Le Tour de Scammonden - a lumpy little forum ride from Hebden Bridge. *** Saturday, Oct 21st, 2023? ***

[Dadam]

Typical, pisses it down all weekend then while I'm stuck inside working, it's perfect weather. Hope the ride goes well chaps

 

[GuyBoden]

I had a great day's ride with @ColinJ , it was dry all day, so short sleeve jersey weather for me, plenty of steep hills, but nothing too steep. Some great views and plenty of stops.

I took my Cheshire Cafe Bling Titanium Machine, which did look a bit out of place on the hills with proper cyclists riding past.

If I can get my 16 stone up these hills anyone can.

Great day out, many thanks @ColinJ

 

[FrothNinja]

Soooo jealous - managed the local gravel loop when I got back from work so not all bad. Forecast awful in Pendle for next 5 days....

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks for the company, Guy, and the goodies from Aldi at the finish to scoff in Todmorden's Centre Vale park!

Guy agreed that RideWithGPS was way out when suggesting that the steepest hill was around 10%. There was a lot of 14-15%, some 16-18%, and maybe even some short stretches closer to 20%.

We were not too bothered about going up to Craggies so we took our time and missed that bit out. No point in climbing up to a cafe that had already shut, only to come back down again! That cut one climb and about 4 km from our ride. I clocked it at 66 km with 1,320 m of ascent (41 miles/ 4,300+ ft).

There was a lot of water on the roads from the weekend's rain. We agreed that it would have been truly horrid to have done the ride in that heavy rain!

Here is Guy on a bridge over the M62. They have put high anti-suicide railings up since I was last there. There just used to be waist-high railings, as you can see in my first post! It would still be possible to climb over the new railings but hopefully that extra difficulty might deter a desperate person from jumping. (You can't stop someone who is determined to end it all, but at least you might stop them endangering drivers below the bridge.)

 

[FrothNinja]

Thanks for the company, Guy, and the goodies from Aldi at the finish to scoff in Todmorden's Centre Vale park!

Guy agreed that RideWithGPS was way out when suggesting that the steepest hill was around 10%. There was a lot of 14-15%, some 16-18%, and maybe even some short stretches closer to 20%.

We were not too bothered about going up to Craggies so we took our time and missed that bit out. No point in climbing up to a cafe that had already shut, only to come back down again! That cut one climb and about 4 km from our ride. I clocked it at 66 km with 1,320 m of ascent (41 miles/ 4,300+ ft).

There was a lot of water on the roads from the weekend's rain. We agreed that it would have been truly horrid to have done the ride in that heavy rain!

Here is Guy on a bridge over the M62. They have put high anti-suicide railings up since I was last there. There just used to be waist-high railings, as you can see in my first post! It would still be possible to climb over the new railings but hopefully that extra difficulty might deter a desperate person from jumping. (You can't stop someone who is determined to end it all, but at least you might stop them endangering drivers below the bridge.)

View attachment 700080

Glad you both had a good day - looks like Guy has a good climbing cog on the rear

 

[ColinJ]

looks like Guy has a good climbing cog on the rear

It was a 46 - the biggest that I have ever seen!!

 

[wiggydiggy]

It was a 46 - the biggest that I have ever seen!!

Well that would explain the smug face lol 👍

Nice ride write up again

I've driven under that bridge a lot, the anti suicide fence are sadly needed.

 

[Pale Rider]

I took my Cheshire Cafe Bling Titanium Machine, which did look a bit out of place on the hills with proper cyclists riding past.

Bike looks well smart to me, Guy, no need to be intimidated by any plastic dream machine.

Thanks for the company, Guy, and the goodies from Aldi at the finish to scoff in Todmorden's Centre Vale park!

Guy agreed that RideWithGPS was way out when suggesting that the steepest hill was around 10%. There was a lot of 14-15%, some 16-18%, and maybe even some short stretches closer to 20%.

We were not too bothered about going up to Craggies so we took our time and missed that bit out. No point in climbing up to a cafe that had already shut, only to come back down again! That cut one climb and about 4 km from our ride. I clocked it at 66 km with 1,320 m of ascent (41 miles/ 4,300+ ft).

There was a lot of water on the roads from the weekend's rain. We agreed that it would have been truly horrid to have done the ride in that heavy rain!

Here is Guy on a bridge over the M62. They have put high anti-suicide railings up since I was last there. There just used to be waist-high railings, as you can see in my first post! It would still be possible to climb over the new railings but hopefully that extra difficulty might deter a desperate person from jumping. (You can't stop someone who is determined to end it all, but at least you might stop them endangering drivers below the bridge.)

View attachment 700080

When is was in London I watched the bridge in Highgate over Archway Road gain ever more anti-suicide measures.

Known locally and predictably as Suicide Bridge, the first thing they did was put smooth plates over the Victorian bolts and rivets to prevent any footholds.

Next thing was to redesign all the cross pieces to face outside of the bridge, so any climber was faced only with vertical ironwork to climb.

I think the handrail height was also added to, and finally the top rail was broken into short sections which spun, meaning if you grabbed one it tended to shove you back down.

The last time I crossed, police presence indicated another jumper.

Next to the bridge I saw a tall pair of stepladders.

Which proves, as @ColinJ said, it is very difficult to design a jump proof bridge.

 

[GuyBoden]

Glad you both had a good day - looks like Guy has a good climbing cog on the rear

Yes, it's a 46t on the rear cassette, I'll be taking it off today as I don't need it in West Cheshire.

The front triple chainrings on this bike are 28-38-48.

I used the lowest 28t-46t on some of Le Tour de Scammonden steepest climbs, but I find that if I have low gears, I will always use them to make pedalling easier.

 

[GuyBoden]

It was a 46 - the biggest that I have ever seen!!

I have to be very disciplined when using my gears and not use big-big, which would break something.

 

[ColinJ]

I have to be very disciplined when using my gears and not use big-big, which would break something.

When Guy told me that, I told him that I wouldn't trust myself not to accidentally select the big-big combination. In the course of the rest of the ride I proved myself correct by doing just that 2 or 3 times on my bike!

 

[Dadam]

I’m guessing this isn’t going ahead tomorrow then

 

[ColinJ]

I’m guessing this isn’t going ahead tomorrow then

Oh, sorry - I forgot to get back to you...

There might be a few showers, but the forecast is not too bad.

I have things to do in the morning. I could probably make it to Hebden Bridge by noon though. That would mean a later return and skipping Craggies.

We could try to catch a cafe back in HB instead if a noon start would suit you?

Let me know if you (and/or anybody else) are interested.

 

[ColinJ]

I will check back in at 09:00 to see if we are going to go ahead or not.

If we don't, it would probably have to be in September.

 

[ColinJ]

Aargh - crap night's sleep! Knackered and not really keen for today or tomorrow.

I could manage any weekday coming up in the next couple of weeks if you find one with decent weather and you have a spare day off that deserves to be spent on the bike.