Your ride today....

[sevenfourate]

@sevenfourate - don't you ever sleep?

I thought that since you get up before sunrise for dog walks and bike rides, you must go to bed about 4 hours earlier than this!

Huh. Sleep. You what ?

 

[ColinJ]

Huh. Sleep. You what ?

Haha - that is what I am going to prepare for now! (Puzzle games and crosswords until I doze off...)

 

[sevenfourate]

Not too warm as yet on today’s commute in. Was running a wee bit late after walking 2 miles with the dog: before then leaving at 4.40am. So only did the bare minimum / straight ride in today……bloomin lovely it was too though ❤️

Overlooking the Broads pre-sunrise…….

A proper Suffolk Sunrise today:

More practice for the legs:

 

[ColinJ]

I thought about doing a hilly evening 50 km ride today once the temperature had dropped to a more comfortable level. I set off but soon decided that I would prefer to do a shorter and slower ride, rather than thrashing myself to do the longer one before dark.

I was riding along the valley to Hebden Bridge and noticed a strange clicking noise from somewhere in the front half of the bike. It was really irritating me. I could not work out what it was until I realised that it was slowly getting quieter and soon after that it finally stopped...

Question: What sounds exactly like a cycling bottle which has had a tray of ice cubes added to chill one's drink for a hot summer evening ride?

Answer: A cycling bottle which has had a tray of ice cubes added to chill one's drink for a hot summer evening ride!

My original route was going to take me from Mytholmroyd up the famous Cragg Vale climb, but I changed my mind and did the longer, steeper, more scenic alternative of Scout Road, Steep Lane, High Stones Road, which eventually rejoins the other climb above Cragg Vale.

I continued up to Blackstone Edge reservoir, the surface of which was unusually ripple-free.

A rapid descent got me to Littleborough. I opted for the harder/quieter route out of the village/town up through Caldermoor and Calderbrook, then rejoined the A6033 for a rapid ride back to Todmorden.

A fine 38 km summer evening ride...

 

[wafter]

Awake at half four this morning thanks to my inability to cool the flat to a more comfortable level overnight heaped upon the usual sleep issues.

By five I'd given up and by twenty past I was out on the Fuji heading to the park on the other side of the city for a short session on the rings. By the time I'd reached the edge of town I was regretting not brushing my teeth; however that was OK as the sight of the unbuckled pannier finally dragged my sleep addled brain to the conclusion that I'd forgotten the rings, so back home we went...

Gob sanitised and rings acquired I had another go... the morning glorious but already a bit warm in 3/4 lengths and an unbuttoned "technical" shirt. I ended up passing through town at about six; predictably not deserted but gloriously quiet - especially by the standards of summer in a tourist hotspot.

Unsurprisingly the rings were hard work and I let myself off with doing very little. Afterwards it was back home along the path; mindful of the need to air the flat before the temperature rose too much more outside, but stopping fairly frequently to lop off some more fat bramble canes that were encroaching on the path.

Now back home after a shade under 15 miles I feel great, however am well aware that it's probably downhill from here once the endorphins dissipate, the fatigue returns and the temperature climbs..

 

[PeteXXX]

Will edit later, but completed the hottest and most humid London to Brighton bike ride on record. Phone died in the heat at Ditchling Beacon, so the last segment wasn't recorded. Walked up, very slowly. The heat in open sun was really punishing.
This year marred by serious accidents, details of which are a bit thin, but one caught thousands of us in a country lane around 12 miles out, and we were stood still for over two hours. Once restarted, my son had Di2 issues, which he eventually resolved by disconnecting everything and plugging it back together. Needs attention!
The delays caused all sorts of issues down the line. The final check point below the Beacon shut on time, meaning one less water stop.
Then, having made it up the Beacon, reconnected with my son (straight up the Beacon non-stop) had an ice cream, we set off again, cruising enjoyably down to the A27/23 and...stopped again for another accident. 30-odd minutes while organisers and police put a diversion in place, then finally got to the finish.
While all this was happening, the announcer at the finish line was saying they'd shut down and pack away at 7.15, despite thousands still unfinished. No other details hiven as to delays, which caused some anxiety for those waiting.
Fortunately, they did not carry though with this madness, and the huge mass of delayed riders got there in the end. There were still stragglers 30 minutes after I finished.
But...job done!

I've ridden the L2B lots of times in the past. It did seem to get less of a pleasure & more of a chore eventually. Maybe because of having done the same route all the time or possibly because the organisation got worse..
Anyway, two friends rode it but didn't mention the holdups, only the temperature!

 

[PeteXXX]

I've not really been out on the bike much recently but did have a ride around Eyam, pronounced Eeeem, the plague village.

Not too many miles but a fun little bimble around..

 

[PeteXXX]

Short ride this afternoon to drop some stuff off at the charity shop.

Conveniently, it's fairly close to the ice-cream parlour 😁

I also wanted to check out the roadworks on Mill Lanen a notorious bottleneck for motorised transportation but straight past on the cycle lanes.. 👌
The way back from there was across a railway line via a footpath & swing-gatrs but they've now been welded shut so Plan B was put to use and I got home by crossing the line at Chapel Brampton Station and the Brampton Valley Way homewards..

