A ride out of Hebden Bridge - 25th Sept

I am so behind with posting.......

The long spell of dry weather had me fancying a go over High Brown Knoll so I planned (then re-planned) a route out of Hebden Bridge. The original route had me checking out a long stretch of the Bronte Way from Oxenhope, however I realised this would be quite committing so revised the route to give me plenty of get outs. The final planned route was an ambitious 40 miler with over 5000ft of climb. In the end I took a get out option and the actual route was around 30 miles with still over 4000ft of climb.

My legs hadn't properly shaken off the Rivi half really, I don't know why I was surprised as it took about a week and a half to shake the last half marathon I did. I should check my training notes more often!

The ride starts with a long drag out of Hebden Bridge on the Keighley road. I was on the Titus as the On One seemed to have developed a knocking headset and the front brake was squealing with the pitch of nails down a blackboard, urgh. I had tried tightening the head set but to be honest the bolt was tight and I didn't want to twist it so much the star fangled nut wrenched out of the steerer tube (not that I've done that....recently).

Anyway full-suss magic carpet it was. I think the climb went on for about 2.5 miles, its not steep, just a drag but it gives a good indication of how things are. My climbing legs were not at all there, which was going to be a problem on a ride with a potential 5000ft of up.

A strong, cold headwind greeted me as I climbed out of the valley. I seemed to have a perpetual headwind for most of the day, the area isn't dotted with windfarms for nothing! I finally get to the bridleway to head over HBK and I had completely forgotten about the first part. It took all my mental resolve to not just roll back down the hill again.

The first part was indeed dry but its quite "steppy" and rutty peaty track, hard to describe but it can be tricky to ride and a pain to get going again if you stop. Then it leads to a short push - always a push which I had forgotten then onto the lovely track I remembered, dry as a bone and once on it initial petted lip forgotten:

It's not the best picture but it was the only one I took of the fantastic dry singletrack on the ride as generally I was enjoying riding it too much to stop. The trig point was practically luminous for the obligatory bike shot:

The lead grey skies never really brightened up much, Stoodley Pike is just visible in the distance. Due to the totally flat light I never really stopped to take many pictures. Anyway across the moor, almost entirely dry though there were a few boggy and foul smelling patches still.

Then it was the descent to Luddenden Dean, saddle down for the top steep part which was fun then about half way down it seemed to really have disintegrated. Normally, I am following one or two people down so you can see which ruts work and which don't. I had to find it out for myself and I had to pull the bike out of a dead end rut more than once, though I at least never parted company from it in an "over the bars" stylee.

What drops steeply down must come back up again (at least around Hebden Bridge) so it was a road slog up out of Luddenden Dean then pick up the bridleway along Cold Edge - which was indeed cold due to the wind. I also realised along Cold Edge that I hadn't in fact sorted the Titus gears properly and they were all out by one!

When I thought I was in lowest gear I was in the second lowest, great. I could get it into the lowest gear but I don't think it was great for the drive train, though in my typical fashion I pushed the worry to the back of my mind. I needed that gear dammit!

Soon it was the fast drop down to Ogden Water where I was glad I was on the Titus, flattened the cobbles out a bit. The cafe was open so I stopped and had a can of coke as I needed all the boost I could get and checked the Garmin to see what was what.

About 10 miles ish, 1.5 hours of riding time, a whopping 1 hour of paused time (where?) so far and an average speed of 6.9. Hmmmm....rethink. The full route is probably not a good idea, tired legs etc and I'm obviously in faff mode. Had a map check. I still really wanted to do the bridleway from Ogden over Thornton Moor to Oxenhope. I can then climb out of Oxenhope and head back towards Hebden.

Plan made and off towards Thornton Moor. The track was quite frankly, lovely! Dry as a bone, multiple line choices and I managed to not make a bad one. Great fun until the end when I got to a now sanitised piece of rocky descent - boooooooo:

It was still fast though and there is a promising looking track off to the right which needs some investigation. At the gate I was originally supposed to head straight down but a memory was dredged up from somewhere and I realised we normally head off left. Along and down another fun and rocky track which I really like. It finally pops out at a road and I have to get the map out to check how to get back on plan.

A grassy roll down a bridleway which eventually seems to go through someones garden, it felt a bit wrong riding my bike effectively on someones lawn, especially as I was now on a footpath I walked that short section. Productive greenhouse they had!

I kept checking the map going through Oxenhope and at one of the checks I finally noticed the name of the hill I was about to head over..."Stairs Hill"....that means I'm about to climb "Stairs Lane" oh feck. Not a sight for sore legs I can tell you:

I was in fail mode before I even got to it, convinced it was going to be one long push once the tarmac ran out...Bottom third or so was quite loose and I CBA'd fighting it but it also didn't take me long to get bored with pushing. The upper two thirds while still steep were mainly dry cobbles so I trundled up in diesel truck mode and managed to clear most of it.

I realised that whilst my legs hadn't livened up they hadn't actually gotten much worse either, steady effort was fine short hard efforts were not. Back up into the wind and a rather nice track across the top then a fast, eye watering, descent off the other side.

I was getting pretty close to Hebden again, one more steady climb then I could roll back into town. I thought I would roll straight onto Crimsworth Dean, dive down the little fun bridleway at Hardcastle Crags then back to the car.

However, I arrived at the turn off for the bridleway over to New Laithe moor and decided I wasn't ready to go back quite yet. I would head over to New Laithe moor then roll down the long fast fireroad, then the Hardcastle Crags bridleway back into town. A bit more descending payback I thought so off I headed.

Another nice stretch of bridleway which I haven't been on for a long time, through a field of cows and onto the wide track at New Laithe moor. I again decided I wasn't ready to go back to the car....so headed on towards the Gorple reservoirs. I knew the tracks well and they were steady riding, apart from the headwind, it was a bit of a grind for a while. It would also mean I could finish the ride with the descent from Jack's Bridge.

I soon pop out at the turnoff for the Pennine Bridleway past the Gorple reservoirs. I did have a big moment of indecision but sense prevailed and I decided not to head up over Widdop, if it had been less of a pig of a climb I may have done. Average speed had climbed up a little to 7.3.

I continued trundling past the reservoirs and up and over Heptonstall Moor. Finally, as I turned towards Colden I got a tailwind. A fast, easy ride down through Colden towards Jack's Bridge and the final descent of the day. This made me laugh:

I hate to think what has tried to get down there as the tarmac runs out quickly and it becomes a narrow track for a while, with a drop to the left. A Smart Car might be able to make it, just. Its a fast descent to finish on and I only had to slow for walkers twice on the whole thing. It was a great way to finish the ride and I was buzzing at the bottom and wondering if I really should have headed back to the car.

Then I just had to remember where I parked my car in Hebden Bridge. I stopped behind a bus at some traffic lights, then realised as a policeman cycled past me that the bus was parked. I got the map out to make it look deliberate....

A quick hose off of bike and a wander around Hebden Bridge before setting off home.

A final total of 30.02 miles and 3:45 of riding time (faff time not recorded!). After the fast riding from Heptonstall the average speed had crept up to 7.9 mph, amazing what a tailwind can do.

Weekend Activities

On Saturday I raced in the Midlancs XC Leyland race (well it was local). I decided to cycle over there rather than worry about parking the car. The wind was pretty strong and in my face on the way over, but I bimbled along in the sunshine. I made exactly the same mistake as I did last time I tried to get to Worden park and continued on round past Tesco. D'oh. Being on the bike meant it was just a case of cutting through Tesco's bedlam car park to get back on track. Only 4.5 miles of bimbling.


The park was pretty busy, not just with runners and I located the tent area and started cycling across the field a bit to get there. Ground conditions were very wet, stodgy and heavy going, being on a bike with road slick tyres on meant no traction what so ever, after the third time the rear wheel tried to break out on its own I decided it may be prudent to get off and push.


At some point when waiting around the weather changed a little, sky darkened and wind picked up. It was really cold, I did a brief warmup to get my legs used to running again before heading off to the start line. Brief faffing around and we were off. I settled into a pace quite early and just kind of stuck at it, my legs did feel a little heavy but not completely leaden as I'd worried. The course started off running round some flattish fields and football pitches, which were heavy and occasionally even the Walsh's couldn't cope with the mud.


The next section was superb, out into a wooded area, lots of singletrack and a couple of stream crossings. At the end there was a steep bank that the women in front of me were walking up. I had a go at running it, which went well until the mud was so thick it clogged my shoes and I nearly ended up on my knees. I stepped into the leaves at the side to get some traction and even used a handy tree trunk to pull myself up a bit. After that it was back into the park and back round the football pitches which seemed to go on forever and ever.


