GuyBoden
Guru
- Location
- Warrington
Sunday is ok with me, at least it's forecast to be dry, it could be raining next Saturday 28th.
Le Tour de Scammonden - a lumpy little forum ride from Hebden Bridge. *** Saturday, Oct 21st, 2023? ***
- Thread starter ColinJ
- Start date
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Sunday is ok with me, at least it's forecast to be dry, it could be raining next Saturday 28th.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Of course, the weather turns out to be not too bad here today after all! 
Never mind - the forecast for tomorrow is still looking ok, maybe even better than today. Let's do the ride tomorrow, starting from the front of Hebden Bridge railway station at 10:30. My friend Bill said that he might join us.
Craggies closes at 15:00 on Sundays. I doubt that we will get back early enough to make it worth our while climbing up there so if anybody wants post-ride coffee and cake we can just buy something in Hebden Bridge instead.
If any disappointed riders can only make next weekend, I will repeat the ride then as long as the weather is acceptable.
So, who will be riding with me tomorrow?
Never mind - the forecast for tomorrow is still looking ok, maybe even better than today. Let's do the ride tomorrow, starting from the front of Hebden Bridge railway station at 10:30. My friend Bill said that he might join us.
Craggies closes at 15:00 on Sundays. I doubt that we will get back early enough to make it worth our while climbing up there so if anybody wants post-ride coffee and cake we can just buy something in Hebden Bridge instead.
If any disappointed riders can only make next weekend, I will repeat the ride then as long as the weather is acceptable.
So, who will be riding with me tomorrow?
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
The station. Riders normally park in a car park on the way to the station or on the side of the A646. I thought since we are riding past the station then we might as well meet there.
Actually, there isn't an accessible back entrance to the station... Just by the entrance, on the cobbled bit!
Actually, there isn't an accessible back entrance to the station... Just by the entrance, on the cobbled bit!
Peter Salt
Bittersweet
- Location
- Yorkshire, UK
Can't do tomorrow, apologies. Hope you have a good time 
GuyBoden
Guru
- Location
- Warrington
Of course, the weather turns out to be not too bad here today after all!
Never mind - the forecast for tomorrow is still looking ok, maybe even better than today. Let's do the ride tomorrow, starting from the front of Hebden Bridge railway station at 10:30. My friend Bill said that he might join us.
Craggies closes at 15:00 on Sundays. I doubt that we will get back early enough to make it worth our while climbing up there so if anybody wants post-ride coffee and cake we can just buy something in Hebden Bridge instead.
If any disappointed riders can only make next weekend, I will repeat the ride then as long as the weather is acceptable.
So, who will be riding with me tomorrow?
Excellent, I'll be outside Hebden Bridge Railway Station tomorrow at 10:30am.
I think the Station still looks like this pic below.
Domus
Guru
- Location
- Sunny Radcliffe
Grandchildren having a sleepover for 2nd night. I won’t be fit for anything. 😞
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Bill IS joining us. See you in the morning!
Just parked up on main road.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
At station now.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Well, we had a good ride, with the forecast sunny intervals making plenty of appearances. We felt quite warm when climbing in the sunshine, but things were a bit chilly when we stopped and clouds passed in front of the sun. The windchill was evident then.
Bill and I rode over to Hebden Bridge from Todmorden. @GuyBoden was waiting at the station and @Dadam came along soon afterwards. Bill and Guy took the cycle path to Mytholmroyd. Dadam and I went the more scenic route up through Crow Nest Wood which the other two riders avoided because of a few hundred metres of unmade track with puddles and gravelled sections. Fair enough...
We joined up again in 'royd and rode over to Sowerby Bridge where I got slightly stroppy when the other 3 rode off up a very steep climb ahead of me while I struggled at the roadside with a chain that refused to shift. (I bent the derailleur cage in slightly and that sorted the problem out.) I have lost people on rides before when they didn't know the route and guessed the wrong way, which happened again this time! Fortunately, they turned and came back down to me because I wasn't about to deviate from the planned route to try and catch them!
