Pain in the Pennines - who's doing it
davidmiller
Posts: 320
I've signed up for the PitP this Sunday which should be good route. As I've not ridden as much as I hoped since my last sportive (Spires and Squires in late April) I'm probably not as fit as I was. I need to hit the scales tonight just to prove I've put a good couple of kilo's on and I have not got round to changing my standard chainset for a compact!! :evil: :evil:
Still, at least I used the bit of sense I have to sign up for the 60 mile route so it should be a great day - really looking forward to it.
Will I see any of you guys there??
David
Still, at least I used the bit of sense I have to sign up for the 60 mile route so it should be a great day - really looking forward to it.
Will I see any of you guys there??
David
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DavidMiller wrote:it should be a great day - really looking forward to it.
It wont be if the weather is anything like it was for the polkadot! :shock:0 -
Yeah, and back to back with the WRC I should be fit and ready ! :P0
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Having nearly finished myself off on the Kirklees Sportive recently, I've had to face facts - I'm overweight and have a bad back so I'm not going to do the full PitP route despite having signed up for it. I'll be doing the 60 mile route instead. I have 10 miles extra to do each way to and from event HQ and I think 80 miles will be enough for me!
I'll be on my blue Basso which has yellow decals. I always wear a blue/black Met helmet which has a peak and will probably be wearing my ON*ONE 3/4 length bibshorts.
Get that compact on! There is a really nasty climb to do out of Hebden Bridge which I've mentioned on similar threads before. Hang on... oh yes, here it is - Mytholm Steeps :shock: ! If you look closely at photo ms_10 you can still see the Pendle Pedal route arrow painted on the road from last year!
EOL will still be possible for £20 on Sunday (all proceeds going to charity). There are still 190 places left so come on folks - the more, the merrier!0 -
ColinJ wrote:! If you look closely at photo ms_10 you can still see the Pendle Pedal route arrow painted on the road from last year!
looks like it should clear a few cobwebs!!
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I'll be there on Sunday.
Been out up The Steeps this evening and made the mistake of doing it at 5.30pm - loads of cars who use the route as a short cut to/from Burnley. Managed to keep going despite cars reversing when encountering each other on the blind, narrow hairpins.
This is a seriously underrated climb - many people will be walking up there on Sunday - but not me
I 've just had an 11-34 megarange cassette fitted and that 34 makes the going a breeze when combined with a triple on the front. Is this cheating or just plain pragmatism? I'm new to the sport and need every assistance I can muster.
See you on Sunday!
KEITH
Todmorden.0 -
a_n_t wrote:DavidMiller wrote:it should be a great day - really looking forward to it.
It wont be if the weather is anything like it was for the polkadot! :shock:
Well, I also did the Kirkless sportive and had to put up with the first 4-5 in heavy rain. Surely, it can't be that bad????????
David0 -
I also did the Kirklees and it was horrible! But the forecast for this Sunday, so far is for sun.
Also did the White Rose last week and not looking forward to this Sunday - but I'll be there. Quick Step colours. Feel free to say hello as you fly by me. 0 -
DavidMiller wrote:a_n_t wrote:DavidMiller wrote:it should be a great day - really looking forward to it.
It wont be if the weather is anything like it was for the polkadot! :shock:
Well, I also did the Kirkless sportive and had to put up with the first 4-5 in heavy rain. Surely, it can't be that bad????????
David
Doh, that's 4-5 hours - sorry.
David0 -
I'm multi-tasking and somehow got my hard northern sportives beginning and ending in 'P' mixed upandy_wrx wrote:ColinJ wrote:! If you look closely at photo ms_10 you can still see the Pendle Pedal route arrow painted on the road from last year!
What would the Pendle Pedal be doing on the wrong side of the Pennines, Col ?
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That's actually one of the 'easy' parts of the climb, about 15% - it rears up to 25% further up!!!a_n_t wrote:ColinJ wrote:! If you look closely at photo ms_10 you can still see the Pendle Pedal route arrow painted on the road from last year!
looks like it should clear a few cobwebs!!
