Your ride today....

[NorthernDave]

More good intentions out of the window today, but at least I got some miles in.
Woke up feeling knackered, but had a word with myself and got out on the bike.
Chose the Pro Carbon as the sun was out, but the state of the roads suggested it hadn't long since stopped raining and in places the mudguard equipped Road Comp might have been a better choice. Still, the bike appears to have survived without melting

Local roads and out onto Leeds Road for the climb up to Scholes - felt quite good up the hill, but that feeling deserted me as I entered the village and turned left at the Coronation Tree into the wind and I made heavy weather along Main Street, being quite pleased to see some temporary traffic lights on red so I could have a rest.
All too soon they went green, so on through the rest of the village and out onto the A64 for a madcap dash down to Thorner Lane, which leads down Sandhills and into Thorner itself.

I was really huffing and puffing as I tackled the slight climb onto and along Main Street and at this point decided enough was enough, turning onto Carr Lane to head towards home. I felt the ups a lot more than the downs along here and freewheeled the last couple of hundred yards down to the A58, where it was left and down the slope to Coal Road, with the last climb of the day up that sharp ramp and along past the junction with Skeltons and Red Hall Lanes before picking up local roads to home, with an extended round the block loop to push the mileage into double figures.

10.10 miles (16.25km) in just under 46m, at an average of 13.2mph with 495ft climbed. Which on the face of it doesn't look too bad, but it felt like hard work at times on the way round. On a more positive note it's great to be able to get out in shorts and a short sleeved top with the sun shining and looking back on the route, it's not a bad one to have in the bank for days when time is short - nothing revolutionary as they're all familiar local roads, but it's the first time I've ridden those roads in that order.

Sorry, no pics today as I didn't stop anywhere (maybe I should have!), but here is a map:

 

[Stonechat]

Needed a long hard ride today to toughen myself up for 100 mi sportive in end of June

Headed down via Clandon and Newlands Corner, then through Albury wonersh and Hambledon to Haslemere where I stopped at Darnley's and excellent coffee place and had a toastie too.

Then up to Hindhead, this is all skirting the Devil's Punch Bowl.

Back through Elstead Wanborough and Normandy, Pirbright Bisley and Chobham

74.79 miles @ 15.0 mph
A good amount of climbing 3481 feet.

Think I pacet it reasonably well, as not too tired at the end

https://www.strava.com/activities/986017667
Pleased to have longest and hardest ride since my shoulder fracture done

 

[booze and cake]

Its still a bit breezy but otherwise and absolutely lovely day in the capital. Knobbly knees saw the suns rays and fluffy cloud filled skies made for some lovely photos. Crossing the river from the badlands of south London

I then decided to have a peep at an urban meadow amongst the brutalist concrete of the Barbican estate.

Heading towards the Mall and Buck Pal, everyone loves a road closed to cars, giving brief respite from noxious diesel and petrol pollution.

Its got to be nudging 20 degrees here today, Liz can probably turn the heating off for summer now and save a few quid. If Phil gets cold he can just put a jumper on, or some tiger, polar bear or ermine trophy furs he's got knocking about the gaff.

As part of my tree hunting I stopped at an impressive Caucasian Wingnut in Hyde Park. I love the bark on these trees, its a fast grower so looks a lot older than it is, not introduced into the UK until after 1800.

The Italian garden section of Hyde Park even has Rolls Royce ice cream vans don't you know, I did'nt have one but expect they were so eye wateringly expensive only newly arrived tourists with no concept of the exchange rate are customers.

I never normally see street art in the posh parts of town, but saw this today in Linden Gardens, which I papped for inclusion in my ongoing street art collection in the 'you cycle in front of wall pics thread'

And finally back across the river where proles like me belong

Perfect day for dawdling, and my glove/jersey/shorts tan lines are coming along nicely.

 

[cubey]

Local loop of around 35km and a climb of 500mtrs today at max effort, quite pleased with the stats for this considering half was uphill.

 

[srw]

We're (roughly) following the "Beginners" training advised for the Ride London 100 miler. Which means this week was the first two-hour ride, including what they comically call "sweet spots". Or 5 minutes every half-hour where you push one notch harder - and don't feel sweet afterwards. On the tandem that means going up a gentle hill at roughly the normal speed of a slow solo bike....

About 26 miles in about 2 hours moving, which isn't bad.

