Lumpy 82 km/51 mile forum ride from Mirfield, Sat, 21st Sept, 2024
- Thread starter ColinJ
- Start date
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wiggydiggy
Guru
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
It went very well, thanks!
I will post a much more detailed reply tomorrow when I am not feeling so tired...
(I didn't have the energy to cook this evening so I decided to make do with a large bowl of fruit and muesli. I sat down to eat it and woke up half an hour later with half a spoon of muesli in my mouth, and the other half a spoon hovering in mid-air a few cms away from my face. I have no idea how I didn't choke or spill the muesli!
)Great ride, if challenging, for me at least. Allegedly just over 1500m of climbing, it turned out to be over 1800!
I got a train with the bike from Morley without issues apart from a short delay. Got off at Mirfield station and stood in the car park for a few minutes with no sign of the others. It slowly dawned that they'd be arriving on the other platform which has its own entrance. There was no footbridge so I had to ask someone how to get over and was told there is a flight of steps under the bridge (the line goes over the road) but she asked with some concern if I'd be able to carry the bike. I was on the Orbea Gain which is an e-bike but relatively light for one with a motor at 14.5kg. Not too bad to hoist it on the shoulder but I wouldn't want to carry it for long.
I rode down the cobbled ramp and then I could see @ColinJ and his mate Bill across the road. Colin said @Buck had messaged him to say he'd meet us later on.
Very quickly on to the Calder Valley Greenway for a mile or so, then doubled back on ourselves a bit and started the first climb of the day. The first of many!
The last 10 miles or so to the cafe stop was a real slog. Managed to get a visit from the puncture fairy on my rear tyre, which was very quickly found to be a perfect double snakebite from a pothole. New tube in with no drama. I only had a race rocket mini pump with me but managed to get about 35 psi in it without too much effort. Could have done a bit more I guess but the cafe was next to a bike shop so thought I'd get it pumped up there.
Buck and Bill had been ahead and had taken a different route to the cafe. Colin and I turned up and neither were there. Buck arrived after another couple of minutes but no sign of Bill. We were getting concerned but he turned up after we'd ordered food and sat down. The bike shop let me use a track pump so I soon had the tyre back to full pressure.
Thankfully the ride back was a little easier than before but there were still quite a few climbs. Colin's Wahoo navigation was on the blink so we were just relying on my Garmin and Buck's memory to remember the huge number of left and right turns! Buck turned off to make his way home shortly afterwards so it was just up to me.
I started hearing a rubbing noise the last few miles. I was convinced it was the front disc. I stopped to check the through axle was tight, but it was fine. I found out what it was only when I was back at Mirfield station.
A few photos
A phone box full of books:
And it's good to know my bike has an emergency brake!.For the last few miles I could hear a scraping/rubbing. I thought it was the front disc rubbing but found out back at the station it was the lower bottle cage boss that had unscrewed and slid back to contact the tyre! 😲 The tyre has a slick middle strip anyway so the wear isn't as bad as it looks, but it's probably knocked a few miles off its life!
I got a train with the bike from Morley without issues apart from a short delay. Got off at Mirfield station and stood in the car park for a few minutes with no sign of the others. It slowly dawned that they'd be arriving on the other platform which has its own entrance. There was no footbridge so I had to ask someone how to get over and was told there is a flight of steps under the bridge (the line goes over the road) but she asked with some concern if I'd be able to carry the bike. I was on the Orbea Gain which is an e-bike but relatively light for one with a motor at 14.5kg. Not too bad to hoist it on the shoulder but I wouldn't want to carry it for long.
I rode down the cobbled ramp and then I could see @ColinJ and his mate Bill across the road. Colin said @Buck had messaged him to say he'd meet us later on.
Very quickly on to the Calder Valley Greenway for a mile or so, then doubled back on ourselves a bit and started the first climb of the day. The first of many!
The last 10 miles or so to the cafe stop was a real slog. Managed to get a visit from the puncture fairy on my rear tyre, which was very quickly found to be a perfect double snakebite from a pothole. New tube in with no drama. I only had a race rocket mini pump with me but managed to get about 35 psi in it without too much effort. Could have done a bit more I guess but the cafe was next to a bike shop so thought I'd get it pumped up there.
