Your ride today....

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colly

Re member eR
Location
Leeds
I spent today working, sat static, at a sewing machine. After a few hours lethargy creeps in. So after an early dinner Mrs Colly was setting up for her yoga session, which under current restrictions is organised via Zoom. Rather than witness a bunch of ladies of a certain age cavorting and stretching etc I went for an Evening Yoga Avoider ride.
Just loops around the block (several blocks).
It was raining gently when I set off and was still raining gently when I got back. So gently in fact I didn't get wet.
Hey presto ! Lethargy expunged.

Altogether it was 13.1 miles and 1100 ft of up.

View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/57569520
 
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I’m back in Stuttgart and one of the things I promised Beautiful Daughter was bike rides. Naturally on the first day back it absolutely piddled it down with rain. Day two dawned and Beautiful Daughter announced that this was the day for a bike ride. I pointed out that it was still drizzling. Beautiful Daughter wasn’t interested.

“If it’s cold and wet we can come back and have lots of hot chocolate.”

The promised ride is “To the cow farm and the rabbit farm”, two agricultural establishments nearby. As the name suggests one keeps a large herd of dairy cattle and one has a cunning marketing strategy in the form of a sizeable pen full of cute bunny rabbits alongside the farm shop.

After a steep first few metres, the road levels out for a bit and Tinybug accelerates, for a bit anyway. After a while the hill gets steeper and she slows until I catch up with her and put my hand on her back. I wait for the usual instruction:

“Just for the steep bit Papa”
“Okay...”

At the top of the village, away from the shelter of the houses the rain comes at an angle, but Tinybug has her eyes on the reward for the climb: a second road that branches off from ours and around the hill we’ve been climbing. At the turn the pressure on my hand falls way and she’s off, disappearing behind a field of mangy looking sweetcorn; thank goodness for traffic free agricultural roads.

I trudge after her, the rain obscuring the view across the valley. We have an agreed meeting point at the junction between this road and the route to the farm, and as I round the hill I can see her in the distance.

I am a fairly introverted person, in fact for me one advantage of cycling is that I’m not expected to actually talk to people I know. Beautiful Daughter is the exact opposite and will happily converse with anyone who stands still long enough. Even here on an empty hillside in the rain she’s found some kind soul who probably stopped to ask if she was okay (A reasonable question when meeting an apparently unattended five year old in the pishing rain in the middle of nowhere) and is now probably getting an animated account of the ride, last week, and matters arising.

On seeing me the relieved looking jogger carries on and we turn up the straight road to the cow farm. The cows are all in their nice dry barn. Sensible creatures, cows.

It occurs to me that the rabbits are probably following a similar policy, and it looks like Tinybug is thinking the same thing. At the next junction we can go right to the Rabbit Farm or left to take the short route back to the apartment. She is clearly considering the options


“What are you thinking?”
“It’s cold.”

She weighs the decision: Rabbits or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate wins.

After a small hill the rest of the route is back into the valley and she’s off down a nice flat concrete road. I find her waiting by our regular meeting point, the “Red House”, home of a local sculptor who puts artwork along the grass verge. I find her looking critically at a complex abstract piece that I know took several weeks of work and is probably worth tens of thousands of Euros.

“Can we climb on that?”

From here I can watch her all the way down to the end of our road so she can roll ahead again until the corner and we come to the apartment together. Bike parked and she’s bounding up the stairs two at a time, no small feat for a five year old.

“What’s the hurry?”

I get that look children give hopelessly forgetful adults.

“It was cold, so we get Lots of Hot Chocolate...”
 
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C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
Short ride to the supermarket at lunchtime, uneventful except for finding this on the road on my way back
IMG_20201013_131808917~2.jpg

A girder for the new bridge being built over the river Severn, about 40m long according to the county council Twitter feed.
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Egg run required again. A little chilly but bearable in lightweight walking trousers, long-sleeve base layer and cycling cap. Forgot my gloves; didn't go back for them which is a good job as I can't find them in the house :sad:

Hands warmed up after a while, scored eggs (more there than usual; perhaps because of the worsening weather / more back at work...?) carried on and welcoming the escape largely unintentionally extended the ride to the longest egg run so far.

