I may be a good six months and about a stone and a half away from being able to ride a century again, but at least after a very long time I've got the spark back.Reports on radio Leicester warning people to avoid the great central way which apparently is been riden by wobbly cyclists . Beer is the suspected cause
Good to see you out on your bike . Your welcome on our next century ride just lets us now
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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Racing roadkill
Guru
https://www.relive.cc/view/975407657
Just a short one today.
Only halfway and I think I may have finished a few off.
A much depleted field with a lot of dead legs at the finish.
Sunshine and warm temperatures.
Lovely
Just a short one today.
Only halfway and I think I may have finished a few off.
A much depleted field with a lot of dead legs at the finish.
Sunshine and warm temperatures.
Lovely
Elybazza61
Guru
Nice solo ride today up to Denver and returning via Welney and Coveney.
Tough going out but a nice 'push' coming back.
Pleased with the run out as I haven't had a decent longish ride for a while with 82k done at an average of 29kmh so happy with that considering the lack of time on the bike;just need a good 100 under the belt now before the TOC later.
https://www.strava.com/activities/974846817
Oh and the new Gabba 2 jersey worked nicely keeping the Notherly wind at bay;
And some bic pics of course with the Helium now sporting Deda Superleggera carbon bars(with neat integral wiring channels) and superzero stem;
Should have picked up the hat first really
.
Tough going out but a nice 'push' coming back.
Pleased with the run out as I haven't had a decent longish ride for a while with 82k done at an average of 29kmh so happy with that considering the lack of time on the bike;just need a good 100 under the belt now before the TOC later.
https://www.strava.com/activities/974846817
Oh and the new Gabba 2 jersey worked nicely keeping the Notherly wind at bay;
And some bic pics of course with the Helium now sporting Deda Superleggera carbon bars(with neat integral wiring channels) and superzero stem;
Should have picked up the hat first really
.
Gareth C
Veteran
- Location
- North Pennines.
After a big ride yesterday, I set my ambitions a little lower: local and shorter, but still big mountain wild country riding. I parked up at (a very low) Cow Green reservoir and did an out-and-back to the spectacular High Cup.
I’ve never seen the reservoir this low
But the reservoir is still putting water into Cauldron Snout to keep the Tees flowing
Once at the bridge over Maize Beck, I decided it would be fun to explore the bridleway on the north side of the beck. I hadn’t realized until today that the bridge is actually a “new” bridge (wasn’t there when I walked the Pennine Way in the late ‘80’s), and the north side of the beck was the main path, heading to the “old” bridge over a beautiful limestone gorge.
En-route, I met a guy cycling the other way over the featureless moor. While I was riding a fat bike, eminently suited to this terrain. The guy I met was on a touring bike: absolutely bonkers, but impressive!
… and I was struggling on the fat bike!
Peat cornice
After taking Sunday lunch at the limestone gorge (a cup of coffee and a few squares of chocolate), and riding on to High Cup to appreciate the view, it was time to head home.
Amazing limestone gorge
Not a bad lunch spot!
Always spectacular
Finally, riding up by the reservoir, I took time out to enjoy the wild flowers. Teesdale is truly beautiful.
https://www.relive.cc/view/975539598
I’ve never seen the reservoir this low
But the reservoir is still putting water into Cauldron Snout to keep the Tees flowing
Once at the bridge over Maize Beck, I decided it would be fun to explore the bridleway on the north side of the beck. I hadn’t realized until today that the bridge is actually a “new” bridge (wasn’t there when I walked the Pennine Way in the late ‘80’s), and the north side of the beck was the main path, heading to the “old” bridge over a beautiful limestone gorge.
En-route, I met a guy cycling the other way over the featureless moor. While I was riding a fat bike, eminently suited to this terrain. The guy I met was on a touring bike: absolutely bonkers, but impressive!
… and I was struggling on the fat bike!
Peat cornice
After taking Sunday lunch at the limestone gorge (a cup of coffee and a few squares of chocolate), and riding on to High Cup to appreciate the view, it was time to head home.
