Blimey, pooped.
125 k. That's all.
Span down the highway towards Motril and turned off
just before I fell into the sea.
38 minutes later was at the top of the first climb.
A super quick descent got me to the t junction at
the bottom just 4 minutes later. Wow.
So then to business. The climb up to 1200m doesn't
half go on a bit - one hour thirty nine minutes in
fact. Sod Crag Vale, this is the new test when you're
next down this way.
The descent off the other side wasn't as descendy as
would've liked. Though the last bit down to the
motorway was long and swoopy.
Caught up with a Spanish chap from Pinos after much
effort after Durcal. He was riding a lovely gold
Orbea - that's about as far as it went as neither
of us spoke each others language. I must try harder.
Got taken back to Si & Em's for tea which was nice
and saved me from cooking.
Will see if my thumb is useable tomorrow before
helping out with the Irish downhillers on Sunday.
Fingers crossed.
Friday, 30 April 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
Spanish exploration
Day 9 - off relatively early towards Granada. Turned off a while before
getting there and headed up into the countryside. Past the sound of
shooting and keep on climbing. All the way to 1200m or thereabouts
between Sierra de Chaparral and the stunning spiky peaks of de Sierra
de Tejida. We lost most of the mornings climbing shortly after that as
we hurtled towards the sea, turning off before Motril to grunt over a
super steep but thankfuly short climb towards Molivar. Short by Spanish
standards that is. Dropped down to the main road to hit a coffee stop
before a steady 'undulating' route back to Motril. Another ice cream steeled
us for the last few k back to the cortijo. Tomorrow we'll continue the search
for more routes to quell the rumour that this area doesn't have enough riding!
getting there and headed up into the countryside. Past the sound of
shooting and keep on climbing. All the way to 1200m or thereabouts
between Sierra de Chaparral and the stunning spiky peaks of de Sierra
de Tejida. We lost most of the mornings climbing shortly after that as
we hurtled towards the sea, turning off before Motril to grunt over a
super steep but thankfuly short climb towards Molivar. Short by Spanish
standards that is. Dropped down to the main road to hit a coffee stop
before a steady 'undulating' route back to Motril. Another ice cream steeled
us for the last few k back to the cortijo. Tomorrow we'll continue the search
for more routes to quell the rumour that this area doesn't have enough riding!
Friday, 9 April 2010
sunny days!
Before we go any further we must announce that this ride is sponsored by the stoats of the doldrums, or maybe that's too local a reference... or maybe it's not even a stoat but he was very cute and not camera shy at all!In view of all the sunshine bouncing around we abandoned the planned road ride in favour of a spin to the ice cream van in Todmorden. We'll always ride for ice cream. Another nail in the road ride's coffin was the arrival of a new camera. Haven't had any retail therapy in ages and cracked big time.
Even though I was glad of the gears on Monday's epic with Jon there's nothing like the grunt and grind of a good singlespeed ride. Especially around the cobbles of Todmorden...
Here's Shona looking for a repeat of the stoat show, one rider and her bike...
B-Side on the moor after Littleborough...
Ice creams in Walsden. Probably the only place someone would shout 'nice bike, love!' out of a white van to someone on a singlespeed, 650b bike. We were only 50 yards or so from Brant Richards' house though, that could explain a lot. Me, AKA Mr Whippy.
As ever we did the ride the wrong way round. Either we need to think about gradients a bit more or councils should just sign the trails correctly!
Nearly home now,
Sunday, 28 March 2010
the great chick pea tragedy
After a long lay off the camping thing we headed off to Bala for elevenses on Saturday. After filling our bellies we headed South a couple of miles to the end of the lake, booted up and headed out. We got a little impromptu Welsh lesson from the local park ranger on the way up onto the Aran ridge. As I have a CSE Grade 4 in the languageI think he had a bit of a cheek...
We didn't quite get the solitude we're used to around these parts as there were plenty of people around. It wasn't crowded like the Lake District would've been though. It's still mighty chilly this time of the year at the high point of 907m, especially when the wind's gusting around 40mph. After 6 hours or so we'd bagged a couple of peaks and done the obligutory squelching through a forest. Unusually for a Welsh forestry though the path had remained almost navigable.We arrived at the designated camp spot high up just off Y Gribin at around 600m. We had a restless night as it was still very windy and flippin' cold. A touch below freezing, brrr. This is the spot,
It was sometime during the food prep process that we found the limitations of an unsupported MSR Pocket Rocket and a decent sized pan on a grassy, uneven surface. We lost alomst 50% of our luke warm chick peas to the slugs. It was a particularly gutting moment.
An early start the next day dropping right down into the valley just to climb back out through this basin after the cloud had cleared.
Would be nice to live here, just to ride that track!
We climbed this track ...
Via this rubbly section, if this was Scotland we'd be back down here with bikes in a flash.
This up and down routine carried on for the next few hours, up and down another couple of 700m hills. The downs are always hardest. Knee killers.
Managed to hit Bala for mid afternoon tea after a calmer time trotting through the valley back to our start point. Great to be out tromping across pathless hillsides again. Now planning a faster and lighter Rhinog traverse...
