Have you been out today?

[T42]

Set out full of plans, realized an hour in that I'd forgotten to swap my chain for the freshly-waxed one, and the one on the bike was making arthritic noises. Home with <50k.  The weather was meh anyway: overcast and humid with an enthusiastic headwind.

[trundle]

A trundle to Richmond for my second British Cycle Quest location.



Only 400 to go!

I can report Nightingale Lane is bloomin steep - 1 in 4 at the top.

[T42]

5k toddle to the supermarket to get illicit ice-cream, slaloming between hardened dung splats and suicidal slugs. Oh the joy.  At one point there was a racket behind me like a TGV at full bore and a boy racer came belting past. Carbon wheels are so bloody noisy - whatever became of cycling as a silent sport? Hope he picked up a sticky hitcher.

[ElyDave]

68km or so yesterday, 75km today.  Two very different rides, with less than 2min between them. Very stiff headwind on a lot of the course yesterday, and for soem reason it had gone from SW to NW just as I came into the village.

Today, still SW but very much lighter, so despite a 26km section into the wind, it was a 29km/h average today vs 26.8km/h yesterday.

I also think my HR strap is on the way out as it was telling me 95bpm on my way up the only real hill on the course

[Wowbagger]

30.8km this afternoon. Quite pleasant. This week, I avoided the temptation of buying myself an ice cream.

[Canardly]

Short group cycle encouraging newbies 10 miles or thereabouts. Enjoyable for all that.

[Wowbagger]

42k with a couple of pals/former colleagues at HMCE. Combined age about 210. Average speed almost 17kph.

[T42]

5k on old MBK to test my dodgy lumbars. Pain bearable, which puts me 3 weeks ahead compared to my 2013 cataclysm.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Out on the shopping bike with a 25.9km/hr westerly.   I was going NE outbound through York to Stockton-on-Forest so easy out and a slog back. Did 26.2 km at 19.4km/hr avg.  max speed 59.8 km/hr. 77m climbing.  Of course it rained some of the time.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Out on the expedition tourer going off piste for a bit, including the remains of a WW2 airfield. Wind 24.5 km/h WSW. 25.31 km at avg 19.5 km/h, 48 m climbing.

[ElyDave]

50km on the recumbent, lovely and warm, but that wind was pretty brutal - it's not often that I'm down at 27.0km/h on that kind of ride.

It was one of those "worse as a crosswind" kind of winds, easier as a block headwind even if it had me in the middle ring.

[cycleman]

Yesterday evening I found myself with a pair of pain free knees so I went for a ride first to Langley then Uxbridge and along the grand union canal to the coy carp ph at Harefield. After a coke and a pint of water  I continued to  chalfont St Peter and Gerrard Cross and home  .27 miles at a moving average of 6.8 .the towpath is  very overgrown in places and avoiding brambles mostly successfully made slow going in sections. All good fun

[Salvatore]

and along the grand union canal ... a coke and a pint of water 

My rides often take me through Odiham, and across the Basingstoke Canal near the Water Witch PH. Which also takes me past the entrance to Galleon Marine¹, which always reminds me of you. They advertise (along with narrow boats, kayaks etc) coffee, so the other day I dropped in for a cappuccino, and sat watching a punter being instructed on how to operate a narrow boat before he and his family set off towards Dogmersfield.

¹ Cycleman's place of employment at sometime in the past

[T42]

45k coffee crawl to see if I could re-bugger my back.  Answer: yes, but not so badly that a 40+°C dousing in the shower wouldn't loosen it up again. Lots of loose chippings, not much traffic 'cos hols so lots of folk away + the tourists that come to Alsace mostly head for the Route des Vins further south.

[ElyDave]

75km on the Faran, light winds, enjoyable. Too early for a pub stop, but found a cafe

One utter muppet driver passed so close i think he was trying to get into the sidepocket of my carradice for mr spare gels.

[perpetual dan]

This morning, I took a train to Chichester and cycled home.

The first bit headed up of ex-rail path, then up to The Trundle. Then past Goodwood, and a mix of tracks and lanes to Amberley. Some was South Downs Way, but I put some other tracks in for variety - many wooded, which was handy in the sun. I topped up the water, then some more downs and woodland.

Somewhere above (the witch king of) Angmering, I realised I was going to run out of water and be pretty cooked before the next tap. I was taking it quite easy, with stops to enjoy the surroundings, but aware i wasn't feeling super high energy. So I got almost to Findon and headed to the coast.