 

[cyberknight]

1st ever 100 miler !
Did the medieum midland monster today and i was determined to make it a 100 , 10 miles to the start meeting up with @Lilliburlero and a few from mercia cc.Rode around in a couple of loose groups and TBH relly struggled at the end as i had stomach ache , cold hands and leg cramp so i am guessing i was bonking a bit so had to soft pedal the last 15 miles of the sportive .
14 miles left after a light lunch at roslistion forestry centre, so i basically pootled about and ended up riding up and down one road close to my house as i had 1.5 miles to go .
View: https://www.strava.com/activities/986188422/embed/d90a994c0c1308888b1f221d71e11241e33418d3

 

[13 rider]

1st ever 100 miler !
Did the medieum midland monster today and i was determined to make it a 100 , 10 miles to the start meeting up with @Lilliburlero and a few from mercia cc.Rode around in a couple of loose groups and TBH relly struggled at the end as i had stomach ache , cold hands and leg cramp so i am guessing i was bonking a bit so had to soft pedal the last 15 miles of the sportive .
14 miles left after a light lunch at roslistion forestry centre, so i basically pootled about and ended up riding up and down one road close to my house as i had 1.5 miles to go .
View: https://www.strava.com/activities/986188422/embed/d90a994c0c1308888b1f221d71e11241e33418d3

Well done on your first Imperial ton . It's pretty fast maybe next time drop the pace slightly and you will hopefully will get round ok

 

[Mr Celine]

It was fairly sunny here, the frequent passing clouds being blown away by a fresh breeze. I set out to do a 100k loop, starting with 20 miles straight into the howling south westerly. After another 10 miles of up and down with what was now a crosswind I turned off for the downwind leg and BANG ... the rear gear cable snapped.
After adjusting the limit screw to leave the rear derailleur on a sensible gear I took a slightly shortened route home (22 miles) avoiding steep hills.

Despite now having only three gears I still got personal bests on 3 strava segments.

 

[Dave 123]

Yesterday I was with my mum, her mobility has gone so I took her out in the car through North Wales. The dutiful son eyed the roadies and mtb riders with a jealous eye!

Not long after getting home I took my mtb out via the fields to Caldecote, then down the track to the Red House. After going round the edge of Hayley Wood I found the correct way along the bridleway! Only took 4 attempts. It was here that I flushed a great spotted woodpecker from tree to tree.

Back from the Red House to Bourn rattling my fillings out in the ruts!

Home via Toft along the tarmac.

https://www.strava.com/activities/986327654

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Woke up about 5am this morning and it is chucking it down so roll over and go back to sleep. Woke up at 8am and it is dry and brilliant sunshine.

So out the door for the normal snail pace pootle with our lass, down the GCW, through Abbey Park and into Watermead were we have a coffee. Saw the first cygnets and ducklings of the year in Watermead and when we went back through Abbey Park the goslings were all out, must have been a couple of dozen which is about half of what we normally see, so the others must still be hatching/hiding. Also saw two coot chicks who were quite big and very vocal.

25 mile round trip in total, back to work tomorrow.

 

[Vantage]

I was off to a late start today...11.50. I'd fitted my Schwalbe Landcruisers as I'd planned on lots of offroading and exploring. The nobbles didn't help much at first...

View: https://youtu.be/Hcye8hDs4gg

Having had my close-up of nature for the day I crossed Smithills Dean Road and across Horrocks Fold on nice hardpack trails. I made my way through what I guess was a dog owners club,(must've been 15 mutts between 10 owners) through a farm, across Belmont Road and onto another unknown to me interesting looking trail. That had me clinging on for dear life through the trenches carefully picking my lines through loose gravel. After I'd been through a farm and small hamlet I was back on Belmont Road and a little further on I ventured into the unknown again on what the etrex called an unpaved road. It was very much paved. But it didn't really lead anywhere except to 2 dead ends.
Back on the road again I figured I'd go up the north face of Winter Hill and back down the other side.
I'd ridden up it about 7 years previously on my mtb with front suspension but really, how bad could it be?
The first bit was just about doable. The Dawes bounced around a bit but I could keep a relatively straight-ish path. Not so on the main climb. Crickey, what happened? Either I've grown older and softer or the trail has become a million times more gnarly.

I walked it entirely to the top. Took a while but I got there. At the summit I scoffed a Mars Bar and made my way along the service road. I didn't get far. The engineers had decided that they would run maintenance chores and that meant closing the road via a big steel gate. Winter Hill was effectively closed. On a Sunday. The one day in the week when it gets it's most visitors. Awesome. I wasnt alone in my frustration.
The Dawes had to be dragged through the long grassy moors and bogs to get around the mast to the other side of the road as I sure as hell wasn't gonna go back the way I came.
On my way down the road I slowed to warn an mtb-er that the gates were shut and there was no real way past. He knew already. He'd just blasted all the way down to the bottom where he discovered his cam had shut off and was climbing back up to do the run again. Determination indeed.
A little further on my exit from the road to another trail towards home came up. For the most part, it was all downhill and about half of it was loose gravel and small rocks. Part fear of eating dirt and part fear of breaking something on the bike had me reigning back the speed a fair bit but sliding through the bends was still making me smile. I heard the rims twang a couple times as the tyres bottomed out but I made it to Edge Lane in one piece. The prospect of burying the Dawes in Farmer Giles JCB on one of the blind bends made for a safe-ish speed down to Walker Fold Road and onto Chorley Old Road then home.
Only 13 miles but every single one was a happy one

