Bit of a difficult blog
post to write this one but for the time being I'm going to have to
postpone my efforts to complete all of the remaining 100 Greatest
Climbs. Things haven't been going well for some time with regard to
getting the time away from home to get the final few rides completed
and after I had to call off a trip up to the North East earlier in
June because of a few issues at home those issues have only become
worse. To edit a long and difficult chain of events into a simple
sentence; my dad is quite unwell at the moment. I was worried about
leaving him at home when I was due to go away in June and called off
the planned trip. Fast forward to the end of July and I ended up having to go
all emergency services and call an ambulance for him. It turned out to be far less dramatic than it looks on the telly but was nonetheless stressful.
Nearly six weeks on some of
the problems my dad is facing have been sorted, some have not and it
is clear that any plans I had for a cheeky trip up North this autumn in an attempt to get things back on track are well and truly out of the window. Right now I have neither the
time or energy going spare to finish of the remaining climbs and I'm
not sure when I'm likely to have either. I should be in the finishing
strait by now (well, I should have been some time ago but life has
rather gotten in the way) but things have gone a bit Pete Tong.
I am still getting out
on my bike but not as much as I would like or my sanity requires; my
energies need to be directed elsewhere at the moment. Besides, my
touring bike is in need of a full rebuild, my single speed has a
knackered wheel, I've managed to break my hack bike and a simple
repair job on my folder resulted in me having to take a hacksaw to
it. Yes, my bicycle maintenance skills remain top notch as ever; I
still have to pluck up the courage to explain the whole hacksaw thing
to my local bike shop.
My Dahon post angry hacksaw moment. That'll learn it.
Anyway, thats all for
now. I'm pretty gutted at everything that has happened recently but rest assured I will be back to complete the remaining
climbs but not for a while. Other things have to come first right now.
Its taken a while to get this ride written up and the video sorted. Both my work and home life have kept me pretty busy recently and I guess I've struggled with the energy and focus to get it all sorted.
A few years ago when
ticking off some of the climbs in the Peak District and the North
West I tried to ride the Cat and Fiddle. It was the middle of the
week and late in the morning as I drove from Buxton to the Cat and
Fiddle pub and the weather was appalling. It was over cast and
astonishingly windy. As I pulled into the pub car park I struggled to
open the car door and all I could see was a seemingly endless stream
of lorries thundering along the road. I pretty much decided then and
there that riding the Cat and Fiddle that particular day was a no no
and that moving on to ride Swiss Hill was a better plan. I did stop
for lunch in the pub first though.
Of course, I still had
to ride the Cat and Fiddle at some point and I reasoned that because
of its location and length, and traffic levels, I would be better
served doing it as part of an overnight trip; drive up on a Saturday,
ride it first thing on the Sunday and then drive home again. Simple,
right?
On the 18th
March I drove up to Macclesfield ahead of riding the Cat and Fiddle.
My aborted attempt a few years ago wasn't entirely a waste of time as
I found out at the time that there is a Travelodge at the base of the
climb. I was a bit disappointed to find out that the annual fair was
in town and that the car park in front of the hotel was full of
brightly lit, noisy spinning fair ground rides with crowds of local
chavs getting drunk and nauseous. Thankfully everything was quiet by
10pm as I had feared I wouldn't get any sleep.
Cycling nerds can insert their own jokes about well known Italian bike brands and
furniture warehouses
Because I was several
floors up and there were so many people wandering the streets of
Macclesfield that night I was reluctant to keep my bike in the car
and so took it into my room. Nothing unusual there but come 6.30am
the next morning when I was ready to leave and tackle the climb I
couldn't resist going for a quick spin along the 4th floor
corridor. Lets face it, I've spent enough time in hotels with nothing
but a bike for company that it was bound to happen at some point and
besides it was genuinely the quickest way to the lift. I'm thinking
of a companion series of hotel bike rides to complement my remaining
100 climbs efforts; Moutain bike in a Premier Inn anyone? Fat bike in
a Best Western? The possibilities are endless.
We all knew this was going to happen eventually...
The first part of the
ride up the Cat and Fiddle isn't as bad as it looks, more of a long
gentle drag out of the edge of town. I started off at an easy (slow)
pace as I knew it would be a long climb and I couldn't see much of
the top of the moors from my travehovel room window because of low
cloud. I figured it was best to take a measured approach and leave
something in the tank. It soon became clear to me that taking it easy
was going to be necessary because despite the overcast morning I was
starting to overheat pretty rapidly. My shades steamed up and I was
soon unzipping everything I could get away with. On such a long climb
its easy for the temperature to rise, especially if you are tapping
away at a steady but slow pace like I was.
It isn't every day you get a hotel room with a view of the next days climb
About halfway up the
climb the temperature started to drop as I slowly moved away from the
suburbs and into the more rural sections of the road. The more remote
things started to feel the chillier it got and the stronger the wind
became. The gradient on this climb never becomes too taxing and once
you get to the half way point you also start to encounter the odd
down hill section which offers a bit of relief from the constant
uphill efforts. Unfortunately the wind also started to pick up around
this point and the downhills weren't as much of an enjoyable coast as
they could be. In fact it got much colder and windier and the final
big ramp up to the summit became a bit of a slog as I turned a corner
and got hit full in the face by a vicious cross wind. The visibility
also took a major downward turn with low cloud sweeping across the
road. Even though the pub that marks the summit wasn't far away I had
to lean into the wind to make it there. The pub is shut these days
but seeing as how on both occasions I've been there you would have
needed beer glasses made of solid lead to stop them flying across the
beer garden its perhaps not that surprising. There was a group of
local club cyclists catching their breath in the car park when I got
there. They had passed me on the way up and I'm not sure who was the
daftest; them for continuing across the top of the hills in the poor
visibility and high winds or me for trying to make my way back down
to Macclesfield with a biting cross wind.
After a quick stop to
catch my breath it was time to venture out into the growing murk and
head, seemingly sideways back down to the bottom. The first couple of
miles heading back down involved a lot of leaning at crazy angles
into the wind whilst trying to navigate fast down hill corners. It
wasn't a relaxing coast back down the Macclesfield and by the time I
got back to the Travelshack I was knackered and cold. I had hoped for
a triumphant downhill sweep back to the hotel but instead had a nervy
wind blasted tooth loosening clatter back down to the bottom. Once at
the bottom I did decide to put my bike back in the car though rather
than taking it for a farewell spin around the hotel reception; it was
a bit dirty by then.
On the whole I really
like the Cat and Fiddle. 6am on a cold Sunday morning in March
probably isn't the best time to ride it but I love the way the climb
takes you from the middle of Macclesfield, past the suburbs and into
the wilds of the moors above. You get a real feeling of going on a
journey with this ride instead of just grinding your way up to the
top of a wind blasted peak. Its a climb I'd like to do again, a bit
faster and in better weather, but this ride will have to do for now.
Its certainly one I'd recommend. I will be back.
Oh yes, I'm off the North Eastery shortly. I've got five climbs and well over 1200
miles to try and knock out in 3 days. Good job I enjoy this sort of
thing.
I did this ride in
October last year on the same morning as I rode up The Rake. Not sure
why it has taken me so long to do this write up. After tackling the
Rake I bought some food for the drive back home and then programmed
Sabden into my Sat Nav. It only took about 20 minutes to get there
and it was pleasing to see the built up urban sprawl and urban
motorways around Ramsbottom turn to a softer more rural setting.
As you drop down into
Sabden at one side of the valley you see the Nick of Pendle making
its way up the other side of the valley. It looks pretty fearsome
from a distance but it didn't prove to be quite so savage up close
and personal. I parked up at the top and made my way downhill with my
highspeed down hill coasting having to make do as a warmup. On a cold
day in October I perhaps unsurprisingly started the hill stone cold
and took it gentle to start with.
Near the top of the climb. A rare bend in the road.
The first part of the
hill is dead straight and there are a lot parked cars to deal with. I
wouldn't recommend trying this climb during a busy part of the day as
the road up it is a major traffic route. My climb was in fact
interupted by a couple of motorists arguing about who had right of
way. It didn't last long and didn't result in any violence so I was
on my way fairly quickly. Sadly that was the only really exciting
part about the climb. It isn't particularly rewarding to climb.
Once
you leave the outskirts of Sabden it gets more open and the gradient
eases,which it nice, but this climb didn't really enthuse me to try
my best; its just a ride up a relatively straight bit of road and as
a result I got a bit bored and backed off. I very slowly spun my way
up to the top, tried to take in the view on what was a bit of grey
day, got in the car and went home.
I even found the summit a little underwhelming.
I can imagine having the Nick of
Pendle right on your doorstep would be great for training and it must
have some dedicated fans but I was a bit unmoved by the whole thing.
Ah well, another hill ticked off the list and you won't have to wait
too long before you get to read my write up of the Cat and Fiddle
'cos I've just ridden it and its a great bit of road to tackle. Watch
this space.
My first 100 climbs
focussed trip for a couple of years had to have a statement climb in
it, you know; one of those climbs that is well known for its
fierceness. I wasn't too sure if I would have the legs for it but The
Rake in Ramsbottom seemed a safe bet. It has been used in the past as
a national hill climb course and is famed for having a very long
handrail bolted to the wall that borders the steepest section of road
so that knackered walkers have something with which to pull
themselves uphill. Hopefully I wouldn't find myself in a position
where I need it.
