ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
***** ColinJ's forum rider tag list *****
Fellow forum riders, I am planning yet another ride!
@colly, @neil_merseyside, @Sea of vapours, @Domus, @Julia9054, @Spiderweb, @Slioch, @EasyPeez, @Kestevan, @Venod, @Soltydog, @NorthernDave, @Buck, @si_c, @videoman, @FrothNinja, @GuyBoden, @Vantage, @Dadam
If anybody wants their name to be added to the list, let me know.
(If anybody wants their name to be removed, let me know, but...
)
NB Make sure that you have enabled tag alerts in your account preferences - HERE (tick 'mentions you in a message')
(Yes, I know some are already signed up for this ride, or can't make it, but I copy and paste the list from one ride to the next so I don't want to edit it.)
************************************
I'm organising lots of forum rides this year to help try to re-motivate me. (I lost my cycling mojo during the pandemic, and it hasn't fully returned yet!) So, here's another one...
I did my annual Cheshire ride with @GuyBoden yesterday and he said that he'd like to do a hilly ride over here, but much shorter than yesterday's flattish 100 km effort. I have devised a route which starts and finishes in Hebden Bridge. It is 54 km (33.5 miles) in length and has roughly 1,100 m (3,600 ft) of ascent, including some very testing steep sections so bring low gears and/or an electric motor on your bike, and/or fit legs/heart/lungs on you! There will be an easy warm up to Mytholmroyd, where the lumpiness starts. There will then be 40 km (25 miles) of tough Pennine hills, followed by a cafe stop at Craggies above Cragg Vale. There is a very easy downhill/flat run back to Hebden Bridge from there.
We will be doing a circuit round Scammonden reservoir, having got to it under the M62. We will see what the lower valley is still like, with scenic lanes and little villages, and then what it looks like higher up with a motorway, dam, and reservoir plonked in there!
I have to squeeze this ride in between my other ones, family visits etc. The provisional date is Saturday, July 22nd, 2023, subject to acceptable weather conditions on the day. Apologies if rail strikes affect that Saturday and that prevents your participation!
Route map (loop to be ridden clockwise)
Route profile
As you can see - there are some challenging climbs in the first half of the ride and some significant lumps after that. The red spot marks the cafe stop, and then there is the luxuriously easy ride back to Hebden Bridge!
We could have cycled to Sowerby Bridge along the Rochdale canal towpath & Calder Valley cycleway but the chosen hilly route from Mytholmroyd is more interesting.
The climb from Bridge Street in Sowerby Bridge is one that I haven't ridden before but it looks very tough on Street View!
I haven't been up to Norland Moor for more than a decade so that will make a change for me.
I was going to take us up to Stainland on Beestonley Lane but cycle.travel suggested cutting across at Bottomley. It is not shown as a public road on the OS map, and that is because it is NOT one - it goes to a few houses and a waste recycling centre, but the latest Street View pictures show signs at both ends saying that it IS open to walkers and cyclists, just BEWARE OF HGVS going to and from the recycling plant.
I have never cycled the lanes from Stainland up under the M62 to Camp Hill by Scammonden Water. I have wanted to for some time because they look lovely on Street View.
The nasty climb that @Pale Rider mentioned is probably the one at Deanhead up from the reservoir to the B6114. Yes, that is another toughie!
We whizz down that B-road to cross the bridge over the M62. (Stop to take dramatic photos there if you want to.) If you choose to keep your speed up to climb the little ramp on the far side, heed this warning... BEWARE OF GUSTING CROSSWINDS!!! The bridge is extremely exposed so if the weather were anything near as windy on the ride as it has been the past couple of days, you would be risking a high-speed collision with the kerb and fencing... Take a look at this picture - YOU DO NOT WANT TO CRASH THERE!
We will head round under the dam holding back Booth Wood Reservoir. It can look very spectacular when the reservoir is full because the water cascades down like this... (Another photo opportunity there for us?)
We climb up to the A672 but only have to ride about half a km up that before turning off onto more scenic undulating lanes which eventually take us to our cafe stop at Craggies.
No climbing after that, with full stomachs... Downhill, then flat!
If you are interested, post below.
