Your ride today....

[iancity]

Couldnt sleep but too early to get up for work...what better reason then to get up at 6am and go for a quick bike ride
Used to do this route 4-5 years ago when I started cycling, its just a quick blast down to the local seaside village and along the prom there, can be quite beautiful watching the sunrise come up over the sea. New change in jobs means the 36 mile commute which occasionally was done on a bike is now a 6 minute walk, so need to get more of these 'before work' rides in again

 

[Jenkins]

After a week of being (mostly) in the office looking out at the sunshine, I opened the curtains this morning to a layer of grey, low cloud which decided to hang around all day. However, after the normal Saturday routine of Danny Baker followed by Fighting Talk on the radio, I fanally got the Spa out of the shed and headed out.

I'd initially planned to take my usual Falkenham, Newbourne, Waldingfield & Little Bealings route out to Grundisburgh, but a change of direction once I reached the Grundisburgh Road took me to Hasketon...

and then across to Burgh on a poor condition single track road, down and through Grundisburgh to Playford and back up again to Grundisburgh and down again to Tuddenham and Westerfield and an extended loop before doubling back to Rushmere St. Andrew and the usual route home via Bucklesham.

Thanks to the recent morning frosts, mists and today's cloud, the roads were still quite damp and slippery so I was taking it easy following an off in similar conditions just after Christmas and all went well until turning right off Trimley High Road into Station Road just 1/3rd of a mile from home. I must have touched a white line or been caught out by a slick patch when my front wheel slid out from under me (again!) at between 10-15mph and I went down on the same side as before. No aditional damage to the bike, just a badly scraped right knee & more bruising to my right hip & elbow and another ruined pair of bib tights

https://www.strava.com/activities/2153721346

 

[cosmicbike]

@Jenkins a like for the ride, not the off. Hope you're not too sore.

 

[Dave 123]

I hope you mend quickly @Jenkins . Same thing nearly happened to me yesterday.

Just a short ride today. The sun was lovely but my legs just weren’t interested, I felt tired, the roads were really greasy, and I just couldn’t be arsed!

I did see a nice Long Tailed Tit.

13 miles. Pathetic.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2155070984

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I had a good day yesterday, went for a 2nd interview in the morning, a phone call in the afternoon confirmed that I had got the job (with a significant rise) and I start on Monday, so as time was marching on, I put the road bike on the TT and cracked 11.2 miles in 30 minutes. Hopefully, if I'm not too hungover tomorrow I'll be out on the roads
View attachment 452739

Congratulations on getting the new job.

After a week of being (mostly) in the office looking out at the sunshine, I opened the curtains this morning to a layer of grey, low cloud which decided to hang around all day. However, after the normal Saturday routine of Danny Baker followed by Fighting Talk on the radio, I fanally got the Spa out of the shed and headed out.

I'd initially planned to take my usual Falkenham, Newbourne, Waldingfield & Little Bealings route out to Grundisburgh, but a change of direction once I reached the Grundisburgh Road took me to Hasketon...
View attachment 452833 and then across to Burgh on a poor condition single track road, down and through Grundisburgh to Playford and back up again to Grundisburgh and down again to Tuddenham and Westerfield and an extended loop before doubling back to Rushmere St. Andrew and the usual route home via Bucklesham.

Thanks to the recent morning frosts, mists and today's cloud, the roads were still quite damp and slippery so I was taking it easy following an off in similar conditions just after Christmas and all went well until turning right off Trimley High Road into Station Road just 1/3rd of a mile from home. I must have touched a white line or been caught out by a slick patch when my front wheel slid out from under me (again!) at between 10-15mph and I went down on the same side as before. No aditional damage to the bike, just a badly scraped right knee & more bruising to my right hip & elbow and another ruined pair of bib tights
View attachment 452838 View attachment 452837
https://www.strava.com/activities/2153721346

A like for the write up. I hope the aches and scrapes heal quickly.

 

[colly]

6.30 out this morning just as the sky was lightening.
East to Cross Gates, and The George at Garforth and a left took me up towards the station and out on towards Lotherton. Left again a few miles on and it was into Aberford. Not wanting to be out for too long I turned onto Parlington Lane which took me off road for the next 5 or 6 miles and through the mysterious Parlington Tunnel .

