Club run

Sunday was Middleton CC club run day - with me as a guest rider seeing as I haven't renewed my membership with them. It proved to be a day like no other.

I'd arranged to meet the guys at Droylsden Academy as it's close to my place and on the pre-planned route to Uppermill, so at a few minutes to 9:40 I hoicked Everest downstairs and out into the crisp chilled (make that frozen) air, locked up and shoved my hands into my cheats winter gloves - 'normal' non-cycle full finger gloves with mitts over the top (I find these better than winter cycle gloves), pulled my buff up (yep, it was cold enough for my buff) and set off to find the one-way streets have changed direction, back to how they used to be, so I found myself heading the wrong way along a short section (on the pavement too, how naughty am I?!) rather than trying to fight my way through the stupid contraflow and literally riding in circles to get to where I needed to be.

After a very chilly 5 minutes wait I saw 2 flouro people pootling in my direction - Paul and Joe were the only other club members brave enough to ride on the day that winter hit.

We set off through roadworks and round a fiveway roundabout to head to Moorside St and through to Daisy Nook where the rain began to fall from the carpet of cloud that had formed. After stopping to put on rain jackets and my phone into Paul's camelback, we pootled on through Daisy Nook and up to the climb on Vicarage Rd. After staying behind the others on the route so far and seeing them crawl up Newmarket Rd I decided that Vicarage Rd would be a much faster affair for myself; I sat behind them to the base of the climb and it's first bend biding my time. The second bend came up and I chose my moment and launched an attack that they failed to respond to. I did my usual mountain-goat impression I do on some ridiculously short steep climbs and hauled ass to the top in double quick time while they crawled up in a gentlemanly fashion. Still, it gave me time to schlurp some of my energy-powered vimto - neutral High-5 tabs in vimto - while waiting for them.

Along to Mossley Rd, between Stamford Park and it's boating lake and to the Stamford/Ridge Hill lights where a left turn took us to Wakefield Rd where the spitting rain turned into rain, then into sleety rainy crap. Climbing round past the top of Cockerhill Rd and the shit got heavier still. And colder. Much colder.

By the time we got to Heyrod and under the railway line the shit couldn't make it's mind up if it was gonna be rain, sleet or snow and the roads were collecting standing water. A fellow cyclist passed us at this point as he headed Ashton direction and seemed surprised to see us in the weather - and we, him. Soon another cyclist was passing us looking rather soggy and grumbling about the weather.

Cycling a section of road where the railway is on one side and the River Tame is on the other, it was hard to work out which was louder - the trains passing or the gushing of the very swollen river as it crashed over a weir and carried on smashing it's way through the valley. That wasn't the only river though as the standing water on the roads was getting deeper (around 1cm deep so far) and had begun to flow quite happily along the road. By this point we were all getting very wet with the rain seeping through clothes (4 layers in my case) as the rain got heavier and the spray got worse.

We were originally going to head to Uppermill, but seeing as we were nearing Mossley we decided to see if any cafes were open (they weren't). We stopped at Mossley Station to discuss what to do. Seeing as there was water pouring down Stamford Rd instead of going into the drains, and I was beginning to get very cold due to now being rather wet we chose to head back home.

Turning round in a pond and getting back onto Manchester Rd was easier than anticipated and we set off home the same way we headed out. By now we all had ponds in our shoes despite wearing neoprene overshoes (the rest of us was soggy anyway so why not pool in the shoes) meaning every pedal stroke squeezed out socks to some extent and every pull on the brakes produced visible water run-off from the squeezing out of gloves.

Reaching Ridge Hill Rd lights where we turn right to climb up to Mossley Rd and I was forced into taking evasive action - we were at the front of the lane and the lights turned to the green filter for my lane to turn right; as I was making my turn a car from the opposite side of the lights decided that as soon as his lights changed to green he was gonna mow down anything in its way. My evasive action meant I had to tighten my turn and resulted in going the wrong side of an island, luckily there weren't any cars there or I'd have ended up laying on their bonnets or perfecting my superman impressions.

Back home I couldn't make my mind up which was wetter - myself or the lake that was forming outside my front door! Once indoors I dropped my clothes where I stood and made for a hot bath before heading to my parent's place.

Stats - www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=27408

Many fellow polar bears and penguins met along the way.

Temp - 3c with real feel of 0c

Miles: 17.13

Average speed: 11mph (slow, but with slicks in the rain/sleet/snow it can't be helped)

Climbed: 520ft

The ouchy ride

After watching the Revolution series at the Manchester Velodrome on Saturday night, spending most of the time stood up, I possibly foolishly decided on riding Sunday morning. What was meant to be a nice easy flat ride became a slow paced ride with some climbing to do. A ride that became slower as it went on due to the pain in my knee getting progressively worse.

A portion of the Floop was ridden to Debdale before a jaunt on Hyde Rd/Manchester Rd through Denton Roundabout and into Hyde, then the climb up to Roe Cross via Victoria St and Matley. This was followed by the descent into Stalybridge then the climb back out to Ashton and up over to Park Bridge for the great descent there (rather busy this time round). Followed, naturally by my off-road jaunts that added mud to the road crud covering Everest and myself already. Over the M60 and climbing up a muddy, leafy slope on slicks brought me back out on the roads without having to get up the stupidly steep portion of road that would have finished me off as my perma-buggered knee was really whining now. Luckily I was close enough to home to really slow down without the fear of night descending before I got there.

Stats -
Temp: 11C with a real feel of 11C, wind 12mph WSW
Miles: 18.74
Average speed: 12.1mph
Climbed: 1002ft

Evening ride

Seeing as Tuesday day passed without me feeling any worse I decided that I would get out for my evening ride. So, while watching Hollyoaks (I know, at my age it's sad) I clamboured into my kit (bizarrely the kit of a club to which I am no longer a member!), mounted my lights onto Everest and hoicked her downstairs. Dodged a muppet van driver as soon as I got out the door - there're 2 working garages on my crappy street and one of them works quite late; the morons who drive the cars back into the compound think they're rally drivers (my road is gravel and railway sleepers), doing handbrake turns and wheel spins. All without any of the lights on the vehicles. if it wasn't for my bins being either side of my front door, the vehicles would literally be on my doorstep.

I digress, apologies.

As the metrolink works have now reached my junction and have added several more contraflows to the mix I had to immediately alter the route out to Ashton and set off through Openshaw and Fairfield to get to where I wanted to be (a nice sprinty section of road leading to the Snipe and on through into Ashton. Past the splatter zone and onto Cranbourne before Kings and Gorsey Lane. Then came the great descent back towards Ashton, only diverting off at the rubbish five-way junction where I sat in the middle of the road waiting to turn right as there seemed to be an endless line of cars heading up towards Mossley. Personally I think there should be a filter at these lights, but there isn't and most likely never will be.
Back through Hurst, Daisy Nook and Littlemoss, whizzing round a mini roundabout at yet another five-way junction and the final sprint to home.

Given that my left knee was really aching in work I was expecting some problems. However, none occurred and all went well without real incident or accident.

Stats -
Miles: 13.69
Average speed: 14.6mph
Climbed: 500ft

Shepley shuttle

How gorgeous does that view look??? That is where today's ride headed to.

Having woke up to a gorgeously clear, crisp bright day I just had to jump on Everest and free her from the constraints of being a clothes horse. A crap journey through umpteen contraflows - I swear they're breeding round here - and I managed to swerve off into a side road that'd take me to a rapid descent before over the hump that crosses the M60, round a rather desolate empty mini roundabout and onto another rapid descent down to the Tame Valley before I decided to do some hill reps on the climb back out of the valley. It's not a huge climb: a mere 0.22 mile of 6% average and 8% max gradient, but it's a hill of sorts. After looking like a numpty going up and down this bit several times and turning at the little roundabout at the top I finally left the climb and carried on through Globe Lane industrial estate before the descent through Dukinfield and the climb up to one of the huge roundabouts in Ashton. Oh, there's nothing like a hgv up the ass to get you sprinting up climbs.

Whoever decided to plonk a roundabout at the top of a 19% section needs shooting as, more often than not, I'm caught out behind traffic and stuck on the ascent trying not to roll backwards into whatever is behind me!

Anyway, following this lovely bit of engineering is an excellent sprinty section; only 0.22 mile but you can build up good speed on it until you slam the brakes on cos the set of lights is always against you at the end of it. I maxed out at 27mph on it - think I was a bit slow leaving the roundabout.

After a stint on Ashton's finest one-way systems and narrowing roads I took Everest off-road through Daisy Nook where we made friends with a Scotty dog and got lovely and muddy and all shook up on the trails before getting back onto the main road and mountain goating up the 20% section that other cyclists seem to really struggle on. This really is the only 'climb' where I can consistently pass cyclists without even trying. Hey-ho!

More of Tameside's greatest one-way systems followed with nice sprinty bits.

After a game of chicken trying to get into the middle of 3 lanes to get round another one-way bit, I was passing by the best factory in the world - the biscuit factory. I tell you, I wanna live in one of the houses next to it cos the smells emanating from it? They're out of this world! Just very mmmmmmmm!!

All the while since leaving Ashton centre I had a bus behind me that kept trying to pass, but finding I was going too quick or the road got crummy so couldn't. He finally got the upper hand as we passed over the M60 again by the Snipe; he had a little more horse power than I do. i could see him chuckling in the wing mirror as he passed me by, only for me to have the last laugh as the hgv in front of me decided he wanted to go in front of the bus. So as the hgv started to cross lanes I swung around his ass and floored it to the sound of 'what?!?!'. I don't think the bus driver thought cyclists could go quicker than motors. Mwa-hah-ha!

Sadly I think Joby has jinxed me. Going through yet another one-way system, as another hgv passed closely on my right shoulder something in the road got sucked up in his draft and thudded into my shin. I now have an egg-sized lump right on the shin bone that started to go a lovely shade of puce as soon as it got hit.

I haven't a clue what hit me as I had no time to react really, what with a line of traffic behind me and going at warp speed myself. I guess I'm just lucky I was so close to the hgv or the thing may've hit me in the head or smashed through a windscreen behind me.

Anyway although my leg hurt like bloody hell, I still managed to sprint the rest of the way home: a good mile and half and managed to max out at 31mph. So I'm happy.

Even happier that I managed to stay above 10mph on the reps at Shepley.

I'm thinking that something is definitely going right. Maybe not as quickly as I'd like, but you know we can't have it all our own way all the time. Unless you're Joby of course, lol.

Stats - view route

Simply devine for September, warm, clear.

Miles: 15.31 (including 6 hill reps)

Average speed: 14.2mph

Climbed: 448ft (including hill reps)

Phew!

It's been a busy old week for me what with working and then trying to fit in some riding and walking. But I managed it and here it is in glorious technicolour for you: (apologies for the long post too):

Wednesday 26th
I decided to go for a walk over at Dovestone reservoir and head off by bus to get to Chew Valley Rd before starting the walk at the end of a new housing estate and going along a dirt track until I reached Bank Lane. Walking along Chew Rd i made the decision to head up the valley to Chew and maybe over to Laddow Rocks, so I set off along the dirt track that takes you pretty much vertically up the side of Indian's Head until you reach the old tram line path which I continued on until I got to the bridge which then takes you over Chew Brook to Chew Rd itself.
After getting onto the main works access road I plodded on up the hill until i reached a little inlet and pond pretty much 95% up the steep valley. At this point the clouds rolled in and threatened rain, so rather than getting soaked with no shelter, I headed back down to the 3 reservoirs in the base of the valley.

Once back at the sailing club I made the decision to walk around all 3 reservoirs. Off I set round the Isle of Skye end of Dovestone, past Yeoman Hey dam wall and along it's side with an access brook on my left, fir trees on either side of me and onto Greenfield dam wall, across it and thus began the fun.

The opposite side of Yeoman Hey isn't a solid path, it's a narrow dirt path that first climbs then falls again, is very squelchy and unstable underfoot and has some big steps down to do from boulders. Bear in mind I'm scared of heights and this had a sheer drop to my right just yards from the path and you can see why I was holding onto the grass each time the path dropped a little. Not that grass can help me if I did fall!
After a while I was back onto terra firma and the gravel path on the far side of Dovestone again, passing Ashway Gap and coming into the car park.

After a brew and a rest I plodded on along Bradley Lane past the back-to-back cottages (very sweet) and began the descent back to the bus stop.

Stats - view route
Cool, windy, cloudy.
Miles: 9.8
Climbed: 968 ft


Sunday 30th
The Middleton CC club ride ride involved me riding over to Heaton Park to meet up with the other riders: Joe, Steve C and Mike. After leaving the flat late I sprinted my way over the 6 miles to the park and found I was early by about 10 minutes! All too soon the others arrived and we set off to meet John W at the Sheepfoot/Bury Rd junction and again were early. Once John arrived we set off (myself with expectations of hilliness that I'd not be able to ride).

We set off and had the fun of going through Agecroft and the valley it sits in (steep sided at that!) before heading over to the A6 for the straight run pretty much to the destination. The route out was pretty boring really as the A6 is a busy(ish) but pretty non-descript road with roundabouts to keep you awake and not much else going for it until you get to the Bolton end of it. Myself and Mike were busy gabbing away a lot of the time anyway and quite often left the others behind, so kept stopping to let them catch up.
Once on Chorley Rd and heading towards Blackrod the roads got a little bit crap. Very rumbly and huge vibrations were making my pelvis (injured bit) and hands (eczema ravaged and nerve damaged)hurt. At this point I asked Joe what he'd done with all the hills as I felt like I'd not even gone uphill at any point of the ride bar Agecroft. He forewarned me that they'd be coming up soon. As I'd ridden near Adlington with Amy and Vikki I'd sussed out that it's be hilly there, but I thought it'd be more hilly on the way there.

Turning up Railway Rd in Adlington and I was soon rewarded with climbs up Babylon Lane and Horrobin Lane to the Great Barn where we all got tortured by wasps!

The return leg was good through the forest and out onto Chorley New Rd for a stint to the Reebok Stadium. At this point I left everybody behind without even realising or trying (maybe my riding has gotten better?) but they caught up at the junction for De Havilland Way and it's joyous roundabouts to get us back onto the A6 again where Joe and John were forever telling us we'd be back at Pendlebury Hospital and our turning. Myself and Mike were convinced we'd missed the turning but were proven wrong as it loomed ahead of us.
Joe had terrible timing along this road as he waited until Mike had passed and I was passing our next turning; so u-turns were in order.

Coming back through Agecroft and we all realised that we had the worst bit to come as the climb back out to Scholes Lane was long and steep (much longer and steeper than the other end). To make matters worse my chain slipped twice while climbing this hill and I very nearly came off at a mini-roundabout plonked halfway up it, but I got to the top and continued on our merry way.

Nearing Heaton Park I mentioned to Mike that my bike sounded a bit like a steam train, to which he agreed, and we both thought it was my rear brake catching the tyre each revolution. When I got to the Park and Joe, John, Steve and Mike had all gone their routes home, i looked closer at Everest and found (to my horror) that my rear wheel had slipped a little and was actually rubbing on the frame. To think I'd ridden all that way and climbed the hills with my wheel like that; I certainly didn't feel like it was causing any problems and it didn't feel that the climbing was harder than I'd normally find it.

After correcting and tightening things up I plodded off to a welcome pint of milk and huge tea at moms before putting more miles in by heading out through Daisy Nook and Ashton, Audenshaw and Openshaw before collapsing on the sofa at home.

Stats - view route
Warm heading out and cold heading home!
Miles: 62.59
Average speed: 12.8
Climbed: 1161ft

Monday 31st
I'd planned to ride with Joby and do one of his routes that he tweaked after I sent him a copy of one of mine. After chatting with Mike yesterday he asked if he could come along too.
So, after meeting him at Ryecroft Hall (after we'd gone to differing places to meet! Whoops!) we set off to meet Joby at the Morrisons in Hyde/Mottram. We thought we'd be 30 minutes so Joby had a pootle around while we rode there. As it was we got there early and had to wait for Joby (sorry for messing you about).

When he arrived, quick introductions were made and we set off with the fun of Mottram Rd ahead of us. I'd forewarned Joby that both Mike and I had ridden many miles the day before with over 1000ft of climbing so we were pretty shattered already; I also forewarned Joby that I'm absolutely crap on hills so to expect to drop me and have to wait at the top of them for me. My predictions were correct as they left me behind and seemed to shoot off up the hill, but were happily (?) waiting for me at the roundabout. Once round there and we shot off down the hill to Mottram Moor and hurtled past cars at warp speed, sadly not breaking the 35mph zone on our pcs.

Once onto the A57 and around a mini-roundabout we had to turn right at the next mini one and I was forewarned that the hills would be coming thick and fast. Primrose Lane is a bit of a climb in itself with 1 mile of 4% but nothing would prepare any of us (except Joby cos he'd ridden all of it before) for the hell that was to be Chunal!
An average of 10% for 2 miles is not an easy thing to deal with, least of all for crappy non-hill climbing me. It's suffice to say that I suffered. I suffered big time. It'd be tough riding it on fresh legs, never mind knackered ones with a pinging pelvis. We all decreed that we'd be walking some of it.

I rode 98% of the bugger and walked the most evil bit. Whether they did or not, i dunno. Maybe they were saying that to ease my mind? Either way, I did my best and tamed the beast. But only with several rest (or is that dying) stops along the way.

After all that up must come a down and boy did it. An amazing descent into Hayfield more than made up for the pain of getting to the top of Chunal. Once at Hayfield we pootled along the slightly lumpy Hayfield Rd into New Mills, where we made the decision to make it a little easier on the legs and head along the A6 through Disley and into Hazel Grove.

At this point myself and Joby decided we'd try to out sprint each other coming along here and were frequently triggering the 'slow down, 30' signs and passing each other at warp speed: Joby maxed out at 37mph and I at 38.4mph. Boy, we were flying!

Up the lumpy Torkington and Otterspool Rds (I'm usually coming the other way down them) and soon we saying our goodbyes as Joby headed off to meet Gaz for a ride and Mike and I set off home.

At Bredbury we turned off along Ashton Rd (again I usually come the other way along it) and flew down the descent before facing the climb back out again into Denton. Shooting through Crown Point we turned off to head back to the Fairfield/Droylsden border where every little hump in the road made us feel we were climbing Mt Everest. Dunno about Mike, but my legs were so devoid of energy that they felt like they were falling off, so I didn't really want to go up Ashton Hill Rd - it's only a little humped bridge but it can feel like hell when you're whacked!
We got up and over that ok and pootled on through Droylsden centre and along until we reached the Haddon hall on Lewis Rd where we said our goodbyes: Mike had the fun of climbing up Berry Brow to get home and I set off again to my parents before heading home to my place.

