Author Topic: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?  (Read 152861 times)

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #525 on: 08 February, 2019, 08:34:47 am »
Looking to do a 200km DIY this Saturday in Lincolnshire.
Frequent Audax and bike ride videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/djrikki2008/videos

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #526 on: 08 February, 2019, 12:05:35 pm »
Can you do 200km in a straight line?  Choose the right direction and you will probably fall foul of the 30kmh rule.

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #527 on: 08 February, 2019, 06:28:16 pm »
It's been a hard days night, said Socks, carefully climbing off his steed.

You must have been there Matt   🙂
Sunshine approaching from the South.

First time in 1,000 years.

halhorner

  • Cycling Weakly
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #528 on: 09 February, 2019, 11:00:47 pm »
Malborough Connection 200, from Woodstock. Really nice route - N Wessex / Marlborough Downs + Cotswolds. The Downland sections felt tough today due to quite strong head and cross winds, as well as some squally rain/hail storms. That, plus lingering a little too long in the control cafes, plus 3 visitations resulted in a slow round even by my standards (13 hours elapsed). Nice day out on the bike nonetheless and good to get some miles in the legs. Thank you Iddu for keeping it going (would make a great calendar event too  :))

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #529 on: 11 February, 2019, 09:30:11 pm »
My Saturday DIY didn't happen, instead I went out on Sunday which was a much drier, safer day to travel on two wheels and with it being so calm I decided to take my GoPro along with me for some action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUqHqRormxo
Frequent Audax and bike ride videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/djrikki2008/videos

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #530 on: 15 February, 2019, 06:13:50 pm »
Yet another 200 DIY in the Vale of York.

Planned a route that mostly stuck to the lanes and that was almost my undoing as there was quite a bit of ice about as I left Darlo. I was heading South East and suddenly realised why today's earworm was 'Destination Venus' as Venus guided me down to Neasham. Went carefully until it was fully light and I could then see and avoid the worst patches of ice which were mostly in the gutters anyway.

Had a cracking creature feature near Scorton when a Barn Owl crossed in front of me and then accompanied me for half a mile as it covered the roadside ditch for voles.

Breakfast was taken at a roadside stile near Yafforth - a glug from the bottle and a couple of hot cross buns from the saddlebag. This was going to be a no faff ride.

The next entertainment was provided by the RAF. A flight of 8 or 9 single seat trainers were practising formation flying. The first time I saw them they were all together and didn't look like any of them would be troubling the Red Arrows. The second time I saw them they were down to a formation of four. They came over low, straight and perfectly steady. Very impressive.

There had been a rising Southerly wind all morning and once I got to the turning point at Beninborough I had it on my back pretty much the whole way home. Stopped at the Coop in Northallerton for some flapjack and then scooted back up to Darlo and walked straight onto a train home.  :) Catching an early train meant no beer though.  :(
Hear all, see all, say nowt

bairn again

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #531 on: 16 February, 2019, 10:07:31 pm »
Rode a DIY that doubled as a route check of the 1st bit of the Auld Alliance.

I was looking forward to dry weather as forecast and a SW wind which would help me after Dunblane c 70k. 

It was overcast leaving Haymarket in Edinburgh and I was enjoying the old school feel of having a hard copy routesheet on my bike.

It got darker and darker as I approached Kirkliston and heavy rain soon started.  Id believed the forecast and while I always carry a jacket Id not brought overshoes and my feet were soon cold and wet.

The rain didnt let up and my routesheet was getting soggy and my glasses misty.  Im recovering from a cold and thought about chucking it but Id made OK time to Causewayhead about 65k and decided to have breakfast first.  It dried out so I pressed on past the point of no return (Dunblane railway station) and started to benefit from the tailwind.

I passed (I think) @fifeingeejit with another rider (Robbie?) at Gleneagles and the sun even came out on the road to Dunning.

Usual shit driving in Perth (one close pass saw a driver with their off side tyres fully inside a 2 foot wide cycle lane all because of oncoming traffic on the A94 was a standstill) which meant I stopped at Scone for a minor refill and decided to get off the A94 even though that's the route for the Auld Alliance (where its a night section Id add). 

I was scudding along with the tailwind now and I figured that from Kinrossie 130km I covered the next 25km in an hour.  The Bogside Rd is lumpier so I slowed up a bit and contemplated a coffee at McDs in Forfar but decided to press on knowing Ive covered the 30km to Montrose in an hour before now.  I had to stop about 15km from the finish to top up with a remaining Star Bar and rolled into Montrose in a little over 9 hrs.