We continued on some interesting roads towards the M62, which we were going to pass under on the way to Scammonden, but then... ***PUNCTURE*** - drat! My rear tyre had flattened so we had an unplanned stop while I located the hole in the tyre and checked that the offending sharp object was not trapped in the tyre. The little hole was clear so it was safe to put a replacement tube in. Off we went again. I was nervous about us potentially getting more flat tyres. There was a lot of debris on the roads after recent heavy rain storms so it wasn't really possible to stick to absolutely clear tarmac. We were lucky - that was the only major holdup. Oh, apart from me confidently ignoring my Garmin and taking us down the wrong steep descent! Well, we needed the exercise, didn't we?
We decided that we would head straight back to Hebden Bridge at the end of the ride since Craggies cafe would pretty much be shut by the time that we could climb up to it. Bill left us shortly before Mytholmroyd. He texted me later to say that he had gone home the long way round, up the 8+km Cragg Vale climb and back via Littleborough. We were quite satisfied with our slightly truncated route.
I said goodbye to Guy and (D)Adam in Hebden Bridge and then cycled home. It is a pretty lumpy route... I clocked it at 1,400 metres of ascent, at least 1,300 of which were on the main 50-odd km loop! I did another 15 km from Tod to HB and back.
Nice to ride with you again, lads!
I won't want to do this ride again until next spring - it is too hard and the road surface was a bit iffy in places due to the weather and autumnal debris.
If the weather turns out good again next weekend and I feel up to it, I might suggest a different route for a forum ride, but that would be a bit last minute. Otherwise, I will probably be riding solo for the next few months.
Bill and I rode over to Hebden Bridge from Todmorden. @GuyBoden was waiting at the station and @Dadam came along soon afterwards. Bill and Guy took the cycle path to Mytholmroyd. Dadam and I went the more scenic route up through Crow Nest Wood which the other two riders avoided because of a few hundred metres of unmade track with puddles and gravelled sections. Fair enough...
We joined up again in 'royd and rode over to Sowerby Bridge where I got slightly stroppy when the other 3 rode off up a very steep climb ahead of me while I struggled at the roadside with a chain that refused to shift. (I bent the derailleur cage in slightly and that sorted the problem out.) I have lost people on rides before when they didn't know the route and guessed the wrong way, which happened again this time! Fortunately, they turned and came back down to me because I wasn't about to deviate from the planned route to try and catch them!
We continued on some interesting roads towards the M62, which we were going to pass under on the way to Scammonden, but then... ***PUNCTURE*** - drat! My rear tyre had flattened so we had an unplanned stop while I located the hole in the tyre and checked that the offending sharp object was not trapped in the tyre. The little hole was clear so it was safe to put a replacement tube in. Off we went again. I was nervous about us potentially getting more flat tyres. There was a lot of debris on the roads after recent heavy rain storms so it wasn't really possible to stick to absolutely clear tarmac. We were lucky - that was the only major holdup. Oh, apart from me confidently ignoring my Garmin and taking us down the wrong steep descent! Well, we needed the exercise, didn't we?
We decided that we would head straight back to Hebden Bridge at the end of the ride since Craggies cafe would pretty much be shut by the time that we could climb up to it. Bill left us shortly before Mytholmroyd. He texted me later to say that he had gone home the long way round, up the 8+km Cragg Vale climb and back via Littleborough. We were quite satisfied with our slightly truncated route.
I said goodbye to Guy and (D)Adam in Hebden Bridge and then cycled home. It is a pretty lumpy route... I clocked it at 1,400 metres of ascent, at least 1,300 of which were on the main 50-odd km loop! I did another 15 km from Tod to HB and back.
Nice to ride with you again, lads!
I won't want to do this ride again until next spring - it is too hard and the road surface was a bit iffy in places due to the weather and autumnal debris.
If the weather turns out good again next weekend and I feel up to it, I might suggest a different route for a forum ride, but that would be a bit last minute. Otherwise, I will probably be riding solo for the next few months.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
PS I looked up why there is that new sign at the foot of the Cragg Vale climb... It is a sad story, but a nice memorial to Oliver.
Domus
Guru
- Location
- Sunny Radcliffe
Good write up, went to Sowerby Bridge on Friday afternoon to collect the grandkids. The weather was foul, the spillway off the reservoir was being blown back. Lots of standing water on the A672 by the Turnpike and localised flooding around Ripponden.
Hoping for a solo ride tomorrow.
Hoping for a solo ride tomorrow.
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