Once home I looked at the speedo to check my maximum speed coming from Bredbury and down the descent by Castle Hill Rd: I'd managed to hit 48.2mph! Jeeeeeeez!!!!!!!

It was an awesome ride, with leg-busting climbs and great company. Thanks again guys for waiting for me at the top of every climb!

Stats - view route
Warm and humid but with a bastard of a headwind all the way round.
Miles: 36.99
Average speed: 12.5
Climbed: 1273ft

Nine at 9

After a mega busy day in work I decided that I'd have a night-time ride for a change. I waited until 9pm as I wanted to just chill out a little beforehand and to allow my tea to go down.

At 9pm I kitted up with the long-sleeved Middleton jersey going on and got Everest ready with her lights (knog frogs and cateye (both of which were on front and rear)) and set off down through Openshaw to Delamere Park and up towards the Lumb Lane one-way system, past the Snipe and into Ashton. A little climb towards Bardsley and I was then heading down the twisty descent of Newmarket and Stannybrook Rds through Daisy Nook and the kick upwards at the Stannybrook turning got me out of the saddle for a sprint up the little hill, then through Littlemoss and into Droylsden centre, turning right at the football club to overtake a line of coaches before the hump of a bridge and the fiveways roundabout where I just flew across thanks to no traffic at all.

Then it was a case of riding the wrong way up a one-way system near my place (all above board as, thanks to roadworks, the one-way system has now changed direction for a while!). Humping Everest up the stairs to my flat and flop out on the sofa to chomp more food!

Stats -
Cool and cloudy.
Miles: 8.39
Average speed: 16.8mph
Climbed: 102ft

A bike has gone

Well, despite being given a bike back in June that I have ridden a few times, the rides haven't really been worth a write-up. Now I am back to being a 2-bike household as I have sold the Concept.
Main problem was with it being a women's framed bike, therefore it was too cramped on it. Given my height (6'1") a woman's bike is always going to have issues for me in terms of reach. For mountain bikes, the frame height is going to be fine for me (as it was despite only being a 17" frame), but I was too cramped and folded up.

I sold it to a chap who was buying his niece a mountain bike for the first time, therefore my bike and price were perfect for him. He collected the same day it sold and we're all happy.

I have been looking for a replacement mtb for some time now, but they're all way out of my price range given that I'm not in paid work, so I've come to the conclusion that I'll buy some wheels and cyclocross type tyres instead and just whack them on Everest whenever I want to go off road. Everest is a tough steel beast and has handled all the hard stuff better than me, so she'll cope no problem.

Now to find those wheels......

Windyville

After my enforced break from riding due to having to order in tyres and needing to find the money for them first, they finally arrived on Saturday morning. Hurrah! I was beginning to think that I'd have to miss the MCC Club Ride to Rivington on August 30th, but it's looking like I can ride it after all.

So this morning I set off for a ride to test out the new tyres - and to see how she'd cope after being pimped over the past month. One thing I didn't count on today though was the awful wind that evilly became a headwind no matter where I went. So much for seeing if the rolling resistance of the Luganos would be worse or better than the gp 4 seasons, with the wind I was struggling just to stay upright on the climbs.

So, here goes: after heading to Daisy Nook, dropping down Stannybrook I began the climb up Crime Lane (evil hill) to Bardsley and got onto Park Bridge Rd for a nice meander before the cobbled road took me to another short, sharp kick in the ass with the climb past the visitor centre and Dingle Terrace to continue climbing up Mill Brow until I reached Abbey Hills Rd and had a descent to the five-way junction on the Mossley/Ashton border where I began climbing up past Hartshead Pike and dropped down from Upper to Lower Mossley before climbing back up to Mossley Cross via the steepest little bastard of a hill (210ft of climbing in 0.48 mile averaging 14%), then descending back past the Pike to Gorsey Lane where I chose to ride down it for a change and headed to Daisy Nook for breakfast.

While at Daisy Nook visitor centre I had the funniest experience I've had for a while. Due to my height and short hair most people assume I'm a bloke when riding (despite the snug fitting kit), so when I rode to a table and saw a couple of mtbers already there I though nothing of it. Ditto neither did they. However when they realised I'm female, oh they changed their tune! All of a sudden they were showing off, flirting, mucking about near me. Every time I stood up they began whistling and suddenly turning it into a tune when I caught their eyes. Hilarious to watch them. They became like a pack of dogs!

Anyway, I digress. Back to the ride. After climbing back out of the valley, I descended down the fast, steep and narrow Medlock Rd before hitting my hill rep hill (where I couldn't be arsed doing any reps) although I did overtake a couple of cyclists - which is a miracle for me on that hill! And I dropped them too: click of the gears as I passed and bye-bye cyclists. I think it was just a fluke that I managed it that time as I'm usually rather pants at hills. of any variety.

Then it was home, pint of milk down the throat and off to moms.

Stats - view route
Lovely and warm but, oh so windy!
Miles: 20.68
Average speed: 15.4mph
Climbed: 732ft

Spot the difference

Can you spot the difference with Everest in the before and after pics?

Solo Standedge

While Gaz took part in the Manchester arm of the Skyride and as the weather promised to be nice on Sunday I decided to have a re-run of the club ride, but all by myself this time. It turned out to be an interesting day!


After dressing in the finest Quickstep livery (bar my Lampre helmet) I had to become a hybrid of teams as the weather when I left home wasn't too warm, so my Discovery Channel windshell went on, but was swiftly removed again after 15 minutes as I'd warmed up quickly and was beginning to overheat and get all clammy. Yuck!


I set off towards Droylsden and promptly got stuck in the tailbacks that'd already built up in the contraflow a mile up the road and sat there for 10 minutes or so before the green light let me turn off towards Littlemoss and the small climb out of Daisy Nook to follow the same route I took last Sunday complete with all its climbs.


