photo tracking in the rain

Last week I manged to borrow a GPS photo tracker from my mate Sue who runs the North Sheffield CLC (hope you enjoyed Glastonbury Sue!).

Didn't find the time to try it until Sunday when I found I had a spare hour between swimming with the family and the visit of in laws in the afternoon. So installed the software, got the GPS to find its location, synched it to my digital camera and set off toward Rivelin in the sunshine.

Going down by the allotments first near disaster, the tracker detached itself from the supplied lanyard and lodged in someone’s rhubarb. Retrieved and relocated it to cycling top pockets. Stopped to take various shots on the way, opted to wade through the ford rather than cycle it when I saw it was almost over the dog walkers wellington tops.

Just got to Coppice Lane when the weather comes in of the peaks. Driving rain now but opted to carry on up to Stannington just to keep warm. By now office camera was getting a bit upset at the weather so hasty trip down the valley side and back up through the woods. Almost dropped the camera in the river at one point which would have taken some explaining today at work.

Saw a newly cleared bridleway so headed down it for some shelter from the rain , only to realise it was rapidly taking me all the way back down to Rivelin Valley road. I didn’t want to have to come back up Hagg hill so I opted to head off the trail into the woods.

Now technically I wasn’t lost, I mean i had 3 GPS units with me (Garmin, Nokia N95 and the Photo Tracker) and i could hear Rivelin valley traffic but I did end up dragging the bike up a rocky outcrop and through a particularly sharp hedge to get back to Hagg Lane.

Reunited with the route I set of back home and had my one near disaster, my handlebar got caught on that new metal gateway which i supposed to keep motorbike off the trails. This pitched me sideways and I had that dreadful fraction of a second when the pedal decided it would be load mire fun to hang onto the shoe cleat.

Home safely, dried off, and then came the fun bit trying to get the supplied software to tag the pictures. I was getting nowhere till I twigged that the GPS was still using GMT not GMT +1 (British summer time...allegedly)

Uploaded the results onto Google earth where they worked perfectly. Then went ahead and added them to my Flickr map.

Here's the results, a rather damp but beautifully located set of photos



This is the little GPS unit.

http://flickr.com/photos/walkleyian/map/

Definitly need a new rear tyre on my cross bike as doesn't grip ot all in wet mud now.

7 hills blog on twitter

Just linked the 7hills blog through to @ianloasby on twitter. Post to check all is working

Catching up and Coppice Lane

Not blogged a few recent rides so heres a quick catch up...

Last Sunday, Jon's 5 valleys. Now I could only do the first part since i was down to take the kids to see Indiana Jones. Opened curtains at 8pm, grey Sunday. By 10pm it was heavy rain and I had no mudguards on, yeuch. Jon and I decided to press on as the only riders who had turned up, as we had to meet Charlotte at Loxley Common. Actually the rain stopped at that point and after a pleasant ride over the common I was a little sad to be heading home early from the cafe in Bradfield. Jon's come up with a classic route, so I hope more turn up to try it next time

Tuesday ride was a fast thrash out to Hathersage, I met the others up at Ringingow. Simon headed for the open air pool but the rest of us had a detour round Stannage in lovely evening sunshine before we all met up at the Little John. I headed home early, good to have a thrash back up the hill to Surprise View.

Thursday night , the western circular ride, well attended and we headed up to one of my favourite spots in Sheffield, Fulwood Head road. The rest pressed on to Dore on, but I had to head back to town early to pick up the Eee Pc to show to the IT imbibing mob at the Rising Sun.

Throw in a few short bridleway runs over the weekend, then tonight we had a run along Rivelin Valaley lanes (Sheffield forgotten gem ) and up Coppice Lane to Stannington. Now I've never done Coppice Lane before and its a challenge, steep, straight up, and with tarmac that has long since turned into rubble in places . Loved it. We then headed back to Damflask and up the steep West Lane to Loxley Common and a swift Ruddles in the Rose and Crown.

Think that's just about caught up with the last week rides, its bike week next week.

Oh and big Thumbs down to the the useless white van driver who tried to overtake me on Howard hill where it was far too narrow and forced me off the road . I see there still giving out driving licences in cornflake packets...

Bridleway Spin and PP meet

Successful PP meet today, transfer of membership secretary and treasurer sorted, .Plenty of good ideas round the table. One good idea was to adjourn to the Hillsborough hotel for post meet food and refreshment. Bit of a hot stuffy ride back up the hill on Birdy.

Went out for very short spin around Rivelin Valley bridleways, had several refreshing splashes through the ford. Noticed lots of movement in the water and saw it was totally swarming with tadpoles.

Chris's Spin , couple of photos

New Thursday Night Rides

A new venture for us, Thursday night rides.

Wasn't sure Id make this after a stop off in the Closed Shop on the way home but with the rain showers turning to a sunny evening thought Id better turn up.

5 off us headed out (me , Simon, Chris, Richard and Pete) through the most salubrious of the Fulwood suburbs before heading out via Lodge Moor and up past the observatory.

Up Roper hill and after 10 minutes or so looking at one of the best views you can get in Sheffield it was time to cut the ride short (chilly by now) and head back to the Rising Sun to plan some future events (Ghent I seem to recall being put suggested!)

Not the longest ride in the world but some cracking views over Sheffield all the way out into Lincolnshire

Spring sunshine at Stanage Edge

Tuesday ride.

Waited down at Coles but no one had turned up by 5.50pm so I set off on my own. Went through Bingham park, then rather stupidly turned up Highcliffe road, what a git of a hill that can be (hello to Nicola who overtook me in rather large Merc, yes it was hurting at that point). Reached High Storrs and felt like turning back to town , mental note, lower bottom gear needed

Decided to press on having climbed that far and headed on up Ringinglow (hello to Helen this time who was driving her 4 X4 back toward town, seems I'm going to meet all my work colleagues tonight!)

Kind of slipped into a groove at this point , forgot I was thinking of heading back at Ringinglow and found myself at Burbage. Having got that far it seemed a shame not to cycle past Stanage on a glorious spring evening (42 mph on the downhill) then onwards to Bamford Moor.

From there my umpteenth hundred ascent on the A57 back to Moscar. The hedges have all been cut back and the amount of rubbish the motorists have chucked out is sickening, some off it they even took time to bag up.

The sun had brought out the scooter jockeys on the snake , dozens of them out there enjoying the best sunny evening so far this spring, all of them pretty well behaved.

After passing the burnt out Norfolk arms (it wasn't such a bad pub) it was a quick spin back up Manchester Road and back before 8.

Hail in the woods

Typical April, after a reasonably bright day the hail stones started falling at 4pm and that didn’t bode well for this evenings spin. Actually by 5.30 things had improved and 3 of us blasted out to Ecclesall Woods to be in there in time for a 6pm tour of the impressive work that is going on out there. At the old sawmill.

By 7pm the weather had broken again and it was time for a hasty crash through the woods in more hail for a quick couple of jars in the Rising Sun at Whirlow.

Definitely worth a return to the woods soon when the spring weather improves and the bluebells have had time to open up again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesall_Woods

Holm Moss Ride report

Well here's the in depth account of Saturday's ride over Holm Moss......er it didn't happen.

The official line, nasty bout of asthma over the weekend kept me in bed, unofficially...not helped by a banging headache from Friday nights leaving do at work.

So Ive rescheduled for may 3rd, but at least that ll give me time to fit a more suitable set of gear ratios.

This is what it should have looked like......

The Tuesday ride - it started with the best intentions

The plan was simple, quick spin out to Dronfield, visit the Coach and Horses (CAMRA pub of the month) maybe a swift half then back to town avoiding the start of the Sheffield derby at the Lane.

Only two of us this week (my first Tuesday ride for ages) after a quick chat with Jon and Charlotte who were hanging about rather suspiciously outside Weatherspoons we set off avoiding the legions of police and horses getting ready for the game (I mean the Wednesday United game, not some bizarre event between coppers and horses).

The weather was spot on, showers were forecast but it was a sunny spring evening for us all the way out via Meersbrook Park (youth were kicking a ball onto the roof of the Bishop’s House, I assume he wasn’t in), then on via Norton, Greenhill Village Bradway Dronfield Woodhouse and up towards Holmesfield, before taking the little narrow lanes that go into Dronfield the back way.

Found the pub, it’s on the way back to Shef so well placed, very cosy place, I went for the Jaipur , Simon went for the Kipling. Now we had intended to head back when the CAMRA mob appeared but the evening went a little awry. A quick pint of Kipling, then we pooled our resources and found we just had enough for another beer (yes this means you Alistair Darling!). Then the presentation took place, then the free beer vouchers appeared and next thing we are persuaded by Kat (the pub’s manger from New Zeeland) that we should stay for a raffle.

So stay we did….now Im sure Simon bought the wining raffle ticket we had but I couldn’t possibly let him struggle back home with his panniers even more laden so I promptly stuffed a Jaipur T-shirt and a couple of bottles of Stout it into my Rucksack.

After that a quick spin back the short way, now so late that the game had finished and the crowds all disappeared so London Road was pretty quiet.

Maybe next week a bit more cycling and a bit less ale….maybe.

It’s Holm Moss on Saturday, but if the weather is a bad as last year’s run I may turn back at Holmfirth. Cycling over the snake in driving rain is not my idea of Saturday enjoyment!

back on track again

2 rides in a week (not counting to work and back!). Ok Ill admit its only the Rivelin loop and back but its a start. Not only that but I took the summer bike out as well, (p*nct*re on the commuter, have to fix it tonight)

I'm finally starting to forgive the BST GMT switch for screwing up my Sunday, I love lighter evenings.

Odd things on the road tonight, a pair of Lady's stiletto sandals , well I assumed they belonged to a lady......

Ice and snow forecast next week so make the best use of some early spring sun.

Rivelin Valley Bridleways

A quick trip out on the road bike today as I missed the run out to Wharncliffe woods.

A lot of work is going on on the bridleways that criss cross Rivelin Valley and Bole Hill. Ill head out that way next weekend with the camera and OS map and have a better look. Maybe try and work out some traffic free routes that link up.

Sunny Sunday on the Snake Pass

With the Snake Pass still closed due to a landslide we had to set off for a quiet traffic free run to the top, and what an amazing ride it was. It may be early February but by mid morning sun tan cream was needed, it was much more like a warm May Sunday.

The Snake was full of riders of all types enjoying a almost traffic free run , there seemed to be smiling happy groups of club riders from all over the North and Midlands , plus plenty of friendly walkers, and family groups on bikes near Hagg Farm.

What few cars came by were all courteous except for the one dickless wonder in a Range Rover, hooting at cyclists and passing by with only cm’s to spare despite having the whole road to use.

Return via the Ladybower and Strines Inns for a brilliant ride.

They should shut it once a month and hold a traffic free day up there.

5 in 4 weeks

another p*nct*re today, this time on the fixer that I'm now using for the very short commute from Walkley to Bartolome House on Winter Street.

Im using the old fixer as there is no secure parking here, it gets back up the hill ok on 42:18, bit of a drag coming down hill though as my blurring legs limit me to about 18 mph.

bl*ddy p*nct*r*s

Its a new year not only does Matthew Parris want to decapitate me, and an old man with a big white beard has been building a suspiciously large boat outside in the rain, i now find the p*nct*r* fairy living in my saddle bag.

4 punctures now in 2 weeks, none dramatic, all caused by tiny glass shards and Ive had the conti ultrasports pumped up well over 100psi. I think Ill replace these tyres ASAP , they also feel a bit unnervingly slippery on Sheffield's mud and diesel soaked roads.

Later edited to p0int out that I know its stopped raining now and we've had a few gloriously sunny and very mild January days

New winter bike

After two months waiting this came in the post.

Updated - Lights and bits and bobs like pedals now fitted, went out for a quick spin and its a very nippy winter bike, not sure how they manage to produce these for 350 quid. (not including the Brooks saddle). Its got a Mirage triple set up, a 13 - 23 on the back which i thought might be a bit high for Sheffield but was the only option offered, aluminium frame, carbon fibre forks, campag hubs and mavic rims . Just need to put some miles in now.

Lake District Post Card

Phil and Friends 2007

No blog posts for ages, blame it on work, trips to London (but not to le tour) work on the house and a chest infection that refused to go away for weeks. Finally managed to up the miles on the last 3 weeks leading up to Phil and Friends today. I’ve been going out to Hope and back every Saturday morning, joined in on the CTC ride last week (we rebelled on the way to Bolsterstone and made our way straight the Strines, sorry Ruth).

Woke up a 7 today, pulled back the curtain hoping to see the wet weather that was forecast and the sun was shining brightly, damn ill have to do it.

Met an old chap at Malin bridge, he looked like a veteran of many club runs so we twiddled our lowest cog up to Stannington at a fair old lick to get to the start.

Signed on then met Tim from the CTC rides (one of the Strines mutineers) and we started off. Straight away we met another Tim , Tim “the Duracell bunny” Hess so we hung about while he signed on. Tim (Hess) had clearly decided he was going to tackle to ride at a much faster pace than us; he must have had a fresh set of cells on board so he got on the tail of a faster group at Bradfield and disappeared into the distance. I was taking it very easy to make sure id last the distance so we were often overtaken.

Nice long run down to Ewden Beck then onto the first real climb of the day. Took it easy as I knew the climb went on a bit, near the top Jon Cotton, Dave Bailie and young James flew past us. Rain started on the way to Holmfirth so we all caped up and pressed on to the breakfast stop. Dave John and James already there. Chris Buck who mailed me about the route turned up next soon followed by Andy wild on a borrowed cyclecross bike and some other familiar faces from PP rides.

Rain stopped so Tim and I set off up Holme Moss, it’s a long drag but it seemed to go ok. Took it easy but by this time we finally started to catch and overtake some other riders. No 55mph descent from the top today, far too greasy after the rain so came down in the high 20s with the brakes on

On the Devil’s elbow road and we seemed to pick up good speed and were overtaking quite a few riders, maybe the slow start had paid off. Into Glossop in heavy rain, saw Dave Baillie’s group bikes at the café but we opted to press on. The Chunal climb wasn’t as hard as I remembered from before and we made good speed but the same could not be said of Hayfield and Chinley. We were down to a slow crawl now and the Dave Bailie group came past us like we were stood still and promptly disappeard into the distance.

Into Chapel, quick snack and you know the worst is over (if you’re doing the 100k that is!)

Slight tail wind up Rushup edge, first sign of the bonk at the top so the little climb up to Mam Tor had me in a bit of trouble. Stopped for more snacks then the downhill to Edale and the next feed point, opted not to visit the jolly Rambler pub this time round. By this time the sun was back out and we made good speed down to Hope then on up to Moscar, forgoing the chance of pint at the Ladybower.

Fastest part of the day for me, the top road back to Stannington, didn’t even have to stop when the chain bounced off on a pothole and back to Lomas Church Hall, 75 miles, 6 ½ hours and nearly 10000 feet of climbs.

Found that Dave Ballie and co were still there having refreshment, James has to refuel every 20 miles so he must have hollow legs. Swift pint of shandy in the pub and back to Walkley.

Very pleased that the ride didn’t seem too bad this year, although Chinley and Chunnel are still awful, and very pleased not to be doing that extra 30 mile loop this year, maybe come back for that in 2008 if Im better prepared

So if you have never done Phil and Friends , you are prepared to grind up a few long hills and you have a compact or a triple chainset you should be Ok Must email Tim Hess and see just how quick he got round

Heron in the Park

Waiting to meet the others for the 4 valleys ride on Saturday I spotted this Heron looking very regal on the island in middle of the Hillsborough park lake.

all t'way round

At least once a year I haul myself up Winnats Pass just to say its been done and for the reward of the plunge down over Mam Nick to Barber Booth and the wonderful ride down the Vale of Edale. This year we did it as a Tuesday evening ride, it was a cracking late spring evening, sunny but with just enough breeze to keep cool on the climbs. 12 turned out for the ride and I think that’s the best turnout to an evening ride we have ever had outside of bike week.

Ill let the others blog the main ride in more details; I want to talk about someone I met up on the Moscar road.

I had a few errands to sort out so I agreed to meet the rest out at Bamford, and I rode my old commuting route to Carbolite on the A57 over Moscar. It’s a busy road, a pleasing number of motorists did pass at a suitable distance , but plenty came by too close and being a sunny evening the born again motor bikers and sports cars were all out for the mad thrash over to the Snake to Glossop and back .

Just heading up toward the old isolation hospital at Hollow Meadows I could see a mountain biker in the distance , then as Father Dougal McGuire never quite grasped, I realised it wasn’t a large cyclist in the distance at all, he or she was just a very small cyclist quite close . I caught up and found a young lad giving his all on a bike just a touch too large for him, not much older than our Patrick, Id say around 12 - 13 years sold.

I was a bit shocked and concerned at first seeing this little lad on his own surrounded by the speeding cars and motorbikes that seemed oblivious to him. I overtook him and asked if he had far to go. A broad Sheffield / North Derbyshire accent said proudly,

“Ive been all t'way round and me house is just o'er hill”

He pointed in the general direction of the few houses up at Moscar top. I said cheerio and carried on up the hill to Moscar Moors as I needed to make time up to meet the other’s (I didn’t I was 10 mins late ).

As I headed on up I realised how wrong it was to be shocked seeing this young lad on the road, he had just a much right as the rest of them and he was doing a sterling job. I wondered just how many miles “ all t’way round “ was for the lad from Moscar Top.

Drifting off in one of those flashback moments...

Down in the East Midlands in 1977 a 13 year old boy gets his first real road bike, a 10 speed Puch Freespirt with drops and a 23” frame that would be slightly too big for him even 30 years later. A wide ratio 34 tooth rear block was good for wheelies in the street but meant the bike could go up hills and haul camping gear. A summer spent working on a farm in Northamptonshire (75p an hour) resulted in a set of hand made alloy wheels from Renolds cycles in Northampton, pannier carriers and Karrimoor panniers. A few years later that same frame took me and my camping gear from Kettering to Barber Booth and on to Edale.

It took 3 days to get up to Edale via Drayton manor, Fenny Bentley, and Buxton mostly on minors roads. A couple of days in Edale included being chucked out of the Jolly Rambler for underage drinking and going straight on at the bottom of the hill into Barber Booth as neither of us knew there was a bend there and old Weinmann centre pulls couldn’t quite stop the bike . We went back via Whatstandwell and on to Kettering, a 95 mile day in the saddle on Chuck and Di’s royal wedding day.