Veloviewer. Who is using it, and what do you get from it?
Discussion
dirtbiker said:
Good effort there - a big ride! I'm liking the idea of doing it 'properly' with maps but can't currently see past the convenience of building a route on Strava and uploading it to my Elemnt! Definitely one of those times where having two big monitors for working from home comes in handy!
Thanks. It was 115 miles in the end. Irritatingly 15 km short of being another 200km ride. Loads of "what if?" moments too. "What if I'd left home earlier?" "What if I'd doubled back to collect a couple of extra tiles?", etc, but in the end a midnight finish was something I could get away with. Any later and I'd have been in a bit of bother with my wife.Anyhow, one lesson learned was "repair punctures, refit tyres, find you tools and spares, and clean chains and cassettes the day before you want to go on a long ride, not in the morning just before you leave the house...
ukbabz said:
Red is when you've ridden through it.
Blue is when it is in your 'max cluster' - meaning that it's connected to your biggest single area of rides and has no unvisited tiles around it.
Although you can customize the colours used for everything from tile outlines to Max Cluster infill, along with the colour density/opacity. Once you get used to the (default) colours most people use, though, I find myself in the "might as well stick to them" camp too.Blue is when it is in your 'max cluster' - meaning that it's connected to your biggest single area of rides and has no unvisited tiles around it.
I give up. Quit. Outta here.
After 2300hrs last night, I was trying to get back to my car and took a left down a single track lane to avoid part of the A27 Salisbury/Romsey road. So far so good. Tiny lane, reduced to two narrow strips of tarmac either side of a central strip of dirt, gravel, and moss. Lucky for me I picked the right hand tarmac strip really, because it meant that when I hit the fox that ran out in front of me I mostly went down onto the soft verge.
3 hours in A&E this morning, and it looks like at least a week off the bike. Speaking of which, I've not inspected it yet. I managed to ride/scoot the last 2 to 3 miles to the car, and to drive back from Romsey to Bournemouth, but the bike is still in the boot and I haven't the mobility in my right arm (bruising, steri-strips, and dressing) to drag it out. X-rays show no signs of fractures in either shoulder or elbow so that's sort of a bonus.
And the fox? Well it wasn't lying in a heap next to me on the road, so I can only assume it got off lightly. Or it crawled off to die in agony? Either way there's nothing I can do to help it. Very worrying though, going down hard so late and so remote. I'd seen only 2 cars between Middle Wallop and the A27, and there was little likelihood of passing traffic finding me until daylight. But as I picked myself up off the ground, 2 people appeared, in their dressing gowns. I'd only gone and crashed outside the only house down that lane. And made so much noise hitting the ground and yelling out that i'd roused them from their bed(s?)
This may mean my wife putting her foot down and calling a halt to my long day/night rides. And if the bike is damaged? No idea how I could afford to replace it really. I'll give it a couple of days for my arm to loosen up a bit then take a good hard look at the bike and my kit.
Grrrr!
After 2300hrs last night, I was trying to get back to my car and took a left down a single track lane to avoid part of the A27 Salisbury/Romsey road. So far so good. Tiny lane, reduced to two narrow strips of tarmac either side of a central strip of dirt, gravel, and moss. Lucky for me I picked the right hand tarmac strip really, because it meant that when I hit the fox that ran out in front of me I mostly went down onto the soft verge.
3 hours in A&E this morning, and it looks like at least a week off the bike. Speaking of which, I've not inspected it yet. I managed to ride/scoot the last 2 to 3 miles to the car, and to drive back from Romsey to Bournemouth, but the bike is still in the boot and I haven't the mobility in my right arm (bruising, steri-strips, and dressing) to drag it out. X-rays show no signs of fractures in either shoulder or elbow so that's sort of a bonus.
And the fox? Well it wasn't lying in a heap next to me on the road, so I can only assume it got off lightly. Or it crawled off to die in agony? Either way there's nothing I can do to help it. Very worrying though, going down hard so late and so remote. I'd seen only 2 cars between Middle Wallop and the A27, and there was little likelihood of passing traffic finding me until daylight. But as I picked myself up off the ground, 2 people appeared, in their dressing gowns. I'd only gone and crashed outside the only house down that lane. And made so much noise hitting the ground and yelling out that i'd roused them from their bed(s?)
This may mean my wife putting her foot down and calling a halt to my long day/night rides. And if the bike is damaged? No idea how I could afford to replace it really. I'll give it a couple of days for my arm to loosen up a bit then take a good hard look at the bike and my kit.
Grrrr!
Hmmm?
Resignation withdrawn.
Anyway, here's the result of yesterday/last night's escapade...
Before:
The ride itself:
After:
...with one glaring omission just north of East Tytherley that I probably wouldn't have let slip if I'd have had mapping for this section. Much of the route was, once again, complete guesswork, moreso the further east I was.
Resignation withdrawn.
Anyway, here's the result of yesterday/last night's escapade...
Before:
The ride itself:
After:
...with one glaring omission just north of East Tytherley that I probably wouldn't have let slip if I'd have had mapping for this section. Much of the route was, once again, complete guesswork, moreso the further east I was.
Edited by yellowjack on Thursday 17th September 13:52
ukbabz said:
Sorry to hear about the off, hope you heal quick and the bike is OK!
I've been impressed at the amount you've ridden! Although always worth keeping safe above ticking a virtual box (I've ridden down some tracks that tested bike handling skills for a road bike)
Just digging into the Strava numbers...I've been impressed at the amount you've ridden! Although always worth keeping safe above ticking a virtual box (I've ridden down some tracks that tested bike handling skills for a road bike)
...and my GPS data suggests I was at 21.7 mph at the moment of impact. A good deal faster than the 14/15 mph I estimated when the A&E doctor asked me how it happened.
Collision site here...
...just about where the apostrophe is in "Miles's Lane". And a mention too for the couple from the bungalow just visible to the left of the picture. They came out quickly, still in their dressing gowns, with torches, ready to help. It took me four minutes (Strava segment data) to recover myself, gather stuff that had jettisoned from my pockets, and get moving again. It felt much longer than that if I'm honest. Quite pleased to see that I'm only third last on the segment too, not dead last as expected...
Solocle said:
Grr, second shot at this tile that's come up short.
I'm going to have to bite the bullet and hop this fence, then go to that utility pole.
So. Close.
My solution for that one...I'm going to have to bite the bullet and hop this fence, then go to that utility pole.
So. Close.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3532277487
...was to go down to the next Level Crossing and do a bit of mild trespassing by crossing the tracks, climbing the gate, and going cross country to the end of the woods. That bit is decent grass and rideable, but there was a need to go into a rough field full of brambles and gorse, and some boggy bits, to get the tile. As usual for me, I chose to go further than strictly necessary as a bit of "belt and braces" to ensure I didn't need to go back. I stayed near the railway line fence in case I needed to duck out of sight too. Hopping the fence at the station may work too, but I wasn't comfortable with that idea as I recall.
Happy tiling!
ETA: Just to emphasize - the field that those utility poles are in may be better than the field I went through, but it's probably worth not wearing your best shoes to cross it...
Edited by yellowjack on Thursday 17th September 21:35
cheesewotsit said:
Heal fast, YJ.
True spirit of the thread and VeloViewer. Looking at some of the tiles I need to get, I might annoy some farmers :\
yellowjack said:
...and do a bit of mild trespassing by crossing the tracks
...love that True spirit of the thread and VeloViewer. Looking at some of the tiles I need to get, I might annoy some farmers :\I've got my own personal code. I won't go onto big estates within view of the main house, for instance. But remote woodland is fair game, as is grazing land, but I won't enter arable land with crops on it. I've no qualms about riding on public footpaths either. I'll happily stop, or even dismount for walkers, depending on path width, and that usually heads off any grumpiness from "legitimate" footpath users. In short I'm happy with a little bit of civil trespass, but won't trespass on railway lines or military land, for instance, where criminal prosecution is possible. Take nothing, damage nothing, and leave no trace.
I've only really had one problem and that was an employee of the Clarendon Estate who got upset at me cycling on the public footpath across the estate. Which was ridiculous, really, because 95% of it was shared with concrete or gravel farm roads, and logging tracks in the woodland. He got even more uppity with me when he asked if I thought he was stupid and I answered honestly...
Basically I don't believe that tiling like that is ever going to be a huge problem. There aren't swarms of us out there descending on private property umpteen times a day, and once we've claimed a particular tile we're unlikely to return to it if it's unsuitable for cycling.
Case in point on my recent 'Fox' ride. I needed a tile within the Melchet Court estate. The main house is, I believe, a school, and the wider estate a working farm. A public footpath runs through the gatehouse archway and down the driveway, but it was clear from a few minutes of observation that it was busy with tractors coming and going on harvest business. I knew I didn't want to get in their way, so cycled about four miles around to the back of the estate and came up that same footpath from the much quieter opposite end, then left by a farm track that, while not explicitly marked as a PROW, had signage which suggested it was at least a permissive path.
I've noticed a lot of misleading signs in rural areas too. Signs that say "Private Road - Access To 'x' Cottage Only". And while this is true for motor vehicles, I often get to 'x' Cottage and there's a restricted byway, bridleway, or footpath on which to continue my route. Either that or there are businesses operating down these "private" roads which means Implied Licence rules come into force. Things such as selling honey, veg, or eggs from a driveway honesty box, right up to commercial units providing joinery or garage services, etc. One such road on my last ride ended at a bungalow, where the road ended and a footpath began. A posh sounding old duffer came to his gate with a "can I help you?" and I simply replied that I was consulting my map and required no assistance. I'm not out to cause trouble for myself or for anyone else, and like I say, I'm only going to ride those unsuitable routes the once and I'll never darken their doors again.
No new tiling since I started my enforced period of rest, but here's my current focus...
...which is to try to fill in the area centred roughly on Whitchurch. i think I will start west of the A34, and try to eliminate smaller single blanks and groups first, then work down to the refinery at Fawley on both sides of Southampton Water. That's the eastern limit for my current Max Square After that, I'll look at combining the two large clusters into one single entity, probably with the block of 15 tiles just south of Newbury.
Four other "impossibles" (the two-on-two group on the 'G' in Grately) limit northern expansion of my current Max Square so I might look at filling in a few of those gaps east of the A34 with a view to expanding the old Max Square I had up there. It's all wishful thinking right now, but I had to fill my time with something while I'm off the bike for a while. I can almost guarantee I'll get distracted from the plan first time out again, but it's good to have an idea about what you want to do, and set a goal, no?
ETA:
My issue, really, is that my focus changes so often. One minute I'm all out to expand west around Weymouth, Blandford, Shaftesbury, etc, then my focus went north to Salisbury Plain and around Andover. Now I'm planning on filling in gaps toward my old stomping ground north and east. I wish there were a clear and obvious logical choice for the focus of Max Square expansion, but those five 'Impossible' tiles have thrown a bit of a spanner in the works really. And I get bored quickly and change my plans almost as often as my underpants!
...which is to try to fill in the area centred roughly on Whitchurch. i think I will start west of the A34, and try to eliminate smaller single blanks and groups first, then work down to the refinery at Fawley on both sides of Southampton Water. That's the eastern limit for my current Max Square After that, I'll look at combining the two large clusters into one single entity, probably with the block of 15 tiles just south of Newbury.
Four other "impossibles" (the two-on-two group on the 'G' in Grately) limit northern expansion of my current Max Square so I might look at filling in a few of those gaps east of the A34 with a view to expanding the old Max Square I had up there. It's all wishful thinking right now, but I had to fill my time with something while I'm off the bike for a while. I can almost guarantee I'll get distracted from the plan first time out again, but it's good to have an idea about what you want to do, and set a goal, no?
