Yikes Svendo!
I'm glad that you weren't badly hurt but I was only thinking earlier how nice your new(ish) bike looked and then it goes and gets pranged!
It was nice to meet Pennine-Paul who bravely suffered an endless succession of tough hills on his fixie. He's probably muttering at me now, but he was polite enough not to do it within earshot of me!
As advertised, I did some grovelling on the 25% climb out of Goose Eye. A friendly local at the roadside looked down the hill, looked back at me and gravely suggested that perhaps it would help if I selected a nice low gear for that climb. I was in my granniest gear and chewing the bar tape off at the time ... Ho ho - laugh? I nearly did ...
Shaun's GPS was giving him some problems, as were his ears! He went straight on at a junction above Goose Eye. The fact that I had plotted the route, knew the road, had my trusty reliable GPS switched on, and both Svendo and I were shouting "You're going the wrong way!" didn't put him off! He took Paul on a scenic tour of somewhere else, while Svendo, Calum and I headed off up Newsholme Dean, as planned.
Eventually we all got back together again.
I managed to pull my back wheel out of the dropouts twice by trying to power up a short steep climb in Lothersdale. I've never managed to do that with Shimano or Campagnolo quick releases but I now have Mavic ones. I'll have to make sure to do them up extra tight in future.
It was lovely sitting out in the sunshine for our early lunch stop which we decided to take at The Black Lane Ends pub before descending to Laneshaw Bridge. Lovely, yes. And also
very cold in a chilly wind!
Having changed our plans, we decided to change our route too. We'd been through Oxenhope and over Cock Hill already earlier on so now we were no longer going to the cafe at Moor Lodge, Scar Top, there was no need to ride back that way. Instead, we rode the second half of my 'Trauma of Trawden' loop.
The Killer climb at Thursden (before Widdop) was as evil as ever. When we regrouped at the summit, Calum fancied his chances of getting back to Hebden Bridge for a train leaving about 30 minutes later. He managed it once before. Go for it!
The rest of us meandered back to Hebden Bridge at a more sedate pace.
Svendo was in a hurry to get knocked off his bike near Rochdale so he said his goodbyes and rode away. Shaun, Paul and I rode round to HB station to see if Calum had caught his train. He was sitting on a bench on the platform, having missed the train by 5 minutes! We kept him company until the next one was due.
Yes, another fun forum ride, this time in glorious sunshine! Pity about the cold wind, but let's not be ungrateful. I'd rather have a cold sunny day, than a mild gloomy one!
Other local forum rides are coming up on Sundays 20th and 27th of March. I'll see some of you for them!
Due to my lack of miles, my legs feel like jelly at the moment, I could barely walk up the stairs when I got in. 
,I'll see how the next ride goes,might even
