This Winter Arrrg

[Donbot]

Herman Toothrot said:

That's more than I have just spent on what I think has been a far less dull solution. Had a weeks leave left, cleared it with the wife so buggered off to Gran Canaria for 9 days. :-). 30oC on today's ride.

How have you managed that for under £700 if you don't mind me asking? Is the accommodation decent and is it your bike? Are you on your own and have a room to yourself?

Apologies for the inquisition, but I'd really like to do this.

[hilly10]

Scabutz said:

I've had a titfull of this winter. Been doing my two evening rides on the turbo but I can only stand that for 1 hour max. My long rides I am still going out. I am training for a spring triathlon so riding the TT bike, with no mudguards and its very cold and unpleasant. Last week it was sleet / snowing and despite 2 pairs of socks and overshoes after 45 mins I couldn't feel my toes anymore.

Dead right when you cannot feel your toes, it’s home for me to

[Herman Toothrot]

Donbot said:

How have you managed that for under £700 if you don't mind me asking? Is the accommodation decent and is it your bike? Are you on your own and have a room to yourself?

Apologies for the inquisition, but I'd really like to do this.

I was alone, used Booking.com and got an apartment in Arinaga €330, two double bedrooms, bathroom, combined lounge / kitchen, private garaged parking, looked all quite new and nice and clean. Easy jet flights including taking my bike £178 return. Then I hired a car from gold car for the duration £160. Foods cheap, the local thing is a baguette sandwich which is about €3.50 they ask what filling so ham, steak, cuttlefish as primary but then "toppings" and they included ham, fried egg, coleslaw & cheese and so that dealt with dinner each day :-) great place.

Another cheap option I'm doing in March that's more social - fly to Malaga, with bike about £150 then via Sierra MTB accommodation in a shared villa with upto 8 other randoms with pool just off the beach in Fuengirola, transfers, fried breakfast every day, free beer every evening, a guide and uplifts in to the mountains every day £500 a week. Did this last year on my own met some great people, one of thems going again this year same time for a repeat and I'm bringing another mate along.

Edited by Herman Toothrot on Thursday 25th January 21:48

[rastapasta]

SAS Tom said:

Get an MTB, getting wet/muddy is all part of the fun!

yeah but if you have to throw the bike back into the car then the resultant cleanup is not much fun. still a bit of winter mtb is good fun alright.

[ChocolateFrog]

Donbot said:

Herman Toothrot said:

That's more than I have just spent on what I think has been a far less dull solution. Had a weeks leave left, cleared it with the wife so buggered off to Gran Canaria for 9 days. :-). 30oC on today's ride.

How have you managed that for under £700 if you don't mind me asking? Is the accommodation decent and is it your bike? Are you on your own and have a room to yourself?

Apologies for the inquisition, but I'd really like to do this.

I've booked through Thomson to Tenerife. £300 all in for a twin room with a mate. Punta Del Rey is the accommodation, looks decent enough and the reviews are o.k. He's booked a 105 equipped Giant for 18€ a day, I've got a BMC RM02 with Ultegra Di2 for 35€. Car parking at the airport and everything else is optional.

[Dr Imran T]

Herman Toothrot said:

I was alone, used Booking.com and got an apartment in Arinaga €330, two double bedrooms, bathroom, combined lounge / kitchen, private garaged parking, looked all quite new and nice and clean. Easy jet flights including taking my bike £178 return. Then I hired a car from gold car for the duration £160. Foods cheap, the local thing is a baguette sandwich which is about €3.50 they ask what filling so ham, steak, cuttlefish as primary but then "toppings" and they included ham, fried egg, coleslaw & cheese and so that dealt with dinner each day :-) great place.

Another cheap option I'm doing in March that's more social - fly to Malaga, with bike about £150 then via Sierra MTB accommodation in a shared villa with upto 8 other randoms with pool just off the beach in Fuengirola, transfers, fried breakfast every day, free beer every evening, a guide and uplifts in to the mountains every day £500 a week. Did this last year on my own met some great people, one of thems going again this year same time for a repeat and I'm bringing another mate along.

Edited by Herman Toothrot on Thursday 25th January 21:48

That all sounds amazing and I'd love to go somewhere abroad that is warm and sunny. I'd cycle all day if I could However, I've got a family with two young children and these short breaks wouldn't work so well for me.

Very hard to rid the shackles of family commitments! Maybe the trick is to entice them to come with me and do something else whilst I am out cycling

[youngricharduk]

I went out at the weekend on my mountain bike for about 3 hours, I was really well wrapped up as it was snowing and was about minus 5. I had a brilliant time in the snow and because it was so cold all the mud was frozen so I stayed relatively clean. However once I got up on top of the hills with no tree cover the cold finally started to get though to my toes etc and the last hour was absolute misery to get back home. Bring on the summer!!

[Donbot]

Thanks for the trip replies. I'll make sure to have a couple things planned for next winter

[hilly10]

Have to say the Canneries do sound appealing when the weather is bad here. My brother in law used to go every Jan and Feb when he had is Market Stalls, he said cycling there is just the tops

[ChocolateFrog]

Having said I never go out in winter I did actually venture out today. Started out with dry roads and winter sunshine (doncaster) by the time I'd got to snake pass it was drizzling, wet and very windy. It wasn't actually that bad, I'm not fit enough to get cold, unless I get soaked through. I don't have any winter kit so just stuck an extra pair of socks on.

[hilly10]

We are doing a Secret Escape today overnight, and I am bloody lived. I drove up to Peckforton Castle in Cheshire and the weather as been beautiful, great flat roads and I have no bloody bike. Tomorrow when I get back home it’s going to pi$$ down again.

[gazza285]

Took my youth out on our mountain bikes today, it was raining, and riding into a strong headwind while climbing up Marsden Moor was a bit grim, but the fifteen minute descent down the Wessenden Valley was worth the effort. The stretch of canal from Marsden back towards Huddersfield was as filthy as it ever gets. A slice of cake from The Handmade Bakery was welcome, before the last couple of miles home.

It felt good to be out.

[yellowjack]

Nothing like a good friend for pulling you out of the doldrums!

Thanks to a pep talk from a mate of mine I dragged myself out this week and have managed 108 miles. Also in part down to a Strava challenge that got me out on the road bike a couple of times.

Today she decided that I had recently seemed "to be a bit down" so she summoned me to a local MTB race (that I had meant to enter, but didn't) to spectate and cheer on a trio of mutual friends. Glad I went out now. The race lap was in far better condition than it had any right to be given the soaking it's had all week, everyone at the race was in a pretty good mood, and after the trio had finished their respective race categories (one 2 hour, two three hour) we adjourned to a pub just down the road. I even went back up to the race venue when the final 4 hour racers had finished and had a couple of cheeky laps myself. Not even a "stone cold dead last" on the Strava segment for the lap could darken my mood.

To top it off, I was in shorts for the first time this year, too. Possibly too early to claim spring has sprung just yet, but it was a welcome improvement on the weather from just yesterday (50 soggy miles on the road in miserable grey drizzle).