Tell us about your weekend ride

And I got to Wickes in time- winner!
Word.

Thanks for the guide home Em.

Dammit - I thought I spotted you out on our ride this morning and your route makes me think I was right.

Out early for a 40miler to Ide Hill and back - it was great to be in the sunshine as I was expecting crappy weather for some reason.

http://app.strava.com/rides/6775004

Looks likely- hello!

I was the fat bloke in Rapha Cyclocross bibs+top on a Boardman Cyclocross bike, I had white shoe covers on as well which might stick in the mind.

I went out for a ride yesterday, stupidly I didn’t bother looking up a decent route before I left the house and ended up taking in some pretty shitty bits of SE London and Kent (Welling, Dartford, St Mary Cray...) and really uninspiring A roads too. Wouldn’t recommend.

Must try harder.

I went out for a ride yesterday, stupidly I didn’t bother looking up a decent route before I left the house and ended up taking in some pretty shitty bits of SE London and Kent (Welling, Dartford, St Mary Cray...) and really uninspiring A roads too. Wouldn’t recommend.

Must try harder.

Shame, you were near to some pretty nice riding... Head out through Swanley, once you have gone over the M20 take the next right and you'll be happy...

Hats, look up the St Marys Cray route (aka Kent 1) on the TNRC thread, lovely route.

Ah, typical! I knew it couldn’t all be as bleak as where I was...

I’ve looked up the Kent 1 route and it looks ideal. I should hopefully have a day off during the week next week, and now I have a plan for the day :) Thanks!

just done 110km in the Ronde Noord Holland on this, it's first event with me on it,
rear derailleur jammed up twice in the bad weather for a while, screws vanished out cleats so fell over sideways Mr bean like,bur I think I finished sub 4 hours, perhaps 3.40 and had a craic

Exciting roadkill I saw today:

-1 gigantic deer
-1 surprised squirrel
-1 particularly tragic fox
-1 exploded pigeon (feathers EVERYWHERE)

Did my first centuary of the year on friday on a 125 mile ride to cambridge and back. Cycled there with landlord who had not cycled for over 6 months so we were a bit slow there, resulting in the last leg of my solo return being done in darkness.

Route out involved a comedy section of muddy bridleway resembling the Somme, sliding around on slick 23's that quickly became mud clogged 32's and would have gotten bigger but lack of mud clearance meant I slowly ground to a halt and had to de-gloop. I was constantly muttering apologies to bike throughout its brief offroad stint, imagining my Italian stallion, that normally raises a Roger Moore eyebrow at the thought of going out in a shower, giving me the full bore hysterical shouty Italian arm waving treatment, and cursing me to an eternity in hell.

Managed to dodge the only showers of the day thanks to a well positioned ye olde pub, and so managed to claw back a tiny shred of respect from my bike. Saw some sort of super fluffy looking llamas or alpaca type things in a field, they had a look on their faces as if they'd just teleported from far far away, not sure where but somewhere better. Also saw plenty of pheasants and plague proportions of rabbits around Cambridge.

Dropped knackered landlord off at the Hilton where he was met by his other half, I grabbed quick coffee and sarnie from nearby Nero, had brief chat with bloke working there who told of his cycle ride to Croatia, sounded great, then turned round and came back. Had 1 puncture just before complete darkness set in and blasted down the last section on the A10 that was not very nice but was eerily quiet, thankfully. Great day and looking forward to more long rides over the summer.

Good stuff blue fleet. Good to get the first century in early I reckon.

^ tricitybendix, if you saw me why didn't you put it in the spotted thread? ;)

Did the Green and Yellow Fields audax with spybot, which starts in Manningtree at midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning before heading up north to just east of King’s Lynn, briefly runs alongside the north Norfolk coast then heads back south in pretty much a straight line, dirverting only slightly to pass through Wymondham and then flirt with the edge of Ispwich before heading back into Manningtree.

It was colder than we expected. The low was 1 degree, which combined with rain before the first control left us wet and cold. Neither of us had brought winter gloves and as I’d packed in a daze I hadn’t brought overshoes or a hat. Which was silly. By the time we reached the garage at Mildenhall which acted as the control, I was shivering and my socks were soaked, but we managed to warm up with a hot chocolate.

