Good ride today

philwint

Nothing epic or anything. though it was the longest/fastest of the year so far for me.

40 odd miles 14.4mph and 436m of climb.

But even better, 1 pothole leading to 2 pinch flats, then 12 variations of "you ok there? " from other passing cyclists while i swapped the tube and patched the hole. Warmed my cockles it did

And then many a cheery wave or nod from the many other folk out on their bikes*. It was a cracking day too in Yorkshire, dry, no wind at all and fairly bright, even some weak winter sun!! And there were hordes of cyclists out braving the cold. Special thanks go the chap who passed me with a friendly "good morning". I'd been slipping into a daydream and I got quite a workout trying to keep in in sight for the next few miles lol

I set a couple of personal bests, like the long climb up through Pontefract, and was absolutely b0ll0xed when I got home

Home just in time for a hot bath followed by watching both 6 nations games (well done Scotland & Wales).

Snow, sleet and rain tomorrow though.... will probably stick on the exercise bike.

*there was one miserable tw*t who didn't nod/wave, but he was a tiny minority.

Calpol

I had my second ride outdoors of the year. Forced myself out the door this morning. It was 2 degree and spitting. Started off not too bad but after 15 miles my lack of riding and the weather started to take its toll. Managed to do 49km with 330m of elevation gain at an average of 24kmh (14.9mph). The last 10 miles or so were mostly uphill and my legs were shot by the final climb.

My bike wasnt riding too well either. Shifting was sloppy and the back wheel was rubbing on the brake at one point. Had to stop to make a quick adjustment. All in all pleased I got out but it was a bit of a grind. Need to step it up a bit over the next few weeks as have entered the MK sportive and thats 90 miles - gulp.

ellj22

Congrats on the PB. shame about the puncture, 2 pinch flats in one go is fairly impressive. Or did you make the same mistake twice?

That's lucky, down south we have had rain all day and its been pretty windy. after 4 hours on the bike and 5 hours since I got home my hands are just starting to stop tingling (from the cold).

I didn't see anybody else out riding today but generally people are friendly around here. I always offer help as you never know when your going to need someone to help you.

philwint

ellj22 wrote:

Congrats on the PB. shame about the puncture, 2 pinch flats in one go is fairly impressive. Or did you make the same mistake twice?

I didn't make myself clear - it was a classic snake-bite. So two holes!

ellj22

Ah that's more feasible, unless you weigh 20st+, which I'm guessing you don't. But if you did that would make your ride very impressive indeed.

TakeTurns

Weather was awful today. Started off with a slight drizzle which I thought might die down. Alas, it did not. Then came the heavy rain, which followed by a light drizzle all the way home. Surprisingly though, I'd seen far more women out on their bikes today than ever before!

No PB's for me, did 47miles on an empty stomach. Still working on losing a couple lbs.

nmt

philwint wrote:

Nothing epic or anything. though it was the longest/fastest of the year so far for me.

40 odd miles 14.4mph and 436m of climb.

But even better, 1 pothole leading to 2 pinch flats, then 12 variations of "you ok there? " from other passing cyclists while i swapped the tube and patched the hole. Warmed my cockles it did

And then many a cheery wave or nod from the many other folk out on their bikes*. It was a cracking day too in Yorkshire, dry, no wind at all and fairly bright, even some weak winter sun!! And there were hordes of cyclists out braving the cold. Special thanks go the chap who passed me with a friendly "good morning". I'd been slipping into a daydream and I got quite a workout trying to keep in in sight for the next few miles lol

I set a couple of personal bests, like the long climb up through Pontefract, and was absolutely b0ll0xed when I got home

Home just in time for a hot bath followed by watching both 6 nations games (well done Scotland & Wales).

Snow, sleet and rain tomorrow though.... will probably stick on the exercise bike.

*there was one miserable tw*t who didn't nod/wave, but he was a tiny minority.

Which way were you heading through Ponte Phil out towards Ackworth ?

philwint

nmt wrote:

Which way were you heading through Ponte Phil out towards Ackworth ?

