Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
7 miles yesterday, a fine day for it.
79 F
Wind S8
Relative humidity 45%
Barometer 30.17 1022.6 mb.
79 F
Wind S8
Relative humidity 45%
Barometer 30.17 1022.6 mb.
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Beautiful day here today. What a difference from Tuesday when i got soaked. 18 miles done. There was a fly fisherman fishing in the river today. The farmers have brought the sheep all together. They must be getting ready to shear them. In one photo, a branch from a tree looks like it is about to fall onto the power lines. Perfect weather today. Thoroughly enjoyed my bimble along the lanes.
It was too nice a day to be doing any household chores.So i decided to go out,only to Otley.First thing i slept in.I did not wake till 8-45 mind you i have been taking Nytol sleeping pills.So i thought oh well always another day.But after breakfast i decided to go out.The legs were brilliant ,i have been doing exercises for a week with my new weights.But any slight rise in the road,meant i felt lightheaded and breathing heavy,i tried to ride through it but i did not feel right.So i walked out of Eccup Res on to Harrogate Road and made my way home on the flat.Try again next week.
Dave 123
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire alps
Finally! The sun came out in Cambridge!!!
We also got our repaired tandem wheel back in the post this afternoon, so a ride was in order.
Down to Toft and along to Kingston.someone said hello as they overtook us. 2 hills later we overtook him. We then settled down and rode with him through the Eversdens, Harlton, Haslingfield and into Newton. Terry left us then and we went on into Little and Great Shelford.
We stopped in Grantchester at the Green Man for a shandy. Jo needed a rest from her new Brooks saddle.
Home via Coton and Madingley hill.
A sunny, much needed 23 evening miles.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1127076544
We also got our repaired tandem wheel back in the post this afternoon, so a ride was in order.
Down to Toft and along to Kingston.someone said hello as they overtook us. 2 hills later we overtook him. We then settled down and rode with him through the Eversdens, Harlton, Haslingfield and into Newton. Terry left us then and we went on into Little and Great Shelford.
We stopped in Grantchester at the Green Man for a shandy. Jo needed a rest from her new Brooks saddle.
Home via Coton and Madingley hill.
A sunny, much needed 23 evening miles.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1127076544
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
My ride today turned into a mini shopping trip and what I hope was a minor first aid drama.
Plan was to start at Bowness in the Lake District, tootle up the side of Lake Windermere to Ambleside, then back down t'other side of the lake on the path to get the small vehicle ferry back across to Bowness.
First purchase was an OS map from the tourist information place at Bowness.
I had hoped going this way round would mean I would do the road section before it got too busy.
Wrong about that, a constant stream of vehicles passed me, nearly every one leaving an acceptable gap - that stretch of the A591 is fairly wide for a two lane road, so there is a bit of room.
Once in Ambleside, I happened to the see the sign for Ghyllside Cycles, which has a not very promising shop front in a side street.
However, they have lots of good quality kit inside, including a wide range of luggage from Carradice and Ortlieb.
That sort of stuff is too dear for bike shops near me to stock, so I was pleased to be able to have a look at it in the flesh.
I bought a smart Walz wool cap, and an Abus Bordo lock which is the correct one to mount on a plate on the carrier of my Riese and Muller ebike.
The guy in the bike shop directed me through a park in Ambleside to get towards the lakeside track.
My first stop was Wray Castle, very busy, so coffee would have to wait.
The car park attendant gave me some duff gen in that he said the path in front of the castle was ridable 'after about 50m'.
It wasn't ridable for much longer than that, and pushing a heavy ebike over tree roots and large stones is no fun.
What I should have done was gone back out to the main vehicle entrance to the castle, and taken the marked cycle route.
When I finally emerged onto the shared path, the way in which I'd come was signposted as a footpath, Wray Castle, half a mile.
So it was my own fault for believing the car park attendant.
Now on the proper path, I stopped at a bench beside the lake for a snack where I was passed by an older couple on his and hers Cube ebikes.
They were to be the subject of the first aid drama.
When I arrived at the ferry, the woman was sitting on the slate wall by the ticket machine being comforted by her husband.
She had a few cuts, a swollen wrist, and what looked like a badly out of shape shoulder - collar bone, possibly.
Her husband was too distressed to say much, and the poor woman appeared on the verge of passing out.
Best intelligence was she had gone over the handlebars, although me and a roadie had a look at her bike and there seemed no obvious scuffs on it.
Perhaps it had a soft landing beside the path, but she didn't.
It then emerged the woman had recently had a heart attack, information which was used to encourage the ambulance to get a shift on.
