Ride Reports

mtb-idle

Just completed a London 2 Paris in less than 24 hours, unsupported, just three of us including AlanSD of this manor (that's him with the Scott down there).

Big old day and the lack of sleep on the ferry is tough but it's an epic adventure I can recommend to all.

Leaving Banstead on Friday evening circa 7-30 pm



McDonalds just outside Newhaven port with a couple of stragglers we picked up



somewhere in Northern France, Saturday morning



The Eiffel Tower, Saturday afternoon



Route here:

Friday
http://www.strava.com/activities/310579038

Saturday
http://www.strava.com/activities/310593100

itboffin

Nice one

Kieran_Burns

Every time.... every damn time...


(I would love to do that ride, so jealous)

mtb-idle

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Every time.... every damn time...


(I would love to do that ride, so jealous)

But you can! The logistics are quite straightforward although I admit it does make it easier to be within an evening's ride of the south coast.

Kieran_Burns

https://youtu.be/7bU0a2AMD3k

Notts Sportive from Sunday... Mad man doing 100 miles on a fat bike!

For me I was woefully under-prepared and quite slow, I will blame the awful gusting wind for some of that though, and I basically blew up with 15 miles to go (stopped and took gels which lasted about 15 mins). However, it was a great day - challenging and social in equal part - seemed to me that people were much more willing to natter as you went along. Only a small issue with cramping but I did catch the Sun (gawd knows how - it was seriously cloud covered) and am suffering for it today.

Roll on next year!

dhope

Next year we'll find out fat bikes are faster than 25's though.

Kieran_Burns

Well - I said the next ride would take in the Monsal Trail and it did. Met up with Rob at Ashbourne and did everything we set out to.

The figures for the ride are:

111.7 miles
8:05 moving time
3,858ft climbing

They do not even begin to capture the sheer epicness of the day. Not even close...

It was like a film - we had:

Explosions!
Crashes!
Racing through spectacular countryside!
Crazy descents!
Heroic Rescues!
Comedy!
Romance!

A studio should contact us, it'd be a blockbuster.

Set off from mine heading west, straight into that wind, which made the first 15 odd miles very hard work even though it was almost completely flat. Got to Willington running a bit late but the route started to head slightly North of West now so the speed went up. Out into the countryside proper and I did the long climb up to Alkmonton from Longford and bizarrely really enjoyed it. Steady gradient, spinny gear and just kept a good cadence up. Made it to Ashbourne only taking 10 minutes longer than I expected (33 miles by this point) and waited for Rob to get there. A slight mix-up on communications had him running later than we thought but we met up. A coffee each later and up the Tissington Trail we went.

Never been up the trail this early and it was very quiet, so we made pretty good time despite the wind trying to blow us off the more exposed sections whenever it could. I was thinking that the outstanding feature of this ride was going to be the wind. Oh, how wrong I was.

Got to Parsley Hay where Rob had a coronary in a cob. There were sasauges, bacon, possibly egg, almost certainly cheese, tomatoes (healthy innit?) and gobs of fat I had a pannini.

So we set off for new roads... This was the point I made the comment about the wind being the most memorable part of the ride and Rob (remembering my puncture from last time) joked "wouldn't it be funny if you got a puncture?"

2 minutes later we'd just ridden past a group of walkers and BANG!!!!! The rear tyre let go, and when I say let go: there was a 1/2" gash in the tyre. GP 4 Seasons as well. The people down the trail heard it; frankly I should think people in Buxton were asking "was that a bomb?". When we looked and saw the gash, and then the inner tube which had a what looked like a gunshot wound in it, we knew we were in a spot of bother.

Swapped the rear to the front (less weight) and tore up the old tube to use as an internal patch against the inside of the tyre. Then a kind gentleman who was passing by gave us two self-adhesive pads which we used to hold the tyre together and set off gingerly to Buxton to find a bike shop. This is the end result:



Now, you'd think we'd pick a gentle easy route to get to Buxton... good roads, smooth surface. Go straight there.... you know: sensible stuff. Nope.



That was the trail to the road. The road had grass growing down the middle:

https://goo.gl/maps/541PW

but the views were spectacular:

https://goo.gl/maps/9ABMw

This is where Rob wanted to take a photo of his bike:



Which is a shame as it fell over at this point and bent the hanger. Oh, how we laughed.

Bit of fettling later (twice) which included me almost breaking his front shifter, we climbed out of Earl Sterndale (which is not easy with 30 psi in the front and (it turned out) 60 in the rear. Plus stopping to push the pad back on the tyre:

https://goo.gl/maps/SFSBz

and then having to brake down the other side:

https://goo.gl/maps/iQXQk

Rob didn't - need to see if he topped 40 (yep).

