RIP wrote: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.

Or as Arthur Dent said "the metaphysical imagery that seems to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor."

Into the airlock with them....

Yesterday I ddcided to try and grab the longest commute by bike record. Was running late so didnt manage to complete the full distance to my night shift at Scarborough from Dewsbury.

Supplemented the ride with 15 miler train journey ehich reduced journey from 86 to 70 miles. Ended up doing 69.2 miles so dont believe i did set the benchmark for british cycling commutes (from what I gathered off net iy seems the biggest commute has been 140 miles round trip...

Lovely weather all yhe way there and grabbed a train (prebooked ticket) back. Tried to ride fast up a local hill to check my body after only 1 hour sleep in previous 26 hours. a tiny hillock which i can normally go straight up but my body wouldn't allow.

Gonna try and beat that 70 miler (half of the abovementioed 140 mile commute) very soon... watch this space

Wheelie practice today

keep it up pal

Ride with junior and some friends round one of the red vtt routes in the Jura region of France. Very hot. 48k of undemanding riding but a chance to see some real out of the way villages.

Did a loop around Loch Katrine and various forest tracks in the Trossachs and it rained.... all the time How weird is that...

Bit of a local trundle down and back to the park to staff the Ride Sheffield stall at the ‘Go Ride’ event.

They close Eccleshall road and some of the city centre to cars for a few hours.

Fun in some ways but everything you need to know about cycling on Britain’s roads demonstrated by two close passes from cars with bike racks on the way there and hundreds of people riding home on the pavement afterwards

A short but hard loop in the Dales.

Started at Buckden and immediately had the climb up through Raikes woods from the off. I managed to clean this for the first time A close run thing though. Then it was up on to Stakes Moss, there's been some work done on Gilbert Lane recently and the surface is fresh gravel so hard work climbing. Down to Thoralby and across to West Burton (those on the Winter bivy - this was the last bit of the second day in reverse).

A quick refreshment in the pub in West Burton then headed up the Dale. At the end of the road there's a BW marked on the map that goes over to Starbotton. One problem - the signs on the ground say it's a footpath. Press on! The footpath/bridleway heads along the valley floor to a signpost. Then it heads skywards and it's push time. About halfway up the climb a track crosses. I'm waiting for Cath and while looking around I notice a track that's not marked on the map that gets very close to the skyline, looks better than another forty minutes trudge across moorland.

There's no obvious junction with our track but we head upwards to find this!



A plastic mesh matting laid across the moor. It's really weird to ride, a bit like riding along a series of mattresses. It's actually really hard work.

Once on the skyline there's an old mining track which takes us to the descent. This is possibly the biggest descent in the Dales, a whopping 400+ metres. It's got everything: steep grass, rocky chutes, fast flowing grass, steep and loose lanes.



Only 37km but 1000 metres of climbing!

Just the commute to work, but the 4 am sunrise (the sun rising in the North this time of year....) is one of my favorite things.

20180712_042704 by Norway Calling, on Flickr

A cheeky bivvy out last night with Mike on Brown Clee gave me a fantastic run down the 5 Springs this morning. Cracking way to start the week and I took a minute off my best time to boot.

Greetz

S.

Glorious day yesterday around West Sussex and Surrey on the Devil's Punchbowl audax. Cycled to and from to top it up to a proper century..

Rode out to the Chilterns on Saturday saying off-road where I could. Using the NCN 6 from Bletchley to Dunstable and the NCN 5 from Wallingford to Oxford. Less climbing than last weekend on the RTTS with double the distance

Water was hard to come by, so I took to the old ways and drank ale

Usual greeting as I climbed up onto Dunstable Downs

Dunstable Downs Welcome by Andy Wright, on Flickr

I followed the Icknield Way Trail and Ridgeway Bridleway along the Chilterns. Dinner was a very splendid 'Bubble and squeak' at The Alford Arms, Firthsden

Bubble & Squeak by Andy Wright, on Flickr

That kept me going for another 30km until I came upon Whiteleaf Cross viewpoint. I didn't bother with a tent or mat and slept well on the grass under my quilt

Early light overlooking Princes Risborough by Andy Wright, on Flickr

I was up and away too early to catch breakfast in Princes Risborough and had to ride through on just peanut M&M's until Chinnor Co-Op at 6 am for coffee and a sandwich. That was good enough to get me to a cafe in Abingdon-on-Thames