Amazing limestone gorge
Not a bad lunch spot!
Always spectacular
Finally, riding up by the reservoir, I took time out to enjoy the wild flowers. Teesdale is truly beautiful.
https://www.relive.cc/view/975539598
The Essex Spurs
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Witham Esssex
Cycled to Paper Mill and had a coffee and a lump a cake.Went along the canal to Hoe Mill and on to Ulting Church (what a gorgeous building) then through to Nounsley Hatfield Peverel along the side of the A12 back to Witham and relax!!!!
A nice ride out and wife looked good in her cycling top!!!
A nice ride out and wife looked good in her cycling top!!!
i hate hills
Its my day to be brilliant
I hate cycling !!!!! At least thats what i kept telling myself on one of the most frustrating rides i've ever had. Ok first off i forgot my glasses , que very watery eyes with the wind. Ah the wind . No matter where i turned today no matter how much i changed my route i got a head wind . It was almost like it was playing games with me. Then finally i discovered i'd forgotten to bring cash for a coffee / cake stop. Bike back in shed showered and tucking into a cheese and ham toastie at home i decided that it wasn't all bad and at least i'd gotten out for a while. I love cycling again . Back out tomorrow afternoon if theres no overtime at work . Take care folks.
RedRider
Pulling through
- Location
- Location Embrocation
High cup nick amazing
Technically, yesterday's ride but as this included an overnight stay, this is the first chance of posting!
One of my best mates - Andy - turns 50 next month so we (that's me, Andy plus two other friends) wanted to do something a little different for our usual birthday gathering and decided that we would hire tandems and go for a ride in the Dales. We decided on 50 miles as our target - well him being 50 and all! Now Andy is not a cyclist so we knew this would be a bit of a challenge to boot!
We hired the tandems from JP Tandems in Gargrave and can't say enough about the team there - they were brilliant! The tandems were good too and well maintained.
Now riding a tandem is somewhat different to a normal bike both in terms of how it 'feels' as well as handles and the fact that you and your tandem-busy have to work in unison so involved lots of talking and co-ordination of intentions!
Andy was with my friend Gareth who is a strong, seasoned cyclist but who, like all of us had never ridden a tandem before. I was with another friend who is a great runner but doesn't cycle either so it was me and Ian as the 'experienced' cyclists taking the front and heading off!
The day was quite cool and windy so it was certainly going to be a harder ride today with the southerly being a head wind for us for the first half of the ride.
We decided to head out of Gargrave and up the valley along the rolling back roads into the village of Hetton before going the main road through Cracoe and Threshfield before a right turn and down to the river and up the other side into Grassington, the pull up from the bridge to the square being the first real challenge of the ride so far!
A brief stop then we headed up out of Grassington and onto Grass Wood Lane which was a great ride following the river whilst avoiding the main B6160 road. This took its through Conistone before we head over the river then past the trout farms and the climbers at Kilnsey Crag.
Now on the main road there was a little more traffic but nothing too heavy and lots of courteous drivers as well as plenty of cyclists to say hi to (we did seem to get lots of smiles and grins from the other cyclists who probably thought "rather them than me" but we were having fun!)
A nice sweeping descent into Kettlewell and then another lovely part of the ride following the Wharfe as we continued north through Starbotton and into Buckden where we had planned to have lunch at the aptly named Buck Inn but sadly it was closed and 'To Let' so we continued on to Hubberholme and enjoyed lovely home made sandwiches (Hot Roast Beef with scruffy thick gravy or Hand Carved Ham Salad) washed down with a couple of pints of rehydration fluid!!
A quick review of the route options and the plan was to retrace our route to Hetton then head west which we did although the hoped for tail wind didn't materialise. Heading south some of those lovely descents were cheeky summits (especially coming out of Kettlewell!) to get up and good co-ordination and gear choices helped us motor on at a nice pace all the way to Hetton. We stopped at the Angel Inn in Hetton for a breather and more hydration and enjoyed a rare glimpse of the sun and some blue sky.
