The Retirement Thread

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classic33

Leg End Member
Can I take it that Our Yorkshire Farm, or some murder show has people enthralled this evening?
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Can I take it that Our Yorkshire Farm, or some murder show has people enthralled this evening?
Well, I have been planning a new way to torture myself on the bike! :laugh:

I am hoping to complete 4 more 100 km rides before the winter arrives and fancy tackling something a bit different... My plan for one of those rides is to do the clockwise 'Cragg Vale loop' 3 times in succession. The basic loop is roughly 1/3 of the required distance so that would work, but I would get bored doing exactly the same loop 3 times so I have planned variations to add interest. They also add elevation gain, and since I will be using my singlespeed bike that will make it a hard ride. There are climbs which I can only just get up on that bike so I have put the worst ones in the first loop (640 m of ascent), slightly easier ones on the second loop (500 m of ascent), and made the final loop as easy as I can (380 m of ascent). 1,500-odd m (nearly 5,000 ft) of ascent in 100 km (62 miles) is about 75% of the usual hilliness round here, but climbing is way harder than usual on that bike so overall it will probably feel VERY hard...

I'll have to pick a day when there won't be a strong wind trying to blow me back down the hill to Cragg Vale!
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Well, I have been planning a new way to torture myself on the bike! :laugh:

I am hoping to complete 4 more 100 km rides before the winter arrives and fancy tackling something a bit different... My plan for one of those rides is to do the clockwise 'Cragg Vale loop' 3 times in succession. The basic loop is roughly 1/3 of the required distance so that would work, but I would get bored doing exactly the same loop 3 times so I have planned variations to add interest. They also add elevation gain, and since I will be using my singlespeed bike that will make it a hard ride. There are climbs which I can only just get up on that bike so I have put the worst ones in the first loop (640 m of ascent), slightly easier ones on the second loop (500 m of ascent), and made the final loop as easy as I can (380 m of ascent). 1,500-odd m (nearly 5,000 ft) of ascent in 100 km (62 miles) is about 75% of the usual hilliness round here, but climbing is way harder than usual on that bike so overall it will probably feel VERY hard...

I'll have to pick a day when there won't be a strong wind trying to blow me back down the hill to Cragg Vale!
Up the A58 out of Littleborough?
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Up the A58 out of Littleborough?
No way, not on the singlespeed (too long and steep)! (That is the anti-clockwise loop.)

The advantage of doing it that way though would be that there is usually a cross/tailwind going up the top half of the climb. That wind is usually a cross/headwind when climbing from Cragg Vale, hence my comment about choosing the right day. Slogging up there once overgeared into a wind would be bad enough, but doing it three times would be a bit much!

If I were using my multi-geared bike I would do the loop anti-clockwise. In fact, if the first time doesn't put me off completely, I might do it again anticlockwise a couple of weeks later on the other bike. That would have to be before the roads get gritted though because the best bike is put into hibernation after that.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
No way, not on the singlespeed (too long and steep)! (That is the anti-clockwise loop.)

The advantage of doing it that way though would be that there is usually a cross/tailwind going up the top half of the climb. That wind is usually a cross/headwind when climbing from Cragg Vale, hence my comment about choosing the right day. Slogging up there once overgeared into a wind would be bad enough, but doing it three times would be a bit much!

If I were using my multi-geared bike I would do the loop anti-clockwise. In fact, if the first time doesn't put me off completely, I might do it again anticlockwise a couple of weeks later on the other bike. That would have to be before the roads get gritted though because the best bike is put into hibernation after that.
Doing the two mile descent should be easy enough. Your brakes working?
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Doing the two mile descent should be easy enough. Your brakes working?
Indeed! I have been caught out by that in the past... :eek:

Comparison of the 2 climbs - long and steady vs shorter and steeper!

617935
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
For anybody interested, this is the view looking down the A58 from Blackstone Edge towards Littleborough. The water below is Hollingworth Lake.

617936
 
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