Tour of the Pennines cyclo sportive 3rd oct 2009

torelli

TOUR OF THE PENNINES
CYCLO SPORTIVE
SADDLEWORTH, OLDHAM
3rd October

100km and 60km ride around the Pennine hills of Saddleworth. The event takes in routes used by the Milk Race, Tour of Britain and Tour of the Pennines pro cycle race. The event starts in the picturesque village of Uppermill, it then passes through ther villages of Mossley, Meltham, Marsden, Slaithwaite, Denshaw, Ripponden, Littleborough, Milnrow ,Newhey and Delph. The 100km route takes in the climbs of Isle of Skye, Standegde, Scape Goat Hill, Nont Sarahs, Windy Hill Black Stone Edge,the Moorcock and Horse & Jockey, the 60km ride misses out Windy Hill Black Stone Edge,the Moorcock.

The event is sponsored by Lana Thai Restaurants who will be serving up a free curry to all participants and Torelli Sport one of the UK biggest suppliers of custom printed sports drinks bottles who will be supplying competitors with a sports bottle and sponsoring the feeding stations.

Head Quarters Uppermill Sports & Cricket Club, Saddleworth nestled at the foot of the Pennines is just 30 mins drive from the centre of Manchester. The nearest train station is a mile away in Greenfield. The nearest town is Oldham. Towns within a one hour travelling time from the event are Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield, Stockport, Bradford, Preston, Bury Blackburn, Liverpool. The nearest motorway junctions are M62 Denshaw, M60 Oldham, M67 Hyde.

Electronic Timed Event
Feed Stations
Sag Waggon
Mechanic/ Service
Good Quality Roads
Challenging Course

Enter online https://www.sportident.co.uk/entries/ev ... ent_id=239
Website http://www.torelli.co.uk/news_more.asp?news_id=52

YOUTUBE PROMO VIDEO


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIN87GNzmQE

YOUTUBE TOUR OF THE PENNINES ROUTE

Follow the route in Google Earth


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Mqxz0m2W0

Higs

Maybe.

If the weather's OK and I can enter on the day.

Dr U Idh

I'm in for it - anyone else??

This'll be the first Sportive I'll have done on roads I know nothing about - and with no opportunity to check them out first.

Higs

I've moved from 'maybe' to 'probable' (based on being able to enter on day and reasonable weather forecast)

If it's raining I'll be MTBing. I don't enjoy riding my road bike in the rain and I certainly don't intend paying to not enjoy myself.

jacster

I'm going to enter this week.
Sounds fun!

fungus_the_muffin_man

I'll be doing it for my first sportive. I have friends who ride these routes quite often. One did the shorter route just the other day. Fingers crossed for lightish winds as it can become quite hard work up on the exposed bits I'm lead to believe. Think I'll be doing the shorter version.
If anyone is newish to biking and wants a buddy for the day I'll be on a red bianchi looking like I'm dying going up thye hills

jacster

Anyone else had a recce of the course?
What are the climbs like?

jacster

Just checked the forecast - heavy rain and gusts up to 53mph! Should be fun on those climbs!

ColinJ

jacster wrote:

Anyone else had a recce of the course?
What are the climbs like?

Funnily enough, I happened to ride much of the route at the weekend and saw a lot of signs had already been put up for the event. Let's hope that they are still there when you need them!

Here's my summary of the climbs:

• Isle of Skye (Saddleworth Moor) - long, scenic and steady. We had a tailwind up there on Sunday. Quite a lot of fast moving traffic. Keep your wits about you. NB Exercise caution on the descent of Wessenden Head to Meltham. It's nearly 3 km at 9% and is extremely fast!
• Standedge - the back road out of Marsden. Fairly steep. First half sheltered from the wind, but we had to grind into a tough headwind higher up.
• Scapegoat Hill - a pig! It's steep enough to hurt and goes on and on. Hard work. The wind shouldn't be a factor on that.
• Nont Sarahs - a long steady drag up to Buckstones. I did it on the Brian Robinson Challenge earlier in the year. The wind is usually more of a problem than the climb. Watch out for mad bikers on the descent. There's usually scores of them bombing up and down the hill at the weekends.
• Windy Hill - the first half is moderately steep and then it eases off. You might well get a tailwind higher up.
• Blackstone Edge - from that direction it's a long drag, usually into a headwind.
• The Moorcock - for some reason, I always find this climb fairly hard going. It's not that steep, or that long but it's long enough and steep enough to be draining if you are starting to feel tired.
• Horse & Jockey - it's the last climb so you'll either feel knackered or sprint up it!

