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!
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