My 20 minute Cragg Vale hill climb challenge

[ColinJ]

Need to get the weight off, but it won't be easy. I rode with a guy of similar age and fitness and he did the TT course in 22.40. The difference is he's 12 stone and I'm not. I could keep same pace on the initial 2-3% section but when it went up to 6-7% he was gone

Did the long drag climb out of Denshaw (Ripponden Road?) into a strongish headwind then did Styes Lane out of Sowerby Bridge to get to Mytholmroyd so we were pretty tired by the time we got there. See, it's not about the quality of your riding, it's about the quality of your excuses

I am only about 12 st 4 lbs now so I can't use my weight as my main excuse (though I think I can safely shed another 10 or 11 pounds, which would make a significant difference). I need to try other excuses like ...

• I am nearly 59 years old. (No, that won't do - there are riders 20 years older doing that climb in nearer 20 minutes!)
• I have a sore back which limits the effort I can make. (True, but I don't think there is a problem which can't be fixed by improving back/core strength/flexibility.)
• My heart and lungs are still not fully recovered from the clotting problems of 2012/2013. BINGO - that excuse holds water! (Maybe only until early 2015 though. If I manage to avoid further clots then it looks like most of the damage will have been repaired by then.)

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I am only about 12 st 4 lbs now so I can't use my weight as my main excuse (though I think I can safely shed another 10 or 11 pounds, which would make a significant difference). I need to try other excuses like ...

• I am nearly 59 years old. (No, that won't do - there are riders 20 years older doing that climb in nearer 20 minutes!)
• I have a sore back which limits the effort I can make. (True, but I don't think there is a problem which can't be fixed by improving back/core strength/flexibility.)
• My heart and lungs are still not fully recovered from the clotting problems of 2012/2013. BINGO - that excuse holds water! (Maybe only until early 2015 though. If I manage to avoid further clots then it looks like most of the damage will have been repaired by then.)

How about "I'm outta shape, unfit and need to put an effort in"? Y'know like be honest....

 

[potsy]

How about "I'm outta shape, unfit and need to put an effort in"? Y'know like be honest....

Are you speaking for yourself there or Colin?

I will have to come over next year and have a go up there, though my mission will be just to get to the top wwithout without walking

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Are you speaking for yourself there or Colin?

I will have to come over next year and have a go up there, though my mission will be just to get to the top wwithout without walking

Haha about Colin. I'm quite honest about my lack of fitness. It's down to being way over weight thru a lack of enough riding coupled with eating and drinking too much.

These things are now being tackled due to cutting my workload down.

I saw Colin t'other day, does look like a cyclist now he's lost so much weight - just needs to learn to ride a bike again...

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Are you speaking for yourself there or Colin?

I will have to come over next year and have a go up there, though my mission will be just to get to the top wwithout without walking

Haha, I know what you mean about the walking bit. When it's been silly windy up there and I've been on fixed I've had to stop to stop going anaerobic.

But most times the little kick in gradient near the terraced houses does make me think about having a nice stroll in the country. Not a problem on my Brompton's 19" bottom gear, just on fixed. I'm always impressed when @Pennine-Paul gets up there on 87" fixed!

 

[phil_hg_uk]

I am only about 12 st 4 lbs now so I can't use my weight as my main excuse (though I think I can safely shed another 10 or 11 pounds, which would make a significant difference). I need to try other excuses like ...

• I am nearly 59 years old. (No, that won't do - there are riders 20 years older doing that climb in nearer 20 minutes!)
• I have a sore back which limits the effort I can make. (True, but I don't think there is a problem which can't be fixed by improving back/core strength/flexibility.)
• My heart and lungs are still not fully recovered from the clotting problems of 2012/2013. BINGO - that excuse holds water! (Maybe only until early 2015 though. If I manage to avoid further clots then it looks like most of the damage will have been repaired by then.)

I just thought it was because you are a slacker

 

[ColinJ]

I saw Colin t'other day, does look like a cyclist now he's lost so much weight - just needs to learn to ride a bike again...

I just thought it was because you are a slacker

Over 3,200 hilly miles so far this year including 107 last week. 62 miles so far this week, with 45+ more to come by Sunday.

No alcohol, weight under control, healthy diet ... The only thing letting the side down somewhat is the chocolate and cake addiction that took over from the booze, but I have a minimum of 2 days a week where I eat only 600-800 cals and no junk.

The fitness will come. I have done CV in just over 25.5 minutes, but I still eye that 20 minute goal ...

 

[ColinJ]

I have been feeling good this week so I decided to time myself up CV for the first time this year. The sun was shining so it was mild, but there was a stiff breeze blowing. I was going up the hill a lot quicker than I expected and was getting quite excited when I realised that I was going to take a big chunk off my best time, which I did ... YAY!!!

• 19/05/13: 39:15 [Finished first Warfarin treatment regime but already reclotting!]
• 25/10/13: 35:15 [8-10 kph cross/headwind]
• 04/11/13: 34:26 [ ditto ]
• 10/11/13: 32:19 [ ditto ]
• 25/11/13: 31:19 [5-7 kph cross/headwind]
• 11/12/13: 31:11 [8-15 kph cross/headwind; chilly]
• 28/02/14: 29:49 [5-8 kph cross/headwind; chilly]
• 09/03/14: 29:11 [5-8 kph cross/headwind; warm]
• 19/04/14: 26:59 [10 kph mainly cross/slight tailwind; chilly]
• 17/06/14: 25:37 [10 kph mainly cross/slight tailwind; warm]
• 17/04/15: 24:30 [15 kph cross/tailwind: mild]

Unfortunately, when I stopped for a drink at Blackstone Edge, I realised that the wind had given me quite a push up the hill. I chucked a handful of grass in the air and it blew forwards at 45 degrees to the direction of the road.

