Spiderweb
Not So Special One
- Location
- North Yorkshire
A quick drive into York to meet up at York Cycleworks for their Saturday morning shop ride. A fabulous spin into the beautiful Yorkshire wolds. 44 miles with an average of 15.6 mph.
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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Andy in Germany
Guru
- Location
- Freiburg im Breisgau
I did some shopping today. There was a nice bike/trailer rig at the local Lidl.
A Saturday ride this weekend for family reasons. Took advantage of the fact that trains were running and got an early one to Penrith. I headed west through Greystoke, no sign of anyone swinging through the trees, then south toward Ullswater. The lake was looking fantastic as the mist lifted. Through Patterdale and then up the Kirkstone pass! Met a nice chap at the top having a reconnaissance ride ahead of a major ride for his 80th Birthday next week. Then down through Troutbeck for coffee at Wilf’s in Staveley. Then onward to home. 65 miles or 105km with 1350m of climbing.
pictures of Ullswater and top of Kirkstone Pass
pictures of Ullswater and top of Kirkstone Pass
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
Ooh, hot weather cycling is back 
Shortish circuit around Beeston/Peckforton castles in Cheshire, fabulous around the lanes and a fair few cyclists out. 17 miles and back before 2nd half of FA Cup for a well deserved ice cold beer.
Shortish circuit around Beeston/Peckforton castles in Cheshire, fabulous around the lanes and a fair few cyclists out. 17 miles and back before 2nd half of FA Cup for a well deserved ice cold beer.
Dave 123
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire alps
Around the coast and through Ermington, along to Ivybridge And then up the big old hill to Westlake , maxing out at 19%…. Just at the top!
Back via Bull and Bear and Creacombe.
I had to stop along the way to admire the Early Purple Orchids before they fade away for the year.
https://www.strava.com/activities/7141397981
roubaixtuesday
self serving virtue signaller
First ride since covid struck and wedding anniversary treat staying at the Midland Hotel Morecambe with the wonderful Mrs T.
Fortified by a most excellent Manx kipper for breakfast we make our way via inland lanes en tandem to Arnside, where UFOs are spotted above the Kent viaduct during lunch at the Posh Sardine café. Recommended.
We return on the coastal lanes, splendid views at Silverdale:
and the lanes throughout resplendent in Spring foliage and flowers:
The Ramsons around this neck of the woods are maybe the best I've ever seen, a gauzy white mist floating over the woodland floor.
A simply splendid day out, 36 miles/ 2000ish ft climbing.
Fortified by a most excellent Manx kipper for breakfast we make our way via inland lanes en tandem to Arnside, where UFOs are spotted above the Kent viaduct during lunch at the Posh Sardine café. Recommended.
We return on the coastal lanes, splendid views at Silverdale:
and the lanes throughout resplendent in Spring foliage and flowers:
The Ramsons around this neck of the woods are maybe the best I've ever seen, a gauzy white mist floating over the woodland floor.
A simply splendid day out, 36 miles/ 2000ish ft climbing.
AndreaJ
Veteran
A shorter ride in the sunshine today. I had decided which direction to set out in and was going to make the rest up as I went along. Set off into Northwood then over to Bettisfield and Hanmer, around Hanmer mere before turning to Breadon Heath, Welshampton, Lyneal then past Colemere. Took the lane up to English Frankton then back to Loppington, Horton and home. Had to dodge a couple of tractors with silage trailers on some narrow lanes but hopefully they are all finished now.
23 miles on a beautiful sunny day.
A Shropshire lane, a Welsh lane and Hanmer Mere.
23 miles on a beautiful sunny day.
A Shropshire lane, a Welsh lane and Hanmer Mere.
