VeloViewer Explorer Score and Max Square

[salar55]

A mix of roads and dirt tracks joining up pats of the Cowal Way /Dunoon Dirt Dash routes. Loch lomond side is camper wagon alley now , so much for overnights away from Monday. Starting to look at the wind farms and thro tracks in the hills.

[Davef]

Bridleways that were impassable mud a few few weeks back are like concrete now. Did about 20km of them on a 170km ride today. Admiring 54x54 max square whilst glueing fillings back in.

[andyoxon]

I had my first explorer ride since end of September.  Including some nice bridleways north of Waddesdon up to Winslow, so filled in a corner of my square, 35 to 39x39.  Cluster 1739.

PXL_20210424_1 by a oxon, on Flickr

Spot the tea...   First explore on this bike.

PXL_20210424_3 by a oxon, on Flickr

[DrBru]

I started this a month or so ago, not long after I decided to get back on the bike after many years of nothing more than commuting. My previous audax career was all pre-GPS (or at least, I didn't have a GPS device then), so I'm very much starting from scratch. Still - that means I'm at the fun stage of being able to increase my cluster + square with every 30k ride from home
Today's jaunt gave me all the nines -- 99 cluster, and a 9x9 max square. Next extended commute should push it up to 10x10



I'm wondering whether to try and complete all of the Vale of White Horse for a first challenge -- I might take advantage of the dry conditions and get some squares along the ridgeway next; relatively rare chance for it to be accessible with 28mm tyres and low clearance mudguards!

[Pingu]

  Welcome to the madhouse 

[andyoxon]

I started this a month or so ago, not long after I decided to get back on the bike after many years of nothing more than commuting. My previous audax career was all pre-GPS (or at least, I didn't have a GPS device then), so I'm very much starting from scratch. Still - that means I'm at the fun stage of being able to increase my cluster + square with every 30k ride from home
Today's jaunt gave me all the nines -- 99 cluster, and a 9x9 max square. Next extended commute should push it up to 10x10

...

I'm wondering whether to try and complete all of the Vale of White Horse for a first challenge -- I might take advantage of the dry conditions and get some squares along the ridgeway next; relatively rare chance for it to be accessible with 28mm tyres and low clearance mudguards!

...

Hi DrBru, I'm based in Abingdon.     I've been vv explorer-ing since end 2018, though logging rides since ~2014.  I've done some of the downs south of the Ridgeway on a 90s rigid frame MTB, but usually I'm on 28/32mm tyres.  Nice and dry at the moment.   I'm planning to finish Swindon area off soonish...  Current square:

vv25042021 by ao, on Flickr

Jonathan F's 100x100 can be useful for ideas for some harder to get squares, as it covers this area.

[citoyen]

Welcome to the madhouse 

+1

Also, this has given me an idea: if I only count tiles bagged since I started using Veloviewer, suddenly a lot more of my short, local rides would become more “meaningful”. And since I’m not getting a lot of opportunity to go out in longer rides right now, it might be a good source of motivation to get out on my bike.

Hmmmm...

[paddyirish]

Welcome @DrBru

I got another 8 tiles including 2 tricky off-road ones in the Ochils on a ride which netted me 8 new tiles, a cluster increase of 11 and also a max square increase to 17x17.  Getting the two water based tiles on the Loch Leven Paddling trip has given new impetus to max square growing  - can add a few more to that before being bound by the Forth and the Tay.  Will require some serious off road stuff in the Ochils in the NW corner and SUP in the Forth for the SE corner

[imajez]

The Ochlis look like they'll be fun/challenging.

[paddyirish]

The Ochlis look like they'll be fun/challenging.

They are - everyone heads past them on their way to the highlands, but they are a decent range in their own right- as high as 720 m.  However, roads are few and far between, and often very up and down with 20% slopes not uncommon. As a result, need to use a lot of tracks and tody a slog across moorland to bag tiles. Only saw 2 cars in a 2 and a half hour ride and the only cyclists started to appear 20 mins from the end.

[Solocle]

Big one yesterday, picked up 5 tiles near Shaftesbury:

Conveniently part of a ride from my new place to my parents' house, so a little over 40 miles (the most direct route is 25 and involves the unpleasant A350, so I went a mile along the trunk A31, then did the A350, but the calmer 30-40 limited section).
That took me from multiple 19x19 squares to a 23x23, and were the last tiles in that region of Dorset. Now my attention has to turn to the West. Although I'm literally living two miles away from 3 unclaimed tiles... those are Brownsea island.