ETA:
My issue, really, is that my focus changes so often. One minute I'm all out to expand west around Weymouth, Blandford, Shaftesbury, etc, then my focus went north to Salisbury Plain and around Andover. Now I'm planning on filling in gaps toward my old stomping ground north and east. I wish there were a clear and obvious logical choice for the focus of Max Square expansion, but those five 'Impossible' tiles have thrown a bit of a spanner in the works really. And I get bored quickly and change my plans almost as often as my underpants!
Edited by yellowjack on Sunday 20th September 18:46
Comacchio said:
yellowjack said:
No new tiling since I started my enforced period of rest, but here's my current focus...
That's an incredible number of tiles on display there, good going!Edited by yellowjack on Sunday 20th September 18:46
The more "solid" squarer area bottom left was curated in the last 18 months following a house move. I've targeted tiles more efficiently since I signed up to VV in April this year. It becomes addictive pretty quickly, but I do really enjoy riding/running/walking in places I've never been before anyway so it really suits me. And since I don't work, I have time to ride all day quite often which means I've got the freedom to fit in some decent length rides (when I'm not falling over wildlife in the dead of night, that is...
)I love that bike, by the way. I sadly failed to buy a Dolan Prefissio "winter bike" before the frame colours changed, and I'd really like a gravel bike now. Having a decent gravel bike would ease the burden on my road bike which has been putting in far too many off-road byway and bridleway miles to link up roads and grab tiles here and there. Sadly, though, having the funds to buy a new bike doesn't look likely in the near future. I also notice you're facing your share of problems with proximity to the coast and difficult tiles to claim. Kudos for the commitment, and good luck with expanding your Square and Cluster!
Some Gump said:
Went out and bagged some tiles today, lovely ride.
Click update, and my square looks all strange.
Hold on?
What is this????
You used to be coloured in!
Looks like I only had that square from a straight line that should have curved round - frustrating that it changed now (because I would have done the 1/4 mile to grab it on that other ride if I'd known)..
Not the end of the world, no-one wants to win from a technical glitch. However, I now need to do 2-3 more rides instead of 1 or 2 to get to 22x22...
That "glitch"? You can eradicate that issue from the Strava activity page. Click on the "View on VeloViewer" icon on the left hand side (internet version, not sure about phones). This will open up the activity within VeloViewer and use ALL the GPS data points to 'smooth out' the route overlaid onto the map. Gives a more accurate trace than opening VeloViewer then looking at your overall picture. Worked for me to nab a couple of tiles that I'd earned, but which I'd been denied at the upload stage because of the "straightening" of the GPS trace. I think it's something to do with VeloViewer trying to use data capacity more efficiently, so on the 'Your Activities' map on VV you'll still see the trace as straight lines between data sample points further apart than the original GPS data sampling points. I hope that makes sense. Click update, and my square looks all strange.
Hold on?
What is this????
You used to be coloured in!
Looks like I only had that square from a straight line that should have curved round - frustrating that it changed now (because I would have done the 1/4 mile to grab it on that other ride if I'd known)..
Not the end of the world, no-one wants to win from a technical glitch. However, I now need to do 2-3 more rides instead of 1 or 2 to get to 22x22...
Some Gump said:
Thanks YJ, but in this case it's the reverse. I "did" have the corner due to a straight line, but then it's obviously picked up more data points and realised that I actually went just round the corner (a route I've done 3 times, from the looks of it). It's actually correct to have a blank tile, I just could have done with that knowledge a couple of weeks ago, when I was on a specific tiling ride right next to it (tile is something like 32 mile round trip away from home).
