here was another
CycleChat ride organised for today. This time it started at Whalley although a fair few were meeting up at Hebden Bridge and cycling over. I persuaded Ali that she would like to get the train out and join us and then if she felt okay ride home with me. I was up nice and early as I had planned to leave at 7am. I had plotted a nice 100km ride out to Whalley which included Waddington Fell, where there is no point going the direct way when the indirect way is so pretty. Garmin issues (basically it seems to have frozen) meant that after stressing and then taking the older one with me I was on the road for 7:30am, not quite enough time but it was such a nice day I wasn't for taking any shortcurts. When I got to Waddington I realised I would be a little late meeting Ali at the station, which would make me very unpopular, so it was head down and try and get there as soon as I could. I was about to ring her when I realised that I had a text saying the train was running late. Meant I could slow down a bit.
As it turns out the cyclechat lot were running late so we still went to the meeting point and had a ice-cream. Some who had rode out from Hebden Bridge had to head back but the rest of us headed back to Waddington. Then it was a "flat" loop from there. Compared to the hills
ColinJ normally drags us up it was flat but there were a few nasty little climbs. Back to the cafe in Waddington and I had a well deserved Bacon Butty followed by ice-cream while Ali enjoyed a Quiche followed by cream tea.
After this we split and headed our own way home. I had kindly plotted a hilly route for us, although not as hilly as I could have made it. I made sure I was constantly feeding Ali sweets and was impressed that she finished tired but strong. The weather couldn't have been nicer but for some reason I managed to take no pictures!
170km, 2750m ascent, Average Speed 21.1km/h - I was happy!
Sounds like a lovely ride :)
ReplyDeleteI've had a couple of "freezing" moments with my new Garmin (edge 500), its always managed to unfreeze though but the 305 seems more reliable. I rode over Waddington fell last Sunday, the easy side though.
ReplyDeleteWhich way is the easy side?
ReplyDeleteI would say from Waddington over to Newton is the "easy" side, long but gradual, quite alpine in style for most of it. The side down to Newton seemed a lot, lot steeper to me - I managed to hit 43.9mph on the last drop in to Newton and I'm a scardey cat descending on the the road.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong though and I do fancy trying it from the Newton side as a comparison soon.
I think you are probably right, I have done it both ways although it has been a while since I have gone up from the Waddington side.
ReplyDeleteI hit 39.9mph yesterday heading down to Waddington, I think that is as fast as I have ever gone! I got scared then!
Well done! How far did Ali ride?
ReplyDelete48miles
ReplyDelete39.9! Were you on your own? I only went as fast as I did because I was following the lads and could see what the road was doing if you see what I mean.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the Newton side then, is is worth throwing myself at given I still struggle a bit with the road bike gears not letting me twiddle up things as much as I would like (triple and 27 rear notwithstanding!).
Oh and well done to Ali, great riding again!
Definetly worth it. I was seated for a lot of it! I like challenges like that though.
ReplyDeleteYes on my own, I could see clearly at that point! It was a little scary though so I slowed down.
121 hilly miles!
ReplyDeleteOnly 110 red ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood news is I got the garmin working again today with a hard reset!
Hey Trio - I said you could use my photo but I didn't say you could use my hosting account bandwidth too! (Only kidding - unless your blog suddenly get tens of thousands of hits, it won't be a problem ;-)
ReplyDeleteNice to see you and Ali yesterday. When you were ordering ice creams at Country Kitchen it almost tempted me to buy my second one of the day!
I agree about Waddington Fell - it's pretty steady from the Waddington side with one little steep bit towards the top. It is definitely steeper on the Newton side in places.
It's wise to be careful descending either way. A group of us got caught by gusting crosswinds on the Waddington side once and they sent us halfway across the road. There are often sheep wandering across the road on the Newton side and there is also a deceptively tight RH bend on a really fast stretch which can catch you out.
110 miles for you yesterday - an excellent effort. I only did 76.5 and I was pretty tired when I got home!
That's one big ride! Nice one.
ReplyDeleteThousands read my blog Colin beware ;-) I was being lazy I can upload it to blogger!
ReplyDeleteI was imformed today it should be an ice-cream per 30miles so only having two ice-creams was not enough! I will try harder next time!
I should mention that I've just renamed my photo so your link to it is broken!
ReplyDeleteThanks I've sorted it Colin! Oh and thanks for the picture, makes my blog a little less boring ;-)
ReplyDeletemore miles in the bank. keep it up :)
ReplyDelete