The beautiful Washburn valley

After a wind assisted spin to Otley and out the back over to Leathley, we took the gated road climb through Lindley to reach Norwood edge. It's been about 7 years since I've been along this road and I had forgotten about the stunning view west over the Washburn valley. It was particularly satisfying this morning due to the clear blue sky and early spring sunshine. And to top it all we took the Low Snowden extension on the return and got the equally awe-inspiring easterly view down the valley. Big latté in Costa was just what the doctor ordered afterwards too. Fitness wise, I'm still feeling a little tired due to late night working. Hopefully this will ease after Monday...

Weight still 12st 10lb

Warm up

Had to work very late last night (1:45am - technically this morning) so it was with some difficulty that I dragged myself out of bed at 6am. Weather conditions not too bad - some blue bits and some cloud on the hilltops. Unfortunately the route turned out to be straight up Langbar from the Ilkley side. This proved incredibly difficult on so little sleep and no warm up. I didn't really get going until the return leg from the Cavendish, but still didn't feel that much better. Tired later on in the day but what did I expect on 4 hours sleep? I got the feeling that the other earlybirds weren't too keen on the big hill straight away either. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

Still have quite a lot of work to do before Monday so will be riding Saturday this weekend instead of Sunday. Pity, but the bills have to be paid...

Hilly evening

A Tuesday evening ride again this week - I am beginning to rather enjoy these. Last night's was a little different in that I was on my own. Still, undaunted I set off alone into the darkness. The proposed route was my old favourite of Barden - Embsay. Felt a little tiredness still in my legs from Saturday when I started but this soon faded and I settled into that usual lone-rider rhythm, you know where you think you're going steady, but when you check the time you've actually been storming round.

Got onto the Halton Height climb, slipped into my usual gear for this ascent, but found I was spinning wildly, so shifted up a notch. It felt great to be able to do that. Performed a very cautious descent as no cars had passed me for quite a while and I didn't want to come off on my own in the dark!

Fast back along the road through Halton East to Bolton Abbey, then a thought occured to me. "It's not even 9 o'clock yet, why not do the Addingham - Turner Lane climb as an extension to finish". Brilliant set myself another challenge. Again slipped up into a higher gear than usual and it seemed to be over very quickly.

A very pleasing result. Going out tomorrow morning with the earlybirds - we shall see how that goes...

4 dales epic - in the snow

Easter Saturday 2008 will be one I will remember for a long time to come. 5 riders set off at 7am - 2 heading for the Lakes, 2 heading for Wensleydale and 1 along for an unexpected long ride. A light sprinkling of snow was covering the ground in lower Wharfedale, temperature was a cool 1 degree, and threatening clouds were everywhere, but the (fool)hardy 5 set off anyway. There was a 25+mph northerly wind so we decided to go in a line and do strict 1 mile stints on the front. By Bolton Abbey we were in the first of the days blizzards, but at Burnsall the sun was shining brightly and Wharfedale was stunning. This pattern seemed to be set in for the day, as by the time we reached Kilnsey and my turn on the front came round again another blizzard was upon us. Even if I could have opened my eyes more than a tiny fraction I doubt whether I could have seen more than 5 metres in front of me! The snow passed down the valley as we headed north, and turning out of Wharfedale into Langstrothdale we were greeted by glorious sunshine again. Unfortunately the wind had not changed and we ploughed on to the bottom of the Fleet Moss climb.

There was no chance of the group sticking together on the climb, and I hit a bit of a sticky patch on the first steep part of the ascent dropping back, slipped on some ice half a mile further along, but managed to stay seated just needing a foot-out to steady myself. I could see Stefan and Gizzajob storming up the climb followed by El Cid and Cacohpony a short way behind. By the time I reached the cattle grid (half way) I was starting to get into a rhythm again, but as we ascended the snow and ice was spreading further onto the road. There was an interesting point just near the top where the ice was almost all the way across the road and I had to go on the far right to avoid it. Thankfully no cars came down at that point. Rounding the last very steep corner into an enormous headwind I was met by Stefan off back down and on his way home.

The snow was quite deep as you can see from the photos, but strangely the road was bone dry. Wensleydale looked amazing, snow covered with a bright blue sky, but now the promise of breakfast in Hawes was calling me. Only problem was the road on the descent was totally covered in snow and ice, so after what seemed like an age I finally trundled into the town to find the other three had already ordered, but only for themselves!

After our fill of sugary tea and saturated fat we split up, El Cid and Cacophony heading west up towards Garsdale Head and Gizzajob and myself off east along Wensleydale to Aysgarth. This was a very pleasant stretch with no stiff wind, no snow and only the odd short rise to test how much was left in my legs.

Here's Gizzajob at Aysgarth falls just before the nasty little 25% climb out of there. The snow is just beginning to come down again.

After climbing out of here we went over the top and down to Thoralby then along the bottom of Bishopdale and up to Kidstones Fell. The sun was shining again, until we reached the top and plunged into yet another blizzard as we dropped back back to Buckden and Wharfedale once more.