While it's not nice to see anyone injured, incidents such as this do prove most people are decent - there were several offers of assistance from other cyclists, pedestrians, and the guys who operate the ferry.
What I didn't see was any of the car drivers in the stationary queue hop out of their tin boxes and offer to give the woman a lift or take her bike somewhere.
With the ambulance on the way, me and the concerned roadie got on the ferry, having done what we could to help, which wasn't a lot.
Quite an eventful ride bearing in mind it probably only clocked about 15 miles.
https://www.ghyllside.co.uk/
Plan was to start at Bowness in the Lake District, tootle up the side of Lake Windermere to Ambleside, then back down t'other side of the lake on the path to get the small vehicle ferry back across to Bowness.
First purchase was an OS map from the tourist information place at Bowness.
I had hoped going this way round would mean I would do the road section before it got too busy.
Wrong about that, a constant stream of vehicles passed me, nearly every one leaving an acceptable gap - that stretch of the A591 is fairly wide for a two lane road, so there is a bit of room.
Once in Ambleside, I happened to the see the sign for Ghyllside Cycles, which has a not very promising shop front in a side street.
However, they have lots of good quality kit inside, including a wide range of luggage from Carradice and Ortlieb.
That sort of stuff is too dear for bike shops near me to stock, so I was pleased to be able to have a look at it in the flesh.
I bought a smart Walz wool cap, and an Abus Bordo lock which is the correct one to mount on a plate on the carrier of my Riese and Muller ebike.
The guy in the bike shop directed me through a park in Ambleside to get towards the lakeside track.
My first stop was Wray Castle, very busy, so coffee would have to wait.
The car park attendant gave me some duff gen in that he said the path in front of the castle was ridable 'after about 50m'.
It wasn't ridable for much longer than that, and pushing a heavy ebike over tree roots and large stones is no fun.
What I should have done was gone back out to the main vehicle entrance to the castle, and taken the marked cycle route.
When I finally emerged onto the shared path, the way in which I'd come was signposted as a footpath, Wray Castle, half a mile.
So it was my own fault for believing the car park attendant.
Now on the proper path, I stopped at a bench beside the lake for a snack where I was passed by an older couple on his and hers Cube ebikes.
They were to be the subject of the first aid drama.
When I arrived at the ferry, the woman was sitting on the slate wall by the ticket machine being comforted by her husband.
She had a few cuts, a swollen wrist, and what looked like a badly out of shape shoulder - collar bone, possibly.
Her husband was too distressed to say much, and the poor woman appeared on the verge of passing out.
Best intelligence was she had gone over the handlebars, although me and a roadie had a look at her bike and there seemed no obvious scuffs on it.
Perhaps it had a soft landing beside the path, but she didn't.
It then emerged the woman had recently had a heart attack, information which was used to encourage the ambulance to get a shift on.
While it's not nice to see anyone injured, incidents such as this do prove most people are decent - there were several offers of assistance from other cyclists, pedestrians, and the guys who operate the ferry.
What I didn't see was any of the car drivers in the stationary queue hop out of their tin boxes and offer to give the woman a lift or take her bike somewhere.
With the ambulance on the way, me and the concerned roadie got on the ferry, having done what we could to help, which wasn't a lot.
Quite an eventful ride bearing in mind it probably only clocked about 15 miles.
https://www.ghyllside.co.uk/
Last edited:
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
I don't know about where you are, but in Shropshire we haven't had an ideal start to August with lots of wet and windy weather about. Today though was different and seeing a pretty much ideal forecast I cancelled my plans for the day and set out to do my challenge ride for the month instead.
With the good forecast I fancied riding out to Lake Vyrnwy and managed to get out on the road with the Raleigh just before seven. I decided to vary the route a little bit by taking the longer way out and the shorter way back, so headed for Condover to start with then Exfords Green, Lea Cross, Westbury, Halfway House, Melverley, Maesbrook and Llynclys before joining the road up the Tanat Valley.
The roads were mostly quiet but doing this on a weekday the traffic I met was people heading for work so a bit of care was needed. Otherwise it was all very uneventful. With the wind being light I made quite good progress although with hindsight I realise I was pushing on with a little too much enthusiasm.
I stopped for a bite to eat at Llynclys, chatted to a friendly farmer and was passed by another rider. The road up the Tanat Valley was slightly busier than I'm used to but the drivers were better behaved so a plus point there. This section of the ride was quite uneventful too up to the point when I thought the car behind was taking its time coming past. They eventually pulled alongside very slowly in the face of oncoming traffic and a plummy voice from the passenger window said "Excuse me, do you know where the waterfall is?"
