mud (not so) glorious mud

Despite having a cold  I decided to try and get out last night for a ride up the hill.  I really need to work on my climbing and building the strength in my thighs, so I thought i’d be able to manage a climb up to Ding Quarry and back.

The start wasn’t too bad, but I was feeling seriously tired.  As I passed over the cattle grid at Lane Head and saw the hill in front of me I had second thoughts,  I turned right towards Prickshaw so that I could then double back and join back onto RMR past the cobbles  at the start of the rough section.

The ground last night was really yucky, under the beam of my light it almost had a grey colour to it and it was really claggy.  I tried to get out of my saddle to put some power into the climb, but couldn’t get any traction and shifting my weight over the rear of the bike just made the front lift.

As soon as I got to the junction that takes you off to Greenbooth reservoir I decided to change the loop into one that dropped down Woodhouse Lane into Norden. I got about 200M up the track before turning back.

Totally and utterly defeated.

Total distance 2.2 miles in 30 minutes.

Do CRC sell fog lights?

Last night I went out for a ride with some local riders.  We met up at the start of the climb up Rooley Moor Road. I admitted at the start of the ride that I wasn’t at all fit, but they were very very patient with me!

The climb took us to the Top o’ Leach where there was no visibility at all due to fog/mist/low cloud., along the stone sets past Ding Quarry.

Then we dropped down to Cowpe Quarry  and then down towards Edenfield. The conditions where far from ideal and the mud was really claggy and sticky, with lots of pools of water.

After riding for 2 hours, the climb up Sandbeds lane was extremely hard work for me, my legs were like lead and in the end I had to get off and walk.

Once we’d got back up to Rooley Moor road, the ride back was quite easy and enjoyed trying to pass a couple of 4×4′s that were out on the tops. I bet they were really happy to see the police car blocking their way just before the end of the drop! Better luck next time guys!

Total Mileage 14.2 Miles

Time Taken 3 hours 45 minutes.

Looking forward to the next ride already!

And no, it wasn’t without problems. My cleat on my right shoe jammed into my pedal, just after Cowpe,  so ended up having to rip the cleat from the bottom of my shoe to be able to ride the rest of the journey…

One of these days, one of these days!!

HTN 1.5 Bike Pics..

I thought i’d just post these pics of  my bike after HTN 1.5.. It was a bit muddy.. 

This Weekend’s Ride

Having realised that i’m completely and utterly unfit.

I’m going to try and get over to Lee Quarry this weekend. I’ve set it as my target.  The climb up RMR is bound to wear me out, but I reckon that I should be able to do it.  I suspect that conditions will still be quite tricky up on the top, but as long as it’s not too windy it should be a good loop.

I’ve set a target time for the loop (if  I don’t play in Lee Quarry) 2 hours, for the 12 miles.

New lights Project

A parcel arrived for me today with most of a set of of Cateye RC-230 lights. They’re in need of a new battery and a mounting bracket.

My plan is to update the battery from the usual 6v 4.2ah sealed lead acid unit to a 7.2v 3.8ah Ni-Mh unit to save weight.

The next part of the plan is to convert the lights to LED, perhaps by using some of These I’ll get one to start off with and see how well it fits.

Hit The North 1.5

Well Saturday came and I thought I was prepared enough for the race (yeah right!).

Conditions were good, cold and frosty, nice wintry sunshine and no rain.

The race started at just after 10AM with around 90 starters. In the first section i’d passed 3 or 4 riders  so I was hoping a top 70 finish may be achievable.

The first lap was ok, pretty uneventful. I was lapped by the front-runners before the end of the lap but I didn’t mind.

Lap 2 started and I was feeling more confident, passing another couple of riders before disaster struck! The steep drop  into Mere Clough was to be my undoing – A combination of the wrong tyres, lack of skill and a slippery descent resulted in the front of the bike losing and regaining grip – Just enough to caterpult me over the handlebars!

So with a slightly damaged helmet and grazed chin I continued onto the end of the lap before stopping.

Final finishing position 88th out of 89. Not quite what I was hoping for but i’ll be more prepared for my next race, whenever that may be.