HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
My usual group ride today, a slow ride out to the meet, then a circuitous route to the cafe at Oundle, then another circuitous route to the pub, before 12miles solo wobble 🍻
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
With the Autumn Equinox on Monday, the weather decided to produce one last glorious summers day today, with the thermometer hitting 30℃. I decided to to find some time to head north and have a pottle through the forest. I start with a short ride on country lanes before crossing the glider school and heading into the forest.
It's been a funny year weather wise and after a wet few months in June and July, we've been under drought conditions since. The trees are showing signs of stress and the forest floor is dry and dusty. Heading further north towards Wildech and the sandy soil provides some really demanding riding and I'm glad of my 19 inch low gear to get me through.
The trail soon firms up though and good gravel roads lead me onwards to the first of the heathland. A couple of weeks ago this area was a vibrant purple, but even though the colours are a little more muted today it's still a beautiful scene. A quick stop for a break and I head onwards to the memorial to the devastating 1975 forest fire, above Anglebecksteich, a sobering reminder of the current high fire risk at the moment.
I turn off now onto a firm gravel road that provides really fast riding between the stands of pine and birch. The forest slowly gets denser and darker. I pause a little while and remember the wolf pack that live here and the wolf tracks that I've seen in the past. I decide not to linger too long and soon I'm passing out into more open trails.
I'm passing through a nature reserve now and need to stop and open several gates to continue riding through.
As I reach Reberallah I join the small road behind a mountain biker, I ride behind him for the 100m towards the right turn that I will take, Then as we both turn in he angrily turns around and has a go at me asking me what my problem is. Completely dumbfounded I tell him I have no clue what he's talking about, I decided rather than get confrontational, I bid him good day, drop down a few gears and speed off back into the forest. A very odd and strange encounter the like of which I've never had before. Soon I'm back into my happy place speeding along under the trees and then the last kilometres to home arrive.
The last stretch is on quiet roads and the summer sun is beating down. It's a shame that there are no cafes where I ride, I would have loved to stop for an ice cold Radler or Ice Cream, but I'm soon home and can at least cool down with a cold drink there. Overall 46.5 km today and with the forecast for temperatures to tumble tomorrow, it was lovely to get my last summer ride in of the year.
It's been a funny year weather wise and after a wet few months in June and July, we've been under drought conditions since. The trees are showing signs of stress and the forest floor is dry and dusty. Heading further north towards Wildech and the sandy soil provides some really demanding riding and I'm glad of my 19 inch low gear to get me through.
The trail soon firms up though and good gravel roads lead me onwards to the first of the heathland. A couple of weeks ago this area was a vibrant purple, but even though the colours are a little more muted today it's still a beautiful scene. A quick stop for a break and I head onwards to the memorial to the devastating 1975 forest fire, above Anglebecksteich, a sobering reminder of the current high fire risk at the moment.
I turn off now onto a firm gravel road that provides really fast riding between the stands of pine and birch. The forest slowly gets denser and darker. I pause a little while and remember the wolf pack that live here and the wolf tracks that I've seen in the past. I decide not to linger too long and soon I'm passing out into more open trails.
I'm passing through a nature reserve now and need to stop and open several gates to continue riding through.
As I reach Reberallah I join the small road behind a mountain biker, I ride behind him for the 100m towards the right turn that I will take, Then as we both turn in he angrily turns around and has a go at me asking me what my problem is. Completely dumbfounded I tell him I have no clue what he's talking about, I decided rather than get confrontational, I bid him good day, drop down a few gears and speed off back into the forest. A very odd and strange encounter the like of which I've never had before. Soon I'm back into my happy place speeding along under the trees and then the last kilometres to home arrive.
The last stretch is on quiet roads and the summer sun is beating down. It's a shame that there are no cafes where I ride, I would have loved to stop for an ice cold Radler or Ice Cream, but I'm soon home and can at least cool down with a cold drink there. Overall 46.5 km today and with the forecast for temperatures to tumble tomorrow, it was lovely to get my last summer ride in of the year.
