How weather affects a ride
Anonymous
Posts: 79,667
Just had my toughest Pound of Pound run ever yesterday...the route was insanely difficult in its own right but the weather took the ride into another level......
Me and a few mates had planned a murderous 50miler around the Lake Distict...don't sound too much eh?...the weather had looked awful but 5 of us braved the elements, our route was:-
Grasmere - Red Bank - Chapel Stile - Blea Tarn - Wrynose Pass - Hardknott Pass - Birker Fell - Ulpha - Stickle Pike - Stephenson Ground - Torver - Coniston - Hawkshead Hill - Skelwith Bridge - Red Bank - Grasmere.
The nature of this ride was something new...after 1 or 2 km's it was just a pure succession of 25%er and 33%er's one directly after another....the flattest section of the entire ride was around 4kms at most...having all the winter gear on was bad enough but the wind was incredible...I got blown clean of my bike at the foot of Wrynose Pass..so did a couple of my mates...when summiting Wrynose I was in a world of my own..the wind was roaring and deafening and everyone was getting buffeted all over the road...The climb of Hardknott was also brutal..although its the easier side.. the wind just doubled the difficulty...I honestly Reckon the tougher side of Hardknott would have been more manageable due to and incredible tailwind...our climbs over Birker Fell and Stickle Pike approached Hurricane force wind patterns...yes it tested the soul.
The run was intended as a pre warmer for the Fred Whitton...but afterwards I reckon we should have did the FWC route as a pre warmer for this one...the route was enough to frighten the best but the wind put the run into the Ultra Challenge category....only 50miles!...and an average of under 10mile/hour :shock:
Anyone had a simliar experience?...went out knowing you maybe has a tough route but the route turning into a struggle of survival due to weather?
Me and a few mates had planned a murderous 50miler around the Lake Distict...don't sound too much eh?...the weather had looked awful but 5 of us braved the elements, our route was:-
Grasmere - Red Bank - Chapel Stile - Blea Tarn - Wrynose Pass - Hardknott Pass - Birker Fell - Ulpha - Stickle Pike - Stephenson Ground - Torver - Coniston - Hawkshead Hill - Skelwith Bridge - Red Bank - Grasmere.
The nature of this ride was something new...after 1 or 2 km's it was just a pure succession of 25%er and 33%er's one directly after another....the flattest section of the entire ride was around 4kms at most...having all the winter gear on was bad enough but the wind was incredible...I got blown clean of my bike at the foot of Wrynose Pass..so did a couple of my mates...when summiting Wrynose I was in a world of my own..the wind was roaring and deafening and everyone was getting buffeted all over the road...The climb of Hardknott was also brutal..although its the easier side.. the wind just doubled the difficulty...I honestly Reckon the tougher side of Hardknott would have been more manageable due to and incredible tailwind...our climbs over Birker Fell and Stickle Pike approached Hurricane force wind patterns...yes it tested the soul.
The run was intended as a pre warmer for the Fred Whitton...but afterwards I reckon we should have did the FWC route as a pre warmer for this one...the route was enough to frighten the best but the wind put the run into the Ultra Challenge category....only 50miles!...and an average of under 10mile/hour :shock:
Anyone had a simliar experience?...went out knowing you maybe has a tough route but the route turning into a struggle of survival due to weather?
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Comments
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Look on the bright side Rich, if you can do rides in howling gales they will be a doddle in summer. Had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago when I went over to Malton and Helmsley, I then headed home into a 90 mph (well it felt like 90mph) wind. Past experience has told me to head for the hills when it's windy, well this time it just funneled it straight at me no matter which valley I chose. I just put these rides down as good training .
Looking forward to our next meeting, just finished a trip round Boltby, Rievaulx and Hawnby, those hills only get easier when they are dry and you avoid wheel spin
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Yes, last year I went to Wales to ride part of the dragon route up to Brecon from Hirwaun.
It climbs gradually over a few miles with a very easy slope but as I got to the expsed area I could see the tuft grass flat and pointing towards me so I knew it meant trouble
The wind was a howling blustery headwind and I was on my lowest gear even on the flat, out of the saddle and got blown to a standstill twice.
On the descent I was on a 39 x 21 pedalling down a normally fast descent.
The crazy part was then on ride down to Methye which is a gradual descent and flat in parts, I averaged just under 40mph for a few miles
When I got home I was drained!!
Luckily on the day of the Dragon ride the weather was much more friendly 0 -
John C. wrote:Look on the bright side Rich, if you can do rides in howling gales they will be a doddle in summer. Had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago when I went over to Malton and Helmsley, I then headed home into a 90 mph (well it felt like 90mph) wind. Past experience has told me to head for the hills when it's windy, well this time it just funneled it straight at me no matter which valley I chose. I just put these rides down as good training .
Looking forward to our next meeting, just finished a trip round Boltby, Rievaulx and Hawnby, those hills only get easier when they are dry and you avoid wheel spin
Hi John, I'm just trying to get our next route all sorted out
I'll be in touch.... 0 -
On Saturday I had a ride from Kendal to Ambleside then up ‘The Struggle’ to the top of Kirkstone, down to Bowness, along the lake side almost to Newby Bridge, up and over Gummers Howe road and back to Kendal with a last little climb over Scout Scar road. I think this is about 45 miles with some good climbs. Yes it was windy, as I descended Kirkstone I had to pedal all the way down; normally on my training bikes gearing (52 x 14) I cannot pedal fast enough.0
