A North Pennines and Great Dun Fell Adventure

Anonymous

Chaps,

Last year there was a possibility of a sportive in the North Pennines climaxing with the climb up Great Dun Fell...I was helping a sportive organiser design a route to honour such a finish...and we came up with a 100mile stomper....a few guys were hoarded together...Myself,BrianB,Nickwill,Alesupper and a few other lads....and off we went to tackle this brute...a 10mile gentle run in followed by 9 climbs back to back...it really did look like a Pyrenean Mountain Stage with a Hilltop finish.

The route started in Dufton...backroads down past Appleby and onto Brough where the first climb was encountered..I called this 'Shot Moss'...this went on for ages and was a massive long drag...really impressive and had you in wilderness in no time....then onto Middleton on Teesdale for the next sapper...I called this 'Ravenseat'....what a monster climb...but one of those climbs you can really hammer up...brilliant!....this was followed swiftly by a steep brute before the plunge down to Stanhope...we then dinked left onto the A689 for a gentle trundle upto Eastgate where we veered off the main road towards Rookhope...gorgeous up here...but the next 3 climbs which awaited us were as tough an ordeal as any other sportive...no more long massive drags...these were 'in your face' steep buggers getting progressively worse...the first I called 'Lintzgarth Common'...starts off shallow but steepens up bigtime towards the top...very tough and must be around 18% gradient nearing the top.....the next was a horror...a road as straight as an arrow with total disregard for terrain or gradient....easily 25%....not too long thankfully but still near popped the knees..I called this 'Race Head'....we then descended off this and trudged our way to St Johns Chapel...for then next trauma...and this was a true trauma...even on my Memory Map it looked real bad...a climb up and over Langdon Common...350meter ascent in 4 kms...I called this 'beast of Langdon'....and with good reason. :shock: ...to cut a story this was a horror....it really was a killer....steepening all the way to a horrible long 20% stretch at the top...yuck!....after this ordeal we descended onto the B6277 where we took a right for the long massive drag over Harwood common to Alston...off at Alson over the famous Hartside Pass for the incredible descent into Melmerby...from there we made our way to our fate on a series of excellent quaint backroads...we entered into Knock with 99miles in the bag...now for Great Dun Fell...anyone here did this yet?....this was one of 'those' experiences...a climb of 650meters in 7kms...climbing 25meters higher than Bealach Na Ba in 2 Kms less distance.....in a nutshell its a special UK climb...after my experience I only put Hardknott or Bwlch Y Groes above it in terms of severity...it has some absolute killer sections with 15-20% gradients galore...for Kilometers!.....there is a section nearing the top which has a Km averaging over 17%...thats like having Asterton Bank or Winnats Pass stuck in one of the KMs on this monster....we were all near spewing by the top and were firmly shocked by the effort....I personally think this was much tougher than Alpe De Huez,Luz Ardiden etc...its one of those climbs I was 'lucky' to get up....but the view point up there of the entire Pennines and the Lake District was staggering....

This would provide a fantastic addition to the UK sportive scene...incredibly tough and the most awe inspiring finale a UK sportive could hope for....

Sadly the powers at be have refused permission to use the private road up GDF....for safety concerns.....fair enough...but there is still a possibility it will get the go ahead in the near future.

But simply due to the incredible route, I would urge fellow cyclists to have a pop at this route...it makes for a fantastic memory in a gorgeous setting...long sapping brutes intertwined with killer steep brutes...and finishing with the biggest climb in all the British Isles....and one of the very toughest!

pipsqueak

Sounds like a "top ride"

The route sounds initially great, although i dont think for safety reasons, it would be given the go ahead. Picture the scene, possibly a hundred on the ascent of the last fell, with an equal number descending having completed the event. Although the standard of sportive riding is usually quite high, you can foresee many accidents, and it is that degree of almost certainty that will raise the eyebrows of the Health and Safety brigade.

daowned

Hi Richy

I will be down that way in a few months and would consider doing the route. If you have a map you could post it up for some of us.

Anonymous

daowned wrote:

Hi Richy

I will be down that way in a few months and would consider doing the route. If you have a map you could post it up for some of us.

Hi Alec,

Just sent you on a few details via email...if anyone else wants the route and profile then just let me know...I could easily throw it up on Bikely

Noodley

As bikely route would be appreciated RICHYBOY. 8)

Anonymous

Noodley wrote:

As bikely route would be appreciated RICHYBOY. 8)

Ok Noodley here it is:-

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Pe ... at-DunFell

Check the elevation profile out...dont think you'll ever see a profile like that again in the UK...its more like a Pyrennean Mountian top finish on the TDF!

RedGreenBaron

Thanks Richyboy for this and all your inspiring write-ups and common sense analysis.
If I get the FWC place will go up with the missus and make a long weekend out of it, so maybe have a go at some of your route on friday or mon/tues.
Nick

Noodley

RICHYBOYcp wrote:

Noodley wrote:

As bikely route would be appreciated RICHYBOY. 8)

Ok Noodley here it is:-

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Pe ... at-DunFell

Check the elevation profile out...dont think you'll ever see a profile like that again in the UK...its more like a Pyrennean Mountian top finish on the TDF!

Looks great 8)
I'll be in the North of Englandshire a few times this year so will try to make sure I do at least some of the route. I'll have to check the audax rides I am doing to see if they cover any of the roads.

nmcgann

GDF is pretty nasty - I climbed it a few years back and found it pretty hard going at the level of fitness I had then. Even though I did it, it wasn't a coincidence that I started a diet that resulted in me eventually losing 3st as soon as I got back home.

I can't see it ever being used for a sportive though - I found it pretty scary on the descent with sheep wandering about, add in a load of other cyclists weaving about the road climbing up and it wouldn't be safe.

Neil

Anonymous

If your venturing up there and 104 miles is too much for your timescale commits then there is a very obvious shorter version....basically you can start in Dufton...make your way to Brough then up and Over 'Shot Moss'...but after descending down to Middleton in Teesdale just turn left and head from there straight over to Alston over Harwood Common on the B6277....from there its up and over Hartside before making your way to Knock for the brutal ascent of GDF.....this cuts it down to roughly 60odd miles and takes out tons of the really tough stuff....

RedGreenBaron - thanks for those words....I always try and tell a story with my own personal account.....for years I read about routes being done with top cyclists, and they were giving advice of what gearing to use and where to maximise your efforts..but for a 'very' mediocre fella like me the advice was alien...it really was very unhelpful....I got the FWC Dvd for 2007...the guy doing the Reccy and giving advice was saying he uses a 39x23 on Honister/Hardknott etc...now thats just a different world from me to start with.....but then said "you maybe better with a 25 or 27 on the back or even one of those Compacts, and you'll get away with a 23 on the back with that"...thats just crazy talk and advice for the bog standard sportifer like me...I've got a Triple with 30 x 27 lowest gear and Im still near spewing on those brutes....and on all the sportives and big group rides Ive did most of the guys are fairly similar to me?.....thats the reason I decided to do write ups...to try and convey an honest appraisal of the event or route so that normal blokes can get a good idea of what awaits them....and if theyre a bit better than me then they can just use my info and adjust to suit.....all my write ups have disappeared from another certain sportive website but hopefully will be returning soon on another sitone...and hopefully that can maybe help out other lads prepare themselves properly...