We didn't quite get the solitude we're used to around these parts as there were plenty of people around. It wasn't crowded like the Lake District would've been though. It's still mighty chilly this time of the year at the high point of 907m, especially when the wind's gusting around 40mph. After 6 hours or so we'd bagged a couple of peaks and done the obligutory squelching through a forest. Unusually for a Welsh forestry though the path had remained almost navigable.We arrived at the designated camp spot high up just off Y Gribin at around 600m. We had a restless night as it was still very windy and flippin' cold. A touch below freezing, brrr. This is the spot,
It was sometime during the food prep process that we found the limitations of an unsupported MSR Pocket Rocket and a decent sized pan on a grassy, uneven surface. We lost alomst 50% of our luke warm chick peas to the slugs. It was a particularly gutting moment.
An early start the next day dropping right down into the valley just to climb back out through this basin after the cloud had cleared.
Would be nice to live here, just to ride that track!
We climbed this track ...
Via this rubbly section, if this was Scotland we'd be back down here with bikes in a flash.
This up and down routine carried on for the next few hours, up and down another couple of 700m hills. The downs are always hardest. Knee killers.Managed to hit Bala for mid afternoon tea after a calmer time trotting through the valley back to our start point. Great to be out tromping across pathless hillsides again. Now planning a faster and lighter Rhinog traverse...
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Monday, 1 March 2010
delivering the goods
201k audax followed by a trip back out to Pat's house.
Early start Sunday morning. Weather didn't look too promising as we threw the bikes in the back of the van and headed round the M60 to Cheadle. Splatters of rain on the windshield. Parked up, pulled on the overshoes, grabbed our brevet cards and we were off. Usual minor roads away from traffic and into Cheshire. Radway, Newport, Audlem, Middlewich and back. 200k and just a little spatter of rain. Thankful for the sleet that never came.
Audaxes are funny things. Seeing the same people multiple times throughout the day as we pass each other then stop at a cafe while they ride on and grab food at another favorite spot. Meet up at the end for soup, cake and a chat. Ambitious plans to complete one on a fixed someday soon. Definately looking forward to the 400 from Mytholmroyd in May.
Due to the hospitality of Rachel and Phil we didn't have to travel too far to Bredbury and grabbed some food. Bowls of pasta and big mugs of tea. Yum. Bit of chat then a couple of hours nap. Up at 11-ish to get ourselves together. Fired up the laptop at midnight to download the Mountain Mayhem registration form. Just to make sure of an entry in this classic event we headed off into the night for our yearly pilgrimage to Pat's house. Meeting up with Julie along the way we found out again that Long Hill is indeed long and hilly. Rewarded with flutters of snow at the top and the full moon peeping between the clouds. Quite a bit of snow still up there. Lovely riding up there on deserted roads with those views under a full moon.
Arrived at (Hall of Fame) Pat Adams' house around 3 and were greeted by the usual incredible early morning cheeriness. Coffee, cake and the ever enthusiastic Digit the dog. Sat, chatted and warmed up for an hour or so. Some of the first visitors on bikes again this year. Photos taken and we were off, guaranteed a place in the 11th Mountain Mayhem. Sunrise ride home. Actually back to Rachel and Phil's again. We sneeked back into the house like roadie ninjas so as not to wake Brutus. Think he must have woken up but by some kind of bulldog sixth sense knew we were too goosed to steal his snacks.
All too soon it was time to drag ourselves from the spare room and greet the day. Sun and blue skies though after 291k in 22hrs it must be time for a rest day.
Early start Sunday morning. Weather didn't look too promising as we threw the bikes in the back of the van and headed round the M60 to Cheadle. Splatters of rain on the windshield. Parked up, pulled on the overshoes, grabbed our brevet cards and we were off. Usual minor roads away from traffic and into Cheshire. Radway, Newport, Audlem, Middlewich and back. 200k and just a little spatter of rain. Thankful for the sleet that never came.
Audaxes are funny things. Seeing the same people multiple times throughout the day as we pass each other then stop at a cafe while they ride on and grab food at another favorite spot. Meet up at the end for soup, cake and a chat. Ambitious plans to complete one on a fixed someday soon. Definately looking forward to the 400 from Mytholmroyd in May.
Due to the hospitality of Rachel and Phil we didn't have to travel too far to Bredbury and grabbed some food. Bowls of pasta and big mugs of tea. Yum. Bit of chat then a couple of hours nap. Up at 11-ish to get ourselves together. Fired up the laptop at midnight to download the Mountain Mayhem registration form. Just to make sure of an entry in this classic event we headed off into the night for our yearly pilgrimage to Pat's house. Meeting up with Julie along the way we found out again that Long Hill is indeed long and hilly. Rewarded with flutters of snow at the top and the full moon peeping between the clouds. Quite a bit of snow still up there. Lovely riding up there on deserted roads with those views under a full moon.
Arrived at (Hall of Fame) Pat Adams' house around 3 and were greeted by the usual incredible early morning cheeriness. Coffee, cake and the ever enthusiastic Digit the dog. Sat, chatted and warmed up for an hour or so. Some of the first visitors on bikes again this year. Photos taken and we were off, guaranteed a place in the 11th Mountain Mayhem. Sunrise ride home. Actually back to Rachel and Phil's again. We sneeked back into the house like roadie ninjas so as not to wake Brutus. Think he must have woken up but by some kind of bulldog sixth sense knew we were too goosed to steal his snacks.
All too soon it was time to drag ourselves from the spare room and greet the day. Sun and blue skies though after 291k in 22hrs it must be time for a rest day.
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