I crossed the line in 36:40 for 6.4 km 9.13mm pace, not exactly blistering but the longest course yet I think. Really enjoyed it though due to the woodsy section. It was too cold to hang around for much after racing, enough to see the lead men steaming past but I headed back off on my bike doing some errands on the way home.




On Sunday I headed out to West Yorkshire for a 20 mile or so mileage building ride. I wasn't sure how my legs would be after racing so I was taking the slow and steady approach, particularly as the ride sets off straight uphill. Fortunately for me neither Jez or Ed are particularly fit at the moment so I didn't have the problem of them riding out ahead of me making me speed up, it was mainly the other way around actually which I must say is a bit of a novelty for me.

We had some debate about an actual route but ended up forgoing the climb up the Gorple Road to head up to the Long Causeway instead on the Pennine Bridleway. The track was really stodgy in places so had to remember how to ride a bike in soft conditions. The ford we crossed before climbing up to the Long Causeway was a bit deeper than normal, both feet got a proper dunking and eventually the water would work its way down inside my boots. For once I decided not to wear my merino sealskins on a winter ride and I ended up with a cold left foot.

We rode along the rode for a bit as my legs got more into it, they never got particularly full of beans but they were very happy to just keep going which I was pleased about. We dropped off the road onto some bridleway heading towards Tod. There was some proper stodge along this way, its been a while since I've had to wrestle the bike through that kind of stuff. There were a few moments where the pedals were going round but the wheels were only moving about an inch, luckily they managed to find some traction before I was forced to unclip or topple over sideways. Average speed: about 2mph! Excellent fun - mountain biking as a whole body workout.

We then rode across some pack horse trail whose name now completely escapes me but there are old slabs laid across that have been worn over centuries. I have cleaned this section loads of times but not today, in fact none of us did due to the fact that the track was often submerged under water hiding all the cheeky pointy rocks and other things to catch the unwary. This is prime over the bars territory for me but I made it through with only a couple of dabs (of my foot rather than my face). Its amazing how much the rideability of trails can change from one ride to the next.

We decided to head down to the golf course then up along the excellent piece of singletrack bridleway which was made slightly more difficult by virtue of being a stream and hiding rocks. A couple of dabs but ok and good fun then we had to climb this very long, steep road hill. I just plugged away (actually in middle ring as that actually kept my heart rate down better than trying to spin) and my legs actually didn't die at the end of it as I expected. We then headed up through Colden and picked the PB back up to head over to the Gorple Reservoirs. All that was left was the always delightful climb up from Widdop and the last descent back to the car.

I was feeling pretty cold by then, I had good layers on but my left foot was cold and having cold feet makes the rest of me feel cold. The wind was also pretty strong and cold and it was really, really strong setting off up the climb. I don't think I've had that before, normally the hill blocks it out but not today. I just continued plugging away making not bad progress until I got caught out on the last loose section. Its always a bugger after cleaning the rest of the climb there is one section of rubble to get over which needs a big push and I don't think I've managed to attack it in anything more than my granny gear. I had actually ridden all the difficult bit but my front wheel pinged off a rock as I had almost cleaned it and I couldn't get it back. Its always a problem riding in such a low gear and trying to keep the front under control.

The descent down the Gorple road needed a lot more pedalling than seemed fair and the cold wind was giving me a headache by the end but its still an ace descent. A quick post ride pint then home, the rain started as we hit the M65. We were quite lucky with the weather as it looked black and awful on the Bowland fells on the way over but was sunny for all of our ride.

In the end it was about 19 miles with 850m or so of ascent. Considering I was doing slow and steady I average about 7.5 mph which is my normal pace round this way anyway.

Sunday 31st August: Offroad Ride

Got out for a decent ride on Sunday. I wanted to do a ride of over 20 miles to start building endurance again. I have been coping well on shorter rides mainly because I have been well rested I think but my endurance is currently non-existent as even my long runs are rarely over two hours in length. Ed is in the same boat due to the arrival of little Molly and Jez has been away lots so we picked a ride around the Hebden Bridge area which we know and is testing but without being knackering. We decided to head out of Hurstwood rather than Worsthorne for a bit of variety. The plan was to head up to the Long Causeway, along the road for a bit then offroad down towards Tod via the golf course, along the canal to Hebden Bridge, cafe stop, warm the legs up with the road climb out of town, brutalise them with the climb from Hardcastle Crags whilst trying not to bring up lunch, cruise along the tops for a while before almost finishing ourselves off with the evil climb up from Widdop res, finishing with a lovely downhill back to the car.


