Soltydog
Legendary Member
- Location
- near Hornsea
This year will see me reaching the grand old age of 50 
& I've decided to embrace it & do some '50' related challenges, a couple of which are cycling related 
Thought I'd share it with all the good folk of CC, maybe it'll inspire some one else to do something similar & maybe I'll feel more likely to complete the challenges
1st challenge shouldn't be too difficult
Ride 50km each day for 50 consecutive days. Living in the flatlands of East Yorkshire 50km isn't a hard ride normally & my commute is just over 50km so that qualifies
Currently done 10 days of 50km or more & the legs are suffering a little, to I've been trying to ride steady for last couple of days & hoping weather stays kind to me, strong winds or heavy rain could spoil my fun.
2nd challenge is more difficult. I thought about tackling 50 of the 100 greatest climbs in the UK, but logistically it was a nightmare, I'd be driving all over the country to do 1 or 2 climbs at a time & not sure I'd have the time or finances to spare, so after looking at the 100 climbs leaderboards on Veloviewer I noticed there's more regional climbs listed, so reckon I can do 50 that are mostly in Yorkshire. Bearing in mind I'm currently 16 stone, even some of the smaller climbs are not too easy
My progress so far (25/50);
18th April - Brantingham Dale, 9 mins 2 secs (strava 815th /3142) thought I'd ridden this years ago, but I hadn't & wasn't sure how the climb went to took it steady.
26th April - Nunburnholme Hill, 7mins 30secs (PR 6mins 3secs) Done this climb a few times, but the heavy rain & cross wind made it more challenging
8th May - Jenkin Rd 4 mins 54secs (strava 968th/1771) Very early in the ride, less than 1 mile warm up & red traffic lights after a short climb didnt help
Woodfall Ln (Cote de Bradfield) 11mins 20secs (strava 479th/1785) Long & quite steep in places, toughest climb so far. Thought I'd reached the summit at the crossroads, but no, straight across & it ramps up again.
Oughtibridge Ln 9mins 43secs (2053th/4005) Another long steady climb
Spout Ln 7mins 17secs (803rd/1158) Quite steep in places & temporary road works/traffic lights at the top didn't help
Lodge ln 7mins 13secs (1230th/2235) Another short steep climb, another rider on my wheel puffing & panting was a little off putting, so stopped to let him pass & have a breather, then carried on. Tough climb with tired legs.
23rd May - Holme Moss 12mins 16secs (4736/17457) I'd heard a lot about this climb, but it wasn't as hard as I'd expected, not too steep but a long drag.
Jackson Bridge 9mins 40secs (1676/3016) Probably the hardest climb I've done yet this year, very steep in places & quite long.
Wessenden Head 18mins 14secs (1157/3442) Not the steepest climb, but after a lot of climbing already today, over 2 miles of steady climbing was tough
17th June - Shibden Wall 8mins 44secs (1712/2570) Very tough cobbled climb & the first climb in a very long time that I've had to walk up Got about half way, but my front wheel kept lifting & my rear was bouncing off the cobbles, felt like I could take a tumble at anytime. Might re-visit again later in the year
Trooper Lane 10mins 4secs (851/1402) Again I only got about half way, it was drizzling at this point & when I got onto the cobbled section was slipping & sliding all over, I even struggled to walk up it was that slippy
Ploughcroft Lane 4mins (155/265) Road closed sign at the bottom of the climb, but though I'd be ok on a bike, again it was cobbled, but the centre of the road was well cemented between the cobbles keeping the bike a little steadier. About half way up there was a barrier all the way across the road, so had to stop & walk round edge & then re-start the climb on the cobble, which was fun (2nd attempt 26/9 3mins 21secs 97/303)
26th June - Holywell Zig Zag 5mins 29secs (979/4635) Quite a long steady climb, not too steep & actually quite pleasant, passed an old guy on the way up, who told me to use my brakes, made me smile (This was on a test bike/ride from Enigma)
5th July - White Gate 6mins 12secs (171/666) 16% climb (according to road sign) very hot day & only 5 hours kip after last nights shift, made this climb harder than it probably should have been. Quite testing, in bottom gear & wishing I had another, but slowly made it up
Ganton Hill 7mins 2secs (53/195) as above, but 17%
23rd July - Painsthorpe lane, 7mins 8secs (358/1606) Long steady climb, with just a couple of testing parts, nice warm up for the next 2 climbs. Done this climb once before, almost 3 years to the day ago, but a whole 16 seconds quicker today.
