Bravo Reg, that looks like a lovely way to while away an afternoon!!

Some photos from this morning's ride...

Future beer...


Endless grav...


A tunnel of trees...


Hell...

Had my first real pootle in 3 months and did a 48k loop down to Castle Ring mostly avoiding the busy spots. Milford Common and Stepping Stones were the busiest I’ve ever seen them though

Having done several rides tracking down post boxes I was going to switch to quarries, there are loads all over the Island, but it turns out there aren't. There have been probably hundreds of excavations across the Island but here they are to extract either chalk, sand, gravel or clay which means they are 'pits' and not quarries There are a couple marked on the map and some local sandstone has been quarried for buildings but not much.

In a sudden bit of inspiration I came up with the idea of searching out ww2 pillboxes, I've seen a few about so with the help of a bit of internet research I found there were loads. I found a website with the grid references and plotted them all out, but only the ones with some actual remains to see. I managed to join all these up with a route of just over 70 miles and 7000 ft of climbing so that should make a good day out.

I set off first thing ish and the first stop was my mum's to drop off some potatoes and the local paper. My myog fold up rucksack has been the most useful piece of kit I have during lock-down as I can run errands and then once I've made my delivery I can roll it up and put it in the frame bag out of the way. I see Apidura now make one so it must be a good idea

Potatoes dropped off it was on to the first pillbox at Shanklin on the cliff top. The listing said it was in a private garden but I thought I'd be able to see it over the wall. It would appear that since the survey was undertaken that quite a lot of trees and shrubs have grown up so all I could see was the garden wall with trees behind

Next was further along the seafront, part way up the steps to the cliff path.



It's somewhere in the middle, above the bit with the green netting on the handrail, hidden by the trees. The third on the seafront is at the western end, by the Chine. This does still exist but is now under some steps and it looks like it has also been rebuilt at some stage as the gun slots are not visible.



There were 3 at Shanklin as it was of strategic importance with the PLUTO pipeline coming down through the Chine. Out of the 3 I'd had a glimpse of 1. Not going very well so far then. Off to Ventnor down next, so quite a climb. The heat, lack of success and perhaps the previous nights gin were eating into my resolve to visit all of the pillboixes on the Island but I pressed on anyway.

At the top of Ventnor down there should be 3 bases left where the pillboxes were demolished. These I can only assume are somewhere in the mass of gorse bushes at the location of the grid reference. RAF Ventnor was the site of a radar station and it was bombed during the war but only the once as the Germans didn't know how important it was. There are still some lookout buildings left on the downs. The station only needed 3 pillboxes as the only way to it was up the road, which the pillboxes covered, the rest of the land around the station was mined.

I headed off to the next location which is near Rookley and an odd place for a pillbox on it's own and its a long way inland. If you were an invading army you could just march a half mile either side of it. When I arrived there was no sign of it, only an old garage partially in an earth bank and covered in vegetation. It turns out that looking at the listing description when I got home that this was likely it and it had the wall opened up and the wooden doors added

By now I had lost my enthusiasm for pillbox hunting so decided to head home. Up over one last hill for good measure and then I thought I should do my bit for local businesses, so I stopped off at Farmer Jacks shop to buy some local ale The fold up rucksack being put into use again.



So in total I only covered 22 miles with 2000 ft of climbing, not quite the day I'd planned but I did end up with 2 bottles of Wight Squirrel so not a complete loss.

Anyone who wants to ride round the pillboxes of the Isle of Wight can find all the info you need to end up looking at hedges here

https://www.iwhistory.org.uk/HER/0805pillboxes.htm

Unusual theme indeed. These themed rides are rather fun aren't they? With the ale purchase at the end you've now discovered yournext theme of course - brewery tour! How many on the island these days?

Popped out for a couple of hours this morning. It was to forage for some wild garlic for dinner, and definitely not to tick over 1,000km for the month, no definitely not, just for the wild garlic, honest gov.



Lots of cheery flowers out too, as well as plenty of large groups of non-socially distancing cyclists...

Lovely and sunny in the Dales today so headed out for a longer ride.

As I was going through Stirton (close to Skipton) I noticed a post box so given the recent shots here's mine in a suitably "old" and subdued style. Quite appropriate given the initials on the box



Then rode over Sharphaw and because it was so dry I managed to clean the whole of the descent normally there's a couple of sections that swallow your wheel. Then on to Hetton and up and over to Kilnsey. Up the road to Arncliffe Cote and then up the BW over towards Malham. I've always had to dab, just the once, at the top but managed to clean it today so pleased with that. Down to Street Gate, the upper part of Goredale Beck was really low and you hardly got wet crossing it.

Along Mastiles Lane where there's a Roman marching camp



Then cut across to Weets Top, down to Calton, Airton, Bell Busk and to Gargrave. Big disappointment in that the ice cream van by the canal was cash only and I didn't have any on me A bit of the Leeds-Liverpool canal then the final hill to get up and over to home, decided to stick to the road rather than the cheeky path through the woods.

