C2C Day 3

After a night in the interesting town of Stanhope (which doesn't have a restaurant and raffle tickets are like a red rag to the locals!) we headed up a nice hill before the steady descent to Tynemouth. A nice warm down apart from the odd sprint for points along the way! Jezz was on great form and led the pace all the way, although there were rumours he had been on a lucozade drip throughout the night!










A great first expedition which has whetted the appetite for another trip. Dom has spotted a lake district 122 miler which takes in 6 big climbs- this could be a 2 day trip and would be quite easy to do.
Phil get your thinking cap on and come up with a good challenge for us to take on.

C2C Day 2

My favourite day of the trip, amazing scenery and tough hills!

Dom warms up in a luxury b&b to get rid of any stiffness and Jez tries to sort his speedo so the hills go a bit quicker!




Some good hills conquered! Jez has a light lunch on top of hartside while trying to break the record for the number of lucozades consumed in one day!

C2C Day 1

After a great American style breakfast at chez Jez we set off in the 'support' vehicle!!


We then found the start of the C2C and posed for some pics!




A fairly comfortable first day although the Penrith 10 mile signs seemed to last for 5 miles!So we decided to have a beer to see us through to the finish!







Only problem of Day 1, which did teach me a few lessons:
1) Panniers that get trapped in the spokes get ripped to shreds.
2) Dom had preferential treatment at dirt wheels as my frame was dodgy.
3) Don't be a cheap skate and buy decent gear! (bike tools included!)

Here we go....

After admitting defeat with the panniers I visited the experienced adventurer who helped me to fit them. One slight problem with a bolt so let's hope it holds for the weekend. I've now packed them up and amazed by the weight difference- not fancying the hills now! Despite an adverse weather forecast (which looks a bit like moscow!) really looking forward to the journey now.

Good luck boys!

Joined Dom, Jonathan and Jezz on a test ride tonight with their panniers. Interesting start: Dom's log-loaded panniers seemed to hold up OK, Jezz was less successful with his panniers, calling it a day after they got tangled up in the spokes after 3 miles and Jonathan (having attempted to put his rack on backwards!) left his at home and let Dom do the testing!



15,16,17, logs...


I know I've forgotten something...


High-level techincal info JP...



Which way round will it go?


Once again, good luck boys!


PS 47.4 mph on the way down East Chevin Road and was holding back a bit. Could 50 mph be possible?! Sacry thought!

Still humid...

Hard to catch your breath today at work, so it was nice to get out with Dom for a quick cycle this afternoon. The humid weather and the hiily route made it feel like hard work!

Here's the route:

July Outlook

Well I'll be thinking of you boys as I saunter around Turkey's backroads in the European heat. I'm sure you'll enjoy your C2C but to be honest, the weather's not looking up to much:

Humid evening ride

Good hilly ride with JP (Champagne Cyclist) and Dom. Really humid evening, but good fun checking out some new roads. Could be worth taking a right where we turned off left after North Rigton boys?

Why does it always....

rain on me? Great ride out this morning, despite a very heavy downpour
at Bolton Abbey. This is a new trend as Dom and I got soaked on Tuesday
night when riding with the group.I'm still enjoying it and quite like taking on
the elements! However, let's hope the weather is better for coast to coast
next week!

Rainy ride

Did Barden loop with Jonathan this morning. Rainy, windy and much colder than it has been but still lots of fun.

Getting packed up

I now know a lot more about how my expedition bike works after taking it almost to bits to pack it up for Turkey! It now fits snugly away in a bike bag ready for the plane journey.



Off to pack the panniers now...

Embedding maps

Absolutely Nothing...

...to do with cycling:

Ilkley Loop

Nice cycle with Dom to Middelton, above Ilkley tonight (route below with a Pool loop extension).

View down to Ilkley from Middleton



Cycling Lesson no 46b: Don't stick your fingers in the spokes when cycling along at 19mph.

Embedding maps (properly!)

Mapped a ride I want to do later. I've tried to embed it below. Does it work?

Tuesday

My very first blog....monumental.

Tuesday was great. I reckon we had an average speed around 15 or 16 mph? What do you think?

First Group Ride

Had the pleasure of joining Dom and 6 other members of Dirt Bikes cycle club on a 'brisk' 32 mile ride tonight. We headed out to Ilkley, Bolton Abbey, Bardon Mills and then home. This was the first time I'd ridden in a larger group and I loved it!

I'm sure the guys we rode with were taking it easy and although it felt like a bit of a cup final ride for me, both of us held our own. Here's the route and elevation:

New Member

Hello, just checking my new rights work. Looking forward to getting some posts on the blog.

Camera

I've been gutted not to have a camera with me on the last two rides I've been on as the weather and scenery have been so good. So I invested in a new toy yesterday. I bought the Panasonic DMC-ZX3 which seems to take a quality photo but is small enough to fit in my pocket when I'm cycling.

Here it is:


And here are a couple of trial photos I took tonight on a ride round Creskeld Lane and back to Otley via Pool.

View towards Almscliffe Crag from Leeds Road:



And here is the obligatory self-portrait (what a $%£*!):

Summerbridge

GREAT cycle with JP and Dom today (33.86m). We set off early as all 3 had Summer Fayre duties (!) so it wasn't too hot. Awesome scenery, good company, challenging hills and all round good fun!

Here's the route and elevation:

Reverse Ilkley Loop

Cycled up to Bramhope to meet JP, Dom and Jezz and then set off to do the Cow and Calf Loop in the opposite direction from how we normally cycle it (31.76m).

Beautiful evening with warm temperatures.

Amazing how much easier it felt this way with the gradual climb rather than the steep Cow and Calf from Ilkley. Particularly well done to Jezz who thought he was off for a gentle ride!

Map and Elevation: