Author Topic: Have you been out today?  (Read 3813822 times)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25350 on: 28 July, 2022, 04:57:08 pm »
It was a bit like the old days. It's Thursday and I got on a train to Wickford and had a bike ride. 66k approximately, involving 11ses (choc/fruit flapjack & coffee) at Paper Mill Lock and then an enjoyable 6 miles or so COR along the Chelmer towards Maldon.

I recalled that there was an annoying kissing gate to be negotiated at Hoe Mill so intended to take the bridleway shown on the OS map involving a footbridge north to Bumfords Lane. What I have never previously spotted was that there are steps approaching this bridge and then a bar across, the only purpose of which seems to be to make life difficult for equestrians and cyclists, all of whom have a right of way across the bridge. http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=579033&Y=209340&A=Y&Z=115 refers. I carried on and when I reached the road at Ulting I decided to take the bags off my bike and lift it over the fence - not that easy when the bike weighs about 30kg and the fence is chest high. My weight training seems to have helped as I managed it with less difficulty than I expected.

I considered stopping for a skinny dip between Ulting and Maldon as the water looked clear and inviting. There were few people on that stretch compared to the relative multitudes around Paper Mill Lock but there were enough pedestrians, cyclists, canoeists and paddle boarders to make me feel uneasy about having my swim, so I didn't. I would have been constantly worried that someone would turn up just as I was emerging in all my glory. It would have been a slightly different matter had I had a companion as they could have kept an eye open for anyone approaching and I could just have remained in the water until the coast was clear.

I arrived at at the Queen's Head in Maldon at lunch time - how fortuitous! I ordered fish and chips and a pint of Broadside, and was told that there would be a 45 minute wait for food. "No problem", I thought to myself, "I can have a pint of Brewers Gold as a follow up." Imagine my disappointment when my dinner arrived after only about 15 minutes and I was just half-way through my pint!

There were two other cyclists at the pub, with heavily laden tourers with what appeared to be camping gear. One bike was a Koga Miyata, not sure about the others. Both had Ortlieb panniers and my guess was that the two ladies were Dutch tourists either just off the ferry or heading for Harwich. I thought about having a chat with them, but they were sitting well away from me and in the end I decided not to disturb their lunch.

I then had to decide whether to return to Wickford or head for Burnham and get the ferry across to Wallasea Island. In the end I chose Wickford as I had bought a return ticket and the ferry would have set me back £7 - £5 for me and £2 for the bike. It would also have meant that I would either have had to ride up Sutton Road, which I hate, or find some convoluted alternative. I arrived home shortly before 4pm.

The rolling stock on the Southend Victoria line has been upgraded. There are two carriages with signs indicating that they take bicycles, and there's an array of tip-up seats where the bikes go, and 4 different seatbelt type webbing straps to hold the bikes in place. All rather good, and a considerable improvement on what happened with the older rolling stock. No substitute for a guard's van though.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25351 on: 28 July, 2022, 05:20:21 pm »
Nice on Baggers!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25352 on: 30 July, 2022, 08:26:54 am »
Yesterday, a pleasant 150k involving pâtisseries of course, plus a 30k stretch of canal towpath and a couple of decent climbs.  Started out tired, but a coffee/cheesecake stop at ~40k brought me back to life, and thereafter the 30k of towpath straight into quite a strong wind went by with no real trouble other than that I needed the motor against the wind - usually I don't.  Lunch in Lutzelbourg (chicken & salad sandwich with cumin) was a non-stop battle with persistent wasps, one of them even crawling into the end of my sandwich at one point.  I won.  Despite the wasps and a couple of smokers upwind of me, Lutzelbourg is a pleasant place to stop:


(old pic but it doesn't change much)

The homeward trog was agreeable, with a couple of fast twisty downhills, another pâtisserie stop (don't need Audax stamps these days but the habit is hard to kill) and that hefty wind helping on the last 40k or so.

