Mow Cop - 25%

nickcuk

I really enjoyed a burn up Mow Cop yesterday but had to walk it up the 25% Top Station Road. Has anybody ridden it and what kind of speed ? I tacked ( zig-zagged from one side of the road to the other ) up the other steep parts of the climb from Drumber Lane so was that cheating ? I swear one day I'll manage the whole thing without touching the ground.

popette

No I've not tried that but it's part of a sportive in march (cheshire cat??) that i'm hoping to take part in. I might give it a go before hand.

I had a lovely day cycling in the clwydian range in north wales yesterday. 55 miles and 5000ft of climbing. The climbs weren't so bad (although at times I was about 3mph) but the descents freaked me out. One had a sheer drop to my right, sheep meandering across the road, high winds and what must have been 20=25% downhill slope. My hands were killing by the time I reached the bottom. I was squeezing as hard as I could and yet still going 15mph+.

ean

Popette, you don't have a set of directions for the Clwyd ride you did do you ? This is the roundwe do but it'd be interesting to see what others do.

popette wrote:

One had a sheer drop to my right, sheep meandering across the road, high winds and what must have been 20=25% downhill slope. My hands were killing by the time I reached the bottom. I was squeezing as hard as I could and yet still going 15mph+.

That would be the drop from the top car-park at Moel Fammu to Llanbedr DC I guess. It's horrid.

knedlicky

ean wrote:

This is the roundwe do but it'd be interesting to see what others do.

popette wrote:

One had a sheer drop to my right, ....

That would be the drop from the top car-park at Moel Fammu to Llanbedr DC I guess. It's horrid.

The descent from Moel Fammau is great, just not long enough. It’s only a matter of confidence about speed and bike handling, there are no real problem areas on it. Though the junction at the bottom, where you’ve to give way, is a real nuisance.

If you want a sharp steep but short climb, ean, try the road from Llangwyfan to Nannerch rather than the variation by Denbigh as on your regular round.
If you feel you then cut the distance short, make it up by coming down the hill from Rosesmohr to the Denbigh road, turn right back to Rhydymwyn, and then take the undulating backroad towards Mold on the other side of the valley. Just short of Mold, turn left to then cross the Denbigh road and take a small road to Soughton, then on to Northop.

popette

knedlicky wrote:

ean wrote:

This is the roundwe do but it'd be interesting to see what others do.

popette wrote:

One had a sheer drop to my right, ....

That would be the drop from the top car-park at Moel Fammu to Llanbedr DC I guess. It's horrid.

The descent from Moel Fammau is great, just not long enough. It’s only a matter of confidence about speed and bike handling, there are no real problem areas on it. Though the junction at the bottom, where you’ve to give way, is a real nuisance.

If you want a sharp steep but short climb, ean, try the road from Llangwyfan to Nannerch rather than the variation by Denbigh as on your regular round.
If you feel you then cut the distance short, make it up by coming down the hill from Rosesmohr to the Denbigh road, turn right back to Rhydymwyn, and then take the undulating backroad towards Mold on the other side of the valley. Just short of Mold, turn left to then cross the Denbigh road and take a small road to Soughton, then on to Northop.

what about that hairpin? I had to stop and walk with my bike between my legs at that bit. I've got a slight fear of heights and seeing that drop, feelign the wind blowing me about and getting stared out by sheep knocked what little confidence I have on steep descents out of me. I was really scared. :shock:
I've got a gpx file of the route we took. I'll try to put it somewhere so that you can see it later on today.

popette

can you tell me if there is an easy way of putting my gpx onto some kind of mapping website so that you can see my route?
thanks

Mog Uk

Popette,

I use a Garmin Forerunner and Google Earth accepts my GPX files. Can then save them out into different file formats..

ean

popette wrote:

can you tell me if there is an easy way of putting my gpx onto some kind of mapping website so that you can see my route?
thanks

MapMyRide alows importing of gpx (and other formats).

ean

knedlicky wrote:

The descent from Moel Fammau is great, just not long enough. It’s only a matter of confidence about speed and bike handling, there are no real problem areas on it. Though the junction at the bottom, where you’ve to give way, is a real nuisance.
.

I got a little fast at the left bend, which put me way right and out of sorts. A sheep nearly got a mate of mine once too.

knedlicky wrote:

If you want a sharp steep but short climb, ean, try the road from Llangwyfan to Nannerch rather than the variation by Denbigh as on your regular round.

is that the road that goes past the Penycloddiau car park ? When I get better at hills I'll give it a try.

Max_Man

ean wrote:

Popette, you don't have a set of directions for the Clwyd ride you did do you ? This is the roundwe do but it'd be interesting to see what others do.
horrid.

Wow, that route starts near to where I live, might give that loop a try, cheer's.

knedlicky

popette wrote:

what about that hairpin?

Well yes there is one hairpin, but if you ever want to ride abroad you'll need to master them.

An American I once met in Europe tried to explain to me why Amis and Brits are no good at sportives on the Continent (he'd been there about 15 years and felt he knew the ropes).
He said Amis have no idea of pacing themselves for the distance, riding in groups or managing hairpins on steep descents, while Brits have no idea of pacing themselves on long climbs, how to cope with speed on long descents or managing hairpins on steep descents.

Seems he may have had a point.

knedlicky

ean wrote:

.A sheep nearly got a mate of mine once too.

Was your mate disappointed or not? In the Jim Jarmusch film 'Night on Earth', Robert Benigni speaks quite enthusiastically of his 'relationship' with a sheep!

Your mate might like to know the Pyrenees are a good area to find sheep lounging on the road too. Somewhere I have a photo of 6-8 sheep sitting and completely blocking my route.

ean wrote:

is that the road that goes past the Penycloddiau car park ? When I get better at hills I'll give it a try.

I don't know where you mean but I think there is a sanatorium just on the left about the start of the ascent - it's not long just abruptly steep.

popette

knedlicky wrote:

popette wrote:

what about that hairpin?

Well yes there is one hairpin, but if you ever want to ride abroad you'll need to master them.

An American I once met in Europe tried to explain to me why Amis and Brits are no good at sportives on the Continent (he'd been there about 15 years and felt he knew the ropes).
He said Amis have no idea of pacing themselves for the distance, riding in groups or managing hairpins on steep descents, while Brits have no idea of pacing themselves on long climbs, how to cope with speed on long descents or managing hairpins on steep descents.

Seems he may have had a point.

You're absolutely right. In another thread I've written about wanting to do the etape in 2009 so I'll definitely get back to that hill (could it be called a mountain?) and practice my climbing/descending/cornering. I'm a complete novice so there's loads of room for improvement all round. Following the 2007 etape, I remember reading many comments about riders arms hurting on the descents, which is what I experienced on sunday.

nom de plum

anyway, mow cop...
I go up it quite a bit, I've got a compact and a 27 at the back and just go really slowly. I think you should just keep trying, the more you do steep bits the less intimidating they become.

Smeggers

I've done it from the other side loadsatimes , but wooudlnt dream of trying the Killer Mile on my standard 39/26 chainset.