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Share your rides for 2016 here.
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/adjust_your_cycling_glasses_for_the_golden_edge_800pxw.jpg)
Adjust your cycling glasses and every cloud will have a silver lining!
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Now that's a grand photo of The Holy Ground, Andre, and a pretty slick optical trick too.
Oddly enough, it didn't work when I tried it in my backyard earlier today. A few days after my subtropical ride on Christmas Eve afternoon, we had our first winter storm, with 25-30 cms of snow and a driving wind. This pretty much banished all bikes from our streets -- mine are now warm and dry in my basement workshop, awaiting spring about three months hence. Even if I'd wanted to ride out of my driveway, it would've been difficult, as the snowplough deposited a berm of compacted snow & ice about a metre high, and a metre wide at the base. Took me the better part of two hours to clear it :(
Nevertheless, I did a few tricks with my clip-on sunglasses, but to no avail. The snow just sat there, completely unresponsive. (See below -- and these are colour photographs, BTW.) The good news is that 80% of the trails in the Gatineau Park are open for X-country skiing, so that's where I'm going on Monday, when the forecast is for sunshine, a high of -14, and not much wind. I'll retrace some of the trails I cycled across a few months ago, amidst the greenery & the bugs.
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The bikes are smart, wheeled, and saved. :)
The poor canoe was on dry land, unable to save itself. :'(
Here's hoping your weather will soon be better for both, John.
All the best,
Dan.
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that shed you have there john is bigger than me house..
man that's some snow fall you had hope to god we get nothing like it.
stay safe and warm.
anto.
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Now that's a grand photo of The Holy Ground, Andre, and a pretty slick optical trick too.
Generally I'd have my designer arrange something like that in Photoshop with an orange filter on one side and the blend graduated in Illustrator to fake up a bit of camera shake. But Ireland really is that green year round (it's still+10C here), and that's a photo taken though my cycling glasses, so it's a "natural" illusion.
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_8918_breitfeld_and_schliekert_sports_clips.jpg)
Breitfeld & Schliekert 8918 Rx system lenses: clear nightime windbreaks, orange (good for dusk and dawn cycling), yellow shooter's (good at night); I also have grey, brown and polarized (rarely necessary in Ireland).
Reminds me of Dustin Hoffman coming in all sweaty from running to meet Laurence Olivier for the first time, and telling Olivier it was "method acting". Olivier, baffled (or pretending to be) said, "Why not just act it?" Yeah, right, why not just take the photo through the coloured lens? (Answer: Because there's a bloody 50mph freezing gale on the road leading there, as I discovered when I went to take the photo...)
Oddly enough, it didn't work when I tried it in my backyard earlier today.
The only way to deal with weather like that is to move somewhere else.
I enjoyed your photos though: "There but for the grace of God..."
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John, I suspect the weather gods were welcoming my daughter to Ottawa, as she arrived from Vancouver in the wee hours of Thursday, for a four month University co-op posting with the Federal government. Luckily her flight was not the day of the storm, as many were cancelled.
Here in my neck of the woods I must put off a New Year's ride for a few days, as two days of freezing fog have left everything, including lesser used roads, with a fine coating of ice. I don't think the Marathon Supremes would be up to the task. Has anyone tried the Continental Winter Contacts?
(http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae343/mrspike222/IMG_0416_zpskybw1voh.jpg)
(http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae343/mrspike222/IMG_0418_zpstjmdvkzj.jpg)
A couple of pics taken in the back yard.
Time for our Southern Hemisphere friends to post some pics of "real" January cycling weather.
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Fine fotos, Ron, and I feel marginally better to see that there are no daffodils in sight just yet. Hope your daughter's brought her woollies -- high today is -20, windchill right now just below -30, so I'm catching up on correspondence, planning a tour through the Rockies & Cascadia in June/July, etc. I'll wait 'til Tues or Wed to go skiing, as my no-go point is -15.
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2 things one dont go out on ice you will fall and more than likely break a bone.
2 level that saddle ;)
anto.
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Looks like I get the honour of the first ride posting of the year.
I took advantage of the last day of wonderful weather for a week to head out with my pal for a 40km ride along the waterfront. I think our effort was about 60km worth though, as the dike surface was quite soft.
Here are a few photos from the ride.
(http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae343/mrspike222/967a3c66-7473-48b0-a03b-a1eef5bd3318_zpsr7ss5ama.jpg)
Mt Baker in Washington State USA from Centennial Beach, Tsawwassen BC Canada
(http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae343/mrspike222/IMG_0419_zpsrwoj2tvd.jpg)
The area is home to hundreds of bald eagles. These guys were less interested in the cyclists and walkers and concentrating on the farmer's field for a tasty morsel.
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Lovely photos, Ron! I am familiar with the view, having vacationed many years as a kid on Vancouver Island and I remember leaving sometimes from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal and spending time at Point Roberts, an odd little part of the States, as I recall...just below the border at the 49th parallel. I remember talking to a schoolkid who said he had to be bused back into mainland Washington for classes.
Brings back some very nice memories of a wonderful place in my childhood.
Simply terrific! Glad you were able to get out for a ride amidst such spectacular scenery. :)
All the best,
Dan.
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CLASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 8) 8)
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Super photographs, Ron.
Of course, Jags and I live in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, but so many photographs on this forum make one wonder if the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence... Oh, fickle cyclist!
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i love eagles wicket bird 8) 8)
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Ron --
That 's a great picture of Mt Baker. I haven't been on my bike yet this year. It's been too frosty (slippery) on days when I can ride to work, and I've been too busy on the warmer days. :( Hopefully I can ride tomorrow.
Andre, there is a lot of the "grass is greener" feeling. Ron and I live a very beautiful part of the world, yet when I see pictures of your country, Scotland (where my grandfather grew up), or New Zealand, I am drawn to those faraway places. Perhaps we need some exchange program, where we swap countries for our rides.
Not to offend anyone, I should point out that there are beautiful places elsewhere -- it's just that I'm personally drawn to those places.
- Dave
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Zen. I accept there's not enough time to see everything but the photographs here are vicarious rides to all those beautiful places.
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the photographs here are vicarious rides to all those beautiful places.
Yes!
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one wonders if the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence mountains
Andre, you'll see that I've taken the liberty of tweaking your words a wee bit... At times like this, seeing fotos like this, we here the Valley, y'know, we wonder if maybe our compatriots t'other side of the mountains, well, maybe, they're just, y'know, showing the same pictures year after year, and how would we know, after all?
A few years ago, I was travelling across Canada on a working trip with a colleague. We visited Saskatoon in late January, and it was pretty much what you'd expect from what is, after all, a cold semi-arid place; hospitable, to be sure, but in late January, the bitter NW winds whip the typically shallow snow on the vast flat fields into ridges and "ground blizzards", and people leave their trucks idling outside the coffee shops, 'cos otherwise they might not start, it being 40 below and all.
We finished our work together, and my colleague flew on to Vancouver, which he had never visited. I followed a couple of days later, and he met me at the airport. The air was soft, a few degrees above 0, the mountains had their expected cones of snow, there was no ice to be seen on any body of water, there were cyclists in shorts on the bare dry streets, and my colleague said, "This place is wonderful, John! It isn't Canada, but it's wonderful!"
There is a downside, for some, anyway: A few years after the trip above, I was in Ottawa in mid-Feb, and a colleague phoned to say she'd be arriving in a couple of days. I told her that she should bundle up, as it was -25 at midday. She said, "I don't care. I can't stand it any more. I haven't seen the sun for forty-one days!"
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we wonder if maybe our compatriots t'other side of the mountains, well, maybe, they're just, y'know, showing the same pictures year after year, and how would we know, after all?
Ron and I will never tell. :)
"This place is wonderful, John! It isn't Canada, but it's wonderful!"
It's wonderful and it's Canada!
"I haven't seen the sun for forty-one days!"
Growing up in Vancouver, I can handle not seeing the sun for months on end. :) I can ride my bike in the rain, but I can't ride when there is a foot of snow on the ground, even if it is sunny.
Quote for Vancouver (probably also applicable to parts of the UK): It only rains once per year. October to April.
- Dave
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It only rains once per year. October to April.
:)
Leaving aside the mountains (!!), what I like most is how soft the air is. (And the daffs in Feb, of course, and the year-round cycling.) It's such a treat to visit friends who live in buildings where the line between indoors and out-of-doors is so much less marked than in these parts.
