Can understand. Last few months I've been quite light headed when riding and had two offs from simply not concentrating. Once onto a grass verge on a normal road, the other while crossing a ford. The water helped wash away the blood, thanks warfarin
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Yikes!
To anybody thinking of doing the ride, who has not yet added their name to the list: I have told the others privately - a bad cold has left me a clogged-lung snot-monster with jelly legs, so I am not well enough to handle this ride. It is still going ahead though, with Fnaar leading the way.
I am going to come and say hello at the beginning, and will meet up for the cafe stop back in HB.
JUST A COUPLE OF NOTES ABOUT THE ROUTE OF LOOP 1 ...
Some of the lanes are a bit tricky in places. If I had been there, I would have gone to the front and warned you of some of the pitfalls, such as gravel on bends, potholes in dodgy places, and adverse camber. There are a few places where you can meet cars coming the other way from blindspots. Just ride cautiously when you can't see what is ahead, and you should be ok.
As you begin the descent of Scout Road into Mytholmroyd, you will encounter a road closure. The reason for this is that there is an old asbestos tip in the woods on the descent. It is covered over and set well back from the road, but the council has detected some minor landslip and is being ultra-cautious about letting anybody use that road until they sort it out. All the cyclists I know just walk their bikes round the obstacles and carry on. Assuming you do that, be careful because the road is strewn with branches and leaves. It's amazing how quickly a road gets covered when there is no traffic to blow debris away. Oh, and dog walkers think it is safe to let their pooches loose because nobody will be using the road ...
If you don't want to run the miniscule risk of passing 100 metres from a covered tip, turn left up Steep Lane and make your way back up to the Cragg Vale Rd, where you would turn right and descend the road that you had climbed earlier.
I had marked the return from Mytholmroyd to Hebden Bridge on the Calder Valley Greenway/Cycleway. That is much quieter than the A646, but the main road is the obvious option for ease of navigation and speed. Your choice. (To do that, turn right from the end of Scout Road, then left towards HB on the A646 a couple of hundred metres further on.)
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