'The End Of CycleChat As We Know It' forum ride (Hebden Bridge, 20th Nov)
- Thread starter ColinJ
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
See ya in the morning!
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Come on Colin, what you hangin about for? Let's see some pics'......
oldfatfool
Guru
Great to see you all, but I was a little disappointed, I was under the impression this would be on closed roads with marshals. feed stations every 2 miles a goody bag and free Gillet. As you can imagine it came as a bit of a shock having to queue with 'civilians' for the single toilet at the one 'cafe' stop. 
Great ride Colin here to the next one!!
Great ride Colin here to the next one!!
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
oldfatfool- You are Dan-bo in disguise AICMFP
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Well Done Potsy. If you had bothered to haul your ass up there you would clearly have seen right through his glasses with false nose and moustache.oldfatfool- You are Dan-bo in disguise AICMFP
PS, the Fry up was great but you had to be first to the cafe stop to claim it
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Great ride Colin, loved every mile and your running commentary on points of historical interest added another dimension to the experience. I was slightly dissapointed that we managed to miss all the big hills as I was really looking forward to tackling some of the monster climbs your rides are fabled for. Maybe next time we can head into the hills 
I am really loving meeting all you other forum members and putting faces to the names. Yahuda I already know but Colin J, Littgull, Colly, OldFatFool and Steve H were all new to me but I hope to ride with you all again soon.
I ended up doing 88 miles inc the trip from Ashton and Yahuda probably did an extra 8-10 miles on top of that (But I think he was just about done in by the time I left him?)
I am really loving meeting all you other forum members and putting faces to the names. Yahuda I already know but Colin J, Littgull, Colly, OldFatFool and Steve H were all new to me but I hope to ride with you all again soon.
I ended up doing 88 miles inc the trip from Ashton and Yahuda probably did an extra 8-10 miles on top of that (But I think he was just about done in by the time I left him?)
totallyfixed
Veteran
- Location
- The only county without a McDonalds
Sounds like a good ride Colin, now believe it or not we were planning on coming on the ride and surprising you, a 7.45am start would have been doable if it hadn't been for the fog 
. Count us in for the next one up there though I may have to go over to the dark side and use gears 
. Count us in for the next one up there though I may have to go over to the dark side and use gears
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Ah, the site is back up!
It's late so I'll write something tomorrow, but I've just been going through my photos, so here's a selection ...
And that was on November 20th in the Pennines, folks!
It's late so I'll write something tomorrow, but I've just been going through my photos, so here's a selection ...
And that was on November 20th in the Pennines, folks!
Steve H
Large Member
- Location
- Brighouse in West Yorkshire
Excellent ride everyone. Great to meet everyone and thanks to Colin for organising again!
What an amazing winter day. We started out in what seemed like a normal winter day, overcast and quite cold. Up and down the first couple of climbs, then out comes some glorious sunshine. With the sun shining and the hills getting steeper, I realised I was over-dressed and sweating buckets. But then we dropped down into the valleys and into thick, pea-soup fog. Layers back on, lights on, pay attention time. Back up a hill and into the sunshine, down the other side and into the fog again. What a strange day!
I also discovered a strange clothing phenomenon. Whenever I had all my layers on including headband and gloves the gradient then went uphill and I got very warm, whenever I took layers off, we then went downhill! Very strange.
Thanks all for being patient with me. 17 stone and 15% hills aren't a great combination and I have to confess to finding the going pretty tough over the first 20 miles or so. Hope I didn't hold you up too much along the way. I found the second half of the ride more aligned to my skills. Within sniffing distance of the cafe, my pace picked up and I found the last 10 miles really enjoyable especially that speedy descent down into Hebden Bridge.
Another great day out on the bike!
What an amazing winter day. We started out in what seemed like a normal winter day, overcast and quite cold. Up and down the first couple of climbs, then out comes some glorious sunshine. With the sun shining and the hills getting steeper, I realised I was over-dressed and sweating buckets. But then we dropped down into the valleys and into thick, pea-soup fog. Layers back on, lights on, pay attention time. Back up a hill and into the sunshine, down the other side and into the fog again. What a strange day!
I also discovered a strange clothing phenomenon. Whenever I had all my layers on including headband and gloves the gradient then went uphill and I got very warm, whenever I took layers off, we then went downhill! Very strange.
Thanks all for being patient with me. 17 stone and 15% hills aren't a great combination and I have to confess to finding the going pretty tough over the first 20 miles or so. Hope I didn't hold you up too much along the way. I found the second half of the ride more aligned to my skills. Within sniffing distance of the cafe, my pace picked up and I found the last 10 miles really enjoyable especially that speedy descent down into Hebden Bridge.
