England : West Yorkshire Forum ride - Hebden Bridge to Otley, 15th July

[skudupnorth]

I got a ride out with the kids,ended up doing the Skyride around Manchester with the herd.....Mrs Skud can work more often !

 

[Littgull]

That was a fabulously enjoyable ride - full of splendid scenic panoramas, attractive villages and challenging climbs. Not to mention the superb cafe stop. Many thanks to Colin for planning and organising it. Good to meet some new faces as well as previously known companions.

Apologies for not waiting at the finish to bid farewells but despite the excellent late lunch hunger pangs were taking over again and after the last climb I was seeing mirages of the bottle of Guinness waiting for me at home.

Already looking forward to the next one (forum ride I mean not guinness - well on reflection both actually)

Brian

 

[Pennine-Paul]

How did your ride go today bromptonfb/Pennine-Paul? (Apologies for over-reaction to the words 'pointless' and 'boring' earlier in the thread!)

Shauns bin laid low with some sort of lurgy,I went out on the Lancashire cycleway NCN91,Joined it
at Holcombe over to Belmont,There was a triathlon taking place they were all walking up the hill
from Belmont to Rivington,true there was a stiff headwind but I easily climbed it,Perhaps they're saving
themselves for later,dropped down to Rivington reservoirs,followed the 91 through Charnock Richard
Diverted along the Leeds Liverpool canal at the foot of Ashurst Beacon to Parbold then headed vaguely
north till I got to Croston for a spot of Lunch.Picked up the 91 again back to Botany Bay then made my
way over to Blackburn back along the canal to Accrington up the Hyndburn greenway,back through
Rawtenstall ,Rochdale and home.110 miles done, was glad of the tailwind on the way home mind

 

[potsy]

Bit tough that one, mainly because of the 'scenic' hills, and partly due to the wind on the way back.
Enjoyed it though, especially the downhill blast back to Hebden, for once I stayed with CJ on a descent

 

[potsy]

 

[Alun]

Thanks Colin for organising another great day out, and decent weather as well.
Sorry you suffered so much on the way back, who said I don't climb hills because they are easy, I climb them because they are hard.
Perhaps some paraphrasing there!

 

[potsy]

 

[Pennine-Paul]

Bit tough that one, mainly because of the 'scenic' hills, and partly due to the wind on the way back.
Enjoyed it though, especially the downhill blast back to Hebden, for once I stayed with CJ on a descent

No wonder you were after a pair of climbing legs Potsy,You seem to be missing a leg

 

[I like Skol]

I got a ride out with the kids,ended up doing the Skyride around Manchester with the herd.....Mrs Skud can work more often !

Was thinking about doing this as a family jaunt for the last few weeks but as it turned out we have had a week from hell (bumped cars, business trips to london and my M2B last week) so in the end decided to have lazy weekend around the house which is just as well because my sore knee incured a day or two after the M2B is still not quite right and a short ride to the curry takeaway and back was 'uncomfortable'.

I will be out on one of Colins rides again when the chance arises , glad you all had a good day.

 

[skudupnorth]

I was well impressed with the Skyride,would have been nice to get out with the gang up and around Hebden but in the end the kids had a great day and their first real taste of riding on the road with a mass of cyclists.......and it was FREEEEEEEE !

 

[sdr gb]

First off, many thanks to Colin for organising the ride.I had a great time and am now able to put more faces to names. I think I was the only disappointed person in the group when they said Chevin Road was shut. I think if we ever go back to that cafe, we should ring ahead so they can stock up on chocolate cake. Anyway, a few pics:

 

[SlowerThanASluggishSloth]

Add my thanks to Colin for sending out the invitations and to everyone else for accepting them. Like Colin I wished I'd been able to get out more consistently prior to such a demanding course. It may have worked out for the best that the Chevin was closed although I can easily imagine sdr and Litgull scampering up it.

I'm sure a man of Colin's talents could organise a ride with the Chevin as its destination but with fewer lumps in it (I'd still need plenty of warning though!)

In summary, thanks everyone for such a memorable day

P.S. Can any of you provide me with details of distance, elevation, average speed, etc for the route we actually took, please? There must have been a point where I lifted the bike by the handlebar stem and inadvertently reset my computer

 

[Smurfy]

My total for the day was 62.7 miles, with 5134 feet of ascent and descent. That means I've beaten all my previous distance and ascent records for riding on fixed-wheel (although I did have to walk a short distance near Thruscross Reservoir, and the steep bits on Langbar). I've also exceeded the 62.1 miles required for a metric century.

 

[potsy]

First off, many thanks to Colin for organising the ride.I had a great time and am now able to put more faces to names. I think I was the only disappointed person in the group when they said Chevin Road was shut. I think if we ever go back to that cafe, we should ring ahead so they can stock up on chocolate cake. Anyway, a few pics:
View attachment 10964
View attachment 10967 View attachment 10968 View attachment 10969

I make that hill look easy don't I?
I reckon Chevin road would have finished Colin off

 

[totallyfixed]

A bit male dominated Colin, was it something you said?