By this point BMW coming the other way is frantically flashing his lights
so I dropped back to give room for my overtaker to pull in before finally giving them the directions they were after.
Not long after this I spotted another rider ahead and recognised they guy who had pased me at Llynclys. He was out on his century ride for the year, was heading over the hills to Bala, then back to Shrewsbury via Llangollen and expecting to take all day over it. Hope you had fun.
Pressing on I headed for Penybontfawr and over the hills through Hirnant to Lake Vyrnwy where the lake looked stunning in the summer sunshine. Another bite to eat looking at the view and I pressed on again for a lap of the lake. I was feeling fairly energetic and was happily cruising on this very flat road at about the 15/16 mph mark and overtaking the odd leisure cyclist on the way.
Having complete my lap I headed for the Old Barn Cafe for a hot chocolate and sat out on the terrace to enjoy it. The chocolate had just been brought out to me when another rider asked if I'd mind him joining me. No problem and we had a good chat; he'd driven down from Chester, parked up at Trevor (or thereabouts) and after riding to Vyrnwy was going to go on over the hills to Bala and back via Corwen - approx 75 miles for him today.
After the stop I could feel the earlier efforts in my legs. I slowly wound up to a good cruising speed again for the return lap of the lake but it was more of an effort this time. I got about 3/4 of the way round when suddenly it felt like I'd completely run out of energy and I couldn't maintain my speed anymore. Back at the dam I had my lunch which was very much needed and the banana I brought (I don't usually) helped perk me up much quicker than I'd have expected, which was fortunate as I had the big climb back over the hills to do.
By the top of the climb I felt good enough to try the alternative route I've done once before which involves more climbing. Some great views from up here and the steep descent was thrilling. Back into the Tanat Valley I spotted a disguised prototype Jaguar on test at Penybontfawr. (The Jaguar guys do a lot of road testing round Shropshire and mid Wales).
I was slow up the hills now but, with a tail wind, absolutely flew everywhere else and made really good time back to Llynclys. I turned off towards Maesbrook again and rather than going all the way back to Melverley, cut across to The Royal Hill, overtook a couple of children and their Shetland pony pulling a child size trap (would have taken a photo but don't feel comfortable photographing other peoples children), then through Pentre, Great Ness and into Shrewsbury via Montford Bridge.
110.52 miles for the day at 14.2 mph average. 9 and a half hours including all the various stops. This trip has shown me I need to ride more to make up for the current lack of commuting miles.
Lovely conditions this morning from near Prince's Oak and looking into Wales.
First pit stop for a bite to eat. Still in England at this point.
At Hirnant.
The summit of my first big climb of the day. I've got to get back over this yet.
Reached Llyn Efyrnwy.
After my cafe stop.
I made it up the big climb for the second time and elected to carry on climbing on an alternative route.
The view from the top of my alternative route. The lane doesn't have a name marked on the map but goes along the southern slopes of Cefn Hirfynydd.
Stopped again at Llynclys on the way home. Someone wants to know why I'm eating but not sharing.
With the good forecast I fancied riding out to Lake Vyrnwy and managed to get out on the road with the Raleigh just before seven. I decided to vary the route a little bit by taking the longer way out and the shorter way back, so headed for Condover to start with then Exfords Green, Lea Cross, Westbury, Halfway House, Melverley, Maesbrook and Llynclys before joining the road up the Tanat Valley.
The roads were mostly quiet but doing this on a weekday the traffic I met was people heading for work so a bit of care was needed. Otherwise it was all very uneventful. With the wind being light I made quite good progress although with hindsight I realise I was pushing on with a little too much enthusiasm.
I stopped for a bite to eat at Llynclys, chatted to a friendly farmer and was passed by another rider. The road up the Tanat Valley was slightly busier than I'm used to but the drivers were better behaved so a plus point there. This section of the ride was quite uneventful too up to the point when I thought the car behind was taking its time coming past. They eventually pulled alongside very slowly in the face of oncoming traffic and a plummy voice from the passenger window said "Excuse me, do you know where the waterfall is?"
By this point BMW coming the other way is frantically flashing his lights so I dropped back to give room for my overtaker to pull in before finally giving them the directions they were after.Not long after this I spotted another rider ahead and recognised they guy who had pased me at Llynclys. He was out on his century ride for the year, was heading over the hills to Bala, then back to Shrewsbury via Llangollen and expecting to take all day over it. Hope you had fun.
