Category: Rides

Peak District Biking

Had a weekend away in Buxton so threw the Singlespeed in the car and planned for a ride. Saturday morning rode up towards Long Hill out of town taking the Midshires Way. I caught up with a local fella near the top of the climb and we rode around together.

The steep climb out of the Goyt valley by Taxal defeated me but I managed most of the ride on a 32:16 without hiking. By the time we reached Derbyshire Bridge I was hanging on and the descent down into Burbage which is rapid on the Remedy was a bit of a disappointment. 

Good ride all in all. Need some new shoes as the grips on the soles are pretty shot on mine these days. 

One Way Ticket to Marple

Time to catch up with some friends this weekend, so the family headed over in the car and I set off a couple of hour before them on the bike. One way trip cross country heading East over the hills and then dropping down into Manchester. Leaving Formby, the IF express called at Ormskirk, Parbold, Rivington, Bolton, Radcliffe, Prestbury, Manchester, Stockport and ended its journey in Marple.

62 miles 3,000ft climbing. Several spokes came loose in the rear wheel to the extent that it wouldn’t go through the brakes even with the callipers in open position without rubbing. Then on looking at my stats on Strava it turned out that the cadence magnet had fallen off my left hand crank on the previous ride…

View towards Standish

Cracking weather too, not to hot cloudy with sunny spells and only a breath of wind. I’d forgotten how bad the road surfaces in Manchester and Stockport are though. Loads of pot holes.

stockport

White Roads

A while back my dad came up to visit and was taken along with his camper van down a white road. It was one of those experiences where the road didn’t allow you to turn back and you are committed and it was a case of just keeping going. It sounded horrendous to drive. I didn’t know the road, so having only a short amount of time but wanting to get out I thought that I’d do some exploring. Sure enough, it was pretty much an unpaved surface with gravel sections, pot holes, subsidence and broken tarmac. A bit like my old commute to work in Manchester.

white road

Still good ride. Managed to link up a nice little hour-long loop using some roads that are becoming familiar. The sun shone, it was warm, there wasn’t much traffic, but god damn it was windy riding back to Formby across the moss. Proper grind into the wind and having to resist the urge to drop down the gears. Home just in time for tea too.

road biking selfie

To Bury

I really like point to point rides, but ending up miles from home at the end of the ride is generally not a good outcome. Consequently most of my P2P rides have been on supported trips like the Chamonix to Zermatt or have involved riding self supported with all my own kit like the Trans Cambrian Trail. Having the option of a lift home in the car is a new variation on me. It is however the option that let me ride up to Bury, crossing for the first time in my life Rivington on a bike. The rider names from the Commonwealth Games road race in 2002 are still painted on the road over to Belmont.

To the Ranges

Having ridden east and north, I decided that it was time to head south and try and find the path to Hightown the next settlement down the coast from Formby towards Liverpool. I knew it existed, I’d spotted the cyclepath sign whilst out driving with the kids. I could remember exactly where it was, but it looked clear enough on google maps. I was wrong. It wasn’t the right path and a white road became a double track which became a single track and the next thing I’m at the perimeter of the Altcar Ranges with the Army shooting at things.

Near Altcar Ranges

I skirted the red flagged area, but the bath turned literally to sand which is not ride-able over any distance on a road bke with 23mm slicks so it was hike-a-bike until I eventually found the path I was looking for. Once into Hightown another white road descended into track as I headed for Little Crosby but from there it was all on the black top. I ended up in some of the less glamorous parts of Merseyside which I decided (based on the number of boarded up houses and funny looks from the locals), was not the place to be on a road bike, in disco slippers wearing lycra. A swift exit followed, back to the tranquility and relative wealth of rural Lancashire for the rest of the ride.

Ups and Downs

Having done the hills to the west of Durham last week I thought that I would do the run to the coast this week. This should really have been do the hills to the east of Durham. It is not flat, but there are some pretty interesting ups and downs to contend with. The road surfaces are some of the worst I’ve ridden. Rough tarmac at it’s worst – making the bike vibrate and bounce around. Amazingly it seems to have taken just over two hours to do less than 25 miles.

Now here’s the rub. I actually planned the route using Strava’s route planner and then was a bit put out by the difference in numbers recorded on the actual ride. I made a couple of detours, so I’ve just cloned and edited the planned route to represent the one I did. Strava’s route planner says:

35.3mi Distance and 2,681ft Elevation Gain

So why does the ride I actually did only come in at:

24.3mi Distance and 1,635ft Elevation Gain

To put a further twist on it, the Wahoo app I use to record the ride has logged it as:

23.2mi Distance and doesn’t show elevation gain.

Now why Strava corrects the data that is exported to it from the Wahoo app, I am not sure, but in th east it’s always seemed more plausible information.

I conclude that the Strava route planner software is just incorrect in its calculations. I had thought that the Wahoo / Strava issues was related to the recorded data via the speed sensor, but given that’s kaput at present I am at a loss to explain it – they both seem to use the same Google data.

All I know is my legs feel like they’ve done some climbing this evening and more than last week although Strava reckon’s it’s actual 20ft less climbing than that ride.

In other news, the turbo session yesterday evening seems to have buggered the speed sensor on my Wahoo SC bluetooth unit. The cadence still works and even a brand new battery purchased via a dash into the city this morning has refused to resurrect it. It’ll be off back to Wiggle for replacement.

Longest ride in years

Over 50 miles on a bike. I’ve not done that in a long time, but I did manage it today and actually felt good the whole ride. Even managed to set a new PB on one of the final stretches to home. Strava is good for letting you know when you think that you’ve had a good ride and match this agains past rides on the same roads. Stepping up the mileage seems to be working. More hill work during the week this week and perhaps a trip to the seaside in County Durham.

The view to Blackpool from Marine Drive.

It was windy out there, but I just seemed to find a tempo that worked for me and pressed on (had achy knees on a couple of occasions). Stopped on Marine drive and took a photo across the Ribble Estuary – you can see Blackpool Tower…

Lancashire Lowlands

Back in Lancashire for the weekend, but with the bike for the first time. Picked up the turbo trainer from storage and will take that back with me. I am thinking of getting one of the Wahoo sensor kits to track trainer based sessions.

Up and out early enough to make the coast road an option so hammered it up past Southport and then came back across the moss. The landscape here is flatter than Norfolk. You can see the hills of the West Pennines from here in the distance.

Lancashire Levels

It was cool this morning, enough to justify the insulation and air block offered by full length Assos winter tights and Castelli Mortirolo Due jacket, but by later today as forecast it’s warmed up to the teens. Spring is coming.

Lancashire Levels