@greenroofer - that's a massive cycle and a half to do solo!
I would need a week off the bike after that! Well done and a good snapshot of life along the route.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
The "I had a lovely ride today, thankyou" thread
(2685 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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probably doesn't fit here, but close enough.
was returning from the dacha (south of Hawick) yesterday afternoon in the car, passed a lone cyclist struggling up one of the many hills down there. Pulled along side and MrsMcR fed him a stream of strawberries.
nice to be nice etc...
Posted 2 years ago # -
@greenroofer Nice one!
Posted 2 years ago # -
@bill - I was basically self-sufficient for everything but water. There's a good store in Ayton, where I got some more water. I had Newcastleton on the list as another resupply point, but didn't need it. The final stop was Carlisle McDonalds, where I got more water, a bidon full of Coke and various other comestibles (not all of which I ate).
@acsimpson - you're tempting me. However I think 260 miles with an ascent of Great Dun Fell at the halfway point is beyond my current abilities for a single ride. Maybe it's something to suggest to @bill?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Ah, but there's a descent of Great Dun Fell just after the halfway point, too.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Chapeau @Greenroofer - an excellent way to spend a weekend.
Coke in the bidon on a hot day is like rocket fuel for a tired body. The knowledge that a gazillion calories & ample caffeine is entering the body is a lovely feeling. I thoroughly approve.
In my much fitter days I did a RttS with a ride to Weardale hills as a warm up. It is a very long way and the hills are steep & long. Definitely tyoe 2 fun.
Posted 2 years ago # -
On a bike ride last week out of Lochinver and figured I needed to take some energy with me, as I'd left without my carefully prepared sandwiches or my half-finished flat bottle of Lucozade.
I'd like some double-A batteries please, and, do you have any Irn Bru?
Here's your batteries...uh, we have cans only. I have bottles of Coke, Diet Coke, I've got bottled water...
<thinking> Hmm, I don't really like Coke. It's full of sugar and I don't want caffeine, and it clogs my throat anyway, and I don't want a can of anything either. Sigh. </thinking>
Diet Coke, please.Halfway up a hill, out of curiosity I look at the labelling:
Energy per 100ml: 1.6kJ/0.4kcaland I'm trying to remember if we use kcal or cal by default for foods, and then realise I am on a bike ride of as yet unknown length and now I am drinking Diet Coke that has no fat, no carbs, and zero energy in it, and I am an idiot.Posted 2 years ago # -
On an audax at the weekend from Hawick, we stopped at Kielder Castle just south of the border. Shock horror - no Irn Bru. Yet clouds of midges. That canna be right
Posted 2 years ago # -
A few weeks ago I spotted Mull of Galloway on the map and I thought it would be a fine destination for an around-solstice ride. The most direct route from home was 460k but no too hilly.
My non-audax pal from South Lanarkshire was keen to join even though it was more than a double of his longest single ride.
I set off at 3am in smirr/drizzle on Saturday morning and got a send off by a barn owl along the way as is traditional now. We met at Carnwath AP at 5am and headed for Abington services. Then through Lowther Hills via A702 (easiest way) down to Thornhill, Moniaive, New Galloway, Newton Stewart.
From Newton Stewart we had to take A75 for about 25k before turning south to the Mull of Galloway peninsula. A75 was pretty busy with ferry traffic but we survived.Fantastic cafe at Mull of Galloway and it was busy with tourists. While eating our toasties we watched a couple on lecky bikes who made the final ascent look like a breeze.
Back the same way. Midges come out in the evening once the easterly breeze died up.
My pal started getting cramps in his leg so he called for a gf-taxi and got picked up at Abington. I was 385k for him so still very impressive. I got a large coffee at the services, ate my ham and cheese croissant that i carried from home, put on all the layers (full gloves were great, Mr Bill persuaded me to take them) and at midnight I set off for the final 65k home.
At Auchinoon Brea I stopped for a few moments in the middle of the road, updated Mr Bill with ETA and watched the Edinburgh lights. I arrived 23h 56min after my departure.
I made sure I ate a lot on this trip as I didn't want to lose the uphill power in my legs as it had happened on previous occasions. Two meal deals, lunch at the cafe and various snacks along the way (including home made pancakes). At no point me legs refused to work, so I was pleased with that.
A fantastic day out with a gentle tailwind and minor-to-no headwind. And it was nice to have someone to chat to and push me a bit faster than I would do on my own.
Posted 2 years ago # -
What a great ride Bill- superb effort to manage your strength for that long. Galloway is lovely, but the A75 isn't!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Great work @bill. Brilliant ride. That moment on top of Auchinnon Brae must have been great: knowing that it's downhill all the way home, and that you're definitely going to make it, is a great moment on any long ride.
