NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
With a couple of hours to kill (once the unforecast rain had stopped) it was out again on the new bike.
Thing is, where to go...I went east yesterday and didn't fancy going over the same roads again so soon, anything around Bramham Park was out due to the quagmire on the roads, and Otley was probably a bit far in the time I had.
I found myself heading up Coal Rd, then Red Hall lane, the A58 and onto Whin Moor Lane towards Shadwell. This is an unexpectedly rural route and I've often thought that I should stop for a photo so today I did:
You wouldn't think you were only 4 miles as the crow flies from the beating financial heart of the capital of the north would you?
Back on my way and into Shadwell, at the last minute deciding to turn left and head up to Slaid Hill.
Right at the lights and straight on down the hill on Wike Ridge Lane.
It's a funny route this, despite being right in the middle of my sphere of cycling I very rarely ride it - no immediate reason why came to mind as it's a nice route, fairly well surfaced (as long as you keep an eye out for the grates in the middle of the carriageway...), with nice scenery and not too much traffic. Anyway, I was riding it today and enjoying it as it rose and fell through the countryside along the ridge, with the big descent into East Keswick as the eventual reward. As every cyclist knows, what goes down must come up and the Cat 5 climb back out of East Keswick certainly rammed that point home, although setting a new PB (taking 35 seconds off my previous time
) made it all worthwhile.
A final descent down to the A659 rounded off a rarely ridden route with a grin.
The ride along the A659 reminded me why I don't ride this route too often...even at 10am on a Sunday morning it was a busy narrow rat run, poorly surfaced and not enjoyable at all and I was glad to get down the hill into Collingham and pull into a layby for a drink.
The short section next on the A58 wasn't much better, so I abandoned plans to loop around via Wetherby and up to Wattle Syke roundabout and decided to tackle the climb up Jewitt Lane instead. The sooner Linton bridge re-opens, allowing access to Wetherby from the other direction the better.
Another Cat 5 climb, the ascent up Jewitt Lane is officially only 0.8 of a mile but it feels like longer, so I was chuffed to see another PB when I downloaded my ride (31 secs faster) showing the benefits of the new bike.
Right onto Compton Lane and the run along the ridge, with views down over the valley and for miles across into Wharfedale and beyond
From there it's a good run down towards Rigton Green, but just before getting there I hooked back onto Bramham Lane for a run up to Thorner Lane on the single track road, which was deserted again.
Right at the end onto Holme Farm Lane and the run up to the junction, where I headed left along the ridge on Milner Lane towards Thorner.
Down the hill and the short climb into Thorner, before the usual ride along Main Street and the long climb up Sandhills / Van Zyl Hill to Skeltons Lane, then Coal Rd and onto local roads for the run down to home, with a final loop around the block to push the mileage on.
20.20 miles (32.5km) in 1h 26m at an average of 14.0 mph, with 1,112ft climbed. I'll take that given the amount of climbing I added in today, along with the damp roads meaning that I wasn't giving it the full beans on the descents. Quite a few cyclists out this morning, even allowing for the choice of route.
Thing is, where to go...I went east yesterday and didn't fancy going over the same roads again so soon, anything around Bramham Park was out due to the quagmire on the roads, and Otley was probably a bit far in the time I had.
I found myself heading up Coal Rd, then Red Hall lane, the A58 and onto Whin Moor Lane towards Shadwell. This is an unexpectedly rural route and I've often thought that I should stop for a photo so today I did:
You wouldn't think you were only 4 miles as the crow flies from the beating financial heart of the capital of the north would you?
Back on my way and into Shadwell, at the last minute deciding to turn left and head up to Slaid Hill.
Right at the lights and straight on down the hill on Wike Ridge Lane.
It's a funny route this, despite being right in the middle of my sphere of cycling I very rarely ride it - no immediate reason why came to mind as it's a nice route, fairly well surfaced (as long as you keep an eye out for the grates in the middle of the carriageway...), with nice scenery and not too much traffic. Anyway, I was riding it today and enjoying it as it rose and fell through the countryside along the ridge, with the big descent into East Keswick as the eventual reward. As every cyclist knows, what goes down must come up and the Cat 5 climb back out of East Keswick certainly rammed that point home, although setting a new PB (taking 35 seconds off my previous time
) made it all worthwhile.A final descent down to the A659 rounded off a rarely ridden route with a grin.
The ride along the A659 reminded me why I don't ride this route too often...even at 10am on a Sunday morning it was a busy narrow rat run, poorly surfaced and not enjoyable at all and I was glad to get down the hill into Collingham and pull into a layby for a drink.
The short section next on the A58 wasn't much better, so I abandoned plans to loop around via Wetherby and up to Wattle Syke roundabout and decided to tackle the climb up Jewitt Lane instead. The sooner Linton bridge re-opens, allowing access to Wetherby from the other direction the better.
Another Cat 5 climb, the ascent up Jewitt Lane is officially only 0.8 of a mile but it feels like longer, so I was chuffed to see another PB when I downloaded my ride (31 secs faster) showing the benefits of the new bike.
Right onto Compton Lane and the run along the ridge, with views down over the valley and for miles across into Wharfedale and beyond
From there it's a good run down towards Rigton Green, but just before getting there I hooked back onto Bramham Lane for a run up to Thorner Lane on the single track road, which was deserted again.
Right at the end onto Holme Farm Lane and the run up to the junction, where I headed left along the ridge on Milner Lane towards Thorner.
Down the hill and the short climb into Thorner, before the usual ride along Main Street and the long climb up Sandhills / Van Zyl Hill to Skeltons Lane, then Coal Rd and onto local roads for the run down to home, with a final loop around the block to push the mileage on.
20.20 miles (32.5km) in 1h 26m at an average of 14.0 mph, with 1,112ft climbed. I'll take that given the amount of climbing I added in today, along with the damp roads meaning that I wasn't giving it the full beans on the descents. Quite a few cyclists out this morning, even allowing for the choice of route.
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) That left four of us for the last few miles to Market Bosworth.
.Off to Orton on the hill where 
. In to Cartlon where we came across the vintage rally of bikes so quick stop to admire the old bikes . Back to the start point where 
The rest of the ride was pretty straightforward with just being held up by a tractor to report.
. Bring on next week
.
