OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Fair enough. That saved you £50+!
Let's hope they don't 'expect' your pace to be too high ...
Hard and hilly - 'Calderdale 70 miles-ish' from Todmorden, Sat, April 22nd, 2017
- Thread starter ColinJ
- Start date
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Let's hope they don't 'expect' your pace to be too high ...
Kestevan
Last of the Summer Winos
- Location
- Holmfirth.
Nah. Cycling God me Colin...
I only walk up the steep bits and look like a fat middle aged bloke to stop my awesome divinity blowing the feeble minds of you mortals.
I only walk up the steep bits and look like a fat middle aged bloke to stop my awesome divinity blowing the feeble minds of you mortals.
The weather is looking decent so far for Saturday. Probably just the right temperature too for a lot of hill climbing being that it's forecasted to be on the cool side. My shorts will stay in the wardrobe for a week or so yet.
My bad back has also responded well to my 'take it easy' recovery plan too. So, absolutely raring to go!
For any riders coming through Littleborough on the way to meet Colin, I'll be waiting for a couple of minutes outside the 'Bay of Bengal' Indian restaurant on the road to Todmorden. It's about 200 yards up from the traffic lights.
My bad back has also responded well to my 'take it easy' recovery plan too. So, absolutely raring to go!
For any riders coming through Littleborough on the way to meet Colin, I'll be waiting for a couple of minutes outside the 'Bay of Bengal' Indian restaurant on the road to Todmorden. It's about 200 yards up from the traffic lights.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Yes, chilly early on and cool later. I will wear a few layers so I can add or remove them as required.
Excellent - you and Starchivore can wait for me at the summits!
I will head out from the roundabout in Tod at 09:30ish towards Littleborough and aim to get to the old toll house at the foot of Calderbrook Road at about 09:45 to meet you. Then we will ride back through Tod, passing Lidl around 10:00 and getting to Woodhouse Rd mill at about 10:10 to pick up Starchivore.
Other riders welcome. I'll ask a couple of non-CC pals but I think they may be busy.
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OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Oh, dear ... 
First, the good news ... It looks like the weather will be very kind for tomorrow's ride - yay!
But now, the bad news ...I am coming down with some kind of bug - boo!
I did a 33-miler yesterday and found it a bit more tiring than it should have been. I blamed the nagging, chilly wind but I woke up today with a sore throat and a bunged up nose. I have a headache and my legs feel wobbly. I have the heating on and still feel cold. I hoped that I would feel better through the day but it is getter worse instead.
I suspect that by tomorrow I will be in no state to do any kind of a ride, let alone this mega-hilly one. (I just measured it on my mapping software and there is almost 2,800 metres of climbing in a little over 100 km of riding - a very tough route!)
So, very reluctantly I will be sensible and pull out - Sorry, @Littgull and @Starchivore! I hope that you go ahead and do the ride anyway. I am attaching the GPX file of the route so you will be able to find your way round, in case you need some assistance with the navigation. I think the only tricky section is between Denholme and Centre Vale. I know the rest of the route but do not know those roads. Maybe you do?
Willow Tree cafe is at Newbank Garden Centre on Stainland Rd, Centre Vale, just before you get to Greetland. Look out for the garden centre and rugby ground on your left.
All being well, I will do a rerun of the ride in 2 weeks time, on the weekend after the Tour de Yorkshire and the one before Nickyboy's LLandudno ride. You'd be welcome to join me for that if doing the route tomorrow isn't enough for you!
First, the good news ... It looks like the weather will be very kind for tomorrow's ride - yay!
But now, the bad news ...I am coming down with some kind of bug - boo!
I did a 33-miler yesterday and found it a bit more tiring than it should have been. I blamed the nagging, chilly wind but I woke up today with a sore throat and a bunged up nose. I have a headache and my legs feel wobbly. I have the heating on and still feel cold. I hoped that I would feel better through the day but it is getter worse instead.
I suspect that by tomorrow I will be in no state to do any kind of a ride, let alone this mega-hilly one. (I just measured it on my mapping software and there is almost 2,800 metres of climbing in a little over 100 km of riding - a very tough route!)