GPX viewer
Fellow forum riders, I am planning yet another ride!
@colly, @neil_merseyside, @Sea of vapours, @Domus, @Julia9054, @Spiderweb, @Slioch, @EasyPeez, @Kestevan, @Venod, @Soltydog, @NorthernDave, @Buck, @si_c, @videoman, @FrothNinja, @GuyBoden, @Vantage, @Dadam
If anybody wants their name to be added to the list, let me know.
(If anybody wants their name to be removed, let me know, but...
)NB Make sure that you have enabled tag alerts in your account preferences - HERE (tick 'mentions you in a message')
(Yes, I know some are already signed up for this ride, or can't make it, but I copy and paste the list from one ride to the next so I don't want to edit it.)
************************************
I'm organising lots of forum rides this year to help try to re-motivate me. (I lost my cycling mojo during the pandemic, and it hasn't fully returned yet!) So, here's another one...
I did my annual Cheshire ride with @GuyBoden yesterday and he said that he'd like to do a hilly ride over here, but much shorter than yesterday's flattish 100 km effort. I have devised a route which starts and finishes in Hebden Bridge. It is 54 km (33.5 miles) in length and has roughly 1,100 m (3,600 ft) of ascent, including some very testing steep sections so bring low gears and/or an electric motor on your bike, and/or fit legs/heart/lungs on you! There will be an easy warm up to Mytholmroyd, where the lumpiness starts. There will then be 40 km (25 miles) of tough Pennine hills, followed by a cafe stop at Craggies above Cragg Vale. There is a very easy downhill/flat run back to Hebden Bridge from there.
We will be doing a circuit round Scammonden reservoir, having got to it under the M62. We will see what the lower valley is still like, with scenic lanes and little villages, and then what it looks like higher up with a motorway, dam, and reservoir plonked in there!
I have to squeeze this ride in between my other ones, family visits etc. The provisional date is Saturday, July 22nd, 2023, subject to acceptable weather conditions on the day. Apologies if rail strikes affect that Saturday and that prevents your participation!
Route map (loop to be ridden clockwise)
Route profile
As you can see - there are some challenging climbs in the first half of the ride and some significant lumps after that. The red spot marks the cafe stop, and then there is the luxuriously easy ride back to Hebden Bridge!
We could have cycled to Sowerby Bridge along the Rochdale canal towpath & Calder Valley cycleway but the chosen hilly route from Mytholmroyd is more interesting.
The climb from Bridge Street in Sowerby Bridge is one that I haven't ridden before but it looks very tough on Street View!
I haven't been up to Norland Moor for more than a decade so that will make a change for me.
I was going to take us up to Stainland on Beestonley Lane but cycle.travel suggested cutting across at Bottomley. It is not shown as a public road on the OS map, and that is because it is NOT one - it goes to a few houses and a waste recycling centre, but the latest Street View pictures show signs at both ends saying that it IS open to walkers and cyclists, just BEWARE OF HGVS going to and from the recycling plant.
I have never cycled the lanes from Stainland up under the M62 to Camp Hill by Scammonden Water. I have wanted to for some time because they look lovely on Street View.
The nasty climb that @Pale Rider mentioned is probably the one at Deanhead up from the reservoir to the B6114. Yes, that is another toughie!
We whizz down that B-road to cross the bridge over the M62. (Stop to take dramatic photos there if you want to.) If you choose to keep your speed up to climb the little ramp on the far side, heed this warning... BEWARE OF GUSTING CROSSWINDS!!! The bridge is extremely exposed so if the weather were anything near as windy on the ride as it has been the past couple of days, you would be risking a high-speed collision with the kerb and fencing... Take a look at this picture - YOU DO NOT WANT TO CRASH THERE!
We will head round under the dam holding back Booth Wood Reservoir. It can look very spectacular when the reservoir is full because the water cascades down like this... (Another photo opportunity there for us?)
We climb up to the A672 but only have to ride about half a km up that before turning off onto more scenic undulating lanes which eventually take us to our cafe stop at Craggies.
No climbing after that, with full stomachs... Downhill, then flat!
If you are interested, post below.
GPX viewer
Last edited:
