100 km (62 mile) forum ride from Garforth, Sat 29th April, 2023

[Vantage]

If I lived closer I'd be in, but meh. Sorry @ColinJ it's a no from me. Too far to travel.

 

[ColinJ]

If I lived closer I'd be in, but meh. Sorry @ColinJ it's a no from me. Too far to travel.

It is a bit of a trek, even from here - there and back about 2.5 hours on trains, but well over 3 hours when factoring in waiting for the trains - and that is if they are on time. I just missed my return train last time so I had a long wait at Garforth.

The 3rd Hebden Bridge ride will be coming up soon. I hope that you can make that one. I am going to Devon again mid-May and want to do it before I go away.

 

[ColinJ]

On the plus side... Garforth is within West Yorkshire so I can use my bus pass to get half off my fare (vs one third off using my railcard), so that will only be... (checks)... £4.40 return!

 

[Moodyman]

Strong winds and changeable weather forecast for much of the week. Should subside by Saturday though.🤞

 

[ColinJ]

Strong winds and changeable weather forecast for much of the week. Should subside by Saturday though.🤞

Hopefully!

Another fingers-crossed matter though...unfortunately I picked up a head cold over the past few days... I'm taking it very easy and hope to be over it in time for the Garforth ride.

I'll go out for a gentle 30 minute ride on Wednesday for the 3-rides-a-week challenge. If that is okay, I'll do a longer, harder effort on Thursday. That should tell me if 100 km on Saturday would be ok.

I don't mind riding with a few sniffles but if this cold evolves into one of those real stinkers then I might reluctantly have to postpone the forum ride.

I'll let you and @Julia9054 know how I get on.

 

[presta]

On the plus side... Garforth is within West Yorkshire so I can use my bus pass to get half off my fare (vs one third off using my railcard), so that will only be... (checks)... £4.40 return!

Braintree to Chelmsford is a third of that distance, and it costs £11 return, off peak (no concessions).

 

[ColinJ]

Braintree to Chelmsford is a third of that distance, and it costs £11 return, off peak (no concessions).

The UK rail fares system is a bad joke...

I looked up the price of a ticket from Leeds to Exeter. Then I looked up the price of a ticket from Hebden Bridge to Leeds, to then catch the same train to Exeter as in the first case. Catching the 2 trains was cheaper than just the one! I live in Todmorden which is one stop further away from Leeds so I looked up how much to travel to Hebden Bridge, stay on the train to Leeds, then switch to the original train to Exeter - cheaper still!

So, the further I went, the cheaper it got!

And then I used a ticket splitting site and bought about 5 or 6 tickets for the return journey, using the same seats on the same trains as I would have caught with just one return ticket - that saved me another 10-15%!

 

[Julia9054]

The whole of the UK rail network is a bad joke.
I've just spent Easter in Copenhagen. The rail and metro system is an absolute delight. Clean and efficient with plenty of space for bikes and trains that are uncrowded, on time and very frequent.
Landed back at Manchester Airport to find all the onward trains cancelled. It's a joke.

 

[ColinJ]

I've just spent Easter in Copenhagen. The rail and metro system is an absolute delight. Clean and efficient with plenty of space for bikes and trains that are uncrowded, on time and very frequent.

Landed back at Manchester Airport to find all the onward trains cancelled. It's a joke.

Don't forget to claim compensation for the cancelled train journey. I had to cycle back from Clitheroe after a train was cancelled last year. I got a one-way, one-day Northern rail pass as compensation.

 

[Domus]

Waited for a delayed train to Barrow on Grange station last year, how it can be late when it only started in Lancaster is beyond me. An old dear was getting agitated as she was going visiting her husband in a care home. The previous day's train had been cancelled and visiting time due to covid was restricted. Anyway it finally arrived and we got on with our bikes, after boarding we were informed that the service was changed and no longer calling at several stops. Of course one of these was where the care home was. The old dear became even more upset so much so that several passengers cajoled the staff into stopping as planned which they did with some reluctance. A complete shambles all round

 

[Domus]

Sorry Colin can't make Saturday. I can't afford to be out all day. Doing a local ride in Rossendale with a mate and I have been told in no uncertain terms I must be back early afternoon.

Have fun

 

[presta]

The UK rail fares system is a bad joke...

I looked up the price of a ticket from Leeds to Exeter. Then I looked up the price of a ticket from Hebden Bridge to Leeds, to then catch the same train to Exeter as in the first case. Catching the 2 trains was cheaper than just the one! I live in Todmorden which is one stop further away from Leeds so I looked up how much to travel to Hebden Bridge, stay on the train to Leeds, then switch to the original train to Exeter - cheaper still!

So, the further I went, the cheaper it got!

And then I used a ticket splitting site and bought about 5 or 6 tickets for the return journey, using the same seats on the same trains as I would have caught with just one return ticket - that saved me another 10-15%!

When I walked the Coast to Coast I could have bought a single from Braintree to St Bees, and a single from Whitby to Braintree, but it was cheaper to buy a return B'tree-Carlisle, single Carlisle-StB, & single Whitby-Carlisle. The problem was that the timing meant there was just one train that would fit the whole journey into a single day. On the day, I fetched up at Braintree to find the train had broken down, so I had no choice but to jump in a taxi and get to Witham PDQ before I missed the connection to Liverpool St.

Don't forget to claim compensation for the cancelled train journey.

IIRC I got the taxi fare refunded.

I live in Todmorden

I've cycled through that neck of the woods a few times en route between the Peak and the Dales:
Glossop, Stalybridge, Oldham, then pick up the canal at Chadderton and finish off with a warm climb up the fellside to Mankinholes YHA.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't mind riding with a few sniffles but if this cold evolves into one of those real stinkers then I might reluctantly have to postpone the forum ride.

I'll let you and @Julia9054 know how I get on.

Sorry @Julia9054 and @Moodyman - I am going to have to postpone the ride. I wasn't even feeling up to a gentle 30 minute ride today. I did a 15 minute stroll to pick up a paper and even that was enough effort for me. I am sure that I won't recover enough in 3 days to go ahead! I hope that you will both be able to make a new date which we will choose below.

It struck me that this feels exactly the same as my (minor) dose of Covid a year ago - the symptoms and trajectory are identical. I tried to use my last lateral flow test but went to put the test drops in the tube but couldn't find the bottle! No matter - I'm feeling rough, I can't manage the ride, and I am keeping away from people anyway, so I don't really need that confirmation.

Can we all try to come up with a new Saturday date? I think it would be sensible to exclude April 22nd as well, to give me another week to get my oomph back. I will be in Devon on May 20th. That leaves April 29th, May 6th and May 13th. Could anybody interested please post which of those dates you can make? To be fair to all concerned, I will pick the date with the greatest number of riders. If numbers are equal for 2 or 3 of those dates then I will choose the earlier/earliest of the dates and keep the other(s) as backups.

 

[Julia9054]

Awww, that's rubbish Colin - I hope you feel better soon. There are so many people with covid/covid-like illnesses at the moment.
29th or the 6th works for me - can't make 13th. 29th would be preferable.

 

[ColinJ]

Awww, that's rubbish Colin - I hope you feel better soon. There are so many people with covid/covid-like illnesses at the moment.
29th or the 6th works for me - can't make 13th. 29th would be preferable.

Well, it will give you (and eventually me) a few more weeks to improve fitness for the ride!