Somewhat knackered today, though not as much as I would have been without the motor.  Which means, or course, that this morning I'm back to sanding the wood for our $&/()= barn door again. Bleh.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25353 on: 30 July, 2022, 10:14:17 pm »
I cycled to the sea front and had a swim, and then had a second ride when I went round my favourite loop, but on the spur of the moment decided to avoid the sea front route back, and pretty much retraced my steps.

Possibly TMI for some, but since the really hot weather I have been wearing just a pair of rugby shorts for cycling. I have had no saddle soreness at all, despite just having one layer of reasonably stout cotton between me and my Brooks, and the ventilation around the gonads is welcome indeed.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25354 on: 31 July, 2022, 02:21:31 pm »
62k toddle, mainly to round out my month's total to 1000 km, for the first time since 2015.  Coffee pause at 25k was pleasant: had a chocolate muffin and watched a pair of storks wheeling in the sky while two dogs and a cat played together in a garden across the road.  Continued via Oberbronn, a nondescript village at the top of a hefty hill that still retains its 19th-century cobbles (that pedants would probably call "sets", stuff'em). Word to the wise: timeo lapides viarum et squitteres habeas*. Continued via a steep downhill to Niederbronn, a pricey hole that sports its very own casino where glittering low-life foregather to squander their kickbacks. It does have a lovely redwood in the middle, though, so we'll forgive it.  Came back via the 1870 battlefield, which has a lot of elaborate Prussian monuments and a few muted French ones:



Note with pic: After the battle, the Prussians conscripted local folk to clear the land. French and German were buried together.  Later, the land was returned to the farmers.  Behind this cross is a house, built over the old gravesite, estimated to hold 40 bodies.

Legs feel a bit over-cooked now, doubt if I'll be moving much more today.

* or thereabouts. Gave up Latin 61 years ago.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25355 on: 01 August, 2022, 03:35:43 pm »
I did what used to be my regular Monday ride to meet Mrs M at the gym.
Regular that is, until life went a bit strange.

The plan has always been she goes to her classes, I ride there, get some proper exercise, and then I put the bike on the back of the car and drive home.

Not being ride-fit I did my 1 hour route (expecting 75 minutes) and got to the car within the hour. Bonus! (It may have been that I was showing my knees to the world)

There were a couple of mad HGVs on the A47 (no change there) but the lanes were lovely and quiet.

Back at the car, with its new towbar (new car too)..... It seems that a 7 to 13 pin converter for the lightbar, isn't the same as a 13 pin to 7 pin converter. Duh.
Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25356 on: 01 August, 2022, 09:02:20 pm »
Very picturesque, if somewhat hilly route from my holiday accommodation in Bishops Nympton up onto Exmoor and down to the tearooms in Withypool before returning via a different but equally undulating route.  Almost 1000m ascent in 41km of riding.  My Essex boy legs aren’t used to that or the short stretches of 20%+.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25357 on: 01 August, 2022, 09:38:30 pm »
Four times!

1: about 8km to my stoutness exercises.

2: to B & Q for wood filler - 4km approx

3: to the beach for a swim - not sure how far. Probably about 10km

4: a pleasant loop round Barling bringing the total to just over 40km.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25358 on: 02 August, 2022, 08:33:22 am »
Just down to the trading estate to halfords to get a new inner tube for the tricon gr. Not  got a puncture Just want to carry a spare  :).  About 4 miles  :)
the slower you go the more you see

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25359 on: 02 August, 2022, 07:37:57 pm »
local 40km loop on the Faran at lunchtime, average speed on the outleg, mostly into wind was 26.5, return leg with moslty following wind was 31.2 average.  That wind was getting a bit interesting.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

velosam

  • '.....you used to be an apple on a stick.'
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25360 on: 02 August, 2022, 08:11:11 pm »
For,the first time in nearly 2.5 years rode my full sized bicycle through the woods. Was still stuck in the wrong gear but it was just nice to be able to ride again