Of course by Kettlewell it was bright sunshine again. Once past Grassington and back onto "home" territory I was feeling quite elated. I was tired, but still going and managing the uphills without major soreness.

The final twist of the weather came as we rolled down to Ilkley on the back road by the golf course when the hail started. Nevermind, I didn't care, my computer was reading 83 miles and 6:10 riding time which considering the terrain and weather conditions I am really pleased with. Memory-Map tells me there was 2271 metres of ascent (7450 feet). So all in all a memorable ride.

Turner Lane

Thursday morning earlybird ride featuring the Addingham Main Street - Turner Lane climb. Slow start but by the time we'd crossed the A65 and started on the steeper part of the climb up Turner Lane I felt pretty good. Gizzajob was storming ahead - he seems to be doing a lot of that recently - and El Cid was looking fairly ropey due to tennis and beer excesses the previous night. I'm pleased with the progress I am making at the moment. Got a long ride planned for Saturday. The weather could turn out to be rather challenging though...

Decision made

So swapped out the broken link with one that I removed when the chain was fitted new. Oh well maybe do the drivetrain upgrade next month.
Went out for the Tuesday night late birds this evening. A much better evening than last week weather-wise. Not too chilly and bathed in moonlight. 6 riders out for a Barden - Burnsall figure of 8 thingy. Yet again I felt much better than I usually do in the mornings, and that was despite spending the majority of the day with a pounding headache. I wonder if there's a sportive event that starts at 7pm rather than 7am..?

Busy weekend

It's been a very busy weekend moving in to our house's new extension, so no cycling. Managed to get out with the earlybirds this morning though, just a steady Cavendish and back. I've managed to break a chain link, I suspect wear and tear rather than raw power! Is this the excuse I needed for that drivetrain upgrade, or shall I just dig out the spare links I took out when I fitted the chain? Hmmm what a quandry...
Current weight: 12st 10lb

Back to early morning riding

Thankfully the wind has dropped slightly this morning. Out with the earlybirds again. Up to the Cavendish then back at a brisk pace, with a local short-steep hill to finish. Dropped off the pace on the way back, but kept pushing. Legs feeling nicely tired now.

Tuesday night hill

Had a great ride last night. A not-so-gentle 25 miles including the climb from Barden to Halton Height. Felt pretty good on the climb, despite the 20+ mph head wind. I always seem to go better at the end of the day rather than early morning - shame most of my riding is done early morning really. Had a blast on the return trip, some impressive speeds were reached with the tail-wind!
Not riding today due to high wind/torrential rain. Back out tomorrow morning.

Not a good start

Well, I missed this mornings earlybird ride due to being asleep. An early hours visit from one of the kids left me wide awake for an hour or so, and subsequently meant I didn't wake in enough time. Never mind there's going to be a better/hillier/longer ride tonight.

This weeks plan

The schedule for this week is earlybird rides Tues, Weds and Thurs then long ride on Sunday morning.

Saturday

Earlybird Saturday morning was a hilly 24 miles, with a stiff southerly to contend with. Had a late night, although no alcohol was consumed, still felt pretty tired. Couldn't get a rhythm going especially on the climbs. Had a close encounter with a red kite though, which was nice...

Missed opportunities

Hurray, I managed to make it out on the bike this morning, first time in almost 2 weeks! Got up for the earlybirds 6:30am start. Made it out of the house 15 minutes early so did a quick extra loop around Ilkley first, then joined up with the usual weekday suspects; El Cid, Cacophony, Gizzajob and Mark. Just a steady ride up to the Cavendish pavillion and back today, though Gizzajob was off on an epic 70 miler. Unfortunately I couldn't join him this morning due to work commitments. Can't do longer Sunday this weekend either, and Cacophony's longer Saturday is also out of the question. I should be out on a normal Saturday run tomorrow morning for 25 miles including the Norwood Edge climb to test my "well rested" legs on.

Training blog begins

Ok, so not only is this my first L'Etape du Tour, but it's also my first blog.
I've been inspired to start it by my friend (and fellow L'Etape entrant) Gizzajob. We will be travelling and rooming together in the Pyrenees at the beginning of July, though I'm fairly confident he will be finishing well ahead of me at the event! Gizzajob's training blog is here.

I'm currently entered for 3 UK sportives: Lakeland loop on April 15, Etape du Dales on May 18, and the White Rose Classic on June 8, though I may have to pull out of the Etape du Dales due to a social event the night before.

The training started in earnest late last year, but recently things have conspired against me and I have lapsed slightly. So far things have been pretty much adhoc. Rides are usually early morning 6:30am during the week and 7am at weekends. I would like to think that I do a minimum of 3 a week including a longer weekend ride, but the reality is that they are thinner on the ground than that. Hopefully now we are starting to come out of the worst of winter, there won't be many more missed due to icy roads/freezing fog/gale force winds...