Kirkless sportive April 27th

MartinJ

C'mon people! It's water not sulphuric acid. It's not going to be cold or windy.

Well said Vermooten!! Also as msot of the rode is on A roads, there are not any really steep treacherous descents that could be a problem in the wet.

The course is such that, if you get too wet and miserable after half way round, you can get back to the HQ very easily. Better to be a DNF than a DNS!

Also there's always another hill to get you warm again :roll:

See you there

roadrider84

How many of you are riding without race blades / mudguards?

Just tried fitting my front blade on my race bike but my computer sensor is in the way and therefore it won't fit. I'd rather ride without the guards than my computer!!

vermooten

Might be if I can be arsed!

davidmiller

...right, I've made a decision now !!!!

After the plumber has been at 3 pm today I'm coming up from Cambridge. I'm gonna fit the rear gaurd off my winter hack on the Trek but I've nothing for the front. Gonna wear my shorts so hopefully at least the bottom half of my legs can dry out if it stops raining.

Just been round the whole route on google earth so I'm feeling inspired.

See you tomorrow,

DM

ColinJ

Decisions, decisions...!

I dropped out of Spring Into The Dales last weekend, but I'm definitely doing this one despite the likelihood of rain. So do I put mudguards on or not?

The rack permanently bodged onto my Basso keeps 75% of the crap off my back anyway, but it would be nice to try and keep my feet dry(ish) too. The guards are ready to bodge back on, it's just a question of whether I can be bothered to do it.

I've just been transferring the route to my GPS. I'm familiar with most of the route, but the quieter roads east of Holmfirth will make a nice change. I've only ridden there once before, when doing the southern half of the West Yorkshire Cycle Route.

Watch out for me folks and say hello at HQ or as you burn past. I shouldn't be hard to spot - a big guy wearing a yellow jacket, on a blue Basso with a rack bodged on the back, possibly mudguards too. My forks are the real give-away - they are off my old Bianchi and I haven't got round to repainting them yet. The Mercatone Uno celeste/yellow colour scheme really doesn't go with the Basso blue!

johnbirkby46213

Langsett wrote:

Hi,

As has been mentionned it is an open road event, and i would hope that as it is raising money for a very worth charity, to build a children's hospice, anyone riding but not having pre enterred will make a suitable donation.

I don't have a problem in making a donation. I have no problem with no timer (if one is being used etc) but even on a £4 audax I get access to food and drink etc even if (and I never have) I sign in on the day.
I really can't see how it can be that much of a problem. Beacon RCC organise a massive (read MASSIVE) audax around May time each year and they must get at least 100 turn up on the day. Just think how much better off the mayors charity would have been if you accepted late entries (for an additional cost obviously) to fill the spare 200 places you have
.
I'm travelling about 115 miles to get to the event so am at least pleased to hear of a slightly better weather forcast.

JB

johnbirkby46213

johnbirkby46213 wrote:

I really can't see how it can be that much of a problem. Beacon RCC organise a massive (read MASSIVE) audax around May time each year and they must get at least 100 turn up on the day.

JB

the "at least 100" refers to peeps who haven't already signed up and just come along on the day to sign up.

JB

ColinJ

John (if you haven't already set off) - we go through Holmfirth twice - I'll watch your bike while you dive into a shop to stock up! I won't bother bringing my lock because you can watch my bike for me at HQ etc.

I assume you didn't fancy that parking in Greetland and riding up the hill with me idea ?

langsett

19 degrees and sunny up here today

The limit for the ride was an upper limit, the cut off date was to allow proper organisation and food for everyone.

I trust anyone riding who hasn't paid their entry fee will make an equivalent donation to the charity we are raising money for?

RCC

Well said Langsett!

If anybody rode without donating £15 I'd be mighty PI$$ed off. A children's hospice and catching a free ride :evil:

If you want to ride the route, the roads will be here next week and the week after that, that could be a good time to ride it for nowt!!

Just be honest ,don't embarrass yourself and lets all have a good safe ride. See you all in the AM and I'm looking forward to the mass start with semi-closed roads and outriders! Should be a good buzz!

ColinJ

There are always a few freeloaders who won't pay for anything if they can avoid it but the thing is here that quite a few people have been caught out by the closing date for entries.

I know people who wanted to sign up and pay to the charity but they can't do it officially now. Everyone knows that if you want to get in to certain events, you have to do it on day 1 or it is too late. The assumption was made that there were plenty of free places on this event so there was no hurry. I don't know why they didn't spot the closing date - I did. Maybe a few of them didn't hear about the event until late in the day?

I've already got my entries in for Pain in the Pennines and The Pendle Pedal!

I didn't get round to putting my mudguards on, so you watch - it'll chuck it down all day now!

See y'all in the morning...

gumball3000

Not running mud guards....

Have never been able to get my front race blade to fit to any of my bikes....ever....