I dropped off of the Ridgeway at Wallingford and picked up the NCN 5 for the run to Woodstock. From there it was drover roads and bridleways home

No horses Bridleway! by Andy Wright, on Flickr

Full route here: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/25536934 and pictures https://www.flickr.com/gp/150583371@N02/APzFpL

Looks like a cracking route

The last two weekends have been a collection of short rides up the Grand Union canal towpath, to get back to the car to then bring the car down to where the narrow boat is, as we slowly bring the boat to near home. As a slow cyclist, it's really weird covering the return route quicker than the outward journey on water! but it is lovely to get the view as a boater on the outward journey and then cover the same terrain in reverse on a bike. I'm really enjoying the mix of perspectives.

I've been using the rigid steel genesis and clearly I've got used to the cushioned ride that the (front suspended) fat-bike offers.

Another stunning Norwegian sunrise over the Fjords this morning.

20180717_045727 by Norway Calling, on Flickr

20180717_050933 by Norway Calling, on Flickr

A few hours around Outlaw country before the heat climbed.

Still some green amongst the gold.

Well, yesterday's ride.

Bloomin' sweltering - Included Sherwood Pines Red in a 50 mile loop and wondered where everyone else was, despite a full car park - Seems they all had more sense.

Local legend says this is where Robin Hood Maid Marion.



Innocuous looking ford that will have you straight on your arse.



Aftermath of the bell-endery that sees people deliberately ruining our architectural heritage.

No pictures, but a nice long and fairly float road ride this morning. Left Sheffield at 4:15am, riding to Filey to open presents with my daughter (who's on holiday there with the grandparents). Pretty uneventful really, accidental extra mile or 2 round Hunmanby, and massive hunger pangs at 94 miles when riding past a house cooking sausages...
Made it to the seaside for a bacon butty at 9:30.

155km in 5 hours according to Strava. Pleased to say that my wife drive here a few days ago so just a 1-way trip this time.

Went to Cutgate and Hagg farm and almost around Derwent res. Took the Sonder Transmitter carbon for its first real outing. Had the Prong Travis forks on and was pretty apprehensive about whether it would cope with the massive rocks/gnarly sections...

Came back nice and surprised and actually managwd without coming over the bars. Met Niel from Sonder aswell who actually sold me the frame online in the first place so was a nice surprise...

Still thinking about putting the Fox on but to be honest am worried it will just become a standard boring bicycle and it wont have them bottle bosses for the King Cages for bikepacking duties (hopefully some sections of the pennine bridleway at some point).

Weather stayed nice enough but post ride am hurting (ever so slightly)...

Very simple one today.

Ride to Carr Mill Dam (the largest inland water in Merseyside.... apparently)


Unpack pack raft from rear harness, life jacket and paddles from the front, inflate raft, load bike on to raft and set a float


Paddle around the lake (well I say lake, it would have been quicker to walk around it.....)


Head under the arches and back again towards the other side/shore


Successfully get out without getting wet


Deflate raft, pack it all away and ride home.

Lots way learnt and fun was had

Nice one John

Today's ride was a tootle around the top end of Nidderdale. The return leg used the tracks taken by the YD300 but in reverse. One highlight was that I cleaned the climb out of Woo Gill (ace name) for the first time It used to be steep rubble but the estate concreted it over a few years ago so now it's 25% concrete covered in gravel that acts like ball bearings

I took the Arkose out for a mostly off road pootle with a friend around the Blue trail at Cannock. The resolutes were much better than the riddlers had been on the descents though i’m probably running them with too much pressure in them.

When first went to Cannock yonks ago and did FTD I had something very silly like 50psi in my Mountain Kings, skittering all over the place on those flinty things they build the trail with. Soon twigged it, reduced to 25psi and went round like on rails.

RIP wrote:When first went to Cannock yonks ago and did FTD I had something very silly like 50psi in my Mountain Kings, skittering all over the place on those flinty things they build the trail with. Soon twigged it, reduced to 25psi and went round like on rails.

Why didn't you phone me reg would have rode over and showed you some of the natural stuff much better than the way marked bibbly trails ( and less people ,may have bumped into paramart too)