POSTPONED due to ice risk - Todmorden to Waddington. 100 km (with shorter options)

[ColinJ]

THE RISK OF FALLS ON ICE IS TOO HIGH SO I AM PUTTING THE RIDE BACK FOR A WEEK OR TWO - WATCH OUT FOR A REVISED DATE LATER.

Hi all.

@Littgull and I have decided to do a repeat of THIS RIDE from Todmorden to Waddington and back. I organised that at short notice at the end of December so only @Blue Hills and @Oldfentiger were able to join me. This time I am giving 8 days notice, so I hope a few more riders can make it.

If you do the full route from Todmorden with us, you will ride just over 100 km (62 miles). I will be using it as my ride for the metric century a month challenge. Alternatively, you could opt to meet us at Spring Wood picnic centre, Whalley, a round trip of ~46 km (29 miles) or on the Padiham Greenway between Rose Grove and Padiham - ~68 km (42 miles).

We will ride to Country Kitchen cafe in Waddington via Chipping and Cow Ark.

We will be setting off from Tod at 09:00. ETA Greenway ~09:50, Padiham leisure centre ~10:00, Spring Wood ~10:30.

The A646 between Todmorden and Rose Grove is moderately busy at times. The rest of the route is fairly quiet and scenic

Cafe stop at Country Kitchen cafe in Waddington at about 12:30 for 45-60 minutes.

Overall pace including stops, slowish and chatty ... ~16 kph (10 mph) perhaps?

Post below if you would like to join us. If you need more information, I will edit this post later.

Riders:

• ColinJ
• Littgull

NB If the weather on the Saturday is awful, we may put the ride back to Sunday 15th. If the whole weekend is dodgy, then we would possibly postpone it to the following weekend. I don't mind riding in drizzle and chilly conditions but in severe winter storms - no thanks!

 

[Blue Hills]

best of luck with this Colin - great route.

Do pop in that church - it is interesting - maybe a bit of much needed shelter as well.

 

[Starchivore]

I'd really like to come along. Unfortunately I need to be in Hebden around midday or shortly after.

Maybe I could split after the stop at Spring Wood to head back? I would have liked to do the full ride. But at least I'd get some of it and it'd be nice to meet some people from here.

 

[Oldfentiger]

I can't do this either. I've decided to opt out of the company car merry go round and put a deposit on a private purchase.
I'm picking the car up next Saturday, from Macclesfield.

 

[ColinJ]

I'd really like to come along. Unfortunately I need to be in Hebden around midday or shortly after.

Maybe I could split after the stop at Spring Wood to head back? I would have liked to do the full ride. But at least I'd get some of it and it'd be nice to meet some people from here.

That would be fine. I got to Spring Wood at about 10:30 last time so you should be able to turn round after a short stop there and get back to HB by shortly after midday. We will be meeting at around 08:55 at the little Dalton Street car park in Tod opposite the chippy and bus station, and aim to leave at 09:00.

I can't do this either. I've decided to opt out of the company car merry go round and put a deposit on a private purchase.
I'm picking the car up next Saturday, from Macclesfield.

I hope it has plenty of room for bikes, or something to fix a decent bike rack to!

There is still a chance that the ride will be put back to the Sunday or the following weekend if the weather is going to be nasty on Saturday. Currently it is forecast that midweek will be a bit grim, but conditions are supposed to improve by the weekend. Let's keep an eye on things and make a final decision on Friday morning.

 

[Blue Hills]

Careful colin. I do hope this doesn't turn into one of those cyclechat mega threads of will we/won't we will s/he.

Yours

Grumpy sooty

 

[ColinJ]

Careful colin. I do hope this doesn't turn into one of those cyclechat mega threads of will we/won't we will s/he.

Yours

Grumpy sooty

Just keeping my options open!

The trouble is that I didn't quite think carefully enough when reorganising my fleet of bikes. I don't really want to ride my mudguard-less CAAD5 best bike in really poor conditions. The mudguards ended up on my singlespeed bike, which is great for flatter rides, but there is a bit too much climbing on this route for me in a 52/19 gear. I haven't fitted the mudguards that I bought for my cyclocross bike because of the bodging required to get the stays clear of the disk brake rotors. The Basso that I used to ride in winter has been cannibalised for parts for the singlespeed bike and I have not rebuilt it yet!

