Your ride today....

[chriswoody]

The first snowy ride of 2026, so I dug the mountain bike out and headed out into the forest for some fun. The road is only lightly covered by still caution is needed and turning of into the forest I can relax a little more.

The snow is quite deep here in the forest and progress slows as we head under the trees. Temperatures are hovering around freezing so the snow isn't too wet to ride in.

I'm slowing heading north with a plan to head up towards some fire roads I know and swing around in a big loop east. The snow is deep in places though and I'm struggling to make headway, my speed dropping to around 7kph.

The forest here is all plantations and it's an artificial man made environment, but there is a strange beauty to the patterns the rows of trees make.

I take and break for a short while at a crossing and take stock over a flapjack. I concede at my pace I will never make my planned route so I decide to cut it short. It's slow, heavy going out here and I can still have as much enjoyment on a shorter route.

I carry on north for a while before taking the north westerly route at a fork. Normally it's deep sand here, but today it's deep snow impeding my progress. Slowly we make our way through the forest, nothing else has been out here and I'm breaking trail through the snow.

Taking another fire road now towards a main road crossing, I'm suddenly disturbed and look across to see a car dangerously close to me, I'm less than impressed. You do see the odd car from time to time on these fire roads, but passing me so close in these conditions is seriously not ok. I'm soon back into deep forest though and away from car driving idiots.

I'm slowing heading back towards home, with the emphasis on slow. I'd forgotten how heavy going it is in these conditions, my legs are definitely feeling it. I'm happy and content though as I slog along, under my wheels I can see deer tracks in the snow and overhead a Buzzard is circling.

I'm into the last kilometres now and I'm hungry, my head drops for a while as I focus on keeping my legs turning. Finally the last of the forest trails appear and before long I'm home. I've covered 34 km today in a very slow fashion, but as hard as it was, it was still a great ride. Hopefully the snow hangs around for a while.

 

[sevenfourate]

Great write-up; and pics @chriswoody 👌

 

[wafter]

I have pretty much lost interest in cycling, I don’t know what happened, I just stopped apart from the odd utility ride. However I’m currently on holiday in Oz, and we decided to hire a couple of E-bikes to ride around Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, about 25 miles of paved traffic free paths.
First proper go on an e-bike, good fun it was too. About 30 miles in 28° sunshine.

I thought I’d share.
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Nice to see you back

 

[wafter]

The usual utility waft today, give or take; pared back due to the threat of rain later in the day as well as the hope of retaining some energy for kickboxing later.. although I might have failed on that front.

A fairly utilitarian route to work, a few charity shops, the butchers and home. Out for about three hours / 18 miles, air temp significantly up on paper but it didn't much feel like it thanks to all the damp hanging in the air. A lot more confident in the face of obviously less ice, however there was still the odd little patch about.

Took the camera resulting in a few mediocre shots and my probably getting colder than I needed to. While I love both activities in isolation, I find combining photography and cycling is always a pain in the arse...

Today's ride also marks a milestone - the Fuji now having rolled past 6000 miles in the 3.3ish years its been in my possession. About 3.5k of those miles have been covered since I moved eight months ago

 

[chriswoody]

Well the storm on Saturday brought more snow, actually lots of snow, so it would be rude to not go for a ride. Overnight saw temperatures dip to minus 11, luckily it was a tad warmer when I set off.

It's pretty tough going because the high winds has caused drifts up to knee deep in places and in others the snow is barely covering the ground. I slip and slide my way through the forest trails to the South of the house with a vague plan to follow the river West and see how far I get.

The forest trails are fairly well trodden since Saturday as well as one or two cars so whilst slippery on the compacted snow, it's not to difficult. Next to me the river has frozen in places, it's quite a sight to see and a reminder of how cold it is.

I pause for a few moments to shed a layer and suck on a flapjack, this has been hard going and I'm really hot. I turn now from the well trodden path and head onto a piece of singletrack, the only thing to have been through here was a rabbit. With the bike in a nice low gear I can just about make headway through the powdery snow as I hunt for the trail through the trees.

My progress is brought to a rude holt as the trail turns to follow a fence, the wind has drifted the snow here to knee deep and there's no way I'm riding through that. I briefly contemplate turning back, but decide instead to pop the bike on my back and wade on through.

After 100m we're through and back onto shallower snow and soon riding again. Progress is slow but steady, every so often the front wheel will wipe out and I come to a shuddering halt, it's all demanding but great fun. I decide to ride a loop around the horse riding stable and head back home, it's a day where every 1 km feels like 5.

