Ride Reports

benno68

That's the one RTM.

Talking of hills, wonder what the weather will be like on the day of the Dragon Ride - couldn't imagine doing it in this weather!

I missed the boat and didn't get in on it - maybe next year!

Bassjunkieuk

Gospel Pass is a fantastic ride, we did that on the Saturday of the SCR Wales trip :-) It was amazing coming out the other side as the descent was superb - despite the fact I managed to put myself into a thorn bush :-)

ketsbaia

Did my first >100 miles on Sunday, riding to Lewes and back. Tried and tested route out of London to Biggin Hill, then over Hosey Hill Common on the B2606, quick section of the A22, then A275 to Kingston-near-Lewes. Start to finish in 3h 15m with no stops (apart from a few quick off and ons to put the sodding chain back on - curse you Shimano).

Refuelling stop at Kingston of around 40 minutes, at which I topped up the sun cream, then back the way I came. It really is uphill all the way back, I can confirm. Baking heat saw me stop a few times to get more overpriced bottles of water from garages and I picked up a slow puncture at Pooh Corner (OK, Ashdown Forest). Limped and cursed my way to five miles out of Edenbridge when I spot the SERRL marshals. They pointed me in the right direction of some people with track pumps, so I fixed her up and was on my way. Thought I might struggle up Westerham Hill, but managed it with relative ease. Journey back took five hours, but you can take off at least an hour due to piddling about with the slow puncture. All told, it clocked in at just over 110 miles in 7h 15 mins, which I'm pretty pleased with.

Downsides were the ridiculous amount of times the chain came off when changing rings, the condition of the roads, the number of inconsiderate drivers and the failure to apply sun cream high enough on arms and knees, meaning I've got a few sore, silly red stripes to contend with.

Upsides were the ride there, the kindness of total strangers and the feeling my legs still had more to give when I got back. And they don't feel too bad today either. Bigger, more hilly ride next weekend and I reckon I'll be just about ready for the Dragon Gran Fondo/Magnificat back-to-back.

Bassjunkieuk

Excellent work Ketsbaia :-) I'm out for a ride next Sunday but I don't think I'll be able to wangle a whole day out to join you for a bigger, hillier one!! Besides I'm hoping to (rather bravely/stupidly - delete as appropriate) bust my century duck on the Magnificat so I've been trying to avoid doing a ton before then :-D

roger_merriman

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Gospel Pass is a fantastic ride, we did that on the Saturday of the SCR Wales trip :-) It was amazing coming out the other side as the descent was superb - despite the fact I managed to put myself into a thorn bush :-)

i prefer the drop down to Crickhowell from the beaufort road, as it's a faster decent with better sight lines.

not to say the drop of hay buff isn't fun, it is but I think there are better close by.

Bassjunkieuk

roger merriman wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Gospel Pass is a fantastic ride, we did that on the Saturday of the SCR Wales trip :-) It was amazing coming out the other side as the descent was superb - despite the fact I managed to put myself into a thorn bush :-)

i prefer the drop down to Crickhowell from the beaufort road, as it's a faster decent with better sight lines.

not to say the drop of hay buff isn't fun, it is but I think there are better close by.

I can't remember what descent we tackled first, think it might have been towards Crickhowell. What I enjoyed about Gospel Pass was the nice and slow ride up through the valley. Didn't really notice how far we had climbed over the 13 miles and asides from the cattle grid section near the top it was a fairly gentle climb :-D

gert_lush

loaded the panniers onto the bike and me and my house mate headed from briz to oxford for a BBQ yesterday (saturday) boy it was wet! rain, rain, sideways rain, more rain, pretty chilly too. Great roads though, headed to malmesbury cricklade lechade Bampton oxford, mainly backroads and B roads. Fortunately after a great evening in oxford having a few drinks Today was a cracking day to cycle home, so back we came, headwind was hardwork for 79 miles, but great fun as it was sunny. I love cycling in the sun!!!!

davis

Double post

davis

yay!

Just did my first century. A 95 mile Wiggle sportive was starting just 5 miles from my house, so my brother and I rode to and from it purely to make the numbers. Made it round ok, really well organised and signed event. First time riding in groups too - it really made a difference; despite the hangover I was sporting we were averaging a pretty easy 17mph for the first 30 miles or so.