Quite what made me think that the seafront cycle path through three seaside destinations on an August afternoon would be relaxing, I'm not sure. But between "share nicely" cycle paths, ice cream, and a pause on a quiet bit of beach, my average speed stayed low.

Not quite the ride I planned, but 92km in just over 9 hours counts as a good day out in my book.

Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk

[The Family Cyclist]

I was fairly grumpy this morning as got camping packing too do and I'm not going as working so just wife and kids. Also felt like had cold but may be hayfever and slept badly. Nearly bailed on bike ride and wasn't looking forward to heat even at 09:30 was getting warm

I think my mate got the brunt of my grump as I basically attacked everything. Started up past Braxted bakery for those in the local which is a long drag I hate but kept in big ring and pushed

I then kept pushing, up everything. Did have to keep stopping and waiting. As we got near market hill maldon I'd decided I wanted to try and stay in big ring and planned to grind it out till thr testosterone took over and sprinted past my poor mate and blasted up hill

The rest of the ride was similar ans kept dropping him. He did t mind normally we are very similar in level and attack each other I just had the legs today.

Had a lovely downhill on a side road off north hill although had to temper speed slightly due to dappled shade making spotting pot holes etc hard.

Then a last blast home up into Hatfield Peverel and home via Terling. Home pretty bang on 45km and felt so much better.

[JefO]

I live at the bottom of Bread and Cheese Hill.
I hate Bread and Cheese Hill.
It has beat me into submission.
I never bother riding up it.
I ride up Church Road (which is steeper) if I really need to go East of home on a road bike.
If I need to go East on any solo bike other than a roadbike, I use an off-road route to the top of the hills.
This leaves no option for the tandem which is too cumbersome for the off-road route and too slow for either of the busy roads.
So the tandem has not gone East from home... ever.
Until today. Today, hike-a-bike up the path came into play. A very viable option! Thanks to Jiberjaber OTP for suggesting it!
So - today we met a friend in Southend for a 4 hour lunch chat in the shade of a huge tree next to the cafe in Priory Park.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Out on the expedition tourer 49.45km at 23.8 km/h Southerly wind 19.21 km/h 204m climbing.

[T42]

60 not too painful km. Even fun at times.  Going through one place with poetic remembrances of cow splattered on the road I found myself thinking "they're so bloody backward here they still have horse-drawn tractors".  Also went past a pump that was sucking water out of a stream and blasting it out over the maize a couple of hundred metres further on.  The mist made the air nice and cool but I made damn sure I didn't breathe it in.

[cycleman]

Out to Langley to pick up apollo from parlent house and into town and back to the doctors. About 10 miles in warm sunshine 🌞.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

On the shopping bike to Clifton Moor using as many cycle tracks as possible.  That means the number of obstacles to overcome is so huge and varied, it could become an Olympic event:

Pedestrians and joggers many with x number of dogs (requires a bell, preferably large and loud, I have one and know how to use it)
Anti-vehicle barriers everywhere
Crossing the race track twice via the sand traps
Crossing the river on the new pedestrian bridge (carry bike up stairs, like in the old days or use the new ramp)
Very narrow track along steep bank down to the river usually with other cyclists and dog-walkers - who is going to give way?
Cattle grids, new ones - quite smooth, old ones - teeth rattlers
Pelican crossings
Navigating the insane shared-use cycle tracks of Clifton Moor Retail estate added as an afterthought since the estate is intended for motorists.  Cyclists and pedestrians are tolerated, barely.
Finding the snickets through a housing estate, a maze of identical houses, with inadequate signage
Crossing minor roads when it is necessary to stop, check if a vehicle is going to turn left behind you and of course give way to any vehicles coming out of the minor road.  (yes perhaps I ought to have a rear-view mirror!) 

On the way back I thought sod it and used the roads - much easier and I didn't die.

So 22.23km in 1hr 17m, 52m climbed 17.3 km/hr.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What on earth have they got at the "retail estate" that you so desperately wanted?

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

What on earth have they got at the "retail estate" that you so desperately wanted?

The car dealership. My car is due for the 10k mile service so I went to book it in.

[T42]

90-odd km bunged full of paracetamol to try and get my legs working again after enforced inactivity.  Unremarkable otherwise.  I'll probably pay for it later.