OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
It was nice to see Calum and longers again, and to meet PaulB at last.
Paul had suggested taking to the lanes at Padiham to avoid a nasty stretch on blackspot A-road at Read. It's a route that I'd examined on the map but never got round to trying. I think that it will be my preferred option in future.
On said lanes, I attempted to prove that driving cars while talking on mobile phones would not be a good idea, by demonstrating that I was incapable of riding my bike, talking to Calum and operating my brakes at the same time! One minute I was chattering away, the next I was heading off the road and trying to find my brake levers as I headed for a dry stone wall!
I came very close to crashing...
It was overcast all day, but we had a light shower as we passed through Whalley. Nothing too drastic though.
We eventually ended up at our cafe stop in Waddington. I'd been toying with suggesting going up Waddington Fell to take a few photographs but decided it might be better to quietly forget the idea. So, I did!
We refueled in the cafe and then had our pictures taken outside.
From left to right: longers (looking cool), Calum (looking too young to be a student!), PaulB (ready for more cycling action), and yours truly - ColinJ (looking oversized, highly reflective, and somewhat gormless - that was supposed to be a smile
).
We headed back the way we came. Today's route wasn't terribly adventurous because there was still snow and ice on the higher ground. I just wanted a nice run with some good company and that's what I got.
Heading back towards Great Mitton, we made the now obligatory "Ooh, look - Llamas - where's me camera?" photo-stop...
We went back on our scenic detour to Padiham, together with a little 20% climb - nice!
We parted company with Paul at Walk Mill and carried on towards Cliviger Gorge. I've been riding up and down that road for years and its gradient always catches me out. It looks almost flat, but the effort required in that direction shows that it is a false flat. I checked the altitudes on my GPS unit (doubly checked on the map at home) and to my surprise, the road gains 300 feet in 2.2 miles - averaging about 2.5%. No wonder I always feel it after a long ride. Okay, it's not exactly a hill, but it is a real drag when feeling tired.
After that it was a good fast downhill to Todmorden, and a quick dash along the A646 to the far side of Hebden Bridge where Calum and I said goodbye to longers. He wasn't just doing an extra ride home, he'd decided to take in the climb to Blackstone Edge which gains 968 feet in 5.5 miles! I'd done 58 miles at that point and I reckon longers would have done close to 40 miles extra from Oldham and back afterwards so he was pretty close to an imperial century today - chapeau!
I said goodbye to Calum, who was catching the train back to Leeds, and went home for a nice Radoxy soak. Another good day in the saddle.
Paul had suggested taking to the lanes at Padiham to avoid a nasty stretch on blackspot A-road at Read. It's a route that I'd examined on the map but never got round to trying. I think that it will be my preferred option in future.
On said lanes, I attempted to prove that driving cars while talking on mobile phones would not be a good idea, by demonstrating that I was incapable of riding my bike, talking to Calum and operating my brakes at the same time! One minute I was chattering away, the next I was heading off the road and trying to find my brake levers as I headed for a dry stone wall!
I came very close to crashing...It was overcast all day, but we had a light shower as we passed through Whalley. Nothing too drastic though.
We eventually ended up at our cafe stop in Waddington. I'd been toying with suggesting going up Waddington Fell to take a few photographs but decided it might be better to quietly forget the idea. So, I did!
We refueled in the cafe and then had our pictures taken outside.
From left to right: longers (looking cool), Calum (looking too young to be a student!), PaulB (ready for more cycling action), and yours truly - ColinJ (looking oversized, highly reflective, and somewhat gormless - that was supposed to be a smile
).We headed back the way we came. Today's route wasn't terribly adventurous because there was still snow and ice on the higher ground. I just wanted a nice run with some good company and that's what I got.
Heading back towards Great Mitton, we made the now obligatory "Ooh, look - Llamas - where's me camera?" photo-stop...
We went back on our scenic detour to Padiham, together with a little 20% climb - nice!
We parted company with Paul at Walk Mill and carried on towards Cliviger Gorge. I've been riding up and down that road for years and its gradient always catches me out. It looks almost flat, but the effort required in that direction shows that it is a false flat. I checked the altitudes on my GPS unit (doubly checked on the map at home) and to my surprise, the road gains 300 feet in 2.2 miles - averaging about 2.5%. No wonder I always feel it after a long ride. Okay, it's not exactly a hill, but it is a real drag when feeling tired.
After that it was a good fast downhill to Todmorden, and a quick dash along the A646 to the far side of Hebden Bridge where Calum and I said goodbye to longers. He wasn't just doing an extra ride home, he'd decided to take in the climb to Blackstone Edge which gains 968 feet in 5.5 miles! I'd done 58 miles at that point and I reckon longers would have done close to 40 miles extra from Oldham and back afterwards so he was pretty close to an imperial century today - chapeau!
I said goodbye to Calum, who was catching the train back to Leeds, and went home for a nice Radoxy soak. Another good day in the saddle.
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