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Snow and ice this weekend, so finally put the studded tyres on.
We got a good run round one of our local routes, weather was quite nice but cold.
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lovely but man i bet it was cold. :o
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Absolutely stunning photographs as usual from you, Rual. Much admired and always eagerly anticipated by me. Thanks so much for sharing these.
All the best,
Dan.
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...but such photographs are worth it!
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Great pictures Rual, I admire your determination to carry on riding. I set off (South Lake District) but turned back as I could see broken bones on the horizon. Problem we have here is that it is usually too mild for protracted periods of ice requiring winter tyres, so when it happens we just have to give up and catch up with the forum. :(
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John, I suspect the weather gods were welcoming my daughter to Ottawa, as she arrived from Vancouver in the wee hours of Thursday, for a four month University co-op posting with the Federal government. Luckily her flight was not the day of the storm, as many were cancelled.
Here in my neck of the woods I must put off a New Year's ride for a few days, as two days of freezing fog have left everything, including lesser used roads, with a fine coating of ice. I don't think the Marathon Supremes would be up to the task. Has anyone tried the Continental Winter Contacts?
(http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae343/mrspike222/IMG_0416_zpskybw1voh.jpg)
(http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae343/mrspike222/IMG_0418_zpstjmdvkzj.jpg)
A couple of pics taken in the back yard.
Time for our Southern Hemisphere friends to post some pics of "real" January cycling weather.
Hi Ron,
I've used Conti Winter Contact tyres here in the UK. I was surprised & impressed with their grip in fresh snow, but they're no substitute for studded tyres once you have to deal with frozen snow / ice. Probably better suited to colder /dry environments than found in the UK during winter.
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Thanks for the input, brummie. Where I live I don't have to be concerned with snow so much as frost and very light ice on the roads. Studs are definitely overkill as the roads are clear 90% of the time.
And Jags, saddle adjusted :-)
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Kings Mountain 200k Audax, Ireland.
204k @22.8kph. Rolling 8:56.
Kicked off with Lastgasp and two others around 7am. Could've been earlier. Very pleasant morning, roads dry. If it had been raining when I got up I wouldn't have gone. Didn't want ten hours cycling wet.
So, we beat that and made our first enforced stop at Ballivor at about 65k. Big sausage sambo ...."with red sauce love".
Rolled out only for one of the other guys to puncture. We stopped and between the 4 of us, we got it sorted in about 10.
Bunch of about 6 came up to us with about four PBP warriors. After dawdling for half an hour and chatting, the hammer dropped and the rain started. The route got rolling and a fair few were shelled.
We made it to Kells at about 125k for the next check/time stamp. Had a Coke, homemade sambo & banana but was hanging around getting cold so told the lads "I'd head" thinking they'd meet me down the road a mile or so.
Never saw them again somehow so.....did the next 80k. solo. Jeez.....that was hard. Route was lumpy as hell. Kentstown had some ramps, "bottom gear on a triple steep"!
Had rain and significant wind for a fair part of it. Met up a few Navan lads at about 180k. who were "Having a mechanical lads?"
No, an "engine Problem". One of them had blown.
Counting off the 10k segments, counting, counting.
Made two nav. errors in the run in. Minor, less than a k. I reckon.
Navan lads caught up with 5 to go. Hammer down Finglas Road. Home at 16:40 covered in muck from wheel suck.
Funny that, in reflection, in the last 80k flying solo, was only passed by two individuals.......got me to thinking that alot were trying to shortcut it?
One of the guys who passed me, who I was with earlier, strong rider, came in about 5 minutes after me. Now, he passed me with about 30 to go and wasn't hanging around.
I'm happy with that.
1:20am Sunday, can't sleep. Opened a bottle of Campo Viejo Rioja.
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Well done, and a great ride report -- I could see it all from your wording, and caught the excitement! ;D
When's the next one? [or is it too early to ask?]
All the best,
Dan.
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Got out for a nice ride myself yesterday. Missed the rain and caught a clear window before rain came again today.
Nomad ran like a champ, as usual.
Warm for early February here in the Willamette Valley, but a hefty snowpack in the Cascades is most welcome to see us through next summer with reasonable stream and creek levels against drought.
The white mountains you see in the distance are the Three Sisters, dormant volcanoes that are part of the Cascades. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(Oregon)
I quickly took with my cellphone (attached below), but a much better one was taken by newspaper staff here...
(https://external.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQAV2hI-_XacLwvw&w=418&h=244&url=http%3A%2F%2Fregisterguard.com%2Fcsp%2Fcms%2Fsites%2Fdt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls%3FSTREAMOID%3DRQWh_q4Bc8ZAMaOgl29oTM%24daE2N3K4ZzOUsqbU5sYs6xTBAIm9UDCqq9wVoLZa0WCsjLu883Ygn4B49Lvm9bPe2QeMKQdVeZmXF%249l%244uCZ8QDXhaHEp3rvzXRJFdy0KqPHLoMevcTLo3h8xh70Y6N_U_CryOsw6FTOdKL_jpQ-%26CONTENTTYPE%3Dimage%2Fjpeg&ext=png2jpg)
Best,
Dan.
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Well done, and a great ride report -- I could see it all from your wording, and caught the excitement! ;D
When's the next one? [or is it too early to ask?]
All the best,
Dan.
Orwell Wheelers 200 March 6th. Mothers Day I believe ;D
Orwell Wheelers, Dundrum, County Dublin where Stephen, Laurence and Nicholas Roche rode for.
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Well done Planetx tough cycling yesterday with that strong south east wind ,at least when you rode solo for 80 you could do it at a pace that suits u.
anyway well done tough auld going that audax riding.. ;)
jags
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Well while Planet x was doing his big ride we Drogheda wheelers headed for the seaside town of Skerries serious headwind all the way. the coffee stop was mega i was treated to an americano and toast lovely it was too.
coffee break over headed back the same direction tail wind all the way home the pace was pretty high which didn't suit me to be honest but i hung on in the back,
we all parted went our own way when we hit home so great spin enjoyed by one and all.
on the down side the fast group came across a road accident lorry and car the girl in the car was killed few of the lads tried to help but sadly it was to late.
be careful out there lads :'(
anto.
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Desperately cold for this time of year but managed a short ride. Coming back across the river...
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_swan_enjoying_afternoon_nap_river_bandon_feb_2016_800pxw.jpg)
Andre Jute: Sleeping Swan Mourning, River Bandon, Co Cork, Ireland
This swan normally lives in the deep pool above the weir, opposite the police station in Bandon. But this afternoon, presumably after a lunch of too many fat frogs, I found it catching a nap lower down the river. Despite appearances, it is safe enough, the little pebble island being entirely surrounded by water. The ducks and gulls which normally crowd this part of the river are far too experienced to come near such a large and dangerous and, it must be said, bad-tempered animal as this swan, which is alone, and very unpredictable, after its mate was killed by an escaped mink which some careless idiot imported.
Swans mate for life and if a mate is killed, dont mate again. Since we had only one pair of swans, this is a tragedy for our river as well as for the surviving swan mourning its mate.
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A day down the Clyde coast today, ferry over to Dunoon and cycle round to Loch Striven and back, with a 'drum up' on the shore in the sunshine.
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And some more
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class. 8)
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"Class" indeed!
Rual, I cannot begin to tell you how very much I look forward to your photos.
Every one's a gem!
All the best,
Dan.
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that's the beauty of knowing your own area ,great routes for cycling makes for lovely photos.
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Almost spring in the dales today, snowdrops, lambs, scones with jam and cream...
And great views that hide the 1 degree C!
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Lovely, Geo'!
Looks almost like a model set.
A very evocative photo, and a real pleasure to see.
Best,
Dan.
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A day down the Clyde coast today, ferry over to Dunoon and cycle round to Loch Striven and back, with a 'drum up' on the shore in the sunshine.
Photo #4 is stunning. I am tempted to use it as the background image on my computer, but then I wouldn't get any work done. :)
Thanks for posting them.
- DaveS
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Cheers Dave.
Photo 4 was on the private road into Glenstriven Estate, a very unusual cobbled road that looked of fairly recent contruction, wouldn't like to ride on it for long on the audax bikes, makes you realise how uncomfortable the likes of Paris-Roubaix must be!
