Bob 4 Training “Through the Nick”.

On a sunny but cold Good Friday afternoon I ventured out to conquer the Nick of Pendle.

If you turn right at Pendleton onto “Route 91” and continue to the road junction you are faced with a decision you can either turn left in the direction of Clitheroe our alternatively right in the direction of Sabden, this road takes you through the “Nick of Pendle”.

My records show that on the 27^th August I attempted this road for the first time and on approaching the first cattle grid I turned around as the road was to steep ;-)

I was only carrying 5kgs on the that day unlike today I had two rear panniers totalling 8.2kgs.



I made it to the ski slope this time.



You can see the road in the distance there was a further climb in order to reach the top ;-(

The view from the top :-)



I continued my journey to Sabden, then onto Whalley then the dreaded hill up to York.

Stats for the complete journey are as follows ...

Distance .. my computer advised  20 miles.

Max height :  969ft

Min height :  153ft

Max speed :   39.8mph

Average :      10.5

Time 1hr 55min 

Bob 3 Training "I am no chicken just a mad cyclist"

Further to the email which I sent Alasdair and Andrew at the end of January  which read …

“Dear Both -

Question) What do you do when you can't get on your bike due to the bad weather?

Answer) Plan a circular trip which can be used in preparation for your next touring trip.

At 35.7 miles in length I thought I would share this one with you.

At it's highest it's 1159ft above sea level, at it's worst you climb 700ft in approx 3 miles and at it's best you descend 959 feet in 4 miles? 

…

I think I will travel light the first time, carry as little as possible and check the weather forecast before I set off to ensue the wind is on my back?

I think it may also be wise to ensure I have got my cycling legs back and carry my inhaler just in case ;-)

I think this e-mail will require a further one containing some photographic evidence of my journey which I will undertake some time in late February or early to mid March. Provided I don't chicken out first of course! “

I woke up on the 20^th March having had little sleep as I was a little anxious and excited about my planned journey. If the planning in respect of the route had been done in January then any routine maintenance on the bike had been done the night before. I had washed the bike, tightened the spokes on the front wheel and lubricated the chain. With a little play on the front fork I made a decision to tighten this en-route when I visited my Father at the start of my trip.

The day started cold, there was snow in the air and the wind chill factor was to say the least very obvious.

After weighing my back panniers yet again I made a decision not to take my rack pack this time. Weight for this journey totalled 10.2Kg

The journey for me today did not start from when I left home but from when I started travelling down roads on my bike which I had not cycled previously. It’s from this point I started taking my pictures.

I left home, visited my Father before continuing my journey down Goldacre Lane and then down Old Nab Lane to York. Then down the “dreaded hill” to Whalley (see the previous post with pictures). At Whalley I followed a shortcut along the viaduct to get onto  Mitton Road (B6246). On Mitton Rd I kept on this road until I arrived at Great Mitton, then at the Hurst Green junction I turned right and followed the road until I arrived at the sign below …

At this point my stats showed as follows …

Distance Travelled 11miles

Average 10.9

Max 33.3

The time was 10:27

My next planned stop would be The Red Pump Inn at Bashall Eaves

 

At Cow Ark I turned right ..



I needed to go to Newton but I went via Whitwell as this route followed the river :-)

Unfortunately I cycled straight passed the Inn at Whitewell and only realised when I hit Dunsop Bridge. Please note the sign, it’s only 15miles to Lancaster from here and what a 15 mile journey that would be through the Trough of Bowland?



Photos above approaching Newton.

My view at lunch time.

Hills, hills and more bloody hills !

I conquered Waddington Fell and put my hand prints in the snow on the top !!

The hill right in the distance (just about visible) between the handle bars and the saddle is Pendle. See the previous post with a photograph looking at Waddington Fell this time I am looking back at Pendle!

From this point it was down hill all the way literally, right into Waddington, then Clitheroe, up the hill out of Clitheroe to Pendleton then onto Wiswell and then home.

Stats for the complete journey are as follows ...

Distance .. my computer advised  38.36 miles.

(I had deviated a little from the original route I had planned)

Max height : 1159ft

Min height :  142ft

Max speed :   36mph

Average :      10.0

Time 3hr 47min 

(I did start the journey from home at 09:00 and returned home at 15:00. Cycling time therefore does not include a stop for routine maintenance (front fork) and a brew, taking photos, lunch and regular map stops (ensuring I didn’t get lost)).

