Your ride today....

[geocycle]

Bowland beckoned. So, out over the trough and down to Puddle Ducks for coffee. Was busy despite only doing take away still and the toilet was out of bounds. Carried on to Slaidburn and then the big climb up the Hodder valley. The hairpins at the top felt alpine as I reached Cross o Greet at 430 m. Then the brilliant descent all the way back to sea level over 20 miles. Overall a 50 mile ride with 1300m of climbing. Photos show how crowded the area is…

 

[Cathryn]

@chriswoody Absolutely loved your ride report!!

My ride YESterday was fantastic! Out at 6.30 so I could be back for our first post pandemic trip to the cinema! My goal was 50 miles, my longest of the year and for several years I think! I knew the first 15 miles already so bombed along in the gorgeous morning, stopping in Hungerford for a croissant and an unexpected conversation in Italian with the lonely Sicilian lady in the bakery! Made both our days! The next 15 miles were new to me, the wonderful lanes south of Kintbury with incredible houses and an absolutely wonderful new cafe, Honesty at Inkpen!! Coffee and a pain au chocolat to celebrate the tour. A few more new-to-me miles back to Great Bedwyn and then familiar lanes home, ending with the mammoth climb at Alton Barnes! 53 miles of utter delight, I was so happy!

Took very few photos! But had lots of fun and made it back for the cinema.

 

[DCBassman]

Also a 'my ride YESterday'. Was only aiming for double figures, because time was limited, but managed to squeeze in a few more miles.
On the Scott roadie again.
AS I was starting out, much chain rub. Stopped on the viaduct above my house and found that the lever-mount barrel adjuster was right out of its mount. Screwed it back in some, then tweaked on the go.
Busy, so not a quick ride. Am slowly conquering the Leg O'Mutton ramp!
Stats:

Weather good, not too warm. The Scott is such a better bike with the new smaller chainset. Inspiration from the mixte gears has given me, in many ways, a new bike. Always a good thing!

 

[Brandane]

Lovely post, you made a great day for your son 👍🏼

Absolutely. The stuff that memories are made of when you get older. For both, no doubt 😄 @chriswoody.

 

[Donger]

72.8 miles today .... my longest ride of the year so far. Being the last Sunday of the month, it was time for the club's Super Sunday (longer than usual) ride, so we set off on a long loop up onto the Cotswold Edge and round into Wiltshire. We called this our Monuments Ride. Not because it was like Paris-Roubaix, but because it started with big climbs up to the Tyndale Monument at North Nibley and the Somerset Monument at Hawkesbury Upton. After that effort, the main issue was the blustery wind and, for me, just about hanging on at the back of the peloton for the last 32 miles as my back started to hurt somewhere near Malmesbury.

I was well impressed with the Courtyard Cafe in Sherston. Loads of bike racks, plenty of shelter, decent coffee and fantastic gooey date crumble slices. It seemed popular with local cyclists, and I can see why. I shall be back. Great company as usual and lots of quiet country lanes. Loved it, but I shall ache tomorrow.
Cheers, Donger.

 

[Mrs M]

72.8 miles today .... my longest ride of the year so far. Being the last Sunday of the month, it was time for the club's Super Sunday (longer than usual) ride, so we set off on a long loop up onto the Cotswold Edge and round into Wiltshire. We called this our Monuments Ride. Not because it was like Paris-Roubaix, but because it started with big climbs up to the Tyndale Monument at North Nibley and the Somerset Monument at Hawkesbury Upton. After that effort, the main issue was the blustery wind and, for me, just about hanging on at the back of the peloton for the last 32 miles as my back started to hurt somewhere near Malmesbury.

I was well impressed with the Courtyard Cafe in Sherston. Loads of bike racks, plenty of shelter, decent coffee and fantastic gooey date crumble slices. It seemed popular with local cyclists, and I can see why. I shall be back. Great company as usual and lots of quiet country lanes. Loved it, but I shall ache tomorrow.
Cheers, Donger.

Well done 👍

 

[AndreaJ]

Set off this morning with no particular plan of where to go so started off turning right off my drive then just kept turning left then right! This is actually a better idea than it sounds as there are lots of lanes to choose from, my random route planning took me to Foxholes, Paddolgreen, Ryebank, Horton and off the lanes onto the Ellesmere road before I turned off towards Loppington. Took the first turning to Nonely with a detour through Commonwood and onto Myddle. Turned onto Lower Road to Merrington, Old Woods and into Baschurch via Eyton. A nice tractor driver even pulled over so I could get past him as he was moving slower than me.Once I got to Baschurch I went over the crossroads to Weston Lullingfields and through to Ellesmere, up Swan Hill to Coptiviney then Welshampton and back to alternate left and right turnings so took the lane by the church to Lyneal, around Colemere, English Frankton, Brown Heath, Wolverley and back home. Lots of people out again today. 45.6 miles.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

On Saturday I finished off some fettling to the Kingpin (new bottom bracket, chainset and pedals) so Sunday seemed a good opportunity to test it all out.

