Season of Mists

[ColinJ]

I did the ride and very enjoyable it was too. It turned out to be the most scenic, in every sense of the word, of all the calendered events that I've completed this year.

Ditto for the longer event. After a damp, dreary start the sun appeared and then we had a glorious day. The Ribble valley looked lovely in the sunshine, as did the (endless succession of steep) hills.

As always the post ride catering was beyond reproach

I'll second that!

The climb after Coldwell was hard and I had to resort to some pushing. my prediction was borne out. I was Lanterne Rouge for the 50km route.

I managed to get up it on my bike but my legs were just about shot after that. Fortunately, it is an easy run back to Hebden Bridge from Widdop.

I was among the candidates for the 100 km Lanterne Rouge, but unfortunately my title was snatched from me at the last moment . I'd just reported in at Salem mill when someone rang the organiser to say that they'd be arriving later.

I'm just wondering about the road closure. It will be impassible by motor vehicles but I bet there be a wide enough passage for bikes.

You're probably right. If you were riding in the same direction as we did yesterday, it wouldn't really be a problem to try, even if you had to turn back. OTOH - if you came from Hebden Bridge, you'd have a huge detour to do if you had to go back the way you'd come.

I acted the Good Samaritan yesterday at the top of the Nick o'Pendle. I'd winched my way up there and decided to stop at the summit to stretch my back and enjoy the view. After a couple of minutes, a chap (later found to be named Jim) came over the brow of the hill pushing his bike and holding what looked like a dead black snake coiled round a stick. In a slightly forlorn voice, he asked "Can you do anything with this?" Why did he think I needed a dead snake? As he got closer, I saw that it was in fact a dead oily chain. This was a job for Bicycle Repair Man! Since BRM wasn't available, I decided to volunteer my services instead...

I'd practiced using my chain splitter recently when shortening a new chain for my Basso. I put my newfound skills to good use and had soon taken out the broken link.

It wasn't long before Jim's bike was ready to ride again and we set off on the descent together. Even though the sun was shining, it was really nippy on that side of the hill, dropping down into a cold wind.

We stayed together for the rest of the ride and it was nice to have some company for a change. I usually tend to ride alone on audaxes because I'm slower than most, but slightly quicker than the slowest.

Jim insisted on paying for my cake, Coke and water at the control cafe in Waddington. Later on we encountered a couple of his mates and joined up with them for the ride round to Coldwell.

I took about 90 minutes longer than last year (partly because of doing the chain repair, and partly because of waiting for Jim's mates on the later climbs). I actually enjoyed the ride more so I think that I might make a point of going slower when the weather is nice. No point in hanging about when it is cold and wet, but I wasn't in a hurry to get off my bike on what might be one of the last sunny rides of 2009.

I'm looking forward to Spring into the Dales 2009 now !

 

[Noodley]

Glad to hear it was a good day out.

I hope the road is fixed by the first weekend of November, or at the very least passable...

 

[ColinJ]

I forgot to mention the comically bad steep lane down into Roughlee! It is very narrow and it has the surface-from-hell. It was pretty bad last year, but this time it had clearly been eroded further by flood water. It was so bad that some pedestrians were cracking up watching us descend. Potholes-a-plenty, gravel everywhere, and a river running down the middle of it! It's actually so bad that it is relatively safe. You would have to be completely insane to go down it with anything less than 100% caution.

It would be quite a challenge to ride up it. I might have a go at the Season of Mists route in reverse some time next year and I'll see if I can do it without putting a foot down.

 

[vernon]

Ditto for the longer event. After a damp, dreary start the sun appeared and then we had a glorious day. The Ribble valley looked lovely in the sunshine, as did the (endless succession of steep) hills.

It was a cols start for sure. I was quite surprised to see my breath condense out as I climbed up the main street in Heptonstall.

I managed to get up it on my bike but my legs were just about shot after that. Fortunately, it is an easy run back to Hebden Bridge from Widdop.

I got off my bike for the descent by the scout hut because I was not convinced that I'd be able to restrict my speed without overheating my rims.

I was among the candidates for the 100 km Lanterne Rouge, but unfortunately my title was snatched from me at the last moment . I'd just reported in at Salem mill when someone rang the organiser to say that they'd be arriving later.

I'm quite happy to be Lanterne Rouge. I have an occasional riding partner from Hyde CC who comes over for some of the less hilly Audaxes and we conspire to claim joint Lanterne Rouge and are most miffed if someone else snatches defeat from us.

We stayed together for the rest of the ride and it was nice to have some company for a change. I usually tend to ride alone on audaxes because I'm slower than most, but slightly quicker than the slowest.

I sometimes mange to get conversations in at the cafe stops. Even so they tend to be brief as I tend to arrive as the rest of the riders are about to leave

I'm still feeling good about the ride. It was the most comfortable bit of grimpeur riding that I have done. Just need to shed five or six stones to be able to contemplate the full 100km ride. The assembly of my Dave Yates' Randonneur id providing me with a further incentive to shed some lard - I'm fitting taller gearing in anticipation of weight loss.

 

[vernon]

I forgot to mention the comically bad steep lane down into Roughlee! It is very narrow and it has the surface-from-hell. It was pretty bad last year, but this time it had clearly been eroded further by flood water. It was so bad that some pedestrians were cracking up watching us descend. Potholes-a-plenty, gravel everywhere, and a river running down the middle of it! It's actually so bad that it is relatively safe. You would have to be completely insane to go down it with anything less than 100% caution.

It would be quite a challenge to ride up it. I might have a go at the Season of Mists route in reverse some time next year and I'll see if I can do it without putting a foot down.

I don't think that was part of the shorter route but I was surprised by the amount of water running over the road surfaces. Although I am contemplating doing the ride as a permanent, I'm not sure that I'll do it in the winter.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't think that was part of the shorter route but I was surprised by the amount of water running over the road surfaces. Although I am contemplating doing the ride as a permanent, I'm not sure that I'll do it in the winter.

No - Roughlee is just before Barrowford on the return part of the 100 km route.

I went out with a friend of mine in January a couple of years and we did a route that I call The Trauma of Trawden! It's about 46 km, and takes a different route over the local hills, returning via Coldwell and that killer climb over to Widdop. It was a fantastic winter day - very cold, but lots of blue skies and sunshine.

All went well until we got to Thursden. We crossed the cattle grid and began the climb but there was absolutely no grip and we had to make emergency dismounts. Closer inspection revealed that there was a river of black ice all the way down the hill! Because of its orientation, the road is in shadow so there is no heat from the winter sun to melt any ice that forms. The road had not been gritted so it was potentially lethal.

We started walking our bikes up along the grass verge but then I saw a car hurtling down the hill towards us. I waved frantically at the driver but he made no attempt to slow down so I screamed at him as he passed and that did the trick. He skidded to a halt just before he got to the black ice and leapt out of his car, looking like he was ready to pick a fight with me. "Oh yeah, oh YEAH!" that kind of thing. I just pointed at the road in front of his car and suggested that it probably wouldn't have done him, his girlfriend or his car much good to have hit that at speed. He went all sheepish after that "Oh, er, thanks mate - yeah, could have been nasty, that!"