After a rubbish nights
sleep in a Travelshack it was only a 15 minute drive to Ramsbottom.
The town itself didn't really leave much of an impression apart from
seeming very busy, even though it was pretty early on a Saturday
morning. It seems a prosperous little town but a bit scruffy. The
parking was at least free which is always a welcome bonus. Coming
from North Devon where the cost of parking can sometimes be more than
the value of your shopping I made doubly sure by asking a confused
looking parking warden that the car park I was using was indeed free.
Anyway, once parked up
it was time to see if I could still get into the groove and get the
bike, the cameras and myself set up and ready to go in a short space
of time. I guess I must have some sort of latent muscle memory
because within about 5 minutes I was rattling across some cobbles
towards the start of the climb with no idea of how I managed to be on
the bike and moving forwards.
The Rake is kind of in
three parts. The first section takes you up a straight bit of road to
the pub which sits on a left hand uphill bend. The pub is a well
known spectator spot when the hill is being raced up. This first
section is steep but not too difficult. It was a bit hard to get my
cold legs turning over but I was pretty pleased with how it went.
Once past the pub (thankfully there were no beer drinkers to heckle
me at 8am in the morning) the gradient eased off a bit. I wasn't able
to coax any more speed out of my legs but it was a chance to catch my
breath before the final steepest part of the climb.
All the best climbs have their own warning signs
I was surprised at how
busy the climb was, both in terms of parking and the traffic. Taking
on the climb later in the day could have resulted in a few holdups.
After a brief bit of spinning on the easier middle section the final
turn off up The Rake proper came into view along with a couple of
signs displaying the 25% gradient sign and a warning not to tackle
the road in snow as you turn right into Rawsons Rake. Adjusting to
the gradient took my breath away at first but if I'm being totally
honest it didn't feel like a proper 25% slope. I've ridden plenty of
them by now and this one didn't seem too bad. I'd like to think I'm
fitter and wiser as a cyclist and so better able to cope with the
steep stuff but in truth I think the climb is only 25% for a short
section past the initial warning signs. Thats not to say it was easy;
I managed to winch myself up the final section but only at a slow
pace but, I still don't think it is as fearsome a gradient as the
signs suggest. I didn't even really notice the hand rail until I was
nearing the top and not once did I feel the need to grab hold of it
Once the top of the
hill appeared the slope eased very quickly and it all felt like a bit
of an anticlimax. It all seemed to be over very quickly. The ride
back down was at least fun but I didn't really feel like I had taken
on a great adversary and escaped with only a few minor scrapes. It
was just a bit steep at the top and then over. Maybe I'm being more
critical these days.
After packing the bike
away it was off to Sabden to ride the Nick of Pendle which proved to
be a more entertaining ride with a bit of random road rage thrown in.
More on that to come.
Its happened; after
a year or so of failing to find the time to ride my bike, let alone
complete my quest to ride all of the hundred greatest cycling climbs,
I finally managed to bump start my efforts back into life.
After a Friday
afternoon spent stuck in traffic (I'm convinced our motorway network
is fundamentally broken) I found myself in the not exactly inspiring
Chadderton on the outskirts of Oldham. After spending six hours in
the car I was pretty knackered (I am out of practice afterall) but I
had the comfort of a Travelshack and a cheap burger from a dodgy
local takeaway to look forward to before riding two climbs the
following day.
Like every Travelshack
I've ever stayed in I had an appalling nights sleep. Why do they
always crank the heating up to blast furnace levels? Surely the staff
should know that if you walk into a room and your eyeballs instantly
dry up the heating is probably on too high. Despite turning the
heating in the room completely off I still woke up feeling drier than a mummies armpit the next morning. The ferocity of the heating was matched only by the
volume of the police cars that seem to patrol the area in packs, at
high speed, with their sirens on. I can only assume Oldham was on
fire, or being invaded by aliens judging from the level of frenzied
police activity. Maybe it was just a normal Friday night in Oldham. I
didn't intend to find out; I had a nights sleep to try and salvage.
You know you're on a cycling trip when this is the view from bed...
The next morning I was
up before it was light and heading to Ramsbottom to ride the infamous
climb called The Rake. There will be a more detailed update complete
with my legendary bad camera work to follow so I won't go into too
much depth here apart from saying that I managed to complete the
climb and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Ramsbottom
didn't inspire me all that much though. Its a town that seems to be
completely surrounded by urban motorways and the whole area struck me
as pretty grim.
The Rake was followed
by a short drive along yet more grim stretches of motorway to the
more rural setting of Sabden where I got to ride the Nick of Pendle.
