Or the "Craven Street run" in Coventry....
A notorious pub crawl.... although some of the original pubs on Craven Street itself are no longer there, its still a formidable objective.
Printable View
Or the "Craven Street run" in Coventry....
A notorious pub crawl.... although some of the original pubs on Craven Street itself are no longer there, its still a formidable objective.
Talking of pub crawls, Llani boy (probably better than I, we moved there in '86) will well recall the glory days of Llanidloes, I forget how many pubs now but people came from miles around for a night out, it was the ultimate pub crawl. It was renowned for the "multiple choices" and you could then end the evening in The Swamp! Happy days and fancy dress night was something else, close to anarchy before health and safety, rules and regs came in.
Edit: Best pub crawls would make quite a good conversation.
First time on the bike for 17 days after heavy rain, artic conditions and then heavy rain again.
It wasn't great this morning, with water, leaves, twigs and branches on the road mixed up with sand that had washed off the fields (there's a lot of sand and gravel extraction in these parts). Garmin said it was 7 degrees C, but it felt a lot colder with high humidity and battleship-grey sky. Although I saw less than 100 cars moving, two of these were cabriolets with their tops down (an Audi and a Mercedes for those of you who like to know these things) :confused:.
Very greasy roads, with heavy rain forecast from 10am, so I just picked up the group and rode to the River Tame bridge at Elford. The river had flooded the fields, but not the road unlike the Mease which had shut the A513 and the Trent which had flooded the Walton on Trent road. Took the short route home to beat the rain and do an indoor session.
9.6 miles and 343ft of ascent.
I don’t really like riding in torrential rain and my beautiful Bianchi likes it even less so, since the ADV is awaiting a trip to its favourite Halfords mechanic, the recent torrential rain had prevented me taking her out into the fresh air. Last week I even had to join a 16 miles LDWA walk to keep my heart ticking over. The walk was in the rain but just walkin’ in the rain is good. Or so Johnnie Ray sang in 1956.*
But for Monday there was a promise of some blue sky, blue sky - celeste bike, surely some serendipity there? – and so the Campagnolo could emerge to seek some Italian sunshine.
Since 2020 and Covid I have averaged over 3000 miles/ year and since I knew I would achieve 3000 miles for this year on Monday I thought my bike deserved a trip into Yorkshire’s finest. So Bolton Abbey - Buckden - Kilnsey - Conistone - Grassington - Threshfield - Cracoe - Rylstone.
Although it was Monday morning I was surprised how many riders were out in the dales - obviously others look at weather forecasts – and it was just a lovely ride. Of course streams in full flow had appeared across the tarmac roads as they sought to return to Mother Wharfe but that was all just part of the fun of 40 miles and 2700 feet.
• Although Ray’s record reached #1 in the UK and #2 in the USA and sold over a million copies it was composed by two inmates of Tennessee State Prison, Nashville Tennesee and released by the Prisonaires on Sun records in 1953. It sold around 30,000 copies. It is the version of the song that I have. Well naturally.:)
My all-too-rare cycle rides go to all points of the compass from my home, but I have noticed that Graham in Ilkley and Mr B in Horsforth always seem to go to the north and/or west, and certainly never venture into the quadrant from South to East. I can't imagine why.:rolleyes:
Why have cotton when you can have silk?
Who would want the inconvenience of the vale of york when you can see the rolling hills of lower wharfedale? Beckwithshaw is worth a visit, but you won't want to venture further south without say a puncture or a collapsed bearing and the desperate need for an LBS such as spa cycles in starbeck. Only lower wharfedale has the craven arms.
A short MTB ride up to Warley Woods to take in the XC races where I bumped into Travs. Coventry Godiva seemed to be having a fine day with 1st and 3rd in the women's race and many placing high in the men's. I will let Pete fill you in on that.
It was a fine day for cycling and I even braved the shorts. I left the woods and went into Brum via an old disused railway line and then took the main line canal through Gas St and round to the university. Back along Bridalways and up to Woodgate Valley country park where I finally had to get on the road for the last couple of miles home. About 25k in all.
It being two years to the day since I ran in my last fell race (Whinberry Naze - First V75) and forty years since I first ran in the Chevin Chase I thought I would pootle out for a 40 miles ride through the villages south of Harrogate where rich people who think Harrogate is vulgar live.
Thus my sojourn took in Castley, Weeton, Dunkeswick, Kearby with Netherby, Kirkby Overblow… In tiny Castley there is a largish terrace house that is divided into two 4- bedroom dwellings. One is named Castley Hall East and the other side is Castley Hall West. It sounds rather grand but neither is particularly distinguished although they are worth around £1 million each. But Castley Hall?