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25361 on: 02 August, 2022, 10:12:19 pm »
A potter though dachtet and Wraysbury to staines then along the bridleway to poyle and back via horten 12 miles  :)
the slower you go the more you see

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25362 on: 03 August, 2022, 12:06:04 pm »
Another >40k yesterday, starting just before sunset. Quite a bit of off-road, but not especially comedic. At one point, as I was heading east along the Prittle Brook Greenway, a bloke cycling the other way was going far too fast and skidded fairly noisily when he braked in order to avoid colliding with me. Given that at that point the path is bendy, only a couple of metres wide, has a fairly deep drop into the water on one side and a high hedge on the other, I reckon anything in excess of 12mph is too much. I reckon he must have been doing about 20mph.

But it's a very agreeable time of day to go cycling. I just love balmy summer evenings for bike rides.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25363 on: 03 August, 2022, 05:49:03 pm »
<snip>
 and I think I saw a bird of prey circling but I couldn't make out what it was.
<snip>
Buzzard ? There's quite a few of them along there. Was it making squeaky noises ?
Rust never sleeps

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25364 on: 04 August, 2022, 07:21:48 am »
A whole 5k on MrsT's old trail bike to buy ice cream.  It was 33° and I was in civvies, got home with the sweat rolling off.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25365 on: 04 August, 2022, 11:11:37 am »
<snip>
 and I think I saw a bird of prey circling but I couldn't make out what it was.
<snip>
Buzzard ? There's quite a few of them along there. Was it making squeaky noises ?

"Wheee" = Buzzard "WheeEeeEee" = Red Kite
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25366 on: 04 August, 2022, 07:55:43 pm »
I went out yesterday, and came back today. I joined the MEMW crowd at their convention at the Swan, Little Totham. It's years since I've been there - I'm not sure, but I think that Auntie H and I had lunch there once on one of our Thursday sojourns before she moved to Deutschland.

I caught a train from Prittlewell, changed at Shenfield and alighted at Witham around 9pm, and then the satnav (Bosch Nyon) did the trick and found me a very agreeable route to the pub, which the old hands told me was the most direct. This involved some very minor tracks and crossing  this bridge. I didn't spot them at the time, but this is a bridleway and those whitish concrete steps are for remounting one's horse after leading it across.

I arrived at the pub around 9.40pm and stayed until about 11.15, whence I rode home, a distance of somewhere in the vicinity of 30 miles. It was utterly delightful, being balmy and warm. I was just wearing shirt and shorts. There was hardly any traffic, although somewhere in the vicinity of Hockley there was a police car with blue flashing lights speeding in the opposite direction, They slowed down a lot when they saw me, but clearly thought I was Mostly Harmless.

I arrived home about 2.10am and the ate some calories to make up for what seemed a massive deficit. It's the best time to ride when the weather is as hot as this - I think the temperature was 20°C or slightly more when I got home, and there was barely any wind.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25367 on: 05 August, 2022, 10:43:03 am »
Another cool-of-the-evening ride yesterday. About 11 miles. Very pleasant. Earlier on I rode about 6 miles, punctuated by a visit to my pal Penelope, and a swim.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25368 on: 05 August, 2022, 04:51:42 pm »
We're doing Trowbridge-Midford-Bath-Swindon tonight, using the Combe Down tunnels.  There may be chuds.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25369 on: 05 August, 2022, 05:40:40 pm »
I had a day off today. When I booked it, I was expecting the rest of the family to be away and thought I might ride some of the South Downs Way. They're all here (a holiday away and arranging a funeral don't really go together), and my bike has a back tyre that'd only been up the street and back - so I swapped my plan to something shorter and more local, though still picking up 3 veloviewer tiles that aren't really on the most obvious route to anywhere.

So, a bit after midday I set off into the warmth of the South Downs, over Firle Beacon where the fields are yellow and brown as much as green and the sea and sky are blue. I had an enjoyable ride over to Seaford, and back up to South Hill Barn (above Seaford Head). Here I found a convenient horse box cafe, for espresso and a bite to eat. Then a leisurely look round the art gallery in the cool of the barn. I didn't really have the luggage for buying anything, but it was nice - and notable were the sympathetic paintings of recreational sea swimmers meeting small boat migrants, the artist having been a first responder as well as a swimmer. Then taking it easy along the front in Seaford, and back over Firle Beacon via Denton, a farmer getting oats in, and the really rough byway down the other side. I saw a Red Kite for the first time so near home - flying low over the hill near Glynde.

43km, 600m of up in 3 and a half hours, including stops.


Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25370 on: 05 August, 2022, 09:43:50 pm »
A potter to Windsor then along ncn4 Dorney and along the Thames towpath past bray lock to maidenhead where I rejoined ncn4 by the railway station. I can no longer use the bridge taking ncn4 over the Thames to bray village because some really evil cycle barriers have been installed  :(. I followed ncn4 to Knole Hill and followed the lanes through Warren row and was soon riding down remington hill down to Henley-on-Thames (41mph) :).I stopped at the chocolate cafe and had a ham and mustard salad with a pot of tea followed by a slice of coffee cake  :P. Refuelled I set off along the a4155 for a mile or so and then turned off onto the lane to Fawley. Following the lanes I passed through Southend and then a lovely decent to Turville. Next came fingest and freith ,then mainly downhill to Marlow. I then returned to slough via Cookham and maidenhead and ncn61 .ave moving 7.1 ,485 meters climbing.  :)
the slower you go the more you see

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25371 on: 06 August, 2022, 09:59:22 am »
Turned out to be a hard ride.  Felt nauseous after midnight, which is normal for me on night rides.  Some terrifying descents on gravelly lanes between Freshford and Midford (must find a better route, as it seems to go up and down a huge hill just for the sake of it).  We did very well on wildlife: oodles of foxes  - ok, 6 were in Swindon - 4 wowbadgers, including one that ran in front of us for 1/4 mile, and a hedgehog.

There was no-one in the tunnels at all.  The pub at Midford looked to be closed and the Two Tunnels path doesn't really go anywhere useful apart from that (classic Sustrans). We stopped just before the very long - well over a mile - Combe Down tunnel to put on arm warmers, and even 200 yards away we could feel its cold breath.  The lighting is extremely dim and they feel quite dangerous by day, with unlit cyclists and walkers to dodge.  When your eyes are already adjusted to the dark and you are able to ride two abreast with decent dynamo headlights, it's no problem.  The long tunnel has a straight section where you can see about half a mile.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25372 on: 06 August, 2022, 02:31:33 pm »
The pub at Midford looked to be closed and the Two Tunnels path doesn't really go anywhere useful apart from that (classic Sustrans).

IIRC it takes you to a bastard hill with impatient motorists, unless you want to take the long way to Frome.  All very well for a bike ride, but it's not really transport, is it?

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25373 on: 06 August, 2022, 02:56:02 pm »
I did a bit of research: the pub is open until 2130 only on most days (earlier if you want food).  It must make a living from bikies coming up the path.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #25374 on: 07 August, 2022, 07:49:23 am »
75km of general Saturday morning potter.  I've been suffering with overheating of the head this year and bought a new helmet which has improved things somewhat, but yesterday I decided to go out sans helmet, with my newly acquired ACME cap.  Seemed to do a reset in my BRANE as well, as I felt like I was just pootling along with no pressure vs Helmet=Serious_Cycling=Effort.

Anyway, a very pleasant mixed road/byway/gravelly bit ride in the sun with a midway-ish stop for an Essex Energy Drink, timed to arrive about 10 past 11.

A few pics of the NE Cambs branch of ACME, sporting newly acquired jersey





“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens