Todays ride

Share your rides with us.

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RIP
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Re: Todays ride

Post by RIP »

Toddled across town on my Brompton, to deliver some "balance bikes" training to some Year R youngsters. Bit different to the usual older ones we're involved with. They're hilarious and have got the attention span of a gnat. A little bit like those clockwork toys you wind up and let go. Here's me and my mate Degsy looking like Ewoks on bikes, or rejects from a Snow White & 7 Dwarves film..... my machine hasn't even got any brakes but does have a nice racy chequered flag motif....

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"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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RIP
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Re: Todays ride

Post by RIP »

Enjoying a sensational day today already, and not even got to the Star yet. However I can see you lot down there quaffing away and the sun's not even over the yardarm yet. Who's that in the VW camper just rolled up?

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"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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RIP
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Re: Todays ride

Post by RIP »

Superbly relaxing ride from Caerwizz station, and amazingly NO vehicles at all passed me in the 13-odd miles. A few the other way but that was it. Bank holiday M5 to Cornwall? AH-HA-HAAAA-HAAAA!

Called in at Llawr-y-glyn chapel and had a chat with the nice lady caretaker. Had a cheeky ulterior motive - needed water and it's always a good plan to know where all those little crosses on the map are - guaranteed water tap. Nice ceiling too:

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Ploughed nonstop up the lunatic hill to Staylittle for another chapel water stop:

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Then to the Stores for a proper cuppa and stock up on a few bits and bobs (nasty pasty from Newtown T*sco? 2/10 poor effort :wink:). Enjoyed talking nice rubbish with Nick for a while (very interesting stories about his grandad working down Dylife mines), and even persuaded to buy some eccles cakes which I'm never normally at all keen on. Oh, and a new helmet mascot :wink:

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Finally the Star's cook popped in so I've ordered my breakfast already and I've not even arrived yet!! I love this place :-bd

Oh, nearly forgot, just for you Stu, here's yer fave Big One in the background in the sunshine!! ...

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"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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metalheart
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Re: Todays ride

Post by metalheart »

Abject failure. Supposed to cycle in to Loch Einich then pop up on to the plateau (by foot). The corrie exit (last 50-100m) was choked with dodgy snow so decided to beat the retreat.
Thought I'd bivvy at the loch but it was too windy...
Ah well, at least there's the pub.
Oh, the ride back was still ace :-)
Give the dirt a little room.
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summittoppler
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Re: Todays ride

Post by summittoppler »

Went for a local 'walk' on Monday....
Image20180507_110113 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Image20180507_110123 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

With a little bit of riding...
Image20180507_095827 by Jeff Price, on Flickr
BAM: 2014, 2018 & ......
2024 Bikepacking nights: 3

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hoppy58
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Re: Todays ride

Post by hoppy58 »

Parked up at Snailbeach (South Shropshire) and climbed up to Blakemoor gate where I stopped a while at the lovely restored Miner's cottages...apparently the cottages were erected under Squatter's rights albeit the landowner had no great objections as he needed the inhabitants to work down his mines! The outbuilding is used as an interpretive point and would make a great over-night stop!

ImageIMG_20180509_115114 by hop58, on Flickr

ImageIMG_20180509_115145 by hop58, on Flickr

A fascinating and beautiful area steeped in mining history. A quick tea stop at Bog Visitor centre and then explored loads of bridleways which criss-cross the Stiperstones area.

Forgot to take the obligatory bike with stunning backdrop photo!
benconnolli
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Re: Todays ride

Post by benconnolli »

Was getting the train back from a successful job interview in Stroud on Wednesday afternoon and just hit the rush hour commute from Birmingham. Lots of sweaty, sweary, stressed people piled into not nearly enough space so when I got to Shrewsbury to transfer for another train I decided to hop off for a short ride along the river severn. Due to my parents house being uninhabitable as a result of a burst water pipe courtesy of the Beast from the East and them having a hotel room, I just happened to have my bivi stuff with me. Quite quickly into this short ride, a mischievous idea crept into my head of it becoming a longer ride, to Welshpool, biving in Powis Castle grounds, then getting the first train home in time for work. Now I had about 70% charge on my phone, no maps, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, and riding a hardtail with fox 36 forks, what could possibly go wrong? I knew that I needed to go West so basically just followed the sun. At a roundabout I was about to enter a dual carriageway so swerved into a field. This had a nice track heading sort of the right direction so I followed it. This very flawed logic continued until a man in a Jeep passed me for a second time in opposite directions and asked if I was lost. Obviously I was only temporarily geographically disoriented, but his helpful directions sent me to a petrol station in Minsterley that turns out I had already passed, an entire 18km from where I had started my trip four hours earlier...

Batteries for head torch replaced, cake bought, and A to Z carefully studied, things were looking up. The advantage of riding at this time of night is nobody else is. I quite happily zoomed along the A roads all the way to Welshpool. The signs off to mysterious bridle ways were always tempting, but my previous effort at self-navigations and the threat of work tomorrow kept me on the straight and narrow. This night riding business was quite nice. There are no cars, no distractions, you just keep turning the pedals and eating up the cats eyes like a two wheeled pacman. Wales being as sparsely populated as it is, the next big place that deserved a signpost was Machynlleth, my final destination a mere 38 miles away. Fuelled by the invincibility of getting offered a "proper job" and enjoying my arcade game, I decided to go for it. It has always been a romanticised dream of mine to cycle sunset through to sunrise, here was my chance. Being knackered for work tomorrow no longer mattered, wearing impractical clothing no longer mattered, nothing else mattered. It was simply me and my bike out on an adventure. At about 2am I arrived at a graveyard with a tap to supply my midnight feast, pasta'n'sauce. Painfully my lighter was out of fuel. Like the desperate urchin I am, I soaked my grub, mixed it with the lighter and tucked in. Even trying to visualise that I was munching on some failed alternative to pork scratchings was not enough and most of the crunchy pasta was binned. Frustratingly 38 miles is a short distance for cars so they don't constantly give you updates like they do on canal paths which meant I had no idea how slow I was going. Shattering my romantic sunrise by being a bit too quick for it, I slumped home at 4:45; cold, tired, and hungry. It was far from the idealistic finish I had dreamed of. The adventure was in the journey not the destination, I could have got that by staying on the train like a normal person.
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RIP
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Re: Todays ride

Post by RIP »

Top stuff Ben. Congrats with the job too. Still a bit more time at CAT though?
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
benconnolli
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Re: Todays ride

Post by benconnolli »

Cheers. Yeah I’m here for five weeks still so will get to see how the welsh summer compares to the tenth anniversary WRT
BobCatMax
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Re: Todays ride

Post by BobCatMax »

Brilliant write up Ben, thank you for that. It brought a smile to my face on a bleak looking Sunday morning
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ianfitz
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Re: Todays ride

Post by ianfitz »

Just back from the Jennride featuring two sunny days riding with good folks in the south lakes.

Excellent work by Rich to sort it all out. Films and talks Friday. Good route. Beer featured quite a bit during the weekend. As did bacon
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JoseMcTavish
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Re: Todays ride

Post by JoseMcTavish »

Not so much today as last Monday, but I managed to fit in a long ride on the bank holiday and experimented with a different route between Abernethy and Glan Avon that I've been wanting to try for ages. Lengthy rambling write up on my new blog:

http://highlanddrifter.com/aviemore-to-aberdeen

Ca Du Ford
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Much climbing
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Glen Loin
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Wade bridges
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PaulB2
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Re: Todays ride

Post by PaulB2 »

I got a lay in until 6 this morning and neither of the gruesome twosome were stirring so I hurried into my gear and jumped on to the Arkose to try it out for the first time on my regular 30k XC loop. It’s a wonder what skinnier tyres and a much lighter bike will do on the flats and climbs. The gravel descent was a tad sketchy though, the only time I missed not having my FS.
darbeze
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Re: Todays ride

Post by darbeze »

Rode the Twin Coast Cycle trail from Horeke to Opua in Northland NZ. 87kms of pretty recently finished off-road trail. It was good riding featuring stunning scenery through farmland, marshes, native bush and amazing views. It has info boards every now and then to tell you about significant sites and several opportunities to refuel in towns and villages.

