The "Photos From Today's Ride" thread...
Discussion
2DDav said:
How was Kielder? Its currently on my places to go list.
Its a nice place to go. Riding is good. A 'spin' round the lake is not a flat ride either, it ended with almost 1500 ft of elevation. Plenty of rides at the castle, which is where they usually all start from. We stayed at Leaplish and I headed out from there to pick up the Lonesome and did the loop. Get a map of the rides, as the bloodied bush also comes off that loop and skims Scotland. On a nice day , its just great, on a wet day, its just dire. Worth the trip.Zippee said:
Gruffy said:
Lippitt's Hill, overlooking Chingford Golf Course. It's a bit of a schlep to get there from SE1 but it looks like there are lots of different hills to play on if I can find the time for a 3 hour ride.
http://www.strava.com/activities/176959439
You need to get a mountain bike then I meet you for a proper play in Epping Forest http://www.strava.com/activities/176959439
Loads of great single track...That route's very close to my commute to work. Next time, turn right off the A10 Kingsland Road at the Old Shoreditch Station lights, then left onto Queensbridge Road - far nicer and safer way to get through Hackney.
Went to St Mawes in Cornwall last year and saw the Steepest signposted hill I have come across, managed to lock the kids in the cellar this year so had space for my bike and rode over to have a crack, managed to get 1 second off the KOM in 2nd place.
Strangely saw very few roadies around Falmouth & Truro the week I was there , maybe 1 or 2 in total. Found it odd as the roads and scenery were ace for riding, with no potholes and smooth roads! Couldn't believe how quiet it was cycling wise, the hills were brutal though in a fun way.
Strangely saw very few roadies around Falmouth & Truro the week I was there , maybe 1 or 2 in total. Found it odd as the roads and scenery were ace for riding, with no potholes and smooth roads! Couldn't believe how quiet it was cycling wise, the hills were brutal though in a fun way.
TwistingMyMelon said:
Went to St Mawes in Cornwall last year and saw the Steepest signposted hill I have come across, managed to lock the kids in the cellar this year so had space for my bike and rode over to have a crack, managed to get 1 second off the KOM in 2nd place.
Strangely saw very few roadies around Falmouth & Truro the week I was there , maybe 1 or 2 in total. Found it odd as the roads and scenery were ace for riding, with no potholes and smooth roads! Couldn't believe how quiet it was cycling wise, the hills were brutal though in a fun way.
I was in Bude last week and agree, the roads were on the whole very quiet car wise and didn't see another soul, although that could have been due to the fact I was out between 6-8am! Lots of hills and rolling countryside.Strangely saw very few roadies around Falmouth & Truro the week I was there , maybe 1 or 2 in total. Found it odd as the roads and scenery were ace for riding, with no potholes and smooth roads! Couldn't believe how quiet it was cycling wise, the hills were brutal though in a fun way.
I reckon it's as simple as population density, the lack of bikes in rural areas. I used to serve in Ripon, and ride out through the Yorkshire Dales. It's a stunningly beautiful place to ride, as witnessed by the Tour footage this year, yet I'd be alone in the scenery for hours at a time. Yet down here, especially out toward Dorking, you can't ride a mile without passing, or being passed, by at least one other rider. Although I imagine Yorkshire has a lot more cycling visitors now that it's had it's showcase Grand Depart.
TwistingMyMelon said:
I guess so, but Truro and Falmouth are biggish towns (and a city!)
My commute is rural and quiet, but I saw more riders last night (5!) than I did for the whole week around Cornwall
Just suprised how many riders there are in some areas and not in others
Coastal Cornwall is VERY hilly though, which is enough to put many a 'casual' off starting to cycle. I rode back from the Camel Trail at Padstow, to Penhale Camp (between Newquay and Perranporth) once, on a MTB after a day out to Bodmin and back. It's very lumpy going around the coast, and if you head inland there's the exposed moors to deal with as well. If you've been driven about down there all your life, you might end up thinking that "if the car struggles up some of these hills, to hell with cycling up them".My commute is rural and quiet, but I saw more riders last night (5!) than I did for the whole week around Cornwall
Just suprised how many riders there are in some areas and not in others
I've done the Camel Trail a couple of times, both on my own MTB and a hired bike, and the same with the Mineral Tramway C2C path, and absolutely loved it. I haven't had a chance to try a road bike trip down that way (I'd love to), but like I said, I've done Padstow to Newquay along the coast. If the weather is nice, it's brilliant (if hard work on 2.3" knobblies) but another big downer on cycling as a hobby down there is the wind coming in off the Atlantic and the rain, and it seems to rain a lot of the time. Add in the distances between towns and villages, which is prohibitive to cycle commuting, and I don't really feel that cycling will ever be as popular as it seems to be in bigger towns and cities, and the South East generally.
Rural France is pretty quiet too 
I sneaked out for a total of about 200 miles during the family holiday, saw no more than a handful of other bikes or even cars. Yet dozens of near perfectly signed and mapped circular routes courtesy of the Charente dept.
I discovered some stunning places which I then dragged the family back to, for dinner or lunch, so a worthwhile investment for the locals.
I sneaked out for a total of about 200 miles during the family holiday, saw no more than a handful of other bikes or even cars. Yet dozens of near perfectly signed and mapped circular routes courtesy of the Charente dept.
I discovered some stunning places which I then dragged the family back to, for dinner or lunch, so a worthwhile investment for the locals.
tuffer said:
That's a fair pedal from your house, circular route or one way?
Circular http://app.strava.com/activities/179203023S10GTA said:
tuffer said:
That's a fair pedal from your house, circular route or one way?
Circular http://app.strava.com/activities/179203023ALawson said:
I was in Bude last week and agree, the roads were on the whole very quiet car wise and didn't see another soul, although that could have been due to the fact I was out between 6-8am! Lots of hills and rolling countryside.
Used to live in North Devon about 20 miles in land from Bude and while the countryside scenery is great and some of the roads seem quiet I wouldn't fancy doing much cycling on some of them. Round that way a lot of the quiet looking roads are actually A roads that get some big lorries and other trade traffic careering round them. That coupled with some narrow blind bends would make for some close calls that would be pretty scary on a bike. Plenty of residents there don't consider using a push bike as they think they'll just get knocked into the hedge by a bus. The really quiet b roads aren't too bad but you'd need a cross bike to handle the surfaces ideally, and if you meet a car coming the other way you may have to clip out and stand in a hedge to let them through!
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