Do Andriods Dream of Electric Bikes?

Its finally happened. I been gone and bought an E Bike. Trust me, I do have a good reason for doing so and the bike was purchased for sensible practical applications (I have no intention of doing any hill climbing on it).

Ever since the summer when my dad was first admitted to hospital I've had to combine work with visiting him and also taking care of the dog. This has meant running round like a stressed out blue arsed fly and I initially took to driving to work so I could check on the dog every lunchtime. Given that I work close to home this is plain stupid. Thing is, there is a fairly steep hill between work and home and even with the right bike, the right clothes and the right frame of mind I'm going to struggle riding up that damn hill at least twice a day at a speed that will allow me to fit in a meaningful visit home. Doing so in work clothes wearing steel toe shoes will make it even more difficult. I'm good but not that good.

After a few weeks of driving the car to work I decided the best option was an E bike. I wouldn't have the hassle of parking the car and the stress of having to park it after using it, plus after a stressful and difficult summer I guess I just wanted to spend a bit of money on myself. Besides, a man can never have too many bikes...

E bikes range from cheap and nasty to expensive and very lovely. After looking around at what was available at a price point I was happy with I decided to go for an Original 700 E Bike from Decathlon. I've long been interested in their bikes as they generally get very good reviews whilst being pretty good value for money. I also figured that being a European manufacturer that Decathlon would know how to put together a truly practical electric utility bike.

Worlds largest bike box. Stood on its end its almost as tall as me

A few days after ordering online the worlds largest bike box was delivered to where I work. It seems that Decathlon like to ship their bikes fully built. I had to borrow a works van to get it home and even then it took two of us to manhandle the box into the back of a Ford Transit Connect. Getting it out by myself at home involved a lot of swearing and trying not to drop it on the dog.

Removing the bike from the box revealed Decathlons new slider box design. Basically the inside of the box has a separate cardboard runner that the bikes wheels sit in. It allows you to slide the whole thing out really easily. Its a neat idea. The bike only took a few minutes to set up (Decathlon do most of the hard work for you) and the battery didn't take too long to fully charge. I was soon able to view my new purchase in all of its glory.

The beast emerges from its lair. No dry ice sadly

The beige beast

My first impressions of the bike were not encouraging. The online photos didn't fully prepare me for just how beige it is. And ugly. Its an ugly beige bike. Its sort of endearing but, well, ugly. The cheap rear suspension doesn't help the looks. The suspension fork I could live with but the rear suspension is a bit rubbish and is already creaking and squeaking. With any luck it will seize up without any proper servicing and the bike will become a hard tail.

Whats that famous line from the film Predator? Oh yes; "You are one ugly motherf**ker"

The bike is also heavy, I mean small moped heavy. Seriously, the damn thing needs a motor and I need some form of truss after trying to pick it up. The motor and battery mean most of the bikes weight is at the rear and quite high up. It takes a bit of getting used to the balance point of the bike. Unlike a lot of the more modern E bikes available the beige beast has a non integrated battery pack that sits in a rear rack arrangement with a motor hub in the rear wheel. The more modern solution is for a motor built into the bottom bracket area but £799 doesn't buy a lot of modern in the E bike world. It does however come with a dashboard which lights up at night, which is kind of cool.

The brakes aren't great, which is a disappointment given that they have to try and stop a bike that seems to weigh a million tonnes when it is careering downhill. Its mainly down to the rubbish brake blocks which I can replace with decent cartridge ones once I wear them out.

The one thing that the bike does have going for it is its practicality. It comes with full mudguards, a kick stand, a rear rack, built in lights and a funky dashboard thingy. Ideal for riding around town and to work.

The power

Of course all of the accessories are nice but the key feature about this bike is of course the source of the weight; the power pack and how it lets the bike go. Like all legal road going E bikes mine is limited to providing only pedal assisted bursts of power with a top speed of 15.5mph before the power cuts out. It also cuts out if you stop pedalling. Downhill its a case of holding for grim death as gravity takes over. 30 mph is easily achieved just by coasting downhill. Did I mention its heavy? The motor is a 250 watt unit (all you are legally allowed) and provides the bike with three levels of assistance:

Level 1 – low level of assistance unless you are really starting to struggle but quite good on flat bits of road and just getting going.

Level 2 – a mid range setting that I've not gotten the hang of yet.

Level 3 – Turbo fun time. Stick the bike in a high gear, crank up the watts to level three and just go for it simply to see how fast you can accelerate. Also good for steep and/ or long hills. Or for when you just want to experience turbo fun time. Blasting away from a standstill is quite addictive and I spent my first test ride laughing like a fool at the experience. I use this setting a lot.

Ohh, look a motor...

I should also add the bike has a walking mode. If you have to push it up a steep hill it will literally power itself along at walking pace as long as you keep a button pushed down. Seriously. Its a great feature for getting the thing up some shallow steps at work.

Using the power effectively takes some getting used to. You have to meet the bike half way to get the best out of it. You can spin slowly up steep hills and get some assistance or you can try to use the 250 watt motor to provide a decent boost to your efforts. On the flat you can just spin gently whilst accelerating but on the hills working a bit harder does result in some decent speeds.

The future is electric?

Well, possibly. As a practical way of getting around town without the car the E bike is a great tool. Its been designed to be an everyday form of transport and in that respect it works really well. Its been designed to be ridden everyday by normal people, in normal clothes doing normal things like going to work or the shops. For me it gets ridden to and from work and also to the nursing home where my dad is. Some days I have to ride up the same steep hill three times and on the E bike its just easy and I never think that I'm too tired to do it. Its comfortable and as long as you just want to get about without much fuss its excellent. At the weekends however climbing onto the road bike is more fun. Yes, you have to put all the motive effort in yourself but a practical E bike will never replace the sheer joy of riding a responsive 'normal' bike in challenging terrain. The feeling of riding a lightweight bike after a week of manhandling a two wheeled tank about is actually quite liberating.That said, for urban trips the E bike is a bit of a game changer. With its built in lights, sensible riding position and lack of parking restrictions it is now regularly a better option than my car for around town trips. Of course any normal bike is better than a car for around town trips but after a hard and tiring day at work a normal (or should than be analogue?) bike doesn't give you the option of selecting level 3...

Slamming on the Anchors

Well, slamming on the anchors for now.

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. 

Cat and Fiddle, better late than never

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 18^th 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 4^th 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.

Nick of Pendle

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.

The Rake

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.

Back In The Saddle

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.

The Revenant

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?  

Normal service will be resumed shortly

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.

The Karate Monkey Must Die

Yep, its true. The time has come for me to dismantle my Karate Monkey. It has been a great bike and very adaptable. It has had every set up option under the sun thrown at it since 2010 going from a skinny tyre road bike with flat bars and V brakes to a drop handle bar balloon tyre shod monstercross bike before finally ending up as a heavy duty hybrid/ winter training bike complete with riser bars and bar ends (oh the horror). You can thank/ blame the late great Sheldon Brown for my endless experimenting with the bike as I was inspired by an early Karate Monkey he once built up with two sets of handle bars, brakes and gears (hub and derailleur) just because he could and the frame would allow it. 

Cleaning it would be cheaper than building a new bike but I feel it is time for a change

It has been a fun bike but I need to move on and experiment with a new, lighter and more responsive frame. I've gotten to the point where lugging the heavy old girl up and down the local hills is no longer offering me a training opportunity and, if I'm being honest I want to try something newer and shiny just for a change. If I'm being honest getting back into the garage and swearing at tools again will also have a motivational aspect to it as the pressure of working for myself has taken some of the joy out of cycling.

To this end I've bought a cut price frame from those Northern purveyors of cheapness Planet X; a disc brake compatible road bike frame that will hopefully build up into a versatile all weather machine that can stand in for the Uncle John on some of the harsher hill climbs ahead (the disc brakes will certainly help on some of the climbs). Its a frame with a bad reputation for poor manufacturing tolerances (guesses for the model on the back of a fiver to the usual address) and I may need some help from my LBS in getting it ship shape but that just adds to the fun. To find out what manner of freak machine I build next you'll have to stay tuned as it is still in its box ( I really have been that busy with work recently). The only clue I'll give away is that it will be geared for the steep stuff, probably not too pretty to look at (like most of my bikes) and generally a bit of a mongrel.

Very soon I'll be swearing at the contents of this box in the garage

And yes, the fact I'm heading back into the garage is a sign that I will shortly be heading back into the hills. Normal service, complete with dodgy camera work, will be resumed shortly...

Wow, has it been that long?

It seems like another lifetime ago when I last posted to this blog. Sorry about that.

I'd like to say I'm back with a bang but I think I would fall a bit short of the dynamism that would be needed for that. Its nearly a year since I was last on the bike bagging epic road climbs. Setting up my own business and then running said business has taken up pretty all of my time and huge amounts of money, pretty much to the exclusion of everything else. One of my customers recently commented that running my own business must be great as I can decide when to work. Er...yeah, I can but if I want to eat I kind of have to work when my customers want me to, plus I no longer get paid holidays. I have been getting out on my bike but the need to generate an income off my own back has had to take priority. In many ways it still does today but I'm aware that I still have 21 climbs to complete and I intend to make a serious dent on them over the coming months.

My new job is a nice active one and involves lots of time spent climbing up and down ladders, carrying heavy bits of kit around and generally not being sat behind a desk staring at a laptop all day. As a result I don't seem to have lost any power over the last few months although my fitness levels are behind where I want them to be at this time of year. I seem to have lost a bit of weight as well. Now don't go getting excited, I'm not rocking a Chris Froome look but by my standards I am marginally more efficient with regard to power to weight ratio and on recent training rides I've been mashing my way up the North Devon hills in a decent gear and not feeling too knackered at the top so there is hope for the future. 

Most of my training miles have been done on my faithful Surly Karate Monkey which is probably the most unlikely training bike you can imagine. That said, hauling its weight up and over the local hills has resulted in my going up my regular training inclines with a fair bit of extra power and in a much higher gear and being able to go off piste and leave the tarmac behind when I feel like it has been a fun addition to my rides. I do however need to put some longer rides in to ensure I don't get to the top of my local climbs completely out of breath and ready to collapse.

There is going to be a further blog update in the next week or so but rest assured, the remaining 21 climbs are in my sights once again and I'm intending to spend a bit of time at the start of October getting the total remaining to below 20. After a spring and summer trundling around North Devon in a battered little white van I'm more keyed up than ever to get back out into the wilds and up close and personal to some steep tarmac. 

As a farcically over sized Austrian once said; I'll be back.

Er, hello. Its been a very long time since my last blog update. Sorry about that but I have been genuinely very busy in the last couple of months. After tackling the remaining climbs in Yorkshire at the end of June I set up my own business and its safe to say that going self employed has sucked up a lot of what would have normally been spare time that I could spend cycling.

I'm still cycling and still focused on completing the remaining 21 climbs from the little black book of pain. It had been my intention to tackle a few climbs in the Lake District before the end of the year but training courses, a viral infection and the pressing need to attract and retain customers mean that even my weekends have been taken up with work. With the end of 2014 not far away I've decided that trying to squeeze in any more trips right now would be fruitless; I simply don't have the form (have I ever?) to make a decent fist of things right now and work is taking up a lot of my time. I think a decent plan is to wait until mid February and then, weather permitting, head up to the Lakes for a couple of days of ice cold hill climbing. I hate hot weather so the timing would suit me and hopefully the situation at work at that point in the year will allow me to take off a long weekend.

I've been so busy recently that even my compulsive bike building has had to take a back seat. Buying equipment and stocks for my new business has taken over from buying bike frames and components. I have however had to rebuild the Uncle John as the bottom bracket bearing and then the chain decided that they had both had enough of hauling my fat carcass around and promptly failed. My beloved Surly Cross Check is still largely in pieces and now that the mucky winter weather is here I don't intend to build it up fully until next spring; I don't want to build up a bling looking bike and then proceed to ruin it on crappy salted roads. Its going to have a pampered existence as a fair weather bike; I think its earned it. My Karate Monkey and single speed road bike are doing their best as winter training tools and at some point are going to need a good clean. If I get the chance the Karate Monkey may be taken apart and cannibalised to provide bits for a rebuild of my old touring bike and my Singular Swift. 

Anyway, that will do for now as an update. I'm intending to keep cycling through the next couple of months and hoping to build some decent form for early next year. A recent virus has really hit me hard and left me struggling on any form of gradient but I'm gradually getting back to normal and my new job is thankfully a nice active one so I;m not likely to settle into a sedentary existence just yet. In fact I may have lost a little bit of weight which can only help when the road starts going up.

Ta ta for now. I'll be back.

Shibden Wall

Ahh, Shibden Wall, a legendary climb amongst British Cyclists. I have to be honest, I was actually looking forward to riding this cobbled suffer fest. I knew it would be a rough ride and I'd reach the top in pain but its one of the climbs in the 100 Climbs little black book of pain that has always stood out for me.

I woke up at dawn on the 22^nd June to find that my left knee had miraculously stopped hurting and was actually bending properly again. Bouyed up by this positive development (and after falling asleep the night before with my knee feeling like it was broken I could only be positive) I piled into the car and set off for Shibden Wall. I reached Lee Lane (the official street name of Shidben Wall) by about 8am. If you're trying to find Lee Lane and struggling to get your sat nav to recognise it I recommend heading for the Shibden Mill Inn which will bring you to the bottom of Lee Lane.

I parked at the bottom as I didn't want to subject my over worked Fiat to the horrors of the cobbles which meant I was riding the climb blind. This did give me a few problems with pacing as it meant I didn't know how long the steep, cobble free, section at the base of the climb was. I was feeling relatively fresh and probably spent a bit too much energy on this lower section of the climb. As I rounded the final bend on the smooth(ish) surface I felt a little bit excited as the cobbles came into view. The other cobbled climbs in the book are tough but, in the case of Constitution Hill and Michealgate the cobbles are fairly ordered and in good condition. The gradient and bouncing as you ride over the surfaces of both make them a tough ride but they are rather civilised for cobbled climbs. Swiss Hill is a challenge because the cobbles are more uneven and there are a few rutted sections but it is a relatively short climb and the variations in gradient mean it isn't as tough as Shibden Wall.

When the pavement has steps built into it you know you're in for a tough ride

Shibden Wall is something else. You reach the cobbles with a steep start already making your legs burn and then you hit some horribly uneven cobbles on a very steep section of road. Its basically a daft piece of road and I couldn't help but laugh as the first few metres rolled under my wheels. Just as the cobbles start to give you blurred vision what must be the work hairpin bend in the UK bounces its way into view; its horrendously steep with some really uneven cobbles and the only way to ride it is to take the widest line possible. Not having had the chance to drive the hill before riding it I was hoping that the hairpin from hell might indicate that things were about to get better. Sadly not. The cobbles got worse, the gaps between them wider and the steep stuff just kept appearing. In fact the section that follows is probably the hardest part of the climb as the gradient stays steep and the quality of the cobbles in some areas is appalling. What I could believe was how many houses there are on the hill. I can only assume the local residents have gotten used to the blurred vision they must have from having to drive up and down the cobbles every day. Thankfully the road was quiet as I tackled it relatively early on a Sunday morning; my slow speed weaving could have caused problems with approaching traffic otherwise.

Finally reaching the top brought a brief moment of joy before the realisation set in that I would have to ride back down the climb to get to my car. With visions of me bouncing out of control at high speed I did the only sensible thing and took to the pavement for the first part of the climb. This ran out about halfway down the climb and I was forced onto the cobbles which left me with a headache and sore hands. Even the rough tarmac on the lower section of the climb was a relief to ride on.

Its as if somebody decided the hill wasn't tough enough to get up so they added a steep

hairpin and covered the damn thing in cobbles.

Getting back to the car I felt quite pleased with myself for having taken on Shibden Wall and surviving the experience. Feeling pleased with myself lasted for approximately one minute as on firing it up my sat nav decided the only way to go home would involve driving up the cobbled nightmare I'd just experienced on the bike. The hill seemed even worse in a car despite having suspension and soft fat tyres and twice on the same day I felt a deep sense of relief when the ski slope and smooth tarmac at the top of the hill came into view.

Whats Next?

Shibden Wall may well be the last of the 100 climbs that I tackle for a while. Recent changes in jobs and a new career direction have resulted in me being self employed. I like working for myself but, as anyone who is self employed will tell you, it isn't easy and my spare time is very limited (which is the main reason why this blog update is so overdue). I'm still getting out on my bike, it is afterall helping to keep me sane, but I'm unlikely to be able to take loads of time off for biking adventures in the near future. In fact I still haven't finished the bling and slightly retro rebuild of my Surly Cross Check. Its propped up across my office from me as I type this looking very sad and only partially built waiting for me to lavish the care and attention on it that it deserves.

I will return to the 100 climbs as I can't turn my back on them having come so far. If all goes well with the business I may be able to arrange a brutal short weekend in November to tackle some of the Lake District climbs but that does rely on work going well and the weather not turning too nasty too soon. All I can say is watch this space...

How not to ride up The Stang

I'm sure these updates are getting later and later. Still, part of the reason was that editing the footage for my ride up The Stang brought back some painful memories. Halfway up the very steepest section of Fleet Moss earlier in the day I had felt a bit of a twinge from my left knee. I was able to ignore it but come the climb up Oxnop Scar I was well aware that all was not well and was in a bit of pain. By the time I climbed onto the bike at the top of The Stang ready for my descent to the bottom it was clear I was going to have a hard time. Put simply my knee was agony. I was experiencing a hot, sharp, gritty sort of pain behind my knee cap and even getting to the bottom of the climb was unpleasant. Still, I was there so there was no point in not riding the climb. Besides, by the time I reached the bottom the only way to get back to my car was to ride back up to the top. Never let it be said that I can't be hard on myself.

The first part of The Stang is the hardest although I don't think it gets much steeper than about 14%. I decided to just grit my teeth and tackle this part of the climb in the highest gear I could just to get it over with and to give myself space to recover and spin along on the lesser gradients further up. It turned out I couldn't push a particularly big gear or go too fast but at least I got it out of the way and could focus on the impending sufferfest on the rest of the climb.

At least the road signs were welcoming

There isn't much I can say thats positive about my experience on the rest of the climb. It hurt, a lot. I was also very slow. That isn't so unusual but I was aware of the fact that I was actually feeling OK but my knees weren't willing to play ball. There is thankfully a descent halfway up this climb which took the pressure off very briefly but then it was back to grinding slowly up the rest of the climb. Probably fair to say I didn't enjoy myself all that much. Being passed by another cyclist who seemed to be flying along on the big ring didn't help my morale.

It was a real relief to get back to the car. I was nearing the end of my tether during the final part of the climb; I couldn't go any faster but I just needed to get off the bike and give my knee some respite from the constant effort of pedalling. My drive back to the Travel Hovel at Scotch Corner as a bit uncomfortable and if I'm being honest I spent most of the night worrying about my bloody knee. Even lying in bed I had a hot throbbing pain coming from behind the knee cap. Seeing as I had to tackle the fearsome Shibden Wall the following morning it didn't bode well. In fact as I write this I've got two sore knees. One of the joys of getting older I guess.

Anyway, stay tuned to see how I got on with Shibden Wall. Will I make it up the steep cobbled gradients? Will my bike shake itself to pieces? Will my knees finally explode? You'll have to come back to find out.  

Oxnop Scar - Better late than never

God, I'm getting later and later with these blog posts. Sorry about that, all will become clear before long and no, I haven't given up on the 100 Climbs just been stupidly busy with other things in my life.

Anyway, casting my mind all the way back to the 21^st June the third climb of the day I tackled was Oxnop Scar. The climb was swarming with touring cyclists as I drove up to the top to find a suitable place to park the car (there weren't many options if you are thinking of taking the same approach). Given that the climb starts with a series of 25% hairpin bends I had to admire their tenacity at trying to get up the climb with full panniers. As I was soon to discover the initial hairpins, with their rough surface demand respect. Once on the bike at the bottom I did have the feeling that I was about to attempt to ride up a wall. The day, which had started quite chilly was heating up quite nicely and its fair to say I got fairly warm tackling the first part of the slope. At the speed I was doing there was no cooling breeze.

The view from the top. I was fast down and a hell of a lot slower getting back up

Once past the first few bends the climb eases off in terms of gradient and changes in character quite dramatically; it becomes a nice rolling ride along the edge of the hill with lots of gentle climbs and descents to enjoy. In the little black book of pain Simon Warren talks about using this section to push hard and get a good time to the top. Two climbs into the day and with my left and right knees both starting to grumble a bit I decided to enjoy the view and use the gentler sections to save some energy for the final ramp up to the finish. As a result the mid section of the climb took a while to ride but as it was a nice day and the road was quiet I wasn't complaining and it was good to enjoy the scenery with no traffic noise to mar the moment.

After a lot of gentle undulations the character of the hill changed again with the impressive rock formation of Oxnop Scar coming into view. From this point the view became more restrictive and the road started to steepen through the increasingly bleak terrain as I slowly winched my way up to the top. Not much more to say about this one really; I enjoyed the ride but was pretty slow so its hardly my most dramatic effort to date.

That'll be the Scar of Oxnop fame then...much bigger and more impressive in real life

It was a relief to get to the top as my left knee was really starting to get sore towards the top. Its ususally my wonky right knee that gives me grief but it was performing pretty much as expected. I still had one more climb to do and the pain eminating from behind my left knee cap suggested that spending a morning spinning increasingly low gears up long steep climbs had found my knees limit of endurance. Getting into the car was a bit painful and knowing that I still had The Stang to ride before calling it quits for the day was slightly troubling. That video is still being edited but stay tuned if you are a fan of ultra slow uphill riding as it was a sufferfest from start to finish.

Fleet Moss

After completing the climb up to the top of Buttertubs Pass it was still quite early in the day and time for breakfast. I drove down into the village of Hawes and tried to find a shop that hadn't only just opened and actually had properly stocked shelves. Don't get me wrong, Hawes is a lovely little place with a lot of shops but I seemed to get there before they were all open. I settled on a couple of pork pies, and a slice of chocolate cake. Hardly a great breakfast but it was at least full of sugar and carbs.

For the energetic 100 climbs rider there is always the option to combine Buttertubs Pass and Fleet Moss into one ride as they are so close together. In fact the climbs I rode on the 21st June are all very close together so it would be very easy to plan an epic day out on the bike bagging climbs. 

Hawes was busy getting busy for the Grand Depart of the Tour de France which was due to take place on the first weekend in July and the place was full of colourful banners, bunting and seemingly every conceivable variation on using the bicycle as street art. It was great to see.

The climb up Fleet Moss, as with so many I ride, started with a descent. The top part of Fleet Moss is a almost dead straight 20% ramp. Riding down it from where I had parked the car was as thrilling as it was dicey; the road surface is a bit rough in places and even my ever capable Uncle John was getting bounced all over the road. Not sure how fast I was going as I no longer ride with a bike computer; the speed I do uphill is so slow its depressing to see it displayed and when going downhill I reckon if you have time to look at a little screen on the handlebars you clearly aren't going fast enough.

You have the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere at the top of Fleet Moss

Once at the bottom of the climb the first section on the way back up was a 17% gradient ramp up from the valley bottom. It is only a short uphill section and once you reach the top of it you are greeted by a nice rolling bit of road that tracks the edge of the valley. The day was starting to warm up nicely and it was a really pleasant bit of road to cycle along. This easy section goes on for about a mile but before long you are greeted by the site of the 20% section of road stretching out ahead of you over the landscape. Got to hand it to the road builders of Yorkshire, they don't bother with pansy hairpin bends; they just build their roads straight up and over anything that gets in their way!

At this point in the climb I stopped briefly to activate Ass Cam ^TM before tackling the really steep stuff. At this point I was passed by a couple of cycle tourists enthusiastically trying to spin their pannier laden bikes up. As the gradient got steeper they started to get slower and then eventually decided that pushing their heavy bikes was the only way to get up the climb. This presented me with a problem. As regular readers of this blog will know I'm pretty damn slow on the really steep stuff and once I hit bottom gear things get even slower. There was no way in hell I was going to risk getting passed by a couple of cycle tourists once I had passed them ( I really do ride that slowly) so I had no choice but to keep the bike in a higher gear than usual and keep on cranking the pedals round. It wasn't pleasant and sent my ever fragile right knee into a painful spasm but there was a point of pride to defend. I did manage to keep a decent gap over the tourists behind me but I got slower and slower as I ground out the pedal revs. The slackening of the gradient at the top of the 20% section was very welcome and I found the rest of the climb pretty straight forward from that point on. The top of the climb feels very bleak in comparison to the lower slopes but the two final bends aren't anything too taxing and I had a fairly easy ride back to the car.

Pretty much every stretch of road in Yorkshire seemed to have cyclists on it, a lot of them tacking the hills with a full touring set up complete with panniers. 

I had to chuckle once I got back to the car and started putting the bike away; the two people on tourers crested the top of the hill and said 'well done' to me. They're the ones who hauled panniers up the climb and yet they were telling me well done. I of course told them well done and said I hoped that they had a decent days riding ahead. My next challenge was the climb up Oxnop Scar and my right knee clearly hadn't appreciated my efforts to push a bigger gear up Fleet Moss so I would have to take it easy.

Cote du Buttertubs

For reasons that will become clearer in a later post my 100 climbs riding is going to be put on hold for a couple of months. However, I wanted to take a break from it all knowing that I had been able to tick off a few more climbs. With that in mind I took a short break over the weekend of the 21st June, which was also handily the longest day, to finally lay the last five climbs in Yorkshire to rest.

I drove up on Friday the 20th with the intention of riding four climbs on the Saturday. The fact it was the weekend of the longest day would give me the chance to start off early when the weather conditions were cool and hopefully get the first four climbs done by mid afternoon. After that I would have a chance to recover, have an early night and then take on the fourth climb, the fearsome Shibden Wall on the way home on Sunday morning.

My accommodation for the weekend would be the Travel Hovel TM at Scotch Corner. It is a very handily located place to stay if you are trying to take on the North Yorkshire climbs on a budget although not the best accommodation in some ways. The journey up on the Friday should have taken  no more than six hours. Because of road works and various accidents it ended up taking eight hours. After spending too much time stuck in a car in hot weather I was still able to get up at 5.30am the next day and get myself sorted in enough time to be at the top of Buttertubs Pass for about 7.30 on the Saturday morning. It was a bit breezy and cool up at the top which suited me just fine. I've never gone too well in really hot weather so it was nice to find my trip up North had taken me away from the stifling heat of the South of England.

When the Tour de France comes through this road will probably be ten deep with cycling fans

Driving to the top of Buttertubs from the Travel Shack was really interesting as I was able to cover a bit of the 1st stage of this years Tour de France route. For 100 Climbs fans it is important to note that while le Tour does take in Buttertubs the route in the little black book of pain will actually be the descent that the riders take on; they will be riding up Buttertubs from the village of Hawes. It will be a nice fast and tight descent and the roads that it will spit them out onto once they reach the bottom are tight, undulating and potentially quite dangerous for a peloton of over 180 riders. My prediction for the 1st stage of the 2014 Tour de France? Crashes, and sadly probably quite a few. The off camber 90 degree bend at the bottom of Buttertubs will be an interesting test for the peloton.

Hopefully when Chris Froome and his rivals start the descent of Buttertubs they won’t be half asleep as I was. Halfway down there is a steep (25% gradient) hairpin bend. The Tour organisers had already put up warning signs to alert the Tour riders of its presence. Needless to say in my half asleep state I came close to overcooking it and ploughing through a dry stone wall. Its actually quite a fun descent and I’m looking forward to seeing how the pro’s take it on.

The climb up Buttertubs starts with a gradient of around 14%. After a bit of a slog to get going it eases off a bit and the bulk of Buttertubs can be seen ahead of you, as can the road stretching onwards and upwards. The 25% gradient hairpin bends seem a long way away from you when you start this climb and whilst they aren’t as fearsome as you might think they will be, you will have expended a lot of energy by the time you reach them. This does make the kick up in gradient a bit nastier to deal with so its important to leave something in the tank on the early slops. Make sure you look left as you crest the left hand hairpin bend as the view of where you’ve just come from is great.

