Your ride today....

[Donger]

A 34.5 mile ride today out through Gloucester to Forthampton and back. We arrived at the Lower Lode pub on the banks of the Severn near Tewkesbury just in time for first orders.

It was a bit chilly and cloudy, but a nice relaxed ride followed by a pint of cider and a burger and chips .... then on to the Yew Tree at Chaceley Stock (again on the river bank) on the way back for another cheeky cider. The sun finally came out and we spent a few minutes watching the goings on at the sailing club next door.

The ride was mostly flat, but we did have the nasty little climbs over the Woolridge near Hartpury to contend with in both directions. Simon made it on the outward journey but the gradient got the better of him on the return and he had to dismount for a moment. He did style it out though and got back on just before the top!

All in all another great little ride on very quiet roads. Plenty of chat and banter and the chance to put the world to rights over a glass (or two) of cider.

 

[geocycle]

Thanks for the update on the Denthead closure, it sounds like I made the correct call. It is a pain for the locals who were saying it could be closed until 2026. Shame they closed the squeeze through.

I probably did see you, I went into the Stone Close cafe in the middle of the village (as they have fruitcake and cheese like my mum made) and noticed a group of your description passing. It was a good day out if a cool breeze.

 

[Binky]

I'm loving the riding in the sun and warmer weather, hopefully this week warms up as forecast to.

However, the only downside(apart from tourists wandering aimlessly around the lanes here) are the flies and flying insects. As this is a rural/coastal area there's a lot of farmland so cycling past some fields and just certain areas I'll hit a clouds of flying insects which if working hard so having to breath through mouth means a lot of extra protein intake(!). Yesterday at one point I had to ride with one hand covering mouth so I could still breathe but avoid ingesting a stack of bugs.

 

[albion]

Thanks for the update on the Denthead closure, it sounds like I made the correct call. It is a pain for the locals who were saying it could be closed until 2026. Shame they closed the squeeze through.

I probably did see you, I went into the Stone Close cafe in the middle of the village (as they have fruitcake and cheese like my mum made) and noticed a group of your description passing. It was a good day out if a cool breeze.

Touring, I have had a few times been forced into a very dangerous manoeuvre in order to navigate past massive fences in order to make my bed night booking in deadline.
It is quite a farce. A popular walk/cycle is the old defunct Mam Tor road so why are they going to such expensive extremes to block both pedestrian, cyclist access on far more minor incidents thus increasing safety risk?

There was one big fence near Witton le Wear that got vandalised, no doubt for pedestrians heading back from a nice pub walk.
The fact that authorities go to such extremes makes it hard to condemn, and suited me the 2 or 3 times I navigated that way.
Strangely, Google Maps always thinks the roads are open to cyclists.

 

[Mike_P]

I'm loving the riding in the sun and warmer weather, hopefully this week warms up as forecast to.

However, the only downside(apart from tourists wandering aimlessly around the lanes here) are the flies and flying insects. As this is a rural/coastal area there's a lot of farmland so cycling past some fields and just certain areas I'll hit a clouds of flying insects which if working hard so having to breath through mouth means a lot of extra protein intake(!). Yesterday at one point I had to ride with one hand covering mouth so I could still breathe but avoid ingesting a stack of bugs.

Its not just rural areas, I got completely covered in green fly both ways on a Lidl shopping ride on Thursday evening and again Friday lunchtime coming home from the office.

 

[albion]

May evenings often seem to be the worst period for flies.

 

[PeteXXX]

Very blustery & nippy wind for my 12 miles across the top of the town this lunchtime..

Had to get a pic of some bunting on VE Day 🇬🇧

 

[wafter]

20-odd utility miles on the Fuji; started miserable (perhaps taking its cues from the weather) but got better and was positively nice by the end.

Failed to find furniture but did score some reduced food bargains, forced myself to buy a baking tray and had a passable session on the rings

 

[HLaB]

I went by the start of a local group ride on the off chance that someone would be out but it had been quiet on Farceboke overnight and the wind was still strong. After a bit it was apparent that nobody would be out, so it was a solo ride straight to a local cafe for me. I decided on a nice nice easy active recovery ride. I maybe made it a bit too easy in the tailwind and my lefthand froze up and the right fingers were a bit cold and numb too, so I took a while in the cafe to let them defrost. I was thinking I'd have to go harder into the headwind on the way back but it had warmed up a few degrees 🙂 I also decided to go a bit north of the house so Id get a tailwind back for the endorphin boost. I managed to stay in HR Z1 until I got to Oundle Road to Peterborough and with a little more traffic I went into Z2 for a bit which saw me at over 32mph on the flat (after a ski ramp start) when I finally got that wind behind me 🙂 I was tempted to go out further but as the bike hadn't been cleaned for nearly a month I decided to use the time for that 🙂