Globalti
Legendary Member
I went up The Struggle this morning. 32 minutes, is that respectable?
Those who have climbed it will know that it's a climb of two halves. The first half was awful because my hands were squirming around on the hoods in my sweaty mitts and I just felt all wrong. I was wondering if I would manage the crux of the climb through the zig zags up to the Kirkstone Inn so I decided to stop and remove the mitts. To my amazement, being able to grip the hoods more securely put me in a more upright position, allowing me to climb with straighter legs like on a stair climbing machine. The difference to climbing efficiency was remarkable and the last few hairpins, two of them at over 20%, seemed much more bearable.
Gawd knows how people manage to do the Fred Whitton though; after just one Lakes climb I feel like I've ridden a TT.
The road from the pass down to Bowness was horribly rough for the first half, terrible worn-out top-dressing, which made my hands ache with gripping the bars. My plan to finish with a trip over Windermere on the Hawkshead ferry then round to Ambleside was thwarted though because yesterday the ferry caught fire and it's now out of action, probably for a good few weeks.
Those who have climbed it will know that it's a climb of two halves. The first half was awful because my hands were squirming around on the hoods in my sweaty mitts and I just felt all wrong. I was wondering if I would manage the crux of the climb through the zig zags up to the Kirkstone Inn so I decided to stop and remove the mitts. To my amazement, being able to grip the hoods more securely put me in a more upright position, allowing me to climb with straighter legs like on a stair climbing machine. The difference to climbing efficiency was remarkable and the last few hairpins, two of them at over 20%, seemed much more bearable.
Gawd knows how people manage to do the Fred Whitton though; after just one Lakes climb I feel like I've ridden a TT.
The road from the pass down to Bowness was horribly rough for the first half, terrible worn-out top-dressing, which made my hands ache with gripping the bars. My plan to finish with a trip over Windermere on the Hawkshead ferry then round to Ambleside was thwarted though because yesterday the ferry caught fire and it's now out of action, probably for a good few weeks.