Yes, it works both ways. Sometimes you want it to pick up every last data point so that everything is accurate. One I have was as far as I could get on a gravel road into a secure military range complex. I rode literally up to the gate, leaned my bike against the fence, and hoped it would be enough to breach the tile by a few pixels. On another tile which was entirely within a private estate, I was surprised that I'd been credited with the tile even though ride planning suggested it wouldn't be possible from the road past the front. I opened up the individual activity to check, and the tile got (correctly) removed. I went back on a MTB to get that one as there was a bridleway that just clipped a corner of that tile.Personally, I prefer to get as far in to the centre of a tile as I can to legitimately claim it. But that's not always possible with private property, rivers, rugged coastlines and MOD firing ranges hereabouts. I also seem to spend far too much of my "road" rides taking excursions onto bridleways and byways because tiles with no "proper" roads in them come up with tedious monotony. And no-one really wants to leave one blank tile in the middle of an area of claimed tiles because it seems so inefficient to have to go back on a detour to claim just the odd tile here and there...
Gareth1974 said:
End of month round up - put a lot of effort into building my max cluster this month by targetting strategic missing squares...
597 tiles (was 520 at the start of September)
Max square 13x13 (was 10x10)
Max cluster 316 (was 214)
My month in VeloViewer numbers...597 tiles (was 520 at the start of September)
Max square 13x13 (was 10x10)
Max cluster 316 (was 214)
| 01 September | 30 September | |
|---|---|---|
| VeloViewer Score | 98.554 | 98.583 |
| Explorer Score | 3,148 | 3,386 |
| Max Square | 18x18 | 19x19 |
| Max Cluster | 841 | 1,066 |
...and my focus has been split two ways. Firstly on filling in as many "holes" in my Max Cluster as possible, and secondly trying to push my Max Cluster east to join it up with a large cluster centred on my previous home. Getting close, too...
This is how my map looked on 02 September 2020.
And this is how it looks on 30 September 2020
(apologies for the changes to base map and tile fill colours)
ukbabz said:
Not long until you've got a monster cluster going YellowJack! I was hoping to tick off a couple more tiles this weekend but the weatherman seems to have different ideas too.
Arrrrrrgh!
Today's ride. Went off exactly as planned, with no silly gaps left in the tiling map. So far, so good...
So I'd managed to fill in that gap between Winchester and Alresford, and was confident of being able to declare "Mission Accomplished". But for some reason, the two clusters didn't seamlessly flow into one-another.
So I had a look into it, and discovered this annoying blank tile. Just one bloody tile! One of many "holes" in my "old" cluster, but this one would allow me to join the two big clusters if I'd turned it red already. And you can bet I would have done if I'd known about VeloViewer tiling back before I moved to Bournemouth!
Grrr!
Strava link here... https://www.strava.com/activities/4138569361
ETA:
This screengrab was captured four days after I signed up to VeloViewer Pro back in April this year. Lots of progress made already, in less than six months.
Edited by yellowjack on Thursday 1st October 22:32
dirtbiker said:
Impressive stuff! How annoying to be stopped by one tile though, especially as it seems to have lots of routes through it!
Well, after that slight disappointment, and the guessing games that caused it, I went out to my local WH Smiths yesterday. Plan was to buy OS Landranger (1:50k) sheets 174 and 185. Sadly they didn't have sheet 174 in stock, but with a BOGOHP offer on, it seemed rude not to buy two, so I came home with sheets 183 (Yeovil and Frome) and 185 (Winchester and Basingstoke). So no gaps now in my map coverage from Glastonbury to Woking, one sheet "deep" north to south. I couldn't get the 'Active Map' weatherproof versions though, so today was spent covering sheet 185 with Fablon on one side and marking up the tiles with a bunch of old OHP pens. That all seemed to take forever, but with today's weather there was no real opportunity to cycle, and my wife was on an 'On Call' shift at the hospital so we couldn't go anywhere nice anyway. So sheets 184, 185, and 186 are all marked with my target tiles, and I'm ready to rumble just as soon as the weather settles. Far better than printing screenshots of my VV Activities page onto A4 paper and guessing anything beyond the limit of the print. This should make it all a lot less frustrating and amateurish, and hopefully will mean that I can ensure no new silly single-tile gaps appear as I try to close up the larger gaps. "Colouring in" sheet 185 completely looks favourite to be my next focus. Doing that should massively expand my Max Cluster, and possibly my Max Square. Or at least it'll give me a good base to build an alternative Max Square from when I run out of expansion room with my current Max Square (can't get beyond a 29x29 square with that due to impossible tiles at Fawley and Porton Down). It'll take a while before I get that far, but nice to have a longer term goal to go with my short term focus.
