Your ride today....

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Deleted member 23692

Guest
31 and a bit sunny but chilly countryside miles today on what's supposed to be a 'city bike'.

Having only 8 (hub) gears makes for an interesting ride, but I got up every hill I encountered and even passed a couple of roadies whilst doing so :smile:

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I really need to get the road bike out of hibernation
 

thetribe

Über Member
Well, a nice day arrived today, sun shining through the bedroom blinds at 6am. Our oldest daughter burst into the bedroom at 7:30 to ask my wife if she wanted to go to the gym to do a spinning class, we managed to convince her a room full of sweaty people when it was gorgeous outside was not an option, so she joined us. We decided to just go to the local seaside cafe again, The Drift Cafe. All in all, 11.6 miles at an average of 10.4mph, double figures for The Hesitant Cyclist, well impressed.

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3 of us!

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Sneaked a pic while they weren't looking

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Breakfast!

http://www.strava.com/activities/272137232
 

derrick

The Glue that binds us together.
Another 47 miles with the other half and a mate, Getting back into it now, so nice to be getting the miles in again, Am able to push the other half again after what seemed like a really long break, We are both getting our legs back, 220 miles for the week for me, 89 miles for the other half, Roll on the good weather, It' gonna be a good year.:okay:
 

Dark46

Veteran
Well today was my 29th ride with the KCC and such a enjoyable ride it was.

In the end it turned out to be just over 44 miles of undulating roads, a.doc really must do some of them again.

Well the ride started in the usual place and @Donger, @maltloaf, @gordyfinbar and 7 others turned up.
@maltloaf turned up on his lovely looking new steed, a Cannondale.

Luckily @gordyfinbar had a route planned so last week's mess was going to stay as a memory!

Well instead of going alone Naas Lane as usual we headed towards the A38 and Quedgeley. We turned left towards towards Haresfield but went right before to go to Stonehouse via Standish. crossing the railway on the bridge I thought I saw smoke from a Steam locomotive, but as it seems n so I was wrong. Going along from Standish I was doing catch up a few looking for the train. The weather was bright and dry itcwasca really the perfect morning to be riding on.

The pelaton was waiting at the being of Stonehouse where we were all told the next 5 miles and where we would be waiting for anyone at the back. I gradually made my way to the front just incase anyone thought I hadn't done my turn. Always something I worry about now I'm on the Orro.

The lack of traffic made the run through Stonehouse and Cainscross go without any hitches but we could do with the pot holes being sorted. We stopped just before the mini roundabout complex in Stroud.

This turned out not to be taken h email best to stop as @gordyfinbar was nearly taken out my a post office lorry while stationary and we had difficulty pulling away due to the amount of traffic.

We got away and headed to Brinsecombe and again there were no real problems, just the thought of where we were heading next. HYDE HILL I've only been up it once and had to walk on the hybrid part of the way!
Well we stopped as we turned off the main road to name sure everyone was there safely before heading uphill. There were a couple of people of who hadn't done it before and had no idea of what was around the corner. Part of the way up Dean was not happy to notice @Donger was in front. We closed on him and as he waved a car passed I went by too! I heard @Donger swearing as I went by. Hehe.

Well all I can say is I made it up in one and took 10 minutes off my previous pb!

We waited at the top for a couple of people that don't like climbing before turning left and going along part of Minchinhampton common and on to the Cirencester road.

To be honest I'm not really sure where we went for the next hour or so as they were roads I'd not been on before. The only thing I can say is that the roads were smooth and undulating. The few miles were good ap apart from some stupid cow in a Prius who came stonking up behind me and @Donger and I had to move over quickly. Later we found out that she had already had a mouthful of abuse from Duncan after travelling inches from his rear wheel and beeped the horn at him.

It wasn't long before Dave got off his bike and in a fit threw it against a gate. I thought he had another puncture, but it turned out that he had a broken spoke instead. So his ride home would have to be quite gentle ashe wrapped the back brake by his saddle. The rear wheel wasn't running very true and wouldn't run with the back brake in place.

After a while of me taking photos and people sat on the wall, we set off with Duncan struggling at the back as his legs had given up. His real problem was that his leashed given up the ghost and was really suffering.

These roads where great again and these roads where a great joy to ride. Some of the roads in the Cotswolds are superb.

As much as I would love to say where we were in can't lol. In the end we ended up on the Slad Valley road and turned right towards Birdlip. From here it was to Buckholt. After sprinting along Buckholt the group split as some of the group turned right and went down Nutt Hill into Upton. I said and waited for Dean, Dave and Duncan and we went left the right down Portray into Upton. Dean and @Donger also went right and Nutt Hill. I went down Portway where my client h ain came off so had no chance of a PB, as it turns out looking at Strava after I went off road ffs!

We waited at the bottom of Upton for Dave and @Donger to join us for the final flat and downhill run into Quedgeley and the Kingsway.
 