Something different today . A local charity ride I've riden 4 times before but not since 2019 for obvious reason . Alexs Wish (charnwood forest ride ) in support of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy .It's a small local event 150 riders having riden it a few times I bump into the same people and we tend to ride it together . The problem is in 3 years I've got slower and the young whipper snappers have got quicker equals a tough day for me . When I asked this morning are you going hard today ,one replied "course record " !! . Any way we rolled out last so we could chase people all day . The so called steady start was ignored and 20 mph was the going rate the problem was by the first big climb we had had past 95% of the carrots by mile 12. I knew I'd get dropped on the climb so said my good byes and settled into my own pace . The first 20 miles is all hills I slowly past other people ahead and could see my 3 mates ahead but couldn't close the gap . The last big climb of Sharply hill I made a big effort to catch them knowing that on the flat I wouldn't keep pace on my own . This attempted failed so I settled in for a solo ride .Back to the start village but turn away up the Wreake valley for some flatter stuff before turning through Ragdale and another big climb . Once over this I was constantly working out wether I could get under 3 hours just as a target . Just kept pressing on Barrow ,Mountsorrel ,Quorn ,Woodhouse and the final few rollers back to Cropston . Back to the start at Rothley in 2hrs 55 mins for the 48 miles the other 3 mates were 15mins quicker . They took one strava segment but not the official one which is still mine 😁. The weather was much better than forecast and finished in glorious sunshine . At the finish I was rewarded with a medal and more importantly as much free cake as you could eat 🐷. Then I extended my route home to clock just over 100km for the day . Its not very often I push on that much on a ride but for this day I make en exception
Edit forgot to say despite starting dead last I was 4th round
Edit forgot to say despite starting dead last I was 4th round
Last edited:
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
Took Hercules, my iron horse for an explore. We he' got a bit of lithium in him so that helps.
Eyeries and off down the lanes, along the rugged coast to Uhrin. More of that later.
As far as the summit before the R575 crashes down the other side and turns East along the other side of the head.
Paused at the summit. Realised that the true state of my age and physical condition are at some variance with my perception.
Another reason to see my Vienna to The Black Sea as needing more preparation. A little local difficulty might need to be resolved too
Anyway on the return the Uhrin Arms appeared to be open.
The landlord provided some amazing Guinness and toasted sandwiches.
The entire outing was worth it including the near cardiac crise for the toasted sandwich.
Eyeries and off down the lanes, along the rugged coast to Uhrin. More of that later.
As far as the summit before the R575 crashes down the other side and turns East along the other side of the head.
Paused at the summit. Realised that the true state of my age and physical condition are at some variance with my perception.
Another reason to see my Vienna to The Black Sea as needing more preparation. A little local difficulty might need to be resolved too
Anyway on the return the Uhrin Arms appeared to be open.
The landlord provided some amazing Guinness and toasted sandwiches.
The entire outing was worth it including the near cardiac crise for the toasted sandwich.
Spiderweb
Not So Special One
- Location
- North Yorkshire
Both my friends Martin & Gaynor were suffering this morning after the previous nights excess (free bar!). They didn’t get home until 2am so our start was delayed by an hour.
A very gentle pootle into York was all they could muster. 2 coffee stops and bacon sandwiches seemed to help although Gaynor had to stop to be sick on the return leg🤢
33.6 miles with an average of 14.5 mph.
A very gentle pootle into York was all they could muster. 2 coffee stops and bacon sandwiches seemed to help although Gaynor had to stop to be sick on the return leg🤢
33.6 miles with an average of 14.5 mph.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
I met some mates in a village west of Peterborough and took tracks/paths to the eastside. The sun was coming out so after I left them in Nassington (another village west of Peterborough) I looped round by Yarwell Mill. I like the cafe there. The service is a bit slow but it's a good selection fora tiny place, its in a good location and at all time you can be within a metre of your bike even at the counter 👍
https://www.relive.cc/view/v26MX98Ed3O
https://www.relive.cc/view/v26MX98Ed3O
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Saturday was a lovely warm day with a light wind here........ unfortunately I couldn't ride on Saturday so Sunday afternoon it was.
Nice and warm after overnight rain but the wind had got quite blustery from the east. The Raleigh came out and I decided to do a variation of one of my regular routes to Atcham, Walcot, Cressage and back via Acton Burnell, Longnor and Condover.
The strength of the wind made itself noticed right from the off and made the run to Condover quite an effort. Thankfully Lyons Lane was a bit more sheltered and I got along fairly well to Cross Houses where turning north I had a crosswind through Atcham to Upton Magna.
Bearing left after Upton Magna made a change and took me along a quite lane towards Rodington. At my next right I expected to be battling with the wind but it wasn't too bad to Walcot, although I was pretty slow on the climb up Bluebell Lane. When I reached the old A5 I thought that having a tailwind here was too good a chance to miss and enjoyed a dash along the main road followed by the lane from the Horseshoe pub (good to see it open again) to Wroxeter.
Having had that enjoyable bit of riding it was back to plodding into the wind on the undulating lane through Eyton-on-Severn then the main road to Cressage (saw a model T Ford on the way). Having a full on headwind down the hill showed that the wind had shifted to when I started but did bode well for later in the ride. It meant I had more of a crosswind up Shore Lane and on my way to Cound Moor.
