It put my climbing into a different perspective
brin
Posts: 1,122
Went out yesterday to do a longish 75m run which included lots of hills as part of my training for up and coming sportives.
Decided to hit Weardale/Northumberland as i have climbed a few of the hills there, but not in one go.
The first climb i attempted, and it was a first for me too, was Crawleyside which lies North of Stanhope, for those who don't know (No 59 in Simon Warrens ' greatest cycling climbs')
I approached it with a bit trepidation, but found the going not as bad as anticipated,and was also amazed at the number of cyclists who were also pounding their way up - mtb's and roadies- must say i was surprised how 'easy' i found it, fairly skipped up the 20% slopes through the village and headed out onto the long straight, i passed loads of the other cyclists, who seemed to be either struggling or just ambling their way up. After passing the farmhouse i approached a cyclist who had his bike laden with 4 panniers - 2 at front 2 at rear, and i'm sure he was donning a back pack too, i thought to myself "bloody hell he's got some weight there" as i caught up to him i acknowledged him with a "morning" when he looked up at me i saw he must have easily been in his mid 60's - made my effort seem all so irrelevant.
Decided to hit Weardale/Northumberland as i have climbed a few of the hills there, but not in one go.
The first climb i attempted, and it was a first for me too, was Crawleyside which lies North of Stanhope, for those who don't know (No 59 in Simon Warrens ' greatest cycling climbs')
I approached it with a bit trepidation, but found the going not as bad as anticipated,and was also amazed at the number of cyclists who were also pounding their way up - mtb's and roadies- must say i was surprised how 'easy' i found it, fairly skipped up the 20% slopes through the village and headed out onto the long straight, i passed loads of the other cyclists, who seemed to be either struggling or just ambling their way up. After passing the farmhouse i approached a cyclist who had his bike laden with 4 panniers - 2 at front 2 at rear, and i'm sure he was donning a back pack too, i thought to myself "bloody hell he's got some weight there" as i caught up to him i acknowledged him with a "morning" when he looked up at me i saw he must have easily been in his mid 60's - made my effort seem all so irrelevant.
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Nuggs wrote:
Aren't all 75 mile rides the same length?brin wrote:Went out yesterday to do a longish 75m run
Sorry, it's Monday and pedantry is all I'm good for today...
I was sat here thinking '75 metres isn't too long, surely'
Sorry, it's Monday and pedantry is all I'm good for today...
"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."0 -
reminds me of when I saw a hand cyclist going up box hill.0
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I overtook a girl of about 10 on a unicycle going up a short but steep hill this morning. Just to clarify for the pedants, the girl was on the unicycle, I was on a regular road bike.0
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I thought I was caning my friends up the col de Peyresourde, only to be properly passed by a teenager on a BMX who was going at some speed.0
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One of my most vivid cycling memories was riding the last 3 or 4 bends of the Alpe d'Huez with my then 13 year old son on a normal mountain bike. We'd descended from the top and were just doing the last few bends. With his low gears and being fresh, my lad was making good progress and fairly easily overtook a labouring roadie who had clearly been grinding away from the very bottom. The roadie took one look at my lad as he was passed, and promptly fell off his bike. The final straw.0
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topcattim:>>>> Reminds me of going up Tourmalet last year, very hot day --30c +--, real struggle; there was a lad 16-18 on superbike with accompanying woman in BMW offering water to him every 2-3 miles; despite my requests for some water she ignored me; `sadly` very glad to see the young budding TdeF lad packed at La Mongie, wobbling all over road
whilst I on my steady pace plodded on to top ! 0 -
topcattim wrote:
Glad to see you've moved on from being overtaken by butterfliesTerm1te wrote:I overtook a girl of about 10 on a unicycle going up a short but steep hill this morning. Just to clarify for the pedants, the girl was on the unicycle, I was on a regular road bike.
Look, it was a very hot day on the Col du Pré, and the butterfly was on steroids.0 -
Yup, there's nothing quite like the pleasure of being the plodder that overtakes the "speedy in bursts".JamesB wrote:topcattim:>>>> Reminds me of going up Tourmalet last year, very hot day --30c +--, real struggle; there was a lad 16-18 on superbike with accompanying woman in BMW offering water to him every 2-3 miles; despite my requests for some water she ignored me; `sadly` very glad to see the young budding TdeF lad packed at La Mongie, wobbling all over road whilst I on my steady pace plodded on to top !0