After the stop, we then headed west towards Winterburn. At the bottom of a nice descent coming into the hamlet there was a cyclist at the side of the road - 6th sense made me shout to ask if he was OK to which he replied "no" so we quickly stopped and went back to him. He'd had two punctures on the descent and had no more inner tubes or patches. He was on 700x23 and our spare inners were 700x35 but we managed to get him sorted and helped get him on the road again to head back to Settle which would have been a long walk otherwise!
Good deed done we then had what I will politely call the rolling road of Abbey Hill and Hall Brow into Airton which certainly tested our legs. Through Otterburn we came to the junction of the A65 at Hellifield and effectively slogged our way on the A65 up a few long pulls with some not so good driving from people who think they can pass extremely close at speed. Despite this, we got ourselves back into Gargrave without any mishaps!
Arriving back at the hire place we realised that we were slightly short of the planned 50 so a quick ride around the block and we were there!
Tired but happy and back to the hotel for a shower and change ready for a meal out with a couple of birthday drinks!
50.9 miles with 2624ft of climbing
https://www.strava.com/activities/975088199
https://www.relive.cc/view/975088199
One of my best mates - Andy - turns 50 next month so we (that's me, Andy plus two other friends) wanted to do something a little different for our usual birthday gathering and decided that we would hire tandems and go for a ride in the Dales. We decided on 50 miles as our target - well him being 50 and all! Now Andy is not a cyclist so we knew this would be a bit of a challenge to boot!
We hired the tandems from JP Tandems in Gargrave and can't say enough about the team there - they were brilliant! The tandems were good too and well maintained.
Now riding a tandem is somewhat different to a normal bike both in terms of how it 'feels' as well as handles and the fact that you and your tandem-busy have to work in unison so involved lots of talking and co-ordination of intentions!
Andy was with my friend Gareth who is a strong, seasoned cyclist but who, like all of us had never ridden a tandem before. I was with another friend who is a great runner but doesn't cycle either so it was me and Ian as the 'experienced' cyclists taking the front and heading off!
The day was quite cool and windy so it was certainly going to be a harder ride today with the southerly being a head wind for us for the first half of the ride.
We decided to head out of Gargrave and up the valley along the rolling back roads into the village of Hetton before going the main road through Cracoe and Threshfield before a right turn and down to the river and up the other side into Grassington, the pull up from the bridge to the square being the first real challenge of the ride so far!
A brief stop then we headed up out of Grassington and onto Grass Wood Lane which was a great ride following the river whilst avoiding the main B6160 road. This took its through Conistone before we head over the river then past the trout farms and the climbers at Kilnsey Crag.
Now on the main road there was a little more traffic but nothing too heavy and lots of courteous drivers as well as plenty of cyclists to say hi to (we did seem to get lots of smiles and grins from the other cyclists who probably thought "rather them than me" but we were having fun!)
A nice sweeping descent into Kettlewell and then another lovely part of the ride following the Wharfe as we continued north through Starbotton and into Buckden where we had planned to have lunch at the aptly named Buck Inn but sadly it was closed and 'To Let' so we continued on to Hubberholme and enjoyed lovely home made sandwiches (Hot Roast Beef with scruffy thick gravy or Hand Carved Ham Salad) washed down with a couple of pints of rehydration fluid!!
A quick review of the route options and the plan was to retrace our route to Hetton then head west which we did although the hoped for tail wind didn't materialise. Heading south some of those lovely descents were cheeky summits (especially coming out of Kettlewell!) to get up and good co-ordination and gear choices helped us motor on at a nice pace all the way to Hetton. We stopped at the Angel Inn in Hetton for a breather and more hydration and enjoyed a rare glimpse of the sun and some blue sky.
After the stop, we then headed west towards Winterburn. At the bottom of a nice descent coming into the hamlet there was a cyclist at the side of the road - 6th sense made me shout to ask if he was OK to which he replied "no" so we quickly stopped and went back to him. He'd had two punctures on the descent and had no more inner tubes or patches. He was on 700x23 and our spare inners were 700x35 but we managed to get him sorted and helped get him on the road again to head back to Settle which would have been a long walk otherwise!