I needed to drop in at @gavgav's so after doing that headed into the town centre and through The Quarry which was pretty packed with people enjoying the dry (if overcast) weather. I spotted my brother at work (he's driving the Picnic Boat today) then used the shared pavement beside Smithfield Road and headed towards Castlefields. It was busy again down by the weir and along Sydney Avenue. I used the old canal path to Uffington then joined the lane to Upton Magna which I had almost to myself.

I had expected the cafe at The Haughmond Inn to be bustling with cyclists but it was very quiet today which was surprising. There weren't that many cyclists as I headed to Atcham either. The Mytton and Mermaid was doing a good trade by the looks of things.

At Cross Houses I got startled by another rider coming at me on my side of the road as I turned onto the lane to Berrington. Reaching Kingstreet the road started to get as busy with cyclists as I'd been expecting all trip. There were a couple of club groups and I was amused by some of the double takes that they did on seeing my bike.

Along Lyons Lane I did a shoulder check and spotted a rider behind me. I expected them to come past but they didn't and in fact I even started to pull away until we went our seperate ways at Condover. I doubt I was going that fast so perhaps they just didn't want to say Hi?

No speedometer on this bike and Strava doesn't play nicely with my phone so: About 20 miles for this one at a relaxed average speed. The bike feels great to ride and much smoother. Happy with that.

At the William Clement memorial, Victoria Avenue.

The Dana (Shrewsbury Gaol) which has just featured as the location for the BBC drama Time.

Usually St Michaels Street is one of the busiest routes into the centre of Shrewsbury. Unfortunately the nearest terraced house on the right is at risk of collapsing so it's had to be closed until that can be dismantled.

Heading for Uffington along the old canal path.

Upton Magna.

Usual view from the old bridge at Atcham.

A rather misty view to the hills from Lyons Lane this time.

 

[Old jon]

Cloudy, dry, and not much breeze. No excuse at all, so wheel out the Spa and ride off. It’s a solo ride today, I don’t have to count the ticks of the clock.

Around a bit of Holbeck to Office Lock, Leeds and Liverpool towpath to Viaduct Road and start going up. Through Headingley, across the Ring Road and then Otley Old Road up to Cookridge. Then the road descends a bit, it does feel chilly! There is more rising road yet, turn left before reaching Bramhope at all, there is a sharp rise up to a garden centre and a longer one to reach the A658, the Harrogate to Bradford road. Cross that and take the next left to East Carlton.

And eventually to Guiseley. Past the school, along to the railway station and decide to turn right onto Otley Road. This was not in the plan for today originally, never mind. Ride through a bit of Menston, that roundabout is ‘orrible, and continue to Otley. Time for a banana in the park there, then up the hill to Farnley. And down the other side. After riding over the bridge across the River Washburn it’s the A658 again, into Pool. To reinforce the sense of deja vue, pedal along the A659 to Arthington. And up Creskeld Lane.

It was peaceful. The birdsong, only one car going up, nothing descending. Proper cool summer’s morning. If only I could gasp for breath a bit quieter! It levels out, breathing is easier, through the rest of Bramhope to Kings Road. Up to Arthington Road to ride down the eastern side of Golden Acre Park on the way to Adel. Back down the way to Headingley and turn right to the bottom of the valley at Kirkstall.

Towpath again, and that last bit of riding to reach home. A cracking good ride, for me. Big grin, thirty six miles and 1985 feet of ascent does give a good feeling.

Topography and geography. I think.

 

[Brandane]

Short and sweet 8.5 mile ride today, off road on my rigid (forks too!) MTB..
It's a route up through a local country park on a Land Rover type track. The views as you climb, then from the top, and on the descent are amazing. The photos don't really do it justice; but I'll bore you with them anyway...

The Isle of Cumbrae with part of the Isle of Bute, and just visible behind that is Kintyre.

Looking south towards Ailsa Craig, which is just visible. Hunterston nuclear power station is the 2 white buildings, mid right of pic..

Below is Largs Yacht haven and in the background, the Isle of Arran.

Southern end of Cumbrae, the whole of Little Cumbrae, dwarfed by Arran.

Trek 6500 MTB from about 2006. I removed the suspension forks and replaced with light carbon ones. I use it more as a hybrid as I have the exact same frame in silver, fitted with RockShox air forks. This is the top of the climb with Arran in the far background. Looking forward to the descent!

 

[philtalksbx]

The best ride so far on the Orbit GM. A quick circuit out on Bayswater Road to Woodeaton and back up through Old Headington. Short and sweet and surprisingly quick. I'm not sure I believe Strava's claimed top speed but with a bit of fettling yesterday it was smooth, very fast and just great fun. Just over 15km at 22.8kph.