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Cheers Dave.
Photo 4 was on the private road into Glenstriven Estate, a very unusual cobbled road that looked of fairly recent contruction, wouldn't like to ride on it for long on the audax bikes, makes you realise how uncomfortable the likes of Paris-Roubaix must be!
But on my Nomad, it would be fine. :) Unfortunately, my Nomad and I are an ocean (and more) away. :(
- DaveS
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Brilliant photos, guys.
Rual, I'm forever in awe of your control over the Scottish Weather Gods. Whatever it is, you should bottle and sell it, sparingly.
Fine sweep of the dry stone walls against the hilside, geo.
Lotsa bikes on the roads here in Australia's Gold Coast, especially in the brilliant fresh early morning sunshine; but all of mine are in the basement workshop in Ottawa, whimpering and whingeing about the cold. Reckon I'll bring one with me on a future trek to see our family.
Meantime, the nearest I get to a 2016 ride is close scrutiny of maps...
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photos are fantastic but yeah in reality you would feckin freeze get soaked to the skin more than likely get man flu for a couple weeks , the poor bike would suffer the same faith.
nah give me sunshine any day smooth tarmac. :'(
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Lovely photos, Rualex. I love the one with the old phone box - the palm tree is weird, isn't it! (Have you had to do a little photoshopping?). And the drum up on the shore - aahh, I've often thought of doing that and once or twice have even done it, but found I got cold by the time the water had boiled. What stove is that?
I must do that circuit when the weather gets better - it's easy for me to get a train to Gourock for the start.
Edited to add: Did you do a complete circuit or did to ride south from Dunoon, up Loch Striven as far as the private track, and then retrace your steps? It's not clear from the OS map what is possible/permissable.
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Fantastic photographs. Puts me to shame, when I am on half term holiday and am sat on the sofa thinking I must get the bike out for a decent ride again, and then think ooh!! it's a bit chilly out there. Have got some decent warm clothing, so no excuse.
I am also curious about the stove you are using now. How does it compare to the Honey Stove you also use? I use my Honey Stove when I can, but it's not always practical in wet weather. Then I tend to use my trangia which I love. Really like the idea of collecting free fuel at the end of the day to burn on these wood stoves, but they take a bit of practice to cook a meal on.
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Meantime, the nearest I get to a 2016 ride is close scrutiny of maps...
Beautiful, beautiful day yesterday. Sunshine, clear skies, see forever. When I returned home, I wondered if I left the tip of my nose in another county, it was so cold, and the wind intensified the chill factor even when I rode slowly not to become even colder. Three hours later I still wasn't properly warmed through. What a misery.
They must be having better weather in Scotland, all those wonderful photographs...
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Lovely photos, Rualex. I love the one with the old phone box - the palm tree is weird, isn't it! (Have you had to do a little photoshopping?). And the drum up on the shore - aahh, I've often thought of doing that and once or twice have even done it, but found I got cold by the time the water had boiled. What stove is that?
I must do that circuit when the weather gets better - it's easy for me to get a train to Gourock for the start.
Edited to add: Did you do a complete circuit or did to ride south from Dunoon, up Loch Striven as far as the private track, and then retrace your steps? It's not clear from the OS map what is possible/permissable.
The palm tree, is not a palm tree, they are quite common in places on Scotland's west coast, often referred to as palm trees and a result of the warm Gulf Stream, but anyone who has been to New Zealand will recognise them as 'Cabbage Trees' which grow throughout NZ in similar climates to ours.
The route is a there and back ride, there is a foootpath of sorts that connects up to the road at the north end of Loch Striven but I haven't ventured over it. There is however a forest track over the hills to Dunoon from near the south end of the loch.
I am also curious about the stove you are using now. How does it compare to the Honey Stove you also use? I use my Honey Stove when I can, but it's not always practical in wet weather. Then I tend to use my trangia which I love. Really like the idea of collecting free fuel at the end of the day to burn on these wood stoves, but they take a bit of practice to cook a meal on.
The stove is a woodgas stove https://wildstoves.co.uk/product/wild-woodgas-budget-model/ less assembly than the Honey Stove but I think I still prefer the Honey which I had out at the weekend as well.
We had two days of great weather this weekend, one cycling, one hillwalking, must have been the first time we got two good days in a row since around October.
Honey Stove in action, after walk up Ben A'an.
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Thanks for the details - and more wonderful photos!
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Couple of photos from my virtual commute, yesterday along the river Dee / Chester racecourse.
A sure sign spring is nearly hear
(http://i.imgur.com/cua0UVOl.jpg)
Chester Racecourse
(http://i.imgur.com/dW3iJQUl.jpg)
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I was near this very spot today. Pitstop at the canal basin. Cold but glorious day, and I beat my previous time thanks to a kindly wind. :)
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Wonderfully moody photographs, DAntrim. I love your bike disappearing into the fog: it could be a Busch & Muller advert!
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Got up high today onto the grouse moors of the Bowland fells. Still very cold with some ice but great 'away from it all' feeling.
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Boy! I'll say!
Terrific photo, Geo'; thanks for sharing.
Best,
Dan.
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Hello geo!!
Good picture! What saddlebag is that on your RST?
Lewis
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Hi Lewis,
It's a standard Carradice barley. I quite like it for day rides. I have a Carradice cadet which sits on an uplift frame that is a bit more practical but the barley is easy just to attach to the saddle loops even though it sets at an odd angle. I'd like the draw string neck inside the barley to be a bit longer and the pockets to be a bit better closed to retain small objects. Here's a close up.
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Wonderful pictures folks.
Thanks for posting. Always nice to see where folk have been.
They inspired me to take my first proper ride of 2016
Just 10.49 miles. Bad weather, a cold and work all conspired to keep me in-doors for months.
So good to get out and smell the fresh winter air.
Even the slurry spread across some fields was good to smell.
Is it called slurry in USA?
Sheep and crops big business around Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. Saw a field of turnips and these sheep. Lambing soon no doubt.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yHKtyKohegw/VtMoMo9L8OI/AAAAAAAAKZY/1cVJnoqg3x4/s800-Ic42/FirstRide2016%252520001.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p2oW1vR53dA/VtMrWWn0YDI/AAAAAAAAKbE/2rxKdxVkBA0/s800-Ic42/FirstRide2016%252520002.jpg)
One of my usual stops is at the Maiden Stone. Unfortunately it was covered for winter protection. I guess when you get to be 1,000 years old, a little TLC over the winter months is desirable.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jwRVwrK_1pY/VtMrfu84-HI/AAAAAAAAKbM/2U9_LV2JbQs/s640-Ic42/FirstRide2016%252520003.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c6avfzCtkjQ/VtMrpOMNxpI/AAAAAAAAKbM/-F8KO_yvOcY/s640-Ic42/FirstRide2016%252520004.jpg)
New EBB and Shimano UN55 bottom bracket. Plus Swisstop blue pads. Running fine.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C4Tt6TqGvMI/VtMrzZvF6_I/AAAAAAAAKbM/RO_4ArZG9Mk/s800-Ic42/FirstRide2016%252520007.jpg)
Where would we be with Brooks?
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WqAr16pX-S8/VtMr9Z_8WCI/AAAAAAAAKbc/TghCGYXcfjU/s640-Ic42/FirstRide2016%252520006.jpg)
Last week I booked my flight to Sri Lanka. 30 days in July. I think it will be quite a contrast to Aberdeenshire. Roll on the summer.
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Matt,
Your first photo displays brilliantly, but the others aren't linking. Be sure you're linking to each photo in its root form, as you did on the first one.
All the best,
Dan.
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Thanks Dan.
All look OK to me but your comments make me recall I may not have used the rout destination.
Unable to tackle problem at the moment.
But will work on it.
Thanks again
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Two dry sundays in a row, with light winds, this week has been dry all week, the longest spell without terrible wet and windy weather since around October.
Last sunday's photo of 'sheeps 'n' neeps', followed by todays photo of a pleasant sunny spot for a 'drum up'
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Love the sheep Rual, although not sure they'll be keen on their diet!
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Love the sheep Rual, although not sure they'll be keen on their diet!
I wonder where all those cycle lanes go.