It was pretty misty again, though not pea-soup foggy as it was on our Wednesday evening ride over Winter Hill. The moisture in the air helped cool things down as there was no wind at all. I really enjoyed the ride and still seemed to have some technical competence. We stopped in Hebden for a bite to eat but we were stopped for a little longer than ideal and I got quite cold. It took a while for my legs to get back into it again and they weren't really happy until up onto the moors but then I was bracing myself for the Widdop climb! I cleaned the climb but my lack of fitness was showing, not so much in overall speed but more in the amount of use I had to make of the flatter sections to bring my heart rate down, when I'm fitter it falls faster. I cleaned the last technical section but not without having a good argument with my bike about where it wanted to go and where I wanted it to go - I won this time.

Normally the climb up from Widdop is sweetened by the fact it is pretty much all downhill back to the car and I suppose it is but not with a major bloody headwind and eyes full of crap chucked up from the wheel, my own fault for not bringing my glasses and we all suffered the same. It was a nice cruise off the Gorple road back to the cars. As we started to pack up the rain properly started, timing!

So, will hopefully ride Wednesday (will need to dig lights out) but off next week so who knows what will happen as Jez wants to get some walking in and I want to go camping somewhere so hopefully weather will be kind.

I forgot to reset the Garmin at the start of the ride so it added it all on to Wednesday's ride but I think we covered about 23/24 miles.

21st May Wednesday Evening Ride: Worsthorne

We planned to go a bit further afield for our Wednesday evening ride this week as I have done Darwen to death lately both riding and running and there was a 5 mile running race on at Rivington. I did consider doing the race, its part of Horwich RMI's Jubilee series but as I'm already doing the Club's Wednesday night 4 mile series over the summer I don't want to sacrifice all my Wednesdays to running. I may still do one of them over the summer as I want to do a few road races of different lengths this year and hopefully get faster. The course itself doesn't interfere with our riding but trying to get parked at Riv when its on is just an absolute nightmare.



So after a flurry of e-mails on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning it ended up just being Stu and I who were up for it and I suggested a loop out of Worsthorne (cos I know how to get there!). Conditions were warmish and I was wearing summer kit but as usual it was a couple of degree colder at Worsthorne and the arm warmers made an immediate appearance. There was a pretty strong Easterly headwind blowing which made things unecessarily hard as we set off up the Gorple Road. My hamstrings are still feeling it a bit from Mondays long trail run and the pummelling Alan gave them at my sports massage session on Tuesday but they settled down. After climbing against the wind for the three miles (much more fun heading the other direction) to the top of the descent to Widdop reservoir we then started the drop into Widdop. As the trails were so dry all the loose stones and boulders at the top of the descent were very entertaining to ride on. I feel my bike handling skills have fallen off a little due to my lack of bike time and I was skating around all over the place at the top of this descent, it felt like riding on ball bearings and I just had to let the bike go where it wanted, which was everywhere. A couple of tight sketchy switchbacks later and the descent opens up and I catch up with Stu. Stu then proceeds to tell me about how he nearly lost it on the top of the descent so it wasn't just me!

The rest of the ride passed without such problems, the dry conditions making for fast progress. On reaching the road we got blown back to the Long Causeway which was great. The windmills were whirring round with gay abandon due to all the wind, I still feel a little worried passing windmills in case one of the propellers shears off.... All that remained was to head back to the car. The only problem with doing the loop in this direction is that whilst you gain by not having to do the climb up from Widdop you lose out on the three mile descent of the Gorple road back to the car, however I think with the Easterly wind and the very dry trail condtions the Gorple road descent would be so fast as to be frightening.

In short, this is a good loop but it is more challenging in the anti-clockwise direction. Its a good one to head out on of an evening for a bit of variety. I took the Garmin with me and just left it in the Camelbak, it lost the heart rate trace at some point but has logged the route ok.

Length: 17.45 miles Ride Time: 2:15 Faff Time: 15 minutes (not bad, not bad).