Author Topic: Have you been out today?  (Read 3814130 times)

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

  • Miles eaten don't satisfy hunger
  • Chartered accountant in 5 different decades
    • CET Ride Reports and Blogs
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24075 on: 15 November, 2020, 02:03:20 pm »
Aimed to do 100 miles without leaving the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane today but failed.  Started really early under lights and managed to beat the first band of rain, which was rather biblical and made navigating the hills to e south of Basingstoke entertaining.  Too entertaining.  Just as it was getting light, the rear tyre went flat.  I couldn't find a culprit but the tyre carcass seemed sound and carried on.  The second band of rain was forecast to be heavier than the first but was fortunately not.  There were plenty of flooded sections and enough gravel on the roads to start a building site. 

Just as I could see the blue sky of the promised weather window in the west, the rear tyre went flat again.  This time the culprit was easy to find, a piece of flint you could sell to a museum as a stone-age tool.  In one way that was comforting, but I'd now used up my two spare tubes and still had over 40 miles of flinty lanes to go.  Wisdom prevailed and I head on the B-road back from Whitchurch to Basingstoke.  I'd get home on just over 70 miles.  But there was a feeling of unfinished business, I'd got out at 5am with a pass to do 100 miles and didn't really want to cash that in for 70, despite the attraction of a coffee and a hot bath.  Back in Basingstoke I went along the southern ring road and up the hill on the A30 towards Hook.  A few random circuits in the sunshine brought the ton up, but it did mean that I strayed out of Basingstoke and Deane into Hart District (as my house is quite close to the eastern side of the Borough).
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24076 on: 18 November, 2020, 01:22:27 pm »
been mostly running and commuting but today got out for an hour.  Was going to do hill repeats but decided just meander my way round the countryside.  Overtook lots of cyclists which was good for my ego but then they were mostly in full touring setup and i was on the fast bike.

Roads had less muck on them than a week ago and the rain held off although the wind made some of the riding interesting.

Only 30km but a lovely ride on my day off.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24077 on: 18 November, 2020, 01:35:08 pm »
I was going to go this afternoon so I had pasta for lunch, then a pear, then a couple of espressos, then I took the dogs out for 10 minutes and came in again to find a cup of tea waiting...  mañana.

@chris would love to meander, but at 135€ for a first offence it's a bit steep and penalties soar for repeat offences, culminating with kiloeuros and 6 months in clink.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24078 on: 18 November, 2020, 04:56:30 pm »
I was probably no more than 10km from home at any one time and for most of the time less. I just kept taking different roads to normal.

I have not done a real long ride for so long I have almost forgotten what it is like.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24079 on: 18 November, 2020, 05:11:48 pm »
10 km would be wonderful.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24080 on: 19 November, 2020, 03:56:32 pm »
Just back from an exhilarating 5km on MrsT's long-neglected trail bike, into the next village to pick up my meds and a few bits from the tiny supermarket there.  As an added bonus I was in civvies, the cycle track was a-swim in things bucolic and I got soaked on the way back.  It was great.

I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24081 on: 20 November, 2020, 01:56:34 pm »
Had to drop the car off for its service first thing this morning. This gave me an excuse to ride my bike on a school day. Also a chance to try out the bike carrier a friend has kindly donated - which I finally got round to figuring out how to fit yesterday afternoon.

I took the singlespeed CX bike, partly because it is currently fitted with flat pedals and I couldn't be bothered either changing the pedals on any other bike or wearing special shoes, and partly because it's just a nice, fun bike to ride. In fact, since I've hardly ridden it this year, I'd forgotten just how much fun it is to ride. And since I gave it a bit of an overhaul in the summer, it's currently running beautifully smoothly - and absolutely silently too.

Nice way to start the day. And I get to ride it again when I go and pick up the car later.  :thumbsup:
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24082 on: 21 November, 2020, 09:54:03 pm »
Amazingly, I have been out today for no purpose other than I could. It must be my first ride for ride's sake since at least early October if not September. Anyway, I wanted to go out in the morning with my new! shiny! finest! Lancashire! luggage! partly because it was forecast to rain in the afternoon. Forecast was wrong, it drizzled all day. I was glad to have my waterproof jacket with me not so much to keep me dry but to keep me warm; temperature was high for November but the drizzle was chilly. Anyway, three observations: skog everywhere; yegods I'm unfit! puffing up Coxgrove hill (which is tiny) despite the granny ring; and for the first time since March I'm really missing cafes. In the spring and summer, I'd pack a flask and lunch, which I'd eat sprawled in a field somewhere in the sunshine. But today I really wanted a sit down with a nice hot cuppa.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24083 on: 21 November, 2020, 10:06:01 pm »
Met my sister for a ride today - we met in Bishop Auckland, and I suggested the Costa, after checking it was open. Well, not only was it open, but it looked like the whole retail park was open, and it was chocka. I haven’t been anywhere recently apart from out on my bike or to the local shops, and it felt weird.

Anyway, once out of town and onto the tracks, we had a great ride up through Hamsterley Forest (hiding from the wind in the trees) to the top of Bollihope and back via Egglestone, Woolley Hills, Steele Road and the Gaunless Valley Line.