Not viewed as being as tough a climb as The Rake it still looked
pretty fearsome, especially when viewed from the road that heads into
Sabden across the other side of the valley, but once again I didn't
find it too bad to ride. Sure, I was never going to set a fast time
but I'm fairly happy with my latest efforts; they bode well for my
more concentrated efforts to tick off the remaining 19 climbs (yes,
I'm slowly getting there) next year. My recent training seems have been worthwhile and I actually have some vestige of form to develop over the winter months.
I still have a few more summits to aim for but the weekend was encouraging
I have the hell of
video editing to reacquaint myself with but hopefully in a week or so
I should have the videos completed and up on the site. Don't worry,
despite me being happy with my riding they will still come complete
with their normal sound track of me wheezing as the scenery wobbles
past very slowly. Watch this space.
Ok ok, I'm not quite
back from the dead but it feels like this blog is.
It finally had to
happen; I'm back in the hill climbing game. Well I say game, I'm
about to start hurting myself in public, which in the minds of many
non-cyclists would count as self harming, but I'm strangely looking
forward to it.
I suppose I should
explain about the vast expanse of time that has passed between this
and my last blog post. I was working for myself and quite frankly
that took up all of my time and money. If cycling is an obsession
self employment leads to an even more all consuming one. Quite simply
I had no room for anything other than work, and finding work.
Cycling, whilst still a passion of mine, had to take a back seat and
any spare time was eaten up by work. After two years of self
employment I was starting to realise that without taking huge
financial risks I would face real problems in growing my business to
a point where I could have a decent life outside of work again. I was
good at what I did but struggling to get the big break through I felt
I needed. Plus, my social life, my hobbies and everything else that
was important to me was being shoved ever further into the back
ground.
At the start of 2016 I
made the decision to seek out full time employment again. I've
learned a hell of a lot by working for myself and don't regret any of
the time spent trying to build my own business but that first free
weekend when I started a new job working for somebody else, when I
had no work commitments and all the time I wanted to ride my
bike...boy was that ever sweet. Suffice to say I've found another job
and I'm working hard to get my cycling back on track, if I ever was
on track in the first place.
One thing I need to tackle is the 21
remaining hill climbs. I dusted off the little black book of pain the
other day and vowed to never let it get dusty again. I've built a new
bike and have planned a trip away to bag at least a couple of climbs
before the year is out. I don't intend to try and complete the
remaining climbs this year; autumn is too close for that as well as the
prospect of appalling weather in the hills, but I feel I do need to
kick things off and test my form ahead of an all out effort early
next year. Watch this space for news on the climbs I decide to
tackle.
New approach, new bike.
Sort of.
About a year and a half
ago I bought a cheap frame and fork from Planet X. I liked the idea
of a lightish road frame with decent tyre clearances and disc brake
compatibility. What I ended up buying was a London Road frameset from
a production run that has achieved notoriety for poor tolerances and
build quality. My frame certainly ain't too pretty up close but I
decided to persevere with it. My plan was to finally call time on my
beloved Surly Karate Monkey frame and use its parts on the new frame.
It would make for a cheap and quick build.
Yep, thats apparently a bottom bracket thread...brute force won out in the end
Well, it was a cheap build
but a wonky bottom bracket thread and seat tube like a clowns pocket
made for a fair bit of swearing during the process. I'm still working to resolve the
seat tube issues but the speed and responsiveness of the frame makes
up for it. I'm not intending to use this bike for the 100 climbs. My
faithful old Uncle John is still in my mind the best tool for the
job but the London Road is growing on me. I even like climbing the
steep stuff with flat handle bars. Time will tell if it ever gets to
be ridden very slowly up a steep hill somewhere in the North of
England but with a few tweaks it will make a good spare/ standby
bike.
Over exposure hides the cheapness
My hill climbing
efforts will restart this month with The Rake and Nick of Pendle
being the climbs I've decided to test the water with. As ever I'm
under prepared and probably not in the right form but what the hell,
I've got to get going somehow. Now, where did I leave my charger for
the helmet cam?
Wow, has it really been that long since my last post? More importantly has it really been that long since I last rode up a steep hill festooned with tiny video cameras?
Sadly it has; the reality of being self employed is that I haven't had the time or money to to get out into the wilds of the UK and finish off the remaining 21 climbs...yet. The business has been growing but my bank balance hasn't been and my diary has been even more squeezed by I'm working on bagging a few more climbs very soon. Its too early to say just when I'll be doing and what climbs they will be but rest assured I'm trying to make it happen before the summer. I have been out training, although not as much as I would like but the power is still there. Just need to work on the fitness but then when have I not had to?
Keep tuned folks; very soon there will be more footage of the British countryside rolling slowly past to a soundtrack of wheezing and occasional swearing.