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Yesterday there was a dry spell for the first time in weeks so I took a short ride just to show the bike there's more to life than being bunged up inside. Unfortunately, what with the low single digit starting temperature and the 35kph wind from all the way over in Mr Putin Urinals, the actual temperature on the bike was below freezing and I came home from a short ride with icycles just about to form at the corners of my eyes.
Because I was testing a new powerful battery, I was riding a known circuit "wrong way round" to get all the steepest parts of the hills going up rather than coming down, so I saw some new vistas. Unfortunately, they were all into a low sun, coming up for 4pm, and the glare was horrendous.
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_short_ride_5mar16_800pxw.jpg)
There's a yield sign and a cute cottage at the bottom of this lane coming back into Bandon, but even the camera, without tears in its eyes, can't see it! And I went back for the best spot to take a photo, where the sun was at least a little shielded by trees. Elsewhere, between the trees, visibility was the front wheel. When I got home I found and put on the bike my polarizing shades, which I haven't worn in umpteen years because, generally, here in Ireland there is no need for tinted spectacles deeper than a moderate orange.
A miserable ride but just short enough not to get frozen to the core so that an hour's nap under a 15 tog duvet* warmed me through to near-human again. But I'm very happy to have tested the new battery and its installation; it would be an expensive thing to get wrong!
*According to the net: "A tog is 0.1 m^2 K/W. In other words, the thermal resistance in togs is equal to ten times the temperature difference (in °C) between the two surfaces of a material, when the flow of heat is equal to one watt per square metre. British duvets are sold in steps of 1.5 tog from 4.5 tog (summer) to 16.5 tog (extra-warm)."
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https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12486190 (https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12486190)
I wanted to try a bit of a new route... to cross the old Roebling suspension bridge from Kingston to Port Ewen, then cross back over the Rondout at Eddyville. I don't know those roads around Port Ewen... well, I learned a little today!
I got into the little village of Connelly, very marina oriented. I had already taken a wrong turn to get there. I went up a promising road to attempt an exit, but Dead End signs at the top in every direction. Cruel! I thought, well, hmmm, there might be some little trail through the woods perhaps? It turned into quite the expedition! I was good and lost! Deep gooey mud, deep slippery sand, you name it!
Next time I will try not to miss my turn, and I will back track if I do! More adventure than I really need, today!
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/connelly_zpssat8h8q1.jpg)
http://www.callanan.com/about-callanan-industries/callanan-a-history/ (http://www.callanan.com/about-callanan-industries/callanan-a-history/):
"Around 1937 a new quarry was started at Kingston with equipment from the Albany Crushed Stone buyout. This operation established a market in New York City via barges on the Hudson River and supplied the heavy fill in Flushing Meadows for the 1939 Worlds Fair (now the site of the U.S. Tennis Center)."
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What a day. What a beautiful day. Clear blue sky, bright sun and a fresh north easterly breeze - nothing to worry about. As soon as I started my ride, I felt good, I felt alive , buzzing even. The cool breeze didn't penetrate my long sleeved wicking shirt and close fitting cycling jacket. Even this seemed strange - cool on the outside and me toasty on the inside - no gloves or hat. Literally, after 5 minutes I was in the countryside and noticing all the newly clipped hedgerows. I think last week was the final week allowed for hedge management, according to the twitcher down the lane. After 15 minutes I was passing the old Saxon church at Bossall with the cacophony of crows in the trees contributing to the mood I was in. Another 15 minutes into the ride saw me going up Rider Lane and seeing alpacas in the field and then having to stop at a level crossing waiting for a train to pass - which it did 1 minute later. Out comes the signal man from his box to swing open the gates, no electric barriers here. I was almost in another time warp. Up the slow climb to Crambe and then pell mell downhill over the railway lines to Kirkham Abbey ruins, sitting on the River Derwent. The river is still running at a high level and the evidence of it's breached banks are to be witnessed on it's serpentine route through the Vale of York. The inevitable short steep climb from the river had to be tackled to start taking me into my beloved East Yorkshire Wolds.
Once at the top of that ascent, it was just plain idyllic cycling, twisty roads, no cars, country smells and that fresh north easterly keeping my face cool. 20 minutes later and I'm witnessing a hunt. Red jackets, black jackets, the hounds and even the horn being sounded, the whole nine yards. It was a quintessential English countryside scene, although I am anti hunting. I stopped to have a yarn with a gamekeeper who said that they were following a scent that had been previously laid but it was possible that a fox might get flushed out by the hounds. So then, a back road into Burythorpe and a lung pulling climb out on to the top of the Wolds. There is no sign giving the % ascent, but a road that runs nigh parallel, is 17% and I think this one is steeper. On the top, I was rewarded with silence, with views, with bright sunshine and a sense of well being. It truly was one of those days when you are glad to be alive, you are thankful for your health and thankful for what nature provides for free. Pressing on sees me arrive in Birdsall with another slow climb to the top of Leavening Brow, but now with the breeze behind me. From here I ride along the spine of these particular hills and enjoy the panoramic views across to York and it's low lying vale. Wonderful. I know these are not the Highlands or the Rockies or the Alps, but there is a subtlety here, a forgiveness for being punished on those short steep climbs. It compels you to push on and explore that bit further - and it never ever fails to deliver.
So, from my elevated position, it's then downhill all the way home via Acklam, Buttercrambe and the offy at Stamford Bridge for the night time medicine. Whilst riding, I was continually assessing my RST. Without doubt it is the finest bike I have ever owned. I receive my new RT on Wednesday and the new wheels will go on the RST, making it a bit lighter. "Can it get any better then this?" I was asking myself. Lets wait and see. My day has ended as it started. What a day. What a beautiful day!
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Thanks, hoodatder, for the great story! That's the kind of experience that keeps me getting out on my bike! Really tasting the places, the people!
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Hi Jim,
My pleasure. The only pity is that there was no one with me to share the moments. On such days, it's very hard to relay the experience / views and senses to others, even though you have captured that moment. I sincerely do not know what it was today, but it was good. I even checked the empty cans when I got home to see if they had been tampered with ;D
Hoot
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Hi Hoot --
Thanks for taking the time to write up your ride. I looked up that area on Google Maps Streetview, and what a beautiful place to ride! I wish I went with you.
- DaveS
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Hi Hoot'!
What a joyful account -- made me feel good just reading it!
It really is sort of magic when everything comes together like this, and it surely gives one the impulse to share. I think that is the one significant drawback I've noticed from touring so many years alone; there's no one to share it with directly. I've found that taking a photo to "share later" (whether I do or not) and describing the experience in a journal or on social media or via email helps fill that void and makes me feel better, as if I'm sharing it (something that makes most things "better" :) ).
Very nice, kind, and generous of you to share this wonderful experience with us; many thanks.
All the best,
Dan.
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Magic report, Hoot. That was a wonder-full ride. Thanks for sharing.
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Well thank you one and all for the kind comments. If they have made your day and fired the imagination, then I have had my companions with me.
I must send a memo to myself - "Take the camera with you at all times!"
Humbly yours
Hoot
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Sometimes words are more potent than pictures. This was one of those cases. The missing camera had a narrow escape from being blamed for doing us out of the GOOD WORDS.
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Sometimes words are more potent than pictures. This was one of those cases. The missing camera had a narrow escape from being blamed for doing us out of the GOOD WORDS.
Yes Andre, but it was the experience that was potent. No visual or audio recording could have related that particular day. Dan mentioned that "sort of magic" and it was just that - magic. I really could have waxed lyrical when I arrived home, but I was still savouring the feeling of witnessing Spring being unfurled with sight and sound, me, being the passing spectator soaking it up like a sponge. For once, humans had made a harmonious accompaniment to nature. As I was cycling across the top of Leavening Brow, I could have dropped down into Thixendale. Here, a glacier has cut it's way through the hills. This weaves it's way and meanders into Millington Pastures giving walkers and cyclists alike those short steep climbs yet also a sense of enclosure in this mini Grand Canyon. You may be interested to google robertefuller.com. He is a local artist who has a gallery at Thixendale and has seasonal exhibitions. Not being an artist myself, I think his work is stunning and worthy of a peek from yourself. This chap has cameras set up in nesting boxes and various locations in his "back garden". It is not uncommon to witness sparrow hawks and other not so often seen birds, feeding there.