Grand day out and a few tweaks to the first 200 of the Auld Alliance.  Pics on twitter @graeme_wyllie

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #532 on: 16 February, 2019, 11:03:30 pm »
It was indeed iroromono and myself riding the wrong way for the wind conditions.

Recognized you about 2 seconds too late.

Will write a DIY report next week as there's the small matter of ECEing the tour of East Lothian tomorrow... Assuming I've got the energy to get round it at BR pace...

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk


Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #533 on: 16 February, 2019, 11:11:54 pm »
Today's effort was a well-ventilated pootle down into the wilds of Angus. More tile bagging meant lots of new roads :-) The first 100k was a bit of a slog into a headwind, but I got the benefit of a tailie on the return. Mild. There was nice sunrise on the way to Stonehaven. Lunch was taken at Corn Kist.

Heard: skylarks and woodpeckers. Seen: a kestrel, geese, quite a few roe deer, loadsa buzzards (including 3 lined up across a field stalking worms) and 3 red kites near Fettercairn.

11/12 done of this nonsense.





IMG_2493_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr


IMG_2495_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #534 on: 18 February, 2019, 12:57:49 pm »
With the Tour of East Lothian running on Sunday there was nothing else for it but to get a second 200 in for the month on Saturday.
It took a bit of clicking on Google Maps and RWGPS to figure out how to get to Musselburgh from Dundee without being either 2km under or 20km over distance, eventually settling on what should have been an easy route...

Met Iroromono in front of the RRS Discovery and within 2km we'd stopped for a rest at the roll carriage at the end of the esplanade to kill our average speed (If I'd thought about it in advance I could have used this as the start point).
Not to worry the Carse of Gowrie is great for getting speed up as it's the only extensively flat bit of ground in the area, except being a vast expanse of flat in an otherwise steeply sided river valley it's also a nightmare when there's a 30kmh South Westerly blowing.  The shelter of the Balthayock was welcome for once and we were soon getting the views over Perth the climb rewards you with.

Perth was largely uneventful and we took to Necessity Brae and wished we had those horses to help but at least it's sheltered from that wind.  Strathearn was exposed and we struggled into Dunning where we got some shelter from the Ochils, plans for a relaxed lunch in Auchterarder were scrapped in favour of bouncing the Co-Op.

Took me a couple of seconds to clock Bairn Again through Gleneagles village (which isn't in Gleann na h-Eaglais at all, and someone needs to point out to the incomers that it means Glen of the Chapels, nothing to do with Iloaire).  Back out in to open at the top we took the Auchinlay road to get round Dunblane, not sure if it is faster than the convoluted route through the 1 way system or not.

The ride into Doune wasn't too bad at least, and we stopped at the Spar for a quick snack and water top up before heading down the A84 which was thankfully relativley quiet to the Kippen turn off where the road ramped up, this was meant to be the "hard bit" of the ride but it didn't seem too bad in comparison.
A bit of respite on the descent into Fintry (much nicer looking than the Fintry in Dundee) and then it was the "Highlite" of the ride, the Climb over to Lennoxtown on the Crow where we hard our arses handed to us by:
Someone doing hill repeats on a commuter
Two mountain bikers
and a Squirrel

The top was a major relief as we knew we "should" get a tail wind through to Musselburgh after the Gravity assistance down to Lennoxtown, right enough we got a good shove along through Kilsyth and Bonybridge before deciding that having meddled with a deil of a headwind all day we'd visit the Kelpies in Falkirk.  I had thought we'd be here about 2 hours earlier than we were, but we also managed to be early for the CafĂ© opening... by a month and a half.

Boring flat route from now through Grangemouth and then Borrowstounness  before climbing up to the back of South Queensferry.
Almost took the A8000 by mistake but corrected it and shot through Edinburgh on the old railway lines with a couple of wrong turns in Drylaw (where we also went wrong on the return ECE) before the blast through Leith and onto the Portobello Prom and the ride into Musselburgh, much later than either planned or expected.

Survived the TOEL getting in with not much BR pace to spare before repeating the blast back through Edinburgh into the wind and getting a great shove through Fife.

TTEL: https://www.strava.com/activities/2154034950
TOEL + ECE: https://www.strava.com/activities/2156780135

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #535 on: 22 February, 2019, 08:50:53 am »
First 300km of 2019 planned for Saturday, it'll be my first "Winter" 300km ride in contrary to the late-Spring like weather looking to prevail this weekend.