Did wittenham clumps, explored the gravel tracks a bit more and unsurprisingly got embarrassed on the slick mud by a bloke on a proper MTB. Headed out toward Benson and south before remembering from last time that it was a crap route, so continued through Wallingford to Cholsey and what used to be Fairmile Asylum; as I've mentioned in this thread previously. I thought I'd pay it a visit being in the area and having recently seen a flat on the redeveloped site I could "afford"; however as remembered despite being 1.5 miles from Wallingford and 0.75 from Cholsey station it still feels quite isolated and bottom line is too far away from places I need / want to be, so it's off the menu.

Popped down to the river while I was at the development:

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Onward and out of Cholsey toward Didcot and some sweeping open countryside that was all very pleasant but probably wasted on a cycle given the wide open, well-sighted corners :smile:

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Travelled back through Didcot and Abingdon, taking a bridleway outside Didcot but I eventually had to abort as its surface degraded as it continued to the point where my slicks were well out of their depth; the front feeling highly sketchy and the rear slewing to the side in the mud under power. A hard impact with a pothole had me anticipating a pinch-puncture, although the tube thankfully held.

Got startled by a lesser spotted (green) woodpecker on the tow path which shot out of the hedge and flew ahead of me for a few tens of yards, giving me a good view and a warm glow :smile:

The bike got covered in more mud and sh*te and by maybe 40 miles in I'd really had enough; my lack of breakfast and the cold starting to make themselves felt. By the time I got back into town my legs ached, my nose was running like a tap and I was ready for a good hot shower. Happens I just hit school kicking-out time too and the masses of kids and mentally-absent pedestrians on the shared climb to the house weren't appreciated.

Got home in a foul mood; felt a lot better after a shower and sit down, while my bonus three eggs on toasted rye tasted fantastic :becool:

Got the endorphine hit after a while but still feel pretty rinsed. Had planned on an early night but that's not happened so I'll probably be ruined in the morning - as much as I'm determined to push on through the winter and make the most of the riding opportunities while I have them..

All in all about 55 miles and 800ft at 13.8mph and 131bpm for 2400kcal burned; which I've now no-doubt more than replenished in reduced Co-op munchie food, whisky and brazenly stolen hippie protein bars belonging to my ex :sad:


Oh, finally here's a bonus potatophone pic from a while ago under the bridge out by Sandford:

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Still fugging love this bike :becool:
 
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Old jon

Guru
Location
Leeds
It takes a while for the morning to brighten, at this time of year. But it is worth the wait, certainly today. Sunlight, bit of breeze, and a few clouds to be pushed around by it. Looks good for a ride.

And a bit of an experiment too. Let’s see if I can produce a route for the garthing, load it in (or whatever it is called) and then pedal around it. Never done this before, never needed to. But it might advance my education a bit. A friend did most of the route, I just altered things a bit.

The route started at the Dexter, so me and the Spa (it has just done it’s first 500 miles) rode there first, then turned on the garthing. So have to add 9.2 miles to the eventual total. Then all the way to East Keswick, a really great road, through the village and to the A659. Turn right for Collingham and Linton. Pass the pub (the Windmill, methinks) in the last named village and take the next left. This is a rising road, takes me to the Sicklinghall road.

There is a right turn on the way into there, Stockeld Lane. Go along that, the rising bit is muddy and slippery under the trees but it then levels and dries out. And takes me to the A661 where I turn left to go to Spofforth. Across the causeway there, Crimple Beck runs underneath it, then turn right to North Deighton, where a left takes me to Little Ribston, along the Knaresborough road.

Cross the River Nidd and turn left, this road stays mostly close to the river, and reaches Low Bridge, a really gorgeous bit of the ride today. Cross the Nidd again, a shame not to take advantage of the bridge being there, turn right almost as soon as across.

This, politely, is the bottom of Beryl Burton, a cycle way named after a famous Morley lass. It goes up. The first steep bit seemed very deep in fallen leaves, little traction, get off and walk. Not for long, the gradient lessens and encourages me to ride again. Still a slog though.

