North West Passage Audax, 18 Feb - anyone done it?

[ColinJ]

Ok, we are aiming to come up to Holmes Chapel Friday night and over to Rochdale Sat morning to do this, assume there is car parking and we can enter on the day. We will have the forms filled in ready, we are CTC members so no problems there. Obviously again it will depend on the weather, but assuming that is ok, are we all meeting at a set time as there is usually a fairly big window for the start times, would obviously be preferable to start at the back end to allow for getting there.
Right, off out shortly to get some pics of the snow, we have a lot.

Event HQ is a big pub so you have the pub car park. Mind you, there will be a lot of people using it so if you arrive late there might not be too many free places.

Slow riders (such as myself) would be better off starting promptly because with a relaxed cafe control stop at Waddington, there would be mild time pressure to get back. While not being mega-hilly, the MNWP is by no means flat either, especially if we take my preferred choice of the scenic Whalley Old Road to Blackburn rather than the official busy A-roads. It is such an easy route out to Burnley that you'd have no difficulty navigating it or catching us up. You'd easily spot me on my blue Basso. Apart from my obvious size (!), I'll probably be the only one wearing a red Camelbak bag and a blue/black Met helmet with a peak.

I'm really hoping for a significant change in the weather. I've done the scenic mid-section of the MNWP in sunshine and it was very pleasant. Other years, the weather was so bad that when I opened my back door and saw all the snow and ice, I went straight back to bed! I'm fed up with this freezing gloom!

Incidentally - if it is cold, but not so cold that we abandon the idea altogether, it might be an idea to split into two CC groups. It can be a really quick ride for a fit rider going at his/her natural speed but I will be working quite hard just to achieve the 15 kph minimum average speed and I won't be the only one! I can envisage some very cold fit riders if you limit yourselves to my speed. Only saying, like - if you are happy to ride that slowly, fair enough, but I think it might be worth discussing the 2-speed option.

Another option might be to ride together to Waddington, and then split into fast and slow groups for the ride back. That might be a good compromise?

What do you think?

 

[DCLane]

2 groups seems a good idea to me; it'll be my first Audax and I'd appreciate the company just to make sure I'm doing things right.

Currently the only working bike is the Python MTB - which'd put me in the 'slower' group. (done 40 miles on this and it's fine, even on knobbles - and knobblies might be good in snow!)

The Carrera needs a new cassette and chain. Hopefully the cassette/chain for the Carrera will arrive in time and I'm fitting them Thursday at the Leeds Velocampus (I hope).

But ... just had a phone call to say the Ghost Race 5000 has arrived at Evans, so I'll test tomorrow and hopefully it'll be good.

Just a quick question; do I need to fit mudguards?

 

[potsy]

I think I'll stay back with the slow group
Managed to wangle my shifts so I can almost certainly do the ride now, assuming we can pay on the day, will get there early with form filled in and wait for you all.

Who else is with us?

 

[ColinJ]

Currently the only working bike is the Python MTB - which'd put me in the 'slower' group. (done 40 miles on this and it's fine, even on knobbles - and knobblies might be good in snow!)

I, for one, will not be riding if there is likely to be snow on the roads!

I'd hate to ride 70 miles on knobblies on tarmac! (I'm assuming that you are talking about proper 'chunky' full knobblies, not the semi-knobbly type which have an easy-rolling strip in the centre and knobbly bits only on the sidewalls?)

Just a quick question; do I need to fit mudguards?

Nobody is going to force you to, but if the roads are wet then you will be much more comfortable and much more popular if you do!

If you fit mudguards, it's a good idea to attach a flap to extend the rear one to cut out most of the crap that would otherwise end up in the face of the rider behind! A bit like this (though I should really have made it wider) ...

 

[DCLane]

I'd hate to ride 70 miles on knobblies on tarmac! (I'm assuming that you are talking about proper 'chunky' full knobblies, not the semi-knobbly type which have an easy-rolling strip in the centre and knobbly bits only on the sidewalls?)

If you fit mudguards, it's a good idea to attach a flap to extend the rear one to cut out most of the crap that would otherwise end up in the face of the rider behind! A bit like this (though I should really have made it wider) ...

It's got knobblies atm - but it'd have semi-slicks on.

I've got a set of Crud Roadracers for a road which I could figure out how to fit on the Carrera if needed ...

 

[ColinJ]

I think I'll stay back with the slow group
Managed to wangle my shifts so I can almost certainly do the ride now, assuming we can pay on the day, will get there early with form filled in and wait for you all.

