Your ride today....

[Elybazza61]

Pinch, punch first ride of the month! After a couple of weekends off the bike I managed to get out today, not as nice as yesterday but nevertheless decided to head to the Dales. I headed out through Wennington and Bentham to Ingleton. I was torn between staying on the main B Road to Hawes or Oddie’s Lane. I decided that the climb up Oddies Lane was worth it for the brilliant stretch of tarmac that I knew would follow. It was quite cloudy but also increasingly atmospheric as I climbed up through Chapel le Dale and passed the Hill Inn to Ribblehead. There is always an ethereal quality to the Ribblehead viaduct and today was no exception. The cool but dry descent down Ribblesdale followed, with only the barest bit of mist condensing on my gilet. I stopped at the Naked Man in settle for a sausage roll and a muck spreader (otherwise known as a Yorkshire curd tart). From there I crossed the main road and headed home through Eldroth and Keasden, once I got nearer the West Coast, the clouds disappeared and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. With hindsight, maybe I would’ve been better heading north and west toward the lakes. Next time! Overall 104 km with 1062 m of climbing.


Pictures are of an interesting memorial in Wennington, bike taking a rest against the limestone boulders of Twisleton scar, and the Ribblehead viaduct.

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Those poppy displays seem to be a thing this year as I saw two of them on my ride on Friday; the cynic in me thought it was a bit of outdoo each other but maybe it's just a thing this year, do feel the poppy thing has sort of got a bit over the top these days and is actually loosing it's real meaning*.

*Speaking as someone who's dad served in the Navy in WW2 and the BH has relatives buried in Northern France .

 

[Elybazza61]

Back to rides and got on Zwift today mainly to try the new 'video' routes, pretty good although I don't think I'll pay the extra for them.

Did a quick warm-up to make sure it was working ok and then in my wisdom took on the Sa Calobra climb before a cool down on the 'normal' Watopia.

The climb went pretty well and managed to get a nice rhythm going so fitness is pretty good at the moment.

And a couple of pics to show the graphics and look;

 

[Mburton1993]

A misty morning to a drizzly afternoon.

With 5 sets of temporary traffics lights this time, including a really annoying, poorly timed 4-way one near Eaton.

Not sold on the suspension seatpost just yet, might need more fettling.

 

[ianrauk]

This weekends cycling shenanigans.
It was the annual veteran vehicles London to Brighton day for cars and bikes made pre 1905.
Of course, a perfect day for us cycling chums to join in the fun.
How some of these fabulous bone shaking, smoking jalopies are still running are anyone's guess, but they do. Not at any great speed and in fact us cyclists are usually much quicker then the cars.
It's probably the most fun to be had on a bike. Oh, I first did this 20 years ago, only a few cyclists then. It's grown hugely since. Where have the years gone?
Only 49 miles for the day, but 49 fun filled miles.

 

[ianrauk]

 

[Donger]

Just had time at the last possible moment to nip out and get a ride in before it went dark this evening. Just the 13 miles today, but done at (for me) sprint speed, so still got a decent workout. Made it back home about 10 minutes before sunset, taking great pleasure in overtaking the only other cyclist I saw on my ride and who seemed to be doing exactly the same speed as me for the last 6 miles. Took my chance on the little uphill section coming into Elmore and hit the afterburners on the short downhill on the other side of the village to move quickly out of sight without any evidence of the heavy panting and eyeballs-out effort it had taken. (I don't often overtake anyone these days, so I enjoyed that more than any grown adult ought to).

 

[Sharky]

Enjoyable ride today, Farningham, Otford, Pilgrims Way, and a hard finish up Terry's Lodge climb.

Then 5 steady miles, back home, at least, that is what was planned. But came up to some body trying to take a mobile home down a narrow country road and got himself jammed in. No way to pass it, so had to U-turn and make a detour back home. Only a few extra miles, but was an interruption.

 

[ColinJ]

"It isn't my fault, the SatNav told me to go this way..."

 

[ColinJ]

Which reminds me of this idiot... (I actually chickened out riding my mountain bike down there once, and walked it!!!)

I would have thought that the instinct of self-preservation would prevent a driver from going down a steepening, narrowing footpath just because his satnav told him to, but not in the case of this guy!

Anyone fancy a game of Spot-the-braincell?

IT WAS only when his BMW crashed into a fence on the edge of a 100ft drop that Robert Jones realised he had been led astray by his satnav.

Mr Jones, who drives for a living, plunged down a near-vertical footpath on the hills above Todmorden because the electronic device said it was a road.

He said: "It kept insisting the path was a road even as it was getting narrower and steeper so I just trusted it. You don't expect to be taken nearly over a cliff."

"When there's not a road in front of you, don't keep driving."

"I've heard of lorries getting stuck on village roads before but this really takes a lack of common sense to a whole new level."

"Nobody was hurt but when someone nearly drives off a cliff that shows a lack of care which needs to be investigated."

It took a team of people with offroad vehicles and chains to drag his vehicle back up to the road above.

Jones was taken to court, but denied responsibility. He was found guilty, given a £370 fine, and six points on his licence by Calderdale magistrates.

He was also ordered to pay £500 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

The scary thing is that these stupid people are driving big heavy vehicles past us at speed on public roads!

 

[Binky]

Too nice a day not to ride. A pretty cool and fresh breeze made for a good workout along with the hills in my 31miles 2500ft ride but well worth the pain!