Spring Into The Dales 2017

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Kestevan

Last of the Summer Winos
Location
Holmfirth.
Anyone planning on riding this event?

I've done it a few times and really enjoyed it..... but it's very weather dependent - can be warm, sunny, wet, windy or snowing (or indeed all of the above).
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Oh, yes ... I was thinking it was getting close. Subject to non-awful conditions, I am in again, as usual!

Last year's edition - SITD 2016.

Audax event page.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I just got my entry in.

It is a really good event, one which is definitely worth making the effort to travel to if you are not from round here. About 85% of the route is on scenic country roads. The only slight downer is the busy section between Silsden and Haworth Brow but that is a price worth paying, given that you probably wouldn't fancy the hundreds of metres of additional steep climbing which would be needed to avoid most of it.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Can't do it - I'm riding the GHS Memorial Ride instead as a 100 miles in 8 hours.
Oh well - have fun!

We normally manage to get several CC members to form a slow, chatty SITD group.

I have cyclist friends who live in the Keighley area who might fancy meeting up in Oxenhope on the way out and riding round as far as Keighley, that is if they don't want to drive over and do the full official ride with me. I have another friend who will be riding but he rides quicker than me so I only see him for a few minutes at the start, then he is gone!
 

busdennis

Veteran
this threads moving very slow, best i can say is im only 50% at the moment. want to ride but not sure how it will fit in with my TT training at the moment
 
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Kestevan

Kestevan

Last of the Summer Winos
Location
Holmfirth.
Think I'm going to have to pass on this one this year... Family commitments mean I just cant justify spending the best part of Sunday riding round the Dales.
Think it will have to be a quick blast Sunday clubrun in the morning instead....
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Think I'm going to have to pass on this one this year... Family commitments mean I just cant justify spending the best part of Sunday riding round the Dales.
Think it will have to be a quick blast Sunday clubrun in the morning instead....
Oh, I was about to suggest meeting up at the start!

Littgull has decided to be sensible and give his back a proper chance to recover from its recent problems so that means that I am currently without any CycleChat companions for the day.

My pal Bill will be riding but he is quicker than me so I expect him to drop me on the first climb (Keighley Rd, Hebden Bridge), and if not on that one, then on the second one (Penistone Hill, Oxenhope).

If I am riding alone then I will ride quicker than I do in the usual chatty group. In that case I will try to get round in less than 7 hours rather than 8 or so.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
It was damn nippy when I got up at 06:30 (after less than 4 hours sleep!) but the temperature is gradually creeping up and is currently 7.5 C. It should be nearer 10 when I set off in about 35 minutes time and is forecast to hit 18 C mid-afternoon when I will be climbing back over to Calderdale. A bit windy today though, so that will give 2 or 3 degrees of windchill.

I have ridden the event in conditions like this before. It always feels cold in the valley and for the first half of the Keighley Rd climb but after that it just gets better and better. A definite day for layers. Short-sleeves and armwarmers rather than a long-sleeved jersey.
 
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Kestevan

Kestevan

Last of the Summer Winos
Location
Holmfirth.
Hope you had a good one. Gutted I couldn't do it this year.

I managed a quick 25 with the club this AM and the weather was perfect. Wind was picking up later though..
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Yes - it was a good day out on the bike.

@zacklaws spotted me on the first climb and held back for me for a while but I still wasn't able to keep up so he went on without me. I saw him later back at event HQ and we had a good chat then while I scoffed sandwiches and cake.

I didn't feel as though I had any ooomph today so I found it a bit of a slog, and as pointed out above - the wind DID pick up, which hampered progress.

I had to stop on the first climb to take off my armwarmers and base layer because even at 09:30 it was getting pretty warm with the effort of that long climb (~30 minutes).

The entire population of Yorkshire seemed to have gone to the Dales today! Burnsall, Cavendish Pavilion and Bolton abbey were heaving with visitors. Despite that, I saw fewer impatient/idiotic drivers than usual, and ... and - no driver/passenger hurled abuse at me on the climb back from Keighley. Normally, there are at least a couple of morons who have a go.

What I did see on the climb to Haworth Brow was 2 mountain bikes descending the other way at speed WITH 3 DRUNKEN YOUNG MEN per bike! :eek: The rider, a mate on the top tube in front of him, and a second passenger perched on the handlebars. Drivers were alarmed to have them weaving in and out of the traffic. What could possibly go wrong! :whistle:

I have had 5 or 6 attempts at this post but I keep dozing off for some mysterious reason!

I totalled 136 km (85 miles) for the day, including to and from the event along the A646. I briefly toyed with the idea of adding an extra 15 miles to get an imperial century in but I was pretty tired so I didn't bother. Oh, and I did about 2,350 m (~7,700 ft) of climbing, some steep.

I didn't quite manage to break 7 hours for the event itself - I took 7 hrs and 5 mins including stops. I would like to be able to go faster. I'll try again next year.

(Sorry - no photos. It's a pity because the Dales looked beautiful today, but my phone was buried at the bottom of my bag and I didn't want to keep stopping to take it out for snaps.)
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Good job, Colin.

I was doing 60 mostly flat miles around Northallerton in north Yorkshire - you'd have been bored to tears, with the exception of the climb up through the village of Borrowby.

Jolly hot in the middle of the day, and a bit windy later on.

Did Bill turn out for your ride?

He had no excuse with the weather.
 
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