So, very reluctantly I will be sensible and pull out - Sorry, @Littgull and @Starchivore! I hope that you go ahead and do the ride anyway. I am attaching the GPX file of the route so you will be able to find your way round, in case you need some assistance with the navigation. I think the only tricky section is between Denholme and Centre Vale. I know the rest of the route but do not know those roads. Maybe you do?
Willow Tree cafe is at Newbank Garden Centre on Stainland Rd, Centre Vale, just before you get to Greetland. Look out for the garden centre and rugby ground on your left.
All being well, I will do a rerun of the ride in 2 weeks time, on the weekend after the Tour de Yorkshire and the one before Nickyboy's LLandudno ride. You'd be welcome to join me for that if doing the route tomorrow isn't enough for you!
That's a real pity, Colin. But you can't possibly risk a ride with a route as challenging as this one unless you are feeling in good nick from the neck up as well as the neck down. Hopefully rest and recuperation will see you ok in a few days.
Earlier in the week I managed to download the gpx route from the Calderdale Council cycling route site and after a lot of unsuccessful attempts I've managed to transfer it to my garmin. It shows as 70.5 miles as against the gpx route that you have posted which shows 68 miles. Strange thing is that it appears on my Garmin as 'CALD 70' rather than 'Trawden Calderdale' (that you have named it).
@Starchivore, I'm still ok for doing the ride tomorrow so if you are too it will be good to meet and ride with you. I'll see you outside Woodhouse Mill at about 10.00 am. Could you confirm on here or PM me. Thanks.
GWS Colin.
Earlier in the week I managed to download the gpx route from the Calderdale Council cycling route site and after a lot of unsuccessful attempts I've managed to transfer it to my garmin. It shows as 70.5 miles as against the gpx route that you have posted which shows 68 miles. Strange thing is that it appears on my Garmin as 'CALD 70' rather than 'Trawden Calderdale' (that you have named it).
@Starchivore, I'm still ok for doing the ride tomorrow so if you are too it will be good to meet and ride with you. I'll see you outside Woodhouse Mill at about 10.00 am. Could you confirm on here or PM me. Thanks.
GWS Colin.
Starchivore
I don't know much about Cinco de Mayo
- Location
- Halifax, West Yorkshire
Ah, sorry to hear that @ColinJ - hope you feel better soon. Yes I can imagine this wouldn't be a ride to do when under the weather to any extent!
@Littgull yes, I'm all ready for tomorrow and will be glad to ride it. 10 am at the mill will be fine, thanks. Hopefully we can all do it again when Colin is better. I haven't done this kind of distance in quite a while but I think I should be okay, I'm feeling decent enough.
@Littgull yes, I'm all ready for tomorrow and will be glad to ride it. 10 am at the mill will be fine, thanks. Hopefully we can all do it again when Colin is better. I haven't done this kind of distance in quite a while but I think I should be okay, I'm feeling decent enough.
Great stuff @Starchivore, should be a really enjoyable day. As there are often quite a few cyclists on the road between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge I'll be the plodder on a red bike and wearing a black jacket, coming from the direction of Todmorden.
See you tomorrow.
Brian
See you tomorrow.
Brian
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Have fun lads!
I am going to take it VERY easy until I feel better. I am supposed to be doing the Tour de Yorkshire with my cousin a week on Sunday and I paid over £50 for my place (!!!) so I don't want to miss that if I can help it. I ought to be able to get over a cold in 9 days ... The TdY is also a very tough route so I need to be back in reasonable shape by then.
Brian - the reason that the files are different lengths is because they are different! I slightly modified the route to avoid Hebden Bridge and go through Littleborough. The changes are fairly minor but you might get confused if you follow the Calderdale version because it starts in HB!
Looking forward to hearing what you think of the route below ...
I am going to take it VERY easy until I feel better. I am supposed to be doing the Tour de Yorkshire with my cousin a week on Sunday and I paid over £50 for my place (!!!) so I don't want to miss that if I can help it. I ought to be able to get over a cold in 9 days ... The TdY is also a very tough route so I need to be back in reasonable shape by then.
Brian - the reason that the files are different lengths is because they are different!
