Today's Ride

[al-onestare]

Re:

Chilly 11 degrees to start that reduced to 8-9 by 08:30 with a stiff northerly breeze. Even with the mileage, lungs and legs pumping, it was cold. At least it was dry after yesterday evenings showers although there was a thin layer of grey cloud blocking out the sun again.

Switched to the other side of the downs, connecting a few routes together and adding in new pieces. Out through Petts Wood and the Crays, up to Chelsfield, Well Hill (so much easier with gears) across then down to Shoreham, keep heading south to and out through Otford, back onto Shoreham road to Eynsford, up the downs again into Swanley and a slower downhill blast thanks to a headwind, to the edge of Sidcup, take a left for HQ. A solid 26 miles.

Here's looking down the blast to Shoreham after clearing Well Hill:

Here's looking across Darenth valley towards Otford, complete with token Kent oasthouses:

 

[al-onestare]

Is anyone else riding apart from mkone and me? Poor show.

Super Friday ride: chasing the sun. Cold 2 degrees that didn't change by the time I was home, touching 0 in the secluded spots on the Downs. Decided to take in some new roads up the other side of the Downs, so took the quickest exit out of suburbia up Court Road up to the A21/M25 roundabout which at that time of day is "ok". Straight through Badger Mount before a left onto Shacklands road that I usually go up. Going down back to Shoreham and Filston Lane to Otford. Instead of heading back down the valley I headed up the hill to Romney Street, taking in a pleasant 14% slog where I was rewarded with the sun. The whole ride to this point had been a real pleasure with the sky turning wonderful shades of pink, orange and yellow.

It got better as I headed down Bower Lane where I could see to the city, probably the last point before it disappears from view. Everything looked so tiny. To my right hand side I could see the QEII bridge which looked like a toy, over and beyond to Essex. I was shifting it at this point so I'll save those shot for another day.

Back at Eynsford I took the usual route back up and through Crockenhill, back up Leesons Hill and onward to HQ. Smiles for miles

Looking down on Shacklands. Please excuse my thumb; I was holding the phone through a fence

Basking in the glorious sun at the top of Romney Street - a whopping 650ft above sea level

Toy town London

 

[Markybeau]

Re:

Only covered about 40 miles this week in two rides - Thursday and today. Muddy, slippery and busy. Not been posting as I've been occupied with other stuff.

My conditioning from the summer has all but disappeared, or you might think, more honestly I'm not used to the hills yet. My lungs burn and my thighs howl. Yorkshire ain't flat like Herts and Essex.

 

[CassidyAce]

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Is anyone else riding apart from mkone and me? Poor show.

Yep. But aside from the short commute to work, it's down to just a Sunday ride of two to three hours at the moment - and, by and large, the same three routes. Still, it was a nice ride, mainly on country lanes, from Canterbury to the little hamlet of Barfrestone today.


The little church dates back to the 12th century: I'm not a huge fan of churches but this one always gives me a peaceful vibe and it has a convenient little step for sitting on and munching some cake.

A little late autumn sun - a nice change after the pretty brutal weather on last Sunday's ride.


And back to civilisation. (That's Canterbury Cathedral, just visible on the skyline.)

 

[mk one]

Frost last night, and still cold today.

Went out for a steady ride, very tired for some reason. It was cold enough out for me to put my thicker gloves on and some leggings under my shorts. Out of the wind it was glorious but most of the ride was exposed so good to keep moving. The trails once in Derbyshire had a lot of surface water so ended up getting pretty wet and caked in mud.

Nice to get out, nicer to get back, and just about to make a hot chocolate seems as i thought about one for most of the ride :|

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

Nice!

I forced myself to have a rest day Sunday (still tinkered in the garage), so went for a run on Monday followed by the radio show in the evening. That late finish meant no action yesterday.

Today I decided to head into the city. I'm glad I did as cutting through stationary traffic gives me a smug-buzz (sad really). But I haven't missed the volume of people, so I'll save any further city jaunts for the weekend. Predictably I got a puncture at Deptford so no pic's en-route as I needed to get back before 09:00 which I just about did. Longer route than I thought at 28 miles. Slight breeze, 9 degrees rising to 11, solid grey cloud.

Bombed through Mottingham, Lee, Deptford on the new cycle lane into Tooley Street - actually pretty good as it cuts out 2 so-so junctions - through to Waterloo to Vauxhall onto South Lambeth Road to prime Tory dogging spot, Clapham Common. Swerve left onto the south circular A205 to Streatham Hill onto pretending to be posh Dulwich, up Forest "Hill" (bump more like) to stunning Catford and up another bump at Bromley before cutting across for HQ.

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

Chilly 6 and staying at 6 to 08:00. Light cloud, spot of drizzle in isolated spots, light breeze.

Had a few early calls so had to be back sooner than I'd like, so spot on 20 miles taking in a new route out which leaves plenty of options to extend. Out to Sidcup and Bexley taking the closed A223 which was fun. Right next to the A2 I missed my turning and ended up on the outskirts of Dartford before getting back onto the B258 through Wilmington. At the top it felt like no-mans land (which this whole area feels like to me - hemmed in by 3 major roads - A2/M2, M25 and A20/M20). Onwards through Hextable to Swanley staying on the B-road and one of my favoured routes to Crockenhill before heading back for home.

No-mans land, Dec-2020: QEII bridge to the left and the M25, A2 turning into the M2 cutting it's way out towards the North Kent coast.

 

[mk one]

I bet its nice stood there, peace and quiet surrounded by all the commotion

Anyway, here has been clear all night again, this morning was clear blue skies and a warm sun.

So, i decided to go for a quick ride this morning, hoping to catch a few trails still frosted over. By the time i got to the first ones they had melted back to wet surface mud, the ground underneath was hard though which made for a slippy time. There were a few still frozen in the dark cold depths of the forest which were fun.

I felt good today after a couple of days resting up, i found myself just going with the flow and after sitting in the sun watching a combine harvester take the final crop down i ended up in Kings Clipstone, where the entrance to Sherwood Pines is, i skirted around there on some quiet trails and eventually popped onto the blue trail, which i decided to ride until it crossed the red and then head back on that. The section of blue is very quick running and perfect for a rigid, i found myself in top gear just enjoying the trail. I soon came back down to earth on the red, back to where i had started. On a rigid in bone dry conditions its a good workout trying keep you speed and have energy to hop over things, i had used all mine up though already, plus the frail was wet and cut up from the hoards of bikers out today. After that it was limp home mode, though still some great bits of trail through the woods on the way back.

A cold, warm, wet, dry, fast, and slow kinda day. Great fun.

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

It was - a very odd spot - tons of activity barely 2 miles away but absolutely still where I was stood.

Very chilly 2 degrees, dropping to about 0 in isolated spots. No breeze, very foggy in patches and misty throughout so I kept to well-lit suburban roads as much as I could before skirting onto the edge of the Downs later on. I took in some of the short, sharp climbs to warm myself up which worked until the downhills where I lost all feeling in my fingers and toes A solid, quick, 22 miles.

I'd not gone through Keston to the edge of Biggin Hill for a long time. I'd forgotten the stretch to Downe from there is really nice; undulating and quiet. In fact Downe was like a ghost town (village). Not a soul to be seen.

 

[rwm1962]

Not able to ride much at mo but try to commute the 14 mile round trip for my one day a week. Love the frosty mornings nights. Near miss with an owl on way home.