Buck and Bill had been ahead and had taken a different route to the cafe. Colin and I turned up and neither were there. Buck arrived after another couple of minutes but no sign of Bill. We were getting concerned but he turned up after we'd ordered food and sat down. The bike shop let me use a track pump so I soon had the tyre back to full pressure.
Thankfully the ride back was a little easier than before but there were still quite a few climbs. Colin's Wahoo navigation was on the blink so we were just relying on my Garmin and Buck's memory to remember the huge number of left and right turns! Buck turned off to make his way home shortly afterwards so it was just up to me.
I started hearing a rubbing noise the last few miles. I was convinced it was the front disc. I stopped to check the through axle was tight, but it was fine. I found out what it was only when I was back at Mirfield station.
A few photos
A phone box full of books:
And it's good to know my bike has an emergency brake!
.For the last few miles I could hear a scraping/rubbing. I thought it was the front disc rubbing but found out back at the station it was the lower bottle cage boss that had unscrewed and slid back to contact the tyre! 😲 The tyre has a slick middle strip anyway so the wear isn't as bad as it looks, but it's probably knocked a few miles off its life!
Last edited:
It probably was me. I was the only person with a bike getting off about 9.40 ish from the Leeds side.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
It was nice to ride with @Dadam and @Buck again.
Buck is clearly recovering well from injury and illness because he was able to ride away from me every time that the road tilted upwards at more than about 5%!
We were very lucky with the weather. It took longer than forecast for the cloud cover to lighten and the sun to break through, but we stayed dry all day and felt pretty warm later on. The winds were blustery and added a degree of difficulty from time to time but they were not a real problem.
Contrast with conditions today here, which are truly miserable!
I am very glad that I opted to use my CAAD5 with its 28/30 bottom gear rather than my Specialized with its 42/29!
I had a backup device (Garmin Edge 200) in my bag which I could have fired up but it didn't seem worth it when you and Buck had the route on your devices.
Without the GPS to remind me though, I did start to forget where we were on the complex route. Some of my routes only have a handful of turns and junctions but that one must have had hundreds!
On the subject of GPS devices... I use 2 devices on rides where I need navigational support. The Wahoo is used for navigation and a Garmin Edge 500 as a glorified bike computer to display miscellaneous ride data. The 500's battery is on the way out. It used to last 12+ hours but a full charge wasn't enough to get me through the whole ride yesterday. It only lasted about 6 hours. I might eventually buy a cheapo battery replacement kit on ebay but part of me thinks about putting the money towards some new tech... hmm, a smart watch maybe?
If we get great weather in October or November then I might organise another ride this year, otherwise see you next year fellow forum riders.
Buck is clearly recovering well from injury and illness because he was able to ride away from me every time that the road tilted upwards at more than about 5%!
We were very lucky with the weather. It took longer than forecast for the cloud cover to lighten and the sun to break through, but we stayed dry all day and felt pretty warm later on. The winds were blustery and added a degree of difficulty from time to time but they were not a real problem.
Contrast with conditions today here, which are truly miserable!
I enjoyed it too (as did my pal Bill) but I agree that there was more climbing than advertised! Including the road both ways between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge I clocked it at around 1,950 metres for the 100 km, which is 'hilly' and perilously close to my definition of 'very hilly' (2,000-2,500 m in 100 km).
I am very glad that I opted to use my CAAD5 with its 28/30 bottom gear rather than my Specialized with its 42/29!
Yes, and made worse by me forgetting that my GPS was showing the total distance that I had ridden, which included the 8 km to Hebden Bridge station so when I said that was only 5 km to the cafe it was really 13!
If I'd realised that you were struggling to get more pressure in I would have whipped out my Mountain Morph!
Yes, that was annoying. (The GPS still knows where it is because it keeps scrolling the map to suit, but the route line disappears so I can't see where I am supposed to go. The turn-by-turn instructions stop too.) The device is usually reliable but that is the 3rd or 4th time that problem has occurred and I haven't yet worked out what causes it, or a quick way to recover from it. I did wonder yesterday if trying to zoom the map out while riding might have triggered it. Unlikely, but something that I could check.