Blue skies, plenty of sunshine forecast, leg and arm warmers coming off mid-morning - what more could we ask for at this time of year?
Frequent Audax and bike ride videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/djrikki2008/videos

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #536 on: 22 February, 2019, 11:40:08 am »
First 300km of 2019 planned for Saturday, it'll be my first "Winter" 300km ride in contrary to the late-Spring like weather looking to prevail this weekend.

Blue skies, plenty of sunshine forecast, leg and arm warmers coming off mid-morning - what more could we ask for at this time of year?

Similar plans for FifeingEejit and me on Saturday. We'll be takling Eck's Snow Road 300 Perm starting in Banchory. Looks like the Wind will be quite interesting for our Southbound Trip over the Lecht!
This is part of our attempt of an SR series of classic Scottish Perms before the Calendar Events start thick and fast.

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #537 on: 22 February, 2019, 09:39:05 pm »
Short video showing the route I'll be taking through Lincolnshire and the Wolds.

https://youtu.be/DZwFSQpRCaQ
Frequent Audax and bike ride videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/djrikki2008/videos

bhoot

  • MemSec (ex-Mrs RRtY)
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #538 on: 24 February, 2019, 11:59:05 am »
Having missed Wye Wednesday due to work commitments, we decided to DIY into Kent yesterday, rather than our normal Essex terrain. Start point was Greenwich, first control over the hills at Edenbridge via mostly main roads. Not too much traffic due to 06.15 but lots of fog around. A brief glance of sunshine on the top of the Greensand ridge was followed by more fog as we swooped down to the valley. The second leg was following the "golden corridor" for flatlanders along via Hildenborough, East Peckham, Marden to control at Headcorn. Around Marden the fog finally retreated and at the next stop I reduced to summer plumage....sadly I hadn't chosen sandals, otherwise it would have been the first February sockless day I think! Fhoot however stuck doggedly to his woolly hat and winter gloves.
We headed next for the seaside at Dymchurch for a picnic on the sea wall. A slightly chilly south easterly onshore breeze prompted us not to stay for too long but to turn back, with the wind now nicely behind us. So it was a fast (by our standards) ride back via Bethersden and Marden to our penultimate control at East Peckham Petrol Station/Coop (well equipped for audaxers with a picnic bench outside). On the last short 20km leg we left the flatness behind to climb up via Plaxtol and Ightham Mote and then descend to the finish at Otford, chosen for the likelihood of sneaking the tandem on a London bound train and so avoiding the drag back in through the traffic and over the hills. That gamble paid off well with plenty of space on a Thameslink train to Catford, and then just a short ride home.
It must have been the warmest February ride I have ever done....

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #539 on: 24 February, 2019, 12:31:19 pm »
Rode the Snow Roads yesterday with Iroromono, not much snow but plenty of wind.

Started at Banchory just after 8am and made reasonable pace to Oyne and Rhynie but the Cabrach showed the previous weekends efforts were still hurting.
Still decent timing at Dufftown so took the chance for a decent lunch break at the Coffee Pot.

The wind hit us on the drag to the lecht turn with our average speed Continuing to plunge the possibility of turning left at Crathie played on my mind.

The Lecht beat me at the same point last summer but the driver behind was a bit more forgiving this time. Surprisingly the descent was sheltered from the wind and we were ready for the BHs.

The sunset as we crossed the gairnshiel bridge and the sky was glowing red. Sadly by the time we were at the summit the fire glow was gone.

Into Braemar and knowing we would likely miss the shops in Kirrie took a reasonable pause to eat before the drag to cairnwell pass.

A mountain hair in its winter white bounded across the road in front of me, it's white hair exposing it to the predators circling in the dark.

The road in glen shea is never as flat or descending as you'd like and Glen isla is the same, pressing on in the darkness a column of fire rose from a garden bonfire and cows stared at us from lit barns while frogs hopped across the road in front of us.

We rolled into Kirrie too late for the knowhead shops so we had little choice but to descend into the town centre, unfortunately we'd missed the town centre shops by minutes so a tour of the cash machines to find the one with receipt paper.

A sharp climb up the roods took us up to Northmuir where we skimmed along to Edzell on roads in sure weren't this lumpy back in May.

We stopped there for a rest and a few minutes snooze before continuing through the Royal arch in my gran's birthplace of Fettercairn.

The first ramp up from clatterin brig beat me within a few meters, and it was a stop start climb to the summit.

Mist down over Angus meant we didn't get the normal amazing night views across to Edinburgh.  The climbs on the plateau hit harder than normal and after crossing the bridge of dye the sharp climb out beat me again.

I missed the AA box for the dark but the lights of Strachan were glimmering ahead. The last drag into Banchory was a major relief and climbed past the car to reach the atm we started at just after 3am.

