The "Photos From Today's Ride" thread...

[PomBstard]

Solo ride this morning was a head-clearing thing - wasn’t really in the mood but views can change that...



Then took the young bloke out for 27km/250m and everything was a launchpad - crappy photo as iPhone from distance...

[Justin S]

Awesome air from young PB above. Hope your daughter is fixing .
A few local blasts over the last few days, being inconveniently back at work . Yesterday was a 'part furlough' day off, so went back up the Ridgeway. Didnt feel great after 20 miles and only half way way round the route. Didnt help that I got a little lost , when your tired isnt what you want to happen. But glad to have made the ride out. Photo near Aldworth after a nibble break.

[PomBstard]

Justin S said:

Awesome air from young PB above. Hope your daughter is fixing .
A few local blasts over the last few days, being inconveniently back at work . Yesterday was a 'part furlough' day off, so went back up the Ridgeway. Didnt feel great after 20 miles and only half way way round the route. Didnt help that I got a little lost , when your tired isnt what you want to happen. But glad to have made the ride out. Photo near Aldworth after a nibble break.

Thanks - check up next week, cast may come off her arm, which will help us all!!

And getting halfway round any ride always means you’re going to finish, no matter how crap you feel

[Justin S]

PomBstard said:

Justin S said:

Awesome air from young PB above. Hope your daughter is fixing .
A few local blasts over the last few days, being inconveniently back at work . Yesterday was a 'part furlough' day off, so went back up the Ridgeway. Didnt feel great after 20 miles and only half way way round the route. Didnt help that I got a little lost , when your tired isnt what you want to happen. But glad to have made the ride out. Photo near Aldworth after a nibble break.

Thanks - check up next week, cast may come off her arm, which will help us all!!

And getting halfway round any ride always means you’re going to finish, no matter how crap you feel

Wife said ' why didnt you call and I'd pick you up, if you felt that unwell ?' . I just soldiered on than be collected . Last time that happened I managed to fracture a Hope front hub and 4 spokes came adrift rendering the wheel dead. I then slept when I got home and still feel unwell today. Still, off to see our daughter and future son in law, in Kent tomorrow, so have a half week off the bike for now , so hope that will cure it.

[Johnny]

Cracking pics all. Loving the air

Spent the day at Factor On Thursday







Tested this:







Order placed

[mcelliott]

First proper ride out on the new Emonda - very pleased with it, but will be changing the rear cassette. Ridiculous ratios. Other than that, love it.

[wobert]

Solo loop around Clocaenog Forest and Llyn Brenig.

The Slate was awesome, both up, down and on the flat....

[lufbramatt]

Weird overcast drizzly yet warm day, had a 45 mile adventure on my 19 year old orange ev02 to see the ruins of a First World War explosives factory on the banks of the river Thames. Not exactly sure if I should have been there, didn’t see a soul for about 10 miles which coupled with the weird weather and desolate surroundings made for a somewhat surreal ride. Nice to have a break from the road bike- the orange frame was a present from my parents for my GCSE results so it’s got loads of sentimental value :-)



The big barn like buildings are the remains of the 110 year old munitions factory

[CharlieAlphaMike]

wobert said:

Solo loop around Clocaenog Forest and Llyn Brenig.

Llyn Brenig I didn't think anyone went there. I used to go windsurfing there years ago and always took my MTB just in case the wind dropped. The windsurfing was great because so few people went. I'd often have the place to myself. The MTB'ing was good too as I recall. I've even been there on my MTB during Winter, with snow on the ground. Nice memories.

[wobert]

CharlieAlphaMike said:

wobert said:

Solo loop around Clocaenog Forest and Llyn Brenig.

Llyn Brenig I didn't think anyone went there. I used to go windsurfing there years ago and always took my MTB just in case the wind dropped. The windsurfing was great because so few people went. I'd often have the place to myself. The MTB'ing was good too as I recall. I've even been there on my MTB during Winter, with snow on the ground. Nice memories.

There were a few people circumnavigating the lake and there was a queue for food at the visitor centre.

Clocaenog was deserted, I saw a total of four people in 20 miles of gravel.

[defblade]

Went to visit a friend yesterday, not seen him since March (used to be every week), beautiful day, so why not cycle?