From Acton Burnell it seemed I was still on course to pick up a helpful tailwind towards the end of the ride. I noticed it after the crossroads near Longnor then, even though it wasn't directly behind me had a swift run to Ryton. Pausing to finish off my water just after Ryton I noticed that the trees didn't seem to be thrashing round like they had earlier - I'd lost the strong winds of earlier in the ride but it was still brisk and was behind me so I was able to push along at some nice cruising speeds through Condover and up to the A49. Ironically the only car to overtake a little too close on the main road was one with a bike on the roof and the passenger giving me a thumbs up and a big smile.
37.3 miles this time at 14.7 mph average.
A couple of shots from the ancient Roman city of Viroconium (Wroxeter).
On my way to Eyton on Severn and looking towards the Stretton hills.
Another shot of the view to the hills.
Near Dryton. I really like this time of the year when the verges are blooming and it's almost like riding through a garden on most of the lanes.
Nice and warm after overnight rain but the wind had got quite blustery from the east. The Raleigh came out and I decided to do a variation of one of my regular routes to Atcham, Walcot, Cressage and back via Acton Burnell, Longnor and Condover.The strength of the wind made itself noticed right from the off and made the run to Condover quite an effort. Thankfully Lyons Lane was a bit more sheltered and I got along fairly well to Cross Houses where turning north I had a crosswind through Atcham to Upton Magna.
Bearing left after Upton Magna made a change and took me along a quite lane towards Rodington. At my next right I expected to be battling with the wind but it wasn't too bad to Walcot, although I was pretty slow on the climb up Bluebell Lane. When I reached the old A5 I thought that having a tailwind here was too good a chance to miss and enjoyed a dash along the main road followed by the lane from the Horseshoe pub (good to see it open again) to Wroxeter.
Having had that enjoyable bit of riding it was back to plodding into the wind on the undulating lane through Eyton-on-Severn then the main road to Cressage (saw a model T Ford on the way). Having a full on headwind down the hill showed that the wind had shifted to when I started but did bode well for later in the ride. It meant I had more of a crosswind up Shore Lane and on my way to Cound Moor.
From Acton Burnell it seemed I was still on course to pick up a helpful tailwind towards the end of the ride. I noticed it after the crossroads near Longnor then, even though it wasn't directly behind me had a swift run to Ryton. Pausing to finish off my water just after Ryton I noticed that the trees didn't seem to be thrashing round like they had earlier - I'd lost the strong winds of earlier in the ride but it was still brisk and was behind me so I was able to push along at some nice cruising speeds through Condover and up to the A49. Ironically the only car to overtake a little too close on the main road was one with a bike on the roof and the passenger giving me a thumbs up and a big smile.
37.3 miles this time at 14.7 mph average.
A couple of shots from the ancient Roman city of Viroconium (Wroxeter).
On my way to Eyton on Severn and looking towards the Stretton hills.
Another shot of the view to the hills.
Near Dryton. I really like this time of the year when the verges are blooming and it's almost like riding through a garden on most of the lanes.