Over the golf course and back onto tarmac near Scholes. From there it was a swift run down to Killingbeck and Foundry Lane, and thence back home. A very steady ride where I barely broke sweat.

18 miles and 850ft of upwards.


View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/31744641

 

[Jon George]

Thanks to the recent morning frosts, mists and today's cloud, the roads were still quite damp and slippery so I was taking it easy following an off in similar conditions just after Christmas and all went well until turning right off Trimley High Road into Station Road just 1/3rd of a mile from home. I must have touched a white line or been caught out by a slick patch when my front wheel slid out from under me (again!) at between 10-15mph and I went down on the same side as before. No aditional damage to the bike, just a badly scraped right knee & more bruising to my right hip & elbow and another ruined pair of bib tights

A 'Like' for the ride, but not for the off. Get Well Soon.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

February Imperial Century Challenge take two:

Having had a rest day I set my alarm for early yesterday but had an even earlier wake up call than expected due to a drawn out screech of tyres and a thump as someone skidded into the kerb outside the house at quarter past four.

I got out on the road at seven as planned and set off to do a rerun of the route I'd planned to do on Thursday. No fog this time and a brisker breeze which meant that I got on pretty well from Condover through Upton Magna with the wind at my back. I had to turn towards it in the Rodington area though and that headwind was my constant companion for the next 35 miles.

To vary things I took a slight detour onto the marked cycle route (NCN route 45) on my way to Eaton Constantine. It made a change but the surface is horrible in places. On the way to Cressage I had the road practically to myself as there is a major closure in the village for much needed resurfacing. The closure isn't quite where advertised in the local paper so I ended up walking past the works to reach Shore Lane which was busier than normal due to the drivers trying to find a way round. At one of the junctions I saw a couple of motorists pause to check the signs then carry on in completely the wrong direction if they were aiming to get back onto the main road.

Having got away from the rat-runners, the ride to Longville was fairly pleasant, if not quick, and the climb over Wenlock Edge seemed easier than it had a couple of days ago. My elevenses stop was taken a bit earlier this time, near Peaton, then I had a fairly uneventful ride into Ludlow where the bike didn't break this time and I was able to plod my way up the second big climb of the day climb through the Mortimer Forest. The descent the other side could be a really fast one but the road surface on that side of the hill is pretty poor so you have to go a bit carefully.

I'd taken a layer off on the climb but needed to put it back on at my lunch stop by Paytoe Hall. A lot of cloud rolled in about this time and without the sunshine the wind felt quite chilly. Pressing on past John Challis's place I started the trip north by heading through Adforton and Brampton Bryan. On this road a red kite glided lazily across the road ahead of me. I stopped to try and get a photo but it soared on an updraught to join the three others and a couple of buzzards wheeling round on the breeze. Quite a sight.

Bucknell was the next place I headed for and the tailwind made itself noticed as I scooted along with little effort to Hopton Heath. The nasty little climb here was crested with a bit of effort and I enjoyed the fast flowing section the other side (apart from dodging potholes again). By Bishop's Castle I was starting to run out of energy a bit. I had a pause here for a bite to eat before tackling the steep climb through the town. I hit 34 mph on the descent the other side and made some good progress to Montgomery where another short break was taken.

The tailwind helped a lot through Chirbury (a couple of really dangerous potholes on this road) and Marton. Dozy driver of the day won his prize here for overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic despite them being lit up and easily visible and the fact that if he'd held off for a few moments the road would have been clear.

After Westbury I'd had enough of these fast B roads so was glad to turn off at Stoney Stretton and take the lane through Edge. I hit the century at Hinton then near Lea Cross a car coming the other way was trailing a smokescreen that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Bond film. The smell of burning oil mixed with the sickly sweetness of hot antifreeze made it clear to me that the the head gasket had failed. I hope they didn't carry on driving very far as that would get expensive.

It was just a few miles to home now and I properly ran out of energy so slowed to a crawl. I only made it up the climb to Lyth Hill by dropping down into my very lowest gear and at the top forced down a remaining bit of cake to give the energy to finish the last couple of miles.