Then we headed towards Kings Sterndale and Cowdale to the maddest piece of road I have ever ridden on:

https://goo.gl/maps/dNHND

just follow it down... I've filmed it so will post a link later. I was giggling at the start it looked so mental.

We now headed to Buxton up the A6 and (despite the Sat Nav sending us EVERYWHERE else through Buxton) found a great LBS: Mark Anthony on Bridge Street; who fixed me up with a "get me home" tyre (£11) and let me swap out the old one in the shop. Not only that: also fixed a slight warp on my front disc, lent me a track pump and refilled the water bottles!

Re-invigorated we went belting down the A6 to the Monsal Trail, being chased by a coach so I was giving it some to not hold 'em up too much, as it is impossible to overtake for a couple of miles.

Now the Monsal Trail... It is spectacular to ride on and I think the longest we managed to go without stopping is 1/2 mile. If you are in the area and want somewhere to go: just spend the day there - I reckon it would make a fantastic walk - park in Buxton, walk the trail to Bakewell (tarts..... mmmmmm....) and catch the bus back. So many beautiful views and the tunnels are fantastic to ride through.







We then did some more *proper* CX riding and headed away from Bakewell down a track through a farmyard and uphill to Rowsley - this was a steeper hill than the one out of Earl Sterndale and a deeply rutted, loose rock, gravel, sand and mud trail. Loved it! Oh and this was the only point that Rob got the directions right... (the number of times I had to say "no Rob we ARE going the right way" )

The descent was seriously scary with me balancing the bike on a ridge with loose rocks and the front wheel threatening to lock up. The Google van got to the end of it where it evened out:

https://goo.gl/maps/3oXVe

After this it was back to the A6 heading South into Matlock and Matlock Bath - where we had to stop for the obligatory Ice Cream:



Kept heading South onto the Cromford Canal which is always beautiful and then back onto the A6 towards Derby, veering off to go through Little Eaton where I lost a water bottle... no idea exactly where, I only realised when I reached down for it in Derby and found a bottle-shaped gap.

After that a loop through Darley Park (gorgeous) on the grass and then (for me) a 15 mile flat ride home after I said goodbye to Rob in Derby.

Total time out of the house was just over 13 hours and a long day it was... Truly the best ride I've done (and the longest!) need to do it again sometime as it really is a very enjoyable day out. Huge thanks to Rob for photos and being a great cycling mate


Oh, and the romance... Have you seen the number of photos Rob has of his bike? Really worried about this.....

R0B75

Great write up, that.

What can I say, I love my bike(s). :oops:

Kieran_Burns

Footage of the Cowdale section: https://youtu.be/7mJ9XP_8JHI

Kieran_Burns

Pokes my head back into the thread.... No reports of epic rides to / from JOG or a European Capital? Good God. I got away with it!

itboffin

Now this is an interesting stat from yesterday's stage of TDF

16.89 km/h – average speed up Col du Glandon.

My only attempt was 9.4 mph (15.04 km/h) in 40C+ temps surrounded by euro nodders I think that's not that bad.

jzed

Loughton to Tower Bridge to Arc De Triomphe - 296.6miles - 23 hours 58 minutes, solo, unsupported.

A journey of demons, lots of demons. Set off shortly after 7pm Friday into heavy rain. The roads into London were water logged. The traffic lights as usual were unkind all the way through London. Once out of Dartford I'd hoped to pick up speed. A nice tailwind had been forecast, but it felt like an uphill slog for mile after mile, with no sign of the tailwind. The necessary waterproofs were adding a lot of drag, and the effort required to maintain just above 15mph was illogical. After 5 hours my main light packed in. Riding with just an exposure flare was not part of the plan and made descents slow and scary. Time was ticking down to the ferry check in. I'd expected 17mph would have been relatively easy and I might have arrived for an earlier ferry. As it turned out I arrived with little time to spare. However, I was cold, wet and beaten and ready to look for a hotel and turn around. Bingo! I was on the earlier delayed ferry, gaining 30 minutes of time.

With good fortune comes bad fortune. The Garmin 510 had a paddy and got stuck on "loading profiles". I'd saved the ride so wasn't worried (later to learn there is no activity - just some TPT Backup file) . A quick bite to eat, and got my head down for an hours sleep only to be woken by an announcement that the ferry was going to be at least an hour delayed due to ferry strikers. When eventually it did arrive, I was made to wait until last to leave the ferry (Health and Safety!). It was now 6.40. 50 minutes after my scheduled set-off. My schedule hour for lunch had just disappeared.

