My 20 minute Cragg Vale hill climb challenge

[Chrisc]

Very sorry to hear of your health troubles Colin, not been on here for some time.
Hope all is well now and you continue to improve steadily. Great to see you set yourself this target.

This thread inspired me to have a go at the Isle of Skye road to Greenfield this morning thinking it's about 5 miles to the top.
Enjoyed the ride over to Greenfield then had a brain fart and couldn't think how to get back other than turning round and going back up. :-)
Will do it again now Ive had a proper look at the circular route back through Huddersfield.

Now I need to work out a sensible route from Huddersfield to the bottom of the Cragg and home again avoiding the blasted Elland bypass.

 

[ColinJ]

Going for another crack at it this morning...

What time did you do today, Steve?

Very sorry to hear of your health troubles Colin, not been on here for some time.
Hope all is well now and you continue to improve steadily. Great to see you set yourself this target.

Thanks. Yeah, it was a bit dodgy for a while!

I have been feeling a lot better recently and am hoping that the improvements continue, though I may well discover that I am limited by damage caused by the clots. I have decided that as long as I can be healthy and maintain at least this level of fitness, I wouldn't consider having surgery. If things start to deteriorate in the future, there might be something that could be done. I'll cross that bridge if/when I come to it!

This thread inspired me to have a go at the Isle of Skye road to Greenfield this morning thinking it's about 5 miles to the top.
Enjoyed the ride over to Greenfield then had a brain fart and couldn't think how to get back other than turning round and going back up. :-)
Will do it again now Ive had a proper look at the circular route back through Huddersfield.

I like the Isle of Skye road but the traffic has been a bit heavy the last couple of times I did it, which put me off.

Now I need to work out a sensible route from Huddersfield to the bottom of the Cragg and home again avoiding the blasted Elland bypass.

If you want to stick to main roads, but ones less busy than the bypass, I suggest going up to Outlane, and drop down through Stainland to Greetland. There are lots of alternative lanes if you get your OS map out and look for them, but most involve steep climbs. For example, I like Scapegoat Hill, then a circuit of Scammonden, Ringstone Edge, Ripponden Bank, Ripponden ...

 

[Chrisc]

Thanks. Yeah, it was a bit dodgy for a while!

I have been feeling a lot better recently and am hoping that the improvements continue, though I may well discover that I am limited by damage caused by the clots. I have decided that as long as I can be healthy and maintain at least this level of fitness, I wouldn't consider having surgery. If things start to deteriorate in the future, there might be something that could be done. I'll cross that bridge if/when I come to it!

I like the Isle of Skye road but the traffic has been a bit heavy the last couple of times I did it, which put me off.


If you want to stick to main roads, but ones less busy than the bypass, I suggest going up to Outlane, and drop down through Stainland to Greetland. There are lots of alternative lanes if you get your OS map out and look for them, but most involve steep climbs. For example, I like Scapegoat Hill, then a circuit of Scammonden, Ringstone Edge, Ripponden Bank, Ripponden ...

Thanks Colin,
Sounds like you have a plan and a good grasp of your current capabilities there and I too would always regard surgery as the last resort. I wish you the best and hope we meet up one of these days for a ride.

I found a route out which lets me ride into Mytholmroyd nice and easy over Grange Moor and down through Brighouse/Sowerby Bridge. I can decide whether I want to ride up Ripponden bank home after the Cragg or go back round the valley bottom through Brighouse again.Either way I still have to get back up the hill home but I can ease things if I want to.

I really enjoyed the Isle of Skye, I motorcycled over it daily for 5 years to work in Manchester but that was the first time I crossed it in almost 20 years! Took things easy and found it a very pleasant ride, used to the traffic so no problems there, most of my home rides involve the A636 from Bretton roundabout up to the Sovereign as that's my route home and the cars on that one can be a bit offputting at times. I can always cut off and shorten that drag but I never seem to, always have to go to the very top and then I can almost roll the 2 miles home.

Hoping for one more decent weekend to get a chance to ride the Cragg now!

 

[Steve H]

What time did you do today, Steve?

Not good unfortunately. Just over 38 mins. Didn't feel as strong on the day and a bit more breezy than last time.

I did get a PB on the decent into Ripponden though. :troll:

 

[ColinJ]

I have been up Cragg Vale a few more times since my last update but didn't time myself. Sometimes I don't feel like pushing myself, or I know there is a stupidly strong headwind so it isn't worth me trying to improve my PB.

Conditions seemed pretty good today though. It didn't feel too windy in the valley so I thought I would make a bit of an effort for the first half of the climb and see how I did.

I was feeling pretty good and the time was looking ok when I got to the steeper mid-section, so I pushed on. Unfortunately, the higher I got on the moor, the stronger the wind got. I reckon it was 8 kph at the bottom, then 10 kph, then 12-15 kph for the last couple of kms.

I was trying pretty hard and my lungs were hurting in the cold air. Then I felt a slight taste of blood at the back of my throat and decided to ease up. I don't want to compromise my health for the sake of a HC. I just rolled up the last few hundred metres and still managed to knock another 8 seconds off my time! Slowly, but surely, I am getting fitter.

I am not bothered if I don't make huge improvements through the winter. It would be nice to be close to breaking 30 minutes by the spring, but if it takes longer - fine!

Update on my Cragg Vale HC times:

• 19/05/13: 39:15 [Finished first Warfarin treatment regime but already reclotting!]
• 25/10/13: 35:15 [8-10 kph cross/headwind]
• 04/11/13: 34:26 [ ditto ]
• 10/11/13: 32:19 [ ditto ]
• 25/11/13: 31:19 [5-7 kph cross/headwind]
• 11/12/13: 31:11 [8-15 kph cross/headwind; chilly]

 

[ColinJ]

I won't get the chance to ride up there again until early 2014.

For those of you who might be riding up or down the hill in the winter - take care! Today's Hebden Bridge Times reports that there were three separate incidents last week where careless drivers lost control on ice and ended up in the ditch. You don't want to be between the road and the ditch when that happens ...

 

[Steve H]

I tried this hill again on Saturday. What a nightmare. When the wind picks up it is ridiculous during the final 2km. It's not at all steep during the last part, but with a gale of a head wind I didn't spend any time out of big cassette cog and my granny ring.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I'm going to have a go, just to see how long it takes me. I'll wait until these storms pass tho so probably sometime in the Xmas break.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm going to have a go, just to see how long it takes me. I'll wait until these storms pass tho so probably sometime in the Xmas break.

Make sure that you time yourself between the official start and finish points if you want to compare times. I posted pictures of where they are, at the start of this thread.

The horrid winds are supposed to be coming back on Friday!

 

[Smurfy]

I'm still interested in having a go, but I'm not making a special trip if there's going to be temporary traffic lights part way up. Does anyone know how long the lights are in place for?

I posted pictures of where they are, at the start of this thread.

I must have missed those. Will go back and have a look.

Edit: Found the pictures.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Make sure that you time yourself between the official start and finish points if you want to compare times. I posted pictures of where they are, at the start of this thread.

The horrid winds are supposed to be coming back on Friday!

Where?

 

[Smurfy]

Where?

Post #8 are the Start/Finish pictures.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I see the start..no end tho.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Surely it makes sense to stick to the ones painted on the road?

 

[Smurfy]

I see the start..no end tho.

The end is the fence + gate pic.

Surely it makes sense to stick to the ones painted on the road?

I'd assumed there would be stuff painted, but maybe not. Colin will be along soon.....