Out of interest I had a quick count up of the tiles on my maps, and sheet 185 is roughly a 27x27 Square. I say roughly, because the tiles don't match the OS British National 1km Grid lines exactly, so partial tiles would extend it to 28x28 at a quick count.
More worryingly, last time out my Garmin ForeRunner 910XT decided to go doolally again. It dropped about 16 miles of data completely. One minute it was there, the next it was reading barely 2 miles and no sign of a data file in the memory. After restarting it recorded 36 miles OK, but for the upload I used my Edge 500 (which I run as a back-up). But that lost the last half mile or so as it's battery only lasted 6 hrs 20 mins. The watch also thinks it's at between 17,500 metres and 30,000 metres elevation again. And the LCD display has gone a bit "grey" instead of it's usual crisp black text. I could well be in the market for a new GPS at this rate...
Solocle said:
Last time I did a seat-of-the-pants tiling ride, it was around the Yeovil area. I knew vaguely where tiles were, but without a GPS (I got locked out of the house), I really didn't want to get lost! So I stuck to main roads the whole way, and just happened to pick up a few.
[snip]
Tbh my initial plan was to ride along the A303, then follow the A37, and really hoover up the A37 tiles south of Yeovil. However, it was getting late by the point I reached Yeovil, so I went home on the A30 instead.
Yeah, that ride wasn't... particularly mature.
I'm just starting to study Sheet 183, Yeovil And Frome. Those 'A' roads you mention are prominent, and dominate the sheet. But when you look a little harder at the unnumbered yellow roads, lots of them have those tell-tale green dots and NCN route numbers on them. Between the big roads, and these cycle friendly routes, I should be able to cover a decent chunk of the tiles on that map sheet. It looks like there are a few areas where potentially there won't be any sealed roads through a tile, although it's hard to say without drawing on the tiles. So I might well take a MTB or 'gravel' bike on some rides out that way. I need to dip into Strava's route planner now, to check distances and elevation, but I have a vague plan involving a few of the NCN routes, and a trip to Bath and back via Cheddar and/or Glastonbury. Maybe I'll do that as part of this year's Festive 500?[snip]
Tbh my initial plan was to ride along the A303, then follow the A37, and really hoover up the A37 tiles south of Yeovil. However, it was getting late by the point I reached Yeovil, so I went home on the A30 instead.
Yeah, that ride wasn't... particularly mature.
Just gotta sit here now, drinking coffee and hoping the rain stops at some point...
Yay! Today I went out from home, for the first time in ages. Covered 77 miles (124km) and rode 62 tiles. But only 13 of them were 'new' tiles.
A very grey, soggy afternoon out, but I enjoyed it all the same. There was a gaggle of seven tiles around the Gussage All Saints/Wimborne St Giles/Sixpenny Handley areas which I planned to grab. Managed them, and a few more too, up around Broad Chalke, Bowerchalke, and Bishopstone. Once again I'd left it too late leaving the house, so ran out of time to go across to Wilton. Which I feared might have meant no Max Square expansion today. No matter - I've got to take a MTB or "gravel" bike up to ride the Droves and byways anyway. But, upon uploading my ride, I discovered that I'd manage to increase my Max Square from 19x19 (where it's sat since 1st September) to 22x22. So all good in the end.
Today's ride.
And my newly enlarged Max Square.
dirtbiker said:
Nice one YellowJack! That square over Brownsea Island must be really annoying you!
