England : Lancashire ColinJ's 103 km or 107 mile 'Back from the Dead' forum ride Sat 29/03/14

[oldfatfool]

Would love to, but it being a saturday I am working

 

[ColinJ]

Would love to, but it being a saturday I am working

Sorry to hear that. Will you be coming over for Spring Into The Dales, 2 weeks later (Sunday)? I hope to be up for that after missing it the past few years due to illness.

 

[BrianEvesham]

Would love to make a CC group ride one day, but this one falls the weekend before the Shakespeare100 and I can't convince myself it would be good training

Best of luck.

 

[ColinJ]

Would love to make a CC group ride one day, but this one falls the weekend before the Shakespeare100 and I can't convince myself it would be good training

Best of luck.

Cheers.

I don't think it will be this year, but I will bring my bike down for the Shakespeare 100 another time, perhaps autumn 2015? (I am going to Scotland instead of the Midlands this autumn.)

 

[oldfatfool]

Sorry to hear that. Will you be coming over for Spring Into The Dales, 2 weeks later (Sunday)? I hope to be up for that after missing it the past few years due to illness.

All being well, missed it last year through injury and got lost the year before that

 

[smokeysmoo]

I might be +1 now for the 100km.

 

[ColinJ]

I have heard back from tubbycyclist and he is happy to lead riders from HB to Whalley and back later if I am not fit enough to do the extra myself, so that is covered.

I have been thinking about the descent from Cow Ark to Whitewell ... it saves 3 km but it is very steep so it would be wiser to take a mixed group the longer, less steep way and that gives us a chance to enjoy the scenery rather than concentrating on not crashing! The extra distance makes the main loop 104 km and the longer ride from HB about 107 miles. ROUTE NOW MODIFIED TO DO THAT!

I think we should stop for a huge group photo at the top of the Trough of Bowland climb. Hopefully, the weather will be kinder than when a bunch of us were posing for this photo ...

PS When I wrote 'mixed group' I meant mixed descending abilities. I reread the ride report that the photo above was taken from and it reminded me that I nearly came a cropper on the Cow Ark descent in the wet. I would almost bet that somebody would misjudge it in a big group, so it isn't worth the risk!

 

[Justiffa]

Sounds like an awful lot of fun meeting up like this. wish I could... but I cant so i'll just be the little busybody keeping up with the ride's progress lol.

Hope it turns out well for all of u

 

[Biscuit]

I've only just noticed this thread from Tea where I'm normally lurking these days. I notice, that I'm free on that weekend.
So I'm tentatively adding my name to the list please. I'll have a think about what to do with Dave. :-)

 

[DiddlyDodds]

I have yet to convince the wife that it is a good idea to let me out all day on the one day of the week were both off work, so hopefully I can convincer her I need to be out there.

 

[ColinJ]

Updated list of people who might do the ride:

• ColinJ
• Accy cyclist
• bromptonfb
• Rockymountain
• Pennine-Paul
• potsy
• MartinQ
• coffeejo
• Christopher
• dan_bo
• Alun
• middleagecyclist
• Mickthemove
• Martin Archer
• SatNavSaysStraightOn + OH
• smokeysmoo
• pubrunner
• skudupnorth
• Steve H
• colly
• tubbycyclist
• Stu Smith
• Biscuit
• DiddlyDodds

 

[Christopher]

hi Colin
I have been thinking about this - the descent from Cow Ark to Whitewell is nasty, as the last bit is steep and it is a t-junction so you almost have to come to a complete stop on a 1 in 7 to avoid ending up in a wall, so I won't be going that way. The other way along the River Hodder to Whitwell is one of my favorite bits of road anywhere - if you had designed it yourself for cycling you could not have done better...
For those going back to HB, the railway should be back open by then so that might be a bail-out option if required. Railway is closed atm due to a failing tunnel.
and in Scorton, we locals go to the Barn now which is opposite the Priory. Might not be relevant as I didn't think you planned to stop there.

I volunteer to go have a look at Spring Wood car park soon to see if the toilets are still open and that parking is still free, and whether the car park is closed and locked in the evening (& when too). Lancs CC have closed a lot of toilets but not all.
oh and I can borrow a GPS. Will have a go at programming the thing when i get the time.

 

[ColinJ]

hi Colin
I have been thinking about this - the descent from Cow Ark to Whitewell is nasty, as the last bit is steep and it is a t-junction so you almost have to come to a complete stop on a 1 in 7 to avoid ending up in a wall, so I won't be going that way. The other way along the River Hodder to Whitwell is one of my favorite bits of road anywhere - if you had designed it yourself for cycling you could not have done better...

I have been thinking about the descent from Cow Ark to Whitewell ... it saves 3 km but it is very steep so it would be wiser to take a mixed group the longer, less steep way and that gives us a chance to enjoy the scenery rather than concentrating on not crashing! The extra distance makes the main loop 104 km and the longer ride from HB about 107 miles.
...
PS When I wrote 'mixed group' I meant mixed descending abilities. I reread the ride report that the photo above was taken from and it reminded me that I nearly came a cropper on the Cow Ark descent in the wet. I would almost bet that somebody would misjudge it in a big group, so it isn't worth the risk!

For those going back to HB, the railway should be back open by then so that might be a bail-out option if required. Railway is closed atm due to a failing tunnel.

Yes - see here. They have built a works village along from the end of the tunnel. There has been a rail replacement bus service running but they don't take bikes. (Actually, they are using coaches so you might be able to persuade the driver to stick a bike in the luggage compartment, but I wouldn't count on it.)

The works are due to finish the weekend before our ride, so the Blackpool train should be running through the tunnel again by the 29th. Anybody wanting to catch the train back to HB could catch it at Blackburn, Accrington or Burnley. I wouldn't rely on it though because the tunnel works only have to be delayed by a week to cause problems.

I volunteer to go have a look at Spring Wood car park soon to see if the toilets are still open and that parking is still free, and whether the car park is closed and locked in the evening (& when too). Lancs CC have closed a lot of toilets but not all.

That's a good point ... The car park never had gates on it but they might have put some up since I was last there nearly 2 years ago. See what you can find out. (I might still phone the council a week before the ride for final confirmation about the car park opening hours.)

 

[coffeejo]

Looks like I've got a combined offer of somewhere to sleep and to sit on the dog so put me down for the 100km ride. Now, where did I put my hill legs?

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Now, where did I put my hill legs?

I think potsy took em ........