Today's ROAD ride

Tour of Cambridgeshire, TOC, 56 miles (90km). June 2018.

Garmin: 55.9 miles, 3 hrs 13 mins, 17.4 avg, 1,200 ft.

The town of Stamford looks very much like a typical town which can be seen during my training rides in the Cotswolds. It is located on the same limestone rock seam as Bath and the Cotswolds and is "finest stone town in England", its prosperity drawn from the wool trade and its historical position as a mail coach inter-change on the Great North Road almost halfway between London and York. Stamford was the first town in the country to create a conservation area in 1967 and it has this to thank for the fact that over the subsequent half century much of its historical architectural heritage has remained intact. The political support of Lord Burghley (posh house and horsey events fame) ensured its place in on the tourist trail.
The TOC is multi-ride event with elite riders mixing with leisured peddlers. The good news was that the Tour Classic had only one distance offered (56 miles) for the oldies and we saved 25 miles over the elite power riders. There were 57 classic riders on some very nice machines and I came halfway down the field after a good ride which saw a 17.5 mph average on route which was very similar to my normal training ride (best average 16 mph). It was all good wide tarmac on closed roads, with just one short section of narrow farm lane, and sign posting and marshalling was excellent. There were two stops with plenty of food + water, very helpful attendees, and lots of room to park and refresh. The day started clear and sunny but clouded over later to give some relief from the heat. There were a few crashes as riders lost control on the roads and face planted but none of the usual collisions between fast and slower riders, medical help and road support was excellent, and there was the usual spray of punctures on high tech bikes. The elite rider pelotons for both sexes were a joy to behold as they whizzed past at twice the speed of my pace. A few complimentary remarks for the Holdsworth were offered and the classic bike riders were always chatting about their machines and plans for the next event. A comment thrown out by a passing rider about the ‘nice bike’ was riposted with ‘just need some younger legs to make it go better’. ‘You are doing all right’ he said, and later I thought that it’s not too bad I suppose, a seventy year man (nearly) riding a 50 year British steel bike, and keeping up with youngsters on fancy hi tech machines.
A lovely day out on the Holdsworth, a visit to the steam railway Nene Valley line to photograph some continental coaches for a future modelling project, and Stamford town was a revelation.
 

Attachments

  • TOC CountryRide Jun2018.jpg
    TOC CountryRide Jun2018.jpg
    229 KB · Views: 687
  • TOC PoweringUphill jun2018.jpg
    TOC PoweringUphill jun2018.jpg
    171.6 KB · Views: 687
  • TOC KeepingUp Jun2018.jpg
    TOC KeepingUp Jun2018.jpg
    246.5 KB · Views: 687
  • TOC FinishWithStyle Jun2018.jpg
    TOC FinishWithStyle Jun2018.jpg
    173.6 KB · Views: 687
Re:

Just had a week on Mull, starting last Sunday with the sportive. The weather all week has been simply excellent, dry, warm, not too hot, not too windy, just about as spot on as it can be.

Plus, the island has not seen rain in a good few weeks, so midge numbers were very low, reee zult! :mrgreen:

Left Oban at 8.00pm last night and got home at just gone 5.00am this morning.

Pictures and write up tomorrow, cos tonight I'm a wee bit weary.
 
Glad it was a good one Neil.
Weather has been great this week, not quite as great this weekend up here as a little cooler and a bit of cloud creeping in but still, no rain. Always good.
Look forward to your write up and seeing the photos.

I had a while out this afternoon with Caleb as he put some miles in on his new bike and I tried to teach him about using his gears. Had to find a few hills but he is getting it pretty quickly. He wants to ride the 24 mile round trip to Thurso tomorrow as he has a party at the pool in town. We probably should as he wants to ride his bike rather than be on the back of the Dummy when we go tour Orkney again in the summer holidays. Not very retro but thought I would share. :)

Jamie

DSC_1946 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

DSCN4872 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
 
Re:

Excellent pictures and lovin Caleb's attitude.

My son Jon was the same at the same age, and was with me for the week on Mull, pushing me every inch of the way... he's 30 now, so his poor old dad had a hard time keeping up. Kids eh? Ingrates the lot of em. :mrgreen:
 
Re:

I travelled up to the Isle of Mull again for the sportive held on the first Sunday in June and also for a week on the island cycling and visiting family places. I do this every two years but as a bonus my son said he would like to come along, as he is now 30 and was 6 the last time he was on Mull, it was a great opportunity to show him around and cycle with him, the last bit turning out to be a dubious privilege.

We chose to do the short 70k route of the sportive as I know the terrain and know that my poor old legs can just about cope with the 1200m of climbing on that route, but not much more. Jon finished about five minutes before me and complained bitterly at the end that I had not warned him of the very last zig zag climb from just above Dervaig up to the Mishnish Lochs...well, a dad's got to have a little fun of his own! Anyway, we were both back in a little over three hours.

The Sportive comes down the road on the other side of the glen, and then up to the top of the hill the picture was taken from.. and after that it goes up a bit more! The tattoo'd guy is my son
DSC_0020.JPG


On the Monday we had the day off, as I like to put flowers on family graves and it was also a good chance to show Jon around.

Lochbuie, including Ben Buie
DSC_0013.JPG

DSC_0014.JPG



The following day we did a circular loop from Salen, following the route of the sportive long course, or rather, half of it. 78k and 740m of climbing.

