Langho-Arnside imperial century, 28th July 2018

[ColinJ]

Hi again, long-distance, ultra-scenic ride avoiders! @Littgull and I will be doing another one of those rides on Saturday 28th, subject to the trains running, our legs not having fallen off, and the weather being at least tolerable. You would be welcome to come along with us.

If you do not want to join us, please avoid this thread, or at least come up with an entertaining excuse for your non-participation. "Sorry, my dog ate my bike", "I would, but a circle of sink-holes has cut me off from my bike shed", that kind of thing ...

If there is anybody left still reading, this is what we had in mind ...

Northern Trains are now saying that they will have restored their new direct service from Littleborough (Brian)/Todmorden (me) to Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley by the 28th. Making use of those trains can save us 40-50 miles of riding main roads which can be invested in longer rides on wonderful roads further north.

So, our proposal is for us to catch an early train to the Ribble Valley and start/finish our ride out there. We will get off a couple of stops before Clitheroe at Langho, NE of Blackburn. We should get there in time for an 08:30 start. That will give us plenty of time for a leisurely 100 mile ride and still be able to get back in daylight, with no time pressure for the hourly return trains.

We will be riding out by a very hilly route through Chipping and Slaidburn, over the Cross o'Greet, through Wray and up to Arnside for a cafe stop. We will ride back on a less extreme, though still undulating route through Silverdale, Carnforth, Scorton, Longridge and Ribchester to Langho.

I imagine that the 164 km (102 mile) ride will take us 11-12 hours including stops. We will go quickly on descents if we want to, and slowly on the ascents which we will need to!

I make it about 2,250 metres of ascent, or 7,400 ft for you imperialists. So, not a ride for hill-dodgers, the nervous, or unfit. But if you fancy a long, scenic day out on your bike and can find the time, pencil the 28th in your diary, work out how you will get to Langho, and sign up below!

Map

Elevation profile

 

[ColinJ]

Er, it's a lovely route and I've booked more sunny weather for Saturday ...

 

[ColinJ]

Er, it's a lovely route and I've booked more sunny weather for Saturday ...

But the good weather decided to come a day early so we are doing the ride tomorrow instead.

Sorry for disappointing all zero of you who planned to join us on Saturday! (I thought I'd better tell you about the change of plan anyway in case anybody had planned a surprise appearance. If you want to surprise us, do it tomorrow morning at Langho, when the train gets in from Blackburn at around 08:45.)

 

[ColinJ]

3.5 hours sleep - check!
Bike sorted - check!
Sunblock applied, including the bits I missed on last forum ride - check!
Drinks done - check!
Daylong sunshine booked with helpful tailwind for climbs - check!
Incredible cycling fitness developed ready for ride - er ....


Oops, "Final preparations, then go" alarm is sounding - see ya!

 

[Globalti]

Damn... I missed this. Might have been able to ride out and meet you after work as I live 2 miles from Langho.

How was the ride and did the trains work out OK?

 

[ColinJ]

Damn... I missed this. Might have been able to ride out and meet you after work as I live 2 miles from Langho.

How was the ride and did the trains work out OK?

We had brought the ride forward by a day to take advantage of better weather. As a result we would not be able to get direct trains from Littleborough/Todmorden, but would have to change at Blackburn in both directions. I decided to modify the route slightly to come back from Rose Grove instead of Langho. That meant we wouldn't have to rely on making a connection on the return leg. We got to Langho ok. There were changes to trains leaving from Rose Grove on the way back with some replacement buses laid on (to Colne and Preston) but fortunately we (eventually!) managed to catch a train.

The weather was perfect all day. We got a little bit of wind assistance on the way to Arnside and a bit of a headwind on the way back. We had uninterrupted sunshine, which certainly justified our decision to ride on Friday. Things are looking much less appealing today - UPDATE: Black skies, 10 degrees cooler, windy and it just stared peeing down - good decision!

We climbed the easy side of Longridge Fell from the south to Jeffrey Hill and then did the steep descent on the northern side. I have never climbed it in the opposite direction. It looks tough but doable so I think I will include it in a ride that I plan to do one day taking in all the local tough climbs - that one, Black Hill, Nick o'Pendle, Whalley Nab, Birdy Brow etc.

