Snake Pass shut (except weekends) until end of July 2007
ColinJ
Posts: 2,218
I did a search to see if this has already been mentioned but I can't find any reference to it...
I was riding up from Coventry to Hebden Bridge yesterday and when I got to Hathersage I was confronted by a curt notice saying "Snake Pass closed from 09/07/2007 for 3 weeks - find an alternative route" - very helpful! If you are planning a weekday trip over the Pass in July - think again!
I'd ridden down a couple of weeks ago over Holme Moss and Snake Pass, and there was no mention of coming roadworks, but I did notice how good the surface of Snake Pass was on the Glossop side and how awful it was on the Hathersage side. The work obviously needed doing but I think that more notice would have been nice. I decided to come back over Strines instead. That looked particularly lovely in the sunshine but I'd had a bugger of a cross/headwind all day and climbing the 25% section into the wind with 15 lbs of luggage on the bike wasn't much fun :? To cap it all, the road to Langsett was also closed for repairs so I then had another diversion to follow!
I was riding up from Coventry to Hebden Bridge yesterday and when I got to Hathersage I was confronted by a curt notice saying "Snake Pass closed from 09/07/2007 for 3 weeks - find an alternative route" - very helpful! If you are planning a weekday trip over the Pass in July - think again!
I'd ridden down a couple of weeks ago over Holme Moss and Snake Pass, and there was no mention of coming roadworks, but I did notice how good the surface of Snake Pass was on the Glossop side and how awful it was on the Hathersage side. The work obviously needed doing but I think that more notice would have been nice. I decided to come back over Strines instead. That looked particularly lovely in the sunshine but I'd had a bugger of a cross/headwind all day and climbing the 25% section into the wind with 15 lbs of luggage on the bike wasn't much fun :? To cap it all, the road to Langsett was also closed for repairs so I then had another diversion to follow!
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Is it just for cars, can bikes get through?
On the weekend of the York rally the A59 at Blubberhouses was closed to traiffic, but it was great on a bike as it was so quiet.
george0 -
jibi wrote:Is it just for cars, can bikes get through?
On the weekend of the York rally the A59 at Blubberhouses was closed to traiffic, but it was great on a bike as it was so quiet.
george
To be honest, I wondered about that myself, but I was on a long hard ride and the thought of riding all the way up and getting turned back towards the top, then having to come back down and do Strines anyway was too much for me!
I did 'The North-West Passage' earlier in the year (a 200 km audax out of Rochdale) and had decided to ride in to the start. I'd planned to go in on a tiny lane but when I got to it, there was a 'ROAD CLOSED' notice. "Hah, not for me, I'm a cyclist!" thought I, so I rode past the sign. Then I came to two massive concrete blocks in the road. They looked serious about this... I dismounted and squeezed between the blocks. Then rode round the piles of rubbish and broken glass littering the route. I even persevered when I came to a 3 foot diameter metal pipe laid across the road. It was the 8 foot high wire fence across the road on the fringes of The World's Largest Building Site that persuaded me to turn back - sometimes 'closed' does mean closed
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Still on here then Colin ?
I'd have tried it, seen if you could get though on the bike (remember that road that was closed on the Spring into the Dales ? There was a footpath built so we all just rode/walked round the big hole).
Even if not, think of the detour as extra training.
If coming from that side, if you couldn't get through at least you'd only have to turn round and go back down the hill, which has to be psychologically better than back up it...0 -
Hi Andy.andy_wrx wrote:Still on here then Colin ?
I'd have tried it, seen if you could get though on the bike (remember that road that was closed on the Spring into the Dales ? There was a footpath built so we all just rode/walked round the big hole).
Even if not, think of the detour as extra training.
If coming from that side, if you couldn't get through at least you'd only have to turn round and go back down the hill, which has to be psychologically better than back up it...
Yes, I'm still 'here' but not totally happy with the forum changes. Hopefully it will all be sorted out.
