Your ride today....

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Day 8 Col de Mente

Today we began by taking on the Col de Peyresourde. The climb went quite well and the road not too busy. I had a plan to do a diversion while Richard minimised his cycling. However, I was having so much fun on the descent around the hairpins I dropped too far and had to climb back up to my turn. My route took me up a lovely valley to climb in superb scenery and peace to the Port de Bares. This was a lovely route so I took my time to enjoy it. The descent was narrow on a bumpy and gravelly technical road. So fearless descending was ruled out and my brake blocks got the work out instead. The trees in this part of the mountains were beginning to show signs of autumn. Some lovely colours were to be admired. I stopped at the bottom in Mauleon Barousse where a noisy old Frenchman was holding court in the café. I came in for some Tour de France jesting while I enjoyed my drink. It was a fairly easy run to St Beat where the climb to the Col de Mente begins. It was hot again. I found this one tough in the heat and perhaps because this was my third big col of the day. I got there tho’ in plenty of time for some beer before the obligatory shower and dinner. What a lovely spot this is at the top of a col with the natural world all around. 53 miles and over 10,000 feet of uphill today.

 

[Buck]

Even though it was a bit chilly compared to what we have been used to, it was lovely and sunny this morning with the promise of little wind so I checked with Mrs Buck and donned my bike gear.

I wanted to try a different route today and also push the miles slightly. (i had a route for 45 miles planned but had to be back for lunch so would have to cut it short at the end but the "new" bit for me would still be covered so happy with that.)

I was glad I'd got a long sleeve jersey on and my leg warmers - just the right temperature and apart from some of the descents out of the sun which were a little refreshing shall we say, the rest was spot on. In fact a couple of times with the sun on my back it felt like a summers day.

The roads were damp and a few had puddles from yesterday's rain so I was cautious on the descents in particular but pleased to report, no mishaps!

Heading out of the village, I decided I would tackle Piper Wells climb - relatively short but steep. I was suprised/pleased when I checked Strava at the end of the ride to see I'd shaved over 10s of my PR so very happy with that!

Once on the tops I took a slightly different route heading down Dearne Dike Lane then a left onto Windmill Lane to take me across the A629 and head into Upper Denby. At the Dunkirk crossroads, I went straight across and followed the lovely undulating road past Deffer Woods and into High Hoyland.

This is where I change my normal route and took a left up the hill and then right down Jebb Lane which runs along the border of the Bretton Country Park and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This was a cool and damp descent down to the motorway and at the bottom a careful crossing of 4 lanes to take me to the roundabout then on up the long straight climb that is Haigh Lane - a climb that gets steeper as you get to the top and didn't I know it! I made it but have to admit it wasn't easy or pleasurable only made worse by two young lads almost sprinting up as I admired the view/caught my breath at the crossroads!

Heading onwards there was a nice 14% descent down Stoney Lane into Hall Green where I waved to a group of Holmfirth CC riders heading the other way. Into New Miller Dam and I went slightly off route just to get a snap of the dam/reservoir before continuing south on the A61.

A busy road with quite a few lorries even on a Sunday so it was nice to eventually turn off and start to head up the hill to Staincross and into Darton. A long wait to cross the busy Huddersfield Road then off up to Kexbrough and then on through Cawthorne. I peeled off the Barnsley Road and up Coach Gate Lane a long steady pull which brings you up to Gunthhaite Hall and past a working dairy farm. Strava has the segment here called Cow Sh*t Sprint - quite appropriate and yes the bike did need a clean afterwards !!


Up into Upper Denby before heading across the dam wall at Ingbirchworth towards the windmills.

and up Horn Lane back onto my normal road home. A final push up the hill then my usual descent to the Sovereign crossroads and back into the village.

32.3 miles and 2,772ft of climbing.

Relive the ride here: - https://www.relive.cc/view/731881683

https://www.strava.com/activities/731881683/

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.strava.com/activities/732226731/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-GB&v=1475426097

My inaugural Skyride social ride from Portsmouth Guildhall to Stokes Bay. 3 riders joined me today. The weather was fantastic, and I racked up another 77 miles to boot.

Portsmouth Guildhall.

Stokes Bay.

The posse.

Gunwharf Quays.

Lovely day, good ride.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

It's a cracking morning for a bike ride, unfortunately my ride didn't get out of Coventry today. I was planning to ride over to Middleton Hall, long route out short route back, shake down the newly fettled fixed and get back to riding fixed again having not used the bike since the spring. Unfortunately by the time I got to Beak Ave and the first climb it was becoming obvious I hadn't recovered enough from the man flu, no legs, sore chest, coughing, and blocked sinuses. When I got to the Holyhead road I turned through Allesly and on to home abandoning the ride. So I'm sat here looking at the sunshine feeling very frustrated.