I used to work in Burnley and got a lift home by the scenic route every evening. One time we were bombing down the steepest bit towards the tight lefthand bend, following another car much too close...parky53 wrote:I'll be there on Sunday.
Been out up The Steeps this evening and made the mistake of doing it at 5.30pm - loads of cars who use the route as a short cut to/from Burnley. Managed to keep going despite cars reversing when encountering each other on the blind, narrow hairpins.
Me: Slow down!!!!
Mate: Nah, we're okay....
Me: You're crazy if you think this is safe!!!
Suddenly a car emerges round the bend, coming up the hill towards us. The car in front slammed on his brakes and skidded to a halt just in time. My mate did the same...
Me: You're all bloody morons :evil: !!!
Mate: Phew, that was close!
Sound of skidding from behind us. Mate looks in rearview mirror...
Mate: BRACE YOURSELF!!!
I forced my head against the headrest and then... Bang! Bang! Bang! A car behind skidded into us and shunted us into the one in front which then hit the one in front of him...
Mate: Ooops...!
Fortunately, the only injury was my mate suffering mild whiplash.
I once saw two families trying to tow caravans up the 25% bit! How they'd even got that far I don't know. I dismounted and watched them in amusement for about 10 minutes... How much rubber do you need to leave on the road and how many clutches do you have to burn out before realising that what you're trying to do ain't gonna work
? The best result was to get the caravan about 30 metres up the hill but then the whole caboodle lost momentum and started skidding back down again with all the wheels locked up. It was lucky that there is a bridleway off to the side for them to reverse into because otherwise they would have had to reverse all the way back down the hill round those bends.
When I first came to these parts, a Calor Gas tanker's brakes failed coming down the Steeps and he overshot the bend at the bottom. Fortunately nobody was coming the other way at the time. There are warning signs top and bottom of the road now.
The milk race went up there in the days of toeclips/straps and many overgeared riders fell over still strapped onto their bikes!parky53 wrote:This is a seriously underrated climb - many people will be walking up there on Sunday.
Last year the weather was miserable for the first half and then sunny for the second so I spent half the day like a drowned rat and then overheated later onDavidMiller wrote:Well, I also did the Kirkless sportive and had to put up with the first 4-5 hours in heavy rain. Surely, it can't be that bad????????
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DavidMiller wrote:
Well, I also did the Kirkless sportive and had to put up with the first 4-5 in heavy rain. Surely, it can't be that bad????????
David
try people descending the cat and fiddle at 9am with lights ON!!!! :shock:0 -
I got back from my 80 mile version a couple of hours a go and I feel pretty battered, despite being used to these hills. I opted for the shorter route hoping for more of a Dull Ache In The Pennines, but I already had the dull ache when I got out of bed and on the bike things just got worse... Yepp, pain again!
The weather was very kind to us. There was plenty of sunshine but enough wind to stop it being too hot. Towards the end of my ride ominous-looking black clouds were building, but the expected rain has yet to arrive.
I fiddled with my gears early on, and they then played up for the rest of the ride!
There was drama at Booth Wood reservoir. When I got to it, the police had closed the A672 because a body was being removed from the reservoir :shock: ! I don't know what happened, or who the dead person was - R.I.P whoever you were. I did a detour towards Ripponden and climbed up through Rishworth to regain the PitP route further on.
I don't like the climb to Blackstone Edge from that side or the descent through Cragg Vale so I followed the West Yorkshire Cycle Route to Mytholmroyd instead. It's slightly harder and slower, but it's quiet and scenic and one of my favourite local routes. I can see why the official route doesn't take us that way - the descent into Mytholmroyd is potentially dangerous. It's okay if you know the road and exercise caution, but it wouldn't be wise to send a sportive that way.
Mytholm Steeps got me again! I had a serious go at the 25% section, but I think I was going to crack before the top of it. It all became academic because those wretched gears slipped and I had a gonad-on-crossbar incident which rather took away my desire to climb steep hills :? !