If you are ever down this way and need a ride, I would recommend it. Cheap bike hire and a decent shuttle to the far end to ride back made it all very easy to arrange.

Plus Bear Bones got to fly the flag in NZ when I told the hire guy all about bike packing when he asked what sort of riding I normally did.

:cool:
BobCatMax
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Re: Todays ride

Post by BobCatMax »

Having wrangled a pass out for 2pm today some time ago, I was met with rainaggedon from 1.50 for a couple of hours. Not to be out done once the sun had dried up a bit of the rain I went out for a very short spin with some diddy hill reps and a big gear flat spin to end.

This bike is very special to me, given to me by someone who died very unexpectedly just a year and a half later. We popped our audax cherries together on El Supremo's Devils Punchbowl 100.

Badged up as a Donnay, it's actually a late 80's Alan Carbonio - there are less than 200 of them

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mat_swan
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Re: Todays ride

Post by mat_swan »

Today I did my first 'proper' road ride of the year, a fun run down to the south coast and back. Incredibly hazy, then mist blending into low cloud in the south downs- you couldn't really see the downs themselves even in the middle of them. Visibility on the beach at seaford was troubling double figures, but not by much.

Lunch from the village shop in alfriston, then head home. The winch back over the ashdown past piltdown always seems to take forever and today was no exception! After that it was a charge back through the lanes- same distance but it felt much, much shorter.

Got within a mile or two of home as I ticked over 90 miles and thought it had turned into too nice a day not to try for a century so wandered over the north downs to go and visit my folks and add a few more miles. After an ice cream and a chat in the sun I really struggled to get my legs moving a again....

I wouldn't want to do too much of it but occasionally this roadieing thing is quite fun!
middleagedmadness
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Re: Todays ride

Post by middleagedmadness »

A bimble down and around the wyre forest , left my waterfront property (house facing the mainline cut) dropped down in to Tipton and through the netherton tunnel took the wrong side of the tunnel and had a mile and half of 6-12 inch water dropped out the other side through merry hell and pensnett down the cut and into Stourbridge little bit of misplacing myself and finally back on the cut down to stourton over a couple of bridleways and into bewdley ,id forgot how nice bewdley is from here into the wyre a bit of fun finding some really good trails around the forest and then a slog up ncn 45 over a couple of non existent bridleways and into Kinver edge had a look around the caves then back into Kinver village and back on the cut to wolves and finally back to bilston ,74 miles 4570 ft climbing and a very pleasant day ,think I'm gonna take the bouncy bike back to Kinver as some of the trails run great the opposite way to which I went and only 6 miles of road(actually the whole loop would run great on a bouncer the opposite way)
frogatthefarriers
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Re: Todays ride

Post by frogatthefarriers »

A ride around Minera mountain and Llandegla Forest.

