Butter tubs pass Yorkshire

nicube

I've been having my first holiday with some road cycling included and loving it. Stopping in Hawes North Yorkshire I thought it the perfect opportunity to try some of last years Tour de France route and conquered the Butter tubs pass yesterday evening, thankfully found it a little easier than some suggested. You could see where a lot of last years road graffiti had been which was good but one distinct marking which appeared official was a straight white line across the whols width of the road with initials MG at either end, any idea what this means??

I thought it might be the marker for the summit but it wasn't where I expected it to be!

Cheers

drlodge

Don't know what the line is, but you went up the easy way I think heading north? Try if from the north heading south next time, and then up and over Fleet Moss ;-)

Its great cycling round there and a superb B&B near Hawes that I stayed at.

neosplace

Checkout the coal road from Dent station side, & castle near Reeth.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4239343
Enjoy

bob6397

Love the riding around there - the hill at the start of this is a killer though..

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7810203

I stayed at the YHA when I stayed in Hawes and it was pretty good - decent food and a locked shed for the bikes..

bob6397

nicube

drlodge wrote:

Don't know what the line is, but you went up the easy way I think heading north? Try if from the north heading south next time, and then up and over Fleet Moss ;-)

Its great cycling round there and a superb B&B near Hawes that I stayed at.

if heading north was good enough for the pro Peloton it's good enough for me! Won't have time to do it again this time round, did Sema water as part of a run out today felt that was worse, Garmin said 21% climb at one point :oops:

Will have to make this a regular trip, loved it

lakesluddite

Nicube wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Don't know what the line is, but you went up the easy way I think heading north? Try if from the north heading south next time, and then up and over Fleet Moss ;-)

Its great cycling round there and a superb B&B near Hawes that I stayed at.

if heading north was good enough for the pro Peloton it's good enough for me! Won't have time to do it again this time round, did Sema water as part of a run out today felt that was worse, Garmin said 21% climb at one point :oops:

Will have to make this a regular trip, loved it

I'll be up there on Sunday hopefully on the Etape Du Dales - always a good climb. I THINK it's north to south on this route, but given Fleet Moss is also on the parcours then I'm not sure. I've done it a few times from either direction - north to south is shallower but a longer drag, the other way starts a slog then gets brutal towards the top, but you gain the height quicker.
Incidentally, that nice looking hotel at Simonstone, Simonstone Hall, is where Jeremy Clarkson decided to end his Top Gear career by chinning his producer.

drlodge

The B&B I stayed at is called High Blean, its right by Semerwater and very bike friendly. Just 2 rooms.

drlodge

LakesLuddite wrote:

I THINK it's north to south on this route, but given Fleet Moss is also on the parcours then I'm not sure. I've done it a few times from either direction - north to south is shallower but a longer drag, the other way starts a slog then gets brutal towards the top, but you gain the height quicker.

Fleet Moss is south of Buttertubs so which one do you do first?

The way you describe Buttertubs sounds like the opposite way round to my experience. Going up the north side (north to south) it was a long drag at first and round the two "hair pins" then it ramped up at the top. The descent seemed shallower - a longer and more gradual decline. Fleet Moss is much the same - the north side ascent really ramps up at the top, the south side is more gradual.

ugo.santalucia

Good thing we will be doing south to north on the Etape DD on sunday then...

lakesluddite

drlodge wrote:

[quote="LakesLudditeI THINK it's north to south on this route, but given Fleet Moss is also on the parcours then I'm not sure. I've done it a few times from either direction - north to south is shallower but a longer drag, the other way starts a slog then gets brutal towards the top, but you gain the height quicker.

Fleet Moss is south of Buttertubs so which one do you do first?
The way you describe Buttertubs sounds like the opposite way round to my experience. Going up the north side (north to south) it was a long drag at first and round the two "hair pins" then it ramped up at the top. The descent seemed shallower - a longer and more gradual decline. Fleet Moss is much the same - the north side ascent really ramps up at the top, the south side is more gradual.

Just looked on one of those GPS sites that someone has uploaded the route to - It's Fleet Moss first, then Buttertubs (so TdF route), then out east and to an area I'm not familiar with, before heading north then east towards Kirkby Stephen over Nateby Fell, down to Garsdale Head, over the Coal Road, up Newby Head down to Ribblehead, left to Horton In Ribblesdale, into Stainton and up the Goat Road/Pen-y-ghent. Ulp :shock:
At least the last 10 miles looks downhill!

rolf_f

LakesLuddite wrote:

Nicube wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Don't know what the line is, but you went up the easy way I think heading north? Try if from the north heading south next time, and then up and over Fleet Moss ;-)

Its great cycling round there and a superb B&B near Hawes that I stayed at.