There's a slightly wistful sense for me in this ride of "the pupil becomes the master". I like to think that my exploits of 2019 contributed in a small way to you starting down the road of very long rides. However I see from the frightening speed with which you rode that enormous distance yesterday that you would conclusively ride me into the ground now. Chapeau!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Always fancied cycling down to the southern tip of Scotland.
For me I think over several days.
Amazing effort.
The A75 at Newton Stewart is the worst as the rest of D and G so scenic.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks @paddyirish. The roads were nice and quiet expect for that A75 bit.
@Greenroofer Auchinoon Brae is exactly as you say: just roll down the hill (with a few bumps). That's why I like coming back that way!
I sometimes wonder if we are going to bump into each other at one of our early starts given that we are "almost" neighbours.Yes, definitely reading reports here made long rides sound like a regular thing to do and within reach. And all the tips and lessons-learned very helpful! I didn't do this ride as an DIY Audax. Just for the fun of it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I blame @acsimpson and @Frenchy for yesterday.
With the generous support of Mrs G, I rode to our holiday cottage in the Yorkshire Dales a week ago: a pleasant 150 miles with a following wind that saw me arrive at the cottage shortly after the rest of the family. Yesterday I had to return home to work while they continued their holiday.
Noting that Great Dun Fell was close to the route home, and inspired by all the chat on this thread about it, I decided to include it in the itinerary. There was also the small matter of the Coal Road at the very start of the ride, with its 1,000 ft of climbing at an average 9% grade (well, the alternative was a seven mile detour on A-roads).
Leaving the cottage at silly-o'clock with a laden bike, the Coal Road felt tougher than it had on the reconnaissance ride a few days before. The next 20 miles were peaceful and calm, through a misty early morning, following the Settle to Carlisle railway north. Only the fact that the route went across the grain of the landscape, so was quite 'rolling', took the shine off things. Well, that and the fact that Great Dun Fell awaited.
The GDF radome was visible from some way off, at the top of a hill that looked very high and very steep. With a sense of apprehension, I turned past the 'No through road' and started the ascent. It was pretty relentless, but at no points was it stupidly Hardknott-steep, and I was able to keep my effort within reasonable bounds. The rain had settled in by now, but there was no wind and it wasn't cold, so the pedals turned slowly and the climb ticked by until suddenly it was done. Unfortunately the top was in cloud, so there was no view at all. I stopped just long enough to don a layer then turned back down for home.
The descent wasn't exhilarating, despite the excellent road surface: with newly-wet roads and free-running sheep, it wasn't the time for heroics. Grateful for new brake pads on the front, I gingerly felt my way down, tantalised by the way that the bike leapt forward whenever I let the brakes off completely.
At the bottom there was a short pause while a whole flock of sheep came past on the road, driven by one man and his dog. This gave time for my ears to pop with sea level air pressure.
The route then bypassed Penrith, which seemed like a good idea until I found myself stationary in the middle of the road trying to turn right across an A-road with a huge line of caravan-caused oncoming traffic and the occasional high-speed car coming up behind me and then squeezing past my left elbow.
The next dozen miles into Carlisle were all downhill on straight roads and a chance to recover a bit from the efforts of the morning. Stopping for lunch on a bench outside Carlisle Racecourse, I watched a postal delivery worker spend several minutes trying to re-close a gate they had opened: clearly there was something complicated about it, and they really went above the call of duty when lesser mortal might have just abandoned it.
Going through Carlisle city centre at midday on a holiday Saturday was everything you'd expect it to be.
From there it was the familiar RttS route home, with a stop in Ecclefechan for (two) bottles of Coke and a Cornetto. By Blyth Bride it was raining steadily. By Lamancha it was raining hard, but it wasn't cold, so getting soaked was the lesser evil over boiling in a waterproof bag.
160 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing in 14 hours. I'd definitely recommend putting GDF on your list of climbs to do: the video below shows really well what it's like ('seeing in black and white' is a great description of its effects). It will take a better (wo)man than me to do it in a non-stop return trip from Edinburgh*, though.
So, @Frenchy, @acsimpson and @bill, over to you. :-)
*although I was pondering on yesterday that one could ride down via Lowther Hill to Penrith, overnight there and then come back via Great Dun Fell. That would certainly make for an entertaining weekend...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Chapeau! Seriously impressive.
Unfortunately, changes in our dogs' walking schedule mean I can't be away from home for for more than ~8 hours. Otherwise I'd be right up Great Dun Fell tomorrow. Honest.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Magnificent greenroofer
Posted 2 years ago # -
Another Epic epic.
Posted 2 years ago # -
pitiful compared to Greenroofer.
