Cheshire Cat preparation
Comments
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aka 'Dead Man's Hill', although I've never seen that name on a map.
When I first met it I used to hate it, but if you've managed to get that far round it'll be easy !0 -
Oooh bugger - I'd not thought past Mow Cop.
Still - I did that on a 39*23 last year when it was at the 80 mile mark. This year I'll make sure to check that I have my climbing wheels on ! d'oh !
Ta for the heads up re Macc Forest - have been there before, but cant remember which roads I was on.
Last year they did have Hi5 at the feed zones. I reckon you could get by on one bottle and just top it up at each feed if you are wanting to cut down on weight. Maybe take some powder in a ziploc to be safe ? Theres always going to be a garage to get some water at if you get caught out.
Mind you at the moment - its weeing down here.0 -
andy_wrx wrote:aka 'Dead Man's Hill', although I've never seen that name on a map.
When I first met it I used to hate it, but if you've managed to get that far round it'll be easy !
I guess it's called Dead Man's hill 'cos of the memorial stone: http://www.carlscam.com/rainow/turner.htm
It's a special hill for me as it's often the last one on my rides. Once I've done it I'm pretty much down hill all the way home.Higs0 -
cougie wrote:
Ta for the heads up re Macc Forest - have been there before, but cant remember which roads I was on.
If you fancy a play round Macc Forest & beyond (and don't mind waiting at the top of every hill!) drop me a line. I think I'm out the weekend afer next doing a variant of the first two loops of the 'Spud Riley' route. You're welcome to tag along.Higs0 -
Cheers Higs - will see if I can get out thataway one weekend !0
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Higs wrote:I guess it's called Dead Man's hill 'cos of the memorial stone: http://www.carlscam.com/rainow/turner.htm
Well I never, the number of times I've been up that and never noticed that stone !
When you do go up there, check out the state of the road.
We went up 3 or 4 weeks ago and it had a major pothole&gravel problem.
Not an issue for the Cheshire Cat or Spud Riley as you'd be ascending the hill but would be a major 'oh sh1t!' if descending too fast towards Lamaload.
They were resurfacing/patching Artists Lane the other weekend, and seems like they've done Macc Forest too, so I wonder if someone from KiloToGo has checked-out the route and had a word with Cheshire County Council about mending the roads on the route ?
If so, hopefullly they'll have fixed this too.
If not, if it's still in a right state when you go over, would be worth reporting on FillThatHole http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ or to Cheshire County Council direct http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/cheshirecc. ... x#aTabTop30 -
It's been resurfaced, I think. This from the Macc Borough council website....Ewrin Lane, Rainow will be closed throughout its entire length on Monday 2nd March 2009 for four days whilst carriageway reconstruction and ironwork adjustment works are carried out on behalf of Cheshire County Council.
Clearly all you need to do to get a road re-surfaced is organise a Sportive!Higs0 -
Clearly all you need to do to get a road re-surfaced is organise a Sportive![/quote]
Well in that case I think I might have a go at organising one involving some of the main roads in South Manchester!!
Maybe a small loop tagged onto the end
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This is going to be great, all the roads will have perfect smooth tarmac and we can descend every hill at full pelt
(maybe !)
(- and I'll still be taking it easy on that one down from the Cat&Fiddle road towards Lamaload :shock: )0 -
My decent speed is normally a shade over 20mph - anything more than that and my lower lip starts to wobble :oops: I guess that "The Fear" just gets a grip of me going downhill. Still, I'd rather survive to face the next climb than be splashed all over the bottom of the first descent 8)
What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!0 -
Higs wrote:andy_wrx wrote:
(- and I'll still be taking it easy on that one down from the Cat&Fiddle road towards Lamaload :shock: )
If you've got someone behind you, just give them a tow to the crest of the hill then move aside, let them go and see if they make the bend :twisted:
Oh you evil man !
In Summer and on a dry day, I might hit 40 on that first shallower drop, past the farm (hoping no-one comes out of it, but it is wide/straight/smooth and with visibility good enough to do it if you keep awake)
But then when it steepens (the sign at the top says 20% but I think it's worse) and turns to the right, the stream washes over it and it's covered in gravel, then it tightens into that blind left hander under the trees where it's always damp and the road surface is a bit green...
It's a bottle-game : because it's a dip at the bottom and climbs again, you want to carry as much speed as you can, but until you can see that bend's clear...
It almost always is of course, although I did nearly end up as a bonnet-mascot on a Fiesta there a couple of years ago...0 -
I broke my leg this morning in spectacular fashion on the descent to Lamaload. It's a very messy break, i will be having an op on it tomorrow but due to the location it may hamper any future riding
i wasn't going particularly fast but the bike slipped out from under me having violently fishtailed trying to slow for a right hand bend.
Luckily spanielsson (dan) was with me and did a sterling job of rushing back up the hill to try and get a signal for 999.
Dan, you are officially AWESOME! I hope you got back ok.
It was really worrying because i became very cold very quickly and i was sprawled in the middle of the road. From the crash to the ambulance arriving it took what felt like 3 hours but was probably somewhere between 30 mins and an hour. When they arrived they were brilliant.