Once I got to Uppermill I remembered that the Saddleworth Festival was on so was prepared to have to go elsewhere for lunch on my return leg through the village. Once on the Wool Rd I prepared myself to make Tom Boonen and the rest of the Quickstep team proud as I launched myself up the Col du Standedge. Well, I say launch, but what I really mean is a 7mph crawl. Hmm, I'm not even sure I'm proud of that speed, but I did manage to maintain the speed I had last week up here, so it wasn't too bad.

Once I got about halfway up I spied a pair of cyclists further up the climb. This pair seemed to be getting closer and closer to me. Were they slowing down, I wonder? As I passed them (not sure how that happened!) I looked down at the speedo and I'd somehow picked the pace up - not much but obviously enough for me to overtake. Sadly my glory was short lived as a group of cyclist sped past me up the hill and round the corner out of sight. Damn those superfit people!!


At the junction in Bleak Hey Nook I stopped to watch a helicopter take off, fly around and land again, and repeat this quite a few times. Not long after another cyclist passed me and stopped for a breather round the corner facing the direction I was headed in. He looked whacked!


I mounted Everest and set off in preparation for the rapid swooping descent into Delph. Somewhere along here I lost the other cyclist (at least, he started out following me). I enjoyed the descent so much that I must have looked like the Cheshire cat to anyone who saw me fly down the road.


After a brief section on the flat the road began to kick up again. After a mile of climbing a lovely (not) 10% portion of the road, and not remembering this part of the ride at all, I though it wise to stop at a bus shelter and look at the map on it. Mmmmm, I was enjoying the descent so much that I'd completely missed my turning and was halfway to Scouthead and I didn't particularly want to be heading in that direction. I rode on until the next available turn that'd take me to Diggle and that was when I hit the wall.......Wall Hill Rd that is! I'm so glad that I was descending this road and not trying to get up it as it is evil - signs on it suggest 11% gradient. In places it's 13 or more. Anyway, it's a nightmare junction to get around as it's a very tight left hand turn with the road dropping sharply from the main road. But it made for a good descent despite ending up with 2 hounds barking at my ankles!


Back in Uppermill I stopped at Saints cafe for a bite to eat and had a wander around the festival grounds (in the park behind the cafe), made a few friends and then unlocked Everest from her railing and set off home.

Down through Chew Valley and through Mossley, past where I punctured last week (roadworks have gone now and the road was cleaned) and onto the horrid roadwork section in Stalybridge where the lights are out - it's a large, very busy junction on a hill and with the traffic lights out it proves an interesting junction to turn right at. Thankfully the contraflow further up the road actually stops the traffic moving at anything more than a snails pace; so, provided there're no cars turning right onto my road, it was easy to get out by trailing a car going my way!


Then it was a case of sneaking back up the 20% hill (behind a van that was struggling big time) before getting back onto easier territory towards Mossley's 5 way junction.

Once over there I set off back up a hill I'd already climbed once this ride towards Park Bridge and had the joy of a messed up road - it's steep, twisty, often slick with leaf-litter, single file in most parts, and Tameside Council have decided that it needs to have chicanes, speed humps AND rumble strips too!

After all that fun I stopped off at Daisy Nook for a bacon butty before setting off back up another once-ridden climb to Bardsley before swooping round the one-way systems and getting onto the fast-paced dual carriageway that leads towards home.

A stop at my mom's for her roast pork tea and a welcome rest and soon I was back home with the comforts of a hot bath, a comfy sofa and the Top Gear boys.


Stats - view route
Rather warm, sporadically cloudy and breezy.
Miles: 35.38
Average speed: 12.4mph (smidge quicker than last time)
Climbed: 1207ft

Pootles

I thought I'd have a few back to back rides, where I'm riding daily for a few days, so that I can see exactly how my riding is going: am I getting fitter or not yet, am I worse than last year or fitter etc. So here's how Sunday and Monday went -

Sunday
Seeing as the weather wasn't too great during the day I went for a ride in the evening after devouring a roast beef tea at my moms. So, at 8pm I clambered into my gear, made sure Everest was all set and set off out towards the hills. Through the roadworks and to the contraflow pausing at the crossroads for the lights to change. At the amber light I pushed off (still in the contraflow) and crossed the junction speeding up as I had a car right up my ass. When hisssssssss. Of all the places to get a flat, and an instant flat at that, it had to happen in a contraflow and right outside a pub. Mmm, not the best of places to be hanging around outside while in full cycle gear.

I managed to get into a lay by and onto the pavement to a fence to sort out the tyre. As it was an instant flat it proved a little harder than normal to locate it, but when I did it was a double puncture - almost as if I'd ridden over a giant staple - but there was nothing stuck in the tyre/tube, so after I patched it up I continued on my way.

I rode pretty much straight into Ashton and back via Guide Bridge for a pretty much straightforward route. Other than having to stop to sort out the tyre it was a good ride bar the fierce headwind I got on the way back.

Sunday stats -
Still rather warm
Average speed: 15.3mph
Miles: 6.28

Monday
I was all for heading into the hills today, but as the hills were looking very gloomy and I wasn't really in the mood to get rained on in any way, I chose to head out to Gorsey Lane for a little bit of climbing.

I set off out through Littlemoss and alongside Daisy Nook to Cranbourne Rd and over to Hurst where I got onto King's Rd and it's climb up past the war memorial and stopped to admire the view at the top alongside the edge of Ashton Golf Course looking over to Hartshead Pike looming out of the gloom.
Once I'd descended to Mossley Rd and Luzley I enjoyed the superb fast descent back into Ashton, where I trained my neck to get back into the aero position it's been unable to hold since my accident (think it's simply lack of being in that position).

Soon I was climbing back out of Ashton towards Oldham and turning off the road into Daisy Nook proper for a muddy off road jaunt for a bacon butty. I very nearly came off on one of the drops down the side of the lock flight, but somehow held on as the path seemed to slide down the gradient with me! After devouring the sarnie i set off across the steep Stannybrook Rd onto the Jericho Trail crossing the M60, then trying to get up a muddy hill with the rear wheel spinning out every now and then. After the 'n'th time, I gave up and walked up the hill before mounting again for the last section before the car park by the fish farm.

A nice fast-paced ride back to another lot of roadworks and road closures brought me alongside Droylsden FC and all too soon to the roundabout where Paul painfully perfected his superman impression over a bonnet many, many years ago. Thankfully I tweak my rides this way so I leave the roundabout by the nearest exit to that which I'm entering from and soon I hurtled alongside Droylsden High before joining the one-way system and arrived home.