So hot when I reached home that I peeled my T shirt off and sprayed a hosepipe over my head to cool down a little bit 🚿

 

[sevenfourate]

WOW 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Look at the temp 😳

My bike melting when I stopped 🤣🤣🤣

 

[ColinJ]

I did another of my lumpy** sunny evening rides, catching the sun heading for sunset towards the end.

I had watched a video the other day of a fellow older cyclist struggling up a couple of steep local climbs so I decided to head that way this evening and remind myself of the pain!

I have posted his video below to give you a good look at them.

I think that he doesn't quite pace himself properly and is suffering the consequences! I enjoyed the way he swears constantly but therefore be warned - NSFW!!



The gradient figures on the video are clearly a bit iffy at times. You can get a good idea of how tough those ramps are from the footage but sometimes the number drops down to only 5-6% when it is probably 15%!

The road surface isn't fantastic now but it was even worse then.

The video appears to show just one climb but there is an abrupt edit where there is actually a few minutes respite after the first climb, Cross Stone Road. The second climb, Crossley New Road, is pretty hard, but the gradient eases by about a half after the sharp left turn at the top of the ramp.

Here's a photo taken between the 2 climbs...

Like the videographer, I climbed to the Long Causeway. After that I headed... Blackshaw Head, Jack Bridge, Colden, Slack, and then a rapid descent to Hebden Bridge.

I changed my mind about the rest of the ride, opting for an easier finish than initially planned. Instead: the A646 towards Todmorden, then I climbed through Lumbutts up to the Shepherd's Rest. I started a rapid descent towards Walsden but stopped on the way down to take a couple of photos of the setting sun...

I wanted to get back before dark so I turned right in Walsden and headed home.

** When I checked the ride data back at ride HQ, I discovered that the 'lumpy' designation was incorrect - it was officially 'very hilly'. My metric ratio for that is 20 m of ascent per km ridden and that is exactly what I did - 602 metres in 30.1 km. Imperialist riders often use a figure of 100 ft per mile which I comfortably exceeded - 1,975 ft in 18.7 miles, 105.6 ft/mile.

 

[sevenfourate]

Short loop via my LBS for some final fettling on the ‘New build’. Riding position feels ace. That’s paramount and a great start. The 1.5kg+ weight loss ? Not sure I can tell 🤷‍♂️ Maybe a little when I squirted up one very short, sharp hill. Either way - the ergonomic issues that bugged me about this bike (Enough for me to do just 42 miles on it - then leave it static in the garage) look to have been overcome…..

EDIT: Funnily enough. Just seen my one Strava segment Gold today was on an uphill section - where I was barely making an effort; yet beat my previous best by some margin 😳 That’s telling….

 

[Elybazza61]

Hopped on the turbo early this morning for about 45min but was still sweating buckets at the end even with the fan on.

Bit harder than I thought and it didn't help that the turbo and Zwift didn't seem to be playing nicely together even though i did the calibration beforehand ;Zwift was updating when I turned the iPad on so may have been some synching issue and will look at the Elite app to see if there's an update at all.

Still a good workout though , even if it meant the cadence was really low.

 

[geocycle]

A steady but satisfying ride today. Temperatures had fallen a few degrees to the mid 20s only to be replaced by a strong SSW wind and threats of thunderstorms. I decided to avoid some of my more remote roads and instead headed to Bowland via the Tour de France route. First came Jubilee Tower and then the Trough of Bowland itself. As I mentioned last week I really appreciate the repairs that have been made to the road. Even better it was technically still closed meaning cyclists had it more or less to ourselves. From the trough I made my way to Chipping via some more hills and had a coffee stop at the country store. This first half of the ride had been quite hilly and so I decided to head across the flatlands of the Fylde to Pilling and then followed the coast back home. I paused for an ice cream in Glasson dock and admired the tall ship that is currently docked. Overall 91 km with 1110 m of climbing.


Pictures are of Bowland’s answer to Sycamore Gap (it’s an oak), the view from the road after the trough, bike parked after Long flat stretch looking back toward the Bowland Hills, Glasson dock, the Lune path.

 

[sevenfourate]

A steady but satisfying ride today. Temperatures had fallen a few degrees to the mid 20s only to be replaced by a strong SSW wind and threats of thunderstorms. I decided to avoid some of my more remote roads and instead headed to Bowland via the Tour de France route. First came Jubilee Tower and then the Trough of Bowland itself. As I mentioned last week I really appreciate the repairs that have been made to the road. Even better it was technically still closed meaning cyclists had it more or less to ourselves. From the trough I made my way to Chipping via some more hills and had a coffee stop at the country store. This first half of the ride had been quite hilly and so I decided to head across the flatlands of the Fylde to Pilling and then followed the coast back home. I paused for an ice cream in Glasson dock and admired the tall ship that is currently docked. Overall 91 km with 1110 m of climbing.


Pictures are of Bowland’s answer to Sycamore Gap (it’s an oak), the view from the road after the trough, bike parked after Long flat stretch looking back toward the Bowland Hills, Glasson dock, the Lune path.

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Lovely ride. Lovelier pics !

 

[ColinJ]

Lovely ride. Lovelier pics !

We covered a lot of those roads on one variation of my Whalley - Glasson Dock - Whalley forum ride. Those pictures are tempting me to organise another one for early August, after I get back from my next Devon holiday!