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twentysix by twentyfive

Clinging on tightly
Location
Over the Hill
Jules H, John G and Sara P were waiting at the Pot. Fladbury was agreed so we took the standard run out by Eckington. My energies were just a bit less than usual after last week's GV Tour. Sara turned for home after Bricklehampton. Craycombe Farm did us some lovely refreshments while we set the world to rights. John headed off up the main road and home while Jules and I took to the lanes. We paused at the ford at Pinvin before going by Wadborough. Then our byes were said at the A38. Just a standard run back for me
Not a bad return after the Tour. Helped by lovely weather and good company. 53 smiles
 

Dave 123

Legendary Member
Out by myself today on the Cube.
Lots of red kites seen and a reed bunting, not seen one for a while.
The A14 has been shut today due to roadworks which meant that normally quiet lanes were busy...

A stop at Waresley for a coffee
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And St Andrews church in Caxton
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https://www.strava.com/activities/2470507383
 

AndreaJ

Veteran
I don't have time to ride in an evening after work so have missed all the lovely weather for the past few days, although I have done 38.5 miles commuting, so was keen to get out in the sunshine this morning for a longer ride. I headed out into Whixall and towards Fenns Bank, Fenns Wood turning into Blackloe over the canal into Alkington., turned to Tilstock where they have some temporary traffic lights(which seem to everywhere at the moment), just before the junction where I was turning back to Hollinswood where the council have finally filled all the potholes they painted yellow circles round months ago, back to Welsh End, Waterloo, Edsatston, Poolhead, back to Foxholes, Highfields, Horton and home past the Moat Shed. Lots of walkers out today both with and without dogs, 3 horse riders, a pony and trap and only 2 cyclists. Much warmer today at last and no wind, all the flooded roads have cleared quite quickly and even the constant loose chippings have mostly stuck down now. 24 miles, average speed 15.6mph
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
Playing catch-up again; I got out to bag my challenge ride for the month yesterday.

The forecast looked good (sunshine, no rain, light winds) so the Raleigh and I were up bright and early and out on the road just before seven to head for Lake Vyrnwy, which is a favourite destination. In spite of the new saddle having given me gyp on the last couple of centuries I decided to start off with the long route on the way out so headed to Condover, Exford's Green, Minsterley, Westbury, Prince's Oak, Melverley. Waen Wen and Llynclys. This section was all pretty uneventful apart from a timber waggon overtaking at Coedwy which I thought could have left me a bit more room.

At Llynclys I paused for my second breakfast and got chatting to a passerby (with dog) who told me a lot of information about the local area, a lot of which I know to be wrong.:whistle: I wasn't going to upset him by being pedantic though.

Having eaten I pressed on towards the Tanant Valley but didn't get far before finding a Tanat Valley coach following me and not wanting to overtake - it's not a good road for that anyway so I pulled in to let him (and a few other vehicles) past only to find that he stopped a short way up the road and blocked the traffic, including me.:rolleyes: The reason for his stop was that he'd obviously hit the nearside mirror on something (possibly why he didn't want to overtake - not being able to judge when he was past me?) and was getting out to try and straighten it. When it came off in his hand I could tell things weren't going well.:tongue:

The wind I'd encountered so far was stonger than hoped for from the forecast and the valley seemed to funnel it so that my progress was not quick. I plodded on but needed a couple of stops where I wouldn't usually bother unless there was something to photograph. Llangedwyn school were doing Bikeability training when I went past.

After the Llanrhaeadr junction I had one or two iffy passes. The container lorry I know couldn't give me a lot of room due to the narrow road, however I'm never keen on them starting to pull back in before they are past me. The car driver who started to overtake, lifted off when they saw another vehicle coming the other way but then changed their mind and went for it anyway is the one that gets my goat. Probably not as much as it did for the driver that they forced into an emergency stop though.

At Pen-Y-Bont-Fawr I could break away from the weekend trippers heading for Bala or the coast and take some quieter roads over the climb to Llanwddyn. This was fine, apart from the road surface which is horrible, and after some effort I got to the dam with 48 miles showing on the clock and thought it a good point to have some elevenses with a view.