Heading round the stable I'm back onto deep snow and untrodden paths in the forest. Occasional deer and rabbit tracks are the only signs of life out here, I've managed to get into a good rhythm as I slip and slide my way through. After a few kilometers I arrive back onto the main forest track that I'd travelled down earlier and the speed can pick up. a little on the more compacted snow.

Another half an hour of concerted effort and I'm finally back home, I've only ridden 14.7 km, but it feels like 60. I averaged 10 kph and the temperature was minus 6. All in all, whilst hardly my biggest ride it was great fun and just feels so good to be out having fun on the bike in these conditions.

 

[VinSumRox]

64km and 780m in pretty stiff breeze, fast on the way back home though!

Rivers were running fast and brown after the rain!

 

[8mph]

I managed 10 miles of this ride, before bailing and taking the road back to the car. It's my first ride on the Genesis Longitude and fist time trying out my Garmin Explore V2

The bike did better off road than expected but after 10 miles of grinding it through the Dartmoor slop I was starting to feel it. It is a beast when pointed downhill and wants to go in a straight line once ot picks up speed!

Hot chai at Grey Wethers Stone Circle

Fernsworthy forest

 

[Homers Double]

A clockwise loop of Cragg Vale from Littleborough.

 

[HLaB]

My first group ride of the year and it was a birthday ride 🥂

 

[sevenfourate]

Set off with a rough route planned; to get me coming home with a tail wind. Soon realised the forecast must have changed - and that wasn’t going to happen. To be fair I dreamed of riding past Palm trees in pleasant 22c conditions and that didn’t happen either 😂

Up the Coast I headed in the thick mist. This is Gorleston sea-front 8 miles up the road:

This is further along at Gorleston Pier. The irony here being my company built both the spiral staircase in the picture; and in more recent times the access ramp and hand railing my bike leans against….

Under and around rather than over the new bridge at Gt Yarmouth today. Made a nice shot I think !

Crazy-golf further along the sea front at Gt Yarmouth had no queue to get in 🤣

And this was dawn breaking at the tip of Yarmouth / Caister. Shortly before I got my head down and pedalled home inland….

Hard work today for some reason. Overdressed more than anything I think 🤷‍♂️ Still nice to be out in the fresh air 👍

 

[geocycle]

A short wet ride today, but having been defeated by the weather last week I was determined to get out. I stuck to a familiar route and headed first up the steep climb of Littledale in light drizzle. I continued round to Quernmore and couldn’t resist setting a target for the TdF riders up Cote de Jubilee Tower. If there are any pro teams reading this, the steep bit ends by Chris’ house and I recommend stopping for a snack at the top. The rain came heavier so I descended to Abbey stead and then climbed a very steep road through woodland out onto the moor. I completed the route via Cockerham and the coast. 55 km with 772 m of climbing.

Pictures of Littledale and Jubilee Tower

 

[DCLane]

This morning's ride was the first in the Ride to the Sun series for 2026, in Kirklees/Calderdale/south Leeds area with six rides on consecutive weekends.

I chose the 'Long' route, rather than the more sensible 'Short' one. The Long route option had a bail-out point to shorten it, which I wasn't sensible enough to choose either.

It was cold. It was very wet. I froze but got round. Not everyone did.

No photos as it was either misty or raining.

The sensible ones chose the short route or didn't even start.

 

[ianrauk]

This weekends cycling shenanigans.
A Kent ride down to Ashford for brekkie. Then onwards to Wye and the Pilgrims Way home.
Dark at 7am when I left home and the temps were showing only 5°, with temperatures never reaching above 10's, but it didn't feel cold. Probrably due to the lack of wind. It seems that most of Kent has suffered from flooding which meant a grubby bike and a grubby human.
So 2026 and I'm back on it. The 16th year of the Imperial Century a Month challenge.
100 miles for the day.
Imperial Century #362
Imperial Century Month #182

 

[sevenfourate]

This morning's ride was the first in the Ride to the Sun series for 2026, in Kirklees/Calderdale/south Leeds area with six rides on consecutive weekends.

I chose the 'Long' route, rather than the more sensible 'Short' one. The Long route option had a bail-out point to shorten it, which I wasn't sensible enough to choose either.

It was cold. It was very wet. I froze but got round. Not everyone did.

No photos as it was either misty or raining.

The sensible ones chose the short route or didn't even start.

If anything like here it was certainly not ideal today ! How far was the longer route you rode ?

 

[DCLane]

If anything like here it was certainly not ideal today ! How far was the longer route you rode ?

59 miles for the 'Long' route, 44 for the 'Short'. Quite a few of the Long route rides took a shortcut option reducing it by about 8-10 miles.