Todays ride

[RIP]

That sounds like they could've been offered urinal cakes

Exactly what I waa going to post earlier, but inexplicably and uncharacteristically thought better of it . Bit of a gift that one really .

[RIP]

Well that was bizarre. I pop out to the bottlebank and the library, and think I might as well have a quick brew at the nice little cafe round the corner.

Sitting there minding my own, and suddenly three Boners roll up! - Mike ('from Bromsgrove' ), our Sean, and Chickenlegs, and of course Ralph who I presume was in charge of the proceedings .

Bit of lunch and brews, great to see you guys .

(oh alright, maybe not a complete coincidence . Looking forward to their report of their Grand [Union] Tour)

[PaulB2]

68km out to the coast and back to Driffield today. Very moist and sticky but not too hilly which made it easier. I went to a distillery and just had a cup of tea and a cake which felt like a bit of a waste so will have to come back at some other time. No urinal cakes today either.

[frogatthefarriers]

A few miles later we needed another break from the heat so spent an hour wandering around the gardens of the Sledmere estate. I now need to find out what plant looks like a 30’ tall rubarb

Sounds like a Gunnera, but I don’t know about 30ft tall…

[PaulB2]

I noticed it towering over a 10' wall but I couldn't get close to it from inside the wall because there was a gazebo in the way so it was probably closer to 20' now I think about it logically. Having looked at the Gunnera the leaves were a bit more regular shaped than that.

It was the final day of the tour yesterday, a gentle rolling flat 32km back to Beverley which we managed to get done before it got too hot. 192km in a very gentle 4 days - my 3rd bike ride of the year and my mate's first. I just need to convince him to try more off-road routes now.

[Rapideye]

Rare commute back from the office and was smacked right between the eyes by a wasp or a bee. It stuck to my face as I waving around trying to get it off. Managed to get it off but not before it gave me a little sting. 20 mjns later I had to skid to a stop as another one got caught in my helmet. No sting from that one.

[ledburner]

... was smacked right between the eyes by a wasp or a bee. It stuck to my face as I waving around trying to get it off. Managed to get it off but not before it gave me a little sting....

Did create swelling near your eyes?
That would be a ride end for me... .
I get a strong local reaction to bee or wasp stings.. (but nettles don't bother me much).

Note to self: carry an antihistamine tablet , just in case....

[Rapideye]

No, it wasn't bad when it settled down and I finished riding with a nipping head. The problem, I think, was I was going soooo fast that the little Guy was stuck fast with the G force.

[redefined_cycles]

I now know that alot of my long distance rides are held back by my mind. Talked to my legs the other day on the incomplete (I don't lile the word 'failed' as to me the only failure is if I conduct my life so poorly that I don't earn Allahs mercy and hence not make it to The Jannah) Everesting and the knees amazingly behaved.

Had one on one type of repetitions and the other another form of remembrance (of Allah) and after 52 climbs and about 15000ft, no pain or aches/niggles. The mind and tummy still held me back though. Mind cos I chucked in the towel with a few coordinated excuses and the tummy cos the eating obviously wasn't working for me.

So today, with limited time and hardly any training in my legs for about 10 days (actually 13) I went out with a Shackleton (see other thrwad about how one of his 2 years on ice feats is regarded as the greatest Endurance example ever) mindset. No food and despite needing a higher heart rate, I needed to utilise my fat stores. The climb (only did that same Everesting climb cos I'm ahort on time and it's a simple training hill) hits 20% and HR risked jumping to 180. But I held my nerve.


I wasn't aboard Endurance (like Shack and his men) but I did have thw vaguely exciting Bruce the Butcher - cos he shreds climbs Avi.


No food, okay. But I didn't wanna be at risk of sudden cardiac death, so lots of water up back. 3 electrolyte tabs means I'd not risk having to lick my arms for replacement. Plus I'd have plenty of circulation volume in case the old ticker needs to beat at 180!!


Before even reaching the climb I'd already had a thorn fight on thw path leading up. But at least the gate (behind this one) was open.


Did 5 climbs on which the fifth I put in my all. HR hitting about 171 and above with some pain at the carotid artery (right side, must have some plaques remaining... must eat more raw olive oil) towards the end of that 5th attempt. Fifth ascent was also a personal best since a long time. Only 20 or so seconds slower than my all time fastest of 200 ascents!


Then I did something a bit mental, but it was a Shackleton mindset afterall. The other option for Everesting is was/is the climb behind my one. But it's 0.3 miles and 217ft (mine is 0.5 miles with 285ft) and theres a section that could make the heart pop.

But I went up it and the HR hit 181 indeed. I did'nt die and about 2 mins after the peak and we were all back down to a safe 150 beats/min.


Then came the treat and the writeup!!

[RIP]

23:38. Just back from seeing a few old mates in a pub 10 miles away. Last orders please. "Like a lift back Reg?". They should know the answer to that. Fantastic ride back, pitch black, rain, 35mph winds the forecast reckoned and it felt like it. Autumn well and truly arrived. Looking forward to winter now. It's the elemental nature of it all that I like. The overload of the senses. The feeling alive. It also confirmed that I have absolutely zero intention of involving the movement of electrons until I'm totally incapable of doing it myself thank you, so there's a bit of late-night controversy for you as well.

[Bearlegged]

I have absolutely zero intention of involving the movement of electrons

Oh dear, wait until you find out about neurons...