These country roads tend to be so quiet that, like today, you meet more cyclists than motorists although the latter do tend to be in huge “look at me” Range Rovers. And thinking of modest, understated vehicles, as I was withdrawing a few pounds from the cash dispenser earlier this morning I noticed the man waiting patiently for me to finish had just stepped out of (I suppose “step up from” is more accurate) an orange Lamborghini parked a few feet from my beautiful Bianchi in celeste. This car is local to Ilkley (it is a LP640-04 V10 5.2 litre Huracan) and although built in 2021 the rear plate displays POW113R except the 3 is reversed so a blind man on a galloping horse might think it reads POWER. Well possibly. The young man might of course have been patiently pondering whether to offer to swap his Italian car for my gorgeous Italian bike - but could I really be seen in an orange car? Does orange really go with insouciant gravitas? Oh vulgar, vulgar.
I only noticed that it was the 40th running of the Chevin Chase because my son was running for the first time. It is a massive Boxing Day three-ring-circus 7-mile trail race based in Guiseley with a £23 entry fee and today had over 1500 finishers. I don’t think it runs at a loss. However at the front end it is always a serious race and was won by one of the Brownlees for several consecutive years (I used to report on the race for the local papers) .
And this fun all started in 1979 when a couple who owned a shop in Guiseley decided to organise an unregistered race (and therefore illegal in AAA terms so participants could be banned from FRA races etc) for a bit of fun on Boxing Day and to make a little money for themselves. In those days it attracted serious fell runners because parts were quite rugged (including the then vertical climb up to Surprise View) but it has become blander over the years to attract more pantomime horses and fun runners.
How things do change.:)
Well I love my vulgar orange campervan and it is so easy to spot on a campsite that are generally full of white vehicle!
I did take the gravel bike out yesterday, post Christmas indulgence guilt ride.
A mile up the road to the local MTB tracks in the woods, where I went up and down a hill several times. In my running days it would have been called "hill reps" but that sounds a bit grand these days, "survival reps" would be more like it. The times only changed by a few seconds so I must have been pretty steady.
Total ride was 15.8 miles and 2300ft
I'm convinced that fresh air and gentle exercise are an antidote to the lurgy so with tired legs from yesterday it was out on the Arkose for a tarmac and trail ride.
Up towards Chelmorton but even though the sun was shining I got fed up with the cold headwind on my heavy, knobbly tyred steed, so took a left down to Monyash. Up The Rake and past Arbour Low to Friden. Along the 515 to Biggin where I joined the Tissington Trail. What a mistake that was. It was snided with people, many of whom where just either deaf to the sound of my bell or just ignorant twats. I battled on to Parsley Hay where I was looking forward to a latte, to warm me up and provide some energy, but the 10 deep queue was so slow moving that I started to get cold so I continued on the trail to Hurdlow and then straight home via Monyash where I treated myself to poached eggs on toast!
A total of 24 miles, 1'683 feet in 1hr 52 min and another reminder to avoid the trails on Bank Holidays.
I don't know if you have caught any of the cyclocross on Eurosport over the last few weeks but it has been amazing and something I will try and get to sometime in person.
Today's race was a mudbath - veritably so for some unfortunates. MVDP aced his 8th win from 8 races. WVA a credible 2nd but a minute behind. Everyone else races for next best these days.
Today's ride for me may not be comparable in terms of distance or effort but the banks of the Tividale and Dudley canal conspired to cover me in a comprehensive coverage of mud and who knows what else. I knew it was bad by the look on my wife's face (who is obviously used to me returning from exercise with a liberal coating of the stuff.) Today was another level and one that took a good hose down in the garden for me and the bike. A slow 35k through the mire in just under 2 hours.
I have seen a couple of them. The bike handling skills on show are exceptional and I'm sure they would be even more impress in the flesh.
Out on the gravel Arkose this afternoon but mainly on tarmac apart from a nice snow covered mile of bridleway. Although the sun was out it was bitterly cold, especially on the faster downhills. Still aching a bit from Sunday but nice to get the legs moving without them having to carry my weight!
Just over 20 miles and 1,663 feet in 1hr 34 min. Unsurprisingly, no other cyclists seen!
Jocelyn had blown herself out by yesterday evening so whilst my son was swimming I had a glorious moonlit gravel ride on the Arkose along the Monsal Trail from Bakewell to Blackwell and back. Only one man and his dog seen but full concentration required as there were a lot of small branches/twigs on the trail.
20 miles in 1hr 20 min.
Normally at this time of year in foul weather I would be riding my Boardman ADV and the Bianchi/Campagnolo ensemble would be snug and warm in my bedroom so she would be the last thing I look at before sweet dreams.
However last time I went out on t'ADV the rear hub sounded like a bag of hammers so it is clearly time for some TLC from Halfords (who make Boardman bikes) for her.
Unfortunately the foul weather has prevented me cleaning the Boardman to the showroom shine standard I insist on achieving before I let Halfords' mechanics catch sight of her - and so, rain or shine, out on the Bianchi it currently must be.
I hope she will forgive me her rust.
A trip to Otley library today (being part of Leeds it is far superior to the Ilkley library - a part of Bradford) took my 2024 total to 210 miles after 25 days which extrapolates to 3000+ miles for the year.
Which'll do to be going on with until the rain stops.
