Tell us about your weekend ride

I set off this morning from East Finchley for Kingston upon Thames then Shepperton. Took in the North Circular, Kew Bridge, a few k's of Thames path. First half was fast and quiet, no peds or dogs and junctions were mostly clear. But the combination of rain and muck on the Thames footpath left me totally splattered with grit and the bike with a slow puncture. I took the train back from Shepperton to Waterloo and shuffled home. Sooo cold. So grateful for a hot shower. Now I'm staring at a pile of filthy cycling gear and a slowly deflating front tyre and I need all to be resolved by 8am tomorrow. And I need n+1 beers. And when I stand up my legs hurt. I should be able to make it to the Guinness pump.

Lovely hill. There's a hill climb on it in September.

Finally got out for a proper weekend ride. Had a nightmare puncture to sort out before I got going and faffed about enough that it was 1pm before I left. Glad I fought down the excuses though as I had a lovely time. Did a 100km loop taking in my favourite climbs in the peak district, didn't stress about how quickly I was going up-hill, and just enjoyed being out there.

Yes not far away

Ouch

I'm new to Audax and wanted to do a London Cambridge London. @plasticniki kindly shared her route (and advice re DIY GPS) which fortuitously started in Catford. I normally ride to Cambridge via Essex and ignored the commentary that the first and last 40km were urban.
Lovely route once out of London. Good fish and chips in Cambridge for lunch. Average speed impacted by so much urbanness. Rained pretty much the whole way back. Lovely day.
http://www.strava.com/activities/1480092964/

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Completed the Isle of Wight loop yesterday, the biggest ride I've done solo and in ridiculously heavy rain all day. Some parts were total agony but it was amazing to complete the loop and I'm still buzzing off it. I really enjoyed the sound of rain pattering off my helmet all day long. It wasn't as offroady in parts as I'd been let to believe, but I was glad to have chunky tyres given all the debris that had been washed into the road.

Highs: The peace and quiet - I've had a couple of troubles lately and despite some of the difficulties encountered / feeling nervous about going it alone I genuinely feel like the ride did me a world of good. Riding through lots of big puddles and flooded roads - enjoying the little wake forming behind me, sea views, countryside, wildlife and quirky architecture.

Lows: 'Waterproof' shoes failing - feeling water slosh back and forward with every pedal stroke and having to stop and tip it out every so often. Falling into an enormous pothole hidden by an even more enormous puddle just when I was at my most exhausted and grumpy. With an almighty bang the impact buckled my front wheel and immediately evacuated all of the air in my 2.10 tyre - luckily I was able to sort it out and wobble on until finishing.

50k ish meandering through back roads, Gravel paths, mtb park trails and up some steep bits. Probably one of the last nice warm days here to ride before the wet and cold (by Australian standards) season hits.

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34.something miles to grandma's with dad. Slightly longer route to avoid a horrid main road. Extra everything but still freezing toes and....

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This sounds like quite an adventure, really enjoyed reading 👌

I hopped on the train into Edinburgh. Cycled to get breakfast, cycled up Arthur’s seat, cycled to the botanical garden, cycled for dinner then cycled back to the train.

No Garmin, no speed just a great day out with the other half. Weather wasn’t even great and it didn’t matter. Often forget a bike is a great tool for just relaxing.

Did 160k Clare Classic yesterday. Started out awesome, fast first hour, but then the mercury crept up and up until I got close to the breaking point.
The further we rode, the more people we found cramping and having to lie down in the shade by the road side. Then it hit me, every time I put more than 100w on the pedals my heart rate jumped over 172, so I sat under a tree for a while about 4k from the last rest stop, eat a banana and have some water to watch my pulse go down a bit.
When I reached the last stop I searched a cool corner, drank loads and cooled myself down slowly and carefully, then tackled the last climb in my granny ring. The last 10k or so I felt a tad better and was happy to make the whole thing.

There were lot of DNF and a few proper heat stroke victims, ambulance and all. A girl at the rest stop that rode super strong in the first half was vomiting into a bag. Carnage.
Have a look at the temperature curve on my wahoo!

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I'd planned to meet the group round the corner at 07:00. At 06:58 I picked up my bike (prepped it the night before) and my heart dropped as I felt the spongey wiggle of deflated rear tyre. Sent a hurried message "Puncture! You guys go and I'll try to catch you." Then I grabbed my spare tube from the saddle bag and saw that a hole had worn into it, from bouncing around the inside of the bag. Bollocks! So I patched it and swapped it in, and then had like 10+ minutes gap to close. Luckily I found a bus to draft on the first flat 5km and then there's a 25-30 minute climb at the start of this ride (and I'm very skinny) so I caught half the group on the ascent. Then on the return leg the sun came out, and descending that 25 minute climb was a glorious, twisty 5 minutes with cracking views.

60 km
2 h 25 m
1,159 m

9/10, will probably prepare badly again

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/vacarneroveja/albums/72157693748362301

Weekend started early for me. Took a half day yesterday. Cycled down to Dorset from London. Route was really great except a road between Winchester and Romsey.
Two other route issues; one I was taken through a private estate the other I was taken down a very muddy bridal path.
I usually route via south of the A31 however last night took the north side. The New Forest was beautiful, I arrived there around dusk. It was deserted, still quiet and only the animals for company.
Finished in the dark but it was a great day really enjoyed it!

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Mrs Jangle and I are having a cheeky holiday sans enfants.

Understandably, we have been over doing it a bit, and today Mrs Jangle has been feeling 'delicate'.

As luck would have it, I brought along a bike, just in case the opportunity should arise.

Bordeaux to Margaux and back. 60 Kilometers among some of the most hallowed vineyards on earth.

Fortune favours the brave.

Mrs Jangle is on the mend.

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Is that water in your bidon? Why?

Is that water in your bidon? Why?

Middle aged man with hangover goes for a ride.

Am on the vin now though!

How long did that take? How many ks?

Just shy of 200km, 8 hrs with 40 minutes of stops.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1502997608

Solid!

Username change to Vingle_Vangle? :)

Tres Bon ;)

Hanging out in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège region.

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Well timed pre-rain/amstel/trobro hour or so loop with the old man. He needed to try out the old Spesh Roubaix after its servicing. Forgot a bottle, left the Abus Granite XPlus on the bike, and wore super big gloves.