I had picked a beautiful day for my trip to Yorkshire

Buttertubs has a fun fast element to it. Well, OK, it actually has a nice fast downhill section a little further along from the hairpin bends. I found it a welcome break from slogging uphill and it let me recover a bit before the final slog up the last significant ramp up in gradient before the final cruise along the top to the final cattle grid. It also allows you to take in a great view of the surrounding countryside.

Overall I quite liked Buttertubs Pass. I was a bit tired when I started it but by taking it nice and easy it was a fairly enjoyable ride and a good start to my day of hill climbing. After packing the bike away it was time to head off into nearby Hawes to grab some breakfast and then take on Fleet Moss.

Tan Hill: Better Late than Never

Wow, it has been a while since my last update. Sorry about that; been rather busy with all sorts of other things recently. Ironically this video has been edited for a while.

On the second of March I woke to find my car frosted over on another cold Northern morning. It was my plan to ride the Tan Hill climb then head home. Getting to the climb was an adventure in itself as my route took me over the tops of the moors and I encountered a lot of icy roads. At one point I had to inch my way up a series of tight hairpins that were covered in ice. Thankfully my little Fiat doesn’t have much power but plenty of grip and taking it easy on the throttle ensured I got up and down most of the icy bits with no drama.

Tan Hill was mile after mile of roads like this. I got bored, guess I missed having some hairpin bends to grind up slowly

As I got closer to the start of the climb I realised I was driving down the climb known as The Stang. I was briefly tempted to ride this climb instead of the one up Tan Hill as it would mean spending less time being frozen to my bike. The layer of ice on the steeper lower slopes soon put me off and I decided that the relatively gentle gradients of Tan Hill would be an easier bet in the conditions.

This would probably be a lovely view on a nice day. On an overcast cold day it was just big, bleak and slightly depressing

The day before had started cold but turned into a beautiful day with clear blue skies. The weather on the second was cold gray and overcast with a strong chance of rain. The conditions couldn’t have been more different. Nor could the climb; all of the rides the day before had taken place on clearly identifiable hills. The ride up to Tan Hill is essentially a ride up over the moors until you reach the top and it was hard to believe I was on the right bit of road right up until I crested a slight rise and saw the Tan Hill Inn. The road just gently climbed for mile after mile with no discernible end in sight.

Getting out of the car I was struck by just how much colder it was at the top and I spent most of the descent trying not to get too cold. It was a long descent and I quickly realised that I was probably going to get bored on the way back up. Apart from a few 10% ramps the climb is very gentle with moor land views all around. On a spring or summer day it would be a pleasant uphill meander. On a grey bitterly cold day in early March it was all rather uninspiring. I think that’s why it has taken me so long to post this blog update; I was just bored by the whole experience of riding up Tan Hill. My mood wasn’t helped by the fact that the icy cold wind turned one half of my face numb, or by the sudden deterioration in the weather as I reached the top. I was pleased to just get back into my car, turn the heating to the max and start heading home.

Messed up Plans

It had been my intention to have ridden a few more climbs by this point in the year. Since my last trip up North to tick of some climbs I’ve been very busy with work and driving some massive mileages during the week. Its left me feeling unwilling to get into a car and spend hours driving up and down the motorway network at the weekends. I cancelled one trip at the last minute when I realised I was just too knackered to make the journey, let alone ride the climbs.

 Don’t worry, I fully intend to complete the 100 climbs, its just that I haven’t had the energy or motivation to throw myself into completing the challenge in the last month or so. There are a few things on the horizon that should hopefully help me regain the energy and time to start crossing some more climbs of the list. I’m actually in decent condition for the steep challenges that await, I just need to free up the time. My venerable old Surly Cross Check is about 50% rebuilt in its new bling guise and it may even make a comeback for some of the remaining rides. I love my Uncle John but there is something about the way the Surly handles that makes me want to put it through its paces in the mountains again.

Watch this space…