Another tough winter century completed but it was my slowest for quite a while.

107.8 miles at 11.9 mph moving average. 11 hours and 10 minutes when all the stops are included.

The Wrekin and the sunrise from Berrington.

At last! Resurfacing begins at Cressage.

A good display of snowdrops en-route to Peaton

The classic view of Ludlow as I climb into the Mortimer Forest.

Taking a break at Paytoe Hall.

Brampton Bryan.

Bishop's Castle.

Looking across to Corndon Hill on the way to Montgomery.

Montgomery.

View from Edge as the light fades.

 

[Jon George]

After yesterday's curtailed planes, I took Patsy #6 The Phoenix down to The Trimleys and back (about 15 miles) today for a shake-down ride after her restoration After a couple of non-confident gear changes, the muscle memory kicked in and, once again, just as it was for me thirty years ago on the last Pug I owned, I had the sublime joy of nudging down-tube shifters into position and dealing with the idiosyncratic, and unexpected, occasional drops into a higher gear when applying power. (I'll tinker that problem away sometime soon. )
A bit of fettling with the bar height and bar angle, and I now have a glorious ride for the summer. She seemed pleased to be back on the roads, as well.

Patsy posing at Kirton.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Tried my new Specialized epic comp carbon out today.
Very happy with it, superb machine.
Got it dirty.

Nice day bar the wind, sorts you out !
Tired after 21 miles XC but considering I'm getting over a chesty cough I did OK with son in law chasing.

And I had to tow him a mile and a half after he snapped his chain... Bloody kids nothing but trouble

 

[Donger]

A tad over 50 miles in blustery conditions today, including a climb up onto the Cotswold escarpment at Middleyard/Selsley . The club attendance amounted to 8 social riders, 0 intermediates and 0 fast boys today. The "CC" in Kingsway CC now apparently stands for "Cake Club" these days. A tiring, but enjoyable ride out to The Blue Zucchini café in Tetbury, then back via Avening, Nailsworth and Stroud. A bit slow, due to one puncture and one lady who was struggling a little. Still very enjoyable in mild, dry conditions that never made me regret my decision to wear shorts today.
Cheers, Donger.

 

[cyberknight]

velo moira club ride.only 2 of us for the faster rie today and maybe 6-7 for the slower one, 21 out yesterday!
Still out of shape due to the obscene hours i have been working, illness, injury etc but we will get there.

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[EltonFrog]

I’ve been a fettlin’ an a cleanin’ bikes today, but I felt bound to take my BSA Tour de France for a test ride around the village. It does feel odd riding a different bike, but it rides well. Just a couple of miles.

I think this is the first post on this thread about this bike, if you don’t know about it you can read about it here if you wanna.

The tree that the bike is leaning against was planted in August 1905. It’s looking a spring like outside.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I wanted to get the first 200km ride of the year in this weekend. Had arranged to ride with @13 rider yesterday, but due to other commitments didn't have time to do it then.

I had two routes planned, one a nice wind assisted ride to Lincoln, which would allow me to tick off the remaining Rutland squares that I haven't got yet, but would involve a train journey home at the end of it making the day even longer

A ride down to Buckinghamshire to grab a couple of photos for the ABC challenge but would involve a lot of climbing and 62 miles of headwind.

I got up at 5am and decided the wind wasn't too bad so opted for the Bucks ride. First 20 odd miles along familiar roads as I head pretty much south, wind is a bit stronger than I originally thought and the going isn't particularly fast. Go through West Haddon and onto the road to Long Buckby when I hit the first hill of the day, I knew then I was going to struggle. and there was still over 100 miles to go Get up and over that hill to then take a detour through a field to grab an explorer square, might have got a bit muddy

Into Great Brington and another quick detour for another square, cross the M1, down to Gayton for another square detour

Skirt around Buckingham and eventually after lots of ups and down and constant headwind I reach Verney Junction

A couple of miles along the road I grab the second and final sign of the day:

64 miles done and the cafe stop has arrived. Little cafe in the garden centre at Winslow. Beautiful cup of coffee and a slice of bakewell tart.

