Another lumpy (road) forum ride from Hebden Bridge! 56 km (35 miles). Sat, 27th May, 2023.

[ColinJ]

I am planning to do a hilly road loop from Hebden Bridge on 27th May. It will take in some of the roads that we used on THIS RIDE last year, only in the opposite direction. We will then head off over Oxenhope Moor to a coffee-and-cake stop at Bob's Tea Room on Jerusalem Lane, before dropping down to Mytholmroyd to return to Hebden Bridge along the Calder Valley Cycleway.

Some of the hills are tough so bring strong legs and/or very low gears and/or electric motor assistance! (We won't be in a rush so low speed should not be an issue, but we do prefer people not to keel over/start crying at the first sign of a 15-20% ramp!)

I have a detailed route planned but there is a variation that I will try to check out before this ride. If I get the time to do that and it is okay, we will go that way ('Plan B'), otherwise we will stick to 'Plan A'. The Plan B route is 56 km (35 miles); Plan A is a smidge shorter.

More details soon. If you are interested, post below.

Oh, that tagging thing... Hang on!

***** ColinJ's forum rider tag list *****
Fellow forum riders, I am planning another ride!

@colly, @neil_merseyside, @Sea of vapours, @Domus, @Julia9054, @Spiderweb, @Slioch, @EasyPeez, @Kestevan, @Venod, @Soltydog, @NorthernDave, @Buck, @si_c, @videoman, @FrothNinja, @GuyBoden, @Vantage

If anybody wants their name to be added to the list, let me know.

(If anybody wants their name to be removed, let me know, but... )

NB Make sure that you have enabled tag alerts in your account preferences - HERE (tick 'mentions you in a message')

(Yes, I know some are already signed up for this ride, or can't make it, but I copy and paste the list from one ride to the next so I don't want to edit it.)
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[Buck]

I won’t be able to join you unfortunately as we are heading off on holiday that weekend.

Enjoy!

 

[ColinJ]

I won’t be able to join you unfortunately as we are heading off on holiday that weekend.

Enjoy!

I hope that you enjoy your holiday too!

 

[Julia9054]

I shall be on my way to the complete opposite terrain in the Netherlands that day.
Have a good one
(This one's too hilly for me anyway)

 

[neil_merseyside]

Sorry can't make it as I'm leading a club imperial that day.

 

[ColinJ]

I shall be on my way to the complete opposite terrain in the Netherlands that day.
Have a good one
(This one's too hilly for me anyway)

Sorry can't make it as I'm leading a club imperial that day.

Have fun with those!

There will be more of my rides later in the year...

 

[Dadam]

Pencil me in for this one. I think I'll need the full assist level on this one and a full charge will be in order!

 

[ColinJ]

Pencil me in for this one. I think I'll need the full assist level on this one and a full charge will be in order!

Excellent.

If we do Plan B then the climbing is almost finished by Oxenhope Moor because we would come down to the cafe stop via the top of Jerusalem Lane. Plan A takes us right down into a steep-sided dip below Booth which we would have to climb back out of and then ascend the lane to the cafe.

 

[Kestevan]

No chance for me. Knee is not up to anything hilly. Goin for a ride round York tomorrow and that's about my limit ATM.

 

[Dadam]

Excellent.

If we do Plan B then the climbing is almost finished by Oxenhope Moor because we would come down to the cafe stop via the top of Jerusalem Lane. Plan A takes us right down into a steep-sided dip below Booth which we would have to climb back out of and then ascend the lane to the cafe.

Is this route the exact reverse of the one you linked in the OP?

 

[Jameshow]

I would love to, but I think I'm booked up to take daughter to Mil and then on to my parents.

 

[ColinJ]

No chance for me. Knee is not up to anything hilly. Goin for a ride round York tomorrow and that's about my limit ATM.

Oh, when I saw that you were planning the Scarborough ride I thought that your knee must be getting better. GWS and enjoy the York ride!

Is this route the exact reverse of the one you linked in the OP?

Er, no...

The clues are in the first paragraph!

It will take in SOME of the roads that we used...

It is the same as far as the junction between Water Sheddles and Ponden reservoirs.

We will then head off over Oxenhope Moor to a coffee-and-cake stop at Bob's Tea Room on Jerusalem Lane

Which was not on the original route at all.

I have attached GPX files of the Plan A and Plan B routes below. Plan B would use a stretch of bridleway which I haven't ridden for about 20 years so I'd like to check it to see if it would be ok for normal road bike tyres. I remember there being a cobbled ramp between the end of the road and the start of the bridleway and I think the bridleway was not too bad, but best to make sure!

I would love to, but I think I'm booked up to take daughter to Mil and then on to my parents.

If you mysteriously become free, you know where to find us. If not...

GPX viewer

GPX viewer

 

[Sea of vapours]

Plan B would use a stretch of bridleway which I haven't ridden for about 20 years so I'd like to check it to see if it would be ok for normal road bike tyres

Is that the bit of bridleway going north westward up Luddenden Dean and ending at The Lowe Farm, Colin? Or, is it the 700m stretch of 'not a road really but it looks vaguely paved' to the east of Warley Moor reservoir? I'm just asking since, in a strange coincidence, I planned a route which goes through there earlier today and I was wondering about whether those bits are passable.

 

[ColinJ]

Is that the bit of bridleway going north westward up Luddenden Dean and ending at The Lowe Farm, Colin?

That's the one.

Luddenden Dean is a lovely valley. The bridleway/road option round it is less savage than going straight from Booth into the dip then up to Wainstalls. I think that I rode along the bridleway on a road bike years ago and certainly did it on a mountain bike several times. It wasn't a difficult ride but I can't remember how rough or muddy it was.

IIRC that path to the east of Warley Moor is a mudfest except in times of drought! I don't enjoy gnarly mountain biking. I did it many years ago and got myself and my MTB plastered in mud and decided to avoid it in future. I assume that it hasn't dried up since then!

Is it a road ride or a MTB/gravel bike/cyclocross bike/latest trendy name for that kind of bike ride?

It's a coincidence that you are looking in the same area!

If you have any other local road/bridleway questions, fire away.

 

[Sea of vapours]

Thanks Colin. I only have a road bike, so it's very much road. I'll be interested to know what your forthcoming trip to check out the Luddenden Dean bridleway determines as that way looks good for the reasons you state of not dropping down to Booth. Prior to that, I intend to come up from Hebden and along the B road past the golf club as that looks more scenic than the valley.

I think we're talking about different things on the other bit; I hope so anyway! I was asking about the thing to the east of the Warley Moor *Reservoir*. Here. The Streetview data is from 2010 and it's not marked as a road on the OS map. It's on your route so I assume it's fine?

Pretty strange that I, literally this morning, thought I'd plan an imperial century to take in some of the high ground to the NE of Hebden that I've not covered before. It comes in at a rather feisty 3,500m in 161km at the moment. I can knock off an easy 400m ascent and 22km at the end if necessary though!