At the 95 miles mark I came across a dude on another Roubaix who'd epically smashed his rear derailleur (really no idea how; the cage was absolutely wrecked, and part of the actual body had cracked.right through :? A bit of impromptu roadside tinkering and he was back in the game as a single speed, albeit a bit spinny for him; I think i picked the wrong gear but it'd have been a shame to see him get swept ~8 miles from the finish so at least he finished.

The phone GPS showed 15.6 mph at that point and decided to give up its battery, so I'm guessing at about 7 hours for the whole distance.

Feels good to have done it, but my gawd energy drinks are vile. My stomach's still reeling.

cjcp

Met up with JG for my three laps of RP tonight. Bit windy, but sun was shining, so all was good. 8)

@Davis - good effort. I wish I could get that mileage in. Which drinks did you use?

stuaff

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Gospel Pass is a fantastic ride, we did that on the Saturday of the SCR Wales trip :-) It was amazing coming out the other side as the descent was superb - despite the fact I managed to put myself into a thorn bush :-)

+1. And I descended worse than that...!

davis

@CJ: I started with a mix of el cheapo Apple Juice and water with a pinch of salt, but the stands were handing out Hi 5. It was revolting, but I think it might have made a difference. After the first bottle I only put in about 20% of that stuff and topped up with water, but even after mouthwash my mouth still tasted like I'd French kissed a honey badger and my stomach was somersaulting. Bleurgh. I think I'll take two bottles of AJ and water next time, and avoid muck like that.

Still didn't need padded shorts though ;-) Perhaps baggies were increasing the drag a bit, but surgeons wouldn't want that much anatomical explanation.

rolf_f

I did the Richmond 5 Dales. Was a bit nervous about it not least for the weather which promised rain all day! Fortunately it wasn't that bad - at least for the first half.

It is a very hard route - the first big climb; the Stang goes straight up the side of a Dale and is quickly followed by another, rather easier drag up to Tan Hill. The third, Birkdale Common is also not too bad and followed by a stupendous downhill blast - no visibility problems here and my computer recorded 49.95 mph twice! In reality, that will be over 50 as the speedo is rather slow reacting.

Then a long, headwindy drag over Mallerstang where I picked up a tow from Clayton Velo team (taa very much) to Hawes. Then the cowards went off back down Wensleydale to finish the 80 and the idiots headed off up Fleet Moss and on to Wharfedale. Fleet Moss is a git - highest paved road in Yorkshire I think and saving the 1 in 4 bit to near the top. By then it was getting wet and the long downhill run to Kettlewell wasn't deservedly fast due to the headwinds. Final feedstop at Kettlewell and on to Park Rash - which is also a git. The steep bit is at the bottom but it is long and 1 in 4 and the climb above goes on a long way. Someone had painted faces on the road starting smiley and getting progressively unsmiley as the climb progressed - they did help! After this, there was still 25 miles to go to Richmon. Much of it was really nice fast downhill but it was very wet and cold by then. By the time I got back, I was frozen and could barely undo helmet etc. One finger is still not right now! Missed out on a silver time by 4 minutes but 7:04 is fine by me.

ketsbaia

Good effort that, Rolf. Sounds a brilliant event despite the cold conditions. My Grandad used to live up that neck of the woods, so I know the area and hills pretty well.

itboffin

36 miles of hill repeats yesterday, did the Magnificat big ones, ouchy but good practice
56 miles today, nipped down to the new forest and met Attica when then proceeded to cut a path through the headwind back to Linds just a few minutes last for dinner :roll:

Nice avg speed for the day today, esp seeing as I through in a couple of 20% stingers, all in all my climbing is doing pretty well apart from a tiny bit of back ache in the last 15-20 miles must be two days of climbing back-2-back no pun intended

Tapering now for the Dragon & Magnificat

Bassjunkieuk

I completed one of my personal milestones today and rather surprised myself in doing so :-)
To set the scene I need to give a brief background on the nature of my job, I don't have a single office that I work at and up until today there has been one particular site I have only ever driven to due to how far out it is. This being a particular companies UK head office in Woking :-D My best estimates at a fairly direct-ish route that I was comfortable doing due to previous knowledge of the roads used from my past life as field engineer (in a car!)