Phew - I won't be riding alone!

Don't forget to bring a size C5 SAE so you can be sent the post-ride results letter.

It would be a bit daft for the organiser not to allow EOL because people who turn up are going to do the ride one way or the other - they are public roads, after all. They might as well take your money towards the cost of running the event.

 

[400bhp]

I think I'll stay back with the slow group
Managed to wangle my shifts so I can almost certainly do the ride now, assuming we can pay on the day, will get there early with form filled in and wait for you all.

Who else is with us?

How are you getting there boss?

BTW, I would like to ride at my own pace, whatever that is. I'm not going out this weekend and last weekend was a wash out as I had gastric flu. I'm still gettihng over a general flu bug so don't want to commit to a particular group.

 

[totallyfixed]

What do you think?

We will both be on fixed and I have a very old memory of a climb out of Barrowford through Blacko that will slow us down, and another memory of a long descent to Gisburn where a lot of twiddling will be going on.
Maybe the best plan would be to try and meet up either just before the cafe or at the cafe. What distance is the cafe? If I knew that I could probably work out what time we could be there if we set off at 9. We could then ride together and see how it goes.

 

[Ian H]

Good luck everyone. I have a vague memory of riding this back in the early 90s.

 

[ColinJ]

We will both be on fixed and I have a very old memory of a climb out of Barrowford through Blacko that will slow us down, and another memory of a long descent to Gisburn where a lot of twiddling will be going on.

Your memory is correct! The climb from Barrowford through Blacko is 6 km long in which distance we gain 200 m in elevation so it averages 3.33% but with some variations. I don't remember any of it being super steep, but some sections flatten off a bit, and some short sections are significantly steeper. The descent to Gisburn has a similar profile, though I think there are a couple of pretty steep bits towards the bottom.

There is a steep little descent to the Ribble just after Gisburn and an immediate steep little climb back up from the river. After that it is an undulating road to Waddington.

Maybe the best plan would be to try and meet up either just before the cafe or at the cafe. What distance is the cafe? If I knew that I could probably work out what time we could be there if we set off at 9. We could then ride together and see how it goes.

That would be a great plan except for one tiny catch - we'll be setting off at 09:00 ourselves!

The main NWP event sets off at 08:00 but the MNWP starts at 09:00.

The Waddington cafe is 66 km into the ride.

I still hope to take the Whalley Old Road to Blackburn which is an extra climb which knocks a km or so off the total distance, but adds an extra 60 m of climbing which is steeper than the official A-road route, but still only 4% or so.

After that there are 2 more significant ascents. Whitebirk on the fringes of Blackburn (Go behind the car showrooms on the right to avoid the huge motorway roundabout!) to Haslingden Moor gains 171 m in 6.7 km (average of 2.6%, so a long drag really). Then a similar 6 km descent to Ewood Bridge is immediately followed by the climb to Owd Betts which gains 152 m in 5 km (average of ~3%). An undulating couple of km on the tops, and then another 6 km descent takes us back into Rochdale, and finally a 3km drag back out of the town centre to event HQ.

 

[totallyfixed]

Is it not permitted to start off a bit earlier? I'm sure I remember leaving on past audaxes whenever I was ready? Of course you may not want to go earlier

- or are we allowed to set off later? How about everyone else, I expect Potsy will want to ride with us .

 

[YahudaMoon]

Any chance of signing on the line ?

I so much need to do this as I have been so (lazy) busy

 

[totallyfixed]

Any chance of signing on the line ?

I so much need to do this as I have been so (lazy) busy

That's what we are doing, just filling in the form at home to save time.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Im cycling up to the start then

 

[ColinJ]

Is it not permitted to start off a bit earlier? I'm sure I remember leaving on past audaxes whenever I was ready? Of course you may not want to go earlier

- or are we allowed to set off later? How about everyone else, I expect Potsy will want to ride with us .

Setting off earlier would make a mockery of the audax timings wouldn't it! I'd prefer not to have to set off earlier in any case.

I happen to find the timing thing, controls, cards, and so on a bit like being back at school, but that's how it works and I just go along with it.

There's nothing to stop you hanging about at the pub and having a coffee and then setting off late, but if you actually arrive late then the organiser might have packed up and gone home for a few hours.

It might be worth anyone considering EOL phoning organiser Noel Healey in advance on 01706 372 447 to tell him, especially if you intend to claim your pie and peas after the event. (They might want to know how many to order.)