Your ride today....

[nickyboy]

Polocini Winter Warmer Sportive last Sunday

I rarely do sportives but @I like Skol whipped us into shape for this one. It's relatively inexpensive at £20, has a reputation for excellent food and, having done a couple of months of hard hill climbing, it's reasonably flat

It starts in Woodford (next to the closed BAe Systems factory)and meanders around Cheshire through Knutsford. There is a kicker at the end in the form of Artists Lane in Alderley Edge and then some draggy climbing around Bollington. As it's not too hard riding I rode there and back and with a bit of faffing around I managed 90 miles all in

Weather was gloomy and drizzly when we set off at 8am but practically no wind and not cold. Decent conditions really. Made it to the start in plenty of time and there was some nice porridge available. We set off en masse at 9.15 and the sight of hundreds of cyclists heading out was something to behold. Quickly onto the lanes and they were nice and quiet. But they were muddy....lots of farm traffic, no rain for weeks and then some drizzle had left a layer of mud on some of them. Tricky and a couple of guys came off but thankfully no serious injuries

Made it to the half way point towards the back of the field due to our little group having a couple of punctures. But the tables were still groaning with cakes, flapjacks, brownies, sauage rolls, fruit......it was a battle not to go overboard

We picked up the pace for the second half and whizzed along at about 20mph. Some climbing towards the back end and then we were back at the start. Really good chicken curry to which I added the fresh chillies and some chilli sauce (I like my spicy I do). Even had bottles of Leffe beer available if you wanted one. Final hilly 12 miles back to Glossop was hard work but made it. Good day out, well organised, nice route and decent value. 90 miles with 3,500ft of climbing at a 16mph average

 

[Psycolist]

[QUOTE 4534463, member: 9609"]I'm thinking it must have been 'National burn all your wet garden rubbish day today' I even went past a horse farm where they had decided to ignite the horse manure mountain. I should have just taken a pack of Bensons with me, it wouldn't have been any less unhealthy.[/QUOTE]
You calling the premesis 'a horse farm' reminded me of when I was little, and I asked mum if I could have a pair of 'horses trousers' meaning jodhpurs, and around that same time in my life, learning to read etc, telling mum when out for the day, that I needed to go to the ladies, meaning I needed a wee but pronounced it lad eez not lay deez. Ahh mee oh my, funny thing memories ! and what sparks them.

 

[Big Andy]

Had a really enjoyable ride out around Leicester this evening.

No real plan in mind just some exploring. Being Diwali the Leicester Golden Mile was all lit up



The war memorial in Victoria Park is a stunning tribute to the fallen


Also came across the last Of the Skyrides in Leicester so taggeg along for a few miles. They were having a ghost tour! Really was a lovely evening ride out.

 

[cosmicbike]

My ride today was to Sainsburys to get some carrots. I took my Brompton, and as usual wheeled it into the store as I have done on countless previous occasions. This time I was shouted at by a security guard, and told I couldn't bring my bike in. Store policy apparently, so I asked to see said policy. Unfortunately neither he, nor the man apparently standing in for the store manager (who was on holiday it would seem), were able to produce any form of policy, with stand in 'manager' resorting to making things up as he went along.
Ho hum, I await a response from Sainsburys after dropping them an email....

 

[lazybloke]

Since August, my longest bike rides have been about 5 minutes, so last night I made time to go a bit further and headed out towards Horsley and Ripley (last visited in hot sunlight on July 31st with 30,000 other cyclists).

Lesson 1 : Next time, must attach my front light battery pack more securely, because being suddenly plunged into darkness was a shock.
Lesson 2: Have a better 2nd front light, as it took me ages to locate the battery pack.
Lesson 3: Watch the weather forecast and dress warmer when it's under 3 degrees C

But, had a lovely ride of 15 miles at 15mph, and where not foggy the air was crystal clear- lovely stars - for once, not drowned out by glare from London.

And big surprise: drivers were being very considerate - very wide passes.

 

[Spinney]

Rode with a friend from Scorton along the Trough of Bowland and over to Dunsop Bridge. At that point plans had to be reconsidered as the road to Whitewell was closed so a bit of a detour. Round to Chipping for tea and (appropriately) chips, then back through Oakenclough and along the western edge of the hills back to the car.
The sun shone all day - and I had forgotten just how beautiful this part of the country is. Didn't stop in the Trough for photos, but it was absolutely stunning there cycling alongside the stream with the low sun coming through the trees, and the trees in their autumn colours. And on the last stretch, beautifully clear air gave a very sharp view across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District hills.

The milestone at the top of the climb east of the Trough.

Inspecting the memorials

Obligatory shot of the bikes

Heading for Parlick

Climbing towards Oakenclough

Lakeland fells in the distance (honest! the phone camera doesn't do it justice)

And finally, this makes it look a lot more impressive than a 41 mile ride!