Sat morning early off to cottage again, different route, left at Innerleithen rather than the Gordon Arms as usual took me north of Selkirk as opposed to south.
slightly shorter and less hilly but one short ascent @ 82k nearly finished me.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Chapeau Greenroofer. That's an epic achievement however I must correct one part.
"I blame @acsimpson"
I merely mentioned that I had ridden up Lowther Hill. You then brought up the matter of Great Dunn Fell so this ride appears to have been entirely your idea and I can't accept such a a generous position in the ride credits.
I rode down to the borders coast on Saturday. 111.11kms into a headwind but thankfully the warm showers could mostly be ignored. Lantern Rouge provided me with an extra generous slice of rocky road because it was too crumbly to only put a slice in.
It only rained heavily for about 30 minutes while I descended from the Lammermuirs and hid in the Longformacus bus shelter. Unfortunately that was also where my lunch bag burst dropping it's contents on the ground making me even more thankful for the Lantern Rouge).
About 15-20kms of my route was on "gravel" though which was fun but possibly more fitting of the Veloviewer difficult squares thread.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Great to get all these reports, I have been cooped up in motor cars this weekend but going out now to get soaked.
Posted 2 years ago # -
What's the Welsh equivalent to Lowther Hill or Great Dun Fell?*
*I expect to be credited when one of you is daft enough to give it a go :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
It seems to be Gospel Pass at a bit over 500m. It's a long way to ride though. You can however ride up Snowdon subject to a voluntary access code ruling out some times.
As far as I know Skidaw is the highest mountain you are allowed to ride up in England. I can't say I have ridden up it but I have ridden down it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Bwylch y Groes (Hellfire Pass) is very hard especially on the road from Dinas Mawddwy but is a public road (545m).
Stwlan Dam is another over the gate private road climb by Blaenau Ffestiniog. It isn't as high up (500m) but is moderately steep and has lovely hairpins. The 100 climbs book says "If this isn't the greatest climb in Britain, it's certainly in the top three". And it has the benefit of next to no traffic.
There's another dam road from near Llanberis that goes to about 600m to Marchlyn Mawr. I've not done that.
For off-roaders, the classic Wayfarer pass is worth trying (west of Llanarmon DC). I am not sure what state the track is, but when I was doing my D of E in the 80s it was tricky enough walking in places.
I'm not sure if there is a private road to a radar on the top of a great big hill though. Mostly high up reservoirs.
Off roaders could cycle up to the top of Snowdon along the Llanberis path (next to the railway). That would be challenging. There are rules though ...
Posted 2 years ago # -
I did Gospel Pass on a holiday that way a few years ago. The Vale of Ewyas off the south side is very special.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Posted 2 years ago #
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Wow - some of these rides are mind-boggling to me. My much more modest, rain dodging, Sunday ride took me out to North Berwick and back via East Linton, Gifford, Humbie and Gorebridge. Nearing home I missed the turn off to Roslyn Glen by going through Rosewell
- got distracted by a pick-up deliberately ramming a bloke off a scrambler then chasing him through Rosewell - had to follow just to see if it got more interestin - alas they disappeared. Anyway, missed the Roslyn Glen road and had the dubious pleasure of discovering Polton Road into Loanhead - ouchy, ouch.P.S. Is the road from Garvald onto the hills closed at the moment? There were signs up on the B6370 saying no access beyond Garvald, so I didn't explore further.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Small spin before tea. I stopped for a car on the twists above Balerno received No thanks from the driver but after that I went up to Buteland and back into Balerno without any other motors. Astonishing contrast to even the busy country lanes near Bromley in SE London.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Got a good ride in today.
Stow - Gala then across to the A68 and all the way down to the Carter Bar. Cross country to Hawick where I got a serious attack of the munchies and bought half the fridge at a garage. Then further across via Roberton to Tushielaw, and back up the usual route to the Granites before coming back down the A7. Just under 110 miles. A lot hillier than I expected - spent a lot of time crawling up hills in bottom gear. The section from Hawick to Tushielaw was really nice. First time across that road.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@nobrakes does sound lovely. Roberton where John Martyn made an album? Which is down the back of Tinto?
We did Col Du Climpy today. Goes Balerno, Harburn, Passed Ned Boulting’s father Norris’s house, down the Rusha farm road to the A71 through addiewell quickly, nice back road to Fauldhouse then into Morth Lanarkshire and Headless cross then up Blackla2 Winfarm then down braehead, the eske4, the carstairs then Apple pi3 and home. Mobbed with cyclists. Also happy hi recumbenteer somewhere en route. Sun out Climpy.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Not sure @gembo. It’s west of Hawick. Tiny wee place.
Used to listen to Solid Air a lot. Fantastic album.
Posted 2 years ago #
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