if heading north was good enough for the pro Peloton it's good enough for me! Won't have time to do it again this time round, did Sema water as part of a run out today felt that was worse, Garmin said 21% climb at one point :oops:

Will have to make this a regular trip, loved it

I'll be up there on Sunday hopefully on the Etape Du Dales - always a good climb. I THINK it's north to south on this route, but given Fleet Moss is also on the parcours then I'm not sure. I've done it a few times from either direction - north to south is shallower but a longer drag, the other way starts a slog then gets brutal towards the top, but you gain the height quicker.
Incidentally, that nice looking hotel at Simonstone, Simonstone Hall, is where Jeremy Clarkson decided to end his Top Gear career by chinning his producer.

I think the overall climb is quite a bit less going North to South. I'd certainly say North to South is easier - a shorter ride and the tough bits are more expected. Really need to do Fleet Moss South to North sometime.

Rodrego Hernandez

MG - meilleur grimpeur (the climbing competition in the tour)

me-109

Doing the Velo29 Buttertubs sportive this weekend so hoping that Saturday's weather is reasonable. That's North to South. Did the TdF stage last year that went South-North so I'll be able to compare for myself.

nicube

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

MG - meilleur grimpeur (the climbing competition in the tour)

Marvellous thanks for that

So is that where the UCI class as the summit?

Rodrego Hernandez

Nicube wrote:

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

MG - meilleur grimpeur (the climbing competition in the tour)

Marvellous thanks for that

So is that where the UCI class as the summit?

That's where the line was for the GPM competition in the Tour

nicube

Heading down to Hawes again tomorrow for the week, planned a route down to Castle Bolton and back over the Buttertubs the other way this time, hoping to do it Sunday morning, forecast seems pretty favourable

Going to conquer Fleet Moss during the week too, any of you guys got experience of that??

simon_masterson

It's a decent climb, particularly if like me you don't live in as scenic an area, and there are a few good hills in the near vicinity. Tan Hill's much less challenging but also well worth the views, and they did Grinton Moor as well when the Tour was there. I was on holiday around there this summer and took my 11kg touring bike, I meant to put some lower gears on but forgot, so went up on 39x20.

overlord2

Do the south decent of Fleet Moss and see if you can do it without touching the brakes*/crapping yourself. :shock:

*i'm not liable for loss of limbs/skin/organs/death

nicube

Had a good run today that ultimately ended in disappointment

Hawes to Carperby and onto Reeth then through Gunnerside and over the butter tubs back into Hawes though I'm afraid to say the tubs in this direction had me beat :oops: that last crest after the main climb, the old legs screaming enough!!! Had to get off and walk that section, but then enjoyed the decent, close to 80kmh, what a rush

44.4 miles in 2hrs 55mins so still pretty chuffed 8)

Damn you butter tubs :evil:

ugo.santalucia

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19706932#p19706932]Nicube[/url] wrote:

Had a good run today that ultimately ended in disappointment

Hawes to Carperby and onto Reeth then through Gunnerside and over the butter tubs back into Hawes though I'm afraid to say the tubs in this direction had me beat :oops: that last crest after the main climb, the old legs screaming enough!!! Had to get off and walk that section, but then enjoyed the decent, close to 80kmh, what a rush

44.4 miles in 2hrs 55mins so still pretty chuffed 8)

Damn you butter tubs :evil:

Sounds like you went too fast and ran out of steam up the Buttertubs pass. You really have to pace yourself that part of the world. The north face of Buttertubs is pretty brutal

nicube

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19706933#p19706933]ugo.santalucia[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19706932#p19706932]Nicube[/url] wrote:

Had a good run today that ultimately ended in disappointment

Hawes to Carperby and onto Reeth then through Gunnerside and over the butter tubs back into Hawes though I'm afraid to say the tubs in this direction had me beat :oops: that last crest after the main climb, the old legs screaming enough!!! Had to get off and walk that section, but then enjoyed the decent, close to 80kmh, what a rush

44.4 miles in 2hrs 55mins so still pretty chuffed 8)

Damn you butter tubs :evil:

Sounds like you went too fast and ran out of steam up the Buttertubs pass. You really have to pace yourself that part of the world. The north face of Buttertubs is pretty brutal

I suspect you're right! One thing I do struggle with on longer runs is pacing myself.

Must try harder.....

nicube

Rode up Fleet moss this morning, crikey it goes on! Just didn't have the legs this morning for the final climb (a canny drink last night probably didn't help!) the ride down was great!! Hit 76kph and got a wobble on! Proper clenchy bum cheek time!! Had never experienced that before, quite worrying but managed to get out of it by slowly sitting up and some light braking, quite a thrill now I've got away with it