I know how tough Strines is so I didn't want to add anything before tackling it! I've only tried once before and I ended up walking it. It was so steep that I took my Look shoes off and did it in stockinged feet! I was pretty pleased to get up it yesterday, but I did have the advantage of my low-geared Basso ( 30/39/52, 14-28 ).
I found the going difficult yesterday. When I rode down to Coventry, I got all the hard hilly stuff over with in the first half and my ride got easier and easier as I got towards the finish. I'd been nervous about doing it all in reverse with the Derbyshire and West Yorkshire hills coming as I started to tire, then I got a tough swirly headwind a lot of the time. By the time I got to Hathersage, I just wanted to get Snake Pass and Holme Moss out of the way because I still had some testing climbs to come (Digley Reservoir, the drag out of Meltham, the nasty climb of Scapegoat Hill out of Slaithwaite, and then a final one up to Barkisland). It did my head in to be sent off course. I'd been following the route on my Etrex GPS, so once I diverted, I had to rely on memory and some rather poor maps I'd printed out. In the end I took nearly 14 hours to do 213 km. I'd hoped to do it in about 11!
I was carrying a lot of extra weight, it was windy, and there was about 4,000 m of climbing, some of it at 25% gradient, so I reckon I got enough 'training' in for one ride!
See you about,
Colin.0 -
its an absolute massive bitch!!!
my favourite rides are up there!
any of you from the glossop area?0 -
Hi,
I deliver the post up the Snake and it is definately shut as they are scraping about 3 to 4 inches of tarmac off it in various places and there are bits of mechanical plant moving all over the place during the day.
There are also two hefty looking workmen at Derwent (the Sheffield end) stopping most folks going up. If you did manage to get past them you would probably destroy your bike wheels where there are gaps in the blacktop, so it might be worth avoiding even at weekends for a couple of weeks.
At least they should be getting rid of some of the potholes until the road subsides again next autumn / winter !0 -
d'oh
i was hopin to go over this weekend
holme moss it will be then!0 -
Ah well - just think on that glorious new surface in a few weeks! I guess its the Moss for me again this week too. Thats a cracking ride from Coventry!0
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haha yeah
looking forward to the new surface on the snake
not been up the moss for a while so it should make a nice change!!!0 -
Mossrider wrote:Ah well - just think on that glorious new surface in a few weeks! I guess its the Moss for me again this week too. Thats a cracking ride from Coventry!
Yes, it was! I actually enjoyed the ride down more because I did the tough hilly stuff when I was still fresh. There is a (very long!) description of that ride here.0 -
I forgot about that. I'll have to re-think my ride.
If the Derwent side road surface ends up like the Glossop side that would be good.0 -
it would, ive got alot of time for the glossop side, it is proper terrible on the other side though!!
you from round the glossop way?0 -
Godley near Hyde. I missed the snake climb this morning one of fav's - I went out via Rushup Edge down to Edale and back up Winnats which was tough with the wind this morning.0
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Rode it last sunday and it was fine, indeed difficult to notice which bit must be closed during the week. The surface on the Glossop side was improved last year, which is the side I usually approach from.0
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Lloyd - the sign said the roadworks started on (Monday) the 9th i.e. the day after your ride!lloyd bower wrote:Rode it last sunday and it was fine, indeed difficult to notice which bit must be closed during the week. The surface on the Glossop side was improved last year, which is the side I usually approach from.0 -
ColinJ wrote:
Lloyd - the sign said the roadworks started on (Monday) the 9th i.e. the day after your ride!lloyd bower wrote:Rode it last sunday and it was fine, indeed difficult to notice which bit must be closed during the week. The surface on the Glossop side was improved last year, which is the side I usually approach from.
Dumb me, that explains it then! as it was obvious today where some of the recent resurfacing's been done - Snake Inn to Ladybower stretch.0 -
ooh very good, thats where it needs it the most, its terrible there normally!0
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I went up the snake from Glossop side on Saturday morning. The road surface is much better now.
Some resurfacing done on the Glossop side about half way up and much better run down from Snake Inn to Ladybower. All the rough surface/potholes have gone now. 0