I also got a new phone this week (Pixel 3a XL), upon which the camera is supposed to be excellent, so the second picture was just seeing how it would cope pointing straight into low-ish summer sun... very well, as it happens.

In the first pic, you can just about see the castle in the valley which I was next to in last week's post.





A lovey ride there and back, nearly empty roads, not rushing, just working hard enough to sweat a little
Wales doesn't half go up and down a lot though... compared to Oxfordshire where I used to cycle!

[n_const]

First off for me in a long time. Would love to say I did it tearing down the mountain (like I was last weekend ) or hitting the trials but no , riding down a path hit a bit of wet grass and slid.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

wobert said:

There were a few people circumnavigating the lake and there was a queue for food at the visitor centre.

Clocaenog was deserted, I saw a total of four people in 20 miles of gravel.

Funny, I was just talking to an old pal in the UK on the phone last week about Llyn Brenig. We used to go up there together. We were reminiscing about windsurfing, MTB'ing, the Sporstmans Arms (great steak and Guinness as I recall) and the House on the Hill (that must be completely gone by now because everytime I went, there'd be less and less of the house still standing).

I always cycled clockwise from the North of the reservoir. That's where the windsurfing base was. I'd be interested to know if it's still there. Back in the day, it was nothing more than a couple of caravans, one as an office and two more used as changing rooms From there, it was single-track up, over and around the reservoir before picking up a forest track back down the East side. I didn't venture much into Clocaenog forest because most of the time I'd be keen to get back to the windsurfing.

I'd drive up from Staffordshire early in the morning, have a nice breakfast at a small cafe on the A5 (can't remember the name of it but I hope it's still there) just before Cerrigydrudion. That was a great road up to Llyn Brening after that. I remember seeing the Top Gear team driving a Jaguar XJ220 along the road once and I know it's still used today by car magazines.

The visitor centre never appeared to busy whenever I was there but then again, I only went in there a couple of times. Most visits saw me drive straight past it on the way to the windsurfing spot.

I know this is the Pedal Powered section but...the windsurfing was nearly always good. Once you got away from the sheltered area where we set off from, you'd nearly always find good, constant wind in the middle of the reservoir. It was difficult to make a sail choice though because judging the wind strength was tricky from the shore. There'd be hardly a breath of wind on-shore and sometimes a Force 4 in the middle


Great memories. Please post more pictures if you can

[nickfrog]

cml24 said:

Still trying to find all the trails around Leith hill.

Let me know when you have as I have given up a long time ago! Trailforks helps a bit though.

[PushedDover]

Pre-work spin out

[Daveyraveygravey]

Like a lot of amateur cyclists, I set myself goals each year, a bit beyond just riding around, or trying to get fitter. I broke my scapula in August 2018, which messed up my stats for two years. I had always ridden 8000-9000 km a year, but the break meant I didn't ride for a month, and gradually built up the distance and the following year it was still uncomfortable so that meant '19 was another quiet year. I decided to try for 10,000 km this year, which is roughly 200 km a week. I won't make it, I was 1000km behind my target after 3 months. I have been trying to up my average speed, just to maximise the distance I go when I am on the bike; I have changed my off road routes to try and help this. If I go onto the South Downs, I'm lucky to average 14km an hour, but on my road bike, high 20's are realistic - without needing 2 days off the bike to recover 😳 If I off road to the north of the Downs, I can get in to the low 20's, I have found lots of new trails, and whilst they are beautiful, the technical aspect isn't there. They're flat and the surface means my old hardtail is overkill.
I had to collect my car from a service this morning, didn't plan the ride, but it turned out beautifully. I did two hard technical climbs and descents, it was great picking a line, hanging off the back of the bike going down and hitting the gas hard at just the right moment to keep it all moving going up. The morning was gorgeous too! 😁

[ArnageWRC]

Agree about Llyn Brenig (and Alwen across the road); it's usually not too busy and a good day out and plenty of routes road/off road. I've been waiting for Wales to open so I can go back there.

[bristolbaron]

Day 1 of the C2C completed! Line up overlooking Crummock Water, Lake District.

[Kawasicki]

[neilski]

Nice. Did you do (or blag) any laps?