Today's ROAD ride

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August Bank Holiday usually means a bit of a run out for me. I was going to use the Concept 90, but my dearest wife has just painted the walls through the hall to the front door, which meant me wheeling the 90 through the house and past said walls... I DO NOT want to think what would have happened had a pedal given the walls the merest kiss, so it was No.1 Rourkie once again.

I left home at 7.30am as the weather for to day was once again forecast to be hot and dry and from the number of combines, grass cutters and hay turners in evidence locally it seems the farmers agree.

Out of Weston via the back lanes and across the levels to Sandford, left there to Churchill and across the A38, another mile and a bit to the bottom of Burrington Combe. I really wanted to get up Burrington before the sun got any proper heat going.

Bottom of the Combe.
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I am not a fast climber, I am too tall and too old and too late to this road riding game, so 20 minutes later, this is the view towards Bristol.

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The downhill just round that corner is a blast, and takes you down to the centre of Blagdon. Right onto the A368 and off we go, anticlockwise around Chew Valley lake, stopping at a picnic area to have a pee and top up the bottles.... not with pee, I'm not Bear Grylls.

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From Chew I worked my way over to Winford, braved it out with an arrogant toss in one of those massive camper van / houses on wheel... I won. :mrgreen: Out of Winford over the A38 (again) and down a little cycle lane towards Long Ashton and the delightful Belmont Hill.... which is not in the least bit delightful at all. Up Belmont I could feel it was warming up, fortunately there are lots of overhanging trees, so I was glistening rather than melting. Once up Belmont it was a cut across country down the delightful Horse Race Lane in Failand, where the value of property is such that if I sold my large five bedroom bungalow I could just about afford a shed. I said good morning to two slightly unfit ladies riding two huge and very fit looking horses, all four looked at me with utter distain. :mrgreen:

At this point my 20 gears were temporarily reduced to a mere 10 as the front mech cable slipped. Not a problem I just peddled like a maniac and freewheeled down to Portbury village where I whipped out me tool (OOOHHH :shock: ) and tightened the cable clamp back up.... bl**dy sh*t roads around here.

At Portbury, there is a very useful foot / cycle bridge over the M5, which is just a short ride from Portishead.

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I took the cycle way into Portishead, rather than follow the hordes of non sweaty / fragrant smelling Castelli clad cycists towards the Gordano valley (which I doubt they were heading for, more likely the local Costa). Portishead was absolutely bonkers, I must have missed the announcement about the bloke giving away £50 notes that all the drivers clearly knew about. I was only there because I was heading for the coast road.. why I was heading up a flipping great hill when there is a perfectly good, dead flat, well surfaced road all the way down the valley which I will eventually join just outside Clevedon is beyond me, I think the heat must have got to my head, either that or I was being influenced by the rather tasty chocolate Cliffe Bar caffeine jel I had not long consumed, either way, it was the coast road I headed for, and this was my reward.
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Portbury docks is a major offload port for cars and vans made in Japan, and these monsters never fail to impress.

From the coast road to Clevedon, then via Kingston Seymour to Yatton and a sneaky cut through on the Strawberry Line with many calls from me of ON YOUR RIGHT and so to the A370, back to Weston, down the back roads where I lost and recovered the contents of my tool roll (bl**dy roads) and up the hill to home.

Turns out it was 99.8km, but I was too tired and hot to be bothered with another 200m. 1150m of climbing and 22kph ave, not speedy but steady progress.

Oh, the bar roll made by my son (Mack Workshop), has jels, munchy bars, the camera, a puncture kit, a spare CO2 capsule and my magic cramp 'cure' in it and is still mostly empty. Saves having all that cra...erm, stuff in my jersey pockets.
 
Looks like a beautiful ride mate, shame about the hoards of car drivers.
I was off today but it was not a public holiday up here in Scotland, weather has been hit and miss so haven't been out on the bike. Though I was out for a long dirt road ride with my son out to Altnabreac yesterday.

Jamie
 
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I was born and brought up in London Jamie, so busy roads don't bother me, and I refuse to be intimidated by knob ends driving the latest must have not really a 4 x 4, I just whizzed round the outskirts of this lunacy and up towards the coast road.

I am extremely envious of the landscape around where you live (stay). I go 'home' to the West Highlands every couple of years and without doubt you see the best of everything from the saddle of a bike.
 
Your part of the world looks pretty good in those photos, that's for sure. It's the tree's I miss. :)

Jamie
 
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I can't complain.

I detested London, so I was delighted at 15 years old when my dad said he'd had a promotion and we were moving to Bristol. First trip down here I was just so happy to see greenery and open countryside... everywhere.

You miss trees? Nowhere near any Forestry Commission land then. I remember in the 60's and 70's when all the heather covered hills slowly disappeared under a carpet of Pine. My last trip to Mull they had been harvesting and I rode past hills I had not seen since I was a very small boy.
 
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Sounds like you had a great ride, Neil! Nice bike too. Did you keep the receipt for the tool roll? It must be defective, emptying it's contents :LOL: :LOL:
 
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I know what the manufacturer would say, the customer would get the blame.

I think the CO2 inflator is just a little too long, as I have ridden several HONC's and a couple of Mayhem's with one of his rolls under the saddle, but it is only this one which occasionally empties itself onto the road.

The Rourke is the one I take to Scotland and ride the Mull sportive on. Instead of letting it gather dust this summer I have done a lot of miles on it including the GWR ride a few weeks ago. It is a great riding frame, just perfect for me.
 