Detoured to a 24hr McDonald's before collapsing in bed around 5am.

Ow...

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Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #540 on: 24 February, 2019, 02:58:56 pm »
Completed my 300km ride on Saturday around Lincolnshire.

Weather was really good as expected, what I didn't expect was the fog to linger around for so long which held the temperatures back until gone 1 in the afternoon.  After that it was gorgeous.

My home work paid off with a nice tail wind for much of the way back from Boston to Cleethorpes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZpQPFm7XLM
Frequent Audax and bike ride videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/djrikki2008/videos

bairn again

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #541 on: 24 February, 2019, 10:12:05 pm »
Rode the Snow Roads yesterday with Iroromono, not much snow but plenty of wind.

..........Detoured to a 24hr McDonald's before collapsing in bed around 5am.



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top effort  :thumbsup:

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #542 on: 24 February, 2019, 11:40:30 pm »
Rode the Snow Roads yesterday with Iroromono, not much snow but plenty of wind.

..........Detoured to a 24hr McDonald's before collapsing in bed around 5am.



Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk
top effort  :thumbsup:

+1  :)

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #543 on: 26 February, 2019, 12:10:08 am »
Thanks, it possibly marks the start of an RRTY attempt, however I don't think I'll be using it for a February 2020 finish of that.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #544 on: 09 March, 2019, 09:05:49 pm »
Iroromono and I attempted the Central Scotland 300 perm starting at Auchterarder last night; made it to Innerleithn via a hairy ride over the Forth Bridge, a long stop at McDonalds, a similarly long stop to try and extract a sliver of metal from my tyre and reinflate,  and then while climbing down the Granites into Innerleithen we decided that was as far as we were going with it.
A first DNF for both of us.

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #545 on: 10 March, 2019, 11:17:49 am »
... and then while climbing down the Granites....

Good turn of phrase for how tough descents can be  :)  :thumbsup:

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #546 on: 10 March, 2019, 11:58:09 am »
A sunny, chilly, well-ventilated pootle out to Braemar. The forecast wind wasn't apparent until the descent to Ballater where it was like hitting a brick wall. Second breakfast was taken at Bean for Coffee :P. The slog to Braemar, including the longest-nine-miles-in-Scotland section from Crathie, was thankfully somewhat protected by the trees. The lady in the Co-Op asked me if I wanted a receipt after asking me where I was going and where I'd come from. She's done this before! After the turnaround I had 110km of tailie back home via Tarland and Queen's View :-)

Spotted: dead badger, dead fox, bullfinch, partridge, roe deer, geese, buzzard, fieldfares and other thrushes, red kite. Heard: skylarks, yellowhammer, drumming woodpecker.

That's the RRTY completed, subject to validation. That's another on of those "I don't have to do that again" things done :-)





IMG_2524_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr


IMG_2527_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #547 on: 06 April, 2019, 09:23:17 pm »
Fboab's got us doing some tour of the Thatchered Coalfields of Co Durham or somesuch. 
He was so enthused by the prospect he stayed home, the git, leaving me to haul my lardy arse solo through the terrifying shell towns of the former coalfields.
If I'd paid more attention in geography (C at A Level) I'd probably have worked out that former coalfields are relentlessly hilly, but I didn't, and RWGPS said there was only 1600m of climbing1 largely in a big fat Woodland Fell from Hamsterley.


The slog up from the Wear at Witton was enlivened by a steady stream of cars laden with MTB, and somewhere on another forum a MTB-er is retelling how he stopped during a descent for a fat bird who said 'back' when he asked what was wrong- only to discover it was the body part, not the wheel.

Luvverly Lunch at the Country Tea Shop was followed rather too soon by a frankly moronic route choice Dent Gate /Penny Hill to Copley. From there through more terrifying empty shell towns (I'm looking at you: Shildon, where even the under 10 in the shop looked at me like she was going to Take Me Out, an array of pikey pony&traps outside Tindale WMC (see 'terror' above as to Why No Pictures) and finally the easy bit home.

New squares and a tiny cluster increase. First solo DIY actually completed since waaaaaaay back in 2016.

1: It lied

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #548 on: 06 April, 2019, 09:39:38 pm »
Bam!

Great photos, fboab.  :thumbsup:
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Have you been out today on a Perm or DIY?
« Reply #549 on: 07 April, 2019, 09:50:43 am »
That's a tough route fboab but the countryside round there is beautiful now the pits have gone.

Daughter teaches in one of those former mining towns. They recently had to call the police to subdue a ten year old who, amongst other things, had thrown a chair at a teacher.
Hear all, see all, say nowt