Have you been out today?

[Torslanda]

That's a real bike...

[BrianI]

Having converted my Dawes Horizon (2008 vintage) from Commuting to Gravel (removing mudguards, and fitting 700x40 Schwable Land cruisers), I went for a nice 25k spin down to Dalgety Bay via Fordel, then along the coastal path to Inverkeithing, round past the scrap yard, then along the coast to North Queensferry and then back home via Rosyth.   

Bike handle the rough stuff like a dream, even with Carradice Super C Front Panniers on the rear rack, and a bar bag! A good shake down for my trip to Skye at the end of the week!  I figured tyres such as 42mm land cruisers will give me more cycling options than the 32mm Marathons previously fitted.   

I'll upload photies once I get them off the mobile phone and onto the interwebs.

Beautiful bike by the way, Deano!  What bike is it? Looks good with down tube shifters and v-brakes!

Cheers Brian! You doing Dave C's Borders of Fife next month?

It... well, I could spend pages on its history, but it started life as an early eighties Peugeot Dakar. Very much modified/repaired/welded back together in India. The only original bits are the top tube, head tube, downtube and rear stays.

Unfortunately i won't be doing Dave_C's audax, mainly due to the fact I'm working. Even if I hadn't been i think I'm nowhere near fit enough to do a 200k   

[rogerzilla]

40 miles, hilly, on the Holdsworth.  It's noodly as hell on climbs but it don't half shift on the flat.  I wonder if the Deep V rims do confer a tiny aerodynamic advantage?  The riding position is certainly ideal for extracting power.  Plus it's stable at Snap Hill speeds, although its natural rate of turn is very slow/wide compared to a modern bike; it wants to run wide in sweeping bends, which you have to watch in a group.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Try leaning the bike more than the rider. It often helps get slow steering bikes round tight corners at speed.

[Deano]

I need to get out and see some of that Purple!

Get thee into the hills!

[Hattyfatner]

14 miles along tow paths in Brittany - unadulterated happiness.

[JonJo]

Lazy,  loitering along lumpy, local Lanchester lanes today.

Had an absolutely fab time except for two very close shaves. First one as I was tooling down Sacriston front street at 30 mph (the speed limit thereabouts), heard the car behind me pick up revs very quickly. Surely he's not going to overtake here, I thought, not with all these other cars and pedestrians about. Not only was he going to overtake he delivered the most vicious left hook I've ever encountered. Must have had one of those out of body experiences because my next conscious thought was, 'how the fuck am I still here?' about half a mile down the road.

Carried on up towards Daisy Hill, crested the top and started down towards the Cong Burn. A blue car was coming to the X roads from my right towards the 'Give Way' line. I'm again doing 30mph and make eye contact with the driver. She stops. I'm still eyeballing her as she's my biggest potential hazard at this X roads and she's looking right back at me as she pulls out. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Brakes hard on, how am I going to avoid this one? I've no answer, still don't know how she didn't have me off. But she knows what she's done because I'm now doing 50 mph and screaming expletives at her but she's tearing away from me.

I don't normally worry about close encounters with motorists - they happen all the time these days. The only way to avoid them all together is to stop cycling and I'm not going to do that. What really struck me about these two incidents though was that they weren't due to lack of concentration, they weren't SMIDSYs, they were calculated acts. Both drivers knew what they were doing and both drivers put my life at risk for what? Fucked if I know.

Sorry for all the swearing but the adrenaline is still buzzing.

[Hattyfatner]

20 evening miles exploring country lanes round Rennes - had too much chicken chasseur and rose though.

[Chris S]

20 evening miles exploring country lanes round Rennes - had too much chicken chasseur and rose though.

Well done on making that sound (a) Really fucking fantastic, and (3) a bit bilious and unpleasant! 

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Had a 4 hour jaunt round the hills of the Limousin meeting loads of other cyclists.  Had an embarrassing moment after toiling up one hill. On reaching the crest encountered a bunch of people dressed like happy campers spread across the road and gave them a cheery wave as I started to plummet down the hill.  I could see I needed to take a sharp bend at the bottom but also there appeared to be plenty of room to brake on a short flat stretch just before.

Unfortunately, as I soon realised, the short flat stretch was wall-to-wall deep gravel left by recent heavy rains.  No way was I going to take that bend in any kind of vertical position   Straight on was the only way, down a tiny side road which I skidded into and very gratefully stopped.  As I turned round the campers were still there way back up the road.  I gave them a cheesy grin and set off again.  Was pleased to see though I had left a very nice straight skid in the gravel for few metres. 

Of course what I should have done was get the map out and pretend to study it.

[cycleman]

A potter around the Henley/Marlow circuit,with Jonathan notp.46 miles. Shortly before dropping down the hill to Henley we were attacked by a electrifying thunderstorm . The trike needed a wash
 
 

[Hattyfatner]

I can report correct amounts of kouign amann and roast lamb however still working on correct rose consumption  whilst cycling around Brittany. After 20 miles now have anatomically appropriate tan lines.
However a group of French children shouted out that an adult shouldn't be riding a kid's bike. Peasants! it was a Brompton. Tired but v. happy

[ElyDave]

not too bad this week with 53km on Sunday, 30+ on Weds/Thurs and another 25 tonight.

Monday was weights and Tuesday was London

Got caught in a slow moving shower about ten km from home today, into the wind as well, felt like shrapnel hitting my cheeks

[Pedaldog.]

Short ride, Long Walk. THREE visitations used patches and I didn't have a spare tube.

[Jayjay]

Toddle into a windy Hull today, Arco and Aldi on the list to do. Photo-ed a couple of bridges. Natter to some visitors on the Ha-penny bridge about the trike, and back just before the forecast blustery showers, washing safely in 26 miles. Really hungry!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Short ride, Long Walk. THREE visitations used patches and I didn't have a spare tube.

Bummer! Still, walking is good too. Sometimes.

[Hattyfatner]

Spent a happy morning racing boats between locks near Brittany with some very happy under 10's.

[ElyDave]

70km on the recumbent, out towards Newmarket and the "hills", which the gearing coped with admirably.  Had planned on going further, but attempted idler fettling on the M5 ate up half an hour for a "5 minute job".

On the one decent downhill (also used uphill as a local club hillclimb) I hit a tasty 60km/h, but didn't go full out as it's an iffy surface in places and has some sharp bends and narrow sections.  Good thing really as two pedestrians and a knob on a brommie out for a Sunday waddle were taking up the entire road adn in their own little world until I yelled at them earning myself a reproachful look in the process. 

Nice and sunny, blood sugar was in the zone, all good.

[De Sisti]

I really hate it when other cyclists ride past you at speed, with their handlebars and elbows practically
touching mine. Happened twice on today's ride and on both occasions those stealthy actions scared
me to death.   

[Karla]

I passed my accreditation at York's outdoor velodrome, so now I can race there.  More importantly it also allows me to use it unsupervised, so I can go round and round on my own doing very geeky things with a power meter and my coefficient of aerodynamic drag 

[BrianI]

No bike rides today, but yesterday (Saturday) I rode my Dawes Horizon all the way from Ullinish where I am staying in Skye to the famous Coral Beach:

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/1472000/Ullinish-to-Coral-Bay

Sadly too busy with tourists for a skinny dip...   

[rogerzilla]

Usual weekend short training ride - about an hour and a few decent hills.  Got back just before the rain, which was nice.  Wednesday night is the longer ride at the moment.  Have put the dynamo front wheel and lights back on the 50s clubman bike as we are getting back at dusk now on Wednesdays.  There is an appetite to carry on with the after-work rides into September, as long as half the ride is still in daylight.  I'm probably fit enough to consider an Oxford-London night ride (did I just say that)?

[Andrij]

Who was the loon off-roading around NE London on a small-wheel, drop-bar bicycle today? 

Oh, that would be me. 

Mainly wanted to ride some of the LOOP and connect various bits of routes I knew.  To start, all I needed to do was pick up a familiar path on Wansted Flats and head north.  The problem was the route is familiar to me N->S, not the other way around.  And I was relying on a paper map rather than my eTrex30.*  I repeatedly found myself off-route - I never realised how many paths there are through that bit of Epping Forest.  Some bits (muddy ruts, mostly) were too much for the Moulton, but I generally did OK.  I found some lovely sections to ride (LOOP and other routes), but these were often connected by sections that were unpleasant, or almost impossible, to ride, regardless of bike.  Yes, I know LOOP is a walking route.  Unfortunately the signing isn't always great either, hence some more detours and walking the bike.

I can't imagine all of the LOOP made suitable for cycling, but it wouldn't be that difficult to join up some of the lovely bits.  But that would involve various local authorities, including City of London, working together.  I wouldn't bet someone else's money on that.

Overall a fun day out, though my shins are still tingling from encountering nettles.     Another 80 (slow) kilometres added to this year's total.
 

* Currently embuggered.  Some of the buttons - including on/off - are busted.

[Si S]

Yesterday Miss S wanted a lift to Alton Towers so Mrs S obliged and we agreed to rendezvous at Marj's. Out round the airport for no other reason than I've started taking an interest in veloviewer squares before heading for North Rode where something had caught my eye previously but I'd been going too fast concentrating on the road to see the detail



A wrong turn in Timbersbrook led to some cursing as I knew as soon as I started descending that the resulting climb back to the ridge was likely to be steep, Rough Bank didn't disappoint in either part of it's name. An oatcake in Biddulph hit the spot but the locals are a little...well... strange is being generous. Onto Endon and Stanley before the roundabout way to Teanford where I realised I was going to come up short of 100km so decided to pay a visit to jogler via Temple Row which nearly reduced me to my 24" gear but stubbornness prevailed. I had a brief lie down in the cemetery which I don't think was approved of by another visitor but dad didn't seem to mind and then blatted down the hill and back up to Marj's who then whisked us off to establishment that provided recovery, Wainwrights in this instance.

102km at a speed that reassures me I may well be able to do a particular ride at the end of  September

[T42]

Yesterday: first 200k since my cardiac débâcle last year. Wanted to see if I could do it in Audax time, did it in 11h36 incl. > 2h stopped and one ghastly kilometre where I had to walk through bumbling crowds at a fleamarket.  OK but not up to what I was doing two years back (similar circuit, 23.3 kph ave vs 21.6 this time). Still, heart muscle now receives only 50% of its normal blood supply so I suppose I should be happy. Hell, I am happy: I rode the last countrified km chortling like a mad thing.


Audaxer's nightmare: a kilometre of fleamarket to crawl through

Apart from the above, the southern route into Saverne as signposted for cyclists was laid out by some sadistic bastards: it follows back streets full of bumps, holes and cracks and it climbs, climbs, climbs, with slopes approaching 10% in places. The route for motor traffic is smooth and beautiful with gentle slopes. I hope their goldfish die.

Nice: v. swift service at resto in Mutzig and they were happy to serve me even though it was packed and I arrived at 13h45. Had a tarte flambée, with mirabelle tart for afters, both excellent.

At one set of lights a vehicle pulled up behind me with its engine making an awful racket. When the lights changed it took an age to overhaul me, but when it finally did i saw why: it was a Citroën Dyane from around 1972, the same colour as the 1968 model we bought when we first got to France. A couple of seconds later a beautiful black Traction came through the other way.

202 km, 1480 m climbed. Puny compared to LEL or PBP but hell, it's a start.