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OP
OP
gbb

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
Work this morning, home, lunch.......:thumbsup:..I need to get out. Offered the wife a steady one on the hybrids, she chickened out so off for a quick hour on the Ribble, which turned into a stretched out hour, 19 miles total, along the cyclepath beside the Nene to Whittlesey then back via roads.
Feeling chuffed, got back, felt good, 15mph average...not bad for my meagre mileage.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Myself and @rb58 (along with @redfalo , @Michael Adu , @frank9755 & @mmmmartin who we saw at the start and briefly at one of the controls) did the Man of Kent 200k Audax today. Was very chilly this morning, the odd smattering of rain and windy. Most of it a bleeding headwind. So for the first half of the ride it was tough going but working with other cyclists helped immensely . Once we got to the most easterly part of the ride we turned south and west which made the going much easier.

It really was a fantastic route that the San Fairy Ann CC delivered for the Audax, taking in some of Kent's very best roads and lanes. And at the start, finish and control, more (real) food and drink then you could shake a stick at. All for the princely sum of six of your British pounds. A very well organised ride. so make a note for your diary next year and get in early as it sold out today.

Another highlight was seeing a huge ivory coloured Barn Owl flying along in front of us for a while. A most wonderful sight.

So a tad under 129 miles for the day. Century # 8 for the year. 142 over all.
I'm bushed!!!!

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Great weekend of cycling down on Arran coupled with an overnight stay with my folks. Over on the ferry on Saturday morning (full Calmac breakfast :mrpig:) then the first ride of the weekend - the Arran figure of 8. South end of the island first then over the String road, north end of the island followed by over the String again. Just over 112km with about 1500m of climbing. Weather was good with light winds and almost spring like temperatures. Took a couple of photos.

Bike at the top of the Boguillie climb
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View from top of the String road
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Selfie at the top of the String with Beinn Nuis in the background (I know my cap and helmet are squinty!!)
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Ride here
https://app.strava.com/activities/271770010

Today was a circuit of Arran and the weather had changed. Cooler and a lot windier. A stiff SW breeze made the south end of the island quite tough but up the west side of the island I had a cracking tailwind.

Ride here
https://app.strava.com/activities/272414347

And finally a wee photo of Goatfell, highest mountain on Arran, from the ferry.
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All in all, a great weekend
 

PeteXXX

Cake or ice cream? The choice is endless ...
Location
Hamtun
After getting dragged around the shops this morning for what seemed like an eternity, (I say 'shopping, but I wasn't the one shopping... If I took Mrs Pete to a bike shop and spent as long as she did buying a bra, [not that I'd ever buy a bra, you understand] I'd be tutted at lots of times at an ever increasing volume followed by severe tapping of the foot!!)
Finally, I got the chance to enjoy the lovely sunny weather once we'd got back home and had a bacon sarnie..

It was a solo ride today as the rest of the chaps were at w*rk. I didn't really have a route in mind, but was thinking of doing about 30ish miles or so. I'd thought of heading for Salcey Forest, but with the weather being so Spring-like, I reckoned it'd be heaving.

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Second thought for a coffee and cake was Castle Ashby. Tasty chocolate and caramel slice, washed down with a strong black coffee. A bit pricey, I thought, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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My Canyon Inflite AL 8.0 nestling in the corner in the sunshine... I'm loving this bike!! 500 miles this year so far have been on this since I got it just before Christmas.

From Castle Ashby, I rode a few of my regular lanes, including Grendon Hill and Hardwater Road to get to Sywell and Moulton Village before aiming for home.
With a few wiggles on the end of the route, I achieved my 30 mile goal for the day.

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Back home for a beer or two once I'd wiped the dust of the bike.... :cheers:

That's the first 1000 miles of the year ridden, and if I'd have done half a mile more, It'd have been my 500k for the month.

https://www.strava.com/activities/272418175

:smile:
 

Katherine

Guru
Moderator
Location
Manchester
Today was my second ride on my new Dawes and the first long ride. I managed 37 miles with lots of new PB's but lots of stops too so slow overall. I added some different loops today so it was my first time through Culcheth and the first time down to the level crossing at Astley.
Lovely bright sunshine all day and just warm enough to go from 4 to 3 layers on top, no base tights and from 3 to 2 pairs of socks without overshoes!
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mmmmartin

Random geezer
Myself and @rb58 (along with @redfalo , @Michael Adu , @frank9755 & @mmmmartin who we saw at the start and briefly at one of the controls) did the Man of Kent 200k Audax today. Was very chilly this morning, the odd smattering of rain and windy. Most of it a bleeding headwind. So for the first half of the ride it was tough going but working with other cyclists helped immensely . Once we got to the most easterly part of the ride we turned south and west which made the going much easier.