I had to brave the offensive conditions on Tuesday cycling back from ilkley bodyshop after dropping the Polo off for repairs. The wind changed direction especially for me, and i forgot my gloves. On an atlantic system it should blow down the valley, not up it.
Returning from Mercian Cycles in Derby, where my Shimano Alfine 8 hub gears had been serviced. Flat riding along NCR6 as far as Wilson. then an unnecessarily hilly and indirect route across NW Leicestershire. Rather blustery, with the wind direction being a crosswind on average; helpful when going eastward, but not when going southward. about 21 miles altogether.
I don't know of any such team (but then, know very little about pro cycling). On this page: https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/about-us/history/ the only references to racing teams are in the 1960's-80's.
No, but by the look of it they provided bikes for a small pro outfit in the late 1960s.
They used to have a really good reputation building steel (531) frames, but lost there way in the 1980s. I know this because we had two of their employees in our bike club at this time. My understanding is that they became more of an upmarket bespoke builder, building for discerning cyclists who might otherwise have bought a Bianchi, and re-found the quality and reputation that they had previously had.
There is still debate about how good their frames are, but no-one questions their paintwork.
A very mild day today, I didn't even make it to bramhope without stopping to derobe, and was perspiring heavily as I walked into the craven arms. I had a gigantic portion of chips and gravy, far too much to eat in one sitting, I don't know why the kitchen sent me thrice what I paid for. There will be a lot of cycling taking place this year, I'm sending two sets of wheels down to Woodrup for working on.
Actually I had to go to Ilkley so wheelbase are looking at this issue with the Alan. It turned out that a new wheel set is cheaper than a new set of rims! So I'm getting new wheels on the Dolan.
Does anyone use swiss stop pads? Wheelbase guy says they are worth the extra tenner because they don't wear your rims as fast.
Well I've been suckered in to buying the pricey pads, if they don't scrape like hell when wet they're probably a better unit than the 105s. Seem to get so much crap caught underneath.
My new cheap wheels turned out to only take up to 10s, so I ended up with Shimano rs, but Wheelbase gave me 10% off for the messing about. They also swapped the hardware over at no extra charge, and cleaned my awful cassette which was thick with traffic film. This is the reason I'll probably go back, if he hadn't cleaned it I'd know there was no pride.
The Alan has had the rear wheel redished so the mech doesn't catch on the spokes, so I can get out on that again now. Probably wearing my new castelli squadra stretch windproof shell that I got from Wheelbase for £30, i really did need a hi viz cag.
I've kept my old Shimano hubs, so all I need is a pair of nearly new 700c rims and I can get a second wheel set built up. The front is 20h and the rear 24h if anyone has any good rims they don't want.
It's not just a case of getting the correct number of holes, you've got to get the ERD right - I'll explain.
A 700c wheel (the standard size on a road bike) measures 700mm across its diameter when fitted with a fully inflated 39mm tyre. The tyre well on the rim has a diameter of 622mm, and is an industry standard so that all 700c tyres fit on 700c rims.
The spokes don't join the rim at the tyre well anymore, (old, cheap ones used to), as this can cause the end of the spokes to puncture the inner tube (I've seen it many times). Instead, the spokes join the rim away from the tyre well and slightly closer to the hub. This has a smaller diameter, and is known as the ERD (Effective rim diameter). The problem is that an 65mm section rim will have a much smaller ERD than a non aero 12mm one, and require much shorter spokes.
In practice, if you replace the rims you've got to get new ones that have an ERD within 3mm (either way) of the old rims. If you don't, then you'll need a full set of new spokes which is ££.
***
It is worth mentioning that modern wheels for rim brakes should have wear indicators. You mentioned you'd got a pair of Shimano rs wheels, but you didn't say which model they were. I have a pair of Shimano rs100 wheels, and they have a deliberate 'indent' on the braking surface on both sides - they idea being that with use this will wear to nothing when they've reached their safe limit. The 'indents' on my wheels are just to the side of the valve hole.
My recommendation would be that you modify a Vernier gauge to measure how thick the rim walls are on your new wheels, and write this down somewhere safe so you can re-measure in the future. If you still have the old worn rims you could measure exactly how much metal you've got left on them. If they've still got a reasonable amount of thickness left, you could build them back up into wheels.
Finally, 20 hole rims are rare, and 24 hole ones not that much more common. They're usually expensive too, and you've got to get the ERD right otherwise there's the additional expense of new spokes which I mentioned. I'd keep the hubs for parts (old Shimano hubs have excellent, easy to work on, cup and cone bearings - as do my rs100 wheels.)
Standard 50m up to the craven arms today. It was a cold start and the first outing in my new castelli squadra stretch shell. I found that I could ride further before getting hot, so it breathes better than a mistlite, but it flaps away in the wind like a shopping bag. I was definitely colder on the way back without it on; it packs up small enough to fit in a jersey pocket. On the way up I passed some children from otley cc being chaperoned along the winding lanes of lower wharfedale, they commented that I was not wearing a helmet.