Hilly metric century from Todmorden to watch ToB stage 8, Sat 14th Sept, 2019

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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Hi All.

I noticed this afternoon that the Tour of Britain peloton will be passing nearby on the 14th September and I have decided to ride out to watch them at one of the King of the Mountains points, at Grains Bar between Delph and Shaw.

I have devised a lumpy route which starts in Todmorden and passes through the KoM point after 20 kms. There would be a good warm-up to Shaw then the stiff little climb of Dog Hill up to Grains Bar, riding in the opposite direction to the peloton. If anybody fancies joining me, you'd be welcome to.

It would be a good idea to aim to get to the KoM (say) 30 minutes before the earliest forecast arrival of the race, which is at 12:38, so let's call our ETA 12:10. (There will be a rolling road closure 15 minutes ahead of the race and that allows some slack for potential delays on the ride over).

I reckon a start from Tod at 10:45 would be ok. We should pass Hollingworth Lake at around 11:15 and get to the junction of the A633 and B6197 at the foot of Dog Hill by 11:40. That would give us a leisurely 30 minutes to do the climb (2.7 km, averaging 6.3%).

We'd be working to that schedule so there would be no hanging about waiting for late arrivals at any of those 3 points.

If by some freak chance we get really delayed and the peloton is flying towards us, no matter - we should be able to stop on the roadside of Dog Hill and watch them descend past our vantage point!

Once the race has passed us by, I have devised some cruel and unusual punishment for you - muhaha! I'd take us on a tour of some fine challenging hills, ending up back in the Calder Valley at Hebden Bridge. If you/we were knackered by then we would have the option of riding directly back to Todmorden along the A646. That would reduce the distance from 100 km to near enough 50 miles and miss out a big chunk of climbing. That can be decided on an individual or group basis when we get to HB.

If anyone is interested, reply below. If so, I'll post more details of the route.
 

GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
Be honest, could I get up the hills without too much trouble?

If so, I could get the train or a lift. I've looked at the train times, it's 9:44 ->10:33, from Walkden to Todmorden.

Also, can you remember how much time your ride from Dunham to Walkden train station took?
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Be honest, could I get up the hills without too much trouble?

If so, I could get the train or a lift. I've looked at the train times, it's 9:44 ->10:33, from Walkden to Todmorden.

Also, can you remember how much time your ride from Dunham to Walkden train station took?
There are several hills later on that you might not fancy. (Lots of 10%, some 15%, and (IIRC) a couple of 20% ramps.) You might be ok with your super-big new climbing sprocket though (it's an impressive 42-tooth monster, folks!), but only you can decide that.

This is the route profile. The KoM is at the summit of the first climb.

Tod Grains Bar KoM ride profile.png

Hebden Bridge is in the flat section just after 70 km. The steep climb after that is the Heptonstall Road and eventually up to the Long Causeway towards Burnley, but the descent takes us back to the A646 near Walk Mill and then back down to Todmorden. That whole last section could be replaced by a nearly flat 7 km ride back along the valley to Todmorden.

Oh, and the train to Tod passes through Littleborough which is at the 10 km point, so the ride along the A6033 could be avoided too by getting off at Littleborough.

I hadn't thought about you using the Tod-Littleborough-Walkden trains in the opposite directions! Yes, that would enable you to get over for rides starting here. Some of the ones going to the Ribble Valley are significantly flatter than this one.

The Dunham-Walkden ride would be easy in 90 minutes, and with more effort it would take 75 minutes or less. I'd have to download my tracklog to see how long we actually took. Hang on... Okay, we took about 80 minutes but that included a delay to take a few photos at Irlam locks and we were taking it easy and chatting.
 
This looks a really good ride and right on my home patch, riding roads very familiar to me.

Unfortunately, I have family commitments that weekend or I would definitely be up for it.

Enjoy the ride and watching the race.
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Guy (or anybody else who might be interested in doing a shortened version of the route)...

If you start and finish at Littleborough you would be riding more like 55 km (34 miles). I have done a comparison of the 2 elevation profiles. Both involve the same route from Littleborough as far as the A58 at Baitings reservoir. The 100 km route then continues on a tour of the local hills, whereas the shortened route continues up the A58 to Blackstone Edge and then does a rapid descent to Littleborough station.

Tod Littleborough ToB 2019 Grains Bar KoM route profiles.png
 

GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
Guy (or anybody else who might be interested in doing a shortened version of the route)...

If you start and finish at Littleborough you would be riding more like 55 km (34 miles). I have done a comparison of the 2 elevation profiles. Both involve the same route from Littleborough as far as the A58 at Baitings reservoir. The 100 km route then continues on a tour of the local hills, whereas the shortened route continues up the A58 to Blackstone Edge and then does a rapid descent to Littleborough station.

View attachment 483835

Thanks Colin, the shorter 34mile route looks like a better ride for my lack of hill climbing abilities.

Have you got a GPS file for the route?

Many thanks again.:okay:
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Thanks Colin, the shorter 34mile route looks like a better ride for my lack of hill climbing abilities.

Have you got a GPS file for the route?

Many thanks again.:okay:
Hi Guy.

It looks like just the two of us then!


OOPS forget my earlier post (if you saw it) - I didn't read your post properly... !

Hmm, meeting you in Littleborough would mean an earlier start and about 30 minutes more hanging about at the KoM. How would you feel about catching the train to Todmorden and riding back to Littleborough with me? Get a return to Tod rather than 2 singles (much cheaper) and you could get back on at Littleborough for the trip back. That would be more like 41 miles in total.
 
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GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
Hi Guy.

It looks like just the two of us then!


OOPS forget my earlier post (if you saw it) - I didn't read your post properly... !

Hmm, meeting you in Littleborough would mean an earlier start and about 30 minutes more hanging about at the KoM. How would you feel about catching the train to Todmorden and riding back to Littleborough with me? Get a return to Tod rather than 2 singles (much cheaper) and you could get back on at Littleborough for the trip back. That would be more like 41 miles in total.

Colin, I'm getting a lift in the car from my kindly wife, but I can't meet too early.

Would it be easier to meet at Hollingworth Lake carpark?
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I would love to get over but I have family commitments ☹️
A 'Like' because you'd like to, not because you can't make it!

Colin, I'm getting a lift in the car from my kindly wife, but I can't meet too early.

Would it be easier to meet at Hollingworth Lake carpark?
Yes, that would be fine. Is 11:15-ish okay for you?

Here's the GPX from HL visitor centre car park to the KoM and eventually back round to Littleborough station. If you are going to be picked up again at the Lake, just continue on up the road from the station for another 1.5 kms.
 

Attachments

  • LB-LB Ride to 2019 TOB stage 8 KOM.gpx
    17.4 KB · Views: 12
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
The full 100 km is surprisingly lumpy.

I just relived the nasty climb out of Slaithwaite on Streetview - Guy will definitely be glad of his 42-tooth mega-sprocket on that one!
 

GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
The full 100 km is surprisingly lumpy.

I just relived the nasty climb out of Slaithwaite on Streetview - Guy will definitely be glad of his 42-tooth mega-sprocket on that one!

Thanks Colin, 11:15-ish at Hollingworth Lake visitor carpark would be great for me.

I'll be testing my legs out tomorrow, when I go to see ToB stage 5 near Delamere.

Your full Lumpy 100km will be too much for my legs in one day, so I'll have to come back in a few weeks and finish the rest of the ride.:smile:
 
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