 

[ColinJ]

Rode with a friend from Scorton along the Trough of Bowland and over to Dunsop Bridge. At that point plans had to be reconsidered as the road to Whitewell was closed so a bit of a detour. Round to Chipping for tea and (appropriately) chips, then back through Oakenclough and along the western edge of the hills back to the car.
The sun shone all day - and I had forgotten just how beautiful this part of the country is. Didn't stop in the Trough for photos, but it was absolutely stunning there cycling alongside the stream with the low sun coming through the trees, and the trees in their autumn colours. And on the last stretch, beautifully clear air gave a very sharp view across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District hills.

The milestone at the top of the climb east of the Trough.
View attachment 149913

Inspecting the memorials
View attachment 149914

Obligatory shot of the bikes
View attachment 149915

Heading for Parlick
View attachment 149916

Climbing towards Oakenclough
View attachment 149917

Lakeland fells in the distance (honest! the phone camera doesn't do it justice)
View attachment 149918

And finally, this makes it look a lot more impressive than a 41 mile ride!

I love cycling round there!

The road to Whitewell has been closed to cars for ages but it was still okay for bikes when we used it on THIS RIDE in the spring! (We will be riding that route again in 2017 at the end of March or start of April, so keep an eye open if you fancy joining us.)

 

[Spinney]

I love cycling round there!

The road to Whitewell has been closed to cars for ages but it was still okay for bikes when we used it on THIS RIDE in the spring! (We will be riding that route again in 2017 at the end of March or start of April, so keep an eye open if you fancy joining us.)

We didn't go along it to look, as the sign at Dunsop Bridge said it was closed for pedestrians and cyclists (normally for a closed road I'll give it a try as bikes and pedestrians can normally get through).

 

[ColinJ]

We didn't go along it to look, as the sign at Dunsop Bridge said it was closed for pedestrians and cyclists (normally for a closed road I'll give it a try as bikes and pedestrians can normally get through).

They were not actually working there when we went but I just found THIS article which asks for the closure to be respected.

The repair work should be finished by spring, but I will check before next year's ride and change the route if necessary.

 

[Sea of vapours]

It's very much closed and it's not the 'old problem' bit just south of the Inn at Whitewell @ColinJ . The road has subsided along the very low bit by the river, between the Inn at Whitewell and The Dunsop Bridge junction. Going northwards yesterday I thought I'd have a look rather than take the detour and, about 1km from the Inn, I came across a complete lack of road: a deep hole about 20m wide, full width of the road. 'Fortunately', the people working there directed me round the back of some farm buildings: 60-70m on a muddy, but paved track and back on the road :-)

Unfortunately, that's not the major closure. About 2km short of the Dunsop Bridge junction lots of large machinery, about 3-400m of obliterated road and an awful lot of high fencing appeared. They're putting 10-15m long slabs of metal in on the river side with a rather large pile-driving machine accompanied by a great many diggers. There's an access route to the site, formed by boards across the field to the left (west) of the road, clearly heading for the nexus of machinery. I walked along it to have a closer look (still outside the substantial, metal barriers and very much not on the site or obstructing anything). When it was clearly curving back in to the collection of machines on the road and I was about to turn back, I met another cyclist. He was on the other side of the temporary, barbed wire fence separating the access road from the grassy field and had entered through a gate just north of the works. After some discussion, we both crossed the post and wire fence at this point, with considerable caution to avoid damaging either us or the fence, and he walked off along the boards and I squelched through the wet grass for a couple of hundred metres to the handy gate. There's considerable damage to the dry stone wall in at least two points near the northern end of the closure, demonstrating why clambering over dry stone walls is a really bad idea (as well as wholly unnecessary).

So, in summary, it's very closed indeed, both to cyclists and pedestrians, and I won't be doing that again. I persisted since the huge detour would have left me very short of daylight to get home. The only real obstacle is the fence, but it's about chest height with barbed wire along the top, so definitely inadvisable. All they needed to do was put a gate in it at the point I crossed, but presumably whoever owns the field doesn't want people walking across it :-\ Then again, they probably didn't want a great, boarded track across it either.

 

[Basil.B]

Just did a 28 mile loop on my singlespeed, lovely and sunny but a tad nippy!