Thrussendale Rd (Acklam Brow), 5mins 6secs (247/1531) short steep climb & quite testing at 20% 27 secs quicker than my previous effort, so happy with that.
Hanging Grimston, 10mins 50secs (PR 10mins 25secs) Long & steady climb with some quite testing parts, I was far too warm by the time I got here so slow steady spin all the way up
7th Aug - Boltby Bank, 9mins 29secs (1764/3279) Only 0.7mile long, but it felt longer. Very straight in parts, so you can just see it going up & up. Had to stop a couple of times to get a breather as there was no shade from the sun today going up there.
White Horse Bank. 10mins 30secs (2035/5795) Much nicer climb, zig zagging up the hillside, didn't feel as steep as Boltby & with all the bends you can only see a bit at a time which helped mentally, although the last right hand bend did seem to ramp up a bit
26th Sept - Game scare Lane, 1min 51secs (571/3934) Short sharp climb, really tough start to the day, but glad it was only short
Thwaites Brow 7mins 46secs (484/1033) rough cobbled climb & rather steep in places, very testing
Hainworth Lane 9mins 44secs (208/497) another rough cobbled climb, the start of which is under cover of trees & leaves the cobbles a little slippy
Oxenhope Moor 15mins 44secs (3502/7053) Long steady climb, but there was no shelter from the headwind which made it a very long drag to the top. Even the descent down the other side was steady into the wind
& I've decided to embrace it & do some '50' related challenges, a couple of which are cycling related Thought I'd share it with all the good folk of CC, maybe it'll inspire some one else to do something similar & maybe I'll feel more likely to complete the challenges
1st challenge shouldn't be too difficult
Ride 50km each day for 50 consecutive days. Living in the flatlands of East Yorkshire 50km isn't a hard ride normally & my commute is just over 50km so that qualifies Currently done 10 days of 50km or more & the legs are suffering a little, to I've been trying to ride steady for last couple of days & hoping weather stays kind to me, strong winds or heavy rain could spoil my fun.
2nd challenge is more difficult. I thought about tackling 50 of the 100 greatest climbs in the UK, but logistically it was a nightmare, I'd be driving all over the country to do 1 or 2 climbs at a time & not sure I'd have the time or finances to spare, so after looking at the 100 climbs leaderboards on Veloviewer I noticed there's more regional climbs listed, so reckon I can do 50 that are mostly in Yorkshire. Bearing in mind I'm currently 16 stone, even some of the smaller climbs are not too easy
My progress so far (25/50);
18th April - Brantingham Dale, 9 mins 2 secs (strava 815th /3142) thought I'd ridden this years ago, but I hadn't & wasn't sure how the climb went to took it steady.
26th April - Nunburnholme Hill, 7mins 30secs (PR 6mins 3secs) Done this climb a few times, but the heavy rain & cross wind made it more challenging
8th May - Jenkin Rd 4 mins 54secs (strava 968th/1771) Very early in the ride, less than 1 mile warm up & red traffic lights after a short climb didnt help
Woodfall Ln (Cote de Bradfield) 11mins 20secs (strava 479th/1785) Long & quite steep in places, toughest climb so far. Thought I'd reached the summit at the crossroads, but no, straight across & it ramps up again.
Oughtibridge Ln 9mins 43secs (2053th/4005) Another long steady climb
Spout Ln 7mins 17secs (803rd/1158) Quite steep in places & temporary road works/traffic lights at the top didn't help
Lodge ln 7mins 13secs (1230th/2235) Another short steep climb, another rider on my wheel puffing & panting was a little off putting, so stopped to let him pass & have a breather, then carried on. Tough climb with tired legs.
23rd May - Holme Moss 12mins 16secs (4736/17457) I'd heard a lot about this climb, but it wasn't as hard as I'd expected, not too steep but a long drag.
Jackson Bridge 9mins 40secs (1676/3016) Probably the hardest climb I've done yet this year, very steep in places & quite long.
Wessenden Head 18mins 14secs (1157/3442) Not the steepest climb, but after a lot of climbing already today, over 2 miles of steady climbing was tough
17th June - Shibden Wall 8mins 44secs (1712/2570) Very tough cobbled climb & the first climb in a very long time that I've had to walk up
Got about half way, but my front wheel kept lifting & my rear was bouncing off the cobbles, felt like I could take a tumble at anytime. Might re-visit again later in the yearTrooper Lane 10mins 4secs (851/1402) Again I only got about half way, it was drizzling at this point & when I got onto the cobbled section was slipping & sliding all over, I even struggled to walk up it was that slippy
Ploughcroft Lane 4mins (155/265) Road closed sign at the bottom of the climb, but though I'd be ok on a bike, again it was cobbled, but the centre of the road was well cemented between the cobbles keeping the bike a little steadier. About half way up there was a barrier all the way across the road, so had to stop & walk round edge & then re-start the climb on the cobble, which was fun (2nd attempt 26/9 3mins 21secs 97/303)
26th June - Holywell Zig Zag 5mins 29secs (979/4635) Quite a long steady climb, not too steep & actually quite pleasant, passed an old guy on the way up, who told me to use my brakes, made me smile
(This was on a test bike/ride from Enigma)5th July - White Gate 6mins 12secs (171/666) 16% climb (according to road sign) very hot day & only 5 hours kip after last nights shift, made this climb harder than it probably should have been. Quite testing, in bottom gear & wishing I had another, but slowly made it up
Ganton Hill 7mins 2secs (53/195) as above, but 17%
23rd July - Painsthorpe lane, 7mins 8secs (358/1606) Long steady climb, with just a couple of testing parts, nice warm up for the next 2 climbs. Done this climb once before, almost 3 years to the day ago, but a whole 16 seconds quicker today.
Thrussendale Rd (Acklam Brow), 5mins 6secs (247/1531) short steep climb & quite testing at 20% 27 secs quicker than my previous effort, so happy with that.
Hanging Grimston, 10mins 50secs (PR 10mins 25secs) Long & steady climb with some quite testing parts, I was far too warm by the time I got here so slow steady spin all the way up
7th Aug - Boltby Bank, 9mins 29secs (1764/3279) Only 0.7mile long, but it felt longer. Very straight in parts, so you can just see it going up & up. Had to stop a couple of times to get a breather as there was no shade from the sun today going up there.
White Horse Bank. 10mins 30secs (2035/5795) Much nicer climb, zig zagging up the hillside, didn't feel as steep as Boltby & with all the bends you can only see a bit at a time which helped mentally, although the last right hand bend did seem to ramp up a bit
26th Sept - Game scare Lane, 1min 51secs (571/3934) Short sharp climb, really tough start to the day, but glad it was only short
Thwaites Brow 7mins 46secs (484/1033) rough cobbled climb & rather steep in places, very testing
Hainworth Lane 9mins 44secs (208/497) another rough cobbled climb, the start of which is under cover of trees & leaves the cobbles a little slippy
Oxenhope Moor 15mins 44secs (3502/7053) Long steady climb, but there was no shelter from the headwind which made it a very long drag to the top. Even the descent down the other side was steady into the wind
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