A like for telling us about it but for feeling that bad. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Stonechat]

Turned up for club ride. Unfortunately not many others did. Just one other, and a visitor to the area who came last week. Needless to say, none of us knew the way to Frensham, in particular the Rural Life Centre, where the ride was supposed to be going. So we headed for the Surrey Hills, up Staple Hill, down Combe Lane, and up Newlands Corner from the South. We had coffee and a bit in the garden centre at Clandon Park

We took it at an easy pace for the most part.
46.7 miles @ 14.8 mph
1709 feet climbed

https://www.strava.com/activities/731866254

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A new month and the weather was ideal for my challenge ride so I went out to do something a bit special today (for me that is). The plan was to do a loop down to Bewdley in Worcestershire and back. I've taken the bike down there before but haven't ridden there from home before so this would be something new for me.

I got myself up early and was out on the road by seven and needed my lights on. I headed south through Condover and Cardington to Rushbury and on to new-to-me roads through Stanton Long and Ditton Priors (big climb between these two), through Cleobury North which I know reasonably well and onwards to Stottesdon, Bagginswood, bypassing Kinlet, Button Oak and into Bewdley. This is deceptively demanding country with lovely rolling hills seperated by steep sided valleys and I could definitely feel it by the time I rolled into Bewdley and up to the railway station which was my aim for the morning.

I had my elevenses at Bewdley Station before tacking my next challenge which was the Mercian Way to Bridgnorth. Leaving Bewdley you climb way up to The Lakes area of town then drop down a lane that links to the trackbed of the old Bewdley to Tenbury railway which has been partly utilised as a cycling and walking path. This gives a good two miles of flat easy riding, although it is a bit more potholed than last time I rode it. After this couple of miles you are onto the gravel roads of the Wyre Forest and a climb that feels like it goes on forever on the way back to Button Oak.

Back on the tarmac roads I was on the way through Pound Green and down to Arley where I had another brief stop at a station and found that the coaches used as "Santa's Grotto" were being shunted into position ready for later in the year.

The next leg involves another big climb but I made it through the Severn Valley Country Park and down to Hampton Loade in time to see a couple of trains come through from the lineside path. I had my lunch at Hampton Loade station then tacked the next bit on the way to Bridgnorth. This section wasn't easy. The Mercian Way takes you onto bridleway and it's seriously steep climbing past Chelmarsh Reservoir so that I was struggling for traction on my slick tyres and needed my very lowest gear more than once. I also clogged up my rear mudgard (only the second time I've ever done that) which I tried but failed to clean out properly by the roadside, so that annoyed with intermittant rubbing noises for the rest of the ride.

By Bridgnorth I was getting slow. The flat route back via Ironbridge appealed but I'd had my fill of rough, muddy paths by now so I took yet another seemingly never-ending climb out of town and headed for Much Wenlock. Another rider overtook on this section but once past didn't actually go that much faster so I kept in contact for the next couple of miles until I turned off.

The rest of the trip was slow but steady once back on more familiar roads. 89.1 miles for the day at a less than stellar 12 mph moving average.

Cold out but nice conditions for my challenge ride.

A stop for my second breakfast and looking back at Wenlock Edge.

Pear Tree Cottage at Cleobury North.

Stottesdon

Bewdley

En route through the Wyre Forest.

Arley

Taw Valley departs from Hampton Loade.

Much Wenlock

That's my turning. It's a good job that there are no strange place names in Shropshire.

 

[Diggs]

Bit of a weekend BOGOF,
Yesterday was a lovely social ride with the LBS, stepped through the door just as it started raining #winning

Late this afternoon, I nipped out very quickly to get in a last ride of the weekend.

 

[Dark46]

No ride with KCC today as the Malaysian GP started at 08:00 and the club ride starts at 09:00.

The race turned out to be a good one and I posted on FB after the race and Rob who ive ridden with at KCC, SVV and Eastgate sent me message about going out.

We met at the park and ride just outside Kingsway and decided to make tte route up as we go along.

We headed out via Naas lane and decide to head to Stonehouse. Rob set off in front and I followed.

The weather was much better than I expected especially after yesterday. No breeze really either so it was all good.

At the edge of Stonehouse I altered my seat still felt slightly too high. I think it was here that I lost my bar end cap, which I didn't notice till much later in the ride.

From here we headed to Frocester where saw Eastgate leaving the Frocester Inn. We tgen turned right inro Eastington and headed towards the A38.

At the A38 the lights were out and we had to wait for a gap in the traffic. At the first sight of a gap we were off then we head to Frampton on Severn. It made a change not to go Saul junction for a coffee.

Through Frampton we were through the lanes and into Epney along the Severn and into the Longney loop.