After that another rider came up to me, and I rode with him over the Long Causeway until the foot of the climb to Deerplay Moor. He was a triathlete, probably a few years older than me judging from hair and beard colour. He said that he did Ironman Austria in about 12 hours last year and will be having another go next month - blimey, tthat's seriously fit!
I got so sweaty that I decided to call home on the second leg through Hebden Bridge to change my cycling kit. I really had to force myself to go back out because my back was screaming "No, you fool, you know you want to DNF!"
The long climb from Mytholmroyd to Blackstone Edge really hurt my back and I had to stop numerous times to stretch. I was dreading the 'wall' out of Ripponden back towards event HQ. Strangely enough, my back was okay on that. I've noticed before that I can cope with steep stuff better than long moderate climbs. I think I have to recruit different muscles to get up the hard climbs and they seem to be okay.
Oh, I did my good deed for the day... Early on, I was descending off Norland Moor when I spotted what I thought was a little pile of horse manure ahead of me so I swerved round it. As I went by, I realised that it was a jacket in a stuffsac. For a moment I decided to ignore it, but then I changed my mind and stopped. I went back up the hill for it and strapped it to my handlebars. I set off down the hill again and it fell off! Back up the hill to retrieve it again and the second time I put it in my Camelbak bag. I dropped it off at the first feed station. I enquired at the end and was told that the grateful owner had claimed it. Apparently it was only 2 days old and cost £90!! Watch how you stash your kit!
I took a shortcut home from Greetland. After a short climb round Norland Moor again, I descended Scar Head to Sowerby Bridge. Crikey that would be one hell of a climb! I went to watch the Leeds Classic go up there years ago and I remember Robert Millar being scathing about its inclusion - he said that the organisers were searching out every nasty little climb in West Yorkshire and coupled with the 'heaviness' of Yorkshire tarmac, it made the event ridiculously hard. In fact, I think his words were "They're taking the p*ss!". I can sort of see where he was coming from!
I ache a lot now, but I'm glad I did the ride, and very glad indeed that I didn't do the longer route this time !
Next year, I'll try to be fit because tackling these hard events with aches and pains, when overweight, and with poor fitness is too much of a struggle.
How did the rest of you get on today?0 -
4.5 hours on the 63 mile route. And except for that ridiculous climb up the 1 in 4 (or 1 in 3) hill, it was a pleasant day for me. Really enjoyed it. Will try the longer route next time methinks.0
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Very relaxed and enjoyable sportive in ideal weather. Thanks to the organisers, I thought it was well signed, friendly, with decent flapjacks. Particularly enjoyed the descent off the bacup feed and the climb back up Cragg Vale. If constructive feedback is of interest then a sign or two to the event centre would help non locals like me. There were a few of us driving around lost before the start. Thanks to the guy in the Alp Duez top who worked with me for a bit. To the guy in the threadbare dave raynor gear, eeuuuuggghhh, get some new shorts mate.
p.s. When I passed the resse at the start there were a couple of highway maintenance types in a marked landy but I missed any dead body related stuff.0 -
Pokerface - Who do you ride with in Buxton, I'm just up the road in Wormhill !0
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Great account Colin!
I noticed some police faffing about at the ressy - body :shock:
Me and my friend Clive did the event together - we're both injured runners from Todmorden Harriers. It was fascinating to go over familiar roads through home town locations. We both got in on 7hrs 45mins on the long route. I'm a decent climber but a crap descender and Clive is a kamikaze descender, so we spent the day playing cat and mouse.
This event really deserves a much bigger turn out. The organisers must have spent days setting up the superb signing - with easy to see direction indicators before, during and after EVERY junction and yellow spraypaint arrows on the road surface to back them up. Brilliant!
