-
Great rides guys. Impressed.
-
Went out for a spin over the hills of Bolton before breakfast (not hardcore) sat on the bench admiring the view, then some sort of competition comes past me triathlon or time trial not sure which with some beautiful bikes with serious riders - but friendly enough to give me "the nod". Never heard a carbon rim/bike? in full rumble - I like. I thought that's the way I was going... so took a left instead, a route I've never been on, suffice to say in the hills nobody cares about potholes, would've been better on an MTB. Anyhow the one morning when I nip out without my 6mm allen key, on a nasty descent... thump and the bars bend round. Got them back but ... Lesson learned. Its surprising how often you have to ride in the middle of the road since the time I last seriously cycled, since the roads have got so much worse it's the only line. Found out what the race was...
Horwich Triathlon is known as 'The Race To The Pike'. It's one of the oldest triathlon events in the North West, dating back over 25 years. It starts with a 500m pool swim and then a 40k undulating cycle ride, but we save the best bit until the end. The 8.6k run climbs all the way to the summit of Rivington Pike, before descending back to the finish at Horwich Leisure Centre.
We have all ability levels taking part, but it's not for the faint hearted. It's a tough challenge, but that's what makes the event so popular and whilst the run is brutal, it's what makes it iconic. The club with the most points wins £1000 to donate to a charity of their choice.
-
I concur. : )
-
Ah, where’s that pond? Not been there.
-
It's here, bit muddy on the SE side
Dropped pin
near Nuney Copse, Reading -
Nice, will check that now it’s a bit drier on the tracks :)
-
Was meant to do the Oasts and Coasts audax a couple of weeks ago but my intended riding partner had a last minute bail. Decided to do it this weekend but as we weren’t on the official ride anymore then we thought we’d mix it up and bit and change the route. Inspired by my ye olde “Cycling Routes of Kent” wall hanging, we set off in the direction of Brighton first.
My friends wife rode with us til Battle at which point we had lunch after which she got the train home.
Amazing day out. No pressure, just riding for riding’s sake and enjoying the constantly evolving scenery. Probably my last epic with my friend before he and his wife move to “The Good Life” in deepest darkest Wales.
Loads of faffing meant a 5am start and 11:30pm finish. Loved every second. :)
4 Attachments
-
-
I like your map.
-
Nice! I did something similar in the other direction (SE London - Whitstable - Eastbourne - SE London), but over 3 days with fully-laden touring rig, to prepare for LEJOG in a couple of weeks. Thankfully we're not using Google Maps to plot a route for that, because I made the schoolboy error of letting it map our route via completely unrideable paths to massive dual carriageways. Still, for the most part it was beautiful weather, lovely lanes and pretty villages, with a particularly pleasant ride through Kent Downs AONB towards the South coast, through Rye, Hastings and Bexhill on to Eastbourne, then return home on Monday, along the Cuckoo Trail before navigation disasters occurred.
Thankfully I was back in familiar territory this side of Sevenoaks and I think we got a wave from @HoKe and a couple of others, around 4pm just before heading up Star Hill?
-
Awesome! What a great way to spend a BH weekend. We did a bit of rocky bridleway action too around the South Downs Way. My mate is collecting veloviewer tiles/squares. So when I ride with him we’re regularly taking road bikes “off the beaten track” in search of elusive squares. I’m now disappointed if there aren’t some off road sections on our road rides.
-
Trip to Rapha Bicester?
Thuekr
Brommers
BernardRenault
andyp
Ptown
crossedthread
moocher
anthonyj
yetidamo
Oliver Schick
hippy
PhilPub
umop3pisdn-
Post a reply
About
Tell us about your weekend ride
Posted by
wow moocher. Just idyllic I love days like this and woodlands. I went up my old favourite nasty hill on the way over belmont, Bolton. It was worth it for the view from the bench at the top. Best things in life and all that. Not saying I’m unfit but had to push the last bit - I think humbling is the word. When I was in the cycling club I used to go up and down this thing 5 times in a night just for kicks. Lol. I'm doing it again before breakfast tomorrow plus a bit more. Bike was great but forgot how bad the road was on the way down where you can touch 50. I wanted to get out for the last bit of sun, as it was just too hot for me. Was feeling very mamil ability-wise in the heat, been trading out on past rep far too long! Of course... a subtext. On the way back I couldnt get the big ring, only to find out the bottom bracket had unscrewed itself on the drive side. I didn't put that in, but never seen that happen...