Tell us about your weekend ride

chapeau eduardo!

chapeau indeed!

+1 Stunning ride.

Also, might have spotted Skinny in Kent if you were riding the SERRL road race. Saw Catford kit, so suspect it was you. Hot day for hard racing.

Hola. Yes was warm!

Some great rides in here!

That's funny putting names to faces. I met those two as I came out of the Elan Valley. I'd done an ad hoc and gone up there with no directions and as I came out I had no idea where I was on the route sheet.
They helpfully gave me the right direction as they sped past, as I had stopped to figure things out. a few km's down the line they took the first left at the roundabout instead of the second tut!

I kept bumping into you at the controls I was riding a silver polished, steel De Rosa. Nice ride it was and you've got a good set of photos too.

Ah yeah, I thought your De Rosa was the loveliest I've seen.

Saturday to Sunday evening, 627km done and dusted, fantastic ride.

Bumped into Ed in the morning in Dolgellau brushing his teeth. Looked a bit like this.

Dude it suck you have to bailed at Dolgellau, but I think you made the right call, as the climb after Newtown is the worst of all.

The first half was definitely breathtaking, second half felt a bit like England after Newtown.

Mind blowing stuff Ed. You must be tough as teak mentally.

Ever notice how Wales shaped like the face of a wild boar?

Brilliant. I lol'ed.

Ever notice how Wales shaped like the face of a wild boar?

Britain looks like a witch riding a pig. Or indeed a wild boar (Norfolk is the pig's arse, apols to anyone from that way ;)

I enjoyed reading that. Over the jubilee weekend 2yrs ago we rode Cardiff->Bangor in the pissing rain. I'm jealous of your weather luck! And very glad we didn't do it in one go. Respect.

Ed - that is a fantastic ride and a great write up. The wild boar face thing will get passed on to my kids!

Chapeau.

For a few weeks I've been forming a plan to ride the Pilgrims Way from Titsey to Canterbury. Today was the day.

Took my Pompino with Vittoria XN cross tyres and 42 x 18 gearing and set off promptly at 9 a.m. (I had to be home to pick the children up from the childminders at 6 pm).

After 45 minutes or so, I joined the Pilgrims Way at the foot of Titsey Hill, then proceeded to head east, into a slightly nagging headwind. The first major diversion was around Chevening estate, the official weekend residence of the Foreign Secretary and any rights of way seem to have been removed. I rejoined just before Otford and enjoyed the tarmac section through Kemsing.

The first off road section began just after Kemsing, and the surface was fine, a mix of loose gravel with a few ruts, but all perfectly rideable and this took me all the way through to Wrotham. After this the route was, on paper, a bit tricky, but the North Downs Way uses a lot of the old Pilgrims Way so it's well signposted and I crossed the M20 and quickly rejoined the route. A mix of tarmac and bridleway followed, until the foot of Vigo hill, where a 5 mile or so section of off road began through to Upper Halling. I really enjoyed this section, thinking how this used to be a main thoroughfare before the advent of roads, and it was fairly technical in places (all rideable of course, but as a cyclocross rider, my default is "this looks rideable"). I shared salutations with a couple of ladies out for a walk just before Upper Halling, and rejoined the road, with a long road section up to the M2 to come, where I'd cross the Medway.

As I rode I noticed a slight snag in the drivetrain, so pulled over and discovered a damaged link in the chain. Thinking I could nurse it to Rochester I carried on, only for the chain to break as I left the village. I packed it up in a bag, asked a resident how far it was to Rochester (about 5 miles she said) and began to make my way there using a mix of freewheeling, scooting with one leg and walking up any hills.

I decided to head home, as even if I could find a bike shop in Rochester that had a 1/8" chain, I'd lost valuable time and might not get to Canterbury early enough to ensure I could be back home by 6 pm to collect the aforementioned children.

Strava ride is here for those who are interested. Hopefully I'll get the chance to complete the ride in the next couple of weeks.

Shitter. Happens. Sucks!!

I carry basically everything you need nowadays. Multi-tool, chainlinks, mutilple tubes.

Bad luck, Andy. At least you know what some of it looks like now!

Unfairly thwarted. But well recce'd for the next attempt :)

I know it's midweek but as I work shifts Weds is kind of my Sunday...

After an injury filled winter I've just been trying to get some more miles in, it's been tough, carrying (even) more weight than before, lost alot of strength and fitness, and also still dealing with back pain from the fractured verterbae.

Have been commuting 16 miles a day and did 35 miler a couple of weeks ago, then 45 miles the other day with relative ease, now I'm not usually one to go in for these strava challenges but the Gran Fondo popped up in my feed and I thought it was a good excuse to do something half decent distance wise.

Read the idea of the challenge, and rather than everyone who ignores that and does a road ride, I went out for an adventure, took in everything from fast roads to some of the mtb trails I used to ride as a kid (Boardman handled the MTB stuff surprisingly well) Great day and great weather.

http://app.strava.com/activities/143955633

Last weekend I didn't do any cycling. I did a lot of walking. There was one bike related thing and one thing I made slightly bike related.
I found these two interesting bikes in Penlee House:

I like Mr Eddy's motto. A man after my own heart.
The next day I stumbled upon a wood/lino block printing workshop at the Redwing Gallery. I decided to have a go and of course the first thing to come to my head for a design was a bicycle component. See:

I thought to put my name on the axle at the last moment, and of course made the school boy error of putting my name the right way around. I looked at the prints again on the way home and noticed I missed spoke holes! Funny that.

I hadn't really thought about it before, but I didn't realise how little there is to this printing lark. I think I'll do some more of it.

There are also some excellent paintings in Penlee House.

Hosting a friend tonight means no time to ride tomorrow, so am not long back from an early morning blast around Essex. Horrendous. Wet the whole time, and the wind mate it feel really cold. No amount of wet weather gear can keep you dry in those conditions.

Also, weather forecasters are bastards. Went out super-early on the implication that earlier was going to be drier, now I'm back the feckin' sun is out!

I waited for the first lot of rain to pass, had a lovely ride to the office and back and then the next lot of rain hammered in. Makes a nice change from my usual perpetual soaking.

Freewheeling through fords on country roads on way to work. Feet on bars its kinda scary not knowing if there's potholes to knock you off into the above hub depth water.that was my morning hoping the levels have dropped on way back....

Road from Munich to the edge of the Austrian Alps and back, to attempt some alpine climbs on a singlespeed, didn't manage it - lots of walking.
100 miles all in though.

Lovely stuff. Now have a well earned hefeweissebier served by monks
My ride didnt get better. Saturated on way home.
Fuck this summer im moving to Oz.no wait.tried that already....

Did the 46 mile Manea Loop ride this afternoon/evening. Gabba on top was ideal, shorts down below was a bad call. A long, hot bath was required when I got back.

3/4 of a bottle of English 'Champagne' (it was free and lovely) does not work well the night before a ride.
Vomited on Reigate hill, needed a good stop there.
Generally a bit average riding all round.

However, it was fucking lovely and because I got out early enough, I beat all the crowds. Not a bad route. Road surfaces appalling.
http://www.strava.com/activities/145296154/

That look like a good route, gonna nick it.