I slightly modified the route to avoid Hebden Bridge and go through Littleborough. The changes are fairly minor but you might get confused if you follow the Calderdale version because it starts in HB!Looking forward to hearing what you think of the route below ...
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
Careful @Starchivore, he's only lulling you into a false sense of security, as you'll discover as he eases up a bank at 60 miles, same as he did at 6 miles.
To be serious, Brian is an excellent riding companion.
If things start to get difficult later on, if anyone will keep your spirits up, he will.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Wow - it is looking a great day for a ride!
I had a very bad night's sleep, having difficulty swallowing saliva. It isn't obvious how often you do that in your sleep until you can't and it keeps waking you up ...
I got up to take a paracetamol and make myself a mug of tea. The sunlight is streaming in through my window, but as soon as I finish the tea I will try to doze off again.
I am not jealous ... who wants to cycle over lovely Yorkshire hills in sunshine - pah!
PS Just dozing off and a pal texted me to see if I fancied cycling over lovely Yorkshire hills in the sunshine ... aaaaaaaargh!
I had a very bad night's sleep, having difficulty swallowing saliva. It isn't obvious how often you do that in your sleep until you can't and it keeps waking you up ...
I got up to take a paracetamol and make myself a mug of tea. The sunlight is streaming in through my window, but as soon as I finish the tea I will try to doze off again.
I am not jealous ... who wants to cycle over lovely Yorkshire hills in sunshine - pah!
PS Just dozing off and a pal texted me to see if I fancied cycling over lovely Yorkshire hills in the sunshine ... aaaaaaaargh!
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OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Looks like the ride finished them off!
I definitely did the right thing staying at home today. I have had the heating on all day set to 4 degrees warmer than it was all winter but it has taken me 12 hours to stop shivering. The air temperature in this room is 20 degrees but I have to have a halogen heater pointing straight at my feet to stop them feeling cold. I am wearing a woolly hat, fingerless wool mitts and a heavy lumberjack padded shirt over a long-sleeved base layer.
I definitely did the right thing staying at home today. I have had the heating on all day set to 4 degrees warmer than it was all winter but it has taken me 12 hours to stop shivering. The air temperature in this room is 20 degrees but I have to have a halogen heater pointing straight at my feet to stop them feeling cold. I am wearing a woolly hat, fingerless wool mitts and a heavy lumberjack padded shirt over a long-sleeved base layer.
Sleep easy @ColinJ, it was a fantastic day out on the bikes with @Starchivore (Thomas). I must start by saying your gpx route was, as expected, flawless and a pleasure to follow. Many thanks for that from both of us. It made a huge contribution to our enjoyment.
Surviving the relentless challenging climbs proved to be the very least of our ‘worries’ compared to a massively scary incident that occurred barely 35 minutes into our ride. I’ll explain later.
Firstly, it was a delight to meet and ride with Thomas, a simply smashing young chap. We chatted away about all the things cyclists talk about – bikes, fitness, routes, diet and plenty of other interesting things too. Thomas is super fit, super slim and, all but by a few months, 40 years younger than me! That quickly became evident as his power and pace got him to the summits well before me but his patience and understanding were very much appreciated. As Colin mentioned in his opening post on the ride thread this is a very tough, ultra hilly route but also fabulously scenic and together with a day of perfect cycling weather (not too cold and not too hot with a light wind - much of which was a tail wind). This cocktail of positive factors made for a truly splendid experience. I never struggled up any of the climbs but by necessity adopted a very low gear and consequently a very slow pace. I was pleased my bad back didn’t give me any discomfort at all and that my recovery regime had done the trick.
We reached Willow Tree Café on the outskirts of Halifax (approx. 2/3rds way through the route) at about 3.20 pm and the hot food was ceased at 3 pm. But there were light bites still on offer and we settled for 2 toasted bagels with jam and a pot of tea. These were fine as we had taken Colin’s pre ride advice and brought/consumed sufficient food and drink with us to sustain our efforts until we reached the café. The service was friendly and quick and the adjacent garden centre toilets were very clean. A good recommend Colin, and I’d go there again. We took a few photos at the café which I’ll try and post later (or Sunday) but the ‘teccy’ know-how to do that is sometimes beyond me so don’t hold your breath. On such a ride of constant ups and downs it’s difficult to stop and take pictures of the scenic splendour as you don’t want to lose the momentum on the climbs and then relish getting stuck into the descents.
Whilst at the café, Thomas read a message on his phone to ring home. Unfortunately, his uncle had been taken ill suddenly and had been admitted to hospital. It was good that we had only the last third to ride as Thomas was naturally keen to visit his uncle. I hope he is now recovering and will be ok. Those last 20 odd miles seemed to fly by once we had climbed the long haul of Greetland Road.
Now to the scary incident I mentioned at the start. We had only been riding about 35 minutes or so. We had just turned up the Bacup Road and ridden a few hundred yards when the driver of this black car raced past us, sounding his horn in an absolute manic frenzy. He stopped just in front of us, shouted obscenities at us and accused us of damaging his car. This was not a measured verbal attack, he was absolutely demented in his rage! The totally weird thing was that neither of us had been anywhere near his car let alone touch it. Thomas told me afterwards that he had noticed a cracked wing mirror but that was nothing whatsoever to do with us. We hadn’t even passed him prior to him racing in front of us and starting his rant. At first, as I was a few yards in front of Thomas at the time (the only time in the whole ride ha ha) I went over to the passenger window in a futile attempt to tell the driver he was completely mistaken. But it instantly became apparent that this guy was totally beyond reason. He continued shouting obscenities and started walking towards us threatening to ‘do both of us in’ and ‘put us in his car boot!’ We tried to remain calm and both instinctively knew it was not worth arguing with this worryingly dangerous individual. He threw a heavy metal door hinge at us which mercifully missed us. Thomas later, very aptly described him as ‘unhinged’ – he sure was, in more ways than one. We quickly sidestepped him and rode on. It doesn’t end there! With that, he got back into his car, we could hear his engine rev up loudly, he put his foot down and raced past us again still shouting threats and obscenities. He then got out of his car some 50 yards up from us on the other side of the road, continued to make severe threats and shout obscenities. We stayed frozen to the spot. Meanwhile, as we had reached a point that was opposite some houses two local residents heard this commotion and also expressed horror at this nutter’s behaviour. Finally, he got back into his car still shouting obscenities and raced off in the direction of Bacup. We were extremely shook up. The two residents were very empathetic and asked if we wanted to come inside to ease our fears. We politely declined, thanked them for their understanding and offer and decided to wait where we were for a few minutes to see if he returned. Then perhaps, seek the residents refuge if he did. Fortunately, he did not return and we both knew it was only a relatively short distance until the route took us to the turning of Sourhall Road and the quiet refuge of the country lanes. Of course, with hindsight we wish we had taken his car registration number but actually you don’t think of that when preoccupied with your own safety. We both discussed the merits of a helmet camera but we have mixed views about that. I have never previously considered it but it does make you think. Needless to say for a few miles afterwards, we were nervously on the look out for solo drivers in black cars. Thankfully, there weren’t any.
It’s a measure of how good the day was after this frightening incident that in no way did it spoil our overall enjoyment.
Colin, you paint an amusing Dickensian-like picture of you in your mitts etc. But in all seriousness, I hope you start to feel better soon and be ready to get out on your bike shortly.
We will certainly do this ride again and you will love it! Will be good to see Thomas and other chums on Colin's forthcoming rides too.
Surviving the relentless challenging climbs proved to be the very least of our ‘worries’ compared to a massively scary incident that occurred barely 35 minutes into our ride. I’ll explain later.
Firstly, it was a delight to meet and ride with Thomas, a simply smashing young chap. We chatted away about all the things cyclists talk about – bikes, fitness, routes, diet and plenty of other interesting things too. Thomas is super fit, super slim and, all but by a few months, 40 years younger than me! That quickly became evident as his power and pace got him to the summits well before me but his patience and understanding were very much appreciated. As Colin mentioned in his opening post on the ride thread this is a very tough, ultra hilly route but also fabulously scenic and together with a day of perfect cycling weather (not too cold and not too hot with a light wind - much of which was a tail wind). This cocktail of positive factors made for a truly splendid experience. I never struggled up any of the climbs but by necessity adopted a very low gear and consequently a very slow pace. I was pleased my bad back didn’t give me any discomfort at all and that my recovery regime had done the trick.
