Lancashire Hotpot,Sun 16th September

casatikid

Hi,as a Lancashire lad living in Yorkshire i thought it was my duty to ride in this new sportive.Dont know the route although the middle half look to have the most climbing.
Anyone out there riding it and knows the area.I was supposed to be riding it with a lad from work but he bottled it so its on my lonesome im afraid.

thegodplato

I was going to do it but opted for the 100 mile Ride With Brad instead. You are right that the hills are the middle bit. The first 30 miles are flat and there is an open stretch after Pilling that takes you to Lancaster that, if the wind is against you, can be quite slow. Your first hill is Jubilee Tower and trust me you will know when you have done it. Its steep and tough. I think you are doing the full Jubilee climb which is about 800 feet ( I think ). If you think the start is bad, wait till you've turned right then right - the drag after that is a killer for me. And then when you've reached the top, you haven't. If you are on Strava the segment is all the way to the Tower, about 2 miles in total. The trough is a good steady climb, then I think you go over to Pendleton for the Nick O Pendle which is simialr to Jubilee Tower. I think after that you're on the windy but mainly flat roads back to Blackpool.
Good luck!

casatikid

Oh why do i continue to do this to myself? 56 years of age,i should know better.Thinking it will be around the 6.30-7hr mark-ish.

Cleat Eastwood

I'm doing it - the 115miler - eek - same climbs virtually as the ride with brad. Nick opendle is beastly and jeffrey hill is just hellish - foodstops looks nice though.

casatikid

Are you riding a compact? Me,im riding 53x39 12.25.Hope the legs will push me up.What is the max gradient of Jeffrey hill,do you know.?
Are you an oldi also or a young un.?

Cleat Eastwood

I am riding a compact - lowest will be 34/28 - and I struggled with that on the brad ride - there are niggling hills just before pendle hill (i think) that were 20%+... infact I found the cheshire cat with its 25% mow cop easier in that the big climb was out of the way at 15miles, the hotpot still has hills to go - from their profile it looks like the climbs are

Jeffrey hill @ 35miles

Longridge @ 38

Nick O'Pendle @ 50

Pendle Hill @ 55

Waddington Fell 70

Trough of Bowland 78

some hill with initials HAT about 80.

Good luck with a 39/25 - i'd look for smaller if I were you

am i old or young - put it this way - my cycling jersey is a knitted cardy ,my slippers have cleats and I have ovaltine in my bidon.

thegibdog

Jeffrey Hill gets up to about 20% from the North or 14% from the South so it depends which side you're doing it from. But as Cleat says there's plenty of 20% round there too so I'd want something smaller than 39x25 personally.

Never did hear whether the guy doing the Ride with Brad on a fixie got round ok...

thegodplato

I didn't think the Hot Pot went over Sabden, thought after Nick O Pendle it turned back towards Blackpool? Sabden and the hills after that ( Barleyfield Lane, etc ) were the worst on the Ride With Brad. I thought the Hot Pot was flat for more than half of it? Might be wrong.

blackpoolkev

It's the 85 miler for me.
Unlike all the sportives that I have done before, this one is on my local roads.The start is less than 3 miles away.
The chance to take part in a sportive without getting up at stupid o'clock was too good to miss.
You can all have a pop at my Strava segment record.
About 5 miles from the finishhttp://app.strava.com/segments/2179351

casatikid

Blackpoolkev-Are these climbs at Jeffrey hill etc really that bad as people have been saying?

blackpoolkev

CASATIKID wrote:

Blackpoolkev-Are these climbs at Jeffrey hill etc really that bad as people have been saying?

On the 85 miler there are 3 hills of note-Jeffrey Hill,Trough of Bowland and Jubilee Tower.Of these 3 I'd say the Trough is the toughest but even that is only 4/10 in"100 Greatest Cycling Climbs".
For those doing the long route-Waddington Fell will present your toughest challenge.

You'll be fine.

casatikid

Thanks Blackpoolkev.Put my old mind at rest.All this talk of 53x39 being to overgeared,ive completed several sportives on this set up,Lincoln GP,Big G and pocklington pedal and all these have some tough climbs.
How did riders of old manage i wonder.

blackpoolkev

Hi OP, how did you get on?

I found it a bit wet.

I use sportives to challenge myself and this one certainly did that!The weather,distance(85m) and climbing were all out of my usual comfort zone but I got round.It makes me humble when I think of those on the longer(and much hillier) route.
Many thanks to all the pleasant folk I met along the way.

casatikid

Hi.Yes i rode it on Sunday also.The 115m route was actualy 117.5 m.Weather dreadful of course but even though some of the climbs were tough i still managed fine on 39x25.Think i finished top ten,or so i was told.Great day.Back next year.