Not quite. Ponty > Featherstone >Fitzwilliam

here's the Stava thing http://app.strava.com/activities/40276429

nmt

philwint wrote:

nmt wrote:

Which way were you heading through Ponte Phil out towards Ackworth ?

Not quite. Ponty > Featherstone >Fitzwilliam

here's the Stava thing http://app.strava.com/activities/40276429

Nice run there mate when i first looked at your strava map i though it looked like you had been on ALL the main roads but once i zoomed in i could see you had taken some nice routes, swillington through fairburn down the old A1 and some nice roads once past Fev out towards Royston.I did notice you cut through brotherton and down the path at the side of the old A1 then over the bridge near the golden lion rather than just going straight down the old A1 is this a safety thing ? just wondering as i usualy head out of ponte towards selby area and i've often wondered what going straight down the old A1 would be like but it always enters my mind about passing the sliproad coming on at Brotherton

mattitheowl

Decent weather today in God's own County. Got out early this morning and nearly made it up Holme Moss (still a rank amateur). Managed my furthest ride though at 36 miles. Loads of folk out today too and the roads were nice and quiet too.

One thing I don't get, why don't folk say hi? Especially mountain bikers. I give everyone a smile and nod. Smile you miserable buggers. :P

cyclingsheep

I'm with you philwint. Started the day late but that avoided a pile up on the club run in the first 2 miles. Weather started drizzly then turned to sleet and -1 degrees. Despite that I had a great ride and felt great when I got home. Some days are just like that.

philwint

mattitheowl wrote:

One thing I don't get, why don't folk say hi? Especially mountain bikers. I give everyone a smile and nod. Smile you miserable buggers. :P

To be fair - during 10 years of only riding mountain bikes I did often think "Roadies - miserable buggers, a smile costs nothing". To me a bike is a bike is a bike and I smile/nod/wave at everyone, I never really got tribalism

Mikey23

Nice conditions here in east Cornwall, overcast and dry. Did a local loop to get into it then up the A395 Camelford road to Davidstowe. Mostly uphill into quite a still breeze but with the compensation of mainly downhill with a following wind on the way back which was quite wonderful and managed to push on and did a couple of PBs. A little scary as quite a bit of traffic about and going fast including a couple of bikers quite close and probably doing 100 frightened me half to death.

nickyboy zz

Practically zero wind yesterday but snow was forecast so avoided the high passes and had a bomb around the Cheshire lanes. Still managed 52 miles / 3800ft ascent @14.5mph. Knackered when I got back and legs still a bit tired this am.

Loads of folk out and, almost without exception, smiley, wavey, hello-ey.

Need to think more carefully about my route planning however. 3 biggest climbs were in final 20 miles. Got scalped going up Brickworks and almost blew a gasket trying to keep on his wheel. All good training I suppose

ShutUpLegs

philwint wrote:

mattitheowl wrote:

One thing I don't get, why don't folk say hi? Especially mountain bikers. I give everyone a smile and nod. Smile you miserable buggers. :P

To be fair - during 10 years of only riding mountain bikes I did often think "Roadies - miserable buggers, a smile costs nothing". To me a bike is a bike is a bike and I smile/nod/wave at everyone, I never really got tribalism

Where is the fair bit :?: Maybe they just didn't see you :?:

philwint

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Where is the fair bit :?:

In presenting the counter example to the original point

Maybe they just didn't see you :?:

I assume you are joking? Firstly: we are all pretty aware of what's going on around us when we are out on our bikes, else we aren't writing on t'internet, but dead under a lorry. Secondly: You can always tell if someone has seen, and blanked you.

ctc

Absolutely bloody p*ssing it down here again.
Yesterday was sleet/snow/rain depending on time of day apart from 30 mins when it when it was just light rain.

Have now fettled just about everything I could fettle on both bikes

Forecast for snow first thing tomorrow morning, but only for a couple of hours. Might be able to commute on Monday & Tuesday it will just depend on the flooding. The Thames has flooded round us and a lot of the local small tributaries have flooded so roads are pretty waterlogged and there's loads of muck that has been washed onto them.

