Author Topic: Have you been out today?  (Read 3813764 times)

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22850 on: 26 February, 2020, 12:36:38 am »
Have always loved winter wish we could have more of it, it was always my favourite season for hillwalking / climbing, and now I love it on the bike too.  I do wonder how long it will go on for, recent years I have been suffering terribly from the cold in November, but by Feb I seem to acclimatise and can stay out all day and rarely feel cold.  As I get older I doubt I will acclimatise as well?

Very lucky here with some great quality tarmac,  Forestry and remote communities attract a lot of EU money to subsidies the logging roads. (what could possibly go wrong)

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22851 on: 26 February, 2020, 01:18:38 am »
So, Ettrick, Eskdalemuir, somewhere like that?

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22852 on: 26 February, 2020, 11:40:20 am »
Stonehaugh?  or Wark?

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22853 on: 27 February, 2020, 11:26:43 pm »
Starting to feel a lot like spring, managed another metric ton


after showing off about the quality of some of the roads round here, thought I better start off with this image - couple of cracking pot holes


snows going


just love the views from up here


my best riding partner - never gets too far in front


back down into civilisation, (i'm not doing an evil kinevel over the fence, just holding up the bike to capture the view)


Jeez these things are big, mostly very well driven* and this is a perfect and careful pass, no complaints from me, but by feck they scare the bejesus out of me sometimes. (wish folk would drive SUVs as carefully)


Dashcam just doesn't pick up the night sky well, but tonights new moon along side Venus was just spectacular, so lucky to get my last 10 miles towards it.


[* like everything there are clowns amongst them]

bairn again

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22854 on: 28 February, 2020, 02:19:33 pm »
managed to finish up work reasonably sharp yesterday and set off from Edinburgh looking to head west seeking out as much off road tarmac as possible.

From home to Roseburn on the cyclepaths then out to the Forth Rd Bridge on the NCN route, not much frost ice or standing water.  I lost the game of Forth Bridge roulette by plumping for the West path, so had to retrace to the east as I chose unwisely.

On road from the north end of the FRB to Rosyth and Dunfermalino was ok, the road round Pittencrieff park was very meh - a narrow 2 laner with no verge just a 4 ft wall each side and much traffic - a post ride recce of maps revealed a better route through the residential streets. 

Anyhow this was soon forgotten when i joined the West Fife cycle path - a new one on me but flat tarmac off road all the way to Clackmannan on the old railway line from the days when Fife and Clackmannanshire were civilised.  It got a bit dull and monotonous in parts but its always nice to try and new route (deffo better than the A985!).  Onwards then via the slightly convoluted path / quiet roads through the hooses and Cambus to Alloa.  It was dark by now but my hub light was braw and surfaces bone dry so no ice.  Back onto the road at the RAB with the A91 then onwards into the very stiff westerly to Causewayhead.  Corrieris?  Not tonight sir I was heading to Bridge of Allan for a fish tea in the Allan Water cafe.  About 65km all of it into the wind so some overdue and much needed hard work.   

It was bitter cold when I came out the cafe so any lingering notions of cycling back home were dispelled in favour of the train back, thankfully the station was but a few hundred metres away.  A wee 5k pootle home from Edinburgh Park station gave me a taste of what a tailwind would have been like!     

First day on bike since a 200km DIY in late December.   

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22855 on: 29 February, 2020, 09:41:40 am »
Yesterday, set out on my usual 80k coffee trot but an old quad injury aggravated by schlepping too much wood at a time started nagging so I turned for home PDQ.   25k and a bloody bad mood.  Damned wood started up elbow tendinitis as well. :(
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22856 on: 29 February, 2020, 06:07:26 pm »
Yes:

Wind
Hail
Rain
Sun
Clouds
More wind
Pedalling down hill to avoid slowing down

Crap, but still better than sitting on the sofa and eating biscuits.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22857 on: 29 February, 2020, 07:24:45 pm »
Yes:

Wind
Hail
Rain
Sun
Clouds
More wind
Pedalling down hill to avoid slowing down

Crap, but still better than sitting on the sofa and eating biscuits.
something quite special about sitting on the sofa and eating biscuits after being out on such a day though.

After taking a bit of a battering myself this afternoon I'm going to enjoy sitting in front of the fire drinking beer.  It seems to go down so much better after a wild day out on the road

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22858 on: 29 February, 2020, 07:49:52 pm »
Yes  like above but on the flat and very local  good view of the moon and venus this evening  :)
the slower you go the more you see

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22859 on: 29 February, 2020, 08:36:20 pm »
List as for SpaceBadger, but with added snow.

This is the North Pennines, but I got out early hoping to beat the weather.
After 5 minutes I decided not to comit to my usual "3 big hills in two hours" circuit, so went up and down the first hill, then up and down the last hill. 
My neighbour had gone past the house as I left.  She is a few decades younger than me, but she was running up the hill faster than I could ride! 
Pleased to get home without getting blown into the ditch.