Actually, that makes things clearer. I need to pull my finger out and put the mudguards on the CX bike so I can use that on grotty winter days!

 

[Blue Hills]

Cripes that's complicated.

I recommend a 90s steel hybrid with guards.

 

[ColinJ]

Cripes that's complicated.

I recommend a 90s steel hybrid with guards.

I didn't even mention the mountain bike!

The best compromise for me would probably be my cyclocross bike with mudguards and a rack fitted. I think that its semi-slick tyres would probably roll ok on tarmac if I pumped them up to higher pressures than I use offroad. An alternative would be to buy a second pair of wheels to use with slick tyres for road rides. (The problem with that would be to make sure that the brake rotors were in exactly the same place on the second set of wheels so they were a straightforward swap with no brake adjustment needed.)

 

[ColinJ]

The forecast for Saturday is currently for a cold, sunny, breezy day. So, very chilly, but pleasant if dressed accordingly.

We will have to watch out for patches of ice on untreated surfaces. If things look dicey, then we could miss out the Greenway because that is unlikely to have been gritted We'll decide on the way over to Rose Grove.

Nobody has yet said that they want to meet us between Rose Grove and Padiham, so it wouldn't be a problem to divert from the planned route. If somebody does decide to meet us in that area, make it on the A646 at Rose Grove, or at the junction between Station Road and the A646 in Padiham. That way, we would definitely meet up whichever way we chose to ride in between. (09:50-ish at Rose Grove, 10:00-ish at Station Rd.)

 

[Pale Rider]

The forecast for Saturday is currently for a cold, sunny, breezy day. So, very chilly, but pleasant if dressed accordingly.

We will have to watch out for patches of ice on untreated surfaces. If things look dicey, then we could miss out the Greenway because that is unlikely to have been gritted We'll decide on the way over to Rose Grove.

Nobody has yet said that they want to meet us between Rose Grove and Padiham, so it wouldn't be a problem to divert from the planned route. If somebody does decide to meet us in that area, make it on the A646 at Rose Grove, or at the junction between Station Road and the A646 in Padiham. That way, we would definitely meet up whichever way we chose to ride in between. (09:50-ish at Rose Grove, 10:00-ish at Station Rd.)

I'm otherwise engaged, but as someone who rides on paths quite a lot I think you are spot on about ice.

Experience has told me the current conditions - hovering around freezing - lead to black ice on the paths when the roads are fine.

It matters not why, but I suspect it's because the paths are never treated from one year to the next, and some stretches are rarely out of the shade at this time of year.

 

[Starchivore]

I won't be coming along now unfortunately- a friend has invited me along to a gig he's going to in Manchester which I really want to see, and won't be back home until the early hours of the morning. Hope it's a great ride for all involved though. I'm starting a new job soon and may not have cycling as part of my commute, so I really need to get myself going with some weekend leisure riding....

 

[ColinJ]

I won't be coming along now unfortunately- a friend has invited me along to a gig he's going to in Manchester which I really want to see, and won't be back home until the early hours of the morning. Hope it's a great ride for all involved though. I'm starting a new job soon and may not have cycling as part of my commute, so I really need to get myself going with some weekend leisure riding....

Enjoy the gig and good luck with the new job! There will be plenty more forum rides later in the year that you could join us for.

So, it is looking like it will just be Littgull and me. I'm sure that we will enjoy the ride but ... there must be some local CycleChat members who put on a few pounds over the festering/festive season and could do with getting a decent ride in - why not come and join us?

 

[Sea of vapours]

...why not come and join us?

Ice, snow, sub-zero temperatures. Will that do?

 

[ColinJ]

Ice, snow, sub-zero temperatures. Will that do?

Ha ha - it should be melting ice, melting snow on distant hills, just-above-zero temperatures ... Ok, I get it!

If conditions are bad then we will have to stick to those roads more likely to have been gritted.