ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I rode that loop again this evening in almost identical conditions, and once more including several red lights slowing me down a little. (There are quite a few sets of lights along the valley roads and currently also one set of temporary lights at Cragg Vale, so I am always likely to get at least a couple of red lights - I won't mention them again. I want to do the loop in an hour, riding safely and obeying all red lights, giving way at roundabouts etc.)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.)
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I set off without a warm-up so I rode fairly steadily for the first 5-10 minutes. I ramped up my effort earlier than I did on the week before last's ride of the loop.
My time this evening was 1 hr 12 mins. That is a very encouraging average speed of about 16.8 mph. (I need to start using the ride time field on my GPS because checking on the tracklog afterwards the way I just did only shows me elapsed hours and minutes.)
The crosswind was strong enough that it took me 11 minutes to get down the hill climb course into Mytholmroyd - that is only a few minutes quicker than the record for the climb!
I think in less windy conditions and with a warm-up before setting off, I could beat 1 hr 10 mins even at my current level of fitness. Maybe I won't do the hour this year, but I will have a good go at it and the 20 minute CV hill climb next year. I'll carry on nibbling away at my PBs through the autumn, try and stay reasonably fit during the coming winter and see what I can do when I hit 60 years of age!
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