Another great day out on the bike!
DiddlyDodds
Random Resident
- Location
- Littleborough
Looks like you had as great ride , i was on the car park after a nice off road ride up through Hard Castle Cragg and over the moors , and got back to find a parking ticket on the car alongside valid ticket that had another 30 mins left on it .
As i was chasing the parking attendant around Hebden i did see you all starting to gather and although i wanted to stop and say hello, but was adamant in finding the little weasel that had just ticketed me as he hid in the shop doorways.
Looking back prob better i didn't find him as the head line in the papers would have been something like "Parking Attendant found abused by a bike frame and Knobbly Tyre"
As i was chasing the parking attendant around Hebden i did see you all starting to gather and although i wanted to stop and say hello, but was adamant in finding the little weasel that had just ticketed me as he hid in the shop doorways.
Looking back prob better i didn't find him as the head line in the papers would have been something like "Parking Attendant found abused by a bike frame and Knobbly Tyre"
oldfatfool
Guru
I should have accepted that lift Colly, the weather was foul by the time I hit Halifax and then the 14% up to Scholes nearly finished me.
As for those photos you could have p-shopped out my spare tire and man boobs, orange is deffintitely not my best colour
In a moment of madness I went out last night on a ride organised by a guy from work, you guessed it, ride to Hebden bridge, turn right at Picket Well.............I think if he had taken us up that Growler jobby I would have stopped and rung for a taxi
As for those photos you could have p-shopped out my spare tire and man boobs, orange is deffintitely not my best colour
In a moment of madness I went out last night on a ride organised by a guy from work, you guessed it, ride to Hebden bridge, turn right at Picket Well.............I think if he had taken us up that Growler jobby I would have stopped and rung for a taxi
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I never believed that it would turn out so well! Hebden Bridge was immersed in a chilly mist when I got up and the forecast was for conditions to remain like that all day. The one thing I'd noticed on the forecast charts though was that we were close to the edge of the fog banks. There was a chance that we might manage to ride out of it ...
The lads were gathered at the car park when I got there so I introduced myself to the new faces - Littgull, Yahuda Moon and I like Skol.
Skol looked me up and down and suddenly announced in a party-hushing voice "Blimey, you don't look fat in your forum photograph!" A stunned silence fell upon the group, eventually punctuated by a low moaning sound which was pretty scary, and more so when I realised that it was coming from me! Oh, the shame ...
The grief I felt for my long-gone, slimmer, inner-cyclist erupted into the public domain. Skol was banished to the naughty bench on the fringes of the car park by the rest of the group as they reassured me with friendly man-hugs, and dabbed the tears from my cheeks with only lightly-soiled hankies!
Eventually, the sobbing subsided, and I gritted my teeth, finally ready to face the hilly torment ahead. I uttered the inevitable decree - "Skol - you may now rejoin us!"
First things first ... As he approached, I kicked his legs from under him, and he squirmed about beneath me as I looked down and ordered him to take his punishment like a man. I leapt into the air with all the grace of a recently-outed fat guy and slammed down on him in a devastating act of vengeance. Giant Haystacks - eat your heart out!
Skol staggered to his feet and recanted. He assured me that I was the slimmest, best-looking cyclist that he had seen since I'd jumped on him. (The other 5 CycleChatters were standing behind him at the time!)
I'm not known for bearing grudges. I slapped Skol's face a couple of times on each cheek - hard - told him not to do it again, and then told the assembled group to 'saddle up'.
We headed up the Keighley Road and gradually emerged from the mist. The sky was blue and I was pleased that my decision not to wear my heavy-duty rain jacket had been vindicated. Steve H was wearing his though, and I could tell that he was cooking on the climbs. Steve and I were finding that climbing tough but the other riders seemed well up for it. They would ride on and wait at junctions and summits for us to catch up, and I would plunge on down the descents to blaze a trail for the others who didn't know the way.
When we got to Oxenhope Moor, I looked across towards Oakworth and realised that we would soon be heading back into the clouds, and so it came to be. Looking down from Penistone Hill into the murky conditions, it was clear that it was time to put our lights on and fasten up those zip fasteners. It was like descending into a giant fridge! Conditions went from warm and sunny, to a penetrating, damp cold in seconds; as impressive as it was nasty!
We did come back out of it again though and we rode on from Oakworth to Scar top with the clouds below us filling the valley
We were very lucky. From the high point at the (now defunct) Herders Arms, I couldn't see Pendle Hill so that was obviously still obscured by clouds but we were managing to do 80% of our ride in the pockets of sunshine between fog banks!
It really didn't feel like a Pennine November 20th! I met colly, Bokonon and Calum 3 years ago on a similar forum ride at this time of year and it was bitterly cold with snow and ice everywhere! (I spoke to a couple of people when I got home and they said that the town had only had a couple of brief sunny spells all day.)
We were able to sit outside at the cafe stop and enjoy what might our last opportunity of 2011 to laze about in the sun.
We had the tough Thursden climb to tackle before the glorious run back past Widdop reservoir. Everyone managed the climb, even Steve and I. It was hard work, and we were slow, but we did it without walking any of it.
We got to Slack and realised that we were heading back down into the mist. A rapid descent through Lee Wood and we were soon back at the car park.
I didn't envy Skol, Yahuda Moon, Littgull and oldfatfool who still had significant rides to do to get home.
I was quite happy with my 38 hilly miles. A good day out lads - thanks for the company!
PS Skol - next time I meet you, I hope you'll be gasping "Blimey - you look really fit!"
The poor woman was getting a bit flustered; I think the sunny conditions had brought out more people than expected on a late November afternoon. I tried to lighten her mood with a jokey comment about it being busy. She replied that it would have been okay if only everybody hadn't come at once. Everybody arriving at lunchtime to buy lunch at a cafe, who'd have thought it!
) I am a gentleman and would never go public with such incriminating evidence ...
The lads were gathered at the car park when I got there so I introduced myself to the new faces - Littgull, Yahuda Moon and I like Skol.
Skol looked me up and down and suddenly announced in a party-hushing voice "Blimey, you don't look fat in your forum photograph!" A stunned silence fell upon the group, eventually punctuated by a low moaning sound which was pretty scary, and more so when I realised that it was coming from me! Oh, the shame ...
The grief I felt for my long-gone, slimmer, inner-cyclist erupted into the public domain. Skol was banished to the naughty bench on the fringes of the car park by the rest of the group as they reassured me with friendly man-hugs, and dabbed the tears from my cheeks with only lightly-soiled hankies!
Eventually, the sobbing subsided, and I gritted my teeth, finally ready to face the hilly torment ahead. I uttered the inevitable decree - "Skol - you may now rejoin us!"
First things first ... As he approached, I kicked his legs from under him, and he squirmed about beneath me as I looked down and ordered him to take his punishment like a man. I leapt into the air with all the grace of a recently-outed fat guy and slammed down on him in a devastating act of vengeance. Giant Haystacks - eat your heart out!
Skol staggered to his feet and recanted. He assured me that I was the slimmest, best-looking cyclist that he had seen since I'd jumped on him. (The other 5 CycleChatters were standing behind him at the time!)
I'm not known for bearing grudges. I slapped Skol's face a couple of times on each cheek - hard - told him not to do it again, and then told the assembled group to 'saddle up'.
We headed up the Keighley Road and gradually emerged from the mist. The sky was blue and I was pleased that my decision not to wear my heavy-duty rain jacket had been vindicated. Steve H was wearing his though, and I could tell that he was cooking on the climbs. Steve and I were finding that climbing tough but the other riders seemed well up for it. They would ride on and wait at junctions and summits for us to catch up, and I would plunge on down the descents to blaze a trail for the others who didn't know the way.
When we got to Oxenhope Moor, I looked across towards Oakworth and realised that we would soon be heading back into the clouds, and so it came to be. Looking down from Penistone Hill into the murky conditions, it was clear that it was time to put our lights on and fasten up those zip fasteners. It was like descending into a giant fridge! Conditions went from warm and sunny, to a penetrating, damp cold in seconds; as impressive as it was nasty!
We did come back out of it again though and we rode on from Oakworth to Scar top with the clouds below us filling the valley
We were very lucky. From the high point at the (now defunct) Herders Arms, I couldn't see Pendle Hill so that was obviously still obscured by clouds but we were managing to do 80% of our ride in the pockets of sunshine between fog banks!
It really didn't feel like a Pennine November 20th! I met colly, Bokonon and Calum 3 years ago on a similar forum ride at this time of year and it was bitterly cold with snow and ice everywhere! (I spoke to a couple of people when I got home and they said that the town had only had a couple of brief sunny spells all day.)
We were able to sit outside at the cafe stop and enjoy what might our last opportunity of 2011 to laze about in the sun.
We had the tough Thursden climb to tackle before the glorious run back past Widdop reservoir. Everyone managed the climb, even Steve and I. It was hard work, and we were slow, but we did it without walking any of it.
We got to Slack and realised that we were heading back down into the mist. A rapid descent through Lee Wood and we were soon back at the car park.
I didn't envy Skol, Yahuda Moon, Littgull and oldfatfool who still had significant rides to do to get home.
I was quite happy with my 38 hilly miles. A good day out lads - thanks for the company!
PS Skol - next time I meet you, I hope you'll be gasping "Blimey - you look really fit!"
Oh - that would have been a big surprise (and a nice one) Steve! I don't blame you for not driving up in that fog though ... I couldn't see much out of the window when I got up just before 08:00. I think the next forum ride will probably be the Spring now though. We are getting close to icy conditions now, and some of those roads are lethal in the winter. They don't get gritted, and are buried in tight valleys out of the sunlight so any ice stays around a long time.Sounds like a good ride Colin, now believe it or not we were planning on coming on the ride and surprising you, a 7.45am start would have been doable if it hadn't been for the fog
Bummer! I'd definitely appeal against the notice, though the council do tend to fight these cases out in court. One woman got done when the glue on her ticket didn't hold it to the inside of her windscreen. She proved that she had a valid ticket, but they argued that it wasn't 'clearly displayed'!
Ha ha - If I was going to provide that little lot, I'd have to put the entry fees up by at least 1000%! (For those who don't get it - see the Cycling Weekly letter thread!]Great to see you all, but I was a little disappointed, I was under the impression this would be on closed roads with marshals. feed stations every 2 miles a goody bag and free Gillet. As you can imagine it came as a bit of a shock having to queue with 'civilians' for the single toilet at the one 'cafe' stop.
Great ride Colin here to the next one!!
I was miffed! Skol had dashed to the head of the queue and ordered the all-day breakfast. They did a veggie 'brekkie' too but when I tried to order one, the woman told me that all the pans were in use! I had to settle for a toasted sandwich.PS, the Fry up was great but you had to be first to the cafe stop to claim it
The poor woman was getting a bit flustered; I think the sunny conditions had brought out more people than expected on a late November afternoon. I tried to lighten her mood with a jokey comment about it being busy. She replied that it would have been okay if only everybody hadn't come at once. Everybody arriving at lunchtime to buy lunch at a cafe, who'd have thought it!
Ho ho - it's okay for you lightweights to talk - Steve H and I had some serious lard-hauling to do!. I was slightly dissapointed that we managed to miss all the big hills as I was really looking forward to tackling some of the monster climbs your rides are fabled for. Maybe next time we can head into the hills
They would have been waiting for me anyway Steve!
I quite liked that orange top, actually! There was one photo that did look a bit unflattering, but (unlike potsyAs for those photos you could have p-shopped out my spare tire and man boobs, orange is deffintitely not my best colour
) I am a gentleman and would never go public with such incriminating evidence ...
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Skol looked me up and down and suddenly announced in a party-hushing voice "Blimey, you don't look fat in your forum photograph!" A stunned silence fell upon the group, eventually punctuated by a low moaning sound which was pretty scary, and more so when I realised that it was coming from me! Oh, the shame ...
The grief I felt for my long-gone, slimmer, inner-cyclist erupted into the public domain. Skol was banished to the naughty bench on the fringes of the car park by the rest of the group as they reassured me with friendly man-hugs, and dabbed the tears from my cheeks with only lightly-soiled hankies!
Eventually, the sobbing subsided, and I gritted my teeth, finally ready to face the hilly torment ahead. I uttered the inevitable decree - "Skol - you may now rejoin us!"
First things first ... As he approached, I kicked his legs from under him, and he squirmed about beneath me as I looked down and ordered him to take his punishment like a man. I leapt into the air with all the grace of a recently-outed fat guy and slammed down on him in a devastating act of vengeance. Giant Haystacks - eat your heart out!
Skol staggered to his feet and recanted. He assured me that I was the slimmest, best-looking cyclist that he had seen since I'd jumped on him. (The other 5 CycleChatters were standing behind him at the time!)
I'm not known for bearing grudges. I slapped Skol's face a couple of times on each cheek - hard - told him not to do it again, and then told the assembled group to 'saddle up'.
Yikes! I never realised you Yorkshire blokes were so sensitive. Are you sure you aren't closet southerners?
Similar threads