So, not a true measure of my fitness, but I'll take it as an encouraging first timed ride of 2015. I'll stick my neck out and suggest that I will do it sub 24:00 without wind assistance before the end of July this year, barring illness or injury?

 

[ColinJ]

Haha - I completely forgot about this challenge!

I certainly have NOT done a sub 24 mins climb yet. TBH - this has been a very windy year and I have often not bothered to time myself because a howling cross/headwind made a fast time impossible, or (unusually) a strong cross/tailwind gave me too much help and a good time wouldn't really have been down to my efforts.

There was one climb which went well and I was going to look up my time on my GPS tracklog when I got home but when I stopped at the top of the climb, I realised that the wind had been really shoving me up the hill. I actually thought on the way up that there had been a slight headwind, but I suppose you effectively create one by riding slightly faster than the tailwind!

Back to tonight ... I have a second personal challenge featuring that hill. There is a 20 mile loop*** which takes it in and I want to complete the loop in an hour. The shortest time that I ever recorded was (I think?) 1 hr 9 mins. I may have done it quicker than that without timing it, but I remember doing that time and thinking that I hadn't really been going flat out, so I was probably fit enough then to do about 1 hr 5 mins-ish, not far off my target time.

I was out testing new gears on my bike this evening and did the loop in the opposite direction - Todmorden, Littleborough, Blackstone Edge rather than Mytholmroyd, Cragg Vale, Blackstone Edge. It is the same 20 mile loop*** with the same overall amount of climbing but the main climb is shorter and steeper this way round.

When I got back, I was surprised to have done it in 1 hr 17 mins in quite blustery conditions, and having stopped for 3 sets of red traffic lights which must have cost me at least 2 minutes in total, maybe more. That means I averaged around 16 mph when moving. Not hugely fast, but I am pretty pleased with that given the windy conditions, the big 'lump' in the middle of the ride and the fact that I was only putting in about 80% effort.

(*** I just measured the loop and it is 1% longer - 20.2 miles.)

I must still be slowly getting fitter! I keep thinking that my post-illness progress has stopped. In reality, I think I have got back to a reasonable level of fitness but any significant further progress is going to require hard work.

 

[ColinJ]

We got a rare wind-free day here today so I decided to time myself on the Cragg Vale climb and see what I could do.

I made the mistake of calling in to see a friend in Heptonstall on the way and spent 45 minutes at the cafe there. As a result, my warm-ride was completely wasted and I got to the start of the climb without doing a proper second warm-up.

I still have to be careful not to overdo my efforts on the bike because extreme efforts can still cause me excessive discomfort 2-3 years post-illness. This problem is gradually easing and I can go to about 90% effort but dare not yet push much harder. So today was a 90% effort. If a mad gunman threatened to kill all my loved ones unless I tried harder, I could have tried a bit harder, but I rode as hard as I could without a crazed assassin to spur me on!

My fastest post-illness ride has been 24:30 (see a couple of posts back) and I hoped to beat it today, but my time of 24:45 was 15 seconds slower. I was disappointed, but I had a decent tailwind when I did that 24:30 ride so this was actually an improved effort. If I'd had that tailwind today, I reckon I would have beaten the other time by about a minute. Still, a time is a time - 24:30 is still my fastest time, 24:45 is now my fastest unassisted time.

I will keep an eye on the forecasts and look for another chance to beat 24:30 without wind assistance. Losing a bit more weight would definitely help and I could do that if I get my chocolate and cake habit under control ...

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

I am on a ride over Blackstone edge and into Hebden Bridge and then back over Cragg vale next Sunday, I will see if I can anywhere near 20 mins for the hill climb course. My best so far is 21.30 way back in 2013.

 

[Globalti]

Colin, what are the start and finish points for your challenge?

@SamR and I rode the circuit anticlockwise a few weeks ago (when we met up for a coffee) measuring 20.7 miles and taking 1 hour 23 actual moving time for the entire circuit, so your 1 hour 17 looks good. We'll do it clockwise soon and see what we can do on Cragg Vale.

 

[ColinJ]

Colin, what are the start and finish points for your challenge?

@SamR and I rode the circuit anticlockwise a few weeks ago (when we met up for a coffee) measuring 20.7 miles and taking 1 hour 23 actual moving time for the entire circuit, so your 1 hour 17 looks good. We'll do it clockwise soon and see what we can do on Cragg Vale.

I remember putting some photos up early in the thread, hang on, I'll check ... HERE.

I chose 20 minutes as my target time because that represents a tough challenge for me, but one that I think I could still achieve after a lot of hard work. Really fit, younger riders can get well under 20 minutes in good conditions. @Svendo told me that he has done it in 18 minutes - odd.

If you want to go for an 'honest' time, keep an eye on the weather forecast because there is usually a frustrating cross-headwind from the right higher up, but a time achieved by a rare gale force tailwind wouldn't be in the spirit of the challenge.

I am still feeling peeved that I didn't get below 24:30 yesterday - I have hardly ever experienced the eerie silence that pervaded Blackstone Edge yesterday afternoon. The surface of the reservoir was completely ripple-free and glass-like.

 

[ColinJ]

NB The fuel depot that I mentioned as the start point has now been replaced by a tool hire company.

 

[Svendo]

@Svendo told me that he has done it in 18 minutes - odd.

I'll check my Garmin data when I have a chance. In the cold light of the interweb I think my best time was probably nearer 19 minutes. And it was likely when I was somewhat younger and annoyingly on a much cheaper heavier bike!