I had a backup device (Garmin Edge 200) in my bag which I could have fired up but it didn't seem worth it when you and Buck had the route on your devices.
Without the GPS to remind me though, I did start to forget where we were on the complex route. Some of my routes only have a handful of turns and junctions but that one must have had hundreds!
On the subject of GPS devices... I use 2 devices on rides where I need navigational support. The Wahoo is used for navigation and a Garmin Edge 500 as a glorified bike computer to display miscellaneous ride data. The 500's battery is on the way out. It used to last 12+ hours but a full charge wasn't enough to get me through the whole ride yesterday. It only lasted about 6 hours. I might eventually buy a cheapo battery replacement kit on ebay but part of me thinks about putting the money towards some new tech... hmm, a smart watch maybe?
Yikes! You are lucky that didn't cause a real problem. I had a noise like that on one mucky winter forum ride. It turned out to be dried mud under the rear mudguard rubbing on the tyre. The tyre was fatally damaged by that!
If we get great weather in October or November then I might organise another ride this year, otherwise see you next year fellow forum riders.
Yes, I think some of the luck was that the noise happened mostly when going uphill so relatively slow, and when going downhill the downward angle with the vibration would have helped it slide back in a bit. I'll keep a close eye on the tyre. Worst case if I have to bin it, it was inexpensive.
wiggydiggy
Guru
Sounds like a good (and lucky) ride all round, I ended up in Southport for the day so significantly flatter than you but equally as Sunny.
Mirfield Train Station is a pain in the ass though as you've found, the new station should help with that but for now it's still this weird 2 platform on different sides of the road situation.
Mirfield Train Station is a pain in the ass though as you've found, the new station should help with that but for now it's still this weird 2 platform on different sides of the road situation.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Ah, I commented to Bill on how access to the Leeds-bound side was ridiculously difficult (and obviously not compliant with modern accessibility standards.) We wondered what was being built there next to the current station.
wiggydiggy
Guru
slow horse
Well-Known Member
Nice idea, do you remember any of the books inside?
The old phone box nearest to me has a defibrillator
No I didn't stop to peruse them sadly. We'd just pulled up for a few seconds to make sure we all took the right road and didn't get off the bikes.
I'd typed something to that effect in the first version but removed it as I didn't want to point fingers!Yes, and made worse by me forgetting that my GPS was showing the total distance that I had ridden, which included the 8 km to Hebden Bridge station so when I said that was only 5 km to the cafe it was really 13!
Wasn't really struggling, just wanted to get back on the road. I'd definitely have spent longer putting more in if I didn't know there was a bike shop next to the cafe. After all, it was only a few k up the road!
But I didn't realise you were packing such a big pump. 😲🤣
An update on the puncture. We were discussing tyre pressures and I said I'd pumped the rear up to low 70s (73 ish from memory). I was using this calculator and added a few psi as a buffer.
But some things occurred to me when I patched the tube at home. There were a couple of other marks that looked like rim "bites" but weren't bad enough to make holes. There was also a hole with a slow leak and I remembered I'd had to top the tyre up a couple of times in the last couple of weeks so it may have been lower that that on the ride. Also the hub motor means the weight distribution is further back and the wheel itself weighs more, so there's more inertia acting to compress the tyre on a bump.
I patched those holes, put it in a spare wheel/tyre and pumped it up to 90 and left it in the garage. Yesterday it was completely flat so there is obviously at least one other leak. Maybe time for the tube to take on its next role as a source of elastic bands!
But some things occurred to me when I patched the tube at home. There were a couple of other marks that looked like rim "bites" but weren't bad enough to make holes. There was also a hole with a slow leak and I remembered I'd had to top the tyre up a couple of times in the last couple of weeks so it may have been lower that that on the ride. Also the hub motor means the weight distribution is further back and the wheel itself weighs more, so there's more inertia acting to compress the tyre on a bump.
I patched those holes, put it in a spare wheel/tyre and pumped it up to 90 and left it in the garage. Yesterday it was completely flat so there is obviously at least one other leak. Maybe time for the tube to take on its next role as a source of elastic bands!
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
A where am I? for Colinj
