It all started a few weeks ago when a good friend and fellow cyclist Steve "the Gibbo" Gibbins emailed me to see if I fancied coming for a training ride (today) so he could test out his shiny new bike and have a shot at Cragg Vale too.
Now being a great fan of the hills and looking for any excuse to get out and hit the hills I jumped at the chance.
As I grew up in Halifax and in fact regularly traveled the route we would be looking at (all be not usually by bike) I was loving the chance to have a go at some of the hills, the fab sweeping roads and the quite rapid descents! I was not to be let down and loved every minute of it.
So today came the day! I checked the weather last night and decided to take a bit of a gamble and wore my short sleeve cycling jersey that I got for Christmas. It is the old UPS team Discovery jersey, but still looks fab in anyone's books. So one I had gone through the usual pre-ride prep of making sure I had gels, and self recovery gear, all the bits on my bike worked as they should do, everything was in place and I was sorted for a good summer ride (no lights!!). I set off over to Steve's house on the bike and was already feeling good and strong.
Once I arrived at Steve's we had a bit of a chat, a nice brew (thanks to his other half), loaded the bikes in the car then headed over to Sowerby Bridge.
We arrived at the train station in Sowerby Bridge at bang on 10 as we were meeting another keen cyclist that would be joining us, Laurence. This is a chap that has covered some serious distance on his bike taking part in Lands End to John O'Groats plus all sorts of other serious distance rides and currently likes to go time-trialing as part of the local club 10 time-trial league.
Sounds fun but he is certainly a very accomplished rider with a few miles under his belt!!!!
First things first when we got to the station, a quick bit of bike assembly check the tyre's etc then a quick chat about the route.
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| Steve and Laurence getting set up ready for a good run out |
So after a minor bit of procrastination we finally set off and hit the first hill to warm up the legs and get the lungs working. Tuel Lane!!!
This started looking like it was going to be nice and easy, but hides some steep bits of tarmac around the corner halfway up. They really know how to make them steep around here.
At the top it was a good relief to see Burnley Road, this is the main road from Halifax to the like of Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge, again a well know bit of the black stuff for me however I didn't realise how fast it was possible to go down it on my bike.
In less than 3 1/2 minutes I had descended down to Luddenden Foot sweeping around the flowing bends, maintaining my breathing rhythm and my pedal strokes. I was enjoying the speed, with the close walls and overhanging trees it really gave me a sense of going at warp speed, even if it was only about 30 Mph (50 Kph). from there it was a flat run out to Mytholmroyd, still keeping a good pace, breathing well and allowing my legs to spin a little just adding a little pressure if I felt myself slowing. I know having ridden up Crag Vale before that my legs would be feeling stressed soon enough.
Then came the drop down into Mytholmroyd village and the left turn onto New road which becomes Cragg Road and heads up the hill for 8.34km or 5 1/2 miles of up hill!!!
Its not steep and it's not bendy, it is just long and feels like it is going to go on forever!!!
Every kilometer there is a marker telling you the distance to the top, soul destroying stuff.
Straight away both Laurence and Steve passed me really going out like they meant business. Soon enough Laurence was out of sight but I managed to maintain contact with Steve. I knew from experience that I have to just maintain a good constant endurance pace that I am comfortable with and soon enough those that burst out at the start will be caught. Sure enough as the km ticked by and the climb continued I started to see those in front slowly slide back towards me as their legs got tired and heads began to drop. It did take me until the 3km to go marker to finally catch and pass Steve again. The main issue with that being the other cyclist on the road weaving all over the place and clearly not used to being out on a long hill ride.
As we left the shelter of the village and the road became increasingly exposed the wind picked up a bit. However it was warm, unlike the last time I had ridden up that hill on the Evans Rochdale ride when it was sideways rain and freezing cold. I was really enjoying it and looking forward to the descent down to Sowerby Bridge.
Just as I got to the top and rolled over the 0km top of the mountain line I spotted Laurence at the side of the road. He had clearly just stormed up there and even come back a bit to wait for us. Very fit and extremely fast on the hills. I carried on to the junction with Rochdale road as I knew a Strava segment finished there and pulled up to wait a few seconds for the chaps to catch up again.
All a bit hot and sweaty but with big smiles and clearly happy to have done it we set off down the hill. This time at rapid speed (for me) I hit a peak of 45 Mph at this point with an average of 32 Mph. We flew down the road, heart racing, allowing the bike to move and skip the bumps and lumps while flying through the sweeping bends. I was calm and happy, yet concentrating like hell on not hitting any wheel destroying pot holes (of which there are so many) on the road down to Ripponden. The road semi leveling out at some points then dropping away again. It was certainly great fun and a real rush too!
From Ripponden it was a flat(ish) ride back to Sowerby Bridge. Not at great speed as we averaged about 24 Mph and a nice way to cool down and enjoy the miles too.
We returned to the station, loaded our bikes back into the cars then headed off on foot to find some lunch and a brew!
Now Steve and Laurence are definitely "Not from round 'ere!" with their well spoken southern accents, so unfortunately when we ordered food, my food came straight away while we then spent another 20 minutes waiting for there's. Unlucky chaps! After that, the food was nice. The conversation was about bikes and cycling (as you would expect from three bike geeks) and then it was back too it.
unfortunately Laurence had to bid us fair well at this point as he had to get back home to go and do domesticated bliss things with "The Wife!". So glad I am not the only one who calls his better half "The Wife!".
It was however at this point that Steve brought out his all new super fast all singing and dancing new bike that he had been wanting to play with. It was (and still is) a very good looking and very light bike at just over 8kg. the fruits of Steve's labour as it was his project for the past 10 months at least.
Same Route Lap 2
As before we set off and crawled our way up Tuel Lane. It was definitely harder the second time around but again a good way to loosen up the legs.
Surprisingly the run down to Mytholmroyd was a little faster this time as we managed the run in 9.34 with a max speed of 34Mph and an average speed of 21.4Mph. Still not pushing too hard but just keeping it at a good enough pace to feel like it was comfortable and maintainable.
Again the sweeping bends were great fun and the drop into Mytholmroyd felt like it came too soon!!!
Then again it was the turn up the hill and the slog for 5 1/2 miles. Steve got on my wheel and stayed there for about 4km, only after this did he take the lead for a few more km before I jumped back into the wind and helped him up the hill. It was a good wind and I do prefer to ride in shelter (as anyone would, its about 30% easier than being at the front) however I felt like he may have had enough of the wind and was starting to suffer. We powered our way through the final few Km of assent and finally on the flat accelerated up to the junction. A quick drink stop and still smiling then we set off back down to Ripponden and Sowerby Bridge.
I was keeping low on the drops, maintaining a flat back position allowing my arms and legs to absorb the bumps as before. Not driving as hard as before as I knew my concentration may be dropping and didn't want to risk a wipe out on a training ride. At these speeds it would have put more than a little crimp on your day!!!
We maxed out at 43 Mph and averaged 32 on the way to Ripponden and just cruised it into Sowerby Bridge from there.
Afterwards as we packed the bikes back into the car we both agreed that we must get out and ride together more often plus we enjoyed the ride today and felt relly good about it afterwards.
More evidence that cycling makes you feel great!
Next up on the 23rd of this month for me is the Cheshire Cat (99 miles of PAIN and 1 KILLER mile!!!).
Then into racing season.
One thing to take home from today is getting down on the drops and back on the saddle makes you faster!
Can't wait to get out again :)
Happy cycling
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