It has to be a black art!

See you all in the Morning. I will be easy to spot. Orange and white Keswick Cycle kit on a Keswick Cycle Cannondale!

vermooten

After all that... I slept in! Hope it's all going well.

roadrider84

I've just got back, absolutely loved it, impressed with my time of 4 hours 45 minutes. Could have been quicker if I hadn't tried to stay on the wheels of those boys from Harrogate CC and almost kill my legs with only 40 miles gone. Hope the weather is a little better next year as it was absolutely horrendous, especially coming down the other side of Holme Moss!!

How did everyone else get on?

RCC

Loved the ride and the marshalling was superb! It was great being a mass start, very impressive going up Buckstones!

The descents we indeed dodgy with all that surface water and one guy from Huddersfield star Wheelers had to taken to A&E due to losing lump out of his leg after a crash on the descent into Delph. That was the only down point of the day really, if we'd had good weather we could have really flown around.

What were peoples nightmare hills? Mine was the long drag up Wessenden Head out of Meltham softening me up before the Moss.(although the Moss wasn't as bad as I've had before due to the lack of wind, it seems that's the first time out of 30 odd times I've climbed it that there was hardly any wind!)

Finally, as I look out of the window the sun is flaming shining, bugger.

roadrider84

I'd have to agree with you RCC, the climb up Wessenden was a bit of a drag, got the legs nicely ready for Home Moss though.

Terrible to hear about the accident, did you witness it? That was one of the reasons why I went straight to the front at the start as there were many instances where peoples wheels touched but they managed to stay aloft, plus at the front you don't inherit other peoples spray!!

roadrider84

After completing the ride today I feel the time is right to join a club and start racing. I've been riding solo for 3 years now and after competing in 4 sportives I'm now a little lonely.

Im 23 & from Huddersfield, can anyone advise of the best club to join in Huddersfield even though I only know of 2 clubs (HSW, HVW).

Your comments / advice would be greatly appreciated.

RCC

Hey roadrider84,

we'd love to have you at Ravensthorpe CC, we are based in Mirfield really and have club runs on a Sunday and a cafe run on a Saturday which is a steady ride out to Windmills cafe ( which is very near Victoria we went through today, left turn at the top of the after New Mill).

I was exactlly the same as you 2 years ago, giving my all on my own, or with a few mates. I always felt that it would be a daunting prospect having my legs ripped off over savage terain! those mates I rode with are now members too.

The club has an excellent mix of old, not so old and a couple of young un's and runs are varied and at a pace to suit everybody.

There is even a 2 stage winner of the TdF that has been a member of the the club and a former British puruit champion. So there is plenty of great advice and stories to listen too. Brian Robinson winning the Dauphine and being called back on Milan San Remo when he was perfectly poised to actually win the thing!!!!

We set off from Ha'penny bridge in Mirfield at 9:30 on a Saturday or 9 from Fir Cottage (just after the Swan pub in Mirfield) on a Sunday.

If you want PM me and we can arrange to have a chat on the phone.

Steve.

mathi

Just arrived back and thought i would check this out . I must also say a very well sign posted and marshelled event they couldnt have done that any better , not 100% sure about the feed stops though :roll:
Roadrider84 - thats a very impressive time , you must have been in the top 10 finishers

MartinJ

It was a great ride today - despite the weather. Really good tough route. Fast descents and lots of climbs. I thought the organisation was excellent - signing / marshals / motorcycle escorts were brilliant. It felt like being a pro following some of the motorcycles (until the road went uphill and they couldn't go slow enough!). :shock:

The only real disappointment was at the end. :? I was surprised that there was nothing laid on. The club house was very busy / no seats because fo the rugby players/spectators. i was surprised not to have to sign in at the finish. You could be lost and nobody would know!!...

I did 5.01 which really pleased me. Enjoyed some good company (not that we had much opportunity to chat - either toiling uphill or charging downhill.

A top day, not spolied by the considerable amount of rain during the first 3 hours or so.

davidmiller

Ok, OP-er back.

I did it in 6 hours dead (and I was!!!). I'm quite pleased this time for my first sportive and esp as we have no hills, at all, here in Cambs.

The conditions this morning were quite bad - I actually like riding in the rain down here but some of those fast descents were a bit scary. There was lady sat at the side of the road with a very bloody leg even at the bottom of Buckstones. Before the first feed a guy over took me going up a hill but then came off down the other side. I don't know where it was but we went round a LH bend and literally 20 m later was a junction to turn left. I'm sure he saved me from going down. Said he was ok and passed me a little later. Hope his carbon fibre back survived ok too.

HM was bad as usual and then the grind up Woodhead!!! That second feedstation never seemed to come - by the time it did I was tired. The last 15 m were very slow.