Still with thoughts of just turning around I set off. The rain was heavier than it had been in the UK friday and unrelentless, but I was hammering along with little effort. 1 hour down 19mph average, everything was looking "on" again. The demons reminded me I was freezing, having to dodge branches and starting to suffer with the undulating terrain. France is not flat at all. Up, down, up, down, up down. My route then turned into the wind and bang, pedalling flat out and struggling at 10-12mph. What happened to the strong tailwind to push me the whole way to Paris. My average speed was falling to the point the demons were telling me to turn around. I couldn't face the wind or undulations back to Calais and decided to try and make Amiens where I could get a train or bus to Paris. 4 hours of undulating slow progress, a dabble with a motorway, I finally hit Amiens with 100 miles down.

Garmin fail number 2. The 800 auto shutdown and the 100 miles I had just done, disappeared. I was still on schedule though. The sun had come out, the waterproofs were off, it was only 95 to go. My speed was much higher. The roads seemed flatter. The wind seemed to have died down a bit. Things were positive for a few hours. Then the 800 flashed "Low Battery". Bugger. The road started going up and down again. With 200 miles of rides lost, I decided to just shut the 800 down, and turn it on every now and then to check the route. This got me to within two hours of Paris before completely dying. Fortunately I'd noticed my route was running mostly alongside some other sportive type arrows. Fingers strongly crossed, I took the plunder and followed them. They were indeed some version of London to Paris. The final 10-20 miles took forever. Traffic lights every 50m all perfectly timed to go red as you approach. Time ticked away whilst the miles didn't.

Finally, just before 8pm French time, a little short of 24 hours, I arrived. Lots of lessons learned. The main one being if the weather is atrocious just stay at home.

iPete

Chapeau..but you're nuts for going in that weather! A contender for the most Rule #9 rider ever.

imatfaal

[H/T] - I did Tower Hill to Loughton at about that time and was completely drained by it; how you managed to keep going in that weather is beyond me. Oodles of Kudos

itboffin

I went out today taking a route I've only ridden once before, what a totally different experience to be rolling along on unfamiliar roads hardly knowing where you are most of the time. It was blissful, as was the weather and the stunning vale of Pewsey, Devizes and more little picturesque villages than I could count.

Why I don't do that more often is a mystery to me.

Grinning from ear to ear most of the time apart from the brutal headwind for 20 miles home.

roger_merriman

I have been on holiday to Tenerife, and with the attraction of Mt Teide, and very decent bike hire shops.

So I'd packed the Garmin and some lycra, though I suspected they would be unused.

But I had a free day, where my wife was keen to read books/sit by pool etc, so I hired a Focus Cayo Evo. did have cheap flat pedals which did look a bit odd, but though I have used clipless in the past, I though better the devil I know.

The Climb, just under 23 miles and just over 7000ft, I took it fairly leisurely, even setting off as early as it was light, it was darn hot. first 4 miles where a bit busy, but not not that bad, after that it got quieter and much prettier, some fun switch backs gave some fantastic views, stopped some 15miles up to get a drink and refill water bottle, just after Vilaflor you enter the forrest, and some lovely switchbacks, does get a bit steeper as you Climb though and out of the forrest, after many false (hopes) bends I reached the summit, which is the crater, Mt Teide created and sits in. as I was admiring the view the mist rolled in.

The Decent down to Vilafor was lovely and swoopy though this being a hire bike that I didn't know that well, plus the local/tourist drivers etc. so i kept the speed reasonable, some quite rough sections of road in the middle bit, but last 6-7 miles where silky smooth and fast, oddly enough didn't need to slow that much for the hairpin bends which where reasonably wide and smooth.

The bike was nice, though I'm used to bikes with lower gearing, and more powerful brakes. I had assumed that the dual pivots would be a noticeably better than my CX's canti.

amazing views and well worth the effort, and I made it back in time to join my wife for lunch by the pool!

warreng

This is more of a non-ride report. The family holiday was to Nice this year which enables me to wheel out my favourite joke when we come in to land which is a perfect Brucie impression of "Nice to see you, to see you Nice". Obviously hilarious

I'd bought a Cervelo S3 earlier on in the year but for one reason and another didn't get much time out so my darling wife suggested I come back on my own in October without them. My parents own a mobile home in Biot so flights were booked for me and a mate for 3rd October.

We landed on the Saturday night about 7pm and due to excessive flirting with the Europcar woman we got upgraded to an X5 which was a good omen. We had been checking the weather reports and there was due to be a storm on the Saturday evening but Sunday and Monday were looking clear so the plan was to pootle into Antibes for a meal and then a couple of 100km rides around the Alpes Maritime. We got to the campsite in Biot around 8pm and the rain started to come down. It was quite heavy so we abandoned the Antibes meal plan and headed to the campsite bar for a pizza and a few pints. We were inside watching the rugby but it was clear the rain was getting heavier. At 11 we thought we'd head off to the mobile home, sleep through the storm and set out at 9am. We got outside and the water was about 6 inches deep so the plan was amended to paddle to the mobile home and open a bottle of wine but half way back it was impossible to go much further. So, we thought we'd head back to the bar and have another pint.