I have said this before (and elsewhere), but Teesdale is just the best place.


Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24084 on: 21 November, 2020, 10:18:48 pm »
Great photo Deano, and you had much better weather than here. But it reminds me of an odd thing that struck me today; if it's dull and drizzly to the extent that some riders feel the need for daytime lights, than why do those same riders also have sunglasses on?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24085 on: 21 November, 2020, 10:21:47 pm »
Yes. Me and my mate rode to Oxford for a biryani

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24086 on: 22 November, 2020, 03:08:02 pm »
Went out for 100km, little loop on my own, met up with a mate, did a bigger loop inc. Winnats Pass, then did another little loop close to home to round it up.

Forecast said it was 0% chance of rain, it rained for the 1st hour and was mostly fine for the remaining 4 hours.

The verges/roads were littered with parked cars near footpath and bridleway heads, a lot of hikers and MTBers out for the time of year.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24087 on: 22 November, 2020, 03:21:35 pm »
Great photo Deano

+1

A chilly loop of the campsies on the tandem.  But we both enjoyed getting out, and not least the roll & sq sausage from The Hatch in Killearn.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24088 on: 22 November, 2020, 03:30:13 pm »
A loop down to Mickleham and back. Shockingly, that was first outing on a bike in about four weeks. God I'm unfit.
Rust never sleeps

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24089 on: 22 November, 2020, 04:07:42 pm »
As I've been doing three or four times a week lately, I banged around inside the 1hr/1km lockdown envelope again. Mud, dogs, pedestrians, horses.  The best climb takes a whole 6 minutes.  Time was I'd have done it in three.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24090 on: 22 November, 2020, 04:34:52 pm »
Another round of my 20 mile circuit. Temp averaged 7C. I saw two people in shorts and another in a T-shirt. I really am a nesh southerner!
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24091 on: 22 November, 2020, 07:13:58 pm »
Dintion pastures and back with bjorn notp. Lots of cyclists out today. I was riding the sun ez3 very slowly as I had only 3 hours sleep last night  ::-)
the slower you go the more you see

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24092 on: 22 November, 2020, 10:15:49 pm »
45km in 2 and a bit hours, out to Upper Dicker and back. It felt like late autumn, and my feet were cold by the time I got back. My bum ached before that, through a mix of fast (for me) and a distinct lack of riding.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24093 on: 23 November, 2020, 12:00:30 am »
Great photo Deano

+1

A chilly loop of the campsies on the tandem.  But we both enjoyed getting out, and not least the roll & sq sausage from The Hatch in Killearn.
Hud oan.
Roll And sausage?

That's suspiciously east coast logic.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk


Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24094 on: 23 November, 2020, 07:29:51 pm »
Great photo Deano

+1

A chilly loop of the campsies on the tandem.  But we both enjoyed getting out, and not least the roll & sq sausage from The Hatch in Killearn.
Hud oan.
Roll And sausage?

That's suspiciously east coast logic.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

Surely not. The first time I heard the construction “roll and sausage/cheese/bacon” was when I worked in Weir Pumps in Glasgow in the late ‘70’s.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24095 on: 26 November, 2020, 09:07:35 pm »
About 30 miles, mostly in the dark, cold and fog.  Lots of other cyclists out in the lanes around Lechlade.  Very thick fog on the Kempsford-Hannington road and a superb moon.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24096 on: 26 November, 2020, 11:12:59 pm »
every outing i do on a vintage bike it gets something upgraded (the most awkward/annoying part), i'm pretty certain at this rate only the frameset will remain unchanged :)

it fits me well, rides quite nice though and after i swap the saddle out, it'll be under 9kg - acceptable for a steel bike.


FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24097 on: 26 November, 2020, 11:51:41 pm »
Great photo Deano

+1

A chilly loop of the campsies on the tandem.  But we both enjoyed getting out, and not least the roll & sq sausage from The Hatch in Killearn.
Hud oan.
Roll And sausage?

That's suspiciously east coast logic.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

Surely not. The first time I heard the construction “roll and sausage/cheese/bacon” was when I worked in Weir Pumps in Glasgow in the late ‘70’s.
The weegie is Roll ON sausage, totally nonsensical.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk


Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24098 on: 27 November, 2020, 08:52:49 am »
A chilly loop of the campsies on the tandem.  But we both enjoyed getting out, and not least the roll & sq sausage from The Hatch in Killearn.
Hud oan.
Roll And sausage?

That's suspiciously east coast logic.
[/quote]
Surely not. The first time I heard the construction “roll and sausage/cheese/bacon” was when I worked in Weir Pumps in Glasgow in the late ‘70’s.
[/quote]The weegie is Roll ON sausage, totally nonsensical.
[/quote]

Not just Weegie, surely. As a native Fifer, I can still enjoy a piece on jam.

Snakehips

  • Twixt London and leafy Surrey
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #24099 on: 27 November, 2020, 04:07:04 pm »
I planned to do a 20 miler in Richmond Park to bring up the 100 miles for the week and 500 miles for the month. Unfortunately I got a bad case of the  Raynaud's before I had even got the bike out, so I had to make do with an extremely painful 10 miles round the local streets. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur?