Scenic ride in Yorks/Lancs, June 23rd

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by andy_wrx

Count me as a Very Probable now... If it's absolutely p1$$1ing down, I'd rather not suffer it, but if it's sunny-through-to-damp, I'll be there Sunday.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Okay Andy. It's looking like sunny-through-to-damp at the mo' so hopefully we will see you.

The only reason I want to know the names of those who are definitely coming is so we know whether to wait if someone is late arriving for some reason. We've had rides before where we waited for people who didn't turn up.

Anybody who wants to turn up unannounced is welcome to, but get there early! If all the people on the list are ready to go at 09:55, we might go then, we won't necessarily just hang about in case anyone else decides to arrive at the last minute.

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

andy_wrx · June 2007

AAAARRRGGGHHH !
- it's Saturday isn't it, not Sunday ???

For some reason I had it in my head it was Sunday (in fact, see my post 'I'll see you Sunday if it's not p1$$!ng down')

Hmm. Can't now come, unfortunately.

I'm lead-out bike at our running club 5K (which does give me my only chance to cross the finishline first...although in another race last month I had to work quite hard to stay in front of the runners on my chunky-tyred MTB - turned out the bloke I'd noticed before the start and thought of as 'the African looking guy' is actually an ex-member of the Kenyan national squad, over here as a student...)

Ooops !

why is it sunny all week yet rains at weekends ?

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by andy_wrx

AAAARRRGGGHHH !
- it's Saturday isn't it, not Sunday ???

For some reason I had it in my head it was Sunday (in fact, see my post 'I'll see you Sunday if it's not p1$$!ng down')

Hmm. Can't now come, unfortunately.

I'm lead-out bike at our running club 5K (which does give me my only chance to cross the finishline first...although in another race last month I had to work quite hard to stay in front of the runners on my chunky-tyred MTB - turned out the bloke I'd noticed before the start and thought of as 'the African looking guy' is actually an ex-member of the Kenyan national squad, over here as a student...)

Ooops !

why is it sunny all week yet rains at weekends ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Oh, yes, ooops here too!

As I mentioned to Nick(will) above, I'm planning a century ride for late July. Perhaps you might be interested in that? Details in a new thread in a couple of weeks time after I get back from watching Le Tour Dahn Sath.

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

oldnewbikercp · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Nickwill

Sorry folks, I can't make it. My 50th is coming up in early July, and this next weekend is the only one when the whole of my immediate family is free to get together to celebrate/commiserate.

I was really looking forward to seeing everyone. Maybe we can arrange another ride before the Summer is out!

You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles
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Tee Heee you old git .Dont worry its not as bad as they make out being 50 that is[;)]New bike for birthday?

Ive a dream a titanium machine.
Garlic MARMITE and milklesstea exponent.

andy_wrx · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">century ride for late July<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yeah, I should be up for that...

...unless you insist on doing 100miles-worth of those horrible hills you seem to like including ![:0]

No, should be alright. Just include a tea stop halfway.
Or a couple of feedstations and chip-timing.[;)]

I'm doing a Tri on 15th (I think - Sunday in middle of July anyway), but if it's one of the two weekends after that, should be OK for me.

why is it sunny all week yet rains at weekends ?

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by andy_wrx

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">century ride for late July<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yeah, I should be up for that...

...unless you insist on doing 100miles-worth of those horrible hills you seem to like including ![:0]

No, should be alright. Just include a tea stop halfway.
Or a couple of feedstations and chip-timing.[;)]

I'm doing a Tri on 15th (I think - Sunday in middle of July anyway), but if it's one of the two weekends after that, should be OK for me.

why is it sunny all week yet rains at weekends ?
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It will be one of the last two weekends in July. It is about 166 km (103 miles) from Mytholmroyd and back. Just over 3,000 m of climbs, including a few steep ones. Several potential stops, though some are at the foot of big climbs so I'd rather avoid them. Anyway, another thread, another time... [:)]

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

ColinJ · June 2007

Carpe Diem has just let me know that he has unexpected family commitments, so he can't make it on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of you again, and Phil C for the first time.

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by johnbirkby46213

on the off chance this gets cancelled (due to weather etc) can someone give a shout on here to let me know given the distance i'm travelling. Hoping to come up on friday night btw

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2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..
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Hi again John. As promised, here is one final update. The weather forecast is a little disappointing for tomorrow - overcast and damp, but the ride is on! Including you, there should be 6 of us. Looking forward to seeing you again. Apologies in advance for the toughness of a couple of the hills, but they are a necessary evil to get us to places that we don't normally get to!

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

Phil C · June 2007

Looking forward to this and to meeting you all - should be a good day out! [:)]
I'll be on a red trek pilot, by the way, Phil

johnbirkby46213 · June 2007

Will drive up a bit later tonight then. have "borrowed/hired" new bike from shop to try out. Thank G*d it has a triple.....
Just put my bottle racks on and went for a quick 10min spin around the village. EEEEK. Horrid, all i could think of was my poor backside. Put my Brookes on it. Ahhhhhhh Comfort restored and the bike seemed very enjoyable.
Still scared witless by colins grovels tho!

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2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..

Blonde · June 2007

Lovely ride ColinJ - thanks for organising it, and thanks to all for the company. Nice to meet some new folk too. 85 miles in total for us. A good day out!

Warburton · June 2007

Nice to see everyone again and some new faces too!

Another great route Colin - up to your usual standard with fantastic scenery and some brutal hills chucked in.

Well done to Mark for the roadside repairs - very educational!

Blonde · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Warburton

Another great route Colin - up to your usual standard with fantastic scenery...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yes, I did wonder what he meant by 'I know a nicer route..'

I was right, it did mean steeper.

frustruck · June 2007

hi all
Finally remembered my login details, so thanks very much Colin for a super ride - dang hard though. I looked at my GPS log and it registered 2,100m total climb, not bad for 80km!

Nice to meet some new faces and I loved the gigantic slab of carrot cake at Coldwell Activity Centre - which is my side of the Pennines so I'll certainly go there again.

I'll undertake to organiase a Ribble valley loop a little later in the year, starting from Whalley probably, idea would flat/hill/flat etc. Will probably do a GPS route for it once I get the hang of Tracklogs (only got it on Friday).

cheers
Christophe

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by frustruck

hi all
Finally remembered my login details, so thanks very much Colin for a super ride - dang hard though. I looked at my GPS log and it registered 2,100m total climb, not bad for 80km!

Nice to meet some new faces and I loved the gigantic slab of carrot cake at Coldwell Activity Centre - which is my side of the Pennines so I'll certainly go there again.

I'll undertake to organiase a Ribble valley loop a little later in the year, starting from Whalley probably, idea would flat/hill/flat etc. Will probably do a GPS route for it once I get the hang of Tracklogs (only got it on Friday).

cheers
Christophe
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Hi Christophe - it was nice to meet you and Phil C on Saturday. Nice to see everyone else again too. We were really lucky with the weather - it has been awful since Saturday round here. I've just been told that the sandbags are coming out in the centre of Hebden Bridge because it looks like there will be flooding if the rain doesn't stop soon.

Those figures agree very closely with my Memory Map data - a pretty lumpy ride wasn't it [:D]! I think the only problem with the route was the lack of a decent warmup before hitting that brutish climb of Stocks Lane out of Luddenden village. I found that really hard work... If I arrange a ride something like that again, I'll allow for an optional warm-up ride before the main one!

The ride from Whalley sounds good. The 100+ miler I was talking about on Saturday would pass through Whalley twice so it might be possible for us to coordinate and link rides. I was thinking either Sunday July 22nd or a week later on the 29th. I could equally well make the Saturdays though.

That part of my route goes: Whalley, Billington, Ribchester, Longridge, Chipping, Oakenclough, round the back of those big hills and over the Trough of Bowland, Dunsop Bridge, Newton, Waddington Fell, Waddington, Great Mitton, Whalley. That loop comes to 81 km with 1,400 m of climbs. That is doing the 'Trough' from the easier side, but Waddington Fell from the harder side. Obviously it could just as easily be done the other way round. If you climb out of Whalley to the A671, there is a picnic centre opposite the traffic lights. I think there is free parking there (might be locked up in the evening - need to check). There is always an ice-cream van there which is handy if it is a hot day and you fancy something cold and refreshing. There is the cafe at Whalley Abbey of course. I'm not sure what parking in the town is like.

I'm not trying to hijack your ride, just thought that you might be interested in taking a look at my suggestion.

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

ColinJ · June 2007

A special mention goes out to John... For a self-confessed 'flatlander' you did pretty well on Saturday! I couldn't stay with you on most of those climbs. I only started to catch up with you as you got tired towards the end.

That Specialized Roubaix was a very nice bike (complete with triple!), but the jury is still out on its curved crossbar!

I hope that I see you all again soon. Maybe some of you would like to meet up for the ride I'm planning for late July? See above for details of the Bowland half of my route. Details of the other half later.

PS Andrew (Warburton) - enjoy the rest while you can! All the best to you and your family.

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

johnbirkby46213 · June 2007

Thanks for organising the ride Colin. dare I say "I enjoyed it". As usual the company was most excellent, the cafe stop was great and I'm glad my little input re chain mending helped! I think Mark was feeling a little tired by that time hence the minor error.
Yeah I am in love with the bike. Wow what a difference and about a 1000km down this year on last so contrary to Mr Armstrong "It really is about the bike!" Am also not sure about the curved top tube but hey, you don't see it whilst on the bike and at the end of the day, the thing is for riding not admiring. And everything they say in the magazines is true. It really really is superbly comfortable (possibly even more than my beloved but heavy Thorn) and whether its down to those wierd Zertz inserts or the curved top tube ..who knows . But as a package it works together really really well.
But where the heck am I going to get the requisite number of pennies from????

I think "mad of the day" awards go to Blonde and Mark for the ridiculous before and after ride they inflicted on themselves. At least Warby had the sense to get wifey to collect him - otherwise he'd have been a firm candidate as well!

Thanks again. I'll let you know how my bank robbery shapes up.....

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2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..

Phil C · June 2007

Thanks a lot Colin for organising this - I really enjoyed the ride and all your company.

As I mentioned I've recently moved and am still learning my way around this area - the ride helped me to improve my knowledge of local roads. I really enjoyed the view north towards the Yorkshire dales and want to go back and explore that direction sometime... Also it was v useful to learn about the cafe serving industrial sized carrot cake on the top of the moors. Could be a lifesaver!

I was getting pretty tired by the end of the ride and watched Blonde and Mark disappear into the distance at a rapid rate of knots on the way back towards Todmorden. I do have a theory that after a time your bike develops a kind of homing instinct, so you can get the last bit home almost effortlessly. But I don't have that here yet, so I had to stop for a flapjack.[;)]

I'll certainly be interested if there is anything else planned. Phil.

johnbirkby46213 · June 2007

Hi guys, I forgot to mention that I'd really appreciate the total kms of the route, the time taken to complete the ride, max speed etc etc. Wierd riding without a computer...I kept looking down expecting to see it.

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2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by johnbirkby46213

Hi guys, I forgot to mention that I'd really appreciate the total kms of the route, the time taken to complete the ride, max speed etc etc. Wierd riding without a computer...I kept looking down expecting to see it.

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>
2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Hi John - I've just emailed you my tracklog so you can see exactly what we did, where, and when. Or rather, you can see what I did! You were usually just ahead of me on the road, but obviously we ended up doing the same average speed. If you load the tracklog into Memory Map you can see from the squiggly patches where we had our various stops.

See you next time.

PS I'm hoping to ride down through the Peak District to the midlands on Friday, if the rain dies down a bit by then. It's a ride that I've long wanted to do, but it was beyond my one-day range until this year. It will be about the same degree of difficulty as my extended Pain in the Pennines ride a couple of weekends ago, but I'll be carrying a lot more on the bike. 210 km and over 3,500 m of hills [:0]!

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

johnbirkby46213 · June 2007

At first glance it looked as tho' you have a newer version of MMaps and it won't talk to my version. I'll have another go at it over the weekend. If I still can't, can you drop screen dumps of the ride onto 2/ or 3 word docs and I'll manually copy it?
To all who went on the ride...The shop has made me an offer on the test bike. œ1600 rather than the ask of œ1999.

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2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..

Blonde · June 2007

Jeez! That's a very expensive bike ride! Why can't they give you a full refund? It wasn't damaged was it?

johnbirkby46213 · June 2007

LOL - sorry I didn't make myself clear!! The shop let me have the test bike free for the weekend as they gave me a full refund on my credit card. However they rang me on Tuesday to ask if I'd be interested in buying that test bike.

JB

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2 minute grovels can sometimes be a lot longer..

Blonde · June 2007

Ah! That makes more sense! Are you buying it then?

Scenic ride in Yorks/Lancs, June 23rd

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