Your ride today....

[VinSumRox]

Wee tour of the Netherlands, 350miles over 8 days, rest day in Groningen. Excellent cycling infrastructure and friendly people, rained on twice and a bit windy, otherwise fine.

 

[geocycle]

The day dawned damp so plans for a high-level ride were reassessed. Instead I decided to take a sinuous route through Wray and then tiny back roads over the hills beyond the village. I was pleased to have my waterproof and lights. I continued to Lowgill where I saw a tiny road heading uphill by the church signed ‘do not follow your satnav and 25%’. Of course I decided to give it a go and other than a short cobbled section it was rideable and quite fun. I picked up the road through Keasden to Austwick and then had lunch in Clapham. After lunch it dried up quite well and the sun came out, so I really enjoyed the ride home through Ingleton. Bird of the day was a snipe, usually impossible to see even when you look directly at it due to its camouflage, but it flew out of a ditch in front of me and was very distinctive. Overall, a pleasant 87 km with 1001 m of climbing.

Pictures are of bike on the edge of moorland behind Wray, the mist starting to lift and a great downhill toward Austwick. After lunch the sun came out and the waterfall at Clapham was looking impressive.

 

[Donger]

Wanted to mix my Half Century a Month Challenge rides a bit this year, rather than posting a whole load of identical rides in my own back yard. I've already thrown in one in Northants, one in Caernarfonshire and one in Wiltshire. Today's was a frontier hopping one in Belgium and Luxembourg. I drove out to the village of Sibret (about 5 miles from Bastogne), where street view images told me I'd be able to pick up one of the brilliant RAVeL cycle paths that seem to be everywhere in this part of Belgium. When I got to Sibret, I was relieved to find there was one solitary space left ... in amongst a collection of tarmac layers, bulk carrying trucks and road rollers. They are still working on this section of track, but this being Sunday and this being Belgium, it was safe to assume my car wouldn't be getting in the way of any construction work today. The track had just received a brand new, thick layer of pristine, smooth tarmac that made for supremely smooth and easy cycling. After a mile there was a very small diversion up and down a gravelly ramp to avoid a bridge that was being repaired, but other than that the surface was excellent all the way.

At Bastogne, there are just three places where you have to join or cross urban roads. The first is by the central bus station, the second is where you have to cross the road twice by this excellently decorated roundabout:

.... and the third is on the way out of town to the East, by the Battle of the Bulge Museum. All are well sign-posted and marked and felt very safe. From there, one of the RAVeL tracks leads Eastwards to Wiltz in Luxembourg. It passes through woodland, deep forest, open clearings with cattle farms and one or two unremarkable little villages. Seemingly three quarters of it is downhill, though only very gently so as it is a former railway line.

At the frontier, there is no mention of either Belgium or Luxembourg, but you do get a "Bye bye" from the region of Wallonie:

Four very well-maintained tunnels, with what I would describe as mood lighting, then follow in quick succession ...

.... continuing ever downwards into Wiltz. The arrival is a huge anti-climax, as the track finishes in a massive, ugly construction site.

I was going against the clock as I told my wife I'd be back by 12.00 so I decided against crossing the river Wiltz and climbing up a long hill to the Chateau. Instead, I just turned the bike around and plodded my way back up to Bastogne against the (admittedly gentle) gradient. After freewheeling at 15mph most of the way between Bastogne and Wiltz, I was plodding at about 9mph all the way back to Bastogne, and I stopped off at a picnic table for a short break on the way.

There were some other cyclists about, but mostly joggers. Closer to Bastogne, lots of whole families were out taking their Sunday constitutionals. Apart from one little vole that scuttled across the track in front of me and the screeches of buzzards in various places the day's only wildlife spotting event was when I spotted this young deer relaxing at the edge of the forest just outside Winseler in Luxembourg:

It knew I was there, but just didn't seem particularly bothered. I did note that the hunting towers that are absolutely everywhere on the Belgian side of the border are much less frequent on the Luxembourg side. Apparently that makes for much more relaxed wildlife.
Just over 50km ridden this morning, and here is the route in my tradional "Flatnav" format:

I have to say the RAVeL lines I took today were truly exceptional. Smooth, well signposted, plenty of benches and well-maintained track surfaces and tunnels. I shall be starting out from Bastogne to ride at least one more RAVel route later in the week, as I just can't get enough of them.

 

[Mburton1993]

That's as close as the map will go without cropping the route. It was Greenfield, Mossley, Ashton, Denton, Levenshulme, Wythenshawe, bit more, then back.

Just with the front pannier, aswell as the last long ride cracking the back wheel it also sheered a strut off the rear rack.

Took the replacement wheel off the Allez, that bike was too bloody bumpy anyhow.

 

[Elybazza61]

On Zwift today and had a proper hiccup with the HRM which started playing up on the 4th Alpecin workout and got so annoying I ended up throwing it on the floor where it was still registering for quite a few minutes; it was very humid this afternoon so I was sweating a lot and maybe I didn't put enough gel on the strap , I'll also check the battery and inside the unit in case there's some corrosion in there.

Was a pretty tough workout but actually felt easier than I thought it would but just one now to complete the set.

 

[ColinJ]

Happy Birthday @sevenfourate .

And a belated Happy Birthday from me!

It sounds like a good age-in-miles ride. I still aim to do them for a few more years, but I am much older and my birthday is in January so mine are unlikely to ever be on my birthday itself, unless I do what I threaten to do, which is to go and winter somewhere warm, dry, and sunny!

 

[ColinJ]

On Zwift today and had a proper hiccup with the HRM which started playing up on the 4th Alpecin workout and got so annoying I ended up throwing it on the floor where it was still registering for quite a few minutes; it was very humid this afternoon so I was sweating a lot and maybe I didn't put enough gel on the strap , I'll also check the battery and inside the unit in case there's some corrosion in there.

I had a sweat problem with my smartwatch after my last Training Peaks Virtual session. I put it on charge while I showered then made something to eat. When I returned to the watch it hadn't charged at all, but instead was displaying a message instructing me to clean and dry the watch and charging pins. That is the first time it has happened. Maybe I sweated a bit more than usual?!

I also had a problem with my HRM chest strap. I thought that the battery in the sensor had gone flat. It turned out that I had connected the sensor upside down!

 

[sevenfourate]

And a belated Happy Birthday from me!

It sounds like a good age-in-miles ride. I still aim to do them for a few more years, but I am much older and my birthday is in January so mine are unlikely to ever be on my birthday itself, unless I do what I threaten to do, which is to go and winter somewhere warm, dry, and sunny!

Thanks Colin. Appreciate that 👊

And yep: the fitness / ability / miles to achieve wasn’t too bad THIS year.

I’ll let you know as time passes 😁

 

[HLaB]

Forgot to post for some reason, probably too busy playing with my Cycliq camera again. Yesterday was a charity ride but for some reason nobody but me wanted to do the 90 miler so I had to reset my computer to download the 50miles route. It probably had something to do with the light rain passing through by 9am, didn't actually pass through till nearer 12pm.

And at 9am we were still hiding:

When we eventually braved it whist it was still wet a big group set off before breaking up on the road:

As I was saying I spent the afternoon after the ride playing with the Cycliq Camera:

Like I was saying it finally stopped raining around 12pm

It Started again though but thankfully only for 5mins.


View: https://youtu.be/m69FB72LAGM



View: https://youtu.be/4CTP6BFx4E4



View: https://youtu.be/oT011WocbFA



View: https://youtu.be/8V-2V-JKEdw



View: https://youtu.be/nc-OxOCgalo

 

[Donger]

Today I drove over towards Bastogne for another ride along the fantastic RAVeL network. The aim was to park up in a lay-by I'd seen online, but satnav problems and roadwork detours put paid to that and I lost 45 mins of cycling time by the time I parked up in an alternative place near Foy. Any avid followers of "Band of Brothers" will recognise the place "Bois Jacques" as the foxhole positions of Easy Company of the 101st Regt, 506th Parachute Division where they defended the town of Bastogne. It is about a mile from Foy, and is marked by a rather nice memorial, which I was able to park directly opposite.

RAVeL route 163 runs northwards from Bastogne right along the Luxembourg border, and splits after Bourcy, with the route 613 branching off to the west and leading to the town of Houffalize. It runs right past Bois Jacques, and I could see it from my parking space. I rode pretty much all the way to Houffalize, turning back about 1km short of the town as I calculated that I absolutely had to turn around by 10.30 to get back to my wife at the time I had promised. First things first, though, I headed back into Bastogne to call in at the impressive Mardasson Memorial to pay my respects.