This whole section of the route had lots of lovely smooth A and B roads, which were very quiet due to the time of night. You’d have loved it actually rositybendix. The long, straightish road which spends a good 4 miles alongside the edge of RAF Mildenhall (a massive US Air Force base for F-15 jet fighters, complete with military police patrolling in 4x4s) was a particular highlight for me, it was eerily quiet and after the Air Force base the road passes through Thetford Forest, which I’d always wanted to ride through. The smooth tarmac and the fir trees on both sides of the road made it quite magical, although that could have been the southerly wind at our tails…

We saw a particularly magnificent stag in the grounds of Houghton Hall, and some cute ducklings in a pond in Docking, before joining the coast road for a well earned breakfast at Burnham Deepdale at the 96 mile point (almost exactly halfway), then turned south (into the southerly wind, which was then not quite so magical, although at least it wasn’t continuous) and starting to head back down to Manningtree.

The control at Wymondham, 135 miles in, was a Waitrose and we asked a moustachioed man for directions as we set out into what had become (again) pouring rain. It turned out said man had seen my Orrell before, at the halfway point on the Dunwich Dynamo. Small world. Bet he’s on here too. If so, hai!

The rain stopped after not too long, and if I remember it right, I was ok up to about 150 miles but after that, things definitely got tougher. By the 160 mile point I was definitely struggling: I don’t think I’d helped myself by not eating and drinking enough (really need to get better at that), not having enough miles in my legs, or insisting on bringing the fixed bike. I took a few much appreciated tows from spybot then, 165 miles in on a bend on the B1113 I had a bit of a strop and pulled in at the side of the road and had a sit down and a drink, despite Stowmarket only being a few miles away. This may or may not have been around the point where I felt so tired I suddenly really wanted to cry, which was a very odd feeling. Obviously I crushed it into a ball along with all my other emotions, although it was definitely a physical, not an emotional thing.

After another slightly bleak stretch between Stowmarket and Needham Market, where we had a ‘low blood sugar’ moment sat in a bus stop, things seemed to get better. We suddenly realised we were pushing it for time to catch the train we were booked on, and were determined to make it, so we did the last 18 miles faster. While it was an effort I didn’t feel like I was struggling like I was before. We got to Manningtree just after 5.30 with 189 miles on the clock, giving us a ‘generous’ time window of about 12 minutes to get a receipt from the station bar and get to the right end of the platform to load our bikes.

In my head I was always going to finish the ride, so I’m still pretty happy that we made that train and avoided the jobsworth SPORTIS bearing inspectors of National Express East Anglia. Although to be fair we had nothing but service with a smile in the east, from the friendly petrol station ‘operative’ in Mildenhall to the café chap who let me fill our water bottles in his sink, to the lovely Mrs Ryan in Elton House News in Needham Market, who was not only happy to give us a receipt but congratulated us on getting that far and urged us onwards to the finish, so I'm sure they would have been lovely. Unless they came from London.

I’d definitely like to do some more riding in East Anglia :)

Exciting roadkill seen:

• 1 mole (a first time spot for me)
  
• 1 massive hare (we saw a lot, but this one was enormous, almost the size of a dog)
  
• 2 partridges, right next to each other, united in death.
  

Excellent. I might have to start doing some of this audaxy stuff. Sounds like it's got good roadkill.

I have also had a 150 mile temper tantrum in needham market. The co-op wouldn't sell me cigarettes. Words cannot describe the fury. I'm getting emotional thinking about it now and it was about 3 years ago.

Chapeau Fox.nice report .audaxers remain a breed apart.
Got a few days on road bikes coming up reading these is inspiring me.

Did the Sandown Cyclone Sportive "Fun" (35 mile) route this morning. Was a good one, few nasty hills bang in the middle but caught the weather at its best and me and the missus really enjoyed it!

I did it fixed and she did it S/S, but did not see a single other person sans gears. I am dissapoint.

Did a decent 16mph average and got a free massage and stretching session afterwards. Nice.

Crikey, nicely done Fox and Spybot.