...I wish I had the cash for a week in Majorca...

gubber12345

not been able to get out here in n ireland today at all...the rain is bouncing 4inches back into the air again.lookin like its a day for reading the papers and watching the footy

smidsy

I did venture out today (2 degrees and raining) for the club run as normal. I was the only one fool enough to bother.

Ended up doing 36 miles but feet were cold for the last 30mins as they got wet even with overshoes.

Bobbinogs

smidsy wrote:

I did venture out today (2 degrees and raining) for the club run as normal.

Sounds a bit like our club ride yesterday although the turn out was surprisingly good (at least 3 groups). Temp ranged between 0 and 2 deg with wind, sleet and, to cap it all off, hail stones that stung your face.

I was supposed to do 110k around Chippenham today but got halfway there and had a real "WTF am I doing" moment. Roads already looking very flooded, rain hammering it down and the forecast was for it to last all day. Temp was only 3 deg but it felt a lot colder. So, stopped the car, turned around and went back to bed with a cup of tea and a bar of chocolate. I did read Procycling though so at least I feel as though I have trained a bit.

smoggysteve

Good to hear everyone is getting back in the saddle. Today has been surprisingly beautiful. Clear blue skies, dry roads. Today was my first ride out for a fortnight thanks to a combination of snow and ice and been on exercise for a week. Managed to do one of the most satisfying things for me, beating a scooter up a hill while the guy looks over as if to say "Where the f@ck did you come from" ? as I fly past. Still had to keep the power down after that as I was determined he was not going to pass me later on after I was hanging out my ass.

ShutUpLegs

Winter cycling is like teenage love. You dream about pleasure, you remember the pain

thegreatdivide

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Winter cycling is like teenage love. You dream about pleasure, you remember the pain

Nice one.

Just back from a 32 miler in the pi$$ing rain, freezing sleet and the back half was into a constant 18mph wind. I had to shout 'I AM A HARD MAN' to myself (and a few sheep) to get through some parts, but now I've had a hot shower, some hot food and my feet are up it feels like it was worth it.

mattitheowl

ShutUpLegs wrote:

philwint wrote:

mattitheowl wrote:

One thing I don't get, why don't folk say hi? Especially mountain bikers. I give everyone a smile and nod. Smile you miserable buggers. :P

To be fair - during 10 years of only riding mountain bikes I did often think "Roadies - miserable buggers, a smile costs nothing". To me a bike is a bike is a bike and I smile/nod/wave at everyone, I never really got tribalism

Where is the fair bit :?: Maybe they just didn't see you :?:

You can tell they see you (often their eyes or head follow you).

I rode past a bloke on a mountain bike last week (obviously on the road I will do) and said morning, he just blanked me and then went through a red light I was stopped at. So I had to over take him again 100 yards down the road.

It always gives me a little extra 1% when someone says hi or gives me a nod or a wave. I even say morning to runners. Maybe I'm just far too cheery for people :P

smidsy

mattitheowl wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

philwint wrote:

mattitheowl wrote:

One thing I don't get, why don't folk say hi? Especially mountain bikers. I give everyone a smile and nod. Smile you miserable buggers. :P

To be fair - during 10 years of only riding mountain bikes I did often think "Roadies - miserable buggers, a smile costs nothing". To me a bike is a bike is a bike and I smile/nod/wave at everyone, I never really got tribalism

Where is the fair bit :?: Maybe they just didn't see you :?:

You can tell they see you (often their eyes or head follow you).

I rode past a bloke on a mountain bike last week (obviously on the road I will do) and said morning, he just blanked me and then went through a red light I was stopped at. So I had to over take him again 100 yards down the road.

It always gives me a little extra 1% when someone says hi or gives me a nod or a wave. I even say morning to runners. Maybe I'm just far too cheery for people :P

You will never fit in round ere!!!

smoggysteve

I had to shout 'I AM A HARD MAN' to myself (and a few sheep)

Careful what you write in here. It could come back to haunt you. Don't want to know why you are yelling at sheep how hard you are :?