Mossrider

Nont Sarahs - a long steady drag up to Buckstones. I did it on the Brian Robinson Challenge earlier in the year. The wind is usually more of a problem than the climb. Watch out for mad bikers on the descent. There's usually scores of them bombing up and down the hill at the weekends.

I was up there on my commute last night - could hardly keep my front wheel on the road in the morning due to the wind, but that's not so unusual at this time of year. On the way back I could hardly see my hand in front of my face...that's Buckstones for you.

Despite the traffic, the Isle of Skye is a lovely climb, Standedge is my alternative commute (used if the weather is bad as its less exposed, and has a well situated pub if the weather is too appalling...) its not too hard but I always find it a bit of a drag (Buckstones is far more scenic).

Scapegoat hill - no thanks. Steep and deep.

The others aren't too bad.

Mossrider

Nont Sarahs - a long steady drag up to Buckstones. I did it on the Brian Robinson Challenge earlier in the year. The wind is usually more of a problem than the climb. Watch out for mad bikers on the descent. There's usually scores of them bombing up and down the hill at the weekends.

I was up there on my commute last night - could hardly keep my front wheel on the road in the morning due to the wind, but that's not so unusual at this time of year. On the way back I could hardly see my hand in front of my face...that's Buckstones for you.

Despite the traffic, the Isle of Skye is a lovely climb, Standedge is my alternative commute (used if the weather is bad as its less exposed, and has a well situated pub if the weather is too appalling...) its not too hard but I always find it a bit of a drag (Buckstones is far more scenic).

Scapegoat hill - no thanks. Steep and deep.

The others aren't too bad.

Higs

jacster wrote:

Just checked the forecast - heavy rain and gusts up to 53mph!

That's me out then.

John C.

The forcast is only for about a mm of rain, lots on Friday but Saturday OK .Yes, winds of around 20mph gusting 25 but I can cope with that. So hopefully I'll be there, Always nice to ride on new roads, even if it's to say never again

fungus_the_muffin_man

I've paid my money to do the 60k route. looking forward to having a good day in the saddle

jacster

Brutal is the only word I can find to sum up that ride.
The wind made it atrocious. And it was clearly too much for one prat who cut right across me on one of the climbs and knocked me off. A couple of bruises but no serious damage.
Nice to finish but not particularly enjoyable.
Organisation and signage were pretty good. And the curry at the end went some way to easing the pain.
Would I do it again? Maybe on the day if it's not severe gales!

lukasran

Brutal indeed. never encountered anything remotely like the wind on that desolet stretch by the feed wagon. going nowhere fast.
personally i thought the sign could have been a lot more prominent in places, such as the left turn to meltham. i compleatly missed it and ended up going to holmfirth then up to hudersfield, cursing the lack of signs. you may have seen me going the wrong way up the a62. was getting some sympathetic looks so prob others did the same thing. but still thoroughly enjoyed it. aprt from the scapegoat! take a map next time i hear you say, yes i will.

Flaming Photography

For those that survived
Photos - http://www.flamingphotography.co.uk/portfolio72544.html
Short Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y27G4jr7asc

damoando

Agree about the signage. Made the same mistake as Lakasran - maybe you were one of the guys lost with me. Next year maybe swap the Thai Curry for clear signsm With this and the weather prob least enjoyable sportive this year.

BaildonBob

Hilarious video. Is that wind or heavy artillery I can hear? Great shout at 3:06.

cumbriamike

That's what I call a headwind.

Thought about 'going home' for this one as I am from Saddleworth originally (spent many teenage hours at Uppermill cricket club) but didn't.

Well done to everyone who battled through to the end!

rossere

Certainly tough – all I could think about cycling up Nont Sarahs was John C’s weather forecast :shock:

The forcast is only for about a mm of rain, lots on Friday but Saturday OK .Yes, winds of around 20mph gusting 25 but I can cope with that.