I had meant to do this last weekend but for one reason of another I didn't, most likely cos it was my wedding anniversary on the BH Monday so being a typical man I had to do some shopping on the Sunday

My chosen route from my home out to Woking was already 50% known to me as it involved riding past my current furthest commute location in Thames Ditton, just off Portsmouth Road. As I rode past there I was making good time and from then it was pretty much follow the A307 south until I could do no longer at which point I was practically at the Panishill junction of the A3. I then turn right, go across that big roundabout over the A3 and follow that road until I pick up my usual driving route for Woking which is just after Pyreford Common.

When I arrived at the offices I was pretty much spot on what I expected, 26.5 miles in a total of 1hr 30 minutes (door-to-door, about the same as my car during the morning rush hour!) After the obligatory pictures of the bike under the office sign (for proof!) and a mugshot of me looking rather bemused I tucked into my clif bar and set off homeward.

It was along here that I realized that cycling around that area is actually rather quick! Due to the route I'd chosen mainly comprising A-roads and it being Sunday it was remarkably clear :-D I was happily tooling along and looked down to see something odd - my computer was showing me doing 20mph but the pace arrow was pointing down!! Bl00dy hell I thought I must be on a good one! This was after about 5 miles and I knew I had at least 10 more miles of road like this so I kept the pace hot wanting to see how quickly I could knock out the first 10 :-) That come up in around 27 minutes! Rather pleased with that and I had a few traffic light stops and roundabouts to contend with :-D
The remainder of the ride was still fairly fast as I arrived home with a 20mph average for the return leg!

That'll be my last ride before the Magnificat next week as I'm due to be working down at that office this week so I'll be in the car, which will be even more annoying now as I KNOW I can get there in 1 1/2 hours on my bike now :-)

cjcp

Had to pop into the office to print off stuff for the Marmotte, so dragged JG along with me. Got some good speed up along DSC, Millbank (both directions) and Blackfriars Tunnel, so good interval training. JG's coming into form for the Marmotte - until this morning, in five years of riding there, I'd not done 23 mph up the slope to Pembroke Lodge (from Ham Gate direction) in RP, and I was hanging on in his slipstream.

Embankment was packed with cyclists, too, because of the Bikeathon. Fantastic to see so many bikes out. Fair play, cars seemed to be very tolerant of them.

Kieran_Burns

Okay - so it was only 36 miles but I was nearly dead at the end of it. The heat just sapped my strength and I really struggled to get home. I still did the full loop I wanted to do and I have to say I've found a really nice circuit to go around.

Some great quiet lanes and smooth sections, uphills to test and downhills to whizz down.

This being a prime example. I forgot that hills look far worse on the approach and this one looked REALLY bad (much worse than it appears in the photo) but going down it and up the other side I barely noticed it. Weird that.

Anyway - the best bit was meeting up with this 68 year old guy who was back on the bike after being off for 4 months post treatment for prostate cancer! As you can imagine he was 'reluctant' to sit on anything for a while.... I immediately nicknamed him Lance

Cycled alongside him for a few miles (good thing too as I would'ev gone the wrong way!) until we got to his place and with some clear directions from him I went on to loop onto the rest of the circuit.

I got passed by a couple of team coloured serious types (both snobby, didn't even look or say anything....) but there was this one weird bit. I was going along what appeared to be a dead flat piece of road but when I looked at my speed, I was holding 29mph with absolutely no effort. Literally. I wasn't pedalling! :shock:

All in all a good circuit I'm going to use again and build up to tackling some of the bigger hills I could opt in towards the end. Very very tired at the end though. I think I got my fluid intake wrong again.

<edit>
Here's the ride profile:

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

Had to pop into the office to print off stuff for the Marmotte, so dragged JG along with me. Got some good speed up along DSC, Millbank (both directions) and Blackfriars Tunnel, so good interval training. JG's coming into form for the Marmotte - until this morning, in five years of riding there, I'd not done 23 mph up the slope to Pembroke Lodge (from Ham Gate direction) in RP, and I was hanging on in his slipstream.

Embankment was packed with cyclists, too, because of the Bikeathon. Fantastic to see so many bikes out. Fair play, cars seemed to be very tolerant of them.