Monday stats -
Warm though cloudy
Average speed: 12.7mph
Miles: 13.97

In respect of riding days back-to-back, I seemed to manage quite well. Monday's average seems about right for the climbs regardless of whether I'd ridden 12hrs earlier or not. The real test for me will be riding the day after a track session (sadly I've not been back on the track since January time).

So maybe my fitness is improving. Maybe I'm just a tad more mentally stronger. Maybe.

*Pictures will follow for Monday's ride soon*

Manchester to Blackpool

****NEW PB - 4:13:27****

At 6:00am a very weary me woke up to dull grey skies with the threat of rain on the morning of Sunday 12th July for my 2nd Manchester to Blackpool ride. After a night of rain (some heavy) my heart sank a little at the prospect of 60+ soggy miles. However my worries were unfounded as not a drop of rain fell until we were back at base waiting for the bikes to arrive back.

I had aimed to leave my place at around 6:30 for the 7ish mile ride out to Old Trafford to start the ride with Simon who had the same start time as I did; however I ended up leaving my place late, but used the ride out as a very good warm up with a few sprints in there to test the legs out.

Arriving at OT at 7:15 I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Bananaman say that they're letting people off early due to the sheer number of participants (over 8500 people), so I set off at 7:25.

Bananaman also had a warning (already) that there'd been quite a few accidents (already) pretty much 5 minutes outside of the ground (already!), due to the rail lines that crisscross the roads (slow moving freight trains use(d) them for the warehouses). Hmm, that's not sounding good. As it was we only had to cross the lines once and they were easy provided you attack them in the right way - I cross lines quite often on some of my rides so I know how to do it without slipping.

Out past Trafford Ecology Park and round to pass the Imperial War Museum looking very brooding under the cloudy skies, and soon we hit the first 'climb' of the day that got quite a lot of people panicking and slowing down or stopping and walking. Mmm, it got me last year, but I wasn't going to let it get me this time round. The organisers are great at shoving a climb (this one was an average of 11% with a max of 20%) right near the start of the thing. I happily twiddled my way up it passing all sorts of riders of differing abilities.

We got onto the A572 through Boothstown and on through Leigh to Hindley Green and Hindley for another 5% climb to Aspull and on to Haigh Hall. An interesting cobbled section (they didn't warn us about that!) led to a 7% speed-humped descent into the grounds and the Higher Plantation. Still descending we entered the Lower Plantation for what can only be described as a bit of a silly route - steep, twisty, leaf-littered, slick road with chicanes added to ensure we didn't fly down it. As it was, I overshot a corner and nearly fell into a valley, with only a tree stopping me. Almost everyone I passed or who passed me at this point were all saying this bit wasn't ideal for a road bike due to the conditions. Not only was this bit bad, but we had to climb back out of it at the other side in the same conditions, only shorter and much steeper.

After leaving the grounds I noticed a chap riding alongside me and decided to natter to him for a bit. This was his ninth or tenth time of riding the event, but the first on his nice shiny new bike he got off his mate (alloy, carbon forks/seatpost, Italian wheelset). We were both a good pacer for each other as we shot along at 17mph chatting, neither letting the other get away

Once back out of the grounds, the route took us through Standish, past Charnock Richard Golf Course and up to Euxton where the route left the A49 and joined on to some very odd sounding roads: Schleswig Way and Flensburg Way. Soon we were at Preston Marina and the right side of the Ribble for Blackpool.
Up to this point, the route really wasn't overly scenic, but now above Preston it was, with lovely little villages to ride through. I found Treales to be the prettiest. I also knew of it's secret: last year I stopped for a breather here and got chatting to a villager who asked what was going on, after telling him of the event and asking him how much further Blackpool is, he let me in on the secret - there is a very evil hill that catches everyone unaware not too soon around the corner - this hill leads right up to a junction where we have to turn right and there is no flat bit at the top, so the possibility of rolling backwards is quite high.

Last year this hill was a bitch to me. I wasn't going to let her take a bite out of me again. I forewarned my riding chum and advised he take it real easy as his leg was beginning to hurt and I knew that this hill would make him really hurt. He rode part of it, then got off to walk the rest. I wasn't going to let the hill get off that easily. It starts of as quite an unassuming 2 or 3%, but soon kicks upwards to an average 5%, then to 7, 9, 10% until right at the very top it's 13%. Last year I got halfway before having to walk. This year I tamed the beast! I was amazed to see quite a few club riders struggling despite their super light carbon bikes.

Now, we were heading south towards Freckleton and the coast road where I knew it was going to get hard. The winds were pretty bad last year, but this year? My God! I don't think they could get any worse than they were. They must have hit us at 20mph!

As soon as we turned right onto the coast road it became a struggle for a lot of people. I only slowed down 1mph, others were really slowing down to crawl. My riding chum was suffering big time with the wind despite drafting me. By the time I'd got to Lytham Lighthouse he'd dropped right back and urged me to go on as I was coming close to my time for last years ride.

On I plodded, riding through the piles of sand that'd drifted onto the road, even eating some as the wind whipped it up in the air. On past struggling riders, most of whom were drafting people or being drafted. On past the line of cars parked by the dunes. By the time I neared Blackpool Airport I had passed 30, 40 people who were struggling like they were riding through glue. Yet I was still maintaining a bloody good average; although I could feel the wind whipping sand across my body, it was like I barely noticed it.

As I approached the last marshall he shouted to everyone "Only 1 mile to go". One mile?? Am I really that close? From somewhere I found the strength to push even harder, flying past people who just seemed to be going backwards. Cheers and the sound of clapping pushing me on. 22, 25, 28mph. Bikers trying to catch me up and draft me, but getting left behind. A group in the distance with an mtb on the front of it. I wasn't letting that bugger beat me. Pushing, pushing, harder, faster, a blur of grey as I passed him mashing down on the pedals as I hit 30mph with 100 metres to go.

FINISHED!!!! Suddenly, there're girls shouting at us to slow down. Wondering why, I looked round to see they were handing out the welcome bags on the finish line, actually on the line. Bit of an odd place to hand them out seeing as people were riding to the finish so fast. We're not pro riders passing a feed station after all!

Sadly, I never saw my riding chum finish, so I don't know if he did or not.

Once through the hordes of well wishers and into the Solaris Centre gardens, I checked my PC to see a time of 4hrs 13mins and 27 seconds. I'd beaten last years time by 1min 33 seconds. Hurrah! After gulping in lots of fresh sea air and downing the bottled water in the welcome pack I headed for the barbecue area for an amazingly tasty burger to wolf down.
I didn't want to stay in Blackpool for too long as I knew it'd take a while to get home by coach and even longer for the truck carrying our bikes to get back, so I set of in search of the ticket tent, handed over my ticket (I had good sense to book it in advance) and was advised I can get the next bus which was boarding half an hour from now. After fighting my way through the crowds, never easy with a bike in tow, I got out onto the prom and joined the queue for the TNT truck which was to be home for the bikes for the journey back to OT. Clambering onto the first coach I was surprised to find it was an executive coach with lovely plush, comfy seats and tvs.

As the coach was leaving I noticed how the truck was still being loaded and not following on behind us like last year. Hmm, perplexing. Last year there was one truck per coach, this year we weren't sure what was happening. Not to worry, I thought, the truck will be leaving Blackpool soon, right? Wrong! We arrived back at OT and piled off the coach into one of many car parks. People I was talking to were asking where the bikes were. I advised that they'll be with us shortly, but to expect a wait of up to half an hour, as that's what happened last year. Half an hour later, no sign of any trucks. 40 minutes later and even I'm wondering if the driver has nicked off with all the bikes. An hour later the second coach pulls in without a truck in tow. 10 minutes later the truck finally appears, only for the driver to look like he's going to get mobbed.

The shutter of the tuck opened and sudden intake of air was audible, swiftly followed by "that better not be my bike!". Peering round a tall guys head I saw a couple of bikes lay on the floor, and thought "oh dear". The driver, sensing he might get decked in a bit luckily had paperwork to say that if he takes on too many bikes to be secured in an upright position, he must lie the others on the floor and tether them to the floor. Disaster averted!

Once Everest had been pulled away from her chat with umpteen bikes, a quick check over her revealed she'd survived the journey. On I jumped and off I set (surprisingly quickly) to head to my moms in search of a roast dinner!

Stats - view route
Cloudy, pleasantly warm, mega windy.
Maximum speed: 42.5mph
Average speed: 14.2mph
Miles: 62 (actual mcr to bpl) 76.32 (total)
Climbed: 948ft

Nutrition -
3 litres SIS GO electrolyte drink
2 SIS GO isotonic gels
2 mule bars
1 'recovery' burger
0.5 litres water

Appointment rides!

Seeing as I had an appointment in Ashton at 9:30 this morning, I though better of getting the bus which would take me anywhere up to 40 minutes due to roadworks for the metrolink causing havoc (it's going to be passing my place with a stop directly over the road from me), so I rode to the appointment instead. I also wanted to try out my windshell seeing as it was a little chilly out.
After leaving my place and getting onto the A662 very easily (despite it still being rush hour) thanks to a HGV that stopped the traffic for me, I had a fab fast ride for a couple of miles, seeing as I could weave my way past the traffic getting clogged up at the huge holes in the road. As I neared Ashton I noticed my chain was jumping a little. Each time it decided to play up I was pulling away from lights and pushing really hard; the chain jumped before I even got my other foot clipped in, so it would frequently slip off the pedal resulting in a few painful sudden drops onto the saddle for me (ouch) and watery eyes. After the third time I decided enough was enough and pulled over to sort it out - it was proving very hard to find anywhere to stop earlier due to being on the portion of road that is stupidly fast-paced and joins the motorway very close to where I was.


After hoicking Everest onto her saddle and playing the chain a bit, I realised what had caused the problem. When I wash her, I always take the wheels off to wash them separately and to ensure she gets a thorough clean. When I put her back together after her last wash, I'd obviously not pulled the rear wheel back far enough for the chain to be correct, so obviously the playing up was due to the chain being a little lax. Easy enough to sort out anyway!


It did mean I looked a little grubby when I got to my appointment though.


Afterwards i didn't want to come straight home, so carried on with the route I did on Tuesday 19th but with a tweak - I would ride up the very evil hill that is partway along Oldham Rd by Bardsley.

So, after 7 miles of undulations I pushed myself into riding up the 20% Bardsley Hill. Sadly I didn't time myself, but I don't think it took me too long. After that, it was to be very muddy as I took Everest through Daisy Nook and Medlock Vale before my usual hill climb attempt.

This hill may not look much - it may not even look like a hill - but it's an evil thing that drains you of energy while you push away and wonder why it feels so hard!

Once home I noticed that both myself and Everest was very mud-splattered - had to clean Everest before I took her into my place.

Stats view route
Cool, very drizzly, warming up rapidly
Maximum speed: 59.7 apparantly!
Average speed: 11.9
Miles: 16.61
Climbed: 371ft


Bardsley Hill view hill
Miles: 0.12
Climbed: 72ft at 20% max


Hill climb
Maximum speed: 10.3
Average speed: 6
Miles: 0.44
Climbed: 102ft at 19% max
Time: 2.20 mins

Bank Holiday Ride 1

On Saturday I decided to play around with one of the routes I've been riding recently and turn it on it's head. I also left a portion of it out altogether.

So, it began with a nice sprint of about 1 mile along my main road to turn off as though going to the Velodrome (my route to the velo anyway) and up and over the speed humps that never seem to slow anyone down! Heading down towards Philips Park extension and I seem to be hurtling along at warp speed. Doesn't my body know that it was seriously injured not long ago and has no fitness or power in it??????
Once round the twisty turny section and onto the short twisty 8% hill to bring me out, slap bang, into crudville - derelict buildings along one side of the road. Right hand turn and I'm (trying) to sprint up Briscoe Lane to All Saint's Church but my body has now realised it was injured and seems to be having a massive strop as I kinda trundle my way along. Sigh. This is only 2 miles into the ride and already I'm screaming internally at myself to stop the legs being an arse and get their act together.

Once I get to a 4% rollercoaster section all the screaming seems to have worked as I flew through it towards Ashton Hill Lane and once at an annoying mini roundabout - this one perched just metres away from another roundabout and perched on a hill - a right hander takes me to a valley with a fast 8% descent and a (very unlike me) 6% uphill sprint at the other side and the top end of Woodhouses.