The cafe only did drinks and a few cakes, but I was made to feel very welcome and it was pretty cheap. £4 for a good slice of cake and cracking coffee.

After the brief stop I switched the buff and wooly hat for a cap and downsized the gloves, it was getting rather warm.

Did the next 10 miles in record time as I now had the tailwind, eventually wound my way through Northampton and up to Church Brampton were the second cafe stop was planned. At this point I had roughly 28 miles left so decided to skip the stop. Pretty much as soon as I decided this I really started hitting the climbs, by the time I got to Naseby which was only another 10 miles, I was shattered.

Stopped at a bench and ate two Wispas, feeling better I plunged on, up to SIbbertoft, through Theddingworth (these roads looking very familiar as I only rode them yesterday with @13 rider) along the horrible road up to Moseley and onto the A5199 (the old A50 from Leicester to Welford) down to the last 9 miles or so, a fast road and a lot of downhill or flat saw me do most of it at well above 20mph

By the time I got through the front door I had ridden just over 126 miles and 6,700 feet of climbing of which 6,000 felt like I did in about 10 miles

First 64 miles I averaged 15.0mph, despite the horrendous climbing on the second half I finished on 15.8mph. Just shows how much the wind impacts your speed.

First Lunacy ride complete, two more ABC photos bagged, a new county ridden in and some more explorer squares ticked off. I'm going to bed now.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2155677223

 

[EltonFrog]

I wanted to get the first 200km ride of the year in this weekend. Had arranged to ride with @13 rider yesterday, but due to other commitments didn't have time to do it then.

I had two routes planned, one a nice wind assisted ride to Lincoln, which would allow me to tick off the remaining Rutland squares that I haven't got yet, but would involve a train journey home at the end of it making the day even longer

A ride down to Buckinghamshire to grab a couple of photos for the ABC challenge but would involve a lot of climbing and 62 miles of headwind.

I got up at 5am and decided the wind wasn't too bad so opted for the Bucks ride. First 20 odd miles along familiar roads as I head pretty much south, wind is a bit stronger than I originally thought and the going isn't particularly fast. Go through West Haddon and onto the road to Long Buckby when I hit the first hill of the day, I knew then I was going to struggle. and there was still over 100 miles to go Get up and over that hill to then take a detour through a field to grab an explorer square, might have got a bit muddy

Into Great Brington and another quick detour for another square, cross the M1, down to Gayton for another square detour

Skirt around Buckingham and eventually after lots of ups and down and constant headwind I reach Verney Junction

View attachment 452929

A couple of miles along the road I grab the second and final sign of the day:

View attachment 452930

64 miles done and the cafe stop has arrived. Little cafe in the garden centre at Winslow. Beautiful cup of coffee and a slice of bakewell tart.

The cafe only did drinks and a few cakes, but I was made to feel very welcome and it was pretty cheap. £4 for a good slice of cake and cracking coffee.

After the brief stop I switched the buff and wooly hat for a cap and downsized the gloves, it was getting rather warm.

Did the next 10 miles in record time as I now had the tailwind, eventually wound my way through Northampton and up to Church Brampton were the second cafe stop was planned. At this point I had roughly 28 miles left so decided to skip the stop. Pretty much as soon as I decided this I really started hitting the climbs, by the time I got to Naseby which was only another 10 miles, I was shattered.

Stopped at a bench and ate two Wispas, feeling better I plunged on, up to SIbbertoft, through Theddingworth (these roads looking very familiar as I only rode them yesterday with @13 rider) along the horrible road up to Moseley and onto the A5199 (the old A50 from Leicester to Welford) down to the last 9 miles or so, a fast road and a lot of downhill or flat saw me do most of it at well above 20mph

By the time I got through the front door I had ridden just over 126 miles and 6,700 feet of climbing of which 6,000 felt like I did in about 10 miles

First 64 miles I averaged 15.0mph, despite the horrendous climbing on the second half I finished on 15.8mph. Just shows how much the wind impacts your speed.

First Lunacy ride complete, two more ABC photos bagged, a new county ridden in and some more explorer squares ticked off. I'm going to bed now.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2155677223

I ain’t got Strava can’t see the route.