Was a good ride. Nice to do the commute route on a decent bike with no luggage. Mr Garmin said 35.25mph up millbank Those new (well, newly fitted but bought in december) DA wheels are lovely: they spin up really quickly

The London Bikeathon seemed to have drawn massive numbers, which was good to see. Lovely day for it. There was no aggro at all that I could see even though the many pelotons of riders did cause quite a bit of congestion. S'all good.

benno68

Haven't been cycling much recently but after a game of tennis my friend Tom said he was going out for a quiet pootle down the flats for an hour - I raised my eyebrows and he assured me it would be a gentle run as he has a race later in Somerset and just wanted to loosen his legs up.

The flats were fine, he was staying in the 39t ring and trundling along merrily at a sedate 18 - 20mph - happy days. Was told not to "half wheel" (a phrase I'd not heard before) and that my cadence should be quicker - I'm happy doing 90rpm but need to practice at 100.

Turn off the flats onto A48 and then right and a lump appears. Tom carry's on as if it wasn't there and kept his HR to 155 or so, I start to feel less comfortable :roll: A nice ride through some lanes and a couple of more lumps take us into Cyncoed then down hill and back, only 17 miles.

Really enjoyable ride and got some good advice - it makes me wonder what he can do when he's trying.

At least I won the tennis game!

EKE_38BPM

Did my usual Barnet>Bromley>Barnet (47 miles) ride today and came across Bent Mikey on his lovely recumbent. He is the most South African sounding Dutchman I've ever met. Nice bloke on a nice bike. Him saying I had good techinque up Bromley Hill made me feel a lot better about going up that hill. For some reason, I really hate it.

I got to my mate's place in Bromley at 7 as he said he would be getting back from his travels by then but he wasn't in so I sent him a text and went to the pub for some liquid refreshment. My mate then replied to my text saying he wouldn't be back for a couple of hours. Very annoying, but what can you do?

The ride back home was more interesting than the ride out. Somehow I managed to have a headwind both out and back and struggled both ways. Some dick in a Honda Legend got way too close as he passed me so when I caught up to him at the lights I politely (I was trying to be Zen) asked him to give cyclists more room when he passes them as he was extremely close when he passed me. This was met with a stream of insults and expletives. I didn't rise to this (zen, remember) and took primary in the ASL in front of him. As the lights changed to green I had a clipless moment and he swore and beeped at me as I struggled to clip in. I laughed at him and rode off. My zen hat slipped off bit.

As I rode down Grays Inn Road I tried to change onto the big cog and the cable must have slipped as that just wasn't happening. I stopped on York Way and did my best to tighten it, but without a pair of pliers or a 4th hand tool, I couldn't get the necessary tension so had to ride home without the big gears. No big deal as its up hill most of the way.

Passed a lovely lady on a hybrid who was crossing her chain up so advised her not to do that as it stretches the chain. We were going up a hill and I demonstrated (with hand signals) what she was doing and must have looked really cool as I climbed the hill no handed. Burds love that kind of thing, right?

Got home just as a bit of light drizzle started,

A good ride despite the wind, my mate not being in, my dodgy gears and Mr Honda Legend. This riding lark is quite fun!

Kieran_Burns

Wow. :shock:

This thread is a long way down!

Milestone for the year completed: 100Km ride (and into, across, once (just once) with, the Mother of all winds.)

Decided to see if the route I'm thinking of using for the 100k run I'd like to try in September was a good idea, so with the weather forecast for Saturday looking good I set up for going.

Yeah, right. Over an hour late leaving home due to me completely forgetting to set the CX bike up for non-commuting duties and general faffing

Anyway: parked up, bike out, wheels attached, tyres pumped and I noticed a bit of drizzle. Err.... drizzle? Soon ended and the skies were blue so off I went.

Then I noticed the wind. Did I mention the wind? I'll probably keep mentioning the wind.

There was this wind.

Blowing directly westerly and it was horrendous. I actually contemplated bailing right at the start, but I was so pumped up with carbs and sugar I didn't want to waste the calories, so off I went. Unfortunately the start of the ride takes you North and West in steps, so I was either cutting across (which is hard) or straight into (which was a nightmare). I soldiered on and was very pleased with my improved hill climbing - a couple of hills that previously wrecked me I got up pretty easily.

I was now at the first high point and rode along a ridge towards Ashbourne, with the wind gusting a fair bit but the hedges protected me pretty well. Whenever you came out of the lee of a hedge though, you'd get shunted across the road; it could be scary as the road isn't that wide

Anyway, I made it throught to Ashbourne, with the last stretch almost straight into the wind (with two roadies swishing by the other way with no effort... grrr...) and had some fun down this hill. Topped out at 38.1mph (much steeper than it looks! 15% according to the sign)

Got to Tissington up the trail uneventfully and stopped for a bite to eat (20 miles so far) and again considered bailing as the wind was killing me and I knew that there were some exposed bits coming up which would be a nightmare; then I found myself having a chat with a guy who told me it was VERY bad and it slowed you both to and from the High Peak trail as it cut straight across.

I still went :shock:

Oh. Dear. God. That was some of the hardest riding I have ever done. Slight uphill all the way and the wind, then rain, then sun.. but always, always the wind. I'd foolishly only worn a short-sleeved top and taken no shower-proof with me - the wind was cooling me so much with the blasts of rain, I was again (seriously) having to consider bailing for safety's sake. I knew that there was a small shop at the High Peak so I figured if it was still bad I could buy a top there.

I had some adventures with families on bikes who really have no bleeding riding sense whatsoever - ringing the bell and having to shout at (mainly teenage lads) riding on the wrong side completely oblivious to anything around them. One of which fell off his bike, apologising as he went. One lad got my full ire right in front of his parents, as he jumped out of a side path on a BMX thing right into my line without even a look. I'm happy to say his parents were heard giving him a roasting as I cycled off.

Right as I get to the High Peak trail, the rain REALLY started and it was literally horizontal. I was getting soaked and starting to shiver. The cafe / shop area faced the wind, so you had no shelter from it and the rain was driving right into your face. I jumped into the shop and thank God they had shower-proof breathable tops I got a larger one than needed as it had the extra length at the back, had a quick drink and set off back into this rain and wind.

Of course. 2 miles down the trail, the rain stopped, the Sun came out and I had to take the top off. :roll:

Didn't stop the wind though. There were times me and the bike were leant right over and I was being pushed off the trail, it got quite scary at some points. I managed to get through the worst section and saw 2 young kids and a mother coming towards me. I stopped her and warned her that if she didn't need to go any further, she should consider turning back (these kids looked tired and I knew what was coming). unfortunately she'd camped 3 miles up the trail and HAD to go through the exposed area. :? I really hope they made it okay... that section was just horrible.

Stopped again at Tissington for a bite to eat (now at nearly 40 miles) but not for too long as I'd taken much longer to get here and time was ticking. This section of the trail was covered and clear of people, so I was able to cruise along at 19-21mph so was soon back to Ashbourne. Climbed out of the town better than I hoped (nasty hill out, and I was feeling the miles by now). Caught up with a MTB guy after the dip under the A52, this time topping out at 41.2mph :shock: Cruised along with him for a couple or three miles having a natter then onto Alkmonton where I turned left with the wind behind me! Yeehah! I was starting to feel the energy levels dropping alarmingly at this point, so drank a fair bit and cruised down the hill holding 30 ish most of the way down with little effort... nice...

Through the villages, almost taking out an old guy who wandered across the road without looking at all, and onto the last bridle track; where I stopped and had a natter with a Buddhist Monk (nearby temple), just 7 miles left now. Straight into the wind for most of it and I felt every turn of the crank, every part of me protesting and I almost took the last bail route but this would mean missing the 100k by 1k, I could not do this.

So, left towards Marston and loop through to Tutbury (on some of the worst road surface you have ever seen), and I bonked. Full-on collapse of energy. Right on the approach to Tutbury, 1 mile to go and everything just died. I had to drop gears to maintain any kind of headway straight into this bloody awful wind and there was nothing, nothing at all left in the tank.

I managed it back, thanks only to buildings and trees covering the road so there was little wind, but I could not have gone another 1/2 mile. I sat at the car and found myself falling alseep :shock: So I shook myself awake, finished off the energy drink and packed the bike away. I was going to change top and put some track pants on but couldn't be bothered.