Re: Dales Ride

My partner had a stall at the Kilnsey Show on Tuesday so an early start to help her set up left me with the prospect of a day’s cycling in the Dales. The show site faces Kilnsey Crag and is a typical Dales show with livestock, market and food stalls and events such as trotting races, fell running (looks more like jumping down the hillside) and even drystone wall building: shows like this are part of the lifeblood of their communities. My partner’s been coming here for years and I always enjoy either riding over from York or riding out from the show for the day. I’ve been fortunate with fitness this summer and keen to maintain it so planned a route with some good solid hill climbing.

I was riding a Peugeot 531 Pro from 1988, with a triple and a mix of old and new components to help me get up the hills, some of which are fiercely steep. This photo is from when I first built it up, not todays ‘modified’ version.


My usual triple of choice, a Bob Jackson 731 os, is currently having a renovation with BJ in Leeds, including a repaint, some bling (bit of chrome, it has worked hard this summer) and some repairs (a cracked lug at the bottom of the head tube after being knocked off by a motor home at the top of the Bealach na Ba in July). I like 531 Pro, a little softer than 753 or even 731, a forgiving frame and perfect for this kind of terrain, even if a little heavier (all up is 22 ½ lbs) but not often ridden these days. Mixture of old and new, Ultegra front and rear changers, 8 speed Shimano shifters, Stronglight triple chainset and headset, Simplex seatpost (as original), and a Brooks Swift saddle (titanium). The wheels are Shimano 600 hubs with Mavic rims and whatever tyres happened to be on.

First up was Park Rash, one of the hardest climbs in the Dales, get it out of the way early and hope to survive. In practice, the first sharp ascent from Kettlewell went smoothly, only needing to stop at the top to fiddle with the gears which were reluctant first thing to shift into the smallest ring at the front, needed for what was to come. The real challenge is ahead, a steep rise to two hairpins at 25% and then sustained climbing for few hundred metres. The surface has been improved massively so you no longer have to pick your way over broken tarmac at the first bend. Unfortunately for me, two vehicles were coming down the hill so I couldn’t take the preferred wide line at the first corner and it was straight into the steepest section standing on the pedals and in the lowest gear, continuing round the second sharp corner and then the continuing grind upward. A council repair lorry happily sat in the middle of the road chatting with someone at the side forcing me to pass it on the right hand side and carry on up. Two workmen walking upwards expressed surprise as a cyclist passed them, asking whether I’d managed the two bends below. Finally, the top is reached, the climb went ok today. The setting is pretty stunning, with the run down Coverdale ahead which is really enjoyable cycling, mostly downhill but with a hidden steep rise surprising you before the bottom is reached. I carried on, up and over to West Witton from Melmerby, 4 miles along the main road passing the turning to Bishopdale (where the Tour de France came down) and to Aysgarth for a café stop.


Top of Park Rash, looking south

The next challenge was the hill up and over Askrigg Common from Askrigg to Swaledale, signed 25% at the bottom but nowhere too severe and continuing upwards in a series of steps before the fast descent down to the B road that runs the length of Swaledale, with a 25% section (Oxnop Scar in Simon Warren’s book), but even this is ok these days with the benefit of a fresh road surface. Then the pleasant road up to Muker past a favourite café (but closed on Tuesdays) where William Fotheringham interviewed Chris Hoy in the front garden in the heady days before the Grand Depart. The serious work now lay ahead, Butter Tubs from the north side, an ascent I’ve only done once before, more usually coming up from the south. The signs say ‘25%’ but I’m not sure its anywhere that steep from this side. Steep initially, probably a good 20%, it then eases, with some steepening beyond the second hairpin but the Garmin didn’t go beyond 19% here and it didn’t feel any steeper. The sudden downhill and sharp rise again to the cattle grid summit steepened to about 20% and this felt the hardest of the whole ascent.


Looking south from the top of Butter Tubs, just beyond the cattlegrid

Now another fabulous and long descent, flowing and swooping, mostly on very good road surfaces, with only the odd wandering sheep or cattle grid to cause a slight pause in progress. Past Simonstone Hall, the site of Clarkson’s demise, and then the road to Hawes and another welcome café stop at the old railway station. As I was ordering at the counter a familiar voice greeted me, turns out an old colleague had now opened a bike shop and café (we both worked for North Yorkshire in years gone by). Lovely place, lovely people, good venture.

Finally, time to tackle Fleet Moss, a tough climb, more so because it’s stretched out in front of you with no respite and with the steepest bits at the top. Again, seemed to go well, only using the lowest gear for the final steepening, still probably less than 20% at that point and only touching 20% on the short ramp just before the summit plateau.


Looking down Fleet Moss before the descent

The descent through Langstrothdale in Upper Wharfedale for me is one of the most gorgeous rides anywhere, past places with lovely names like Yockenthwaite and Hubberhome, delightful limestone river features, and mostly downhill, much of it flowing and sweeping, and little where you have to hang on to the brakes for dear life because of the steepness, finally levelling out to go through Kettlewell and back to Kilnsey with just under 60 miles on the clock and 2100 m of ascent. I had chatted to someone in the Hawes café who was admiring the bike but commented about it’s heavy weight (not sure if he was on alu or carbon but something pretty new) and lack of suitability for hilly days. Some lack – these old frames just keep on going and certainly keep getting me up the hills.

A good day to be out on the bike, to be enjoyed and savoured, as good as it ever gets.
 

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Amazing ride and bike, those views.... :shock:

Make my Mendip efforts look very weedy by comparison.
 
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WFH today and September true to it's usual promise meant clear blue skies, warm sunshine, 17C. That meant just one thing. Bike ride! Took the Carlton Clubman out on a rip, 20 miles around the Ayrshire coastal plain with Goat Fell on Arran in the backdrop. Lovely day.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/158145990 ... ed-public/

BTW - this bike is for sale :-( I've too many in too small a space. Rides beautifully. In the bikes for sale and in the parts for sale as frame & fork only.
 

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