The course is really tough but not in an outrageous manner. This is a TOP EVENT. Please turn out for it next year in big numbers and give these guys a fair reward for their efforts :!:
Best wishes,
Keith Parkinson0 -
I emailed the orgnaiser last week to see if I could sign up on the line, having missed the cutoff at the start of the month (I think). No reply.0
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Whereabout is this? I'd like to have a go at it.Pokerface wrote:4.5 hours on the 63 mile route. And except for that ridiculous climb up the 1 in 4 (or 1 in 3) hill, it was a pleasant day for me. Really enjoyed it. Will try the longer route next time methinks.0 -
vermooten wrote:Whereabout is this? I'd like to have a go at it.
Read the rest of this thread and you will get a full account - it was Mytholm Steeps and it climbs out of Hebden Bridge up to blackshaw Head.
Entries were freely available on the line and stated as so on the event website.
Best wishes,
KEITH0 -
The climb starts at Church Lane (as shown in one of the photos earlier). It is about 200 yards from the Heptonstall Road traffic lights, on the Todmorden side.parky53 wrote:vermooten wrote:Whereabout is this? I'd like to have a go at it.
Read the rest of this thread and you will get a full account - it was Mytholm Steeps and it climbs out of Hebden Bridge up to blackshaw Head.
If you look back in the thread, I included a link to an online album showing the whole of the steep part of the climb. There is a bit more to it up to Blackshaw Head but it is very easy beyond the last picture.0 -
The website clearly states "Limit of 300 riders" - my email asked if all 300 places had gone. After all, I didn't want to turn up only to be told that the event was full.parky53 wrote:vermooten wrote:Whereabout is this? I'd like to have a go at it.
Read the rest of this thread and you will get a full account - it was Mytholm Steeps and it climbs out of Hebden Bridge up to blackshaw Head.
Entries were freely available on the line and stated as so on the event website.
Best wishes,
KEITH0 -
vermooten wrote:
The entry list online only showed something like 165 people pre-registered. Still - the lack of a reply to your email is pretty poor really.0 -
TrackLogs wrote:Pokerface - Who do you ride with in Buxton, I'm just up the road in Wormhill !
Hi mate - I'm with the Buxton Cycling Club, although I rarely have time to ride with them as I seem to be doing Sportives a lot of weekends. I do the time trials every Thursday night around the golf course.
Most days I just ride solo. I'm not fast and a terrible climber, but can go for miles. If you ever want to hook up for a ride, PM me. (And if you ever see a guy wearing QuickStep kit riding around - that's me!)
Cheers,
Colin0 -
Hey vermooten,
If you are going to come over to do Mytholm Steeps, it would be a shame not to take in some of the other local monsters. If you can wait until October 12th, you could do a nice selection of them in the new Hebden Bridge Star audax.
If you want to come over earlier than that, I could work out a very testing route for you. If I was fitter, I'd volunteer to be your guide but the way I am currently riding you'd have a longish wait at the top of every climb
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Hi Colin,
Thanks for the info and your kind offer. I have my beady eye on that audax, I think that Hebden Bridge is hill climbing heaven since Spring Into the Dales. I'm also aware of a great climb which I think is called Horsehold Road? very steep and I recall some cobbles too.
Cheers,
andy0 -
I enjoyed this ride very much. All my problems were at the start really. I nearly did n't come as there's a school derived bug going through the family and I was still suffering the tail-end of it!! That meant I started very slowly but things got better as I selttled in. I was one of the ones who could not find the start so instead of arriving at 8.15 with time to sort myself out leisurely, I got there just before 9, signed-in, threw a few thnigs in my pockets and was one of the last to start.
Pretty gentle start and I was glad to be on my own as I headed down the first descents with very narrow roads and lots of gravel on them. Then came the closed road where, on the detour, I hooked up with a guy in white who'd just started in fornt of me and two local lads. Enjoyed descending Cow Gate but the Steeps nearly killed me, I'm big and have a standard chainset. I had to stop twice, walked the last bit, nearly fell off and managed to break my sunglasses - not good!!!
After that settled down and had a nice ride in the sun. Red legs today as putting suntan lotion on was one of the things that didn't get done at the start. Got into the finish at 5h3mins for the 63 miles - pretty pants really. Not happy with the time but had a lovely day.