We made our way over to Slaidburn and decided to have an extra stop there. We were not in a hurry and the weather was great so why not?

It turned out that the time spent in Slaidburn was very fortunate because when we headed north on the road towards the Cross o'Greet climb we came to a sign declaring that the road was closed for resurfacing. If we hadn't gone that way our ride could not have continued on the original route and any diversion would have been massive so we did the usual cyclist thing of pressing on regardless. Surely, we would be able to get through somehow?

We then came to a long stretch of freshly gravelled tarmac. Put it this way, 50% of what was on the new tarmac was not attached to it! It was simply horrid - noisy and skid-worthy. We had our fingers crossed that this would not go all the way to the Cross o'Greet itself. Fortunately, it didn't! Unfortunately, the last stretches of the work had only just had gravel chucked onto hot tarmac so it was unrideable. Within seconds our bikes had gravel chips stuck all over them and our wheels were jamming. We dismounted and walked on the grass verge towards the crew who were laying the new surface. They pointed out that the road was closed, but we said that we couldn't do the extreme diversion that would have been required and had decided to ride what we could, and walk what we couldn't. We were lucky because that section happened to be one of the few places where there actually is a grass verge to walk on! In a lot of other places it would have been very difficult to pass off-road. If we hadn't stopped at Slaidburn, we would have encountered a long stretch of road covered in ungravelled tar.

Once we had got past the nastiness we stopped to de-tar/gravel our bikes. Fortunately, @Littgull had a pack of wet-wipes with him and we managed to get the worst of the tarry crap off us and the bikes with them.

I had chosen to do a different descent to Wray this time. It was good but I think I prefer my other route.

The roads between Wray and Arnside were new to us. Some of them were a little busier than I normally choose but they were not too bad and the scenery was pleasant.

Brian took quite a few photos on the ride, including several at Arnside. I'm sure that he will post some of them later.

We had a long stop at Arnside. I had noticed that my front tyre was getting softer but also that the valve had not been securely done up after I had topped up my pressures pre-ride. I hoped that the pressure loss was just due losses from that valve so I topped up the tyre at the cafe and would see how it went.

We set off on our return leg and soon were picking up a bit of a cross/headwind.

It wasn't too far down the road though before I realised that the tyre was going soft again so we stopped to sort it out. I eventually found that a tiny piece of vegetation had managed to cut through the tyre and just nick the tube. It was a bit tricky getting the object out of the tyre but I eventually did, swapped in another tube, and soon we were on our way again.

I had been doing some calculations and realised that we were going to miss our intended train from Rose Grove. We would already be riding 172 km (107) miles and we didn't fancy adding a ride back from Rose Grove to Todmorden/Littleborough to that so we slowed down a bit. No point in rushing back only to have a longer wait at the station.

We cycled through Quermore and over to Five Lane Ends near Galgate. From there back to Rose Grove was a familiar route through Longridge.

I wanted a cold Coke so we stopped for a few minutes in Longridge and while I was in the Co-op there Brian checked the train times. Apparently, there were staffing issues leading to cancellations and delays but there should be a service running at just after 22:00.

I discovered that I had forgotten to pack my emergency lights and it was getting dark as we got to Ribchester so I'm afraid that I had to take my chances and ride without lights, but sticking close to Brian so drivers would at least see his lights.

We whizzed back up Padiham Greenway and got to Rose Grove just before 22:00, only to discover that the next train running would be at 22:34 so we had that long wait anyway. If I had ridden back to Todmorden, I would have got home at about the same time as the train would get me there, but I didn't fancy it, and anyway - I didn't have lights. Brian would save time by waiting for the train. So, we waited ...

TBH, it gave us a chance to unwind after our ride. I had taken some Rego powder with me to make myself a recovery drink. That went down well so I think I will carry powder again on long rides which do not finish at home.

It had been a long day, but a very enjoyable one.

Stats: 172 km ridden (107 miles), with 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) of ascent.

 

[Globalti]

What an epic. It's the unexpected, including the punctures, that makes a long day out enjoyable. You could have called me and I'd have nipped down with a set of lights; I live at the top of the long hill that climbs up from the Ribchester bridge towards Blackburn.

