The Route.
This would be a nice gentle warm up on a cat 4 hill that takes us up Matley Lane, from there a nice gentle descent into Stalybridge then right at the lights and out on Manchester Road through Heyrod and Mossley then up, up and up Holmfirth road as we climb out past Dove Stone reservoir. From there we head over the tops and the long descent into Holmfirth turn right along Woodhead Road Then up over the target summit for the day Holme Moss. From the summit a nice descent down to the Woodhead Pass then risk life and limb for 1/2 mile before we cross the Valley to a "safer" side and drop down into Glossop. After that its just a matter of getting back up the A57 again, a speedy section back towards Hyde then home for Tea and Medals!!!
"A cunning plan" you say. Well true! but doing it was far more fun.
After a week of talking to Matt on Strava and Facebook I think I had finally convinced him that he would really like to come out for a ride. He Rides a very nice Planet X bike that I just know he wanted to do more with than the daily trudge to work on and providing he could get a leave pass to go play too then we would be laughing!
Friday came and we had managed all leave passes done the ironing and washing up and earned many Brownie points. We had even sorted out a time (ish) and Matt let me know he was lubing up his hubs and cables in preparation. This is not a code for something a bit disgusting but in fact an essential bit of bike preparation for any sort of long ride. A well oiled machine can make all the difference.
I of course left it to the last minute but did manage to combat squeaky cleats as they were annoying me a little just on the way too and from work. So a quick squirt of the trusty old WD40 later and we were in business!
Matt turned up at my house at about 1 o'clock and without a moment to waste we sett off (leave passes of this sort do have an expiry time that is set in stone and breaking said time could be fatal!)
Immediately as we headed out on the road we could tell the wind was going to be a real factor in today's ride. The warm up planned certainly did its job as we had the wind in our faces all the way up the hill. I could certainly feel that the legs were going to love this ride plus the bike was behaving beautifully. Crisp gear changes and squeak free. I did go for a high cadence to get the legs warm but I just felt like I was gliding up the hill with minimal effort. Oh I do love my new bike!
After a bit of a con-flab at the top we made the dirty dash out of the junction into what some people don't realise is actually a 30 limit. YES yet again the Local motorist knows better and needs to get there all that bit faster "on a Sunday", really it's Sunday whats the rush???
We did fly down the hill at the speed limit of course I do think in a way much to the surprise of some motorists when they see two cyclists keeping up with the flow of traffic with ease. The fact is both of us had to slow down in order not to get too close or overtake. We got to the lights in Stalybridge and I found that something was not quite right with the bike for some reason! My left pedal didn't feel right and when I pulled up (as you can do with SPD's, that is what gives you twice the power of a normal bike), my foot just popped out of the clips. Nooooo! potential disaster and only about 3 miles in (if that). Thankfully I carry a full tool kit on my bike (as every real cyclist does) so I was able to sort the problem out in a jiffy! Ironically getting rid of the pedal squeak with the liberal use of WD40 had inadvertently loosed up one of the screws that holds the clips in on my pedal. with a quick bit of tightening and a hail of thanks to the gods of cycling and all thing bike related we were back off again in minutes.
Out we went along Manchester Road and got to the little village of Heyrod. Now for some reason at this point my brain came up with the song "Hey Jude" but replaced the obvious bit with Heyrod! Mental!
Besides Paul McCartney in this picture looks a bit crackers too!
So on we went with a tune in my head that I just couldn't get rid of for ages, round the bends and through Mossley then the climbing started as we pressed on to Greenfield. We got to the roundabout that signified the start of the ascent up Dove Stones. I turned to Matt at this point and with a (probably ridiculous looking as I love hills) smile on my face and just said "Are you ready for this?" at this point Matt loudly reminded me how much he really doesn't like hills and thinks I am a little on the bonkers side. Oh well! but we were going up it anyway.
It's a bit of a ramp as you leave the round about and lot of people fail at this point. I certainly know |both Matt and I must have both thought "What am I doing here?" as we rounded the corner and began to climb. It was at this point that we came across our first pair of fellow hill climbers. The first of which looked like he wasn't enjoying it one bit and in fact sounded more like he was going to fall off his bike by the noises he was making on the way past. His buddy was the obvious hill climber as he was happily dancing his way up on his pedals and hardly seemed out of breath. By this point we had both selected a good low gear and were spinning the legs at a high cadence to keep the climbing at a good constant speed that wouldn't kill us by the time we got to the top. We had a bigger fish to fry today!!!
I as thinking about making a slight detour up one of the "Another" top 100 Hill 173 Chew Road.
But somehow thought that Matt my just hit me with something heavy for suggesting such an absurdity especially as we were climbing one ridiculous hill and had plently more to go!
So anyway up we went spinning a good gear and heading into a wind that seemed like it was getting stronger all the time. Just short of the summit we did stop for a bit of a breather and Matt to adjust his shoes (never cycle in uncomfortable shoes they just drive you nuts and provide unnecessary pain). It was then that Matt suggested he take the lead across the moors and over to Holme Firth. Now I have seen on the TDF and other televised cycling events when you get two (or more) cyclists riding along close together (one behind the other). The second cyclist in the line, in this case me gets to ride in the slip stream of the one in front and life is so much easier. I actually found a marked decrease in the amount of effort I had to put in to keep up with Matt, However he is a far faster cyclist than me (on the flat anyway) and soon pulled ahead leaving me fighting the wind once again. Once we started the descent though it was all out for a flying run into Holme Firth hitting our first top speed of the day at nearly 40 mph. Even with the wind!
As we got into Holme Firth I always think of "The last of the summer wine" theme tune, cue more music I have stuck in my head for the ride. "Hey Jude" was getting a bit old by this point, but non the less it is a very nice town (or at least the bit we saw was) and we turned our gaze towards the hill before us and indeed the prize we had come for...Holme Moss! It was at this point that Matt declared that he needed a drink and fancied a can of some variety or other. We pulled up at a little village shop and Matt went in for a nice can of pop. On his return we sat by the side of the road Matt drinking his pop and me with my High 5 energy drink when the local cycling club roared past in a big group. They did appear to be taking up the entire road (which would annoy me as a motorist) but they all looked very pretty and as we both said "Looks a bit gay really" (no slur meant to those of the homosexual orientation of course) and as they whizzed past on bikes worth more than most peoples family cars I bet they thought they were the bee's knees!
We set off a few minutes later making our way up the reasonably busy road, through Holme Bridge and onto the Village of Holme. It was at this point that we caught back up with the local cycling club and with much chuckling to ourselves, passed them as we headed up towards the foot of the Holme Moss climb.
As you may recall and it can be found in previous a previous blog I have written Holme Moss has in the past been part of the route for famous cycling races and next year will be the jewel in the crown for the Tour De France 2014 Grande Depart as it visits Yorkshire. I am quite sure that most of the Pro riders will hardly notice such a hill but for us mere mortals it is certainly a good leg aching lung burner. Spinning hard and grinding away we managed a good rhythm up the hill. on minute the wind in our faces the next on our backs as we rode the snaking road up and up. As the summit came into view and with only a few hundred meters to go one of the cycling clubs riders eventually caught up, of course they sliced past far too close as if to punish me for daring to pass them and then ride there hill at such a pace. However only one of the 20 odd made it past and even when we had stopped at the top for a picture or two they still had not all appeared. Just goes to show in cycling you do not need a top of the range bike with all the latest shiny gear plus matching team kit to get up (and down) hills well. It does help and would be nice but at the end of the day it's what you do with it not how expensive it is that counts!
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| The Top! |
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| Just stopping for a erm! drink! |
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| Matt |Looking a little tired |
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| Happy to be at the top again! |
Matt Gush really did show that he is truly without fear as we descended as he accelerated away. I barely managed to keep up and looking at the speeds we were doing later on we managed the best part of 45mph. The road is far from smooth with dips and lumps. off camber corners. blind bends and high speed curves. Breathing heavily all the way, keeping low on the bike and holding on to the drops for dear life we threw ourselves down the hill. Still pedaling hard with adrenaline rushing through the veins we sped on. I felt myself get a little air on one bend as we flew along. I grasped my handlebars to keep my bike rock steady underneath me, making sure I was floating just above my saddle to allow me arms and legs to absorb the bumps. The speed was really picking up all the way down and eventually I found that I had to lightly touch my back brake. There was no way I was going to play with my front brake at this speed as to lose front end traction would have spelt earth shattering disaster for me. At this speed it would probably also mean a total end ex' and at best a long stay in the type of hotel they serve hospital food in!
The hill finally began to flatten out and we made it to the bottom in one piece. Phew! My arms and shoulders were in bits by this point but I just couldn't stop smiling as the run down was epic and really good fun!
Now of course we had to get onto Wood Head pass and to then to the relive safety of the opposite side of the valley to head over to Glossop. Getting onto the Pass is a bit of a waiting game and eventually we found a gap in traffic that allowed us to get out onto the road. The road itself is a very fast route that even though it is very small and winding, HGV's still go over it. That to me seems a bit irresponsible on the part of the drivers as the M62 was built specifically to avoid this route. Today however we didn't see any wagons but just the odd few caravans and lots of cars.
After 1/2 mile of fearing that I was about to be hit up the arse by some idiot that would probably be too busy adjusting there satnav to watch the road, we turned off to head down the south side of Torside reservoir along a very pleasant winding road. We rode past Torside sailing club that with today's wind were in full force hammering up and down the water and looking like they were loving it too!
The just the odd undulating little bump, around the "Devils Elbow", a hairpin that at speed could be deadly! the over and down into Glossop. A really nice bit of country riding and the wind was on our backs too so it felt so easy.
Once we got into Glossop it was the usual busy traffic as you would expect. We did bump into another cyclist that seemed interested in where we had just been and seemed impressed with us coming over Holme Moss too. However he did seem a bit crackers as he had no helmet on plus his bike would have made my old yellow one look new. However he certainly had it where it counted as he left us both for dead as we came out of Glossop and headed back towards the A57.
It was just a final hill that was also a very busy road too as we came up onto Mottram Moor. We both spent most of the climb passing cars as they crawled up the hill towards the lights at the top. Once through those it was a nice bit of flat to the roundabout then a gentle descent back to Hyde. It was at this point I bid farewell to my riding partner as he turned left at the roundabout and I went straight on. It is easier for Matt to get back to his house in the direction he went. I decided to have one final hard push on the descent reaching a mere 35mph but I now also (to my surprise) am the 7th place holder for fastest on that piece of road. Not bad I think! After the final bit of a climb back up to my house I finished, hot, sweating, tired, legs aching, but well and truly happy with my bike and my fitness.
In all I really do think it was a very good ride and I hope to have more like it sooner rather than later too.
Happy cycling!
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