Last part of the story was possibly the best bit

Decided to call in at the village shop to grab some bits and bobs; I was going to after getting home, cleaned and changed but was so tired I decided I'd just get it done now.

So get out the car, still in all my lycra cycling gear (mud spattered) and lean back in to get my wallet from the saddle bag. Close the car door to see two woman walking past with what can only be described as the biggest damn' grins on their faces.... 8) They kept looking back and almost walked into each other. I'm no looker (far from it) so moments like these... they're fun

Total distance covered: 64.24 miles = 103.38 kilometers 8)

rjsterry

Sounds like character-building stuff (especially that last bit). Chapeau KB.

Kieran_Burns

rjsterry wrote:

Sounds like character-building stuff (especially that last bit). Chapeau KB.

It was. I'm most happy about not bailing, as it was really tempting at a couple of points.

I was exhausted Sunday morning, didn't wake up until 9:30! :shock:

itboffin

Freezing cold, windy and alpine hilly

That is all!

risi

Just got back from a trek around France, including nipping off for some early morning rides:

- First stop, Bedoin, Provence. Climbed Mt Ventoux from Bedoin side (pictures 5 - 8 here), then Malaucene side. Really quite cold at the top & second time up was rather scarily windy. Stopped to pay my respects to Tom Simpson. Not proud of my times up the mountain (2 hours each), but about 25 minutes from top back to Bedoin didn't seem too bad.

- Next up, Gorges du Verdon, Provence (Route). Stunning. Just look at google images.

- Round Lac du Bourget near Aix-les-Bains. Flat on the East side, hilly on the west, including the Col du Chat. Very hot.

- Lastly, the Col de Joux Plaine from Samoens. I was going to carry on down to Morzine & return back through Les Gets, but the heavens opened so I chickened out and went back down the way I came. Not a pleasant descent in the conditions. Samoens is a really nice little place though.

Missed out on a ride from Les Gets-Morzine-Avoriaz due to being too lazy to get out of bed. Avoriaz climb reported to be "not too difficult". By a mountain goat though.

Is that it? Seemed like more at the time, but it was a holiday so otherwise involved copious quantities of wine & cheese.

jonginge

Nice work, Risi. I'm off to the Morzine area in just over a week. A really pleasant part of the world. Cheese and wine will be involved heavily. May take the bike,,,

The climb up to Avoriaz isn't that bad, no

cjcp

Nice one, Risi. Will be looking into the Les Gets-Avoriaz route you mention.

stuaff

I've had a busy few days....L2P (less than 36 hours to go as I write this!) will be tapering (sort of).

First, Friday saw this month's FNRttC, London to Whistable. Delighted to report that among my co-riders was a certain 'blonde' gent of this parish, along with a friend of his. He seemed to enjoy himself, though he found the whole day/night thing a bit heavy going (as a regular on these things, I have to agree it takes getting used to). I hope he'll be back (and more of you lot are of course very welcome!). As for me, I was lumbered/honoured, depending on one's perspective- mine, just honoured- with being one of the three tail-end charlies for the first half. A simple job, really- stick at the back, make sure no-one gets left behind, help anyone with visitations or other mechanical issues. and let our esteemed ride leader Simon Legg know when everyone's arrived at the periodic regroups. Sounds slow and tedious, but it was anything but- for sure, the pace was fairly gentle, but we kept rolling along nicely enough, and we didn't have to wait long at stops as, in most cases, Simon sent everyone on their way as soon as we got there. The one puncture there was (apart from another that delayed our departure from HPC) didn't need our help. And we weren't short of company- one or two others were happy to sit at the back anyway, and we were also looking after a first-timer who, though not inexperienced, was not much of a climber, was on a heavy old Dawes with slightly clunky and not-low-enough gearing, and hadn't been eating and drinking enough. Whitstable isn't that lumpy a route, but it is rolling, and there are two or three short-but-sharp climbs where a 34-tooth ring is very handy if not absolutely necessary (OK, necessary for me....!). Not surprisingly, she was walking up quite a few climbs, and eventually decided to bail out at Sittingbourne as she wasn't feeling able to carry on. She's coming back though...
The second half (after a much needed tea & bacon sandwich in Rochester) saw a few more punctures (I think the ride record is twelve, but nowhere near that this night), but was otherwise more of the same- pleasant riding in great company. I did manage to have a low-speed fall into a hedge (climb on a narrow road, I was a bit stronger than many of my fellow riders, was trying to pick my way through, caught a wheel...whoops!) but no harm done to me or the Viner. And as ever, the last five or six miles into Whitstable was a joy- hammering along and barely dropping below 19 or 20, despite the favourable-wind-that-wasn't. Top notch fry-up at the Waterfront Club, and trains home. 80 miles for the night/day there...

