NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
Up early this morning, with the overnight rain forecast to have cleared through by 8am. It hadn't.
Nor had it moved on by 9am, or even 10am, despite me being fully lycra'd up and ready to go. Eventually at about 10:45 it stopped, so by 11 I was out of the door with an inkling to bag a metric half to get the year off to a good start after a frankly terrible cycling December, where I'd managed only one ride worthy of note and had spent most of the month being ill.
One thing the weather forecasters hadn't got wrong was the wind, which slowed progress horrendously on the first couple of miles. My logic was to tackle the wind first and (hopefully) have it behind me for at least part of the homeward leg.
Up on local roads to Coal Road and then Red Hall lane out to the A58 and a slog along to Whin Moor Lane where I at last turned out of the wind. I was huffing and puffing like a train at this point and struggling to maintain a double digit average speed, so was glad of the brief shelter of the hedges. Not so glad though that the lane was blocked with road closed signs diverting me down Hobberly Lane instead of the usual route into Shadwell, robbing me of a mile on the usual loop.
Anyhow into Shadwell and down the hill, taking it steady in the wet conditions, before the brief climb back up to the A58 where it became obvious that any fitness I'd built up over the last year had gone during my time off the bike as I ended up using the granny ring for the last bit of the climb
Across the A58 and struggling quite a bit now as I headed towards Thorner on Carr Lane. Fortunately after the first rise there is a good bit of gentle downhill allowing me to recover a bit before the twisty climb and welcome descent into the village.
Having got myself (slightly) sorted I decided to press on and head up onto Milner Lane and along the ridge out towards Rigton Green. Struggled again with the climb onto the ridge and then most of the ride along there was into the wind again. As I reached the Thorner lane junction I'd already decided I wouldn't be doing a 50km ride today, but decided to add a loop around Rigton Green / Bramham Lane and then head for home.
The roads were filthy, but largely deserted and the wind was across me for most of this, which was a welcome respite. Climbed back up onto Thorner Lane and round onto Milner Lane, where despite the hard work on the way out I didn't feel to be getting much benefit from the wind behind me on the way back...EDIT - just checked and I was actually over 4mph quicker on the return two miles over this section, so there was a benefit after all even if I didn't notice it!
Retraced my route into Thorner, where I stopped briefly for a drink, photos and to message Mrs ND to let her know I was turning back early.
I was dreading the climb up Van Zyl Hill (aka Sandhills), but it was going to have to be tackled one way or another.
Fortunately I did get a boost from the wind up the hill so the hill wasn't the nightmare I'd thought it might be - which is an achievement of sorts
Along Skeltons Lane with a blowy cross wind and then Coal Road and local roads down to home, with a final loop around the block to round the mileage up.
15.0 miles (24.14km) in 1hr 16m at a slow average of just 11.8mph with 845ft climbed and an average temperature of 1.6°C 
Glad I got out there and got some miles in, but I'm really going to have to work on my fitness over the coming weeks to get back to where I was previously. The forecast looks a bit kinder tomorrow, so I'll see what that brings.
On a happier note, MapMyRide resets all the course times on the first day of the year, so I'm currently the fastest person everywhere I went today
Nor had it moved on by 9am, or even 10am, despite me being fully lycra'd up and ready to go. Eventually at about 10:45 it stopped, so by 11 I was out of the door with an inkling to bag a metric half to get the year off to a good start after a frankly terrible cycling December, where I'd managed only one ride worthy of note and had spent most of the month being ill.
One thing the weather forecasters hadn't got wrong was the wind, which slowed progress horrendously on the first couple of miles. My logic was to tackle the wind first and (hopefully) have it behind me for at least part of the homeward leg.
Up on local roads to Coal Road and then Red Hall lane out to the A58 and a slog along to Whin Moor Lane where I at last turned out of the wind. I was huffing and puffing like a train at this point and struggling to maintain a double digit average speed, so was glad of the brief shelter of the hedges. Not so glad though that the lane was blocked with road closed signs diverting me down Hobberly Lane instead of the usual route into Shadwell, robbing me of a mile on the usual loop.
Anyhow into Shadwell and down the hill, taking it steady in the wet conditions, before the brief climb back up to the A58 where it became obvious that any fitness I'd built up over the last year had gone during my time off the bike as I ended up using the granny ring for the last bit of the climb
Across the A58 and struggling quite a bit now as I headed towards Thorner on Carr Lane. Fortunately after the first rise there is a good bit of gentle downhill allowing me to recover a bit before the twisty climb and welcome descent into the village.
Having got myself (slightly) sorted I decided to press on and head up onto Milner Lane and along the ridge out towards Rigton Green. Struggled again with the climb onto the ridge and then most of the ride along there was into the wind again. As I reached the Thorner lane junction I'd already decided I wouldn't be doing a 50km ride today, but decided to add a loop around Rigton Green / Bramham Lane and then head for home.
The roads were filthy, but largely deserted and the wind was across me for most of this, which was a welcome respite. Climbed back up onto Thorner Lane and round onto Milner Lane, where despite the hard work on the way out I didn't feel to be getting much benefit from the wind behind me on the way back...EDIT - just checked and I was actually over 4mph quicker on the return two miles over this section, so there was a benefit after all even if I didn't notice it!
Retraced my route into Thorner, where I stopped briefly for a drink, photos and to message Mrs ND to let her know I was turning back early.
I was dreading the climb up Van Zyl Hill (aka Sandhills), but it was going to have to be tackled one way or another.
Fortunately I did get a boost from the wind up the hill so the hill wasn't the nightmare I'd thought it might be - which is an achievement of sorts
Along Skeltons Lane with a blowy cross wind and then Coal Road and local roads down to home, with a final loop around the block to round the mileage up.
15.0 miles (24.14km) in 1hr 16m at a slow average of just 11.8mph
with 845ft climbed and an average temperature of 1.6°C Glad I got out there and got some miles in, but I'm really going to have to work on my fitness over the coming weeks to get back to where I was previously. The forecast looks a bit kinder tomorrow, so I'll see what that brings.
On a happier note, MapMyRide resets all the course times on the first day of the year, so I'm currently the fastest person everywhere I went today
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