Forum Ride from Hebden Bridge to Slaidburn, Sun 10th July

[dan_bo]

I was up for this yesterday but then i got tonsilitis.

Good reason to keep me bloody gob shut for a change.

Alls i can add is thank whoever it is that gave us NHS walk-in centres. Loaded up with penicillin now. Have a good ride lads.

 

[ColinJ]

Oi who you calling tubby?

I hit 16 stone again the other week. I just checked and I'm still 15-10! Pot/Kettle/Black?

That should do Colin, being a Garmin novice I can't say for certain but it appears to have worked.

I remembered to recharge my GPS batteries this afternoon and have already uploaded the route to my Etrex. Last time, I had to do it in the middle of the night.

I could probably remember this route without the GPS, but there are one or two junctions that I might get wrong if they aren't signed. Better to play safe ...

I was up for this yesterday but then i got tonsilitis.

Good reason to keep me bloody gob shut for a change.

Alls i can add is thank whoever it is that gave us NHS walk-in centres. Loaded up with penicillin now. Have a good ride lads.

Ouch - get well soon!

 

[ColinJ]

I've just checked the latest forecast, which should be pretty accurate at this late stage ...

Sunny intervals to start, with the possibility of thundery showers about 1:00 pm. Sunny intervals again later.

If we find ourselves in Chatburn with nasty-looking black clouds hovering over the hill between us and Slaidburn, we can opt to do the sensible thing and turn left before Grindleton, and ride through West Bradford to Waddington instead, staying down in the valley. Better that, than getting zapped by lightning on Beacon Hill (Grindleton Fell)!

If we go for a plan 'B' and conditions brighten during our cafe stop, then we could climb Waddington Fell afterwards and descend the other side to our route at Newton, though both sides of the Fell would be hard on the fixie riders' legs. Alternatively, we could do an easier ride up to Cow Ark, down the Roman Road and rejoin our original route that way.

Let's see what the weather is like when we get to the Ribble Valley. Hopefully, it will be fine for us until at least then.

 

[potsy]

I've just checked the latest forecast, which should be pretty accurate at this late stage ...

Sunny intervals to start, with the possibility of thundery showers about 1:00 pm. Sunny intervals again later.

If we find ourselves in Chatburn with nasty-looking black clouds hovering over the hill between us and Slaidburn, we can opt to do the sensible thing and turn left before Grindleton, and ride through West Bradford to Waddington instead, staying down in the valley. Better that, than getting zapped by lightning on Beacon Hill (Grindleton Fell)!

If we go for a plan 'B' and conditions brighten during our cafe stop, then we could climb Waddington Fell afterwards and descend the other side to our route at Newton, though both sides of the Fell would be hard on the fixie riders' legs. Alternatively, we could do an easier ride up to Cow Ark, down the Roman Road and rejoin our original route that way.

Let's see what the weather is like when we get to the Ribble Valley. Hopefully, it will be fine for us until at least then.

Who cares? Me and you have gears

So it's an armwarmer, legwarmer, waterpoofs, sunglasses, kind of a forecast then? Just like every other ride we do

 

[SlowerThanASluggishSloth]

.
I hope you have a good ride everyone. Forecast is good, scenery is wonderful, company is fantastic - if they haven't sold out of cake it should be a great ride - looking forward to reading the trip reports.

 

[potsy]

.
I hope you have a good ride everyone. Forecast is good, scenery is wonderful, company is fantastic - if they haven't sold out of cake it should be a great ride - looking forward to reading the trip reports.

You not joining us then STASS?

Big Steve has stayed unusually quiet too

 

[ColinJ]

Who cares? Me and you have gears

I must admit to not quite 'getting' the fixed-wheel thing, but since I haven't actually ridden fixed (except on a stationary gym bike which almost ripped my legs off when I forgot and stopped pedalling!), I suppose I wouldn't!

So it's an armwarmer, legwarmer, waterpoofs, sunglasses, kind of a forecast then? Just like every other ride we do

I reckon it will be a baggy shorts, lightweight jersey, gilet kind of day for me. It's always possible that any thundery rain can be freezing even in summer (I've been battered by hail before now!) but I'm not carting a heavy duty jacket in mid-July on the off-chance! I might carry a lightweight rain jacket ... but I probably won't.

I hope you have a good ride everyone. Forecast is good, scenery is wonderful, company is fantastic - if they haven't sold out of cake it should be a great ride - looking forward to reading the trip reports.

Are you sure that we can't tempt you STASS?

Right - I'm off to alco-load watching today's TdF stage. I'll check this thread in the morning to see if there are any last-minute messages for me.

See you in the morning, folks!

 

[SlowerThanASluggishSloth]

'

You not joining us then STASS?

Big Steve has stayed unusually quiet too

Much as I would love to, I have been told no cycling until the wires holding the thumb together come out. If all goes well, that should happen on Friday. After that, lots of physio and then...

Have fun

 

[potsy]

I'm thinking summer weight tights, ss top, gilet, and a lightweight jacket in the panier.
Though I have just treated myself to a Gore-tex paclite jacket which is not cyclng specific but does the job quite well.
Not as packable as my Montane though.

Got a feeling this could be a slow one

Put the beer away Colin and get to bed

 

[potsy]

'


Much as I would love to, I have been told no cycling until the wires holding the thumb together come out. If all goes well, that should happen on Friday. After that, lots of physio and then...

Have fun

I had a feeling after I posted that you'd had some kind of injury but couldn't remember what it was, hope it recovers well and we'll see you in a few weeks then

 

[ColinJ]

Put the beer away Colin and get to bed

I did put it away (internally) and eventually got to bed at 02:45!

I had a feeling after I posted that you'd had some kind of injury but couldn't remember what it was, hope it recovers well and we'll see you in a few weeks then

Ditto - There are so many people in my virtual forum riders' club now that I forget who has injured what, or is holidaying where!

 

[Holy Warrior]

Hope you had a good one lads! I always enjoy reading about your rides!

 

[ColinJ]

Shaun (bromptonfb) was a DNS. He slept through his alarm after finishing work in the middle of the night.

We tried to contact him but failed so Pennine-Paul, potsy and I waited until 10:20 and then set off.

The thundery showers arrived early and hit us just after we got to Widdop Reservoir. There was some scary thunder nearby and we were up pretty high, so that made me nervous.

Fortunately, I had decided to take my lightweight rain jacket after all. The rain poured down for about an hour and we got pretty damn wet. We thought about cutting the ride short but conditions improved by the time we got to Chatburn so we stuck to plan 'A'.

It was a hard outward route and PP was having to do an awful lot of walking. We reckon that by the time he got home, he would have ridden over 70 miles on his fixie and walked about 8-10 miles up steep hills!

I'm too tired to write more now, but potsy and I both took quite a few photos so we should be able to post some of them tomorrow.

 

[potsy]

Really enjoyed that, 70 miles and lots of hills, was very thankful the rain stopped and the sun came out
Will put some carefully selected pics up tomorrow.

Shaun- Shame you missed it, but you can be the sacrificial lamb designated fixie walker rider next time

 

[Pennine-Paul]

My second longest ride but probably the toughest

82 miles for me

At least all the walking up the hills saved me getting a sore butt

Shame about the rain otherwise a grand day out