England : West Yorkshire Hilly ride from Hebden Bridge, 66 km (41 miles), Sat. 31/01 or 7/02?

[Dadam]

Hope you feel better soon @ColinJ
I hope the long range forecast improves for the 31st though, metcheck.com is forecasting subzero all day, starting at -4!

 

[ColinJ]

@ColinJ

I tried mapped the route from Little rough > Hebden ish but I couldn't quite work out the Hebden > Littlebrough bit. Would you mind posting a route (no rush).

The word HERE towards the bottom of my first post in the thread is a link to a map of the route on cycle.travel. You should be able to zoom in on that and see every detail.

Let me know if there is a problem viewing that.

 

[ColinJ]

Only problem was me not seeing it first time.

I will make it more obvious in future, like this... CLICK HERE FOR A MAP OF THE ROUTE!

That route makes me a defiantly yes, and if my battery or legs give up I'm not far from a downhill and a train. Cheers 👍

Great - keep an eye on the thread for updates.

 

[ColinJ]

It would have been quite a good day for the ride but I think that I was sensible to postpone it. I have managed to avoid severe 'lurgification' by taking it easy, but thought I would do a moderate turbo ride this evening. I managed it okay but it was equivalent to only about one third of the planned forum ride and that was enough for me.

I will look at the forecasts for next Saturday in a few days time to see if that is a good alternative date.

@colly - have you made any fitness progress?

 

[colly]

@colly - have you made any fitness progress?

You always were a funny bloke !!

 

[Dadam]

Hope you feel better soon @ColinJ
I hope the long range forecast improves for the 31st though, metcheck.com is forecasting subzero all day, starting at -4!

If we're still looking at Saturday, the forecast has improved somewhat though it depends which app you believe.
Cold and wet but probably not very windy and maybe not icy.

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, I just replied over in the '50' thread!

We might have to put with some chilly winds and rain if we go ahead, but definitely don't want ice on ungritted roads and paths.

Let's decide Thursday lunchtime?

 

[ColinJ]

Well, the latest forecast isn't inspiring, but it also isn't too bad - chilly mist/drizzle - let's do it!

There are 3 shortcuts in case the weather turns nasty on us...

1. Head straight down to Craggies from the top of the A58 at Blackstone Edge.
2. Then, more directly down to Mytholmroyd from Craggies via Steep Ln & Scout Rd.
3. Miss the last little climb and take the flat route back from 'royd to Hebden Bridge.

With the shortcuts, the route would be 59 km (instead of 66), with 1,100 m of ascent (instead of 1,300).

SO... Meet 09:55 this Saturday (31/01/2026) at the car park on Station Road, behind Calder Holmes park, Hebden Bridge. Depart 10:00.

I have a box of shortbread left over from my birthday. I'll bring that for snacks at (a) photo-op(s) before Craggies.

I'll bring my heavy D-lock for security at the cafe stop but I might dump that on one unsuspecting e-biker if there is storage space available on their bike. If not, I'll just have to use septuagenarian power to cart it about myself! I can lock my bike to one of the other bikes, effectively making one big heavy object, and other locks could be added to secure that to more bikes and a bike stand. (Craggies is a pretty secure location but no point in risking some scally whizzing up in a van, chucking our bikes in the back, and driving off with them before we could get out of the cafe to stop them.)

@Dadam, @wiggydiggy, @any-other-CycleChatter-aiming-to-join-me - please confirm your involvement below.

 

[ColinJ]

I know I said I'm definately in but I have got cold feet about being able to complete it - I've not gone over 20 miles yet this year - I wanted to do a long ride last week as a test but family commitments prevented it. The weather not being nice and dry is also a factor

I'm going to politely back out out sorry. I do have an idea in my head about a long, flat, ride on Sat but I don't think I can do this sorry.

That's ok - a sunny day would definitely have helped!

If I didn't need to get 50+ km in for the 50-a-month challenge I would have postponed it again.

If Dadam wants to do it on Saturday, we will go ahead together. If not, I will postpone it until Feb and just do a quick 50 km ride up and down the local valley roads instead on Saturday.

 

[Dadam]

Eek, ok count me in for now but conditional on the rain being light drizzle. Sometimes the weather apps' idea of "light rain" is a constant rain that's just short of a downpour.

How heavy is your D-lock?
Because Craggies bike stand is a little way from the cafe I was thinking about bringing my Foldylock Compact, which is about 1kg, but could easily lock 2 bikes to a stand, possibly 3 with a bit of fiddling. It also has a really convenient bottle mount holder. It's "only" sold secure silver which doesn't meet my bike insurance criteria but the coiled cable lock I normally throw in my backpack for these rides isn't sold secure anything. It's only angle grinders and big bolt croppers that would make short work of it.

 

[ColinJ]

Eek, ok count me in for now but conditional on the rain being light drizzle. Sometimes the weather apps' idea of "light rain" is a constant rain that's just short of a downpour.

Ha ha - I feel the same. Let's check the forecast again tomorrow evening to confirm/postpone.

Saturday morning you could still cancel up to 09:15. I would check this thread to see if you had posted a last-minute wimpout! If so, I would just head off up the Burnley valley road instead. I could probably get the flattish alternative 50 done by 11:00.

How heavy is your D-lock?

1.5 kg, gold rated. I would be okay with yours, but if you didn't mind the extra 0.5 kg you could leave yours behind and I would bring mine.

 

[Dadam]

1.5 kg, gold rated. I would be okay with yours, but if you didn't mind the extra 0.5 kg you could leave yours behind and I would bring mine.

Not bothered about 500g but I suspect mine is easier to carry on the bike. I won't need 2 bottles on this ride so will swap out one of the cages for the holder off the other bike.

 

[ColinJ]

Not bothered about 500g but I suspect mine is easier to carry on the bike. I won't need 2 bottles on this ride so will swap out one of the cages for the holder off the other bike.

It will save me carrying mine the extra 15+ km!

 

[Dadam]

What's the verdict then, still going ahead? Forecast looks about the same, if not slightly better.

 

[ColinJ]

What's the verdict then, still going ahead? Forecast looks about the same, if not slightly better.

Chillysoggytastic, but - yes!

See you just before 10:00. I will post below if there is a problem.

We can decide en route whether to stick exactly to plan A, or cut a bit out.