Bike Life

Thursday, 20 February 2014

Watercourses - Phoenix Green to Winchester & back

Phoenix Green - Winchester & Back

Distance:	72.12 mi
Time:	5:06:36
Avg Speed:	14.1 mph
Elevation Gain:	2,312 ft
Calories:	3,592 C

After record breaking rain fall and regular storm force winds, today was relatively calm, dry and spring like. However, the prospect of getting wet feet is extremely likely at the moment as journeys through flooded roads are frequent and unavoidable.

I hadn't planned a ride of this length but in the midst of frustration and having network connection problems, and a general sense of declining weekly mileage, I decided it was time to take off and restore some sanity.

Underneath the Arches.......

Lunch stop at the Cathedral

I did the return leg of this route last February and at that time the cold 'beast from the East' was the issue. This year it was all about how to avoid water!

Bubbling up - Water running down Springvale road, Kingsworthy

The Itchen and its tributaries had clearly affected parts of Winchester and surrounding villages and places like Kingsworthy and the Candovers have been flooded due to ground water running downhill off adjacent farmland. The water table is simply unable to take anymore.

Mmm........ride through it or do a five mile diversion?!! A dog walker told me this was about a foot and a half deep
- do-able but wet feet for sure.

Overflow from the River Dever at Stoke Charity

Snowdrops - Micheldever

Picture postcard and not flooded - Micheldever

A stop at fifty miles for sustenance near Woodmancott, rewarded with a view and the sun breaking through

View east near Woodmancott

....and by way of bonus........ it was still light for an hour after getting home.

Another foot soaking but that's become a regular occurrence!

The Route

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/448135234

Thursday, 30 January 2014

The Hills.....The Hills.......Pootles around Pembrokeshire - August 2013

Welsh rides - Cycling (some of) the Pembrokeshire Coast

One advantage of not taking a holiday abroad is that you can strap your bike to the back of the family car and take it with you. My lot are quite 'relaxed' about getting up n the morning when we are on holiday, giving me a chance to get out early each morning and explore on two wheels before their day gets under way.

I spent five days cycling out from our base in Tenby to different parts of the stunning Pembrokeshire coast.

One important lesson was learnt on Ride 1: hugging the coast on local roads requires a lot of sharp ascents and descents and can prove to be very hard work but worth the views.

I took the Tourer and was on occasions glad of the granny ring despite the weight of the bike. I wasn't sure what I would find but in the event most surfaces were of excellent quality for road cycling.

Many miles this week were done on NCN Route 4, the other end of which I use on commute rides near the Thames.

Coastal Road to Freshwater West

....and a skyscape to savour.

Strange dunes ahead - leaving Freshwater beach

All important Ginger Cake for those steep ascents

On NCN Route 4 Tenby - Pembroke

Tall Tower - Church at Lamphey

Pembroke Castle

.....had a touch of this at the end of the week!

Beautifully kept church at St. Florence

View of the Texaco Oil Refinery at Pembroke

Coast View

Manorbier

Early Morning - Tenby

Wide Cycle lane - Over the Cledau Bridge

Cake Stop - Neyland

Brunel Cycle trail

The Brunel Trail follows the path of an old railway from Neyland to Haverfordwest

Car Free!

Sustenance

Muddy end for a bike - Pembroke

Pembroke Castle

Sunny morn - Tenby

The impressive Carew Castle

Carew Castle

Church at Carew Cheriton

Lawrenny

Carew Newton

Cycle path tunnel - Saundersfoot

Bit of coastal off-roading

Pastel Street - Templeton

Road though Amroth. By January 2014 this road would be a pile of collapsed rubble due to heavy storms and excessive rainfall.

Rain sets in .......

Monday, 2 December 2013

Summer Visibility - Bakewell Soap challenge August 2013

Unloved.....

In August, I signed up for a Facebook-based cycling challenge called 'Bike Visibility', organised
by The Bakewell Soap Company. There were 316 entrants and the concept was as follows;

''A Distance Race With A Visual Twist
This is a challenge that anyone with a bike can participate in. Your rides can be taken anywhere in the UK, even if you take your bikes on holiday, you could be commuting by bike to work for the two weeks or simply going on family rides at the weekends.
However you decide to participate, the format is simple, we just want your mileage and more importantly your photo’s and videos to go with it.
We're after photos with captions and/or videos of what you see and where you are as you venture out. The most compelling photo and video stories will be showcased.
The first Bike Visibility Challenge Champ will be crowned on September 1st after the judges have whittled down stand-out journeys to just one. If we can't separate the top entries it will come down to total Endomondo mileage covered over the two weeks.''

Week 1 was a normal commuting week but still plenty of opportunities to record what goes on around me.
Week 2 was my family Holiday in Wales.........well, I'd started the challenge....so I had to take the bike too!

Happy to say I got third on the total Mileage but happier still that they liked my photos.

Here is a selection of some of the pics from my Summer Commute routes. Week 2's photos can be seen under my next posting - looking back my Welsh Week when I was at the other end of NCN Route 4.