So will I experience that again? I fervently hope so, and I also know not to try and chase it - it will be illusive as the butterfly, but if I stand still, it will come and land on my shoulder. If I could, Andre, I would bottle that day and GIVE it away as a tonic for all people, that's how powerful it was. I have always had a healthy respect for Mother Nature and it's changing seasons, but that day was if I was looking through a kaleidoscope and saw a landscape of sight and sound that bid adieu to the end winter and teased the onset of spring. Pure magic!
Regards
Hoot
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And thank you too for the very agreeable visit to Mr Fuller's gallery. He seems vaguely familiar; maybe he was on one of those BBC wildlife programmes with his nestcams.
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Lovely description Hoodatder. I love those those dry chalk valleys like Thixendale and Millington. Then from the tops those Hockney-esque big landscapes of the Wolds are uplifting.
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Glad that you liked Mr Fuller's gallery. How one transfers the intensity of fur and feathers through to the brush - never mind the colours - is beyond me. A fantastic skill.
And of course, David Hockney hails from the East Riding. I must investigate his paintings and interpretations of the Wolds.
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I have googled David Hockney and been most surprised at his work - pleasantly, I might add. I naively thought he would be a modern day Constable / Turner with his landscape scenes and not abstract, although not severely abstract. There is a video on youtube called "November Tunnel" which shows him painting "live" outside. It's amazing to see him get the perspective on to the canvas with each stroke and holding the brush at the very end. I know conductors hold their baton at the end, but they don't have to make it land with accuracy and delicacy to achieve the sound from the orchestra. Similarly, a violinist holds the bow at the end, but has the violin itself to receive the weight and pressure applied. DH has to move his brush with precision whilst composing his image in his head. Anyway, it's a treat to watch. And I was wrong - he was born in Bradford and now lives in Bridlington.
Hoot
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Hi Hoot, glad you like Hockney, I love the way a wet road can be seen in purple tones! Here is a link to places in the Wolds linked to his art which might give you some touring ideas http://www.yocc.co.uk/
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Thanks for the link, Geo,
I have only had time for a brief glimpse, literally, but I shall take a leisurely looks later. Those piccies are right on my stomping ground. I did take some snaps last year when I went up to Rillington, again, there are some gratifying views from there. I'll see if I can gig them out.
I liked the paint jobby he did of Sledmere. He must take the same medicine as me and in similar quantities :P
Hoot
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Back in the saddle again, and it felt soooo good: first rides of 2016
Round about the nominal first day of spring in these parts, March 21st, we begin to feel like characters in Ursula LeGuins story The Left Hand of Darkness, living forever on a cold planet. We thought wed done a time-consuming and expensive workaround this year, visiting our son and his family on Australias Gold Coast for Feb and March, and returning a week ago in early April. I was looking forward to getting Osi the Raven on the road, three-plus months after my last ride on Christmas Eve afternoon, 2015.
We are to the weather gods as flies to wanton boys, howeverthey torment us for their sport. (Thanks, Willyoure cool with the minor adaptation, I trust?) In the four days after our return, we had 35 cms of snow, along with rain, ice pellets, freezing rain, the whole nine yards. The weather began to break on Monday, and then yesterday the snow had melted enough to let me take a 90-minute ride in the city. Today dawned bright, sunny, and cool, but for the first time since we left Oz we heard birdsong when we woke, so we decided that yes, this is the Real Thing, and no, we wont live on a cold planet for the rest of our days.
Over the last couple of days, then, Ive done my first two rides of 2016. They were pretty modest affairs, to be sure, but being back in the saddle again after 3-plus months felt soooo good.
On Apr 12, I did a 90-minute loop through the city: East along the bikepath beside the big river to the north side of Parliament, a brief climb beside the locks (all seven of them) to the canal, a few kms south to the Experimental Farm, then back home through a dilapidated urban forest. No daffodils, no wildlife beyond the crows, no leaves on the trees yet; but happily, barely any traffic either. This is a route that will be awash with colour in a few weeks, when the tulips are in full bloom, but yesterday it was pretty drab, the grey sky matching the dirty remnants of last weeks snowbanks. I didnt care it was mild, there was no rain in the grey clouds, and I was on the bike again.
Heres the loop: http://tinyurl.com/z9xewwk (http://tinyurl.com/z9xewwk) (If you look at the satellite view, or even better, the google street view, you get a nice splash of greenery.)
Today, with a bright sun easing the effects of a brisk northwesterly, I decided to ride across the river and into the Gatineau hills, hoping to follow my usual training route for a couple of hours at least. The river is in spate, although slightly lower than it has been in recent years: Photo #1 below shows some healthy standing waves. There were a couple of river-surfers at playbrave soulsand I caught one in Photo #2, in a sweet spot on the upstream slope of a big wave. I carried on into the Gatineau Park, riding on the Parkway itself for a change. The bike paths still had several inches of granular wet snow in the northern shadow of trees, so were not really an option. The roads leading to the park, happily, were empty of cars, so I cruised along in 10-11-12, nodding to a handful of cyclists. It was too good to last, though: as soon as I got a couple of kms into the Park itself, the snow cover increased in depth as I climbed into the hills. See photo #3. No point in going any further; with any luck, in the next few days enough of the snow will melt to allow us to reach the lookouts at the summit. Still, the ride along the river to the Park was enjoyable. Lots of fat geese and ducks which had wintered here were waddling beside the paths, though there were no goslings or ducklings to be seen. The afternoon sun on the river is a marvellous sight at any time of year, and the sky was a magnificent blue.
Aside from helping my soul to regain its equilibrium, these rides, and those to come, will let me get back into training, and to test a few tweaks on my Raven. Im planning a tour in the Western Mountains in late June and early July, and have made some adjustments which I want to check:
- First is a change in pedals and shoes. In a search for shoes which I can wear off the bike, Ive relegated my Sidi shoes and Look pedals to my day-ride bike, my Eclipse. The Raven now has a very nice pair of MKS Light Touring flat pedals, mated to a set of Bike Attitude plastic toe clips. (The latter as nowhere near as chic as proper steel-and-leather clips, but they do not rust, and even more important, theyre wide and boxy enough for my large feet. To go with the pedals and clips, I found a pair of Pearl Izumi shoes that promise to work well on and off the bike: http://www.mec.ca/product/5045-822/pearl-izumi-x-alp-seek-vii-cycling-shoes-mens/?h=10+50002+50026&f=10+50002+50026 (http://www.mec.ca/product/5045-822/pearl-izumi-x-alp-seek-vii-cycling-shoes-mens/?h=10+50002+50026&f=10+50002+50026) These have the necessary stiff sole, with just enough flex at the toes to allow some walking. The Sidis are brilliant for cycling, but they do only one thing.
- Secondly, Ive decided to change my charging-and-lighting setup. Until now, I have had dual charging and lighting circuits on the Raven with my SON28 hub powering both a Trelock 40-lumens headlight and a Sinewave charger. The hub works one or the other quite well for my requirements, but if I am using the headlamp for most of a days riding, there isnt enough extra power to charge anything more demanding than my small candy-bar cellphone. So, following a recommendation in a thread on crazyguy, Ive decided to use a battery-powered headlight (Ive always used battery-powered tail lights) during the day, and to use the Sinewave charger to (re)charge an Anker Astro E-1 cache battery. The Anker will then do the necessary after the days riding: recharging my headlight or camera, AA or AAA batteries as required for tail lights or my small Garmin e-Trex, or my small cellphone. The Anker has a healthy capacity (5200mAh), and I use my battery-powered devices intermittently, rather than continuously. I think that, between the Anker and occasional use of the mains, I should be OK. Ill test all this in a couple of short tours in Eastern Ontario before I leave for the West in late June.
More to come as shoes, pedals, and lightingnot to mention my legs and lungs--get more prolonged and demanding use. (And more photos, too, as we move into spring and early summer.)
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Wonderful reports and photos rolling in with the Spring weather! Enjoying them all!
Best,
Dan.
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I enjoyed visiting with David Hockney (he was humbly grateful for such tips as I consented to give him!) and John's river surfers made me shiver...
Unfortunately I have nothing so inspiring (or aspirational -- there's winter bay surfing near here...) to report, only a hard winter with few opportunities for rides. The photos -- from a mid-Apil ride! -- tell the story.
