2011-09-04 - King of the Pennines

pay your respects to north england..
http://www.evanscycles.com/ride-it/king-of-the-pennines-sept-4th

that looks good. more elevation than that Dartmoor one I just did.
bet it rains though.

Top route.

Definitely worth heading up from London for, unless it rains. In fact I must sort a trip to Yorkshire for before the year's out. Unfortunately I'm away for the first week in September.

i haven't squared this with the home office (wifey).. who is already complaining i spent this years holiday money on a new road bike, pointing to the planet x nanolight chorus 11 with mavic ksyrium elite wheels stating this is my holiday and i'm still in that honeymoon period of riding big hills :)

you, are a very naughty man and should be ashamed of yourself
buys new track bike

proceed to checkout, and press confirm (iheartpaypal)
#mustgetbikedeliveredwhenshevisitstheoutlawsnextweekend ;)

Top route.

Definitely worth heading up from London for, unless it rains. In fact I must sort a trip to Yorkshire for before the year's out. Unfortunately I'm away for the first week in September.

yeah, I'm in the Lakes that weekend, walking and camping.

I shouldn't worry too much about rain in the Pennines in September. Its generally July/August you've got to watch - September and October are often amazing months for riding.

If you've never seen Malham Cove, prepare to be amazed. One of the most stunning natural features in the world.

entry done, train booked, lodgings (YHA Earby) sorted.. so looking forward to re-visiting
God's Own County, brass bands, whippets, pidgeon fanciers, cracking toast grommit..

Good hostel, is Earby, and the ride out to Skipton is smashing. Sod the A56, head over the hill! Good way to start.

entry done, train booked, lodgings (YHA Earby) sorted.. so looking forward to re-visiting
God's Own County, brass bands, whippets, pidgeon fanciers, cracking toast grommit..

you've got us in one there.

Don't forget the poverty and racism though.

Enjoy!

my brother-in-law used to live nearby in gisburn, lancs, now in canada. he used to teach in nearby towns and cities, you are right about the poverty and social tension, i think he had enough.. i miss places like clitheroe, settle, keighley, ingleton though. i haven't been up since 2006, but i suppose as a visitor very different to living there. often went fell running up to pendle or ingleboro'.. the cyclo cross scene is good there, but those 1:4 road climbs out of the dales are something else.

just done the lakeland one on a whim, enjoyed it, 'only' did the medium route, 55miles, but plenty of hills round here to make it hard. Seemed like a well organised event and certainly got my monies worth in food/drink/energy bars, though an interaction with the great north air ambulance was a surprise (single rider came off on rhynose descent, luckily only shoulder/collar bone damage).

3weeks time is the Pennines one, never done 100miles before, let alone with 4-6 passes/climbs in it! Thinking about doing it, but likely need to do a car-share down from Cumbria/Lake District if anyone is interested?
Met 3 blokes on the lake district one that had driven up from London for the weekend, think they were struggling with the hilly nature of the north too :p

ahh the lake district, newlands hause, whinlatter, hardknott, honister, wynose and kirkstone passes are all epic, maybe next year as prep for our 540km trondheim to oslo trip in the summer

one more long ride planned before KOTP.. leamington spa to london 120 miles across cotwolds and chilterns, loads of rolling hills and two spikes nr banbury (edgehill) and princes risboro (whiteleaf)

#must buy new tyres this week and fit new rear mech

anyone got a better/larger map than the tiny 20kb screenshot map (not on evans website but somewhere else)? Interested to see exactly where the route goes.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/47129876

this is the closest i've got to deciphering the route.. there are some killer hills that feature in the 100 greatest cycling climbs (simon warren) including:-

park rash 9/10.. oxnop scar 7/10.. malham cove 7/10 (down hill i think).. buttertubs pass 8/10.. fleet moss 9/10..

see you there

^That can only be good.

The combination of Buttertubs Pass and fleet moss is spot on, I reckon. Long climbs, and some great views. A top return on invested energy. Coming down from Fleet Moss also superb, almost effortless peddaling all the way to Skipton.

ducking out due to lack of £££ to actually get there :/

heading up norf tomorrow can't wait..
espec those 1:4 climbs out of places like Askrigg :))

#gulps

i am ruined.. fooping mental.

evans also altered the route omitting buttertubs pass and oxnop pass.. and the route was reverse to what i was expecting.. so up past malham cove, on to fleet moss, amazing decent to Hawes (must check garmin max speed) back roads to Askrigg on to Redmire, where a few of us managed to catch the local pro race whizz past.. hard ride back to kettlewell via evil drop at rash park (25%) then on to coverdale long drag up and steep at end down to grassington, one final climb then drop down'ta skipton..

162km in all 2715m climbing 7hr 40m (excluded stops).. some serious creaking around the bottom bracket towards the end..

the turnout was not that big, but weather was kind, big shout out to tim of dulwich paragon, kristian of london phoenix, lads from selby, rochdale, ikley, nial from harrogate, great atmosphere among the groups in all..

reports that a rider collision with a tractor and broke his pinarello frame and 20 riders in the broom wagon.. a fair few broken spokes and shredded tyres no doubt.. garmin details posted soon..

didnt check here to see if there was a thread for this ride before now!

today was staggering.

3 of us came over from leeds. loading one guys bike onto the car i spot he has fitted his rear brake pads on wrong and the back tired side wall has split and the inner tube is poking through. idiot. leave for skipton get 10 miles down the road and the other associate remembers he has left his helmet on the wall outside the first idiots house. double idiot. Arrive with 15 mins to last start and somehow get our shit together. The route was beautiful but when i cramped up on the malham climb i realised that doing this for a first ride back from injury in april was probably a bad idea! rode 60 miles with the most brutal cramp i have ever experienced. that and the bonk coming through the rhythm destroying undulations into kettlewell nearly finished me off, but consuming my own body weight in power gels set me up for a suprisingly strong finish! 7hours 30 i think. couldnt beat the feeling of being back in the saddle in gorgeous country side and beautiful weather. redefined my pain threshold completely.
might try and find a flatter ride it event to go to seen as i can enter one free now

cernan did you catch any of the richmond grand prix (premier calendar) riders ?
we past their feed station between askrigg and redmire,

rapha condor sharp, sigma sports et al..

Yeah, i saw them blitzing whilst munching mini eggs. made me feel even more tired! and very jealous about their closed roads!

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one to suffer when I'm riding this terrain! As cernan says, it's all easily accessed from Leeds, and where I am is eight miles nearer again.

Glad you all hurt, but also glad you enjoyed it!

i texted wifey from leeds station late last night saying would should sell up when our girls finish school, move to north yorkshire.. i have found a nice place in kettlewell, we could open a cyclist's cafe with running repairs, screen televised races.. for roadies and mountain bikers, organise a few rollapaluza style hill climbs.. (all on the door step) give some of the LMNH mechanics working holidays up here with lodgings and enjoy a better fricking life away from this god forsaken city full of melts

well there was that pretty good looking converted barn after the reservoir climb.....