Bob 2 Training "2 Panniers & 1 Rack Pack"

A lite load?
2 Avenir panniers and 1 Karrimor Rack Pack
Karrimor Rack Pack contains one Vango Tempest 200 tent, and a tent carpet (4.2kg).
Daily commute Avenir contains tools, spare tubes, cycle pumps,3in1 oil, waterproofs (4.2kg).
Other Avenir contains my kitchen so to speak, water, stove, meths (fuel for the stove),juice, tea/coffee/sugar, cooking pots and pans & fire starter (3.8kg).
Total weight 12.2 kg

The afternoon is bright but cold and there is still snow in the air ...
A short journey around a small corner of the Ribble Valley ..

I made it to Wiswell, I did like the flag pole!

Still plenty of snow on Pendle hill.

I think the snow covered top in the distance is Waddington fell? 

I kept to "Route 91" that way you get a cycle path to help you cross the A59.

(better to be safe than sorry?)

I made it to Clitheroe

The dreaded hill (Whalley -> York)

 Has spring finaly sprung?








Stats for the journey ...
Distance .. my computer 17.8miles.

Max height : 658
Min height : 153

Max speed : 29.4 mph
Average : 10.4

Time 1hr 43min




(cycling time does not include taking photos & having a brew at Mother and Fathers).

Bob 1 Training "Take the long way home .... (Supertramp)"

Counting down the days and realising that I have still a bit of training to do I decided to take the long way home. It just adds 3.66 miles to my total for the week (40 miles total this week to date), hopefully every mile should  help me achieve my goal of 2500 miles for this year?
Stats for this daily commute 12.66 miles, average 11.2, max 23.8
(full waterproofs both ways due to weather conditions).
Total miles this year to date 417.5 miles, total miles at the end of week 11 in 2012, 361.

Looking down the M65 towards Burnley.

Its better to be on a bike in the slow lane than doing 70mph in the fast lane?

I did take a little shortcut ...

On a sunny dry day I think I'll go right next time ...

Bob 1 Admin "Success?"

Having repaired a puncture at 20:30 last night (Thursday 14th March) I had a little success today with a daily commute of 40mins 53secs. This was my best daily commute time this year todate, I did not achieve anything like this last year until the end of March! My second success today will hopefully be my first post on Als blog? (Posted onto the Blog using my Kindle Fire)

Test from phone

This is a post created using my old sony xperia x10 mini pro.

Now to put a picture in.
Looks like the pics are stuck at the bottom of the page.
Pic of glasses was only thing to hand.

Thats all for now

Al

Al training ride 3rd march 2013

Al – Training ride 3^rd March 2013

Well the day was bright and the air temperature about 7Deg C. It all seemed perfect. The only issue of the day was I only had 3 hours as I had to be elsewhere in the afternoon.

Prepared the bike with its extra weights to give me more of a work out. This is adding 10KG extra using some of my sons weights. Does not sound a lot but boy when you start up a steep hill you sure know you have got it on the back.

I am using an app on my wife’s phone called Google Mytracks. It will map out your route and also give you stats on the route. Speed, elevations, time, etc. All this can then be uploaded to your Google drive to keep track of. Its great.

I have been looking at a new route that takes me out towards Edinburgh but along the pentlands. Using the output from MyTracks I managed to produce this map of the route I took.

View down Currie Kirk Hill

I started out nice and easy along the main road. When I reached Currie I turned up in to the Pentland hills. Up what I call the Currie Kirk hill. This is just short of a mile of steep gradient, great training for Skye I hope. The view from the top, as you catch your breath, is stunning.

The new part of the route takes me across the hills and passed some very nice reservoirs to Colinton. At the first res I was taking some pictures and looked down the bank dam of the res and thought jings that’s steep. Little did I know that that’s the path I was going down. Woow it was steep and there are some mean corners on the way down to the next res.

View out over Edinburgh

The views out over Edinburgh were fantastic on such a good day.

Once down and back on the suburban roads the cycle became humbrum. I stopped in Juniper Green to try a new energy gel drink I wanted to try, knowing that I had the Currie Kirk Hill coming up again in a few miles I hoped it would give me an energy boost. (more later on the energy gel)

View back over Threipmuir

Well along came the hill and I have to say I made it without too much bother and headed back home via the Harlaw and Threipmuir reservoir’s.

All in all a pleasant cycle

Now for the stats

	Total Distance	16.49
	Total Time	01:50:16
	Moving Time	01:47:33
	Number of Tracks	1
	Average Speed	8.97
	Average Moving Speed	9.20
	Elevation Gain	1,699
	Min Elevation	478
	Max Elevation	1,100

P.S

Well I thought that was the end of the cycle but that energy gel did not agree. Next day my stomach felt bad with cramps. Seems whatever I eat causes me stomach cramps. I think I will stick to the Jelly babies in future :0)

Al