Today's Ride

Walking the dog this morning at 8 iand it was already feeling warm so I thought it best to get out early on the bike for a quick test of the new forks having finally got some triple butted p2s for the Explosif.

Here she is at the foot of the climb up to the top of St Catherine's hill, thankfully I'm not going that way! New silver forks looking cooler than the old black ones.


Here we are on the bridge over the M3 with all the traffic heading for the coast for the longest and possibly hottest day of the year alreay building.


On the King Alfreds way overlooking Winchester, met a group of six riders doing the KAW, they had reached here from Liss some 25 miles away and it was just after 8.30.


This was the site of the act of vandalism in the 1990s cutting through Twyford Down for the M3 rather than tunnelling under it.


Overall the bike rode very nicely indeed, I bought it quite cheaply off eBay but it has needed quite a bit doing to it to get it how it is now, new XT/Mavic 717 wheels, new XT brakes, new XTR mechs, new TB P2 forks, new tyres, new headset, stem and bars, seatpost and saddle. By the time I have replaced the LX shifters and levers with XT and the cranks with White Industries it will just be the frame left as a bought it. Luckily I already had many of the new parts, and the bike seems like a keeper to me now, and the best off-road bike I have owned.

My kind of a ride: 20 km up, 60 down in Birkenstocks

Very nice! Where is that?

That's lake constance in the left corner, mostly "Allgäu"

Aha, I was guessing Alpine scenery but the large body of water was confusing me as I'd assumed it was the sea. Very nice, how was the temperature?

Yes, one of the nicest landscapes I went for riding in this area. Temperature up to 30° but always a breeze.

Lucky for me a neighbour was having her birthday party in a field with a couple of bands playing not too loud

Sweeping through the lanes in the dusk, amongst the bats, the owls, the munching sheep, a deer standing in the road staring at me, both of us wondering what the other was...

Very surprised it was dry this morning considering around 9PM lastnight we were hit with a pretty big thunderstorm and downpour. Weekly goal on Strava is 125 miles, usually get a few short rides during the week then longer at weekend. Hit 151 yesterday, seemed only right to push for 200. Early as usual, wasn't passed by a single car until an hour in! Surprising lack of other cyclists out this morning although the dark clouds did start rolling in at the home stretch, ended up doing cool down stretches in a bit of a drizzle - beats doing them in 26c weather like the last two days.

..for those unfamiliar with Jacobs Ladder which @Twozaskars launched himself down last week..


Check out the section^ from 3.44

That's pretty good, I had to stop a couple of times and lift my bike down, never again.