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@atk
Rode the West Peak Grimpeur yesterday, or at least a version of it. Threw in several bridleway detours, adding a little extra distance and a little more ascent, but you don't enter a midweek grimpeur to make your life easy.
It's a nice run out from Marple towards Pott Shrigley and Macclesfield Forest.
Even early on I was feeling slow on the climbs. A little jealous of this pig, snoring away with a big grin on it's face.
There were 30-odd riders out. Lots of weathered Carradice bags, threadbare jumpers and one set of SPD sandals. All very friendly during brief overlaps around the controls.
The second bridleway detour at Macc forest might have been a mistake. I didn't fancy the normal route up from the pub and over Charity Lane, opting to climb the bridleway on the eastern side under Shutlingsloe. No cars, but a bit hard on the legs. Looking back the clouds were coming in on the tops... Not a great sign...
The next section, from Wildboarclough to Gun Hill, seemed to take forever. Bailing into the lowest gear I had (40x36) and just trying to drag myself along. The organiser was in the van at the top and I caught Mike Wigley and a bunch of well-seasoned riders. Spirits lifted momentarily but it didn't last. A speedy descent followed by another long climb over Merrytown Low. I managed to keep up with the group from the control for a while. Eventually the cloud came in and it wouldn't have mattered if they were 10 metres away or 1000.
What followed was spectacular. It did nothing for my legs, but the descent into Warslow had me grinning ear to ear. Caught a tiny gap in the clouds and held it for the 5km descent. It's a cracking bit of road, almost entirely straight, wide and quiet. 10/10, would ride again.
Turned into a headwind towards Longnor, cursed and grumbled. Tried to eat. Thought about bailing at Buxton. Skipped the cafe and deployed a solid audax lunch from the village store: double stuffed oreos, coke and ribena. Felt a little better after this and settled on grinding my way up to Flash via Hollingsclough Rake.
Detour 3 came shortly after the control at Flash. Hanging a right from the main road, I managed to grab a biketag and hopped on the new White Peak Loop into Harpur Hill for some gravely fun.
A large group of riders were loitering outside the launderette in Buxton. The cafe there now closed, but still a spaceship in the window to make a good info question. Only 20km to go now. Some road closures meant we were heading out of Buxton on Long Hill before dropping into the Goyt valley and up The Street. Again visibility was piss poor. There was a lot of grinding, grunting and groaning knees. Then another couple of climbs up to get up above Lyme Park before a final bump up onto Marple Ridge. From there, downhill and a well deserved pint at the Ring O'Bells before the ride home.
On reflection, a good day out. There were a few lows, but it was better than another day in front of a screen. Had a good chat with the organiser at the end, he's planning another super grimpeur to add to the series, I'm thinking an offroad route might be good laugh. Looking forward to the final organised ride in the series next week then onto my first 200 (for a while) a couple of weeks after that.