Tell us about your weekend ride

^^ Chapeau. Mamil of the year so far!

Cheers. I cant say Gran Canaria was the greatest MAMIL retreat. So many spritely, skinny, young'ns floating effortlessy past on the Climbs.

I'd have shouted 'do you even lift!'

But they were gone before I caught enough breath.

Sounds like a feckin great week

'The Valley of Tears' is the greatest name for a climb ever

http://www.welovecycling.com/26113/london-amsterdam-fixed-gear/

These guys describe better than I could.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/travel/top-rides-gran-canarias-valley-of-the-tears/

Yeah I live up in Caithness originally from SE London. After a 2 year rest I'm ready to head out into the wind.

Just spent a lovely day in the Cotswolds, 170k round trip from Oxford - was aiming for 200k but it was taking longer than planned so took a shortcut - the Cotswolds are hilly! Considering the Forest of Dean 300k audax in March but not sure I'm ready really, definitely need to do some more long rides!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/4101387

My first proper road ride of the year and don't my legs know it.

100km, with a puncture late on. Not bad all things considered.

First 100k of 2015. Today was easily the best weather in the South Downs so far this year..

I rode the Willesden Reliability. Just over 29kph for the ~113k on the winter bike isn't too shabby. Being spat out the back of the fast group after only 34k was a bit shabby though. Much fat. So gravity.

I did have a small chuckle to myself as I passed a guy walking up Smalldean Lane who was riding a frame that was lighter than my tyres :)

Last year, just before my annual visit to Australia, I discovered a website about mountains in Victoria - http://theclimbingcyclist.com/, there was also a link about the 7 Peaks Challenge, but as we did not have enough time, we went out to Bright to have a look at a few of them. We rode two, Mount Hotham and Mount Buffalo, and three months before this years trip, I looked into doing all 7

Now we only had 5 days to ride 7 mountains, perfectly doable but there was to be a huge amount of driving, 295ks to get to the start of climb 1, Mount Baw Baw

It is written, ranked among the hardest road climbs in Australia, the ascent of Mt. Baw Baw presents a challenge for cyclists of all abilities. The first half of the climb is friendly enough but at an average gradient of over 10%, the second half of this climb is not for the faint of heart.

I turned my Garmin on at the start, and it was dead, so I tried my phone instead !!! At the Gantry, the final 6.5ks averages 11%, and it just ramped up. There was no respite, thankfully, it was 12 degrees with mist so we couldn't see what was coming, and to get to the end, my legs were happy

https://www.strava.com/activities/255569812

127ks later, we were in Marysville, and this time my Garmin did work as we hit the base of Lake Mountain, but it died within a K or 2 !!! As for this climb, the temp was 31, and 21.3ks, this was going to be a little bit tough after Baw Baw, however once over the initial 4.4ks with an average of over 8%, it was plain sailing, and it wasn't long before we had arrived at the finish

109ks later, we stopped in Mansfield where steak was on the menu

https://www.strava.com/activities/255643772

Up early, we drove down to the start of Mount Buller, eager to get the 3rd climb out of the way. Only 16.8ks long with an average of 5.9%, the lower parts were very mild, but with 4ks to go, it ramped up towards 15%, and you could feel it in your legs as we ground out the remainder of the climb. Maybe a bit sadistic, we also took the optional K ride just for the views !!!

We also found that my phone was nearly doubling the Garmin ion altitude so my climbing stats were looking impressive !!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/255982727

177ks later, we were in Bright

It was raining when we awoke so we decided to climb Mount Hotham. This is most probably the hardest as there are millions of flies, and the way the last third ramps up. Basically, it is a climb with three sections. The first section just goes up until the Meg where it hits over 10%, the next 10ks, you are in a false flat and you can pedal along at a nice pace, whilst the last 10ks have sections of over 11%. There are also 2 very fast downhill sections, but as the road was slippery, my GF took these very easily. We also hit many crosswinds as we made our way along the ridge, and with the temp only at 10, the windchill made it feel colder

https://www.strava.com/activities/256436845

Up early the next morning, we drove back on up to Hotham, onwards to Dinner Plain. Now the start of this one was another 43ks to Omeo, but we decided to ride there instead of riding back to the car. It was a very undulating ride and we could see what we would be in for. We passed a few guys going up and they looked like they were struggling !!!

After a quick toasted cheese, tomato and ham sandwich, we hit the climb. 43ks with and average of 2.2%, the first 8ks sit on around 8% and today we could feel it. The road never stopped going up/down and we also had a headwind so I took my place at the front and dragged my GF along. The plan was to break 3 hours, but she got home in 2:29 !!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/256882950

Mentally, this was tough, but we were now home and hosed, so we we hit Bright Brewery

We had 2 mountains left, a long one at 29.5ks and another at 24ks

Falls Creek is another mountain that is split into thirds. The first section has only 4.5ks of climbing at 5% and once over that, the road undulates for 12ks and after this section, you are only 27 metres higher !!! The last 13.5ks just goes up and didn't drop below 6%. As we reached the end, we knew we were now so close to the finish, that we could smell it

https://www.strava.com/activities/257268749

After a quick lunch, we drove to the base of Mount Buffalo. After 6 mountains, we could both feel it in our legs, it was also getting hot, the temp was now at 32, so we took off, not wanting to break any PBs, just survive till the finish !!!

Halfway up the climb, the temp had reached 35, but as we got higher, the temp started to drop. The road went on and on until we crested the last rise and found the turn off to Dingo Dell where a cafe was waiting. It was great to finish !!!

After a quick coke, we rode back down and spoke to some other cyclists telling then there were snakes on the road so to watch out !!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/257336210

It had been an epic 5 days, one that I can recommend if you ever are in the Alpine part of Victoria

Looks and sounds amazing. Congratulations too, that's a lot of climbing.

A lot of Water Lanes. Most were windy as well.

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London.

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Cambridgeshire.

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Poppy's Tearoom in Thaxted is definitely gone.

The Blue Egg has well dropped the breakfast standard but the cappuccino was excellent as was the Cherry Bakewell slice.

The A113 might just be the best lane back into London.

Much ice about today @fussballclub?

I was going to go to Kent but on waking up to snow decided to play it safe (and dull) and went to RP instead.

Am hoping to venture further afield tomorrow, may wait til 10-11 to head out, as opposed to my usual 8-9, to let and nastiness thaw out.

Weather like this makes me miss Epping a bit, was normally ok out on those big open roads

Was just the slightest sleet mixed into the rain this morning, no ice on the roads and lanes, but there must have been an epic hail shower around Thaxted in the afternoon which I just missed.

This is sad news. I got caught out a while back by it being shut, their website said they were moving premises. I like Thaxted and back as a route.

Rode the Reading CC Anthony Maynard Memorial Reliability Trial this morning. 60 miles with 3000ft of climbing. First ride in two weeks so I was a bit rusty, and adopted my usual approach to pacing where I monster up every hill and do all the work for the first half then bonk spectacularly. Still a nice ride, and first time I've ridden with other people in a couple of months. Very different experience of club riding compared to what I'm used to, no group discipline and no real interaction, either between riders or to other cyclists we passed. Weird. Some crazy bikes on display, Pinarello Dogma with Zipp 404 FCs was a hightlight. Truly the prosperous south.

https://www.strava.com/activities/258365603

Leg day

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Took a nice ride out to Mount Franklin as my girlfriend had not been up it, she also wanted to see the emus so this time, we stopped

Once at the top, the views are not anything stunning, just trees

The hardest thing about the ride were those pesky skiing kangaroos !!!

We had one last stop as it was raining, but it was 30 degrees !!!

Then back to the house for an Aussie bbq, and as we are in a fire ban, this is an electric bbq !!!

Entered the Evans Ride It Sandown Park Sportive last Saturday.
It was ok but the the Surrey roads were in a terrible state, and because it was wet there were lots of potholes hidden in puddles.
Some guy broke two ribs and his collar bone....an oncoming 4x4 forced a group into the gutter where a giant pothole catapaulted him ove the handle bars. Both his wheels were wrecked as well. I noticed quite a lot of aggressive driving. I was in a small group that was overtaken by a whie van and oncoming traffic had to brake hard to avoid him driving straight into them. What itnisnwith everybody.
Ride wise, Whitedown Lane caught quite a few people out. It's a bit of a monster and I took the precaution of having two or three minutes rest before the climb. Only just made it!
It was my first event ridden on my new bike, an Enigma Etape. Really pleased with it.