Saw very few people, maybe forty in total and that includes biker, walkers, horse riders and farmers.

Big one today, must have done 4 miles!! Shouted at some blatantly obviously tourists with selfie sticks in hand walking around Conwy and then came home.
IMG_20200531_161534_660 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Today's ride was a rutted affair. Some were large enough to loose your bike in...





It's now so dry, that the racing line has cracked, nearly lost it a couple of times as the front wheel tried to disappear...



Then I did loose it. You can't actually see the rut I was in, due to the grass, but I got pedal strike in it last time I was down this way. This time, is was just so dry and sandy, the front wheel was sliding all over the place, then I went one way, it went the other and I slid down the grass on my back.

Weather is due to break (might have already) so a spin up to Loch Einich for a wee paddle.

P1060561 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

P1060567 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

101790971_535957533763349_8760405842592792576_n by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

Gently on 'Scotland's most beautiful shortcut' for a brew.

Little bimble out after work to nab a couple of squares and to see the poppies






Hmm anyone up for a poppy field ride challenge/thread?

UnderTheRadars wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 6:15 pm Hmm anyone up for a poppy field ride challenge/thread?

Not seen anywhere round here looking that good!

30 miler out through West Mids, South Staffs and Shropshire to nab a few more squares. Feck I’m slow and unfit

Fairly short ride on the tandem, 10km or so. Notable part was getting up a local unpleasant hill (Porter's Clough for any Sheffield locals) feet up without a stop.
Tired but proud 9 year old!

. You let the poor lad do all the work while you had your feet up? No wonder he's knackered . Not even a visit to see the alpacas as a reward?

Now what could be better than riding around on bikes all day with hundreds of cakes stashed in your panniers eh? Yes, you're absolutely right - nothing could. So obviously I leapt at the chance of volunteering with a lass from our cycling group to help deliver bakery products to lots of oldies "shielding" around Leighton Buzzard. It also helps to keep the baker's in the High St alive until things hopefully pick up again. So, winners all round. Well, I won an iced bun anyway.

It was a piece of cake to carry everything on my Extrawheel. We were able to zip across town in just a few minutes, often using shortcuts on our shared paths. I doughnt think we even raised a sweat/sweet. No traffic jam for us, it was inside the spongecakes instead. In fact we were really on a roll, and I was quite loaf to stop afterwards.

Nice iced puns. (Though missed shortcrust instead of shortcuts )

and minutes should have been melting moments...

I also omitted to mention that it was lemon drizzling most of the time we were out...

No doubt Sean will be along shortcakely with a few more .

RIP wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:40 pm . You let the poor lad do all the work while you had your feet up? No wonder he's knackered . Not even a visit to see the alpacas as a reward

I wish...
Thought about the alpacas, but couldn't face the final road climb, particularly as we live in the opposite direction!

Good to see you’ve got a firm grasp on your baguette there Reg

You know me Rich, any excuse to wave my impressive stick around!

C'mon peeps, muffin doing? I don't want to make a wholemeal out of this but I'm tarting to wonder why I bothered .

I'm not going to rise to your punning challenges just to prove myself. It'd be quite painful.

Another "long ride Saturday": the perfect complement to 10 weeks of C2WFH around the local woods 5 days a week. My flow has improved immensely .

Similar to Reg's last route: through Woburn deer park (lots of them); past Eversholt cricket pavilion (good shelter for a brew); along the jungly, splashy bridalway; then over the M1 (busy) to Millbrook vehicle test track for the first time in 5 years.

The bridleway around the perimeter is wonderfully steep, rollercoastery and flowy . It was rather surprising to emerge from a superb, fast downhill left-hander to find a MASSIVE tree fallen across the track. Fortunately I managed to "park" the bike in the shrubby bit, rather than straight into the trunk. A few minutes of trail clearance and I was rolling again, thinking how the place reminds me of Grizedale forest .

I grovelled up an improbably-steep hill. Descending quickly while catching my breath, I was alarmed to discover a steep flight of steps that weren't there last time , but
bounced my way erratically down the embankment to the left and sped down towards Lidlington.

A lovely fast cinder trail over old railway land led to Millbrook station, over the level crossing, then back up to the top of the test track for a brew on Jackdaw Hill.

Back over the M1; through Reg's splashy stream, Woburn deer park again and meandered home.

Really good route, with the option of loads of additional trails to choose for a particularly indulgent ride. Will have to get up earlier next Saturday .

No pub stops then? What a bizarre ride

I can recommend the bridleway from Miletree Road across to the A5 and onwards to Battlesden....

We live in bizarre times...

B/way - noted, I'll have a look.

I was pondering a Chilterns overnighter from LB to Chicksands & back when things ease a bit more. Plenty of jazz-riding, cheeky tangents to indulge; mostly sand, so it drains well; pubs 'n' cafes in abundance...possible winter option?

May need a recce in the coming weeks...

Edit - now with pix .
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBIt9z6jHWB ... aaicamf31e