Good deed done we then had what I will politely call the rolling road of Abbey Hill and Hall Brow into Airton which certainly tested our legs. Through Otterburn we came to the junction of the A65 at Hellifield and effectively slogged our way on the A65 up a few long pulls with some not so good driving from people who think they can pass extremely close at speed. Despite this, we got ourselves back into Gargrave without any mishaps!
Arriving back at the hire place we realised that we were slightly short of the planned 50 so a quick ride around the block and we were there!
Tired but happy and back to the hotel for a shower and change ready for a meal out with a couple of birthday drinks!
50.9 miles with 2624ft of climbing
https://www.strava.com/activities/975088199
https://www.relive.cc/view/975088199
Gareth C
Veteran
- Location
- North Pennines.
Nice work - Karma says "what goes 'round, comes 'round!"
Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
10.2 miles this day, on the Schwinn Mirada, although no one was around to look at it. The bike rolls along nicely, but lighter tires are needed for better speed. I'm also dumping the Biopace cranks for something more conventional and consistent. Lovely weather, sunny and on the cold side of mild, but mild just the same.
59F,15C
Winds NW12
Relative humidity 34%
Barometer 30.05, 1020.4mb
A fine day, worthy of more than a few cyclists. I'm having slower times, as I'm unwell. Still not bad for the day after a family reunion, so maybe it is all in my head.
59F,15C
Winds NW12
Relative humidity 34%
Barometer 30.05, 1020.4mb
A fine day, worthy of more than a few cyclists. I'm having slower times, as I'm unwell. Still not bad for the day after a family reunion, so maybe it is all in my head.
Richard A Thackeray
Legendary Member
Crikey!, I'd have reckoned on more climbing than that up there, we wrung almost 2100ft out of less than 20 miles (if Mapometer is accurate)
Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
Epic stuff! Sounds like a really great day out...... though I don't trust any of my mates enough to share a tandem with them!
Hmm, about time to ride the fixed for its first journey this month. The usual bit of dithering about what route to take, that dithering likely lasted most of the way around . . .
I fancied riding that seemingly level stretch of road between Thorner and Bramham, from the top of Church Hill towards Bramham the road drops 20 metres in about a mile says the map. No wonder it is hard work in the other direction! Anyway, the ride has to start, at my front door will do. Jack Lane, witless wander around bits of Holbeck and the subterranean slither twixt train and river. Ooops, in plain words ride under the station to reach proper roads, cross the river twice and pedal up to the Oakwood Clock. And then pedal up some more to the top of Boot Hill and the right turn onto Red Hall Lane. Cross Coal Road and along Skeltons Lane and turn left at the end onto Thorner Lane.
The ride through Thorner is just as ever, nothing much seems to alter there. I did dither, Milner Lane or Church Hill? Went with the earlier idea, Church Hill it was. At the top, two girls on bikes suddenly appeared in front of me, pedalling quite briskly. I thought they must have been locals, said good morning as I passed and had a greeting in return. Further along the road were two other cyclists and I again guessed as male locals. I caught up with them at the bottom of Dead Badger Hill ( my name for it ) and passed. It is too steep a hill for me to slow down on the fixed, I think it is the first time I have ridden that bike all the way up.
At Bramham I had another attack of the dithers, and chose to turn right onto Paradise Way then follow that direction to Aberford. There was a bit of breeze pushing me along there which might have helped me decide. After the crest of the road in Aberford it is almost automatic to turn left onto Lotherton Lane, so I did just that.
As the video shows, I turned right at Lotherton Gates which really leaves two choices for the rest of the ride, I could have taken the left turn for Micklefield and a few added miles. I opted for the shorter trip, which was still 31.2 miles, going straight to Garforth and home the busy way through Swillington, Woodlesford, John o’ Gaunts, Stourton and a slice of Hunslet to point me towards home. Yet another good bit of a ride, I reached home with a smile on my ugly mug.