Then, at the tank turret on the main road .....

.... I turned back onto RAVeL Ligne 163 and followed that and Ligne 613 to the outskirts of Houffalize. Once again, some lovely scenery, a superbly smooth surface, plenty of benches and very good signage all the way.

Like my previous RAVeL ride to Wiltz and back, the track dropped gently most of the way out, though at a very shallow gradient. On the way back, although I was in a hurry, I could only manage 9 or 10mph most of the way against both the gradient and a stiffish headwind, and I arrived back at the car in Bois Jacques in something of a sweaty state. Another extremely enjoyable holiday ride, and 24.5 more miles added to my total. That's now 74.3 miles in 3 morning rides this holiday. No ride tomorrow, but I'm hoping to do another short snoop around the neighbourhood on Thursday before we have to head for home.
Anyone interested in riding in the Belgian Ardennes might find this link to the RAVeL network useful: https://ravel.wallonie.be/en/home.html
The network is constantly expanding, and G**gle St***t View isn't always up-to date. I have used quite a few different lines over the years, and would be happy to field questions via DMs on this forum if I can help at all.

p.s. Nearly forgot. Today's wildlife: A bouncy little red squirrel that doinked its way across the track in front of me near Houffalize. That and (barely believably) a dead raccoon in the road near Foy.

 

[FrankCrank]

Final ride along coastal path here in Pranburi.
Heading back home soon, after a swim in hotel pool, and a hearty breakfast.

 

[HLaB]

A fast flat paceline last night with the local cycling group. We started as 6 but it was pretty intense (0.81 IF for me) and whittled down to 3 of us before we split at 25.7miles and I was 23.6mph up to that point. After the split despite more effort, being solo and into a head wind, I was just 20.6mph for 3.9miles despite being at a more intense 0.90 IF.

View: https://youtu.be/7XGV0t-KC7A?is=LWH17dRmfp6UredR



View: https://youtu.be/1jy-TbOZgpI?is=a0O2ZYMa1-OD2Bt9



View: https://youtu.be/9Bo063P5kWs?is=8-NH_qJjZUGCE9UI



View: https://youtu.be/ynZ5E2r0bVc?is=h53f7pv-2dDQYkkn



Oh and I had a cool biker overtake me after this section and enthusiastically tell me I was doing 30mph. I doubt it somehow 😂


View: https://youtu.be/lQAymEXNCnk?is=w9B9IaEEy_VVM6o_


We had a long cool chat with him and his pillion when we were both stopped at the level crossing lights at the end of the road 🙂

 

[Elybazza61]

I had a sweat problem with my smartwatch after my last Training Peaks Virtual session. I put it on charge while I showered then made something to eat. When I returned to the watch it hadn't charged at all, but instead was displaying a message instructing me to clean and dry the watch and charging pins. That is the first time it has happened. Maybe I sweated a bit more than usual?!

I also had a problem with my HRM chest strap. I thought that the battery in the sensor had gone flat. It turned out that I had connected the sensor upside down!

Used the HRM yesterday after giving it a wash and a fresh battery and was rock solid, the battery was reading under 3v so that probably was the main cause of it playing up. Have had this issue before with sensors and it seems to be a particular thing with cheaper no-brand batteries.

 

[Elybazza61]

Got a ride out yesterday meandering out to St Ives via Haddenham and then on the Busway before turning off to head to Cottenham and then home via 20p road and through Haddenham again.

Bit windier than I thought it would be and the legs felt a bit tight so didn't quite do as far as intended; as mentioned above HRM was stable so all good there.

Did have to do some litter picking .

Noticed that while parked up next to the Pill Box at the start of the Busway at St Ives.

And last snack and drink stop next to Haddenham church.

90km at just over 3 and a half hours so pace was actually ok.

 

[ColinJ]

Have had this issue before with sensors and it seems to be a particular thing with cheaper no-brand batteries.

I had the cheapo battery problem with a power meter...

Don't make the mistake that I did, of buying a multi-pack of brand unknownxyz... 2 of the 5 were dead, 1 was half-dead, just 2 were ok (for now - who knows how long those will last!).