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macksmid’s Activities | RunKeeper.
Sonkingly good ride today, a new PB of 58 miles in the bag. Started off going into Oxford along the A40 which was actually ok, nice cycleway right into the city centre. Through Oxford was a bit of a novelty as the route goes right through the heart of the city in and out of backstreets and over rivers here there and everwhere, not very scenic if i’m honest as the better scenery is the other side of the city.
From here on the path gets a bit sketchy, very rough in places not really skinny tyred race bike stuff, more MTB, the route through to Radley lakes and Abingdon was similar gnarly towpaths and shale path, bit slow going really.
Had intended to go via my work at the power station but as it was a bit rough at that point I went through Appleford and cut the corner off. Some nice little hills around Wittenham clumps ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittenham_Clumps ) and a steady pace through Wallingfords town centre crossing the Thames yet again. From here on it was a mixture of lanes that were rather nice all the way over the Chilterns ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilterns ) Nice MTB routes that I need to suss out.
Anyway following the Chiltern cycleway into Reading I was a bit short of my target of 50 mile so I detoured through Emmer green and on toward Henley on Thames ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley-on-Thames) and back along the Henley road to Reading and the inlaws.
Great ride for me and I felt I could go another 20 with a decent rest and a bit of grub.
Polar stats:
Average heart: 131 bpm
Calories: 3356
Distance: 58 miles
Average speed: 13.1 miles
Ride time: 04:23:21










22 Mile Night Ride with the Witney Wheelers (MTB)
October 16, 2010 — smiddyslifeAnother great ride with the Witney wheelers guys out toward Long handborough. Started out at a nice fast pace so was blowing a bit in the first 10 minutes but managed to settle into it, the pace was way faster than I am normally used to which is great for improving my stamina, got left behind a bit on the hills but generally managed to keep up with them.
Bloody bike light packed up after 8 miles and right in the middle of a gnarly old wood so I spent the rest of the ride on my Cree 230 lumen helmet torch which was just about ok, I’ve emailed bestofferbuy.com with my problem and so far have had good correspondence from them, will wait and see the outcome as it’s still a cracking light for the price.
Had some scary moments in a couple of bomb holes that I hadn’t ridden before steep steep steep side walls, had a bit of an off near the rim so would like to have a crack in daylight to see how I go. Some very nice woody sections that I’ve not been before so all in all a great ride for me and the fact I’m being pushed is a real bonus to my fitness levels.
Runmeter Stats:
Started: 14 Oct 2010 18:52:44
Ride Time: 2:23:02
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 21.77 miles
Average: 9.13 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 27.33 miles/h
Climb: 609 feet
Calories: 1394