Parked up at the top of the Panorama above Llangollen and rode up over the mountain following the "Llangollen Round" path. Above Worlds End I turned off on to what is little more than a sheep track which , I found out last week, is called "Nobs Shortcut". I don't now if it's named after the one who first rode it or the one who was riding it then. On this short cut I was pleased to see a family of grouse, mum, dad and five chicks running along the path. The chicks were too small to fly, so trotted along the trail between the heather until they could find a get-out. Then followed the lane to the Offas' Dyke path and crossed the moors to Llandegla forest. Saw two lizards sunning themselves on the boards that make up the path. one was too quick, but here's the second
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On the Blue trail
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Then back on the boards, a huge caterpillar, over three inches long
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Then over the mountain again on a different path...
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To the Airmens Memorial, a cross of white stones laid at the high point of the trail.
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Downward, then, heading back to the car, but the path vanished, leading to a push through waist-high heather and shoulder high bracken...
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Stu would have been proud :lol:

In all, 20 miles with 3000 ft climbing
Last edited by frogatthefarriers on Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Konia kują, żaba noge podstawia...
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GregMay
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Re: Todays ride

Post by GregMay »

ImageUntitled by Greg.May, on Flickr

Solstice Singlespeed ride last night to meet some friends at the pub 3 hours away over the tops.

A few too many for the climb up to Lee Quarry where I found a perfect spot for a bivi.

0500 wake up with the warmth of the sun. Straight up to Cragg Quarry to escape the midge.

38km of singletrack and canal towpath later I'm sat in work eating my body weight in baguette.

Perfect.
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pistonbroke
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Re: Todays ride

Post by pistonbroke »

I normally don't post about my mountainbike racing exploits but today's was pretty exceptional.
I haven't done the regional series this year as I've been doing more long distance gravel riding training for the C2C and TNR but as this race started 10km from home,I thought I'd give it a go. 290 riders had entered for a long 44km and short 26km single loop course. I did the long, always keen to get vfm, which was 50/50 gravel and singletrack with 860m of uphill. Starting at 9am, the temperature was 28°c and by the finish 34°c so hot! The course was fantastic, the singletrack was very flowing but not too steep and rocky and threaded its way between Mediterranean pine trees at just wider than handlebar width. Of particular note were the 2 feed stations which had a selection of local fruit, choclate cake, water, energy drink and bizarrely, red wine!? At the finish there was a bar and barbeque and much chat. I thought 3 hours would be a decent result for me and came in in 2.56 coming mid field and top 10 over 50. There's a 2 month summer break now but I'm looking forward to the next one in Sept which is even closer to home.
24tom
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Re: Todays ride

Post by 24tom »

Some words about Nan Shepherd, and a midsummer night out for the sake of it. https://t.co/k8AdX4EFAO
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macinblack
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Re: Todays ride

Post by macinblack »

Not got out much this year due to always being at work, so nice to get out for a change.

Shade hunting around North Notts - No GPS, no strava and no damns given.

I'm sure I could hear a banjo somewhere.
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This bench is rumoured to be haunted by Rod Hull's spectral remains. I left sharpish when I got the sensation of a hand being forced somewhere inconvenient.
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No fat bikes past this point then.
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frogatthefarriers
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Re: Todays ride

Post by frogatthefarriers »

Exploring on Minera/Esclusham/Ruabon/Newtown mountain again. Found several paths that I hadn't been on before. Some of them I definitely won't ride again. HAB to the highest point on the range and a trig point.
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Found a brilliant bivvy location. Pity it's HAB to get there :cry:
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Saw a family of tiny pheasant chicks, a hare (haven't seen one for ages) and a small bird feeding a big one. Looked it up - must have been a cuckoo chick being fed by a skylark or some-such.

Crossed to Llandegla, rode the Red, drank 3 L water. Gawd it was hot!
Last edited by frogatthefarriers on Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Konia kują, żaba noge podstawia...
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RIP
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Re: Todays ride

Post by RIP »

Rode to pub with MuddyPete. Rode from pub with MuddyPete.

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(Shortest-ever TR post?)
Last edited by RIP on Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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RIP
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Re: Todays ride

Post by RIP »

Yes, yes, Pickers old mate, ok, ok.... I only ever go to the pub on BaMs. BaMs and TRs. Honest.

I rather like the setting sun counterpointed by the pylon in that pic. Sort of a comment on power and the ultimate source of that power. Or something.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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