[As many rides as possible to be completed on my '6-er' OR my mountain bike. The 6-er is a development of my original singlespeed bike. I do as much as I can in a 42/15 gear (almost the same ratio as my previous 52/19). Tough climbs are done in 42/29. I don't count rides over 100 km here - they will be counted in the Lunacy challenge instead.]
Jan 30th - 50km, 660 m of ascent, singlespeed (52/19 gear). Start/finish Todmorden. A646 to Burnley and back. A6033 towards Littleborough, then took the scenic route to Littleborough via Calderbrook and Caldermoor. Back to Walsden then climbed to Lumbutts. Dropped back down to A646 and home on that.
Feb 18th - 70 km, LOTS OF GEARS!! My
forum ride from Crediton (Devon).
Mar 2nd - 50 km. A 'dinglespeed' ride - 50 km. Tod, Littleborough, Blackstone Edge, Hubberton Green, Craggies cafe, Littleborough, Tod plus an extra hill at the end to make the distance up.
Mar 25th - 64 km. A MTB ride. From Tod to Hebden Bridge on the Rochdale canal (and back at the end of the day) for my
offroad forum ride.
Apr 2nd - 50 km. Singlespeed (52/19 gear). Tod, HB, Mytholmroyd, Cragg Vale climb, Blackstone Edge, Blue Ball Rd, Cotton Stones, Hubberton Green, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Tod.
May 16th - 52 km. A 1x11 ride in Devon: Crediton, Shobrooke, Thorverton, Stoke Canon, Nether Exe, Thorverton plus various lanes back to start.
May 27th - 73 km. I needed all the gears I could get (3 x 10) for
this hilly forum ride, which had 1,400+ m of ascent in the main 58 km loop! Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Widdop, Trawden, Stanbury, Oxenhope, Oxenhope Moor, Jerusalem Lane cafe, Midgley, Height Rd, Hebden Bridge, Tod.
June 29th - 51 km in the 42/15 gear on the 6-er. Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Cragg Vale climb, Blackstone Edge, Hollingworth Lake RSPCA cafe, Walsden, Lumbutts, Mankinholes, Hebden Bridge, (said goodbye to friend and u-turned) Tod.
July 24th -
66 km on CAAD5 (triple chainset needed for 1,300+ m of ascent, including STEEP stuff!). Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby, Sowerby Bridge, Barkisland, Stainland, Scammonden, Booth Wood reservoir, Baitings reservoir, Hubberton Green, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Tod.
August 3rd - 50 km on 6-er mainly (or was it entirely?) in 42/15 gear. Todmorden, Mytholmroyd, Cragg Vale climb, Blackstone Edge, Littleborough, Todmorden and then to Holme Chapel and back on A646 to make up the distance.
August 22nd - 51 lumpy Devon km on 1x11-speed bike. Crediton, Black Dog, (the Devon!) Littleborough, Cadbury, Thorverton, Upton Pyne, Crediton.
September 29th - 50 km on 6-er in 42/15 gear, except for 42/29 for steeper top half of Lumbutts climb, and 42/12 on rapid final ride back down to Tod. Tod to Hebden Bridge and back; Lumbutts climb, Walsden, then Calderbrook climb over to Littleborough, and back to Tod; up the A646 Burnley Rd as far as the Ram Inn at Holme Chapel, turned, and back to Tod.
October 10th - 50 km on 11-speed Devon bike. Very lumpy lane loops between Crediton, Thorverton, and Upton Pyne. It was looking to get way more lumpy than I wanted, given that I have been ill most of the time since my previous visit - a projected 1,200+ m in 50 km!! I therefore started avoiding climbs and sticking to flatter lanes, but it still came in at 900+ m (3,000 ft)...
October 22nd - 65km. Almost exact copy of July 24th ride, on CAAD5 again for its low gears.