A left turn, then a right to ride through Starbeck. Over the level crossing and turn left again, garthing working overtime here. Me too, a couple of wrong turns, soon realised. Quite a bit of urban stuff until the left to take me to the Traveller’s Rest. Shut, way too early, shame. But shortly after that, I crossed Crimple Beck again.

Past Rudding Park, turn right to ride to Follifoot Lane and then to Kirkby Overblow oddly. To the A61, turn left and cross the River Wharfe. The right turn onto the A659 after this is shockingly bad, I rode way past the marked right turn, just to have a better sight of the oncoming traffic.

Ride the bridleway through the grounds of Harewood House, back on the A61, the last bit of the route was just outside Wike. And a retrace of my outward track from home. Fifty miles and 2400 feet, the legs are feeling it, but it is still making me grin. Autumn riding at it’s best.

Not only did it guide me around, it drew these too!

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Out on the Scott on NCN 27, as per usual...
Cold, bright, a little gusty. Some wind assistance came in handy coming back up out of Clearbrook, always a bit of a grind.
Creaking from down below had changed character from that before the crank bolt tightening. Hmmm... However, it all went quiet after a few miles, and did not return.
Just got onto the Plym Valley stretch, a loud CLUNK. No immediate or obvious result, so continued to turn point. Nothing found, although there was a nagging feeling of the two wheels not quite being in vertical alignment, if you know what I mean? Checked that both wheels were firmly in their respective dropouts; all good. Oh well, homeward.
May just have been the rather gusty side breezes.
Uneventful trip back, nothing found during cleaning. So benefit of doubt given.
Stats:
552429


Might just be able to get out tomorrow as well. Here's hoping!
 

gavgav

Legendary Member
Felt in serious need of a ride, after hardly getting out on a bike in the last month, so, after the afternoon rain cleared, I got out in the gloom, on the new Genesis for only the second time, now that it’s been fully set up and fettled with Mudguards, Road Tyres, etc.

Almost witnessed a big accident, within the first minute of the ride, as a car jumped a red light at the main estate road junction, coming along Oteley Rd and missed the front of a car coming out of Aldi/Garden Centre direction, by what must have been inches. He was coming at way over the speed limit and I don’t think either car had seen each other, as neither swerved or applied brakes and I was just waiting for the smack, but somehow it never came:eek:

Headed out down through Meole Village and onto the main road to Hook-a-Gate and Annscroft. The lanes to Exfords Green and Stapleton were much wetter and muddier, suggesting the afternoon rain had been heavier over that direction.

I called at Dad’s and found him in the middle of trying to get B.T to pick up the phone, as his broadband had been down all afternoon. He’d been in a queue for 53 minutes, when I arrived and they’d still not answered when I left, 35 minutes later:wacko:

Dusk was approaching, as I set back out on the road and so the lights got their first proper test on the new bike, angled completely wrong on the front and so stopped to sort that out.

Return journey was via Gonsal, Condover and Betton Abbots, properly dark for the last 20 minutes or so, for the first time on a ride since last Winter.

Loving the new bike, so much nicer to ride than the Hybrid and averaged 13.0 mph, about 2mph quicker, for the 14.95 miles.

Looking forward to doing a longer ride on it now, hopefully in Wales, this weekend, but that depends on whether Gwynedd remains open. Living in a Tier 1 area, means we are not banned from crossing the border, yet, but I don’t think it will be long.
 
Location
Cheshire
Around Carn Brea

Truro is one of the wettest cities in the UK. Wetter than Manchester, Bangor, Lancaster, Carlisle..... but not Glasgow. It rains here on average for 150 days a year, almost every other day.

Apart from that it is a lovely place. Warm enough all year round, we only have 4-5 frosty mornings a year. It just rains a lot.

Yesterday when it was raining (again) I turned to the internet to find out how much bike weight affects uphill cycling. The answer is 1kg of extra weight slows you down by one second for every 100 metres of ascent. There are four things you can do:

1. Improve power / weight ratio by losing weight or gaining power. Or both. If that's not enough turn to:
2. Reduce wheel weight. If thats not enough then and only then:
3. Reduce bike weight. But options 1 & 2 work better. Which leaves option 4:
4. Move to Norfolk.