 

[AndreaJ]

A shorter ride today which did have a planned route but that didn’t last very long. Set off to Whixall turning to cross the canal over a swing bridge and use the towpath for a change of scenery. This was going well until I got to the second swing bridge by the car park for Whixall Moss. There was a man lifting the bridge for his boat to pass and another boat waiting, the first boat passed through leaving the bridge up for the second one at which point they both decided that they were far too busy to put it back down and there were other boats coming soon who could do it! I did point out to them (nicely 😊) that it was actually a road to the car park and a couple of houses but they didn’t seem very bothered. As I didn’t have all day to wait for someone off a boat to put it down either I decided to carry on following the towpath. Despite it being grass at this point it was pretty dry, I came to some gravel tracks and hoped that I would eventually find a road as it would be embarrassing to be lost and I didn’t have time for that either.
I did get back onto a road I recognised although not quite where I thought I would and carried on to Fenns Wood and Fenns Bank, turned off to Alkington, Tilstock back into Whixall, Edstaston, Poolhead, Horton and home. 22.7 miles.

 

[Mike_P]

Sunday and the only opportunity for a bike ride was early evening so it seemed a good time to seek to bed in the new front disc brake pads on the ebike. Penny Pot was devoid of cyclists; back and forth a few times on the steeper bit where I could on the decent get the ebike up to 20mph, brake and repeat three times before turning round.

Monday, day off work and at midday blue sky with fluffy white clouds; the Defy north on the A61, albeit through Ripley for a change, to Ripon with the average speed at 17.1mph. That then tumbled on the upwards slog to Grewelthorpe where I took a snack break. Up and down to Masham, over the River Ure and turned north onto new cycling territory. The road climbed at largely gentle gradients but nevertheless quickly advanced up along the side of Lower Wensleydale. Then north west through Thirn and a road undulating up and down, before turning north on a distinctively upwards lane with the gradient as normal bouncing around all over the place with a 11.6% maximum. North west again the road was quickly joined by the route of NCN71 and more up and down undulations. The NCN then turned off, not sure why as the road I followed was direct to the point I reacquired the NCN. Another valley now appeared to the north with busy traffic visible on the north side of it on the A684; the NCN route eventually climbing steeply to a junction with the A road. With a car waiting to join the A road ahead I stopped for another snack before continuing – the intent at the next village having failed due to lack of any since Thirn. Of course as soon I joined the A road came Harmby and then the fifth letter ABC of Leyburn.

Departed on the A6108 which descends straight down the valley side crossing the Ure on the castellated Middleham Bridge

Into Middleham I avoided the upper part of the A roads summit by following Back Lane. The A road seemed quieter beyond Middleham passing through East Witton,

pass Jervaulx Abbey and back to Masham where I paused for a snack in a riverside park. Resumed on the A6108, still relatively quiet, back to Ripon and then to Burton Leonard for another snack. South towards Knaresbrough dark clouds where now dominating the sky. A road sign will have to serve for Scriven; a village largely consumed by the suburbs of Knaresbrough and no evident split half a mile down the road.

Achieved one of those pointless Strava PRs on the decent from the main road junctions in Knaresborough across High Bridge which is always dependent on how much a delay a pedestrian crossing causes. Heading towards the Starbeck branch of NCN67 moisture was evident in the breeze and by the time I was nearing home it had evolved into very light drizzle. Heavier rain set in shortly after I got home but before the bike was tucked away. 110.66km / 68.76 miles 3990 ft climbed 14.3 mph avg.

 

[Mike_P]

Tuesday, second day of two days leave and, whilst yesterday it was still forecast as cloudy and cool, the day transpired as having a blue sky and warm. After the 110km yesterday a gentle recovery ride, or three, was appropriate using the ebike and hence doubling up for some much needed shopping. First a slightly twisting route to the west of the town centre to reach Sainsbury (in a straight line it would be south-east). The gates on showground hill were open so that ticked the box for the return which included a close miss with a dog as it shot out of the bushes. Took the normal route immediately east of the town centre and roads which had been surface dressed a week back were now pretty compacted so progress was not hindered.

Then a ride into town and finally one to Knaresborough via Bilton Lane as usual. Now I thought the Beryl Burton Cycleway was pretty clearly marked

but almost immediately got a comment from a pedestrian unwilling to move out of the way that its a footway, shouldn’t be cycling. I responded that it was also a cycleway. Onto Waterside,

the black and white building is The Old Manor House dating from 1208 and originally built as a hunting lodge for King John around an oak tree, the trunk of which remains in the house. It was busy as usual with pedestrians particularly by the café and I came to a brief halt until an appropriate gap appeared. Onto Abbey Road and road closed signs appeared; a cyclist coming the other way commented about large lorries. Eventually said lorries appeared and a cyclist on a road bike just managed to get pass. Not much chance cycling pass with flat bars so the bike wheeled pass in the narrow gap between lorry and wall. Then, as all ebike rides to Knaresborough go, to Lidl for a stack of store cupboard items. Came back down Castle Ings Road to Waterside now noticeably less crowed and up the cyclepath on the A59 hill, getting somewhat overgrown, then across to Bilton Lane.
28.01 miles 1950 ft gained.

 

[Brandane]

A regular local circuit for me today, in brilliant warm sunshine. Normally I wouldn't be bothering to stop for photos, but when the weather is like this, one must!

First of all, the route and stats..

Top of the climb up Brisbane Glen.

Great to see this old lady again. Paddle steamer Waverley leaving Largs.

Shorefront at Largs.