I gave myself Sunday off (bike washing and Belgian GP), but yesterday saw me back at HPC, bright and early this time (in my case, 5.32 train up, to be at the corner for 8 am) for another run to the coast- East Wittering in this case- with a few chums from CycleChat & YACF. The aforementioned Simon was staying there for the weekend & was laying on lunch. Eight of us departed HPC, and our final peloton member joined us at Putney Bridge, after our one-and-only PF visit, in Chelsea, had been dealt with. We went down to Richmond, half a clockwise lap of the park to Kingston, then on through Esher and Guildford. Pretty uneventful, apart from a stupid woman in a Renault Megane who had a bad case of horn-blowing Tourette's (I got a blast even though I was being a good boy and riding well over, and she'd already got past me). We then joined the A286, as recommended fulsomely by Simon as an excellent road. I'd done the Chichester-Midhurst stretch northbound a while back, but this time it seemed rather lumpier. Not all the sweeping fast descents were followed by painful climbs, just most of them. My tyres turned out to be underinflated, but I don't think that made much difference tbh. Great workout though, and the scenery was lovely.
As we got nearer Chichester the terrain got a bit easier, and we skirted round the city on some roads I have no prior knowledge of (not much, lol!). Into EW at ten to two, delicious pasta and crumble from splendid hosts, and after my soft tyres were noticed and sorted, we went back to Chichester station (previous plans to ride back having been abandoned), and in my case riding on back home. 104 miles for the day.

Today was the last full day I'd have for a ride before heading up to the smoke tomorrow (travelling up from Pompey to be in Greenwich for 6.30 on Thursday is neither practicable nor sensible), and the weather forecast was good (and, thankfully, proved accurate), so I decided to make the most of it and finally do a ride I'd been thinking of for a while, to Brighton and back. Fifty or so miles each way (route options vary), flat (max elevation a whole 252 ft, think that's a bridge...!), roads not too busy (and some rather haphazard cycle routes to follow), some lovely scenery, and a classic destination. Apart from that, on several FNRttCs there, I had failed to achieve my aim of riding back (weather unfavourable a couple of times, and not making it past Reigate Hill last time). So off I went. 13.2 mph average for 51-and-a-bit miles outward to the Madeira Cafe for midway fry-up, and yet another meeting with the splendid Mr Legg (who was doing a 'Dr Bike' session for this Friday's charity L2B in aid of the Martlets Hospice in Hove, I'd forgotten about it despite him mentioning it yesterday). After the restorative all-day breakfast and a good chinwag, back I went. Slightly different route, slightly shorter and fractionally- a whole .1 mph- slower. Toal mileage 101.71, riding time 7:44.
Tomorrow will be gentle- out to get some Euros for the trip, to the station and on to the b&b (right by Greenwich Park, so easy for the morning), and I'm planning to visit LMNH for some dinner. Thursday, the hard work begins.....

risi

JonGinge wrote:

Nice work, Risi. I'm off to the Morzine area in just over a week. A really pleasant part of the world. Cheese and wine will be involved heavily. May take the bike,,,

The climb up to Avoriaz isn't that bad, no

Ah, is this is mass Commuting trip that Attica told me about? Should be good by the sounds of it.
Not sure exactly where you lot are staying, but I think a nice ride would be to go to Samoens (via Taninges), and if you can, get there for lunchtime & eat at the restaurant in the main square. Then you can refill your bottles from the fountain in the middle of the square & go back over the Col de Joux Plaine. I was hoping to do something like that (http://ridewithgps.com/routes/166970), but time & laziness got in the way.
Also, if its still open, have a go on the summer luge in Morzine.