There is a long uphill from Redruth to Four Lanes where I contemplated all four options quite seriously, especially option 4. Particularly during the half mile of 15-18% in the middle. But at least it wasn't raining; although the weather forecast said it would so I was lugging extra weight in terms of waterproofs and warm layers. Option 5 then, wear less clothing.

Some blue in the sky and some grey and a cold north westerly wind blustering around my legs. Out of Truro and uphill taking a line northwards to avoid the traffic. I have had more close passes and seen more generally crazy driving in the last month than in all the preceding years. Outside Chacewater there is a red hatchback at a junction waiting to turn across me. I look at the driver. He looks at me. I am wearing orange and yellow with a flashing front light and going at about 20mph. He looks at me again and when I am 10 metres away pulls out in front of me. My brakes lock as I swerve around the back of the car. This keeps happening.

Out of Chacewater and I am back on quiet lanes, uphill, downhill heading through the old mining villages, the frayed granite chimneys from the abandoned mine pumps popping up every few hundred metres. Spoil heaps where nothing much can grow because of the lead and arsenic in the soil. Patchy heathlands of gorse and bracken with whitewashed cottages sunk into the ground.

A long uphill brings me up to the spine of hills that run longitudinally across Cornwall and there is the sea, visible across the roofs of Redruth and Camborne, a darker grey smudge against the lighter grey of the sky.

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To the west is the TV mast that is visible across mid Cornwall, tearing a hole in the clouds.

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Downhill from here through the back lanes behind Redruth before the beginning of a long uphill past Carn Brea and up to Four Lanes. Carn Brea is an iconic hill, visible from much of mid Cornwall and dominating the mining towns of Redruth, Camborne and Pool that form an untidy and intermingled patchwork of housing, new industrial estates and old mine workings beneath the hill. The headstock wheels of the mines are still visible although only one mine remains open. This is where steam powered locomotives were invented; the giant beam engines that pumped out deep mines began here; some of the earliest rail tracks in the world were laid here. Now it is one of the poorest parts of the UK and in receipt of millions of pounds of EU funding as a deprived region of Europe, along with parts of Greece and Albania.

View attachment 551961

The memorial pillar on the summit of Carn Brea is tribute to 'caring capitalism'. The Bassett family owned many of the mines locally and did a lot (well more than most owners) to improve the welfare of miners, except perhaps pay them more. When Francis Bassett died it is said every mine closed and 20,000 people followed the funeral cortege and subsequently donated funds to create the 35m high obelisk. On a clear day you can see the north coast and the south coast from here.

I planned todays route on RidewithGPS whilst eating breakfast and missed the fact that the software had diverted from the road into a bridleway at one point. I thought at first it was just a short section but slipping through the mud and bouncing off stones for a mile cured me of that belief. It added variety to the day but I was hoping not to get a puncture.

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From the hills behind Carn Brea it is a long downhill to Twelveheads on tiny lanes, weaving in and out of tiny woods and granite walled Celtic fields and then a gentle uphill for 300 feet through a quiet valley, rich with autumn colours from the scattered trees set among bracken slopes. The wind is quiet and no one is trying to kill me in a car or van. I feel very content.

What do you think about when riding alone? Thoughts drift through my mind but I can never catch them afterwards. They vanish like quicksilver dreams as soon as I arrive home. I just have the pleasant ache in my legs, a throat sore from breathing too hard, a sense of having been part of a landscape waiting for winter but enjoying autumn. Damp from yesterdays rain but vibrant with turning leaves and sudden vistas towards the sea or over patchworked fields.

View attachment 551957
The final lane to home.

View attachment 551983
You really ought to get this stuff down on paper FC .... It would make a great touring journal and guide to cycling in the South West.
 

a.twiddler

Veteran
This morning it had been fine and sunny but I had things to get done. I anticipated going out later hoping that the weather would hold. Unfortunately it clouded over and became cooler. I decided to go out on the Linear recumbent to the Library then take it as it came. Unfortunately I found it was closed this afternoon -revised Coronavirus hours. Sadly, no photos as it was just going to be a trip to the Library. Headed to the crossing at the town centre but hordes of schoolkids were about. “Look at that bike” “sick bike etc”. Just what I had hoped to avoid. Bad timing! Headed downhill towards the river. Passed by a yoof on BMX who crossed over the dual carriageway at the crossing. Tempted to follow him but lights changed so continued to the roundabout. Crossed over and turned into an uphill entrance. Did a 3 point turn and followed the path (cycleway)? under the bridge. This was full of wet leaves and mud so I proceeded gingerly then stopped at the steep approach to the pavement. Used the crossing lights to get across then followed Bradford Rd to the start of the Whitegate Way cycle way.

I followed this to the junction with Grange Lane, the site of a long demolished bridge. Fortuitously the gate to the climb back up to the cycle trail on the other side was open so I engaged what I hoped was a suitably low gear and crossed straight over. Got up the slope OK and carried on to Whitegate Station. En route, I passed a van whose occupants were engaged on tree work -hence the open gate. Turned right on Clay Lane, over the bridge and to the crossroads with the road to Sandiway. I waited for a gap in the traffic then straight across on to the road to Whitegate Church, pushing up to 15mph then letting the downhill take control. (The Test Hill of Doom!) Quite some traffic about, but tried to keep off the brakes despite fearing for the security of my cap. Turned right into Mill Lane, then right again to the bottom of Grange lane. It turned into a wet single track path through a wood and came out on to a muddy farm track. Kept upright through the mud and water then climbed up through an obstacle course of muddy craters and potholes to the point where it became a metalled road again. I stopped at the crossing point of the Whitegate way for a quick snack just as the drizzle started. Three large tractors with trailers full of what looked like hay passed while I was munching, then the tree surgeons’ van came down the slope, and parked up while they secured the gate.

I set off up Grange Lane through the sports complex and left it via the problematical A -frame gate. I was pedalling easily here but remembering my interface with the clump of nettles on my last trip through I bottled out and pushed it through the gap. Once on the other side I remounted and got up the steep hill easily. Maybe I should have stuck my elbows out and Just Done It. Next time perhaps. Out into an estate road, on to a main road, and easily rolling over various speed humps to a roundabout on the A54, balancing precariously behind a queue of traffic which got going just as I reached it, then powering round the roundabout to get clear before the next surge of traffic. Finally got to my back gate. Distance a mere 12.2 miles. Not a lot in miles, but this bike is still quite new to me to the extent that every ride is still an adventure. Max speed a disappointing 30.4mph -fastest so far has been 32mph down the same hill. Average 10.4mph.

Over the last few days I have had a reason to use my folder a few times and also the steel tourer so I have had a chance to almost compare them back to back.

The folder is so light and easy to use, turns round in a ridiculously small space and feels like riding on nothing. It rolls easily and while not particularly fast accelerates quickly and is comfortable. And of course, it folds! The furthest I’ve ridden it is about 25 miles, and it feels as if it could be ridden much further without too much discomfort. Like the Linear it is quite odd looking in its own way, you seem to be perched on top of a couple of vertical tubes a long way away from the rest of the frame and smallish wheels. It’s a Viking Safari, a bit of a hidden gem, quite different from Bromptons or Dahons.

The steel tourer is solid, can soak up the bumps, is quite speedy in the right circumstances and compared with similar diamond frame bikes, is comfortable. It feels strong, and the disc brakes when compared with the Linear, are very positive. It has a lot of alternative hand positions due to the Randonneur bars and looks the way people might expect a “proper” bike to look. There is something very competent and versatile about this bike (it’s a Revolution Country Explorer). Years ago I hankered after a Dawes Galaxy, and eventually stretched to a Claud Butler Dalesman but this one, which I bought by chance, somehow works really well for me.

When people ask how many bikes you have, and which one you like the most, I have to say, it’s the one I’m riding at the moment!
 
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