Great day, marshalls were excellent, great start, I feed stations were economical (it's for charity) but very adequate. I also was surprised that I didn't need to sign back in.

Look forward to next year.

DM

roadrider84

Hi Mathi, think it was more like the top 20. There was a breakaway bunch of about 15 riders and I dropped off that bunch coming down Holme Moss, after that I was pretty much solo until I got into Flockton whereby I was very grateful to drift behind a couple of riders for a couple of miles and re-gain some energy.

Did you enjoy the ride? Just wish to weather had been slightly better!

Michuel

I thought it an excellent event though I found the descents very tricky in the rain particularly the Marsden to Meltham bit where there were cars.

Top marks for TryCycling (Kirkburton) the events mechanics who checked my brakes no charge at the start. At 8:53 they pointed out a split back tyre. At 8:59 they'd put on a new tyre and the bike was ready and took a credit card payment for the tyre as I had no money.

Over the last section I rode in a group with Martin one of the events organisers. He looked to be 80kg and was riding a 12-13kg bike with carradice saddlebag weighing an additional 3kg, He was very strong on hills. I reckon this extra 7kg over regular 9kg bike was probably worth 30mins+. This group finished at 14:39 in 5 1/2 hrs. I was told fastest time was 13:41 finish.

I thought the YMCA venue was very good with cheap, good food and there were plenty of seats available in the large bar area.

ColinJ

Hey Vermooten - as I've said before - you need a new alarm clock! I remember you sleeping in for a couple of rides I'd organised...

Ride buddy John (see earlier posts) did manage to get a place after all. Several people had decided not to turn up for the event, so he took the place of one of them, and yes foks - he did pay his entry fee so the charity in effect got two-for-the-price-of-one!

I hope the people who crashed are okay, but to be honest I didn't think conditions were that dodgy if due care was taken. I did nearly 50 mph downhill where it was safe to do so, but that doesn't include wet, greasy Pennine bends.

The rain was a pain. For the quick riders, it would have been raining for most, if not all of their time on their bikes. Not true for me though - I was riding very slowly, and by the halfway point conditions had started to improve. On the run home, the sun came out and I was actually over-heating.

I really wasn't fit enough to take that ride on . My back went into spasms on every climb after the first feed-station at Meltham. From that point on, my ride became one long slow suffer-fest. I was determined to complete the route, but it is one that plays mind-games with you when things aren't going well. I knew that Holme Moss was going to really hurt and it would have been so easy to skip that loop and rejoin the route where it re-entered Holmfirth later. Heck, in for a penny and all that...

What a difference 10 months make! Last June I rode from Hebden Bridge to Coventry and took in several of yesterday's big climbs. I had panniers on my bike and I climbed Holme Moss with ease. I actually wondered where the steep bit was because it didn't feel that tough. Yesterday, I must have dismounted 10 times or more. I must get my weight down and I must sort my damn back out!

I removed my glasses in the rain because they kept getting steamed up, but I had to stop to put them back on for the descent off Holme Moss because the wind was making my eyes water. John whizzed off ahead of me. I set off in pursuit and spotted John towards the bottom. I shot past him and he caught me just before Woodhead. I thought that he'd been waiting for me, but it turned out that he'd had a sudden and very nasty case of shimmy and had nearly lost control of his bike - yikes :shock: !

I liked most of the route despite suffering terribly on the climbs. On the flatter sections I immediately started to feel better; unfortunately, there weren't many of them - It felt like 90% of the route was either uphill or downhill. John waited patiently at the top of every climb for me, sometimes for upto 10 or 15 minutes - thanks mate!

The feed-stations were basic, but okay. The main thing for me is for them not to run out of water, which they didn't. I'm quite happy with a banana and a piece of flapjack because I never eat much on rides. I get most of my energy from carbo-drinks and I got through 4 litres yesterday! The people manning the stations were friendly. I was one of the last riders back and the officials were leap-frogging me in their vans and on their motorbikes but they encouraged me to keep on going. They never made me feel bad for "keeping them hanging around" - something that I was accused of in one sportive when I queried the fact than an offical was dismantling the last feed-station 30 minutes before the cut-off time when I knew that there were about 10 riders still behind me!

I really don't like Woodhead! I've only ridden it once before and I decided then to avoid it in future. Obviously it is a necessary evil if the event is to take in Holme Moss, which of course a tour round Kirklees has to! Thank heavens the rain had stopped by the time I got there - I wouldn't fancy those cars and trucks thundering past in heavy spray... :shock:

I did a total of 106 miles yesterday, riding from Hebden Bridge to the HQ and back again afterwards. Last night, I didn't think that I'd enjoyed it, but now the pain is subsiding, I'm beginning to feel happier about it !