At this point it really kicked off. The river Brague next to the campsite burst it's banks and a mini tidal wave of water came rushing throught campsite up to about waist high. We were still quite calm and just more concerned about wet clothes than anything else but we didn't know what to do as the bar was now flooded. So we waded/swam to the entrance of the campsite with the intention of finding a first floor to shelter in. There was a queue of about 20 people with the same idea trying to get into the campsite office where it was only about knee deep. I thought "bugger this, I'm going to sit on roof of this car and wait for the queue of old ladies to get smaller before I try and get in". My mate was already in the office and was cheering me on/laughing at me as I sat on the roof of the car. Which then started to move due to the weight of water. So I jumped onto the roof of a terracotta pergola thingy. Which I went stright through into the water - much hilarity from my friend who I was regretting inviting at this point.

So there was about 20 of us in this office sheltering from the rain and the worst of the flood for about an hour. During this time I thought this actually may be it - that we would drown or end up be electrocuted (probably over-dramatic but there was a bit of panic going on) so I rang my wife to sort of say if things go tits up that etc, etc, etc. But just got a mouthful of abuse for stressing her out. Not really a Hollywood type ending

Fortunately the owner of the campsite had fashioned a ladder up to the balcony where we sat until the stormed passed. At about 5am the water seemed to be subsiding really quickly so we tried to get back to the mobile home but were then turned back because the French coastguard were airlifting old farts to hospital. During this confusion the pompiers turned up in a massive fire engine and drove us to hospital to get cleaned up. This was incididentally the most dangerous part - sitting on the roof of a fire engine at 30 mph is not something I want to do again.

So at 7am we decided to run away from the hospital and get back to the mobile home and go for a ride (!!! Funny how the brain works) and we found that the mobile was flattened so thank God we never made it back during the night and the X5 was gone. But the bike cases we ok in the mobile home - I really recommend B&W cases

A bit of head scratching ensued and we then decided to get to Nice and get to a hotel. Cue much hilarity trying to hitch with two bike cases, semi naked, covered in mud. Anyway, we got to a hotel about 3pm, sat on the beach which a bottle of Chablis and then appeared on BBC News

The ride on Monday was good though

imatfaal

:-) Brilliant "ride report" WarrenG. And importantly at the end of the day the bikes were unharmed.


And seriously tell B&W - you might get some freebies in exchange for a write-up like that

dhope

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19736499#p19736499]WarrenG[/url] wrote:

Sat on the beach which a bottle of Chablis and then appeared on BBC News

Hadn't even heard of those floods
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34437228
Londoner Warren Greene - camping at Antibes - said the flood level rose to waist-height "within minutes"

warreng

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19737143#p19737143]dhope[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19736499#p19736499]WarrenG[/url] wrote:

Sat on the beach which a bottle of Chablis and then appeared on BBC News

Hadn't even heard of those floods
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34437228
Londoner Warren Greene - camping at Antibes - said the flood level rose to waist-height "within minutes"

I didn't particularly feel up to going to work on the Tuesday or Wednesday and my boss is in NY. So I just sent him that clip. A big mistake. I thought he was going to refer me to Occupational Health for counselling. "I'm amazed you sounded so calm" So drunk more like.

warreng

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19737124#p19737124]imatfaal[/url] wrote:

:-) Brilliant "ride report" WarrenG. And importantly at the end of the day the bikes were unharmed.


And seriously tell B&W - you might get some freebies in exchange for a write-up like that

I might just do that......

itboffin

Where did the car go?

warreng

It was about 200m from where we left it. Even if we could have started it (it must have been under water for 6 hours) there was no way of driving it out of the campsite as all the roads were blocked by destroyed mobile homes. It a took a little while explaining to the 16 year old lad at the Europcar desk that we only had the keys left. They were really understanding and there was no charge at all! Even Easyjet were great - the bike case was about 28kg on the way out and given the sponges were sodden it was 42kg on the way back - they let that through no problem.

itboffin

and the wife after your frankly cowardly panic call?

warreng

A little too jolly at the discovery of my company's very generous Death In Service benefit package if I'm a little honest. She's suggested the next cycling trip should be somewhere in the Middle East

itboffin

the club ride this morning was insane, forget the sleet as i left home its was the crap covered roads, MASSHOOF puddles stones branches mud etc (two punctures in the group of six) and a headwind that would shame a Belgian classic.

HR was at 187 and i was going 10 Mph, and I was in the front split :shock:

elbowloh

Did a nice little loop round Essex today, starting from Hackney, out to Ongar and back through Epping, got a bit wet on the way back but the Gabba did its thing.

Saw a chap wearing a pink full-face helmet, on a hybrid e-bike with wicker basket on the back, that also had a pair of Mavic R-SYS wheels strapped either side to the basket...