The weather did get worse.  My husband said "it was a good idea to get out early"

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22860 on: 02 March, 2020, 12:03:22 am »
Another wild day on the roads, least it was dry today

just love trees at this time of the year and the complex random shapes


It looks the perfect day but that wind was just relentless


A peep over the wal into thumberland


Always nice to see the sun go down


My favourite time to ride, the hour after the sun sets, watching the sky change to night, first the planets come out, Venus and the moon were bright, then the bright stars, Sirus, Rigel, Procyon, Capella


Kept riding till about 8, the night sky was a real joy tonight.

SoreTween

  • Most of me survived the Pennine Bridleway.
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22861 on: 02 March, 2020, 07:39:45 pm »
Set out planning on a 50km/1000m loop.  Didn't happen.  I was dying on my feetwheels, a point brought into stark focus by a person onna shopping bike leaving me for the wheezing dead on Sandy Lane1, Hewelsfield Common.
Probably for the best I cut it short, the Peregrine Path was always a risky move with the recent floods.  I kept most of the hills, 800m in 35km.  The speed, or rather the considerable lack of, is depressing.

1There's something about routes yclept Sandy Lane, this is not the first I've had a Bad Day upon.
2023 targets: Survive. Maybe.
There is only one infinite resource in this universe; human stupidity.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22862 on: 02 March, 2020, 09:20:23 pm »
Rowan, I'll try again!  Somewhere west of Consett?  I feel I've seen that brake lever before.....

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22863 on: 03 March, 2020, 06:07:05 pm »
Rowan, I'll try again!  Somewhere west of Consett?  I feel I've seen that brake lever before.....
you had it before - Eskdalemuir way is not too far off, Bonchester Bridge, Kielder ...

was a bit further east the day, and what a cracking spring day it was too, met a nice wee horse half way round





Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22864 on: 03 March, 2020, 06:28:59 pm »
I'm envying you your days out!  I've volunteered twice at Eskdalemuir on London Edinburgh London and always wanted to ride up there more extensively.  John Buchan country!  Keep posting!

Peter

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22865 on: 04 March, 2020, 07:30:36 am »
On road from the north end of the FRB to Rosyth and Dunfermalino was ok, the road round Pittencrieff park was very meh - a narrow 2 laner with no verge just a 4 ft wall each side and much traffic - a post ride recce of maps revealed a better route through the residential streets.   

Cycling through Pittencrieff Park suits me fine, nice tarmac.

bairn again

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22866 on: 04 March, 2020, 10:04:36 am »
On road from the north end of the FRB to Rosyth and Dunfermalino was ok, the road round Pittencrieff park was very meh - a narrow 2 laner with no verge just a 4 ft wall each side and much traffic - a post ride recce of maps revealed a better route through the residential streets.   

Cycling through Pittencrieff Park suits me fine, nice tarmac.
:thumbsup: will try that

bairn again

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22867 on: 04 March, 2020, 10:14:34 am »
Yesterday saw the inaugural ride for myself and Mrs B.A. on our swanky new tandem (Orbit Summit Tour) that we'd collected at the weekend. 

From home near the Zoo in Edinburgh to Roseburn Path and out to South Queensferry via Cramond then up to Westmuir stables via the A904 and a rest for a few wine gums.

A retrace to Cramond via Kirkliston was planned originally but that was altered as we had modest gear cable troubles that wouldnt allow all the baby gears to be engaged (I blame our mechanic  :o) so we went via Newbridge and along the path by the A8. 

38km all in.     

+ points.  Lovely and comfortable / better going into the wind than a solo / people smile as you go past  :D

- points.  Efforts of pilot and stoker appeared to be mismatched more often than not (but that will improve with practice)   

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22868 on: 04 March, 2020, 01:45:42 pm »
Yesterday, usual 80k coffee toddle. Lots of wind (meteorological), knackered on reaching patisserie but got blown home quite comfortably later. Had cold, cold rain for around 25k.  Woman in patisserie ordered & ate 6 beignets - think doughnuts without holes. She was thin, too.  Also saw dead deer by the roadside, not so nice.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22869 on: 04 March, 2020, 11:54:23 pm »
Cracking day up on the tops, but the blue sky soon deteriorated leaving endless sameness - pretty dam cold as well.
think I seen two logging lorries and a car all day, mostly I love the remoteness but other times....





Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22870 on: 05 March, 2020, 11:38:44 pm »
200 km around Durham and Northumberland (there's a thread here: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=114643.0)



A moderately glorious day to be out, just a touch of wind, but chilly, especially in the dark on the return (more on that later).

The new road I'm relying on isn't finished yet, and I had to divert along the A68, which currently has a contraflow along the dual carriageway. Getting out of Darlo to the north-west is shit at the moment.