I'm now in my hospital bed ripped to the t*ts on morphine, you have no idea how hard it is to type this on a touch screen above my head with no glasses on and a somewhat foggy mind!
One last word, BE CAREFUL NEXT WEEK!0 -
Oh sh!te, bad news !
Best wishes for your recovery and I hope it turns-out not as bad as you fear long-term.0 -
NapoleonD wrote:I broke my leg this morning in spectacular fashion on the descent to Lamaload. It's a very messy break, i will be having an op on it tomorrow but due to the location it may hamper any future riding
One last word, BE CAREFUL NEXT WEEK!
Ouch - I don't feel too clever now having joked about getting people to over-cook it down there :oops:
All the very best for a quick and full recovery.Higs0 -
Awww, Hey Alex!!
Jesus, I can't believe it man! I'm really so sorry to hear about your crash and your injury. I hope you have a quick and full recovery. Take care & keep in touch
Karen0 -
Ooh that sounds nasty.
Good job you had Dan there to give you a helping hand. Definately not the sort of thing you'd want to go through on your own.
Hope all goes well with the op and your recovery mate.
All the best to you.
Dave.He who dies with the most toys wins!0 -
cheers guys!0
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NapoleonD wrote:I broke my leg this morning in spectacular fashion on the descent to Lamaload. It's a very messy break, i will be having an op on it tomorrow but due to the location it may hamper any future riding
i wasn't going particularly fast but the bike slipped out from under me having violently fishtailed trying to slow for a right hand bend.
Luckily spanielsson (dan) was with me and did a sterling job of rushing back up the hill to try and get a signal for 999.
Dan, you are officially AWESOME! I hope you got back ok.
It was really worrying because i became very cold very quickly and i was sprawled in the middle of the road. From the crash to the ambulance arriving it took what felt like 3 hours but was probably somewhere between 30 mins and an hour. When they arrived they were brilliant.
I'm now in my hospital bed ripped to the t*ts on morphine, you have no idea how hard it is to type this on a touch screen above my head with no glasses on and a somewhat foggy mind!
One last word, BE CAREFUL NEXT WEEK!
Bl**dy h*ll, perhaps I'd better think about replacing my ageing Weinmann centrepulls; hope you're up and about asap. My sincere commiserations.
My brother is one of the local bobbies for that area; he has told me that I have two things to worry about; going up, the Macc forest climb "harder than Mow Cop and Swiss Hill". Going downhill, the descent to Lamaload.
I shall be very careful.0 -
It's hard to know what to say about the whole ordeal to be honest. I'm so glad that a lady passing by was there to help Alex while I made the 999 call. As nasty as the injury is things could have been worse.
Your first trip out big fella is a flat 40 with me, of course it will have a quality tea & cake stop!
Fingers crossed for a uncomplicated and speedy recovery.0 -
NapoleonD wrote:That Macc Forest climb averages 16% but it is over 25% in parts... I managed it on the training ride the other weekend on my 23lb training bike on a 39-27.
I managed Swiss Hill on it last friday too.
For the actual Cheshire Cat I'll be on my 15.5lb Look with a 34-26
Me and a pal took a car around the route yesterday and what we saw scared us silly in parts, Mow Cop is one, Swiss hill is another but the worse is the Trentabank reservoir area in Macclesfield Forrest......... :shock: :shock: :shock:
I intend to take 1 pair of cycling shoes and 1 pair of hiking boots 0 -
cheers dan! had my op this morning, there were 3 breaks, i'm now sporting some nails and a metal plate, hope they won't weigh me down too much when i get back on the bike!0
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Blimey - that's one slippy road - I went up it in Summer last year - back wheel was slipping - no traction, and it was dry...... so be careful - I've known that descent to be dodgy.....
Heal well dude..........0 -
Good luck with the recovery Napoleon - sounds like a bad off.0
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Well all of this has done nothing to boost my confidence about this ride. The gradients sound horrendously steep and treacherous and having done just 86 miles on Sunday I am wondering if I am going to be able to haul my large arse around this course.
Speedy recovery to NapoleonD after what must have been a ruddy awful day.
What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!0 -
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I've been giving the Cheshire cat some serious thought after Fridays experience.
Nearly a month ago I was involved in an accident caused by someone else, I got away without any real injury, I could have easily been in the same position as Alex.
I have full confidence in my ability and bike handling skills, but, the thought of 1600 people riding these roads in potentially the same conditions or worse scares me. I was told by somebody who worked at the cat last year passed comment on the condition some peoples equipment being not up to scratch. If you you don't know if your bike is fit to ride, are you fit to ride the bike?!0 -
So we all need to invest in a set or two of these then?
In a car last week I travelled down a very steep decline in Macclesfield Forest just after Trentabank reservoir, at that moment the thoughts that went through my head was Salmon Kool Stops.....0 -
Marko1962 wrote:So we all need to invest in a set or two of these then?
In a car last week I travelled down a very steep decline in Macclesfield Forest just after Trentabank reservoir, at that moment the thoughts that went through my head was Salmon Kool Stops.....
It's tyres that could be the problem! Sticky rubber needed by all! Open Pave tyres anyone?!0
