England : North Yorkshire Yorkshire Dales forum ride - 'The Settle Spectacular', July 25th 2015

[ColinJ]

Details of a forum ride from Settle in North Yorkshire, to take place on Saturday, 25th July, 2015. It is based on the very popular Settle ride that I organised in 2011 - LINK.

With helpful suggestions from @Sea of vapours, I have come up with a few interesting variations on the original route.

Meet in Settle in front of Ye Old Naked Man cafe in Settle at about 09:45 with a view to setting off at 10:00.

I might be getting a lift over to Settle with busdennis. If I am making my own way over then I need to be getting back to Settle by 19:30 at the latest because I would still have another 17 miles to ride to Clitheroe to catch the last train home from there. That would be a maximum of 9.5 hours if we set off promptly at 10:00 in the morning. I'm hoping that we only stop for about an hour in total to keep the pressure off the average speed. 1 hour of stops would mean riding at 8.5 mph average speed (72/8.5). 2 hours of stops would increase that to about 9.5 mph (72/7.5).

If I do get a lift, then that potentially takes the pressure off the speed. I would certainly want to aim for getting back to Settle by 20:30 though to allow for any mechanical problems which might delay us. I don't really want to be riding back to Settle in the dark! (Sunset will be about 21:15 on Saturday.) That would be 10.5 hours corresponding to an average riding speed of of 7.5 - 8.5 mph.

GPX file of the route.

We will miss out on the ascent past Dent station and the descent to Garsdale Head, instead climbing to Gayle Moor above Ribblehead and then having a nice descent down the B6255 towards Hawes, with a short detour via Appersett because I want to check out that road!

We will follow the same route as before to Arncliffe, but this time we will proceed along the full length of Littondale rather than climbing straight from the village over to Malham Tarn. We will then climb over Dawson Close and descend to Stainforth, returning to Settle on the B6479 and the back road from Langcliffe to Settle.

The full route is 116 km (72 miles) in length with a lot of tough climbing, so I wouldn't recommend that you undertake that unless you have done such rides before, or are pretty confident that you are ready to tackle this one. SHORTER OPTION You could accompany us to the 50 km point on Gayle Moor, but then say goodbye and descend 20 km to Settle via Ribblehead and Horton-in-Ribblesdale. That would be a much easier ride.

Here is a simple map showing the route:

(The thick green line shows the shortcut back to Settle.)

Main route profile:

:

Shorter route profile:

(Note that the scale of this profile is different to the first profile so bear that in mind when comparing with the other one.)

No rider left behind, friendly chat, gorgeous scenery, cafe stop in Hawes. Sign up below!

Rider list:

• ColinJ + pal Bill
• Sea of vapours
• busdennis
• doughnut
• Moodyman

 

[busdennis]

• 
  
  • put me down please Colin, this route looks great

 

[ColinJ]

• • put me down please Colin, this route looks great

You're in!

 

[skudupnorth]

I'm on my way back from Cornwall Looks a good one aswell (Like all your rides Colin )

 

[ColinJ]

I'm on my way back from Cornwall Looks a good one aswell (Like all your rides Colin )

Oh well - pray for awful weather on the 25th of July because I will be keeping a 'bad weather postponement option'!

 

[Smurfy]

A great route, but quite tough for anyone not used to the hills. I've cycled almost all of those roads, and I think anti-clockwise is probably slightly easier than clockwise, as the north side of Fleet Moss is easily the most brutal ascent.

 

[Sea of vapours]

SNIP .. and I think anti-clockwise is probably slightly easier than clockwise, as the north side of Fleet Moss is easily the most brutal ascent.

That latter's true, but anti-clockwise then involves ascending White Moss, from Deepdale to Kingsdale, on the much steeper side and that is considerably harder than the way we're going, probably 'cancelling out' the Fleet Moss difference. It's an excellent route either way.

 

[ColinJ]

A great route, but quite tough for anyone not used to the hills. I've cycled almost all of those roads, and I think anti-clockwise is probably slightly easier than clockwise, as the north side of Fleet Moss is easily the most brutal ascent.

I agree with you, hence my statement in the first post of the thread, and me mentioning the shortcut back to Settle.

