Le Tour de Scammonden - a lumpy little forum ride from Hebden Bridge. *** Saturday, Oct 21st, 2023? ***

[FrothNinja]

After last week's washout in Harrogate, the forecast for Scammonden on Saturday is currently... A bit of a washout!

Let's keep an eye on it, but if things do not improve and Sunday were looking significantly nicer, how would it be for you, @GuyBoden, @Dadam (+Jason), and @FrothNinja?

I normally plan rides for Saturdays because the trains are (generally!) better than Sundays, and weekends fit in better with most people's work patterns than weekdays (though that is no longer an issue for me and Guy) but if everybody is driving or riding to the start/finish then Sunday might be okay?

I could try a wriggle out of a few things and join for part of the ride. Possibly not if there is a big steep hill to start with

 

[ColinJ]

I could try a wriggle out of a few things and join for part of the ride. Possibly not if there is a big steep hill to start with

I went and checked out the alternative hilly start this evening.

Wood Top Lane is a concrete road up through the woods behind Hebden Bridge station. It is only moderately steep. I tackled it in my 42/23 gear and had no problems until a little s-bend round some cottages. That is tough for about 25 metres.

At that point I was going to tease Guy by pointing up this...

No - we wouldn't go up there! We would turn left and head towards Mytholmroyd.

It was as I remembered it - rideable with care on a road bike. I did it on 25C tyres. There is some gravel in patches. In a lot of places it is a compacted surface with embedded stones. There are some remaining broken-up cobbled sections. There are places where puddles could form if we have a lot of rain before the ride, but in most places you would be able to ride round those puddles.

This off-roady farm-track-like section is only about 800 metres/0.5 miles long. I think we should go that way! It is a much more interesting route and should be okay.

As for the weekend weather... The forecast keeps changing. It does look like we would get wet on Saturday OR Sunday, but hopefully it would be by light showers rather than torrential rain. Let's check again tomorrow evening and decide then.

I am happy for a 10:00 or 10:30 start but don't forget the cafe closes at 15:30 (Sat) or 15:00 (Sun).

My pal Bill said that he might join us, but he doesn't like rain much so I think that he probably won't!

 

[Pale Rider]

I can't understand how "Ride With GPS" can get the gradient calculation totally wrong. It could be a very serious problem when someone plots a long fully loaded cycle touring route, thinking that the climbs are manageable, but then be faced with 20% not 10% climbs.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43667892

I've seen significantly different gradients for the same climb a few times.

You'd be daft to rely on any of the sites if you were building a skyscraper.

They are generally pretty good, but anything for free is generally worth what you paid for it.

 

[Dadam]

As for the weekend weather... The forecast keeps changing. It does look like we would get wet on Saturday OR Sunday, but hopefully it would be by light showers rather than torrential rain. Let's check again tomorrow evening and decide then.

I am happy for a 10:00 or 10:30 start but don't forget the cafe closes at 15:30 (Sat) or 15:00 (Sun).

My pal Bill said that he might join us, but he doesn't like rain much so I think that he probably won't!

I've been scanning forecasts roughly around the route, e.g Hebden, Tod, Ripponden. Last 24 hrs it's consistently suggesting we'll get soaked either day but slightly better on Sunday. I must say I'm finding my enthusiasm flagging a little.

 

[ColinJ]

I've been scanning forecasts roughly around the route, e.g Hebden, Tod, Ripponden. Last 24 hrs it's consistently suggesting we'll get soaked either day but slightly better on Sunday. I must say I'm finding my enthusiasm flagging a little.

I have been doing and feeling the same! I was looking out of the window earlier and it was peeing down here. I wouldn't have wanted to set off in that.

Let's forget tomorrow, which definitely looks like a washout!

Let's monitor forecasts for Sunday and decide tomorrow evening what to do. If it looks wetter earlier on Sunday and drier later we could start later and forget about the Craggies cafe stop. If we decided to do that, we could avoid turning left up Steep Lane and head straight back down into Mytholmroyd, and back to Hebden Bridge and use one of the cafes there instead, as we did on the offroad ride.

If Sunday also gets rained off, maybe we could consider the weekend after instead?

 

[Dadam]

Sounds like a plan. I am ok for either day on the next weekend (29th/30th) but not available at all for the two weekends after.

 

[GuyBoden]

Sorry, but unless there is a miraculous improvement in Sunday's weather forecast, I won't be riding on Sunday.

Current Met Office weather forecast is rain all day Sunday.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weathe...kv&layer=rainfall-rate&timestep=1689966000000

 

[ColinJ]

Well, at least we are ALL equally wimpy!

I'll check again tomorrow evening but I'm not holding my breath for sunshine on Sunday...

Could you make next weekend, Guy?

 

[GuyBoden]

I'm away with my wife that weekend, weather permitting.

 

[ColinJ]

Sunday is rained off too - I just got a weather warning from the Met Office!

Guy and I are going to go out and ride the route on Monday, if anybody is free to join us then?

Don't worry if you can't make Monday - I will do the ride again on the first dry weekend that we get in the next few weeks.

 

[Pale Rider]

Sunday is rained off too - I just got a weather warning from the Met Office!

Guy and I are going to go out and ride the route on Monday, if anybody is free to join us then?

Don't worry if you can't make Monday - I will do the ride again on the first dry weekend that we get in the next few weeks.

Pleased to hear Guy's hill training won't be wasted.

As a general point, there's a danger of over reliance on weather forecasts.

Everyone said the Test at Old Trafford was guaranteed to be rained off today - based on the forecasts.

What's happened is the cricketers have got away at 2.45pm and they are likely to make close of play uninterrupted.

Cricketers won't play even if it's only spitting, so I suspect anyone riding in Manchester today won't have been especially bothered by the weather, even if they have had to dodge some showers.

 

[ColinJ]

Pleased to hear Guy's hill training won't be wasted.

As a general point, there's a danger of over reliance on weather forecasts.

Everyone said the Test at Old Trafford was guaranteed to be rained off today - based on the forecasts.

What's happened is the cricketers have got away at 2.45pm and they are likely to make close of play uninterrupted.

Cricketers won't play even if it's only spitting, so I suspect anyone riding in Manchester today won't have been especially bothered by the weather, even if they have had to dodge some showers.

It has been raining quite heavily in Todmorden so far today. Now we have... (goes to check)... murky conditions with moderate drizzle.

Even since Guy and I organised the Monday ride, some drizzle has appeared on the forecast. Intermittent drizzle would not be a big deal but getting soaked all day would be!

 

[Dadam]

Over in Leeds we're a little bit out of that odd microclimate round those little valleys but we've had heavy showers, persistent light rain and drizzle most of the day. The odd dry spell but mostly wet stuff.

 

[FrothNinja]

Working in Clitheroe today. Rushed off my feet but it didn't really stop raining, though it relented and only drizzled a few times

 

[GuyBoden]

Even since Guy and I organised the Monday ride, some drizzle has appeared on the forecast. Intermittent drizzle would not be a big deal but getting soaked all day would be!

See you tomorrow @ColinJ for the Le tour de Scammonden. Looking forward to the ride, the weather looks good too.