[RIP]

Aren't they a Dr Who character?

[redefined_cycles]

Aren't they a Dr Who character?

It's between the nurons that memories are kept reg. I know you probably already know this due to the amount of Dr Who you've probably watched, but from the spine and down there about 200,000. They make up the nerves and between the neurons where the signal of 'leccy' jumps is the synapse.

Again, from the spine down them limited amounts just carry signals, to and fro the brain like a super fast highway. In the brain though, the gap between the same synapses is much much shorter and there's about a million billion (or 100 million, big number jump I know, sorry, blame the various university professors and maybe they'd been dirnking the night before). This is specifically, as mentioned earlier, where the memories are kept and from one night to the next morning the brain is never the same. They rejig and restructure in to a totally different set of connections and paths etc (AFAIR).

This is where the term 'use it or lose it' probably comes from. So that million billion synapses (between the neurons, so obviously closely linked) if one stops using the memory, starts shrivelling away slowly and over time. One very smart person (not linked to the above courses/profs where I'd learnt that previous info from) who taught us how to put a tube in the willy (like you do!) mentioned how taking a language course later in life preserves the brain.

It probably comes from how hard a language course is, and later in life... Might mean that them neurons/synapses don't start withering away as they're still needed very much... Anyway, just saying

[fatbikephil]

A good ride round local woods and hills today. It was meant to be horrible weather (increasing wind and rain as the day progressed) but actually all good apart from about a 30minute downpour.

Getting ready for 2 weekends time!

[RIP]

Fess up Phil mate, did you actually battle across that practice tussock course? Looks the equal of anything Wales can chuck at you. Am prepared to be seriously impressed here .

[fatbikephil]

Fess up Phil mate, did you actually battle across that practice tussock course? Looks the equal of anything Wales can chuck at you. Am prepared to be seriously impressed here .

Ooh yes, in fact I nearly went OTB into the lot in front of me. Actually only level 6 tussocks as it was quite dry at this point and only 500m before I descended down a fire break.

[thenorthwind]

23:38. Just back from seeing a few old mates in a pub 10 miles away. Last orders please. "Like a lift back Reg?". They should know the answer to that. Fantastic ride back, pitch black, rain, 35mph winds the forecast reckoned and it felt like it. Autumn well and truly arrived. Looking forward to winter now. It's the elemental nature of it all that I like. The overload of the senses. The feeling alive. It also confirmed that I have absolutely zero intention of involving the movement of electrons until I'm totally incapable of doing it myself thank you, so there's a bit of late-night controversy for you as well.

I can thoroughly empathise with all of this. But especially the riding back from the pub bit.

[summittoppler]

Not really today, this was actually last weekend!
Had a cosy night at 'my place'...

[MuddyPete]

Yesterday's, actually.

It started off as a "Just popping into Blandford for a haircut", but whilst sitting outside a café congratulating myself (for being good) with a post-haircut coffee & bun, Mrs MP called to say administrative matters meant I had until teatime to occupy myself .

After being refused entry to the Royal Signals museum, due to lack of evidence of Britishness (but I'm wearing a BB jersey and riding an Orange P7 ) I decided to pedal south and take the first bridleway on the right. Five miles later, with no hint of any bridleways, I decided to head for the World's End at Almer.

During a very tasty lunch thoughts of the previous night's dog walk and swollen rivers led me to https://www.wetroads.co.uk/dorset.htm and subsequent successful splashing through the fords at Turner's Puddle.

One celebratory, stove-brewed, raspberry Bailey's micro-latté later and I pedalled off home to Bulbarrow for sausage and mash at sunset .

Funny how things work out .

[RIP]

splashing through the fords

A vastly underrated pastime indeed (*)

Sounds like a pleasant day out

("Funny how things work out" - a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum in fact?)

(*) https://www.wetroads.co.uk/

[MuddyPete]

Just posted a repository for aquatic action (Ford Fiesta....)

[RIP]

repository for aquatic action

In This Place, what could possibly go wrong with that I wonder....

[summittoppler]

Had a couple of nights in the Eigiau cottage with some old school friends. A couple of us rode to and from there. What a great weekend...



Plenty of smurfs around these parts...


The first dusting on Carnedd Llewellyn

[PaulE]

Given the impending storm, I decided to commute by bike yesterday and today. Bb200 induced tiredness and frozen feet be damned!

I felt surprisingly good, but a bit like I was a car in Eco mode on Tuesday and this morning... Riding along perfectly happily, but the 45km round trip took about 15 minutes longer than usual.

Started to get back to normal on the way home, possibly helped by an unexpected tailwind from said storm, and was only a couple of minutes slower than the norm.

All good, and means I shouldn't feel too much guilt for driving in tomorrow... I even got 2nd place out of 1000+ on a Strava segment, although it is a 2.4km downhill with traffic lights at the top and I hit the lights just right with a tailwind!

[PaulE]

Very pleasant, and surprisingly dry given last night's deluge, road ride on the gravel bike back from my parents' house in Cheadle Hulme to Sheffield. Plenty of hills, although compared to last weekend, they've lost their teeth! 57km, 900m+ climb in just under 2 1/2 hours. Got a little scared down winnats pass, as I left off the brakes for a while but then started catching cars.... Followed by some rather interesting smells coming from the little rotors or mechanical pads! All good though, just a reminder that the breaks probably need an adjustment.