First two photos of a favourite ride, beautiful there and back -- you can see how agreeable here
http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLEKilmacsimon1.html
and here
http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLEKilmacsimon2.html
-- but now more than a bit depressing:
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_road_to_kilmacsion_1_april_2016_800pxh.jpg)
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_road_to_kilmacsion_2_april_2016_800pxh.jpg)
And here there used to be a rough connecting lane with a bridge, a clear stream and lots of greenery. As you can see, they knocked down the bridge wall, made the lane wider, and roadworks here and further upstream also dirtied the stream. Even the gorse, the yellow bush on the right of the photo, a very hardy thorn bush, looks depressed. I hate progress.
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_the_bridge_that_is_no_more_2_april_1916_800pxsq.jpg)
Here, in happier years gone by, I'm lying on the wide bridge wall (a true benefit to tired cyclists) admiring my new cycle computer/HRM.
(http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLE-HAC4-on-wrist.jpg)
Immediately that photo was taken, an old chappie came running by, breathing laboriously, his knuckles dragging the ground.
I said to him cheerfully, encouragingly, "Keep that up and you'll live to be ninety, sir!"
He snapped, "I'm ninety already, sonny."
Oh well, that's a beautiful blue sky, I have a new stronger motor and a new double-size battery so I'll be able to go further, higher, and stay out longer to find some more of the pretty places that hide around every turn of the lane here, and stay ahead of the real estate deveiopers and their attendant wreckers.
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Looks almost like an early-spring day here, Andre.
I hate progress.
In one of Colin Fletcher's books on walking, he had this to say (I'm paraphrasing from memory): "People tell me, in defence of so-called development, 'You can't stop progress.' To them I say, 'No, but you can redefine it.'"
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Not actually a bike ride, and not from 2016, but a painting from my busman's holiday in March when I remembered riding on a dogsled through the desolate aftermath of a forest fire thirty years ago, and finally got around to painting it.
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/andrepaintings/andre_jute_the_burn_1_acrylic_on_card_march_2016_800pxw.jpg) (http://coolmainpress.com/ajwriting/farewell-burn-alaska/)
Andre Jute: The Farewell Burn, Alaska, an Iditarod Trail painting, acrylic on card, 320x230mm, 2016
There's more about the place and the ride on my blog at http://coolmainpress.com/ajwriting/farewell-burn-alaska/ or by clicking on the pic.
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I like that Andre, I like it a lot. Did you use PVA to achieve the ripple effect?
Could you also do me a favour please? Now that we have seen the close up, can you post a photo of it taken from a further distance.
All I can see (imagine?) at the moment is seeing a calf or a fawn in the background and I can't get the image out of my mind. A bit like those images you see, where one stares at it and sees something in 3D in the background.
And no, I haven't been on the medication - yet.
Hoot
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I like that Andre, I like it a lot. Did you use PVA to achieve the ripple effect?
Thanks, Hoot. A fellow of such exquisite taste should come again. Often! I think I know what you mean by PVA. In the version I've been meaning to try, the effect is achieved with cling film, but I haven't tried that either, yet.
In fact, I don't use anything except paper, acrylic, and a colour shaper (despite the name a clayworker's tool) in lieu of a brush because I don't care for washing brushes (except watercolour brushes), plus in some instances of this sort of work, water. But in this case I didn't even use water because the acrylic, staight out of the tube, turned out to be the right consistency, and the silicone colour shaper isn't washed but just wiped clean.
I worked straight onto one of the sheets from the tube. Then, because I wanted two sheets mirrored-imaged for use as endpapers in a book I'm making, for the "burnt trees" instead of PVC/clingfilm, I used a second, similar piece of card pressed onto the thickish paint, plus variable pressure so that the paint was not so evenly distributed that it turned into a homogenous mush.
Could you also do me a favour please? Now that we have seen the close up, can you post a photo of it taken from a further distance.
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_farewell_burn_2016_alternative_1_800pxw.jpg)
(http://www.coolmainpress.com/miscimage/andre_jute_farewell_burn_2016_alternative_2_800pxw.jpg)
I show you two photos taken from about eight feet away with a bit of telephoto and in various lighting conditions, because you ask. But these are misleading views. This painting will be pasted inside the cover of a book, and will be seen only under good light from a distance of no more than thirty inches. Well, I say "good light", because it's true, but it isn't all the truth. In fact the cover will turn, and so the light will catch it in various ways, and by the movement of the cover the light will reveal more of the painting's hidden content. It isn't an accident that I chose glaring metallic paints on a black background... it's a way of hiding a little something, and revealing it only in certain angles of the light.
All I can see (imagine?) at the moment is seeing a calf or a fawn in the background and I can't get the image out of my mind. A bit like those images you see, where one stares at it and sees something in 3D in the background.
My wife wants me not to name these enigmatic paintings because she thinks I'm giving hints to people who may be seeing something entirely different in them. But I despise those painters who name their noodlings "Abstract XMCVII". I always have an idea, something I want to say, even if I no longer say it in a way representationally understood by everyone.
So, yes, if you see a young deer in the background, that's the right thing to see. Whatever you see in the differently lit, unusually viewed versions you asked for is also what you're supposed to see. These paintings of mine are collaborations between me and the viewer. Some other time I'll post a picture to my blog. and put the URL here for those who're interested. of a painting of Livingston meeting Stanley in which I deliberately hid all the main features in the African foliage.
And no, I haven't been on the medication - yet.
Heh-heh. In my beautiful youth I used to be a realist, and for ladies who could afford me, flattering, portrait painter. But you overcome the technical challenges and become bored. Now that everyone has a digital camera, a painter really needs to bring something more to the table. (In that video of Hockney we saw recently, I could almost see him weigh every element of the untidy country lane before him and choosing which to put in and which to leave out as he turned it into a room in his memory palace.) Art is a way of discovering and seeing the improbable, sometimes even the impossible, without the aid of chemicals.
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Thanks for the detailed reply Andre. When Cherry - her who shall not be named ::) returns, I will show her your work.
If I can find the time and technical ability in between the planning of my tour, I will send you some pix of her acrylic work to your PM address and not railroad this topic.
Very interesting though and she will appreciate the advice, I'm sure.
Hoot
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My ride today: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13540902
That was my first time going over that hill in that direction. I have been over it in the other directions a few times over the years. I think the direction I went today is actually a little easier, but I didn't know that ahead of time!
Up almost at the top I got passed by a very racy looking fellow, bike and rider both very lean. But the guy did call out "hello" to me! Mostly these racer types ignore me utterly. I guess I earned a little credibility being at the top of a 900 foot climb! Though it hardly went over 10%. I have some nastier climbs closer to home that I ride a lot... but very rare to see another rider up on these back roads!
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You have cred, Jim! :)
All the best,
Dan.
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Great work, Jim -- good to be back in the hills again, eh?
We still have some patches of snow in the woods on the northern slopes, but the stuff on the roads is all gone now. Flocks of geese overhead, honking northwards. Lovely sound -- can mozzies and black flies be far behind?
Cheers, John
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Hi Jim,
A bit of a lung puller there at 23 miles into your round trip. I hope you pulled out your packet of Capstan Full Strength, inhaled deeply and said "I've done it. Fag to the consequences." and gave a nonchalant look to the young, lycra clad passing cyclists. More of "What's the problem?"
I know one shouldn't drink and drive, but is it criminal to smoke and cycle?
Now here's a topic for debate. Unfortunately, I'm predisposed to answer any replies, but please feel free to wade in and give your candid opinions - as I'm sure you will. I can referee for a short while :D
Hoot
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Cycling in shirtsleeves today. Hallelujah! So pleased with the weather, I stretched a planned 75m ride to three and a half hours.
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Cycling in shirtsleeves today. Hallelujah! So pleased with the weather - So right Andre.
Went for a spin myself and forgot the camera - again. I have attached some pix that I took on the same route 2 years ago virtually to the day. I consider this area "My backyard".
The 1st one is the entrance to the ruins of Kirkham Abbey. All these abbeys were built close to water - Rieveaulx and Fountains for example. No worry about global warming then.
The 2nd is going over High Mowthorpe looking across the Vale of Pickering. There are a lot of "Thorpes" around here. It is a Viking word meaning settlement / village. If you see the word "carr", that is Viking for swamp land, so beware when buying a house down Wold Carr Road, for example. Similarly, the word "Ings" means flood plain, so the aforementioned caveat applies.
The 3rd is the descent into the vale.