Some riders rode all of the Fleet Moss climb last time, but some had to walk the last few yards. I was one of the walkers! I am hoping to ride it this time. I have managed it once in the past but I am not at that level of fitness these days.

I prefer the route in this direction. The nice descent of the B6255 would instead be a long dragging climb of what was a fairly busy road last time I did it.

Still, maybe we will try it the other way round next year?

 

[NorthernDave]

Looks like a great route through some of the most scenic parts of Yorkshire, but I think it would be too much for my knees this year. Maybe next time...
Have fun!

 

[ColinJ]

It is still looking like a small turnout ...

If any of you don't fancy/feel up to riding the whole route, come along for the first half and take the easy shortcut back to Settle!

Unless I manage to hitch a lift with someone from Hebden Bridge or Todmorden, I will have to get to and from Settle by bike and train. In that case I think I would use the new service from Todmorden to Clitheroe which has just started up after the reopening of the 'Todmorden Curve' line. Either that or ride over Cock Hill to Keighley and catch a train from there, but that would introduce an extra big climb in both directions.

 

[pubrunner]

If any of you don't fancy/feel up to riding the whole route, come along for the first half and take the easy shortcut back to Settle!

Hmm !

I might be up for this . . . . . . . though probably the shorter route. My better half and our youngest are away that weekend and if my parents can look after the dog for the day, it should be feasible.

Is anyone considering the shorter route ? Does the shorter ride include Fleet Moss ?

The previous Settle ride, was the first (& best) CChat ride that I've done; others on that ride included @PaulB , @colly , @evilclive , @Pennine-Paul , @zacklaws , @just_fixed , @Calum , @Kestevan , @tubbycyclist , @Bokonon.

Going by my previous experience, I can thoroughly recommend this ride . . . . . . . and if @evilclive and Sarah appear on their tandem, you'll be able to marvel at their speed on the descents - few, if any, would be able to keep up with them. Seeing the awesome speed and handling of the tandem was something that I'll never forget and that alone was well worth the trip.

If any Southern nobbers like @rich p or @Banjo {or anyone else} needs a place to kipover (in Shropshire) on the way up the night before, let me know.

If you are in two minds about this ride, just sign up and do it - you won't regret it !

 

[Sea of vapours]

Fleet Moss is the bit from the very top of the route, at Hawes, southwards up the fell labelled 'Wether Fell' on the map above, so the short route does not include it. Returning to Settle on the shorter route is something like 45 minutes, almost all downhill, and outstandingly easy to navigate (turn left at the first junction you encounter, which is at Ribblehead - done).

 

[pubrunner]

Fleet Moss is the bit from the very top of the route, at Hawes, southwards up the fell labelled 'Wether Fell' on the map above, so the short route does not include it. Returning to Settle on the shorter route is something like 45 minutes, almost all downhill, and outstandingly easy to navigate (turn left at the first junction you encounter, which is at Ribblehead - done).

Thank's for the quick reply

I enjoyed Fleet Moss on the previous ride; the key to doing this climb {in my experience] is to not 'attack' it in the earliest stages, but to just 'pootle' up. {I'd like to do it again, but I might not have the time to do the longer ride}.

What I especially liked about the previous Settle ride, was the extended breaks - especially the one at the pub. However, this meant the light was fading by the time we got back to Settle (about 8.30pm) and I didn't get home until midnight (ish).

If a few are going to have a crack at the shorter ride, I might well join them . . . . . . . anyone else considering this ?

 

[zacklaws]

I'm doing a 200K hilly Audax out of Halifax the following day.

 

[ColinJ]

It would be good if you could join us, @pubrunner!

I have just been checking the train times. The first train of the day should get into Clitheroe at 08:39 which would give me about 1 hr 20 minutes to do the undulating 27 km to Settle, which sounds ok.

Ideally, I would catch the 19:52 back from Clitheroe so I would like to be setting off from Settle by about 18:15. If that isn't possible, then option #2 is leaving Settle by about 19:30 to get to Clitheroe in time to catch the 21:06 (and allow time to fix a puncture on the way, if necessary).

I think one reasonable stop is all the time that I can afford this year because of needing to catch that train home.

I'm doing a 200K hilly Audax out of Halifax the following day.

So, you don't fancy doing Fleet Moss in both directions that weekend ...?