I like riding round Vyrnwy because it's scenic and, being so flat, the riding is swift and easy. Today though, tiredness and the wind meant I went round at a more leisurely pace but still enjoyed it very much. The Old Barn cafe was open so I paused there for coffee and bara brith with a view from their terrace before retracing my steps round the lake at a slightly better pace than earlier that improved further once I got the wind behind me.

When I'd completed my second lap of the lake another pause for lunch was taken then I was all set for the journey back. I took the alternative route back to Pen-Y-Bont-Fawr (more climbing but different scenery and a slightly better road surface) then had a cracking ride back down the Tanat Valley with the wind at my back which kept me mostly in the 17-20 mph speed range.

Back at Llynclys I met the same passerby that I had in the morning and we had another chat, about bikes and the dodgy Llynclys crossroads this time, then I carried on still with a tailwind and still setting a pretty good pace by my standards. I'd intended to go to Knockin but the weekend traffic was picking up by now so I turned off towards The Wood (near Maesbrook) and took much quieter lanes through Argoed, rejoining the intended route at Kinnerley for Pentre, Great Ness, Montford Bridge and Shrewsbury. All was well up to Montford Bridge where the traffic as far as Shelton was rather discourteous so I hopped on the cyclepaths at the first opportunity.

I'm able to stay on the cyclepaths almost all the way home. When I'd come to the end of the one I use, a friendly van driver allowed me out onto the road ahead of him which was really nice. They say that no good deed goes unpunished though and this was true when he was immediately hit up the back by a careless cyclist.:sad: Unfortunately from where I was I couldn't see how it happened so couldn't offer to be a witness.

The June Imperial Century finally done: A fraction over 112 miles for the day at 13.8 mph moving average with a top speed of 36 mph. 10 hours 15 minutes with stops included.

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Just outside Plealey on my way to Pontesbury.

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The view to Coedwy and into Wales from near Prince's Oak.

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Plas Uchaf in the Tanat Valley.

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Descending to Abertridwr.

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Made it to Llyn Efyrnwy. Time for a bite to eat.

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After the first lap of the lake, the view from the terrace at the Old Barn Cafe.

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Making my way round on the second lap of the lake.

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At Pont Cynon.

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Last look before I work my way back to Shrewsbury.
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
Slightly more up to date now:

Utility riding this morning as I went over to a friend to do some work on a new (to her) bike. A good excuse to use the Kingpin but not before swapping the original plastic saddle for a spare Brooks B17, which my slightly saddle sore sit bones were grateful for.

Work done (the brakes weren't working, the handlebar was loose and the brake levers were at completely different angles :ohmy:) I took a longer route home. Only a couple of miles in all but enjoyable. Later I did various bits of tinkering with the Kingpin so added a few short test rides to the tally. Maybe four miles in total for the day. Enough to keep the leg muscles from getting too stiff.

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My most recent purchase after a bit of fettling.
 

Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
Headed off on the Defy intent on finding a route south without too much climbing initially given the temperature so planned on following the town centre cycle path through a park but was on auto pilot following the ebike route to work and instead found myself on the 1/5th mile long 100ft upwards climb of Chatsworth Grove. Crawled up in my slowest Strava time, the segment is quite correctly called “Humps and a hill”, the speed humps adding to the effort needed.
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Thence down though the showground, up Rudding Lane – the TLs on the narrow bridge being no more helpful in this direction. Opted for the Haggs Road down to Spofforth rather the twisty slightly lumpy route NCN67 takes through Follfoot. Payback came with the more lumpy road to Little Ribston , then over the A168 and A1(M) to Cowthorpe and onwards to Cattal crossing the river Nidd on the narrow bridge
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and then the Knaresborough-York railway on a level crossing still with gates, a signal that is not a colour light and a cabin for the crossing keeper. “Modernisation” is no doubt planned.
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Straight across the A59 non-stop again, through Whixley pass the cricket ground where a lot of people were standing about dressed in white seemingly doing nothing. Looped around to Arkendale via Great Ouseburn and west to Ripley and home the quick way via the A61, B6161 and A59, briefly, putting the normally redundant and tucked out of the way Zefal spin mirror to good use.
38.28 miles 1890ft climbed Avg 13.4mph
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Oh my gosh! 40 mile solo ride. I started out alone then passed a couple of guys who hopped on the back so I let them take the front as well, taking turns. One guys was very steady so it was nice when he took the front but the other guy would lift the pace 3 mph after I moved off the front making me work hard to stay on after my turn. Plus he was very unsteady and seemed on the dangerous side so I pulled off into a park at first chance.