I'd be interested in a tour of the local hills. But where's Black Hill?

 

[ColinJ]

Black Hill a.k.a. Padiham Heights.

 

[MontyVeda]

Good decision. You avoided a storm and hail the size of hazelnuts!

 

[ColinJ]

Introducing ... The all-new ColinJ Emergency Lighting Kit!

2 sets of Lidl LED lights lashed together in pairs. An old container to store them, and bubblewrap to stop them rattling in the container. Total weight 100g.

I found that if I put the lights in my bag as they are they end up getting accidentally switched on by the contents of the bag moving around. I could just leave them attached to the bike, but then I'd end up going out on another bike having forgotten to transfer them.

By taking 2 pairs of lights I will always have a spare light if the batteries pack up on the other of that colour. It is a lot less fiddly to swap a light than to swap the batteries.

Thinking about it, I should mark the lights so I always use the same lights until the batteries go and I switch to the other else I might end up depleting all of the batteries without realising it. (There is no indication of remaining battery life on those cheapo lights.)

 

[ColinJ]

Good decision. You avoided a storm and hail the size of hazelnuts!

Ooh, I definitely wouldn't have fancied that!

I trusted the forecast yesterday and went without any extra clothing whatsoever.

 

[Sea of vapours]

To add to my comment elsewhere about having missed your announcement of this ....

Had I known, I could have warned you about the Cross of Greet road since I went over Bowland Knotts and back over the Cross of Greet on Thursday late afternoon. I wondered why there was excessive traffic over Bowland Knotts - perhaps 30 vehicles rather than the more normal 2-3 in that 15km stretch. I worked out why when turning onto the Cross of Greet road and encountering the workmen re-opening the road after having spent the day with it closed, busily wrecking the surface as you've described :-( Not only that but the pent up demand for travelling between Slaidburn and Bentham along the new surface was such that that road was abnormally busy too. And finally, to really top things off, as I was attempting to improve my best time up the actual Cross of Greet climb, the gravel lorry passed me (I made the mistake of dipping into a passing place and waving it by) and shortly thereafter it had to stop to allow oncoming traffic to pass, causing me to too. So, overall, I wasn't too happy about the whole 'road resurfacing' thing either. On the upside, at least I didn't end up with bits of gravel stuck everywhere as it was a little later in the day and whilst it was still far from stuck down it was at least vaguely so it seemed.

Hmph.

And did you see the sign explaining that they were 'Improving your driving experience'? Maybe so, in the medium term, but that surface is going to be dire for at least several weeks now. I'll concede that it'll be good over winter though, so I shouldn't complain too much perhaps.

 

[Littgull]

Another terrific long day out on the bikes in high summer with @ColinJ. Superbly crafted route. We were lucky in the end to get past the surface dressing stretch en route to the main climb of Cross O' Greet. @Sea of vapours, I can't recall seeing the 'Improving your driving experience' - but, as you say, it's going to be dodgy cycling over that loose 'new chippings' section over the next few weeks until it compacts.

Colin, I like the practicality of your spare lights solution . I think my spare light might have fell victim of being inadvertently switched on whilst pressing against something in my saddlebag.

Here's the pics I took.

 

[ColinJ]

I forgot to mention something that happened pre-ride at Todmorden station ...

I'd got there in plenty of time so I could buy my rail tickets from the machine without having to rush. I inserted my card, and confirmed the purchase. I waited for the machine to print out the tickets and receipt, picked those up, and went to the platform to wait for the train. I eventually saw it coming round the bend in the distance and then a young man walked up to me and asked if I had left a ticket in the machine? I remembered having picked up 3 items (2 tickets and receipt) so I thought that he must have made a mistake, but when I looked at the ticket in his hand, sure enough it was my outward ticket to Langho! For some reason, the machine prints out a transaction receipt PLUS a separate debit card receipt so there had actually been 4 items to collect from the slot.

It wouldn't have been a complete showstopper to have had to buy a replacement ticket but I would have been totally peed off to spend £16 instead of £8, so thanks young fella, whoever you are!