 

[ColinJ]

It's very much closed and it's not the 'old problem' bit just south of the Inn at Whitewell @ColinJ . The road has subsided along the very low bit by the river, between the Inn at Whitewell and The Dunsop Bridge junction. Going northwards yesterday I thought I'd have a look rather than take the detour and, about 1km from the Inn, I came across a complete lack of road: a deep hole about 20m wide, full width of the road. 'Fortunately', the people working there directed me round the back of some farm buildings: 60-70m on a muddy, but paved track and back on the road :-)

Unfortunately, that's not the major closure. About 2km short of the Dunsop Bridge junction lots of large machinery, about 3-400m of obliterated road and an awful lot of high fencing appeared. They're putting 10-15m long slabs of metal in on the river side with a rather large pile-driving machine accompanied by a great many diggers. There's an access route to the site, formed by boards across the field to the left (west) of the road, clearly heading for the nexus of machinery. I walked along it to have a closer look (still outside the substantial, metal barriers and very much not on the site or obstructing anything). When it was clearly curving back in to the collection of machines on the road and I was about to turn back, I met another cyclist. He was on the other side of the temporary, barbed wire fence separating the access road from the grassy field and had entered through a gate just north of the works. After some discussion, we both crossed the post and wire fence at this point, with considerable caution to avoid damaging either us or the fence, and he walked off along the boards and I squelched through the wet grass for a couple of hundred metres to the handy gate. There's considerable damage to the dry stone wall in at least two points near the northern end of the closure, demonstrating why clambering over dry stone walls is a really bad idea (as well as wholly unnecessary).

So, in summary, it's very closed indeed, both to cyclists and pedestrians, and I won't be doing that again. I persisted since the huge detour would have left me very short of daylight to get home. The only real obstacle is the fence, but it's about chest height with barbed wire along the top, so definitely inadvisable. All they needed to do was put a gate in it at the point I crossed, but presumably whoever owns the field doesn't want people walking across it :-\ Then again, they probably didn't want a great, boarded track across it either.

I did a search before coming back on here and found a big list of works in the Ribble Valley, including what you described. THE LIST. I will be riding to Waddington on Saturday and maybe another time or 2 before my Glasson Dock ride in the spring, but I won't be going near Whitewell or Dunsop Bridge before then. Hopefully the works will be complete by then,

If you look at the list, you will see that they are resurfacing the Cow Ark-Newton Road, the awful surface of which we discussed earlier in the year.

 

[Old jon]

Twenty nine miles this morning. The frost on the rooftops was a bit of a surprise, and I ummed and aahed a bit about going for a ride. Called myself a wimp and that did it, after a bit of preparation I pedalled away.

After exploring lesser known bits of Holbeck, the towpath felt a bit lumpy today. I had a headwind. Viaduct Road is as good a place as any to leave the towpath, drop down to Kirkstall Road and straight across, lights permitting, to climb all the way to Headingley up Cardigan Road. A bit of right and left and pointing uphill again towards Lawnswood. The first couple of quite a number of riders today passed me before I reached the Ring Road. Straight along the A 660 for me, being passed yet again and again . . .

I thought, as I rode through Bramhope, no so and so will pass me down Pool Bank, so I turned right at the Dyneley Arms, and no one did pass me. A brisk descent and turn left before the river bridge to ride along the A 659 to Otley.

I did not fancy stopping, it had taken me about five miles to warm up earlier, so wriggle around Otley’s back streets to find the Leeds Road and the long ride up the first bit of that, still being passed by groups of cyclists and there were others travelling in the opposite direction. Once back at the Dyneley Arms all the hard pedalling is over. All the way to Headingley again, the right turn to Kirkstall and back on the towpath again. Glad I went out.

For a change, a ride of two loops,

 

[steve50]

I had a nice ride out on the old Pioneer yesterday, nothing particularly spectacular but a pleasant enough 14 miles.
Today after a very frosty start the sun came out and I took full advantage of it, out to visit my old mum on the Boardman with a rucksack full of her clean clothes (we do her laundry) spent an hour chatting then hit the road again. I did a big loop taking in Illingworth, Mixenden, Mount Tabor and Warley Village before dropping down the valley into Sowerby Bridge then taking the scenic route along the new road alongside the River Calder before getting onto the canal towpath for the last mile or so home. A very enjoyable morning / afternoons cycling. Strava tells me I did 12.4miles but I didn't turn it on until I was leaving the nursing home so the total will be nearer 16.5 very steady miles.

stunning scenery

Almost deserted roads

A very autumnal scene on the canal towpath

 

[Gravity Aided]

8 miles this morning, right in front of a line of thunderstorms, just enough time to wait out the downpour, get on the road, and beat the pre-frontal thunderstorm line as it progressed through, just as I got home. Fine weather, only two hardy cyclists. Just as I was coming home, the foreman of the roofers two streets over was blowing the horn on his truck, a signal for everybody to get off the roof. Now lightning and thunder and heavy rain .
70F,21C
Winds SW 13
Relative humidity 66%
Barometer 30.13
Heavy rain, with severe thunderstorm in area.