Pressing on I headed for Penybontfawr and over the hills through Hirnant to Lake Vyrnwy where the lake looked stunning in the summer sunshine. Another bite to eat looking at the view and I pressed on again for a lap of the lake. I was feeling fairly energetic and was happily cruising on this very flat road at about the 15/16 mph mark and overtaking the odd leisure cyclist on the way.
Having complete my lap I headed for the Old Barn Cafe for a hot chocolate and sat out on the terrace to enjoy it. The chocolate had just been brought out to me when another rider asked if I'd mind him joining me. No problem and we had a good chat; he'd driven down from Chester, parked up at Trevor (or thereabouts) and after riding to Vyrnwy was going to go on over the hills to Bala and back via Corwen - approx 75 miles for him today.
After the stop I could feel the earlier efforts in my legs. I slowly wound up to a good cruising speed again for the return lap of the lake but it was more of an effort this time. I got about 3/4 of the way round when suddenly it felt like I'd completely run out of energy and I couldn't maintain my speed anymore. Back at the dam I had my lunch which was very much needed and the banana I brought (I don't usually) helped perk me up much quicker than I'd have expected, which was fortunate as I had the big climb back over the hills to do.
By the top of the climb I felt good enough to try the alternative route I've done once before which involves more climbing. Some great views from up here and the steep descent was thrilling. Back into the Tanat Valley I spotted a disguised prototype Jaguar on test at Penybontfawr. (The Jaguar guys do a lot of road testing round Shropshire and mid Wales).
I was slow up the hills now but, with a tail wind, absolutely flew everywhere else and made really good time back to Llynclys. I turned off towards Maesbrook again and rather than going all the way back to Melverley, cut across to The Royal Hill, overtook a couple of children and their Shetland pony pulling a child size trap (would have taken a photo but don't feel comfortable photographing other peoples children), then through Pentre, Great Ness and into Shrewsbury via Montford Bridge.
110.52 miles for the day at 14.2 mph average. 9 and a half hours including all the various stops. This trip has shown me I need to ride more to make up for the current lack of commuting miles.
Lovely conditions this morning from near Prince's Oak and looking into Wales.
First pit stop for a bite to eat. Still in England at this point.
At Hirnant.
The summit of my first big climb of the day. I've got to get back over this yet.
Reached Llyn Efyrnwy.
After my cafe stop.
I made it up the big climb for the second time and elected to carry on climbing on an alternative route.
The view from the top of my alternative route. The lane doesn't have a name marked on the map but goes along the southern slopes of Cefn Hirfynydd.
Stopped again at Llynclys on the way home. Someone wants to know why I'm eating but not sharing.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
I don't know about where you are but in Shropshire we haven't had an ideal start to August with lots of wet and windy weather about. Today though was different and seeing a pretty much ideal forecast I cancelled my plans for the day and set out to do my challenge ride for the month instead.
With the good forecast I fancied riding out to Lake Vyrnwy and managed to get out on the road with the Raleigh just before seven. I decided to vary the route a little bit by taking the longer way out and the shorter way back, so headed for Condover to start with then Exfords Green, Lea Cross, Westbury, Halfway House, Melverley, Maesbrook and Llynclys before joining the road up the Tanat Valley.
The roads were mostly quiet but doing this on a weekday the traffic I met was people heading for work so a bit of care was needed. Otherwise it was all very uneventful. With the wind being light I made quite good progress although with hindsight I realise I was pushing on with a little too much enthusiasm.
I stopped for a bite to eat at Llynclys, chatted to a friendly farmer and was passed by another rider. The road up the Tanat Valley was slightly busier than I'm used to but the drivers were better behaved so a plus point there. This section of the ride was quite uneventful too up to the point when I thought the car behind was taking its time coming past. They eventually pulled alongside very slowly in the face of oncoming traffic and a plummy voice from the passenger window said "Excuse me, do you know where the waterfall is?"
Not long after this I spotted another rider ahead and recognised they guy who had pased me at Llynclys. He was out on his century ride for the year, was heading over the hills to Bala, then back to Shrewsbury via Llangollen and expecting to take all day over it. Hope you had fun.
Pressing on I headed for Penybontfawr and over the hills through Hirnant to Lake Vyrnwy where the lake looked stunning in the summer sunshine. Another bite to eat looking at the view and I pressed on again for a lap of the lake. I was feeling fairly energetic and was happily cruising on this very flat road at about the 15/16 mph mark and overtaking the odd leisure cyclist on the way.
Having complete my lap I headed for the Old Barn Cafe for a hot chocolate and sat out on the terrace to enjoy it. The chocolate had just been brought out to me when another rider asked if I'd mind him joining me. No problem and we had a good chat (he'd driven down from Chester, parked up at Trevor (or thereabouts) and after riding to Vyrnwy was going to go on over the hills to Bala and back via Corwen - approx 75 miles for him today.
After the stop I could feel the earlier efforts in my legs. I slowly wound up to a good cruising speed again for the return lap of the lake but it was more of an effort this time. I got about 3/4 of the way round when suddenly it felt like I'd completely run out of energy and I couldn't maintain my speed anymore. Back at the dam I had my lunch which was very much needed and the banana I brought (I don't usually) helped perk me up much quicker than I'd have expected, which was fortunate as I had the big climb back over the hills to do.
By the top of the climb I felt good enough to try the alternative route I've done once before which involves more climbing. Some great views from up here and the steep descent was thrilling. Back into the Tanat Valley I spotted a disguised prototype Jaguar on test at Penybontfawr. (The Jaguar guys do a lot of road testing round Shropshire and mid Wales).
I was slow up the hills now but, with a tail wind, absolutely flew everywhere else and made really good time back to Llynclys. I turned off towards Maesbrook again and rather than going all the way back to Melverley, cut across to The Royal Hill, overtook a couple of children and their Shetland pony pulling a child size trap (would have taken a photo but don't feel comfortable photographing other peoples children), then through Pentre, Great Ness and into Shrewsbury via Montford Bridge.
110.52 miles for the day at 14.2 mph average. 9 and a half hours including all the various stops. This trip has shown me I need to ride more to make up for the current lack of commuting miles.
View attachment 367430
Lovely conditions this morning from near Prince's Oak and looking into Wales.
View attachment 367431
First pit stop for a bite to eat. Still in England at this point.
View attachment 367432
At Hirnant.
View attachment 367433
The summit of my first big climb of the day. I've got to get back over this yet.
View attachment 367434
Reached Llyn Efyrnwy.
View attachment 367435
After my cafe stop.
View attachment 367436
I made it up the big climb for the second time and elected to carry on climbing on an alternative route.
View attachment 367437
The view from the top of my alternative route. The lane doesn't have a name marked on the map but goes along the southern slopes of Cefn Hirfynydd.
View attachment 367438
Stopped again at Llynclys on the way home. Someone wants to know why I'm eating but not sharing.
Cycle more?
More than 14mph over 110 miles is going some, particularly as you propel a heavy rig.
Hope there's some positive news on the horizon on the job front.
Hope the lady recovers quickly. Familiar holiday territory for me, and I agree that the bike shop is fabulous!!
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Thanks.
The average speed today flatters me a bit due to having near dead calm on the way out and a tailwind on the way back. I was struggling where I wouldn't usually expect to this time.
Racing roadkill
Guru
https://www.relive.cc/view/1127094189
A ride up to BroadHalfpenny down this evening.
The Cradle of Cricket.
Summer was ( almost ) back.
The trusty 560
The South Downs.
I had the place to myself.
A ride up to BroadHalfpenny down this evening.
The Cradle of Cricket.
Summer was ( almost ) back.
The trusty 560
The South Downs.
I had the place to myself.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
I was impressed, not only did they have the size of Carradice I was vaguely considering, but also the three available finishes.
Good point.
That ride may be beyond a lot of us, but that's largely irrelevant in terms of you judging your performance.
What matters is what you've done in the past.
mrandmrspoves
Middle aged bald git.
- Location
- Narfuk
I had booked a long weekend to go to Cropredy - but the line up failed to inspire me enough to part with the best part of £300 (ticket, fuel, food and beer allowance) ..Nothing against Petula Clarke....but really the headlining act?
So anyway a long weekend and nothing planned seemed like a perfect opportunity to fit a small camping trip in.
Because of ongoing health issues I haven't topped a 32 miler so far this year - but today I managed 35 - while heavily laden. It was slow.....very slow, but I got there eventually. I am pitched for the night just 15 miles from Southwold - so tomorrow, with no camping gear to tow I shall be searching for a pint or two of Adnams.
So anyway a long weekend and nothing planned seemed like a perfect opportunity to fit a small camping trip in.
Because of ongoing health issues I haven't topped a 32 miler so far this year - but today I managed 35 - while heavily laden. It was slow.....very slow, but I got there eventually. I am pitched for the night just 15 miles from Southwold - so tomorrow, with no camping gear to tow I shall be searching for a pint or two of Adnams.
Attachments
- Location
- Manchester
Lovely pictures @Rickshaw Phil
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Nice evening ride to the pub.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1127305603#kudos
https://www.strava.com/activities/1127305603#kudos
