Circle of the Wrekin

Todays Sunday morning ride was a circle of the Wrekin, breaking clouds & chilly sunshine made for great conditions. Our circuit took us along a few new lanes out of Sherrifhales where we had to negotiate crossing a swollen Ford [that's not a bloated Transit]. The lanes out back of Shifnal were excellent with a reasonable climb into Kemberton.

The road down into Coalport has now been resurfaced & made for a super fast descent - although the sharp right at the bottom is a good test of the brakes. Passing through Ironbridge we picked up a mountain biker who desperately tried to hang on to our wheel, we eventually lost him on the climb out of Buildwas. One final test of the legs was the drag up thru Eaton Constantine & Wrockwardine - all in all an excellent 34 miles with a few testing climbs.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/telford/413125813454519739

Sue has also been out twice this week - mountain biking with Barney. Normal route around Bratton, Bean Hill Wood & Admaston

Sportive Calendar for 2010

Event organizers have started to release details of next years Sportive calendar so I will be doing a bit of homework over the coming weeks - I am planning to do a series of 100 mile challenge rides from March - October next year & have them all mapped out by the end of December - Look out for updates!

Rain Stop Play - Ride 1 in Reverse

After last nights deluge I checked the local weather on the internet before setting off this morning, so armed with the BBC's forecast [giving us false hope] of Sunny Intervals through until mid afternoon the ride was on. With a hardy group of 5 & with a few raindrops already falling we set off - but as we crested Lilleshall hill it was already looking pretty bleak, we continued up past Adeney & had to cycle through a couple of flooded spots in the lanes, the rain was now pretty heavy it was here that we reconsidered the BBC's forecast. Only 5 miles into today's 30 miler the group decided enough was enough - disappointed but still in good spirits at having made the effort we cut short at the first chance - cycling down the B5062 & turned back towards Preston-on-the-Weald Moors. By the time I had cycled home I had clocked up 20 miles in total - not bad considering.

But how typical of the british weather? - an hour after getting home the sky's cleared & the sun came out.

Sunday - its all a bit ad-hoc

Sunday's outing was a bit ad-hoc despite pre-planning a ride - we had reduced numbers turning up this weekend [3] so I changed the starting point to make it a bit more friendly & made some improvisations along route. The climb out of Cressage to Acton Burnell 8 miles in - is worth a mention & the country lanes that followed were virtually traffic free & made for excellent cycling.

I have to mention the lunatic motorist who overtook right into our faces at high speed as we rode up Haughmond Hill - he may have missed us but it really highlights how vulnerable we are when mixing with traffic & why we try to route our rides on country lanes as much as possible.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/telford/623125785751722462

Sunday Best

Today was our fourth Sunday morning bike ride as a group & I have to say probably the best route to date. A planned 37.5 miles out around Cheswardine & Norbury Junction turned into 39.2 miles with what have now become obligatory minor detours. The opening 16 miles were very pleasant - easy country lanes & steady pace but after turning at Cheswardine the lanes started to undulate, nothing too serious just enough to make it interesting.

Generally the weather was good & held out again, overcast & a bit chilly, a few sunny spells & with 1 minor shower.

A couple of the back lanes were a bit messy from farm traffic but you have to expect that this time of year.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/-telford/690125701710748250

Ride Mapping

I have just discovered [well last week actually] www.mapmyride.com - a very user friendly web based site for mapping bike rides on/off road. It has a host of great tools for marking & mapping your routes and will also show elevation information - awesome.

If you search by location to find bike routes near your own town that may be of interest - Fine tune your search to include Telford & Sunday Bike Ride to view my routes

My Sunday morning bike rides will be mapped here from now on with a link added to each Blog entry - I have already added a link on the 3 rides we have completed.

Anyone who completes one of our routes can log onto www.mapmyride.com add their comments & rate the ride.

Hopefully weather permitting we will out in the country lanes again this Sunday.

Sunday Morning IV - Cancelled

Call me a fair weather cyclist if you want but I had to cancel Sunday mornings planned outing due the torrential rain & high winds. The group had already decided in advance that if its rains - we don't ride. I suppose its just the time of year & we really should expect it, the ride will keep until next weekend.

Sue managed to get out on her mountain bike today doing her normal loop around Admaston, Bratton, Wellington & Bean Hill Wood & as usual Barney trotted along behind.