Not as much as you might think, really. It's low enough in relation to Bournemouth sea front that it doesn't massively impact on Max Square expansion at the moment. I've still got room to go north, 7 tiles before I hit Porton Down Range tiles.My trouble is that my focus keeps jumping about the map. I was concentrating on filling in gaps between Winchester and Basingstoke a few days ago. So naturally yesterday's ride took me through Dorset into Wiltshire west of Salisbury, and nowhere near Winchester. Now I'm thinking I'd like to expand into Cranbourne Chase, west of Wilton, into the area bounded by the A303 and A350. Or I could concentrate on the byways and tank roads of Salisbury Plain to join some groups of tiles together. Or then there's the stuff you can't see on that photo - the many gaps in my "old" cluster from Basingstoke down to Alton and Petersfield. There's no single obvious best direction to go at the moment really. And I do get easily bored riding in the same area day after day, hence jumping around in all directions lately.
Also, Brownsea Island is open again now. But pre-booked tickets (combined ferry/admission tickets) only. So if it bothers me I can go get those four tiles, up until 15th November at least, as that looks like the end of their season.
Got out yesterday with a target of 30 tiles. Riding from Wilton, as the Salisbury City Park & Ride scheme doesn't charge for car parking - you just pay for the bus if you're commuting/shopping. So effectively there's a good quality free car park on whatever side of the city you approach from. Better than the Winchester scheme where you Pay & Display, with a combined (tear down the middle) car park and bus ticket.
Should have gone out earlier, as per usual, as I ran out of time to get five of those planned tiles. Although that did have a bit to do with some "wasted" efforts climbing up farm track/public footpaths that I didn't need. Counting off turns, I went left too early and only realised when I checked the map at the top of the climb. Lesson learned - check the map before the ascent next time!
One risky decision did pay off though, as I took a right at Stapleford, up the restricted byway on Chain Hill. Instead of rolling back down to the road to head north, I turned left (north) onto a byway that ended at the A303 just above Winterbourne Stoke. Initially it was grass, full width muddy puddles, and sections repaired with large grade aggregate. I had to pick a careful line on/around that stuff. But after the first mile it gave way to a perfectly surfaced farm road. A nice easy roll down for a mile and a half, perfect for a road bike. For anyone that needs those tiles, it's the byway that runs roughly parallel and just west of the A360, from Chain Hill through Asserton Farm, Horse Down, and Hill Farm. Amazing views north west to The Plain too.
In the end it wasn't enough to improve my Max Square, but it was nice and dry, if a little bit windy on the way back.
Hoping to head back up there today to grab some more tiles, but it's such a mixture of byways and bridleways through a significant number of tiles that I'm not sure which bike to take, or whether to concentrate my efforts on tiles with roads running through them, or those without sealed surfaces. Whichever way I go, I think it's going to take at least two rides up there now to make any significant improvement to my Max Square.
Strava here... https://www.strava.com/activities/4164166813
Should have gone out earlier, as per usual, as I ran out of time to get five of those planned tiles. Although that did have a bit to do with some "wasted" efforts climbing up farm track/public footpaths that I didn't need. Counting off turns, I went left too early and only realised when I checked the map at the top of the climb. Lesson learned - check the map before the ascent next time!
One risky decision did pay off though, as I took a right at Stapleford, up the restricted byway on Chain Hill. Instead of rolling back down to the road to head north, I turned left (north) onto a byway that ended at the A303 just above Winterbourne Stoke. Initially it was grass, full width muddy puddles, and sections repaired with large grade aggregate. I had to pick a careful line on/around that stuff. But after the first mile it gave way to a perfectly surfaced farm road. A nice easy roll down for a mile and a half, perfect for a road bike. For anyone that needs those tiles, it's the byway that runs roughly parallel and just west of the A360, from Chain Hill through Asserton Farm, Horse Down, and Hill Farm. Amazing views north west to The Plain too.
In the end it wasn't enough to improve my Max Square, but it was nice and dry, if a little bit windy on the way back.
Hoping to head back up there today to grab some more tiles, but it's such a mixture of byways and bridleways through a significant number of tiles that I'm not sure which bike to take, or whether to concentrate my efforts on tiles with roads running through them, or those without sealed surfaces. Whichever way I go, I think it's going to take at least two rides up there now to make any significant improvement to my Max Square.
Strava here... https://www.strava.com/activities/4164166813
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