My 20 minute Cragg Vale hill climb challenge

[ColinJ]

I think he was referring to the currently 55mph gusts.

I think I mentioned strong gusting winds!

 

[Chrisc]

I think I mentioned strong gusting winds!

Finally did it today as part of a 60 mile loop. Managed 24'-34" line to line and am chuffed to bits.
Froze at the top hiding from the wind behind the res wall waiting for my riding buddy to arrive though. Should've gone back to find him and ridden the last bit again in hindsight.
We stopped in the cafe on the bridge to get a warming brew, numb toes, and a sausage butty as it turned out before trying it. I really enjoyed the hill and the tailwind down into Ripponden was great.

Waiting at the top.

while waiting take pictures

 

[ColinJ]

Well done!

Yes, it can be really cold with the wind whipping across up there!

 

[Chrisc]

Cheers Colin,
I'll be back to do that one again, it's a great climb but suspect it's like Holme Moss, never without a breeze.
Shame we had to put up with a lot of car horn leaning numpties along the calder valley but they didn't manage to wipe the smile off my face.

 

[Steve H]

Had another bash at this today.

Got 32.17 for HC course and 34.42 for the full climb to the junction. Pretty pleased with that as the headwind must have cost me some time today.

Gonna aim to get under 30 mins for the HC course before the end of March!

Have you been up there recently @ColinJ ?

 

[ColinJ]

Had another bash at this today.

Got 32.17 for HC course and 34.42 for the full climb to the junction. Pretty pleased with that as the headwind must have cost me some time today.

Gonna aim to get under 30 mins for the HC course before the end of March!

Keep it up!

Yes, the wind is a major factor on the exposed top half of the climb. Most of the time it hinders. Just once in a while, it helps. I am going to ignore any time of mine with wind assistance.

Have you been up there recently @ColinJ ?

I haven't ridden my bike for about 3 weeks. I went away for Christmas and came back with a stinking cold so I have been restricted to doing a few hilly walks. I'm starting to feel better so I am hoping to get a dry day next week and start riding again. I have to get fit for my ride at the end of March.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Last attempt was 31mins 30 sec which is around the best ive done up there.
So Sunday i am going for the 30min as the wind does not look to bad on the current weather reports

 

[ColinJ]

I am going to ride up the climb a few times before I time myself again. I have lost a lot of what fitness I had by not riding over Christmas/New Year and then catching a nasty cold. The cold has gone but my fragile chest took a battering so I think I will do a couple of weeks of easy riding before I make any effort to ride more quickly.

In case you missed the posts yesterday about the Tour de France going up through Cragg Vale ... it doesn't even count as a classified climb!

 

[Steve H]

In case you missed the posts yesterday about the Tour de France going up through Cragg Vale ... it doesn't even count as a classified climb!

Really? Must be to do with lack of steepness. It's a classified climb in my book

 

[DiddlyDodds]

I am going to ride up the climb a few times before I time myself again. I have lost a lot of what fitness I had by not riding over Christmas/New Year

I have never had the fitness to start with, so its just grin and spin and hope for the best

 

[Chrisc]

I am going to ride up the climb a few times before I time myself again. I have lost a lot of what fitness I had by not riding over Christmas/New Year and then catching a nasty cold. The cold has gone but my fragile chest took a battering so I think I will do a couple of weeks of easy riding before I make any effort to ride more quickly.

In case you missed the posts yesterday about the Tour de France going up through Cragg Vale ... it doesn't even count as a classified climb!

I think many of the second stage hills will only register as bumps to the pros. The timings allow 11 mins from Holmfirth to Holme Moss summit.... good grief.

 

[ColinJ]

I think many of the second stage hills will only register as bumps to the pros.

I'm sure they won't have any problem with the length and gradient of the Cragg Vale climb. What could make it more interesting is if they get one of those days with a 15 mph cross/headwind for the exposed top section. If people really put the hammer down then, I could see splits developing. Mind you, it is probably too far from the finish and too close to the descent to Ripponden to create any big time differences.

The timings allow 11 mins from Holmfirth to Holme Moss summit.... good grief.

I just checked that ... That corresponds to an average speed of 25 mph up the climb, which even the pros will not achieve! I think what the organisers have done is just looked at the distance from Holmfirth to the summit (~4.6 miles) and applied the average speed expected for the stage (~25 mph). Clearly they will be going at less than the average speed on the climb!

 

[DiddlyDodds]

So off i went this morning in the mist and drizzle, stopped at the sign showing the start of the Crag Vale, off i went at a fast pace on the first almost flat part, and just tried to keep up the speed all the way through till coming out of the trees and onto the moor (the traffic lights are back on the bend where you turn off for the Hinchliff Arms) there was a small cross wind but it was just head down and spin away.
Last outing gave a time of 31.30 seconds, this time i truly gave it my all and although felt like i would take a good 2 or 3 mins off it was actually only 1min, as i did it in 30mins 36 seconds.

Its actually a good bench mark to see in the middle of the summer if i can get under 30mins and see what the improvement will be (not a great deal as i go riding , not training)

 

[DiddlyDodds]

I have tried looking the sites for the timings of stage 2 so as to get some idea of the time they will come up crag vale but cannot see anything , what site did you get them from

 

[nickyboy]

Here you go

http://letour.yorkshire.com/timings