The 4th - well that is commonly known as an oasis - a watering hole. it's the sign outside the Jolly Farmer pub. Sounds a bit like Tolkien-
"You will see Strider at the sign of The Prancing Pony" - "That was a proper 1420" and the names around here - Kirby Underdale, Bugthorpe - Sand Hutton - Buttercrambe - Scrayingham - Skirpenbeck.
Another good day today.
Hoot
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Oops! Wrong attachment!!
Here is Kirkham Abbey - well what's left of it and another piccy of Langton village.
It's so gorgeous to be out now. The rape seed is setting the base for the countryside to be a harlequin of colours. The blossom on the hedgerows are hemming everything in. The husbandry of these farmers on the hills (anywhere, for that matter) shows an extraordinary skill in land management and tractor skills. The panoramic views make me think of what I see as being a huge slice of Battenberg - forget the patchwork quilt, I need a sugar rush!!
Thank you mother Nature for putting all this on my doorstep.
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That rapeseed yellow certainly gives the country contours great definition. The real Kirkham Abbey ruin is so much more interesting!
Here is Kirkham Abbey
......
Thank you mother Nature for putting all this on my doorstep.
Amen!
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I finally found the straightforward path from Jockey Hill to Morey Hill. It's shown on some maps, but I have never managed to find it before. Turns out it goes right through the active quarry. Probably not completely legal, but there was no one there on a Sunday evening to voice any objection!
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13756812
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Today's ride was flat but still a bit of an adventure. I wasn't sure that 7500 W really connected all the way through the Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area... but it does!
The route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14410776
Album: http://s140.photobucket.com/user/kukulaj/library/Nomad/2016%2006%2013%20Ogden%20Bay
7500 W:
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/2016%2006%2013%20Ogden%20Bay/IMG_2543_zpswnb2xdme.jpg)
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Good golly, Jim, that looks like the Fens around Cambridge, the one in East Anglia in England, not the Boston suburb with the missionary school.
I must say that, more than any other place I have ever lived, as an elderly cyclist not as fit as I once was, every time I go straight out of my front door onto a steep hill, I pine for the flat Fens.
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Mind you, Andre, if you look into the far blue distance, just to the right of the track and the water beside it, you'll see a sharp un-fen-like peak, just waiting for your bold ride! :-)
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A cyclist may look at a foothill, John, and even ascend it to gaze up the mountain that as a boy from a red desert he rode to the top to gambol in the snow at the peak.
Did you ever see the Prince Albrecht Mountains with snow on them when you visited your friends in the Karoo? Actually not as rare a sight as you might imagine, though not long-lasting in any year.
[For everyone but John, who's been there, these mountains divide the pale green from the olive green areas on the map of the Southern tip of Africa, of which a section about 1500 miles deep is shown, a fair old ride.]
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Thanks, Andre. Such beautiful countryside, isn't it? I saw snow on the hills and mountains inland from Cape Town only from the air, flying north one cool July morning. I did see snow on the Draakensberg from Bergville one fine day in May; happily, that was after I'd descended from the high country.
The Karoo does things to people, doesn't it? You probably know Andre Brink's work -- I found An Instant in the Wind to be the most powerful of his novels, and the setting (the Karoo) played an important part in that.
I never made it to those parts on my bike when we lived in SA between 2003 and 2006, though the highveld around Pretoria made for excellent day rides, and my first long-ish ride on a bike took me from Pretoria downhill to Durban, a group ride to celebrate the 70th birthday of a longtime friend.
Cheers,
John
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I'm more into the cosmopolitans like Stuart Cloete (Turning Wheels, Rags of Glory) and the disruptors with novel ideas like Etienne Leroux* (Sewe dae by die Silbersteins, a hilarious and controversial novel of miscegenation -- for which description I was fired from the SABC for the first, but not the last, time, which was notable and amusing since I didn't actually have a job there -- I was still at school). It's no accident that Etienne was from my hometown, Oudtshoorn; the town produced a veritable who's who of the arts and politics. The most readable, involving and amusing South African novelist (after me, of course) is Peter Temple, another cosmopolitan, several of whose books are set in Melbourne, a city I know well. Of course, all of that is given on the assumption that, like most of the rest of the useful intelligentsia, your preferred reading matter is well-crafted and characterised thrillers.
* Not that Cloete isn't also a disruptor; you can see people in my mother's family, whose ancestors were on the Great Trek, raising their blood pressure visibly when Turning Wheels is mentioned.
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51 miles, 3500 feet of climbing.... the road goes farther, but we may have reached our limit!
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14543273
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/2016%2006019%20farmington%20canyon/IMG_2608_zps2m2j62q5.jpg)
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I recognise that area having looked at your gps log. I was there quite some years back visiting a paramour of mine! Delightful place. Loved Antelope Island and Bear River. There was a climb the local riders did that was so hair-shirt impressive ( sure it went past an old boxcar type diner of some local repute). A real test riding up the canyon but a fun, brake melter on the way down!
Thanks for posting.
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We're having great fun exploring!
I think the most famous climb here is Little Cottonwood Canyon: http://www.cyclingutah.com/rides-and-trails/road-rides/little-cottonwood-canyon-challenge/
Farmington Canyon has the advantage of being close enough to our apartment that we can easily ride there from here!
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That road up Jim's mountain needs an elevator between switchbacks.
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This is the Diner I mentioned previously and visited a few years back. I'm a tad more 'conservative' in what I eat these days so parts of the menu I can easily omit but Ruth's is definitely worth a visit.
http://ruthsdiner.com/
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Holy Guacamole, that's a catholic menu, a Founding Scroll in the Church of the High Chol.
Beautiful spot, shady among that relentless sunshine.
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Ruth's is definitely worth a visit.
Thanks! I had done a bit of searching & was thinking that was probably the diner you had in mind. We could bike to Ruth's & back from here, but that'd already be a big day with nothing left for the climb up the canyon. So I have already suggested to my riding partner - let's take the bikes on the train & then do the climb. Ruth's should be the perfect reward at the end!
That full climb tops at about 7000 feet, a bit below our climb last weekend. Plus I think Emigration Canyon is paved the whole way! Farmington Canyon was loose bumpy dusty gravel almost the whole way, plus every sort of motorized vehicle passing us and raising the dust.
Ruth's, here we come!
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/2016%2006%2014%20Salt%20Lake%20City/IMG_2573_zps0zdijl4c.jpg)
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beautiful weather here today so we grabbed the opportunity...
up Emigration Canyon: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14638744
album: http://s140.photobucket.com/user/kukulaj/library/Nomad/2016%2006%2025%20emigration%20canyon
at the Big Mountain pass:
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/2016%2006%2025%20emigration%20canyon/IMG_2636_zpstyzhmdqn.jpg)
at Ruth's:
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/2016%2006%2025%20emigration%20canyon/IMG_2640_zpsdvfk4tyb.jpg)
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Goodness, Jim -- literally! ;D
Sure glad you found the food!
So very much enjoying all your Utah ride pics.
All the best,
Dan.
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My intent was just to poke around at the mouth of the canyon. But there was a cool tailwind... not all that cool, not very steady or strong, but it felt like, hmmm, it might be the best opportunity I'll get this summer! So I went to the top of the pass!
route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14924126
album: http://s140.photobucket.com/user/kukulaj/library/Nomad/north%20ogden%20canyon%202016%2007%2006
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/north%20ogden%20canyon%202016%2007%2006/IMG_2667_zps21pe6btp.jpg)
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So now my big ride idea is: a big loop, head east though North Ogden Canyon, then south along the back side of this front range, then back through Emigration Canyon: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14925200 - yeah, it's going to take me a while to work up to that!
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But there was a cool tailwind...
May all your winds be tailwinds, and just the right temperature for the ride of that day.
About your next post, and the longer ride you aspire to here I am, planning a ride of a fraction under 40km as the peak of this year's cycling, and at that attended by my physician and a nurse*, and you're looking at 100m! Go, Jim, go!
*It's just incidental that my most constant pedalpals are in the medical profession, but of course I don't explain that when at the bottom of the hill I introduce them to the younger cyclists we'll be passing on the way up the hill! So what keeps you so strong, grandpa? Age and treachery!