Ian H
Ancient randonneur
I had a lovely if painful ride out yesterday. I had entered a number of events as prep for an attempt at the Chase The Sun coast to coast ride at the end of June but injury ruined my training and put paid to that for this year. In the last month or two I've only managed a couple of ~30 mile rides and a ~60 miler so when I remembered the 102 mile sportive I'd entered was approaching I wasn't overly optimisitic 
I decided last week to have a go anyway just for the challenge and prepped the bike ready for it, knowing I'd left it far too late to bother trying to prep myself With MrsBssll on standby for rescue services I loaded the van up and set off to the start of the Ride Suffolk Sunrise sportive in Framlingham. Its a well organised event with around 800 riders partcipating this year over three distances; 42, 62 or 102 miles. The route was undulating with no particularly big climbs but plenty of small ones - Suffolk isn't as flat as they'd have you believe /styles/default/xenforo/smls/laugh.gif
The weather started overcast but warm so off I set in shorts and short sleeves
After the first 15 to 20 miles I was pleased to find my legs were feeling pretty good and I arrived at the first food stop feeling quite positive, but knowing that with 22 miles done and potentially 80 still to do there was a lot of work ahead. I stocked up on Haribo and fig rolls and off I went again 😄 The next rest stop was at 56 miles so it was a decent distance between breaks, and I knew I'd have to pass the first route split fairly soon without bottling it As I approached the split the weather made this decision even more tempting as it started to rain, the wind picked up and the temperature dipped but I could see a break in the clouds and pushed on. I knew once I was passed this early split I was pretty much comitted to the full route as I'd have been annoyed to get back to the van having done 62 miles and feeling I could have gone further so I'd now have to finish or be rescued from where I dropped
Whilst there were several hundred other people out on the same route it never actually felt like it - partly because I'd started slightly after the main pack, and partly because I was pretty slow - but there were never more than 2 or 3 other riders in view for longer than a few minutes at a time. This gave me plenty of opportunity to enjoy the beautiful Suffolk scenery, and also meant I could swear in private when my legs started cramping at mile 50 Fortunately it was only very mild cramp and I managed to get to the next food stop and take on plenty more fluids and Haribo, unfortunately no fig rolls at this location so I made do with some Wotsits and custard creams
And so onwards again after a short but much needed break. Unfortunately the cramp didn't hold off for long. By mile 70 I was having to really control my pedal strokes as both legs were teetering on the brink but I managed to make it to the final food stop at mile 82. Here I took the opportunity to take a longer break, hanging around for 20 minutes or so to refuel and walk around on the grass in my socks to stop my feet from aching quite so much! Once on my way I was pleased to find my legs feeling stronger again so I pushed on through the 90's and finally past 100... The last two miles required to finish the route were probably the hardest of the lot as I'd done what I set out to do but still needed to get back to the van to get home and had very little left to give - in fact my legs still haven't forgiven me for it
My average speed wasn't great, and I'll probably be feeling the effects for a week, but overall I'm thrilled to have finished. Next time I'll definitely put in a bit more prep
I decided last week to have a go anyway just for the challenge and prepped the bike ready for it, knowing I'd left it far too late to bother trying to prep myself With MrsBssll on standby for rescue services I loaded the van up and set off to the start of the Ride Suffolk Sunrise sportive in Framlingham. Its a well organised event with around 800 riders partcipating this year over three distances; 42, 62 or 102 miles. The route was undulating with no particularly big climbs but plenty of small ones - Suffolk isn't as flat as they'd have you believe /styles/default/xenforo/smls/laugh.gif The weather started overcast but warm so off I set in shorts and short sleeves
After the first 15 to 20 miles I was pleased to find my legs were feeling pretty good and I arrived at the first food stop feeling quite positive, but knowing that with 22 miles done and potentially 80 still to do there was a lot of work ahead. I stocked up on Haribo and fig rolls and off I went again 😄 The next rest stop was at 56 miles so it was a decent distance between breaks, and I knew I'd have to pass the first route split fairly soon without bottling it As I approached the split the weather made this decision even more tempting as it started to rain, the wind picked up and the temperature dipped but I could see a break in the clouds and pushed on. I knew once I was passed this early split I was pretty much comitted to the full route as I'd have been annoyed to get back to the van having done 62 miles and feeling I could have gone further so I'd now have to finish or be rescued from where I dropped Whilst there were several hundred other people out on the same route it never actually felt like it - partly because I'd started slightly after the main pack, and partly because I was pretty slow - but there were never more than 2 or 3 other riders in view for longer than a few minutes at a time. This gave me plenty of opportunity to enjoy the beautiful Suffolk scenery, and also meant I could swear in private when my legs started cramping at mile 50
Fortunately it was only very mild cramp and I managed to get to the next food stop and take on plenty more fluids and Haribo, unfortunately no fig rolls at this location so I made do with some Wotsits and custard creams And so onwards again after a short but much needed break. Unfortunately the cramp didn't hold off for long. By mile 70 I was having to really control my pedal strokes as both legs were teetering on the brink but I managed to make it to the final food stop at mile 82. Here I took the opportunity to take a longer break, hanging around for 20 minutes or so to refuel and walk around on the grass in my socks to stop my feet from aching quite so much! Once on my way I was pleased to find my legs feeling stronger again so I pushed on through the 90's and finally past 100... The last two miles required to finish the route were probably the hardest of the lot as I'd done what I set out to do but still needed to get back to the van to get home and had very little left to give - in fact my legs still haven't forgiven me for it
My average speed wasn't great, and I'll probably be feeling the effects for a week, but overall I'm thrilled to have finished. Next time I'll definitely put in a bit more prep