From here it was the usual route home through Stonebench and through Olympics Park and back to the estate.

At the estate we said our goodbyes and split. It was herei noticed the route was only 28 miles and there was no way was I going home without getting to 30.

So I did a quick loop of Tuffley and went home. It ended up being 30.6 miles at a average at 15.3mph which takes my weeks total to 102 miles on strava.

 

[NorthernDave]

Today’s oddity was a cycling event of some description. Lasses at road junctions and the occasional farm gate pointing riders in presumably the right direction. So, just below the ridge top was someone directing me to turn right. She seemed shocked to hear I was cycling by myself, not in this event she was helping to marshal.

Small world @Old jon - they tried to get me too

Not sure what the event was, but there were lots of them.

 

[bruce1530]

I've walked the shore from Irvine through to Troon and back on many occasions when i was just a nipper,

It’s a nice walk along the shore - and the Ayrshire Coastal path follows that route. (The coastal path and the N7/N73 follow similar routes for much of the way). However, between Irvine and Barassie, there is no path along the shore for bikes - the golf courses come right up to the beach. The coastal path goes along the sand, but the N7 cuts inland for a bit between Gailles and Barassie.

There’s one section where the N7 takes a fairly long diversion round the back of the paper mill. I’d guess it’s a 3 mile detour to keep off 1 mile of main road.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

a quick sprint up Red Bank

You sprint up that mahoosive hill we took a 6 mile detour to avoid on our way back from Elterwater to Carlisle??

 

[Donger]

Still heavy-legged from my first ever imperial century last week, I foolishly entered the "Winchcombe Falling Leaves" 100km audax today. It was "AAA" 1.75 rated one, meaning that it had sufficient climbing to count towards an Audax UK altitude award ... 1,750 metres of climbing to be precise. Gulp!
Got off to the worst of starts, as I noticed at the very last moment before the start that my computer was still set on miles, while the route sheet was in kilometres. Instead of being one of the first of the 68 entrants to start, once I had fixed it I was one of the last to get away.

I had already noticed that this was not quite the usual beardy audax crowd .... they seemed a good 10 years a man younger than normal. As this was at the extreme end of my climbing ability, I got the distinct feeling I was going to roll in dead last behind that lot today. Things got worse as I was forced to dismount and do the push of shame just 2.5km into the ride, on the vicious climb up out of Winchcombe to Bela's Knap. That was followed by a front derailleur problem that took me 5 mins to fix, using the barrel adjuster. Took me a good 15km to start reeling in backmarkers, and it was a relief to catch up with a small group of riders at Syreford.

This was a very well planned route, through lots of woods and down some very quiet country lanes.... but relentlessly hilly.

Spent most of my time grinding my way grimly up hills or not wanting to lose any momentum on the down slopes, so didn't stop for photos very often .... but this route really did take in the very best of the Cotswolds, and in quite amazingly mild and sunny weather for the beginning of October. I did stop for a moment in Bibury for an energy bar and a drink. Lots of the others were crowding out the pubs and cafes, but I adopted a "rest less, suffer more" strategy to overtake a couple of dozen riders and try to make sure I made the cut-off time.

Carried on with the grim grinding past The Barringtons and the Rissingtons before stopping for another energy bar and drink at Bourton on the Water, which was heaving with tourists:

Really started to flag on the big long drag out of Bourton up the hill towards Naunton and Guiting power, but found a good rythm and stuck with it without daring to stop in case I had a repeat of last week's "cafe legs". Despite the best direction sheets I have ever been given for an audax, I suffered a bit of brain fade immediately after the final information control, and ended up needlessly going through this ford twice before getting back on track:

Nearly lost the rear end both times ... but that was nothing compared to the muddy, wet, slushy and rocky track up through Guiting Woods. At one point I had the options of going through a deep muddy puddle, a slippery, slimy sloping muddy rut or a pile of horse manure ..... and I actually opted for the manure, hoping desperately not to have a subsequent visit from the puncture fairy. Eventually emerged up on top of the Cotswolds again, with far-reaching views. Boy was I glad to get a distant view of Winchcombe, way down below me. Climbing nearly over:

With my zero cafe stops policy, somehow I made it round the course within the time limit. 101km in 7 hours 10 is slow, I know, but man that was one sadistic route. 1,750 metres of climbing, to put it into context, equals the total of the three biggest climbs I recently did in the Alps. Best of all, I wasn't last! In fact I learned that five riders had abandoned, and there were still six riders out on the road after I had gulped down my mug of tea and a couple of cakes in the Winchcombe Scout Hut at the end. That will do me just fine. I'll claim it as another veterans' super-heavyweight record.(Certainly didn't see any other 20 stoners out there doing it today). And that's my Cyclechat Metric Century-a-Month Challenge ride for October out of the way early.

