Not just in bed then?
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Half an our easy spinning on the turbo this morning, followed by a sports massage tonight and do my legs need it :eek:
I must admit, as I was the only person who turned up for a road ride on a road bike, I got the least workout.
Hats of to DT who worked his butt off never coming off the middle ring on his steel monstrosity. His plan to make the ride even tougher on himself was foiled when Brett put air in his tyres, however DT escaped before Brett could also oil his chain.
68 miles at 16.5av club social ride out to Hetton, Gargrave and Hellifield station cafe for lunch (very good value). Just a bit of light rain and wet roads throughout but not too bad overall. Wanted to go to Storiths but the suggestion fell on deaf ears.
See the Craknell/Romero end to end record attempt ended in tears today. Be interesting to see how the media portray it.
Did a write up for NLRC forum on todays ride so I'll bore you with it here too:
I had to give myself a little talking to this morning otherwise I would have ended up lounging about and not getting out. My legs felt a little tired but off I set at 8:30 as planned (on the steel frame for added comfort). Did not see any eager members waiting at the bottom of my road so a solo ride it was. After a few miles it turned out the tiredness I felt in my legs was actually pent up power as I rode hard over to Barnoldswick, Skipton, Bolton Abbey and the fantastic single track road through Beamsley and eventually parallel to the fairways of Ilkley golf course. I decided to use the recently acquired Zipvit energy drink and nearly spat it out when I took a gulp – damn awful tasting stuff! From Ilkley, the back road (Denton road) loosely follows the river Wharfe and continues through Askwith and Weston before coming out on Farnley lane at Otley. A short ride over the bridge brings you to the grease spoon that some NLRC members have had the pleasure of visiting – the Wharfe cafe by the Weir on the river Wharfe. It must be 2 years since I visited and I don’t think they have swept up in that time; you can almost smell the E-Coli as you walk in to order – which I did anyway: large mug of tea and large sausage and egg butt for £1.30! I sat outside and chatted to a couple of other brave dinners who were touring the Dales on heavily laden hybrid bikes. Considering it gives the impression of a health hazard it seems to do a brisk trade, especially with tight cyclists, walkers and other down and out looking lost souls.
Anyway, after a brief 20 minute stop I set off for the roller coaster section of the ride which would continue until Grassington. I turned right off Denton Road to Farnley and after a brief climb was rewarded with a fantastic downhill that cut between the river Washburn and Lindley Wood res. After a great descent it was no surprise what was to come and come it did. A toil up a 1 in 6 that had a pine wood at either side of the road. When I eventually crested, the views were worth the effort. To the west you looked down on Swinsty and Fewston reservoirs, straight ahead were the tops of the golf balls at Menwith hill and the Nidd valley beyond and to the east were the vast stretching lowlands over to the A1 and beyond (broken by I think Stokesley bank). I crossed the A59 and continued on parallel to the perimeter fence of RAF Menwith Hill which is apparently the world’s largest communications monitoring station. The roller coaster road continued through Dacre to Summer Bridge where I turned left and went through Glasshouses before dropping into Pately Bridge. Last time I took the 4K uphill section of road out of Pately Bridge I had a 1 litre engine between my legs, today was a little harder! When it does eventually flatten out, the views again are just superb – what a fantastic area with Nidderdale stretching away North West below you as far as the eye can see. Onward and upward, downward and upward again toward Grassington passing Stump Cross caverns on the left and onward through the hamlet of Hebden which puts on a great sports day for kids on August bank holiday. I eventually passed through Grassington and cut through Linton, Cracoe and picked up the road to Hetton where I turned right to Winterburn and picked up the route that the club run went out on yesterday (Airton, Hellifield, Halton West, Bolton-By-Bowland, Sawley, Clitheroe and home!!).
I had planned to record the route on the Garmin but found the battery to be more or less dead when I came to put it on so plotted the route on Autoroute when I got back and found it a little shorter than expected at 105 miles. I managed to average 17.5 without it feeling too painful but would have liked another 20 miles or so distance. Dry, cloudy, patchy sun but feeling warm and very clear.
Sounds a cracking ride that Ady! Hope you're still tired tomorrow evening ;):p
And another hard but great ride on the crosser bites the dust...
A good two hours playing in the Black Mountains... started in Llanbedr, went up the road into some forestry, then slogged the bike up Pen-y-Gadair :eek:
Back via the boggy track along the ridge to Crug Mawr, but went off the hill a little earlier than Crug Mawr as I was started to loose the light. Lots of heather bashing, carrying the bike and running with the bike, as the going was extremely boggy! Managed to submerge the front wheel into an innocent looking puddle, which was axle deep :eek: so went over and into the bog. At least it made for a soft landing :D
Great stuff though, beautiful evening light and managed to hook up with the lads from the fell club for a bit and for a pint in the pub after.
Mind you, if you want to get supremely muddy, cyclocross over boggy ground is the way :D