I'm reminded of every occaision when two minutes' pause and a bar of chocolate have been difference between happy and sad.

some big rides up there ^ good stuff

Weekend of celebrity spotting here, rode a session with a bmx world champ on Sat at the indoor, saw Chris Boardman at Llandegla today.

Enjoyed hail showers and sunshine on the black route this afternoon, had earlier ridden blue route with gf who really enjoyed it and is already talking about when we go back...

A short ride today, the most memorable aspect of which was a dead badger at the side of the road.

Frustrating Sunday for me, been off the bike with a cold all week, cycled up to Cadence this afternoon (which is ~2 miles away from me).

Front mech stopped working, got a puncture, and flat out ran out of energy.

Ride home- got another puncture, coasted most of the way then the climb to my front door almost killed me.

Meh. Dropped a whole weeks worth of training, and no sign that I can get back to it yet. Body, I am disapoint.

For some reason drinking post-work Friday to 8am Saturday meant I wasn't really feeling up to riding much on Saturday.

Today was a nice reintroduction to English lanes (and A roads). Need to get my shit together.. 2 months before the 24 and complacency is in full effect..

fox and spybot - well done, and beautiful photo.
did you record the ride on your newish Garmin?
it sounds like an ace ride, though I don't think I'd have coped with the mileage, the wet, wind or cold.

hang on... you set off at midnight, and 189 miles later got the 5.42 train?
that's... impressive.

btw NEEA is now Greater Anglia

I hadn’t brought overshoes or a hat. Which was silly.

euph.

I was ok up to about 150 miles but after that, things definitely got tougher... I don’t think I’d helped myself by not eating and drinking enough (really need to get better at that),

euph!

not having enough miles in my legs,

still euph

or insisting on bringing the fixed bike.

euph. Well, at least you got your fixie points...

I took a few much appreciated tows from spybot then..

fucking huge, wind-assisted euph

...had a bit of a strop and pulled in at the side of the road and had a sit down and a drink...snip... may or may not have been around the point where I felt so tired I suddenly really wanted to cry, which was a very odd feeling

Yeah. Sorry. I wasn't a terribly supportive rider yesterday. Probably no bad thing you are so good at ignoring me. The wind wasn't so bad that it irritated me, but I guess gears helped. Still enjoying riding that bike....

It was a strange ride actually. I felt pretty good at the end, and at one point I had considered riding back to London, not realising quite how far away it was, so I guess that was a stupid idea.

Saw a lot of green and yellow fields.

hang on... you set off at midnight, and 189 miles later got the 5.42 train?
that's... impressive.

Obviously that would be the 'other' 5:42.

I don't really understand that comment ^ but it was actually the 5:53, my time perception is a bit screwed, if that's what you mean. I didn't mean to make it sound like we did the ride 11 minutes faster than we did ;)

Excellent. I might have to start doing some of this audaxy stuff. Sounds like it's got good roadkill.

Do it! It would be good to have you along. I'm also fairly sure that after spending 19 hours straight with me this weekend Oli is quite bored of my company ^^.

audaxers remain a breed apart.

Heh, I'll say. They are pretty impressive. I'm generalising, obviously, but as a bunch they just seem to get on with it, no starting a thread 15 pages long for a ride which hasn't even happened yet then half bedwetting at the last minute, or building ridiculous carbon bikes which they never ride for them (insert smiley!), they just get out and ride mammoth distances and make it look easy.

Also I heard an amazing bird at about 1am, had no idea what it was, but one of them heard me comment on it and told me it was a nightingale. I've never heard one before, so that was quite exciting.

did you record the ride on your newish Garmin?
it sounds like an ace ride, though I don't think I'd have coped with the mileage, the wet, wind or cold.

hang on... you set off at midnight, and 189 miles later got the 5.42 train?
that's... impressive.

btw NEEA is now Greater Anglia

I did, unfortunately I managed to turn the timer off at breakfast then forget to turn it back on (I do use auto-pause, but the Garmin thought the breakfast table was moving at over 4mph). So it missed the 15 miles after breakfast. The mangled result is [ame=http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170340407]here[/ame].

If it was the route you wanted it's here
.

There's a thread on another cycling forum about this ride, the people who got back to Manningtree at 2.35 or 3.40 (for example) are the impressive ones!