One interesting thing was a guy who I passed after the last feeding station (guy in white). After that nobody passed me but when I got into the car park there he was putting his bike back on the car telling me he'd been home a while. How do you suppose that happened???
Thanks to all for organising.
David0 -
Cow Gate - where's that - do you mean Cragg Vale? I don't like it because the road surface is too rough, and you have to watch out for traffic through the village. I much prefer the descent off Oxenhope Moor down to Hebden Bridge. It's not quite as long (7 km) but it is still a blast.DavidMiller wrote:Pretty gentle start and I was glad to be on my own as I headed down the first descents with very narrow roads and lots of gravel on them. Then came the closed road where, on the detour, I hooked up with a guy in white who'd just started in fornt of me and two local lads. Enjoyed descending Cow Gate but the Steeps nearly killed me, I'm big and have a standard chainset. I had to stop twice, walked the last bit, nearly fell off ...
I saw your sunglasses! They were black and you'd broken the right arm off. It was just where I'd fallen off my bike when my chain slipped. I went to pick them up but then saw that they were broken.DavidMiller wrote:... and managed to break my sunglasses - not good!!!
My back was killing me and I called in at home to change my sweaty kit so I ended up taking over 6 hours :? !DavidMiller wrote:After that settled down and had a nice ride in the sun. Red legs today as putting suntan lotion on was one of the things that didn't get done at the start. Got into the finish at 5h3mins for the 63 miles - pretty pants really. Not happy with the time but had a lovely day.
Last year I spotted a couple of riders taking a shortcut right at the start! Instead of doing Norland Moor they rode straight up the B6113. There are lots of places on the route where you can take shortcuts if you know where they are. He probably didn't go through Lumbutts and Mankinholes but just went along the valley roads through Todmorden instead.DavidMiller wrote:One interesting thing was a guy who I passed after the last feeding station (guy in white). After that nobody passed me but when I got into the car park there he was putting his bike back on the car telling me he'd been home a while. How do you suppose that happened???0 -
Ah, you know it! I was going to foist that one on you. Yes, the cobbled bit is just towards the top of the main climb, as you come up into the hamlet of Horsehold itself. I don't know if you realised that you can carry on up beyond the houses? 600 m or so of lane takes you up about another 50 m of climb. It's a road to nowhere on a road bike, but it leads to some nice mountain biking routes and there are great views from the top.vermooten wrote:Hi Colin,
Thanks for the info and your kind offer. I have my beady eye on that audax, I think that Hebden Bridge is hill climbing heaven since Spring Into the Dales. I'm also aware of a great climb which I think is called Horsehold Road? very steep and I recall some cobbles too.
Cheers,
andy
Another such road is the one up to 'Old Chamber'. To get to that, turn up by the co-op and follow the road round instead of turning right up to Horsehold. You pass through the Fairfield area of Hebden Bridge and head down towards the rear of Hebden Bridge station. Follow the concrete-surfaced road up through the woods and it becomes tougher and tougher as you go up. Eventually you come to a cobbled and tarmac lane which goes straight up the hillside. It's tough on a mountain bike so it would be a killer on a road bike!
Actually Andy, if you look at the local maps, you can see that the whole Calder Valley between Halifax and Tomorden is littered with steep climbs. You can ride up and down for hours without repeating yourself.0 -
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Colin....
of course I mean Cragg Vale. Cow Gate, is n't that some kind of baby food?? :oops: :oops: :oops:
They sound like my glasses. I was so knackered and frustrated that when they broke i just threw them down and struggled on in a huff. Since then i've been irriated with myself because it really p***es me off when i see others littering. What the hell were you doing behind me at that early stage????
Guys... just worked out why this fab event was so quiet - same day as the Melton Mowbray iCycle and the Dragon Ride. I'll bet most people were off having their fun in south wales. Perhaps a change of date for next year Mr Organiser sir??
David0
