Ilkley does look pretty posh after a quick scout round on Google Maps.
Mind you, Keighley looks posh to me.
Ilkley does look pretty posh after a quick scout round on Google Maps.
Mind you, Keighley looks posh to me.
When I cycled to work (now working from home!), I used to use cx shoes. Reasonably stiff enough for cycling a moderate distance but with a proper sole that you can walk in, cleats tucked away.
Pete Shakespeare - U/A
Going downhill fast
Character building 27 miles in the rain on an out and back along the R. Wharfe (so only 800 feet of climb: Otley, Pool, Arthington & Harewood.
It really is interesting how cold and rain, the threat of sleet and oncoming darkness can turn a dawdler into time trail mode.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Another 36k and 850m ascent, slow and struggling again on the hills.
But it wasn't raining and I wore 2 pairs of socks in my trainers. I also fitted a little "ass saver" mudguard and it worked - I arrived home with a dry bottom .
Don't roll with a pig in poo. You get covered in poo and the pig likes it.
Always pleasurable in my experience.
With a forecast of snow I wore my brand new Ron Hill Stride Stretch Tights - straight out of the bag from PBS, who also previously supplied my Helly, my cag, my Broxy-recommended water proof gloves (they aren't...) although not my bike.
My favourite follow-the-River-Wharfe route to Harewood Hill then left to Burn Bridge-North Rigton-Stainburn-Leathley-Otley-Home: 34 miles (1700 feet) making 3600+ miles for this year. The road from North Rigton (off the A658 to Harrogate) past the towering millstone grit of Almscliffe Crag through Stainburn to Leathley (B6161 and also to Harrogate) is a delight. Basically connecting farms it undulates and winds and does 270 degree turns and at this time of year is covered in manure and slurry except where the road is cleaned by a stream. It's often narrow so vehicles cannot pass and there are often horses and damn cyclists... country travelling at its best
Last edited by Graham Breeze; 06-12-2020 at 09:40 PM.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Got completely fed up with slithering on muddy trails in he hills and the souless tarmac alternative. So wheeled out the trusty MTB for a bit of weekend exercise. There's a 14 mile loop with 2,300 feet of climbing between me and Skenfrith on tiny lanes. Few cars but plenty of farm traffic. Apart from the copious mud and slurry, I'm alarmed at how quickly cavernous potholes have opened up. I get home frozen, encrusted in unmentionable brown stuff and sore. But with that self righteous glow of having 'done something'.
Simon Blease
Monmouth
1hr on the turbo, on my patio, peering through the kitchen window my wife preparing dinner. And listening German radio news (got to keep up my Deutsch, handy when you live in Germany).
Didn't run because Achilles pain.
Stationery cycling is extremely boring. How the hell people chose it on purpose is beyond me. Many even pay regular fee, plus "smart" trainer. Weird.