Local residents.
DSC_0027.JPG


On Wednesday we did a ride I have not done before. Cutting out the Mishnish Lochs climb, we cut across from Salen to Aros Mains to Dervaig and then did the short sportive route in reverse / anti-clockwise. Obviously the climbing was the same as coming the other way but the profiles were completely different, Jon thought they were harder, but the continuous apex and slight flat, apex and slight flat just gave me a moment or two to recover a bit of breath before the next effort. We were plagued by a couple of camper vans, who insisted on getting past only to then stop to admire the next view and then try to push past again having been passed while they were taking pictures. 60k and 887m.

DSC_0048.JPG


DSC_0030.JPG


On Thursday we did the long ride loop but this time backwards... as in anti clockwise. It is a very different ride as the climb profiles are different, the first being a lot steeper, and also you get a very different views riding through the long glen (Glen More), including some stunningly belittling volcanic rock formations. 78k and 774m.

DSC_0067.JPG

DSCN1765.JPG


On Friday Jon did another ride, but as I was due to drive us home overnight, I rested up and did a few touristy things.

Mull is not a big island and only really has two roads, but even in a week we did not manage to ride all the permutations available, plus, there are a load of Forestry Commission fire roads that look just ripe for a bit of gravel biking. Riding with Jon was great fun, but he does not cover the ground at the leisurely pace I often do, and also does not succumb to the call of tea and cake while riding...ever, so I have a pretty impressive set of cups on Strava for each ride.

We were riding: Me; Rourke in 853 with all SRAM Force 22 running gear. Jon; Ritchey Breakaway all SRAM Red running gear.
DSCN1772.JPG
 
Sounds like a great weeks riding and the photos are stunning, just truly beautiful.
Having lived in Oban for a good few years before moving up here via the west coast, I find that the beautiful scenery on the islands and the west coast never looks the same twice. The weather changes and the light make it beautiful every time and you always notice something new or different than the last time, regardless of how often you ride them.
Thanks very much for sharing.

Jamie
 
Re:

Jon made the same comment about the scenery, he was just blown away by it and must have taken hundreds of photo's... per day.
 
Re: Re:

NeilM":95pjx6zt said:
I travelled up to the Isle of Mull again for the sportive held on the first Sunday in June and also for a week on the island cycling and visiting family places. I do this every two years but as a bonus my son said he would like to come along, as he is now 30 and was 6 the last time he was on Mull, it was a great opportunity to show him around and cycle with him, the last bit turning out to be a dubious privilege.

We chose to do the short 70k route of the sportive as I know the terrain and know that my poor old legs can just about cope with the 1200m of climbing on that route, but not much more. Jon finished about five minutes before me and complained bitterly at the end that I had not warned him of the very last zig zag climb from just above Dervaig up to the Mishnish Lochs...well, a dad's got to have a little fun of his own! Anyway, we were both back in a little over three hours.

The Sportive comes down the road on the other side of the glen, and then up to the top of the hill the picture was taken from.. and after that it goes up a bit more! The tattoo'd guy is my son
DSC_0020.JPG


On the Monday we had the day off, as I like to put flowers on family graves and it was also a good chance to show Jon around.

Lochbuie, including Ben Buie
DSC_0013.JPG

DSC_0014.JPG



The following day we did a circular loop from Salen, following the route of the sportive long course, or rather, half of it. 78k and 740m of climbing.

Local residents.
DSC_0027.JPG


On Wednesday we did a ride I have not done before. Cutting out the Mishnish Lochs climb, we cut across from Salen to Aros Mains to Dervaig and then did the short sportive route in reverse / anti-clockwise. Obviously the climbing was the same as coming the other way but the profiles were completely different, Jon thought they were harder, but the continuous apex and slight flat, apex and slight flat just gave me a moment or two to recover a bit of breath before the next effort. We were plagued by a couple of camper vans, who insisted on getting past only to then stop to admire the next view and then try to push past again having been passed while they were taking pictures. 60k and 887m.

DSC_0048.JPG


DSC_0030.JPG


On Thursday we did the long ride loop but this time backwards... as in anti clockwise. It is a very different ride as the climb profiles are different, the first being a lot steeper, and also you get a very different views riding through the long glen (Glen More), including some stunningly belittling volcanic rock formations. 78k and 774m.

DSC_0067.JPG

DSCN1765.JPG


On Friday Jon did another ride, but as I was due to drive us home overnight, I rested up and did a few touristy things.

Mull is not a big island and only really has two roads, but even in a week we did not manage to ride all the permutations available, plus, there are a load of Forestry Commission fire roads that look just ripe for a bit of gravel biking. Riding with Jon was great fun, but he does not cover the ground at the leisurely pace I often do, and also does not succumb to the call of tea and cake while riding...ever, so I have a pretty impressive set of cups on Strava for each ride.

We were riding: Me; Rourke in 853 with all SRAM Force 22 running gear. Jon; Ritchey Breakaway all SRAM Red running gear.
DSCN1772.JPG

Beautiful scenery Neil! looks very dramatic, cracking photos too. Hope your legs have recovered now!

Mike
 
Re:

The Mendip's look awfully flat by comparison.

My legs are fine and I am finally not tired any more so weather permitting I'll be out again tomorrow.

The Rourke had a well deserved service today, mechs, chain and cassette all look like new again.
 
Re:

Taken the long way home from work a couple of times since the weather's been nice.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20180612_192424142.JPG
    IMG_20180612_192424142.JPG
    115.1 KB · Views: 494
  • IMG_20180612_182210803.JPG
    IMG_20180612_182210803.JPG
    105.5 KB · Views: 494
  • IMG_20180605_184518131.JPG
    IMG_20180605_184518131.JPG
    213.7 KB · Views: 494
  • IMG_20180605_184412939_HDR.JPG
    IMG_20180605_184412939_HDR.JPG
    199.9 KB · Views: 494
Back
Top