I'm going nowhere near a bike for the next few days.
Cheers, Donger.

 

[Mrs M]

Still heavy-legged from my first ever imperial century last week, I foolishly entered the "Winchcombe Falling Leaves" 100km audax today. It was "AAA" 1.75 rated one, meaning that it had sufficient climbing to count towards an Audax UK altitude award ... 1,750 metres of climbing to be precise. Gulp!
Got off to the worst of starts, as I noticed at the very last moment before the start that my computer was still set on miles, while the route sheet was in kilometres. Instead of being one of the first of the 68 entrants to start, once I had fixed it I was one of the last to get away.
View attachment 146365
I had already noticed that this was not quite the usual beardy audax crowd .... they seemed a good 10 years a man younger than normal. As this was at the extreme end of my climbing ability, I got the distinct feeling I was going to roll in dead last behind that lot today. Things got worse as I was forced to dismount and do the push of shame just 2.5km into the ride, on the vicious climb up out of Winchcombe to Bela's Knap. That was followed by a front derailleur problem that took me 5 mins to fix, using the barrel adjuster. Took me a good 15km to start reeling in backmarkers, and it was a relief to catch up with a small group of riders at Syreford.

This was a very well planned route, through lots of woods and down some very quiet country lanes.... but relentlessly hilly.
View attachment 146366
Spent most of my time grinding my way grimly up hills or not wanting to lose any momentum on the down slopes, so didn't stop for photos very often .... but this route really did take in the very best of the Cotswolds, and in quite amazingly mild and sunny weather for the beginning of October. I did stop for a moment in Bibury for an energy bar and a drink. Lots of the others were crowding out the pubs and cafes, but I adopted a "rest less, suffer more" strategy to overtake a couple of dozen riders and try to make sure I made the cut-off time.

View attachment 146367 Carried on with the grim grinding past The Barringtons and the Rissingtons before stopping for another energy bar and drink at Bourton on the Water, which was heaving with tourists:

View attachment 146368 Really started to flag on the big long drag out of Bourton up the hill towards Naunton and Guiting power, but found a good rythm and stuck with it without daring to stop in case I had a repeat of last week's "cafe legs". Despite the best direction sheets I have ever been given for an audax, I suffered a bit of brain fade immediately after the final information control, and ended up needlessly going through this ford twice before getting back on track:
View attachment 146369
Nearly lost the rear end both times ... but that was nothing compared to the muddy, wet, slushy and rocky track up through Guiting Woods. At one point I had the options of going through a deep muddy puddle, a slippery, slimy sloping muddy rut or a pile of horse manure ..... and I actually opted for the manure, hoping desperately not to have a subsequent visit from the puncture fairy. Eventually emerged up on top of the Cotswolds again, with far-reaching views. Boy was I glad to get a distant view of Winchcombe, way down below me. Climbing nearly over:
View attachment 146370
With my zero cafe stops policy, somehow I made it round the course within the time limit. 101km in 7 hours 10 is slow, I know, but man that was one sadistic route. 1,750 metres of climbing, to put it into context, equals the total of the three biggest climbs I recently did in the Alps. Best of all, I wasn't last! In fact I learned that five riders had abandoned, and there were still six riders out on the road after I had gulped down my mug of tea and a couple of cakes in the Winchcombe Scout Hut at the end. That will do me just fine. I'll claim it as another veterans' super-heavyweight record.(Certainly didn't see any other 20 stoners out there doing it today). And that's my Cyclechat Metric Century-a-Month Challenge ride for October out of the way early.

I'm going nowhere near a bike for the next few days.
Cheers, Donger.

Well done, sounded like a tough ride and you kept going

 

[bruce1530]

There’s one section where the N7 takes a fairly long diversion round the back of the paper mill. I’d guess it’s a 3 mile detour to keep off 1 mile of main road.

The top bit of this map is Irvine harbour, the bottom is Barassie beach. Troon slightly further south.

You can see the cycle route heads inland.
So it’s actually nothing like a 3 mile diversion to avoid one mile on main road - sorry - but it is an awkward stretch, with a few gates and a level crossing.
The A78 is a busy 4 lane dual carriageway. I wouldn’t cycle there. But the road I was talking about is the “old A78” which runs alongside. It’s a straight, wide road, not too busy. And I know it’s a bit naughty, but it has a very wide, smooth, unused pavement along the west side. Part of this pavement forms the cycle route for a few hundred yards, but I do see a lot of cyclists using it all the way.

 

[Donger]

Well done, sounded like a tough ride and you kept going

Thanks. Last week's experience certainly helped, as knew I had previously undiscovered endurance in me if I dug deep enough. In a strange way I'm glad to have been pushed to the limit twice in just over a week. I don't think anything will ever phase me again now.