Coal Pit Lane used to be a cyclists worst nightmare - country lane with numerous potholes, narrow with only 1 passing place, lunatic drivers and a housing estate just shoved over to one side of it. Now it's a lovely smooth road - still have the other problems though. I positively flew along here to Knott Lanes and then began a great descent - 10% to begin with, then 15% and finally 20% all in a hill less than half a mile long. Fab!

Near the end of the hill the brakes get slammed on or the entrance to my off-road section is missed (happens to me a hell of a lot seeing as I enjoy that downhill so much!). Daisy Nook and the Hollinwood Canal is the port of call now hurtling along to the very necessary bacon butty and mug of tea. At this point I'm feeling a little foolish for wearing my nice new long sleeved club jersey as bought for me by the bro (Paul) cos I'm feeling extremely sticky. I could have taken it off as I was wearing my compression vest, but that'd mean I had nowhere to put the jersey unless I shove it into my bibshorts; i didn't really want to look like the hunchback of Notre Dame for the rest of the ride, so I just shut up and continued to get sticky!

Back on Everest and back to those 20% lock climbs; then back to that valley, only this time I was flying down the 6% side and climbing back up the 8% side to bring me out onto an unusually quiet Oldham Rd (A62) where I decided now would be a great time to punish the legs for wimping out so early into the ride. So sprinting I went. Only for a couple of miles, but still it felt good. Back down the twisty 8% hill and onto the second off-road bit - Medlock Vale, which is looking lovely now that all the work has been done on it to make it safer and more accessible.

As I've motioned in recent posts, I now seem to end my rides with a hill climb/test/repeat. Today was no exception as I went for the longer climb.

Sadly I forgot to change my bike pc from bike 1 to bike 2 (as I do when doing hill repeats etc after a ride) to record the time, so alas there're no stats from that particular section. Sorry to all you geeks out there. Also, there are no pictures as I forgot my camera and phone - sorry Jon!

Stats view route
Warm, still
Maximum speed: 28
Average speed: 12.7
Miles: 15.79
Climbed 322ft

Out & About

Even though the weather was quite pants I decided it'd be good to get out for a ride. Usually I would get the main body of the ride out of the way and finish with a hill repeat or singular climb, or maybe a sprint. Not today. Oh no!

Today, for some extremely odd reason I decided to turn things about a little and it ended up in this order - sprint, hill repeat, main ride & (just to kill me off) a longer hill climb.

So, it all began with a sprint of about 3 miles (with a max gradient of 5%) to the entrance of Medlock Vale. After I sorted out the bike pc to record my efforts separate from the main ride, I set about doing 5 repeats of the hill. This section of road was recommended to me by Amy as the perfect spot to practice hill repeats due to the gradient - if Amy recommends it, it must be good!

After knackering myself for a good 15 minutes or so, the last repeat began the start of my main ride. After turning off the hill I joined a speed-humped road to take me past Droylsden High School's enormous playing field and left past the school itself, a cemetery and to the fun of the Fiveways roundabout (the place where Paul has been hit a few times, poor love); I usually avoid this like the plague, but couldn't be bothered turning off down one of the side streets. Once safely across, I headed up Chapel St and Medlock Rd to get onto my usual route to Daisy Nook.

My route changed a little from the last time I rode it again once I got to Oldham Rd in Ashton, as I decided to test the legs by going up Wilshaw Lane and it's little sting of an 8% section. Up along to Lees Rd and I turn left and prepare to hear the muppets at the 2 high schools I have to pass to get to Alt Hill Lane and my fun, twisty sections.

The first section of the descent is a 5% drop of 36ft to Alt Hill Rd, then onto a 6% drop of 138 twisty & single-laned feet and finally onto a rolling max 4% massively wide section to bring me out to the last 20% drop of 56ft in less than 0.09 of a mile! Finally I'm at Daisy Nook and the start of the off-road track section - the part that Everest has been longing for!

Naturally as it'd been raining almost non-stop for a few days the tracks were lovely and muddy and all too soon I had the compulsory skunk-tail as I flew along the track to Sammy's Basin and the first of the lock descents which would take me to the Dark Tunnel and the welcome butty and tea stop. Once I'd made a few hound chums - Blue, the ginormous Great Dane and Molly, the very cute tiny Jack Russell - I set off again refreshed and ready for action. First port of call was those locks again - 3 of them with a max gradient of 20% and cobbled/rutted/muddy, you name it and it was probably there under my tyres!
After hauling ass up the locks I very nearly came off crossing a ford - just before the wooden rickety bridge is another cobbled section, only these cobbles are loose and very, very wonky, and very nearly tipped me off into the ford!

After following my usual route back from Crime Lake end of Daisy Nook to Medlock Vale (not the direct route, oh no!) I had another trail section through the vale and back to THAT hill for yet another hill climb attempt. Only this time I made it more evil.....I would add another quarter mile to it. Ha ha ha...I'd obviously gone mad! Or had I?

Stats view route
Mild, windy & rainy
Maximum speed (mph): 71.1 apparently
Average speed (mph): 12.4
Miles: 19.55
Climbed 459ft

Hill repeat stats view hill
Maximum speed: 10.7
Average speed: 7.00
Best time: 1.50
Climbed 85ft in 0.26 miles with max 19% gradient

Hill climb stats
Maximum speed (mph): 11.3
Average speed: 7.7
Time: 2.55 mins
Climbed 102ft in 0.44 miles with max 19% gradient

Good news!

I was dreading my appointment at the fracture clinic in the MRI on Friday as I was expecting to be told my pelvis isn't healing properly - that's what happened when I fractured my tibial plateau years ago.

However, the doc seemed really pleased with how things have progressed and has discharged me. When he asked if I have anything I want to ask him, naturally I only had 1 question - how soon can I ride again? The answer was not quite so good - I have to wait another month before I can ride the lovely Everest again.

As I've been forcing myself out walking on the moors etc, I don't even need to have physio - popped down to see one of the physios at my local sports centre and they've said that whatever I've been doing so far has really helped and I need only go to them if it starts to feel tight/sore etc.

So, hurrah! I'm a (90%) happy bunny!