Mossrider

Hey Roadrider 84,

HSW would also be pleased to have you aboard. We have a decent turnout on a Sunday at 9.30 from St Geoges Square (in front of the railway Station) which tends to leave at about 9.45. This is usually about 60 miles with cafe stop, but further as summer goes on. There is also a ride on a Thursday evening following a Town / Holmfith / Denby / Emley Moor route (just jump on the back as they go past) which is faster.

Quite a few of the lads have now got the sportive bug and we also have our own expeditions (we're looking in to a club C2C and have the odd full weekend ride).

Turn up for a couple of runs and see how you like it.

As for the Kirklees sportif - excellent. Very well marshalled, good route, although the climbing was interminable! Excellent choice of venue. Disagree with the comments on the Woodhead - its a lovely climb to Dunford despite the traffic. Unfortunately by this stage the legs had "bonked" but I was able to recover by Denby and finish well.

My nightmare was Wessenden - I've lived in the area for many years and been cycling for about five and never gone up it - and will think twice in future! A long steep climb with nothing to look at in the mist. Any criticism of the route would be nit-picking (I might have gone over Emley Moor for example) but it was really well laid out and planned. Well Done Kirklees.

ColinJ

Mossrider wrote:

Disagree with the comments on the Woodhead - its a lovely climb to Dunford despite the traffic.

It's only the traffic I'm concerned about - I'd be quite happy going up there when it is quiet but I get the impression that it never is! The road was rated 5th most dangerous in the country in 2002. The shrine to Jason McRoy is a reminder of what can happen.

Mossrider wrote:

My nightmare was Wessenden - I've lived in the area for many years and been cycling for about five and never gone up it - and will think twice in future! A long steep climb with nothing to look at in the mist.

Same here! I usually climb Saddleworth Moor and descend from Wessenden so I was interested in doing it the other way round. My back muscles went into spasm early on so I couldn't tell you what the views were like - I was wincing and staring down at my bars for most of the climb!

willage

roadrider84 - another recommendation for Hudds Star Wheelers, we're getting a good turn out for the sunday road rides and the saturday mountain bike rides get 25+ during the summer. We have a fair few social events and pub trips as well, if you're into that sort of thing!

if you finished in under 5 hours you finished ahead of the rest of us! We clocked 5hrs 30 but waited about 20 minutes with Mike after he his crash coming down from Buckstones. I was second wheel behind him, he took a wide line into the tight right hand bend and went sideways into the kerb, then went sideways over the barrier which took a chunk out of his shin. He was taken by ambulance to Oldham and his dad brought him over to HRI later - he might be out tonight or tomorrow, depending on how well he's healing up.

Not Another Hill

My first sportive. Took it easyish as wasn't sure what i'd be like after about 60 miles. Really enjoyed it Well marshalled and run. Other riders friendly. Plenty off chat. Couple of the HSW lads 'dragged' me through the last 20 (Thanks again). Descent from Holme Moss was buttock clenchingly scary but decided that breaking was not an option on the wet roads. Felt sorry for the guy on the Focus whose seat rail snapped going up Buckstones. We were just saying how fantastic our bikes were as we rode up the hill: sods law something goes wrong at that point.

Want to make the 'silver' time for the equivilent distance on the White Rose Classic in June (6:12 to 5:55). Anybody know how comparable the courses are? Only ever ridden off road in Dales.

ColinJ

Not Another Hill wrote:

Felt sorry for the guy on the Focus whose seat rail snapped going up Buckstones. We were just saying how fantastic our bikes were as we rode up the hill: sods law something goes wrong at that point.

Want to make the 'silver' time for the equivilent distance on the White Rose Classic in June (6:12 to 5:55). Anybody know how comparable the courses are? Only ever ridden off road in Dales.

If it was 'dave p', he tells his story on CyleChat (he bought a new saddle in Uppermill and got round okay).

As Dave says in his post there - the Dales climbs tend to be shorter and steeper.

johnbirkby46213

Well I'd just like to say that - having begged before the event to be let in, and driven 115 miles to get there, begged again, yes, I was, as Colin has already said,allowed to ride. And yes of course i paid extra! However my original gripe still stands. Think of all the extra money that could have been made for the mayors charity. What is 200 x £15???

Also I heard a marshall at the last feed station saying to another that the first 2 riders back were NOT officially booked on the ride. I rest my case m'lud.

On a different soap box, i thought the marshalls were fantastic and I made a point of saying "thanks" to them all as i went thru'. The feed stations were not "sportif" feed stations" by any stretch of the imagination and the finish was appaling. No signing back in, no welcome, no pat on the back etc.

However, a great ride, great signage, fabby marshalls, not really a sportif, not an audax. somewhere in between with a bit of money for charity. I'll be back next year despite the ill advised cut off date.

JB

And as a final ps. Thanks to Colin's bad back and winter beer poundage, I have discovered that if I don't go off like one possessed at the start, I finish feeling fabby at the end. The trick for me in future will be to try to remember said lesson. Amen.