Your ride today....

[CarbonClem]

I was watching Death Valley on TV and thought the place looked nice, it turned out it was Penarth near Cardiff, famed for its art deco pier. So I rode there today. Via the Forest of Dean, Chepstow , Newport and Cardiff and returned via the Severn Bridge and Thornbury. A nice place to go but the route was awful - main roads, industrial parks and cities. It was about thirty degrees today too with a bit of a headwind from Penarth to Chepstow. Anyway, 127 miles and 4857 ft. Lots of fluid

too!

 

[Pduk]

End of work week ride round my local reservoir, very warm but still a good ride.

 

[wafter]

Marked the longest day with an impromptu and ineffectual shakedown on the Routier at dusk.

I'd only intended to go "round the block" but ended up doing about 14 miles though the city and on tow paths; the one less-familar bit being past all the new developments on the A40.. large offices with incomphensibly bright red rooves that now ruin the skyline over Port Meadow

They did look less offensive closeup, but then everything looks great in the golden glow of the setting sun. Didn't stay on the A40 for long and nipped off down onto the familiarity of the tow path north of Wolvercote via the long set of steps I'd otherwise only viewed from the bottom.

A lovely evening with a lot of people about (including a fair representation of bellends); sort of wish I'd done something more special to mark the solstice, however even if I'd planned / allocated the time any significant ride during the day would have destroyed me in this heat.

 

[Binky]

After hours of procrastination due to weather I finally went out for a short spin, 26miles 1100ft. Testing out new Castelli bibs, all good plus new GP5000 on front.

 

[HLaB]

Kind of my usual group ride today but only 2 others showed up so it was a nice relaxed pleasant speed in this heat 🥵
My mate decided that he was going to go the direct route home but I convinced him to go round to the pub. When we got there (the usual pub), we were 5mins early for opening times so we decided to stop at a pub closer to home.

 

[VinSumRox]

Ride to the Sun (100mile Carlisle to Cramond) completed last night in excellent weather. Chips and midges in Moffat, a rave at the Old Crook Inn and a beer at Cramond.

 

[geocycle]

The spell of rubbish weekends in June continues, nevertheless I managed to sneak in a shortish, flattish ride between showers. The strong SW wind was warm and the weather radar suggested Bowland and Dales would be wet so I planned a route through Arkholme to Silverdale. Arkholme is a ‘doubly thankful‘ village in that nobody from the village was killed in either world war. I then tacked through the hills westward, being pleased by the shelter of hedges and inclines. Riding past Leighton Moss I spotted a Marsh Harrier struggling to hunt in the wind. Silverdale was lovely as usual. I had in mind the Wolf House cafe but unfortunately it’s now shut, however, the village provides other good alternatives. The return was marred by motorway traffic avoiding roadworks on the M6 and rat running through the lanes. Got home just before the rain. 58 km with 820 m of climbing.

Picture of Lune Valley from near Arkholme.

 

[13 rider]

The road heading towards Sibbertoft from Theddingworth, 2 roads meet at the top of a hill, I've made it up the Sibbertoft Rd side but on the other road (red arrow) I've never made it, until Sunday.
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Yep that's a decent hill ,proper lumpy area ,well done on cracking the hill

 

[ColinJ]

Unfortunately, between my ride and the proposed walk, heavy rain over Dartmoor caused a landslide which blocked the railway line. Anyway, it looks very nice up there so hopefully we will do the walk on my next visit later in the summer.

I just read that the line was reopened very quickly so it must have been a minor incident. We could have done that walk after all!

 

[Mburton1993]

Another to just passed Shrewsbury and back.

Got a very helpful tailwind from Shrewsbury to Stoke on Trent, rained from Congleton to Macclesfield.

A good ride.

 

[wafter]

Excitement levels are such currently that bramble trimming was a fixture on the weekend calender to be looked forward to.

Out mid-morning on the Routier to attack the barbed menace on the cycle and tow paths; which are generally well-maintained in this regard but suffer in some relatively isolated spots from long, thick, fast-growing branches and runners either pushing out across the path (often at face height) or hanging down from canopies above.

Despite the Routier's less-than-comfortable ride it seems to be the best steed for this job thanks to its kickstand; eliminating the need to try and manage the bike whilst trimming which made a big difference. Also, being not-hugely-robbable it was nice to be able to prop it up and forget about it while working without having to constantly worry about it going walkies.

Today's various anecdotes seem less worthy of being recounted now all the post-ride joy has worn off so I'll not bother.

Only about 5 super-slow miles but supplemented with another 15 or so later in the day on the Fuji, making sure I didn't want to buy some crockery I'd been eyeing up..

It was nice to come back on some of the stretches I'd curated earlier - knowing that there was no chance of copping a bramble to the face while also watching cyclists in front pass through areas they'd otherwise have had to have avoided a few hours earlier; although I suspect few if any were consciously aware of this.

Worse ways to spend a Sunday morning

 

[HLaB]

Not the closest chippy but good company which was appreciated. I only had 3-4 gears on the way back so I went for a loop to diagnose the problem and found out quickly what it was the cable was snapping

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

Frau Fritz and I was supposed to ride to a church dinner tonight. She’d take her e-bike and I’d take my “new” ride, but on second thought… she’d like to take the car and I can’t say I blame her…

 

[mickle]

To the York Rally Show & Shine, where my Black Phantom lost out to a farking Raleigh 20 with drop handlebars.

Bitter? Moi?

 

[Pduk]

Maiden voyage on the new bike yesterday, all went well enough, although strong winds meant it wasn't a fair comparison to my other bike.
Hills were tougher, partly due to the wind, but also the gearing is different, but still managed to climb all that I had previously. Taking on 'the wall' would be interesting, happy to say I summited once again
Even got quizzed by a chap walking at the top of the hill...
"Did you make it up without stopping?"
"Yep (gash) although (weeeez) I did (pant) stop at the bottom first"
"Ahhh well done you!"

Pic taken at the top of 'the wall' looking back down...it's not flat...honest!