I thought the event organisation was excellent.
Prior to the event the website was full of helpful information and the promotional video was great.
The check-in was quick, efficient and painless. The food wagon was well stocked, the photographer was a pleasant surprise and all the freebies (gels, water bottle) were all useful. The curry was also a welcome boost at the end.

All the turns were signed and even with the best signage in the world if you’re not familiar with the route there is always a chance you may miss one.

Finally all the organisers were helpful, friendly and cheerful despite the weather and I would definitely do the sportive again but hope for better weather .

giner1961

Hi
too everyone that did the sportive, all i would say is that anybody who does sportives through the year buy a garmin 605/705 as you can either download the course as a lot of organisers do now, or plan it on bikeroutetoaster and down load the the garmin unit.
Would not be without my 705, kept me on course a few times, not cheap but worth it

Buster49

Well folks, I live 100 yds from Uppermill Cricket Club and there's not a breath of wind here this morning and the sun is breaking through. Oh well, that's life.

fungus_the_muffin_man

I did this for my first ever sportive. I was with a group who ride this regularly. However I was on my own quite a few times after getting dropped on the climb up past the golf course and then again just after the steep section of scapegoat hill. It was the first time I'd done that course or ever rode around there and can honestly say I didn't have a problem with the signage.
As for the wind WOW!!!!!! I've never rode in anything like that in my life. Nont sarahs to the feeding station and then all the way down to the 60/100km turn off point were just the hardest riding I've ever done. I went past a guy on a boardman who had some nice deep rimmed wheels on. He must've had a terrible time. I got blown off the road on one occasion despite being lent over at a 45 degree angle. so he must've suffered worse than me.

Non of this however has put me off doing it again. I thought the organisation was good. plenty of bananas, gels and fill up drinks at the feeding station. Though I'm sure a cup of tea would've gone down amazingly well at that point as well if they'd had one on offer.
I really enjoyed the climbs. Yeah scapegoat was hard and steep, but i was advised to hit it spinning and it wasn't as brutal as i expected. Hard work? yes, steep? yes. But it was nothing compared to the ascent to and descent from nont sarahs.


Unfortunately the only down side was the weather ,last weekend was perfect for it as is today looking out of the window.Fingers crossed for next year.

fungus_the_muffin_man

Buster49 wrote:

Well folks, I live 100 yds from Uppermill Cricket Club and there's not a breath of wind here this morning and the sun is breaking through. Oh well, that's life.

You should go watch the mni triathlon thats on today in uppermill sounds like it should be good. My mates missus is doing it.

fungus_the_muffin_man

great pics on that link this is me http://www.flamingphotography.co.uk/photo3676836.html#photo

Dr U Idh

Ouch!

Man that was tough. I chickened out of the long route and was happy to get back to Uppermill with no serious incidents. Muchos respect to the 30-odd cyclists that did the whole route.

I didn't really have any problems, apart from staying upright and then making progress along Nont Sarahs.

As for route-finding, who is going to own up to continuing on through Delph and missing out that last dog-leg? I saw a couple of riders in front of me miss the sharp left turn, followed them, then realised my mistake and went back. I saw another couple of riders joining the route just before the railway bridge too, so I'm guessing it was a fairly common mistake.

singlespeedexplosif

Buster49 wrote:

Well folks, I live 100 yds from Uppermill Cricket Club and there's not a breath of wind here this morning and the sun is breaking through. Oh well, that's life.

I live about 300 yards from the sports club and the first I knew of this event was seeing the route markers when I was out on saturday morning. Bit more advertising next year perhaps!
It's a nice route, I ride this fairly regularly as a longish weekend ride. Lots of good hills but nothing particularly evil (even Scapegoat's not too bad if you've ridden round here lots )
Wind does make it tough though

Mossrider

I rode over Nont Sarah's (aka "Buckstones") on my way to work this morning - a beautiful day, the best for a couple of weeks! I know how bad it can be in windy conditions (I try to commute it at least once a week). I also did it Friday coming back over the Standedge route and it was pretty hairy then. At least you didn't have the thick fog from a week ago.