’d lost the feeling in my nose about a mile after setting off!

I think Phil has covered the salient points from the ride perfectly and so I won’t repeat those, but a very enjoyable ride and nice to have some human company.

24.1 miles for me at a slow 11.2 mph avg, that wind was really tough to cycle into for the last half an hour.

Phil at our photo stop.

When I got home, I tightened both brakes up, as the levers were travelling too far on today’s ride. Much better now.

 

[matticus]

Just a couple of snaps from this one, both taken at Ryton:

So is that Long Mynd (L) and Stipperstones (R) ? Not sure I've seen them from that direction, definitely not with snow on!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

So is that Long Mynd (L) and Stipperstones (R) ? Not sure I've seen them from that direction, definitely not with snow on!

Left to right those are The Lawley and Caer Caradoc which do a good impression of mountains when the snow gets on them.

 

[matticus]

Left to right those are The Lawley and Caer Caradoc which do a good impression of mountains when the snow gets on them.

They do look very impressive. It's all quite welsh round there, isn't it? (hope that doesn't offend anyone)
As you might have surmised, I've ridden through the area a couple of times but don't know it very well.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

First ride of a new month and I felt enthused to do something a bit longer than of late. It's still pretty chilly out but the day dawned frost-free so I got out to make the most of the morning by linking together a couple of my lockdown routes.

I started off heading up to the top of Lyth Hill, where i found the views mostly limited by mist, then dropped down to Annscroft where there were temporary traffic lights that had failed and both ends were stuck on red - when the traffic ahead of me decided to risk it I followed them through. Exford's Green, Stapleton and Gonsal were fairly quiet, although I didn't get an empty A49 to cross like Gav and I enjoyed yesterday.

At Ryton I went through the village, which was out of my way as I was headed for Wheathall and Berriewood next then down the hill into Condover and out along Lyons Lane. Reaching the Kingstreet crossroads I went straight across as I always do..... then had to come back and take the road to Cantlop as I'd meant to do.

After the surprisingly steep climb up to Cantlop I was carrying on towards Pitchford but took the left before the village for Cound Stank, then a right for Cound (didn't notice if there was a flag flying today). In the cold air and after a few hills already the climb to Harnage was a little bit of an effort today but rewarded with the longish gentle descent that follows.

I had the road to myself on the long straight to Cound Moor and only a couple of walkers after that until Acton Burnell. I took a run at the flood, raised my feet to avoid getting splashed but resisted the urge to say "wheeeeeeee". After Frodesley there were work vehicles gathered round the little bridge at Lane Farm - nobody was working though and one guy appeared to be asleep in his vehicle.

From Longnor it was the usual roads back to Ryton and Condover. The flood along here is also still there but has gone down so was easy to just splash through. On reaching Condover I thought I'd head over Lyth Hill from the Little Lyth side which would give a little extra mileage at the expense of more climbing.

34.5 miles 12.3 mph average, all staying within a reasonable distance from home. In contrast to the weekend, hardly anyone else out on a bike and not that many people out walking or running either.

The mist has restricted the views from Lyth Hill today.

A pause at Cantlop Bridge.

The Wrekin viewed from Harnage.

Caer Caradoc from near Longnor.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

They do look very impressive. It's all quite welsh round there, isn't it? (hope that doesn't offend anyone)
As you might have surmised, I've ridden through the area a couple of times but don't know it very well.

There is a certain resemblance to Wales in some parts of the county. The Marches have been tussled over for centuries and the border has often been quite fluid resulting in English villages with Welsh names and vice-versa. Shrewsbury has both - its Welsh name is Amwythig and it appears as that on some road signs.

Some in the area may be offended by being linked to Wales - I'm not one of them having family ties to both sides of the border (as an aside, I've got some slightly more distant ones to Scotland too.)

 

[matticus]

I usually approach Wales from further South (so Herefordshire or Glos usually). About as soon as I cross the Severn, it feels welsh to me. That's when I feel I'm actually on holiday

 

[Littgull]

A beautiful cold crisp and sunny winter day and too good to miss going out on the bike. I rode to one of my favourite local spots, Dovestones Reservoir (Saddleworth). It always looks very scenic there but particularly so on a day like today. Total miles 30.7 there and back with a slightly extended return leg.Total ascent 2271ft. Here are a few pics.