It really was a fantastic route that the San Fairy Ann CC delivered for the Audax, taking in some of Kent's very best roads and lanes. And at the start, finish and control, more (real) food and drink then you could shake a stick at. All for the princely sum of six of your British pounds. A very well organised ride. so make a note for your diary next year and get in early as it sold out today.

Another highlight was seeing a huge ivory coloured Barn Owl flying along in front of us for a while. A most wonderful sight.

So a tad under 129 miles for the day. Century # 8 for the year. 142 over all.
I'm bushed!!!!

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Tomorrow I shall be mostly sitting about, doing mostly sod all.
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
After the CC Ecosse 3 Ferries ride yesterday, where I didn't have any legs worth speaking of, failed miserably on the biggest climb and snapped a chain. I got the carbon bike out today (because it's a beaming day and it has a chain of the correct length on it) and gave it (and me) a thrashing for 18 miles :biggrin:

I do so love that bike.

Still, the weather for the 3 Ferries was absolutely awesome, and as usual, the company made the ride worthwhile.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5vLepT0Tbc
 
Maiden voyage for my new fixed today, riding a wheel I built myself, it is 8 years since I built one, not to mention a brand new Brooks Swift saddle. Dr_pink's advice was to take it easy on the downhills :rolleyes:. Great day to be out on my new second hand bike, I hoped it might be memorable in some way. First picture
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Unfortunately the route we had chosen coincided with those paying silly money to follow big orange signs with black arrows, yet another sportive. Luckily we were a bit ahead of most of them so it wasn't until we were within a few miles of our cafe stop that we passed one of their feed stations, just as we rode by I clocked 2 sportive riders pulling out behind us, after about half a mile they caught us, we were riding side by side at around 20 mph on the flat on fixed. I think they thought we were in the "race" too, sigh. One of them without any prompting said he was having a mid life crisis and was riding a brand new Trek with electronic gears, I said we didn't have any gears, he didn't understand a word I was speaking. Fortunately for all concerned they turned off to follow the big orange signs.
I wish I had taken a picture of the next bloke we saw walking towards us pushing [yet another] Specialized with super deep Easton wheels in full Sky kit and beer belly, oh and flat tyre. He had obviously missed the big orange signs and couldn't fix a puncture. No comment between us was necessary.
After a scone at the cafe and 32 miles done it was off towards Belvoir Castle [pronounced "beaver", don't ask], it melds beautifully into the tree line.
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We also sadly discovered that we had managed once again to join the same route as the big orange sign brigade but no one in sight so all was peaceful, however at the sight of empty gel wrappers, cans of red bull and discarded plastic bottles in otherwise pristine countryside we were less than amused. Up ahead was a hill that we had often descended but never been up, about 8% to start with rising to 12% and about half a mile long. Although this wasn't on our route we thought we would have a crack at it just for fun [we are a bit odd like that], strangely as we started the climb there were several sportive riders who appeared to have mechanical troubles, anyway we did the climb comfortably enough then descended again to continue on our merry way. Half way down I stopped to photograph the hill
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:smile:

All in all a fairly memorable ride and the new bike was brilliant. 60 miles of sunshine followed by banana milk shake and scrambled goose eggs. Yes,I would say it was fairly memorable, or at least my bum tells me it was.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
My sisters came up for the weekend but they went home at lunchtime so I was able to get out for a ride in the Spring afternoon sunshine. I hope to ride my Cannondale on my forum ride next weekend (see current signature link below) so I decided to ride it today to make sure that it is still working well, which it is.

A hilly route (for a change ... NOT!): Hebden Bridge, Pecket Well, Old Town, Midgley, Jerusalem Lane, Booth, Midgley, Mytholmroyd, Cragg Vale, High Stones Hill, Steep Lane, Luddenden Foot, Luddenden village, stiff climb of Stocks Lane (2 km at an average of 11%), Wainstalls, Cold Edge, reemerged on Keighley Road just above Oxenhope, climbed back over to Pecket Well, Old Town, Sandy Gate, Birchcliffe, Hebden Bridge, plus round the block to get an extra mile in.

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I coped better with the Stocks Lane climb than I did a year ago so my long slow recovery from illness is obviously still continuing. I only managed about 6.5 kph/4 mph on the climb but at least I was comfortable with it. Last year, my heart was playing silly buggers all the way up.

My legs were okay, the weather was good, the scenery was great, the bike was super, and all was well in the world!

First outing for Cannondale 2015 - High Stones Hill.jpg


Oh, er - 51 km/32 miles!
 
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Gravity Aided

Legendary Member
Location
Land of Lincoln
4.6 miles this day, fighting cold and wind and a little strain in the muscles from yesterday. Once the weather warms up I think all of this will go off much more easily, especially with thinner tires. Sunny, 50F 10C, and quite windy. Birds are nesting, flags(or daylilies) are starting to come up, and spring is making itself felt in many small ways.
 
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