[imajez]

They are - everyone heads past them on their way to the highlands, but they are a decent range in their own right- as high as 720 m.  However, roads are few and far between, and often very up and down with 20% slopes not uncommon. As a result, need to use a lot of tracks and tody a slog across moorland to bag tiles. Only saw 2 cars in a 2 and a half hour ride and the only cyclists started to appear 20 mins from the end.

At least there is a reasonable number of tracks.
Though one that caught my eye due to contour density made a 20% climb looks easy.

[IanN]

A change of jobs and the start point of most of my rides means I have some joining up to do...



This may involve hills

[imajez]

This may involve hills

No 'may' about it. 

[salar55]

Almost reached the east coast, the hill around the Carron valley and Fintry were a struggle . Max square now 31 and cluster is 1800+, Just Grangemouth and roundabout Skinfllats to fill in .

[paddyirish]

Carron Valley and Fintry currently blocking my cluster moving West.  Have reached Loch Venachar and have a plan to try to get to Inversnaid and Arrochar for a C2C cluster (On East have North Berwick and 1 short ride away from having St Andrews and Fife Ness).

Skinflats/Grangemouth is pretty straightforward - two tiles where you may need to walk off the road/path -  the tile just south of Kincardine Bridge which is useful if you want to head over into Fife/Clacks and the other is the one two tiles south of that one.

[salar55]

Carron Valley and Fintry currently blocking my cluster moving West.  Have reached Loch Venachar and have a plan to try to get to Inversnaid and Arrochar for a C2C cluster (On East have North Berwick and 1 short ride away from having St Andrews and Fife Ness).

Skinflats/Grangemouth is pretty straightforward - two tiles where you may need to walk off the road/path -  the tile just south of Kincardine Bridge which is useful if you want to head over into Fife/Clacks and the other is the one two tiles south of that one.

Have you managed to bag Flanders moss nature reserve, going to wait for a winter big freeze.

[DrBru]

Thanks for the welcome!
@paddyirish -- the ancestral pile is around the Forth (Dunfermline/Grangemouth). Hopefully I'll get some riding in around there sometime; planning a trip up next month, which will be the first time for nearly 18 months!
@andyoxon -- rather bizarrely, I ended up chatting to guy on a ride a month or so ago who asked if I "knew Andy from Abingdon, he's into audaxes" (he'd seen my AUK mudguard sticker) - I guess maybe he meant you!?!

[paddyirish]

Have you managed to bag Flanders moss nature reserve, going to wait for a winter big freeze. ;

Yes, is no problem at all and worth an explore beyond just grabbing the tile - good sculpture trail and a worthwhile climb of the tower to get a view around. In winter you'll miss all the fun with the resident adders

[andyoxon]

...
@andyoxon -- rather bizarrely, I ended up chatting to guy on a ride a month or so ago who asked if I "knew Andy from Abingdon, he's into audaxes" (he'd seen my AUK mudguard sticker) - I guess maybe he meant you!?!

I've only really done selected local calendar 200s/100s + DIYs, but they could have meant me...      

[Kamoshika]

I've never posted very much here, but have been planning rides around getting to new tiles for a while, mostly to make myself ride new roads rather than getting stuck in a rut of riding the same routes all the time. Had my first decent ride for ages at the weekend. Square up to 24x24, cluster 1164. It's getting to the stage where the rides need to be quite long to add any new tiles, and Dartmoor is a bit of a block to expanding in that direction. At the moment I'm working towards extending my cluster from the South coast up to the North - lots of gaps to fill in on Exmoor!

[salar55]

A hike or is it a bogfest catching the last 2 tiles in the Forth valley. Gives me another 8 for the cluster. A view from the tower

[citoyen]

This is so annoying!

I took the dog for a walk along the seafront this morning, and since the tide was right out, I took the opportunity to go out along The Street, a natural shingle spit that is uncovered at low tide (see pics below). Had an inkling that if I went out far enough, there could be a tile in it for me, so I fired up Strava on my phone...


Screenshot 2021-04-28 at 11.22.01 by citoyen, on Flickr

Aaaaaarrrrrrggghhhh!!!

If only I'd had different footwear on - the shoes I was wearing were most definitely not suitable for getting wet, otherwise I could have gone out about another 30-40 metres, at least.


View from the Street by citoyen, on Flickr


The Street, from the shore by citoyen, on Flickr

[andyoxon]

    These days when I reach end of a tile bagging 'spur', I double check I've crossed the grid boundary using the explorer helper for VV app.

[citoyen]

explorer helper for VV app.

Not available for iPhone, unfortunately. 

Either way, I would have had to get very wet to bag the tile. But fortunately it's local so I can in theory go back and get it any time I like - just need to keep an eye on tide times and remember to wear wellies. Today was a perfect opportunity though, as it was clearly a very low tide (it doesn't always go out that far).