I always thought of this route as not-really-weekday-friendly, but once I was past Bishop, passing Kinrin and the castle, there was really no traffic to speak of. Actually, it was eerie once I crossed the Tyne and the A69. To complete the ghost-town vibe, the cafe at Capheaton was shut. Not to worry, I had plenty of snacks, which got me down to Gregg's in Hexham.

By the way, NCN72 (part of the Sandstone Way) makes a lovely route into Hexham, between the river and the railway, under the A69 and generally avoiding the grotsome roads around Hexham.

From Hexham, the route goes up and up away from the Tyne, and a stomach-full of Greggs goodies is not ideal for that (one reason I have the control at the cyclists' cafe in Capheaton), but I'd been taking it easy all day, and there was no reason to change, except that I was chasing the daylight by now, since I left Darlo fairly late to let the traffic clear a bit.

Over to Blanchland, and over again to Rookhope Arch, I was trying to think what these hills are called, but I suppose that you wouldn't bother naming all of the pebbles on the beach either.

Race Yate is what I've always called the hill over to Westgate out of Rookhope. It has a solid northern ring, redolent of leadmining and rushing waters, and I'm sticking with it. It's a tough climb regardless, and the descent into Westgate is narrow, steep, and covered in slurry.



There's a scene in Julian Barnes's Staring at the Sun which I always remember - a WWII pilot is high, high above the clouds and sees the sun rise, then dives, and sees the sun rise again. I nearly recreated this in reverse, seeing the sun set on the descent to Rookhope Arch, but no being quite quick enough to catch it up again on the climb.



Weardale is for hillbaggers. The name of every climb out of it should sing in the ears of every road cyclist. Today's route was Swinhope Head. Well, after negotiating the footbridge next to the ford in Westgate. I didn't like the look of that water.

The sign, though, told me that the road was closed - snow drifts.

I nearly went back to Stanhope, then over Bollihope (it's ploughed and gritted, and a bit lower than Swinhope's peak of 2000-and-some feet), but there was a light on in the B&B at the foot of the climb, and I went to bother the couple halfway through their dinner. They were lovely - they weren't sure themselves if the road was clear, but the wifie called the shepherd who lives up the hill, while the husband offered me tea. I refused, reluctantly, but the light was fading, and I did need to get going.

The shepherd's verdict was that I'd be fine, with some pushing.

It was about three-quarters of a mile to a mile's pushing, in the end. I'm not sure if it was any quicker than the diversion would have been, but I doubt I'll regret those quiet moments of moonlight and snow up on the hills.





Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22871 on: 08 March, 2020, 07:07:13 am »
30km around the, well up past then back down beside the same side of the Talybont reservoir. Me on my trusty thorn club tour, my brother on his Marin rigid town bike from about 20 years ago and four others on hire bikes.

Very very very slow on the long drag up as some of the guys hadn't ridden in years. An embarrassing bit in the posh tearoom at the top when we had  to take some money back from the tip we had left when we found out was cash only and had just enough cash between us

Then a lovely descent down fire tracks. Fully expected to be at the back with my brother as the others with their suspension, bigger tyres and disc brakes shot off but no we led the way down. Arms were aching when we hit the road and a last few fast k back to Talybont to return the bikes or put onto cars. Hire was £30 for day so glad had my bike but the guy in shop seemed friendly and helpful and don't recall having as much fun as I did on the descent for a long time. Wouldn't have wanted it much rougher but not quite COR and fair play to my brother who thinks he may have cycled 20km last year and had a good go and chasing me up and down a few bits

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22872 on: 08 March, 2020, 01:25:43 pm »
Yes! First ride in 2 months. :o It was actually quite pleasant, and blue sky was even spotted at one point. Pity about the headwind on the way out, but a tailwind back is always better. I should really make a habit of this cycling lark! :facepalm:

SoreTween

  • Most of me survived the Pennine Bridleway.
Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22873 on: 08 March, 2020, 06:46:52 pm »
An afternoon of Hill bashing.  Slightly faster than last weeks dismal effort despite quite a bit of off road in the forest.  It would have been nice to have hit 1000mtrs but there was no way at all my back was allowing a single second more.  I know I've done bugger all since August but really, it shouldn't hurt this much and certainly the discomfort shouldn't be so one sided.  Think a call to the osteopath is in order tomorrow.

Pain a little reduced after:
Long soak in the bath with Epsom salts.
Ibuprofen
Highland Park Single Malt muscle relaxant
2023 targets: Survive. Maybe.
There is only one infinite resource in this universe; human stupidity.

Re: Have you been out today?
« Reply #22874 on: 09 March, 2020, 11:56:45 pm »
Had an afternoon over in Berwickshire (nice flat roads) . Cracking day weatherwise, bright warm sunshine intermitted with wild icy cold downpours.  Got 59 in which is always a good start for the week.  Clouded over just after the sun went down so didn't get the joy of watching the stars pop out one by one,  but then it did clear giving me an hour under a big night sky - helps a bit with route finding as the myrid of roads over there can get confussing.