 

[mjr]

Annual Samaritans fancy dress fundraiser. Nursery rhyme theme. I got off lightly this year, as a bit of grass with some silver bells and cockleshells, plus the soundsystem playing weird and wonderful arrangements of nursery rhymes. Mary Mary quite contrary was a wearing a much more complicated costume and some of the pretty maids did not have the most bike-friendly dresses! Let's see if the video embeds OK, taken by one maid and showing me and another pretty maid (Pete):

View: https://www.facebook.com/clare.penny.14/videos/10213600768000530/


11 miles to the start in intermittent rain but then it brightened up nicely for the ride proper of 14 miles, then a pause for some awards (KLWNBUG won the team prize at last! There were maybe 16 or so of us - more than a dozen I'm sure and I don't know whether we got a photo with everyone in at the same time!) and 12 miles home punctuated by repairing the double-puncture of a rider from another team (I've done half the walk back to town he was starting and it's no fun - hi Dave if you read this!), a cafe stop for lunch, several homicidal-suicidal motorists overtaking on the blind brows of the fast road home (everyone lived... this time) and a visit to a ride-through cashpoint. A fun day as always. A short "pedal and chat" pub ride to look forward to on Tuesday evening and back to the regular cafe rides on Saturday.

Edit: if the idea of this ride made you smile, throw a few pennies at https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/kingslynnsamaritans and consider joining in next year! Details of the theme are usually released by the start of March and it appears on www.KLWNBUG.co.uk about then.

 

[DCLane]

My 400k audax ride yesterday – Llanfair 400 audax: https://www.strava.com/activities/985295597

This event runs from near Stockport through to Holyhead. Running along the north Wales coast there’s hilly and flat options with the flat route along Rhyl and Prestatyn with all riders meeting up at Colwyn Bay and then onto Holyhead.

Headwinds were forecast which (should have) meant a tailwind home. Getting there on time I saw about 60 riders including others I’d seen at various audax events. A lovely welcome from Mike the organiser and the Methodist ladies who seemed in awe (astonishment?) at us starting from Poynton. No amount of encouragement to attend their film show instead that afternoon worked so I set off with a front group of bikepackers at a fairly rapid pace.

The first 75k up and it’s the first control: coffee, cake and an authenticity stamp from Mike’s dad. At this point we were ahead of the permitted time: that wouldn’t last! Bouncing this control by stopping quickly I then left the front group behind as they were taking the hilly option – a 53/39 front ring on my Ridgeback Platinum I was using makes hills hard work fully loaded.

To annoy the Welsh locals I went along the coast, possibly a mistake due to the headwinds. Also piles of sand and wandering locals on the coastal bike path. Imagine turning a sharp corner and going straight into a sand dune. On 23mm tyres. However, stopping for an early lunch meant I wasn’t far behind the remaining few of the fast group at the Colwyn Bay control and was passing other riders struggling in the headwind. My tip? Get low and spin – we’ve enough winds here in West Yorkshire for lots of practice. I bumped into Charlotte from the Skeggy 300 audax at this point and we rode together to the finish. Through Conwy and Bangor across some impressive bridges. Do you like bridges? Or castles? Then ride this – Menai straits and the two Brittaina and Menai bridges, Conwy and other castles. It’s a feast for Thomas Telford bridge construction fans.

The route across Anglesey is a lumpy one on the A5 but we hit Holyhead in just over 8 hours for a food stop. Rolling in as the first riders to Holyhead the café was empty and waiting with food. This meant a fast stop and the decision of the quick but dangerous A55 or the even lumpier standard route. Major traffic on the A55 made it an easy decision.

The route back should have been a tailwind. Well that didn’t happen! Through Conwy and several unpronounceable villages I reached Abergele services just before 10pm where they hadn’t been warned riders were en route. By then a couple of bikes had passed me but I’d also seen someone still on their way out: he’d done 150k whilst I was at 280k – it’d be a long, wet night. Out of Abergele (two hamburgers with fries) and another choice – dangerous and fast or safe and lumpy? Rain was en route … fast! The next control is on the M53 services, reached around midnight with the forecast rain still just a few drops.

The final leg is again lumpy, through the Cheshire hills back to Poynton. At this point my companion started tiring so we slowed but kept going at a steady pace. Rain hit hard around 1.30 am and I thought I’d eaten enough to make it back. My mistake. With 10k to go all energy went and I was plodding, brain and legs gone. Cue shovelling down anything I still had: flapjack, gel, malt loaf, jelly beans, it didn’t matter. That worked and 10 minutes later I was back on it heading through the rain to the finish, 3rd rider back and more than 3 hours faster than in 2015. I'm happy with that given I'm injured and awaiting a couple of operations. The consultant says I shouldn't be able to ride a bike - guess who's been proved wrong!

The Llanfair is well organised and a good route. Next time? I’ll go hilly, but with a different bike set-up.

 

[cosmicbike]

Rather than go out all whizzy on my tod this morning, I enquired as to perhaps if my lad fancied a ride. A rather cheery yes, and his bike was out front ready to go before I even had my shoes on!
A thoroughly enjoyable ride up through Virginia Water before going into Windsor Great Park. Nice and early we were, so a lap of the lake past the waterfall and Leptis Magna before going round to the Polo club, which meant up Breakheart Hill. Not a real hill (though it used to be to me), but tough for my lad so pleased to see him get up it in one. Back round to Savil Gardens before heading home through the Wentworth Estate. 17.2 miles by the time we got home, and his longest ride to date. Roll on next weekend and we'll do something similar again.

 

[13 rider]

My 400k audax ride yesterday – Llanfair 400 audax: https://www.strava.com/activities/985295597

This event runs from near Stockport through to Holyhead. Running along the north Wales coast there’s hilly and flat options with the flat route along Rhyl and Prestatyn with all riders meeting up at Colwyn Bay and then onto Holyhead.

Headwinds were forecast which (should have) meant a tailwind home. Getting there on time I saw about 60 riders including others I’d seen at various audax events. A lovely welcome from Chris the organiser and the Methodist ladies who seemed in awe (astonishment?) at us starting from Poynton. No amount of encouragement to attend their film show instead that afternoon worked so I set off with a front group of bikepackers at a fairly rapid pace.

The first 75k up and it’s the first control: coffee, cake and an authenticity stamp from Chris’ dad. At this point we were ahead of the permitted time: that wouldn’t last! Bouncing this control by stopping quickly I then left the front group behind as they were taking the hilly option – a 53/39 front ring on my Ridgeback Platinum I was using makes hills hard work fully loaded.

To annoy the Welsh locals I went along the coast, possibly a mistake due to the headwinds. Also piles of sand and wandering locals on the coastal bike path. Imagine turning a sharp corner and going straight into a sand dune. On 23mm tyres. However, stopping for an early lunch meant I wasn’t far behind the remaining few of the fast group at the Colwyn Bay control and was passing other riders struggling in the headwind. My tip? Get low and spin – we’ve enough winds here in West Yorkshire for lots of practice. I bumped into Charlotte from the Skeggy 300 audax at this point and we rode together to the finish. Through Conwy and Bangor across some impressive bridges. Do you like bridges? Or castles? Then ride this – Menai straits and the two Brittaina and Menai bridges, Conwy and other castles. It’s a feast for Thomas Telford bridge construction fans.

The route across Anglesey is a lumpy one on the A5 but we hit Holyhead in just over 8 hours for a food stop. Rolling in as the first riders to Holyhead the café was empty and waiting with food. This meant a fast stop and the decision of the quick but dangerous A55 or the even lumpier standard route. Major traffic on the A55 made it an easy decision.

The route back should have been a tailwind. Well that didn’t happen! Through Conwy and several unpronounceable villages I reached Abergele services just before 10pm where they hadn’t been warned riders were en route. By then a couple of bikes had passed me but I’d also seen someone still on their way out: he’d done 150k whilst I was at 280k – it’d be a long, wet night. Out of Abergele (two hamburgers with fries) and another choice – dangerous and fast or safe and lumpy? Rain was en route … fast! The next control is on the M53 services, reached around midnight with the forecast rain still just a few drops.

The final leg is again lumpy, through the Cheshire hills back to Poynton. At this point my companion started tiring so we slowed but kept going at a steady pace. Rain hit hard around 1.30 am and I thought I’d eaten enough to make it back. My mistake. With 10k to go all energy went and I was plodding, brain and legs gone. Cue shovelling down anything I still had: flapjack, gel, malt loaf, jelly beans, it didn’t matter. That worked and 10 minutes later I was back on it heading through the rain to the finish, 3rd rider back and more than 3 hours faster than in 2015. I'm happy with that given I'm injured and awaiting a couple of operations. The consultant says I shouldn't be able to ride a bike - guess who's been proved wrong!

The Llanfair is well organised and a good route. Next time? I’ll go hilly, but with a different bike set-up.

well done that man