Super stiff headwind to the coast. 5 minutes after I get there, I get a blinding migraine. So I had to wait about 30 minutes before I could see again then took off having a 12 miler return not feeling well.

But I managed a 40 miler at 16.1 having a little help for about 5 miles. Not bad considering the migraine and the stiff headwind.

I did manage to snap a selfie on the way back. I can see on my face I was feeling a little nauseated ha ha! Jut happy I didn't puke all over my bike! xx(

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Cavalol

Guru
Location
Chester
8.9 miles round Cromer, East and West Runton, Sheringham and the Beeston Bump. Absolutely glorious, met an interesting array of people, too, including a lady who was practising for a charity walk. Of 500 miles!
 

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lazybloke

Considering a new username
Location
Leafy Surrey
Out shortly after dawn and soon onto an aptly named Strava segment, "awkward moment when you realise this road leads to the A3" (which is pretty much a motorway). No problem for me, as I used the footbridge to cross, and was soon making my way through woods and villages to Woking where I saw the sad sight of a Martin fighting machine stranded in roadworks. Looked like he might have a sniffle too.


On a whim, went through Brookwood to find the Military cemetery; my great-uncle (and namesake) has a memorial there (he was a glider pilot - shot down in 1943 shortly before the allied invasion of Sicily). Locked shut, so I'll go back another day at a more sensible hour.

Wanted to cover some miles so didn't take any more photos - was tempted by massive drifts of poppies in a cereal field on Wanborough Hill, but couldn't get through the hedge or close enough to do it justice with my phone camera.

Finally, had an alarming "near miss" on a roundabout. Feel a bit stupid because a driver steaming through giveway markings is the easiest thing to anticipate, but I was focused on the surface so was slightly late in realising the risk. Managed to brake and swerve early enough to avoid having my front wheel being knocked out sideways by a 30mph SUV, but it was just a bit too close for comfort and left me feeling shaken and angry.

I'm normally more cautious at roundabouts, so there's a lesson. However, is it too much to ask of drivers not to kill us? She went sailing through with absolutely no hint of having seen me or of having heard my bellowed profanity. Would be nice to have a video to send to the police, but my camera battery wouldn't have lasted that long into a ride.



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Heltor Chasca

Out-riding the Black Dog
Low mileage today. But we were on a mission. We were runnIng Checkpoint #1 (25km from the start) for an Audax Club Bristol 109km event called The Randonnée. Being so close to the start we had to process over 90 riders in the blink of an eye. Both of us are quite introverted so we have to dig our heels in deep for things like this. That said we got it just right and the riders seemed to enjoy having their Brevet cards stamped with shiny flamingo stickers.

There were two bulges to take note of. The front pack of fast riders and the two controllers creaking at the seams, having eaten too much courgette and avocado cake. Hic.

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postman

Legendary Member
Location
,Leeds
A brighter day on the Wirral.
Over the marsh, along the Dee and into Chester. Passing the Boathouse pub reminded me of drunken teenage nights spent there.
A stop at Meadow Lea cafe in Mickle Trafford for half a cream tea and back to a Neston in a convoluted route!

40 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/2436150478

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Ladies and Gents.Please notice the Skone picture,jam FIRST,then cream on top.Top marks from here in Meanwood.
 

Donger

Convoi Exceptionnel
Location
Quedgeley, Glos.
38.9 miles on the weekly club ride with the social group. Out of Gloucester and up onto the Woolridge (with views to the Malverns, the Cotswolds and the Forest of Dean) then down into the Hams as far as Chaceley before turning for Staunton Garden Centre for coffees. Back taking in an up and down route via Haw Cross, Brand Green, Upleadon and Highleadon. We then avoided the hellish roundabout at Over and the Gloucester SW Bypass by taking the old bridge across the Severn and the cyclepath into Gloucester Docks and along the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. A great little ride out in fine weather and incident-free.
Cheers, Donger.
 
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