For no change at all
I fancied riding that seemingly level stretch of road between Thorner and Bramham, from the top of Church Hill towards Bramham the road drops 20 metres in about a mile says the map. No wonder it is hard work in the other direction! Anyway, the ride has to start, at my front door will do. Jack Lane, witless wander around bits of Holbeck and the subterranean slither twixt train and river. Ooops, in plain words ride under the station to reach proper roads, cross the river twice and pedal up to the Oakwood Clock. And then pedal up some more to the top of Boot Hill and the right turn onto Red Hall Lane. Cross Coal Road and along Skeltons Lane and turn left at the end onto Thorner Lane.
The ride through Thorner is just as ever, nothing much seems to alter there. I did dither, Milner Lane or Church Hill? Went with the earlier idea, Church Hill it was. At the top, two girls on bikes suddenly appeared in front of me, pedalling quite briskly. I thought they must have been locals, said good morning as I passed and had a greeting in return. Further along the road were two other cyclists and I again guessed as male locals. I caught up with them at the bottom of Dead Badger Hill ( my name for it ) and passed. It is too steep a hill for me to slow down on the fixed, I think it is the first time I have ridden that bike all the way up.
At Bramham I had another attack of the dithers, and chose to turn right onto Paradise Way then follow that direction to Aberford. There was a bit of breeze pushing me along there which might have helped me decide. After the crest of the road in Aberford it is almost automatic to turn left onto Lotherton Lane, so I did just that.
As the video shows, I turned right at Lotherton Gates which really leaves two choices for the rest of the ride, I could have taken the left turn for Micklefield and a few added miles. I opted for the shorter trip, which was still 31.2 miles, going straight to Garforth and home the busy way through Swillington, Woodlesford, John o’ Gaunts, Stourton and a slice of Hunslet to point me towards home. Yet another good bit of a ride, I reached home with a smile on my ugly mug.
For no change at all
welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Another gorgeous day today, so that means another bimble was needed. 14 miles done on my favourate route. The b4404 which is part of the NC route. It is a 10 mile loop around Mach, but i added a few more miles onto it. Beautiful sunny day, but the headwind on the A470 was horrible.
With it being such a glorious 
day and stuck in the office looking at it, I simply had to get out after work for a short spin around Town. Nice and warm, but that stiff Northerly breeze is still blowing hard and making it a tough pedal at times.
Out through the estate and along the old railway bed path, with a much easier crossing of the inner ring road, due to it being closed in 1 direction for yet more roadworks.
Cut through to Abbey Foregate and then up the cycle paths next to the ring road, looking at all of the impatient drivers doing wheelspins as they carried out 3 point turns in the queues down to the traffic lights for the roadworks. Apparently it makes a point if you carry out those turns in an aggressive way and wreck you car tyres
It was hard going up to Heathgates, into the wind, but I then turned out of it and flew down through Castlefields, along the river towpath and through the Quarry Park. I'm even now in the top 150 (10%) of a Strava segment. I do like my new bike
Continued up through Porthill, Copthorne and then Radbrook, before joining the lanes to Nobold and Meole Brace, which was back into that headwind again.
11.2 miles at 12.7mph avg
day and stuck in the office looking at it, I simply had to get out after work for a short spin around Town. Nice and warm, but that stiff Northerly breeze is still blowing hard and making it a tough pedal at times.Out through the estate and along the old railway bed path, with a much easier crossing of the inner ring road, due to it being closed in 1 direction for yet more roadworks.
Cut through to Abbey Foregate and then up the cycle paths next to the ring road, looking at all of the impatient drivers doing wheelspins as they carried out 3 point turns in the queues down to the traffic lights for the roadworks. Apparently it makes a point if you carry out those turns in an aggressive way and wreck you car tyres
It was hard going up to Heathgates, into the wind, but I then turned out of it and flew down through Castlefields, along the river towpath and through the Quarry Park. I'm even now in the top 150 (10%) of a Strava segment. I do like my new bike
Continued up through Porthill, Copthorne and then Radbrook, before joining the lanes to Nobold and Meole Brace, which was back into that headwind again.
11.2 miles at 12.7mph avg
