I'm a glutton for punishment and chose to ride the Leap into the Aire 60km Audax from Hebden Bridge to Keighley and back today. As usual I arrived at the signing on point with a minute to spare only to find out that the start had been delayed as the cafe used for the first control was opening later than origininally planned. Great - it gave me time to get my bike out of the car and prep up. Just finished getting ready and the riders set off.
The ride has a cruel start with around a five mile climb onto Oxenhope Moor and I found the going tougher than last year because of the cold fresh breeze blowing drizzle into my face. My cycle computer refused to work and so I had to be extra vigilant when looking for junctions and the like. On scenic rides my customary position is lanterne rouge and today was no exception. I caught up with the slower riders at Pondon Mill and was inside the time limit by only three minutes. I had to do a double take when I saw a Dahon owner inflate his tyres with a track pump cunningly disguised as his seat stem - amazing!
More climbing and then a bit of a descent into Crosshills where I made a navigation error and ended up on the trunk road rather than the quiet road that it superceded. A quick break in Keighley where the riders doing the 100km ride were now overtaking me and another long slog back to Hebden Bridge skirting Haworth and following the route of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. I desperatly wanted to get to the ex RAF compound on Oxenhope Moor to be able to enjoy the long descent back into Hebden Bridge - it took ages but the descent made it all worth while. I got back to the start with an hour to spare and looking at last year's card I was 10 minutes slower - I'm blaming the miserable weather and headwind. I bet I'm the heaviest rider to do the route...
Hats off to Chriss Crossland for organising the event. The post-ride catering was exceptional. I'm almost tempted to do his Autumn 1AAA point rated ride - like today, it has a generoute minimum average speed.
Hats off to Chriss Crossland for organising the event. The post-ride catering was exceptional. I'm almost tempted to do his Autumn 1AAA point rated ride - like today, it has a generoute minimum average speed.
I did this last year on the tandem with Becky, but skived off this year due to lack of miles with Becky thanks to the foul weather.
The autumn ride starts with a much worse hill and then just gets more scenic as the day goes on, with a real nasty at the end just when you think its going to stop hurting, hopefully summer might of arrived by then.
"Andy Morris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
vernon said:
Hats off to Chriss Crossland for organising the event. The post-ride catering was exceptional. I'm almost tempted to do his Autumn 1AAA point rated ride - like today, it has a generoute minimum average speed.
I did this last year on the tandem with Becky, but skived off this year due to lack of miles with Becky thanks to the foul weather.
I assumed that you'd graduated onto the 100km ride. This year has been particularly poor as far as weekend wethat goes. I'm three audaxes down compared to last year.
Quoted message said:
The autumn ride starts with a much worse hill and then just gets more scenic as the day goes on, with a real nasty at the end just when you think its going to stop hurting, hopefully summer might of arrived by then.
I assumed that you'd graduated onto the 100km ride.
No preparation, daughter one the back, 25km each way to get to the start and back. I will one year though.
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
The autumn ride starts with a much worse hill and then just gets more scenic as the day goes on, with a real nasty at the end just when you think its going to stop hurting, hopefully summer might of arrived by then.
