Your ride today....

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gavgav

Guru
2nd night in a row for an evening ride, this time with @Rickshaw Phil and Doug. A similar cold temperature to last night, so an extra fleece went on as I was feeling the cold on that ride and felt much better tonight.

We followed cycle paths up to Heathgates and then went through Sundorne and along the old canal path to Uffington. It was then onto roads to Upton Magna and Berwick Wharf.

After pulling onto the busier rat run to Atcham, we were overtake by a Land Rover doing what must have been double the 40mph speed limit. We crossed the old Atcham bridge and then took the hillier route up Chilton Lane and on towards King Street, Betton Abbots and parted ways with 15.38 miles on the clock.

Enjoyed that.
 

FrothNinja

Veteran
2nd night in a row for an evening ride, this time with @Rickshaw Phil and Doug. A similar cold temperature to last night, so an extra fleece went on as I was feeling the cold on that ride and felt much better tonight.

We followed cycle paths up to Heathgates and then went through Sundorne and along the old canal path to Uffington. It was then onto roads to Upton Magna and Berwick Wharf.

After pulling onto the busier rat run to Atcham, we were overtake by a Land Rover doing what must have been double the 40mph speed limit. We crossed the old Atcham bridge and then took the hillier route up Chilton Lane and on towards King Street, Betton Abbots and parted ways with 15.38 miles on the clock.

Enjoyed that.
Rode & videoed a lot of that route in November - but in daylight. Also headed out toward Leaton.
 

AndreaJ

Veteran
Finally we have sunshine although it was very frosty this morning, I decided to use my better bike as the sun was shining and it wasn’t raining which unfortunately meant finally changing the worn front tyre for a new one while waiting for the sun to melt some of the ice,( it’s needed doing for some time!) After a surprisingly short battle with the new Gatorskin it looked like the ice was clearing so I set off on my old commuting route to Wem via Horton and over Lowe Hill then carried on to Tilley and Loppington. Changed my mind about which way I was going and decided to turn towards English Frankton then to Cockshutt, crossed the Ellesmere road and across to Lower Hordley. Turned to Bagley and Weston Lullingfields passing the first foals of the year enjoying the sunshine at the stud farm before turning off to Marton, Burlton back through Loppington and home. 25 miles on a beautiful sunny day, some of the roads were even clean for the first time in ages!
Was enjoying the sun so much I didn’t take any pictures.
 

Fredo76

Über Member
Location
Española, NM
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Nearing sundown Saturday, time to head for home. Between Española and Pojoaque, along US 285.
 
Car dropped, 0.8 miles ridden home. Waaaay too cold. Bike felt good though, will be glad to get out for longer trips when warmer. Meanwhile, another cold short hop later, to collect the failed car, or maybe at some other point, when it's fixed up.
One thing's for sure, the bike saves me from having to walk that distance on sticks, which is massively more tiring, as well as painful.
So, however you look at it, a win for the bike!
 

footloose crow

Über Member
Location
Cornwall. UK
13 Jan. Down to the shining sea

Clean the bike first.....or get warm? Decisions. I needed a hot shower to warm up today and this is in the benign 'sub tropical' (hah!) climate of the far south west. The frost was so heavy on the van windows this morning, it took me ten minutes to clear it before driving west for ten miles so I can start the ride without three big hills. There are hills enough anyway.

Onto the dark, dank and cold lanes then. The trees are managing to hide the sun even without leaves and the cold air has been gathering all night. It sits there, heavy, immobile, breathing is like inhaling a thin frozen soup. Autumn's leaves are still piled up at the roadside but frozen now, a web of white glass holding them together in an uncooperative pile, causing my wheels to skitter and shake. I am very cold, inadequately dressed, the freezing air finding a gap between shorts and leg warmers, between neck and collar, the fronts of my arms. Every now and then I shiver, hunching my shoulders, concerned my fingers may not respond to instructions.

So almost grateful for the uphill, I pedal steeply towards the sun, body warming with exertion. Up onto the high, green moorlands of west Cornwall, granite studded fields between Cornish hedges, distant vistas of old mining villages, smudged by mist in the valley floors. A low sun slanting light, shadowing the land, picking out the ridges and tree tops.

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Morning mist

More rolling lanes, some steeply up and some slippery down but nothing that will stop me today. Then arriving at the busy town of Helston, fighting traffic on the roundabouts, dodging through the one way system and out onto the tarmac bridleway through the Penrose Estate. Weaving between prams and dogs before a final up and down into Porthleven, my destination today, an old fishing village on the south coast.

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Everyone's heading for Porthleven today

Apparently Porthleven is now a 'foodie haven', whatever that means? Maybe it means more expensive and with smaller portions? The local papers carry pictures of stars from TV and film who have been here this summer - but there are very few people here today. The sun is out now, weakly, and by standing in the right place I can feel it on my face, although the shivering has come back now I have stopped. Tea and a cake from an expensive cafe, sitting outside as I still fear Covid 19. There are surfers on the swell which peaks along the harbour wall and the sea is shining silver in the low winter sun. One small fishing boat ventures out of the harbour. It will be even colder out there on the water and the crew are hunched in thick waterproofs and fleeces, sheltering in the lee of a small cockpit cover.

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Porthleven harbour

From here the route heads past the harbour and up a steep hill, hugging the cliffs and rising until it reaches a flatter lane, the shining sea now a hundred metres lower and the distant sweep of Mounts Bay, Penzance and Mousehole visible in the clear, cold light.

More lanes, more hills, more moor top riding, the sun appearing from time to time as the low cloud breaks up and a clear blue sky appears and as quickly clouds over again.

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Sunny for a moment....but still cold.

By the time I reach the van again, I have still not warmed up properly, just maintained enough life to function, to react to changing road surfaces, bends and short, steep uphills, slip sliding downhills.

Arriving home, I ponder; hot shower first versus bike cleaning first?

Easy decision...the bike wasn't that dirty.

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bluenotebob

Veteran
Location
France
A 54km loop up past Brignac, out to Ménéac, then onto some little lanes through Carenan and Quénogé. Home via la Mulotière and Chateau Trô. Bright and sunny – lots of blue sky – but a very cold wind from the NE.

The étang de la Maladrerie at Brignac

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One of my favourite local place-names .. yours is as good as mine ?

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The road from Carenan to Quénogé

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The last stop before home – by the lake at Chateau Trô

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