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Rode out to Willard Bay today - got out early enough that I mostly beat the heat. Not a long or hilly ride, but grand fun exploring some wild territory!
the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/15220098
album: http://s140.photobucket.com/user/kukulaj/library/Nomad/Willard%20Bay%202016%2007%2026
(http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/kukulaj/Nomad/Willard%20Bay%202016%2007%2026/IMG_2701_zps906aqjwr.jpg)
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Had a great week in Scotland. Rode across Arran, Islay, Jura then back to Kintyre, Great Glen and finish in Inverness. Wonderful cycling. Highlights included 7 ferry journeys on boats of various dimensions. One ferry involved bungeying the bike to the back of a rib! Here are some highlights, No need to mention that the RST was flawless as usual.
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Beautiful photographs of beautiful waters. That second photograph of your Raven in the back of a small ferry is an adventure already; don't let your insurers see it!
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I've done Islay and Arran and Skye but never Jura.
May I ask details of that section?
Route, time there and accommodation etc.
Thanks
Matt
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Hi Matt, I didn't spend long on Jura, just an afternoon. I got the ferry from Islay and then headed up the east coast. Really good riding, lots of deer and standing stones. Did a there and back route before getting the ferry from Craighouse. It's not the most accessible island but I really liked it.
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A great day out today. Warm n sunny.
Only sad point was seeing a dead badger at the road side.
A round trip of 48.55 miles. Av speed 12.7 mph Max speed 31 mph In saddle time 3hr 48 min
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16191840
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/full/16191840.png?secret_hash=7e2f1551c6bfe675a327e1b111152559cdc3c2a7
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16191840/elevation_profile
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The past few weeks have been crazy-busy (for lots of positive reasons), so I haven't had a lot of time for day rides. This past Sunday, however, I managed a ride up into the Gatineau Hills, my usual day ride and escape from The Buzz. We're nearing the end of the summer, and we've been blessed with sunny warm days, sometimes with brisk drier winds from the NW, now and then with moist air from the SW.
This Sunday's ride was notable for the near-absence of cars from the roads in the park. (Motor traffic is banned on summer Sundays between 6AM and 11AM, but even after 11 there were very few cars.) In their place I saw maybe 120 mostly young people, training for cross-country skiing a few months hence on their long inline roller-blade skates. Of these, perhaps 25 or 30 were para-athletes -- a skier with only one arm, a blind skier with his guide, several athletes in chairs, usually with able-bodied friends or family members in support. This is in hilly terrain, mind, and they were all working hard. I'm privileged to enjoy good health, and I don't take that for granted, but the sight of these people, young and old, able-bodied and much less so, was inspiring. I'm not sure I'd have the dedication that some of the para-athletes showed.
My ride covered a loop of about 65 kms. I used my derailleur Eclipse, formerly my touring bike and now my go-(marginally)-faster bike for day rides. I had that refreshed earlier this year, with Surly Crosscheck steel forks replacing the 14-year-old original carbon-fibre items, new Velo Orange rims replacing the Alex originals, spiffy VO snakeskin-pattern alloy fenders, new Avid shorty canti brakes with nice Koolstop pads, and a new Deore LX 11-32 cassette, replacing the Deore 12-36 I had used for touring. Drawing on my experience with the Raven, I also added 3 cms worth of spacers to raise the bars slightly. These changes have made the bike more comfortable to ride, and the lower stress of day rides has made my troublesome rear derailleur much less so.
Below are a couple of photos taken from the top of the escarpment, looking N and W over the Ottawa River with the lowlands on the Quιbec side in the foreground. The day is a bit hazy--it's those moist winds from Ohio, Michigan, Tronna and such places, bearing miasmas and whatnot from the post-industrial society SW of us. (Ottawa never really attained "industrial society" status, so "post-industrial is as much a wistful tag as anything...)
Atop the escarpment, I met a clutch of riders from Sacramento, California. They were on a tour of Ottawa and Montrιal, and thought they'd died and gone to heaven. Everything so clean and beautiful, they said, everyone so polite. I thanked them for their kind words, and said that we were conscious that we had a jewel in the Gatineau Park -- in a few months, the greenery would be gone, and we'd be up here on skis. 'Til then, we could continue our bike rides in the coming glory of the autumn, or go paddling on the lakes a little bit to the east if we wanted to do so.
I used the Eclipse for my ride because Osi, my Raven, is resting after our exertions in June/July in the Big Hills in Alberta, BC, and the US Pacific NW. Cleaning my bike after my 2300-plus kms in the mountains, I found a handful of tiny longitudinal cracks in my Mavic XM719 rear rim near some of the spokes on the non-drive side of the Rohloff. (The front rim showed none.) This is a good-quality rim--recommended by Peter White, for example--but it's also a mid-weight rim (475 gms), and other riders have found similar problems. I think that the combined stresses of weight and the spoke angles demanded by the Rohloff have been too much for it. Knowing that the problem wouldn't fix itself with just a dose of privacy, I decided to use my Eclipse for day rides while I ordered another, heavier-weight rim. Exal offers a good selection on their website (http://www.exal.eu/en/rims-touringbikes-mountainbikes-trekkingbikes-citybikes (http://www.exal.eu/en/rims-touringbikes-mountainbikes-trekkingbikes-citybikes)) but retailers for their 26" rims seem very scarce. I ordered instead a Velo Orange product, which at 590 gms should do the necessary: http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/components/wheelsets-rims-hubs/rims/vo-26-escapade-rim.html (http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/components/wheelsets-rims-hubs/rims/vo-26-escapade-rim.html) That's been shipped, so I expect to have the wheel built and in the next week. Reports to come.
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We're easing into autumn now, with the leaves just beginning to turn. I've made a couple of 3-4-hour rides up into the Gatineau Hills across the river in the past week, in wonderful weather--warm and clear sunny days, around 20 degrees at mid-day, with a fresh breeze. Night-time temps are usually between 5 and 10, so it feels like a cold-season day in Southern Africa. The downside is that this spell will probably last only a couple of weeks; on the Highveld, it goes on for months.
As the trees start to turn, the geese are getting ready for their annual trek southwards. There are grouplets of three or four doing shakedown cruises, checking out their commands, positioning, wingbeat cadence, stuff like that. Larger clusters of the birds are doing more terrestrial training, in extended nose-to-tail formations on the river, just like feathered ships of the line.
The only problem cyclists face in the Gatineau in early autumn is the greater number of motorists on the roads. One can imagine the conversations in one of the ubiquitous and monstrous SUVs, fractionally smaller than battleships with marginally better fuel economy: "Oh George, look at the foliage!" "Oh George, watch out for the cyclists!!" "Martha, it would be a whole lot easier to do both if we didn't have a vehicle that's bigger than the houses of half the world's population, and a whole lot less maneuverable..."
Anyway, Osi the Raven glides through it all, enjoying hillsides like the ones below.
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Thanks, Andre. Such beautiful countryside, isn't it? I saw snow on the hills and mountains inland from Cape Town only from the air, flying north one cool July morning. I did see snow on the Draakensberg from Bergville one fine day in May; happily, that was after I'd descended from the high country.
The Karoo does things to people, doesn't it? You probably know Andre Brink's work -- I found An Instant in the Wind to be the most powerful of his novels, and the setting (the Karoo) played an important part in that.
I never made it to those parts on my bike when we lived in SA between 2003 and 2006, though the highveld around Pretoria made for excellent day rides, and my first long-ish ride on a bike took me from Pretoria downhill to Durban, a group ride to celebrate the 70th birthday of a longtime friend.
Cheers,
John
I lived in RSA in 77 and 78. I rode my bicycle all around Natal those two years. All I had was a small gym bag bungeed to the rear rack of my Peugeot but somehow that didn't stop me, not having all the right gear. I'd sleep on the beach and pretty much go all day on one candy bar sometimes.
The draakensbergs are majestic. Never cycled there but we had a few trips by car. I should post some of those "vintage" photos one of these days.
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The draakensbergs are majestic. Never cycled there but we had a few trips by car. I should post some of those "vintage" photos one of these days.
Yes, please!
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Out n about for the last time this year.
Still getting to grips with the Garmin
<iframe src="//rwgps-embeds.com/trips/12391040/embed" height="500px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe>
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/12391040
Dufftown to Keith Aberdeenshire UK
Hit the road before dawn and enjoyed the sunrise.
Raven running well, now that the clicking of the EBB appears to have stopped!
Matt