We reached Willow Tree Café on the outskirts of Halifax (approx. 2/3rds way through the route) at about 3.20 pm and the hot food was ceased at 3 pm. But there were light bites still on offer and we settled for 2 toasted bagels with jam and a pot of tea. These were fine as we had taken Colin’s pre ride advice and brought/consumed sufficient food and drink with us to sustain our efforts until we reached the café. The service was friendly and quick and the adjacent garden centre toilets were very clean. A good recommend Colin, and I’d go there again. We took a few photos at the café which I’ll try and post later (or Sunday) but the ‘teccy’ know-how to do that is sometimes beyond me so don’t hold your breath. On such a ride of constant ups and downs it’s difficult to stop and take pictures of the scenic splendour as you don’t want to lose the momentum on the climbs and then relish getting stuck into the descents.
Whilst at the café, Thomas read a message on his phone to ring home. Unfortunately, his uncle had been taken ill suddenly and had been admitted to hospital. It was good that we had only the last third to ride as Thomas was naturally keen to visit his uncle. I hope he is now recovering and will be ok. Those last 20 odd miles seemed to fly by once we had climbed the long haul of Greetland Road.
Now to the scary incident I mentioned at the start. We had only been riding about 35 minutes or so. We had just turned up the Bacup Road and ridden a few hundred yards when the driver of this black car raced past us, sounding his horn in an absolute manic frenzy. He stopped just in front of us, shouted obscenities at us and accused us of damaging his car. This was not a measured verbal attack, he was absolutely demented in his rage! The totally weird thing was that neither of us had been anywhere near his car let alone touch it. Thomas told me afterwards that he had noticed a cracked wing mirror but that was nothing whatsoever to do with us. We hadn’t even passed him prior to him racing in front of us and starting his rant. At first, as I was a few yards in front of Thomas at the time (the only time in the whole ride ha ha) I went over to the passenger window in a futile attempt to tell the driver he was completely mistaken. But it instantly became apparent that this guy was totally beyond reason. He continued shouting obscenities and started walking towards us threatening to ‘do both of us in’ and ‘put us in his car boot!’ We tried to remain calm and both instinctively knew it was not worth arguing with this worryingly dangerous individual. He threw a heavy metal door hinge at us which mercifully missed us. Thomas later, very aptly described him as ‘unhinged’ – he sure was, in more ways than one. We quickly sidestepped him and rode on. It doesn’t end there! With that, he got back into his car, we could hear his engine rev up loudly, he put his foot down and raced past us again still shouting threats and obscenities. He then got out of his car some 50 yards up from us on the other side of the road, continued to make severe threats and shout obscenities. We stayed frozen to the spot. Meanwhile, as we had reached a point that was opposite some houses two local residents heard this commotion and also expressed horror at this nutter’s behaviour. Finally, he got back into his car still shouting obscenities and raced off in the direction of Bacup. We were extremely shook up. The two residents were very empathetic and asked if we wanted to come inside to ease our fears. We politely declined, thanked them for their understanding and offer and decided to wait where we were for a few minutes to see if he returned. Then perhaps, seek the residents refuge if he did. Fortunately, he did not return and we both knew it was only a relatively short distance until the route took us to the turning of Sourhall Road and the quiet refuge of the country lanes. Of course, with hindsight we wish we had taken his car registration number but actually you don’t think of that when preoccupied with your own safety. We both discussed the merits of a helmet camera but we have mixed views about that. I have never previously considered it but it does make you think. Needless to say for a few miles afterwards, we were nervously on the look out for solo drivers in black cars. Thankfully, there weren’t any.
It’s a measure of how good the day was after this frightening incident that in no way did it spoil our overall enjoyment.
Colin, you paint an amusing Dickensian-like picture of you in your mitts etc. But in all seriousness, I hope you start to feel better soon and be ready to get out on your bike shortly.
We will certainly do this ride again and you will love it! Will be good to see Thomas and other chums on Colin's forthcoming rides too.
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