Seems my last post was after a hot sticky day on Holme Moss back in summer 2013...since then
we've had Le Tour, the rise of Ebikes in Sheffield, I've moved to the AMRC, I'm now a SUSTRANS ranger and I manage to get 15 miles in most days on my commute, There are craft beer bars in Walkley, we have a dog , there have been 3 elections, we are leaving the EU and I'm now a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (no extra money mind)
I'm also hoping to enter the murky world of ebikes as well soon. Watch this space. Oh, I almost forgot, I'm chair of the University Cycle Forum.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Brutal Day on Holme Moss
Anyone fancy Holme Moss next Sunday? Seemed like a simple enough idea, after all its been a few years since I've been over it and Le Tour visits in exactly a year.
It was warm waiting in Hillsborough Park on Sunday morning, suspiciously warm for 9.30am. A mix up meant I missed Dexter (the ride instigator) but hooked up with Garf in Oughtibridge and we set off up to Green Moor Road to avoid the main road traffic.
Trying to stick to the shade it was getting a little warm out on the hills but we made our way over to a relativity quiet Homlfirth and cooled down a little on the fast run down into town.
Stopped for a decent cuppa , the talk was "you are not seriously going up there in this heat?" Yes we were seriously going up there.
Now I've never found Holme Moss too bad a climb as long as you have a gear you can twiddle, sit back and watch the view. Today was different 28 Celsius and the air was still and hot, heat radiating back off the tarmac. 1 1/4 miles from the summit (dam those road marking) head started swimming and pulse rate gone off the scale. Ground to a halt twice until I recovered a little on the final 1/2 mile. Summit reached with great relief in the painfully slow time of 40 minutes.
There were big numbers to be had on the descent but we had already agreed to taking it easy given the heat and the state of mind. Brakes on at 45mph, 55mph would have been reached easily on the day.
A bumpy run along the TPT to the closed Woodhead tunnel, a grim haul along the Woodhead Pass to Dunford Bridge, and then across the tops via the reservoirs to Wortley and a hard earned pint. Still the mercury was in the high twenties and the beer garden was abandoned for an arm chair in the shade
A brutal climb in the heat. Next time we will wait till its a little cooler
It was warm waiting in Hillsborough Park on Sunday morning, suspiciously warm for 9.30am. A mix up meant I missed Dexter (the ride instigator) but hooked up with Garf in Oughtibridge and we set off up to Green Moor Road to avoid the main road traffic.
Trying to stick to the shade it was getting a little warm out on the hills but we made our way over to a relativity quiet Homlfirth and cooled down a little on the fast run down into town.
Stopped for a decent cuppa , the talk was "you are not seriously going up there in this heat?" Yes we were seriously going up there.
Now I've never found Holme Moss too bad a climb as long as you have a gear you can twiddle, sit back and watch the view. Today was different 28 Celsius and the air was still and hot, heat radiating back off the tarmac. 1 1/4 miles from the summit (dam those road marking) head started swimming and pulse rate gone off the scale. Ground to a halt twice until I recovered a little on the final 1/2 mile. Summit reached with great relief in the painfully slow time of 40 minutes.
There were big numbers to be had on the descent but we had already agreed to taking it easy given the heat and the state of mind. Brakes on at 45mph, 55mph would have been reached easily on the day.
A bumpy run along the TPT to the closed Woodhead tunnel, a grim haul along the Woodhead Pass to Dunford Bridge, and then across the tops via the reservoirs to Wortley and a hard earned pint. Still the mercury was in the high twenties and the beer garden was abandoned for an arm chair in the shade
Friday, May 03, 2013
A Joyous Bike Ride
You know how it is, just when you feel a little jaded about the whole cycling thing (the thick smog of Broomhill last night didn't help) along comes a ride that puts the joy back into it and you are grinning like that 13 year old with his first real bike again.
Day off and the original plan was to head out toward Edale, maybe catch up with cycling Bob on his way back from camping but a late night, nasty cough and sore throat put paid to that.
Instead I got out around 11 and headed down to Malin Bridge. Took the main Loxley Road up to high Bradfield. The Amey crew were out installing the new street lights so it cant be long till Loxley Road gets a long overdue resurface.
Past Stacey bank then I started to notice that the little side lanes had the shiny new black top on them already. Resisted the urge to go down Trouble Wood lane but ground my way up to High Bradfield. Stopped to enjoy the view that Le Tour will have next year, then took it easy down to the Post Office cafe, Woodfall Lane hasn't had its new surface yet and my days of 45 MPH down there have long gone.
Cup of tea at the cafe and a nice half hour chat with an old chap who was dog sitting for his son. So we get talking and it turns out he used to live 4 doors up from the Palm pub in Walkley before he moved out to Bradfield (after 30 years living here I realise this type of coincidence just happens in Sheffield)
Time to set off again so I just headed to the nearest piece of fresh tarmac I came across and kept following it. Blindsale Lane, single track, smooth as a pancake and not a car in sight. Glorious views over Dale Dyke Reservoir and across to the Strines. I must have been the first cyclist back up it, it was so freshly laid.
At the top of the lane had to swerve to avoid numerous toads basking on the fresh tarmac
I just carried on taking whichever freshly surfaced lane I saw, the speeds crept up to 25mph on the flat and even the hills just rushed by.
At this point all I could think about that Ewan Maccoll song "the the joy of living". Not in a morbid way (he was dying when he wrote it of course) but just the shear joy of pedalling along smooth empty lanes in stunning scenery.
Ended up back down at the Damflask and took the main road back down to Malin Bridge. Not even Hillsborough's traffic jams could spoil the ride and I easily made the big climb up to Walkley via Walkley Bank
That whole area between Strines / Moscar / The Bradfields and Stocksbridge gets overlooked compared to the tourist traps around Hope, Castleton and Edale. I know where my next ride will be...just don't tell everyone else just yet .
Not the longest ride in the world (16 miles), not the fastest ride either, but just a perfect start to along weekend.
Day off and the original plan was to head out toward Edale, maybe catch up with cycling Bob on his way back from camping but a late night, nasty cough and sore throat put paid to that.
Instead I got out around 11 and headed down to Malin Bridge. Took the main Loxley Road up to high Bradfield. The Amey crew were out installing the new street lights so it cant be long till Loxley Road gets a long overdue resurface.
Past Stacey bank then I started to notice that the little side lanes had the shiny new black top on them already. Resisted the urge to go down Trouble Wood lane but ground my way up to High Bradfield. Stopped to enjoy the view that Le Tour will have next year, then took it easy down to the Post Office cafe, Woodfall Lane hasn't had its new surface yet and my days of 45 MPH down there have long gone.
Cup of tea at the cafe and a nice half hour chat with an old chap who was dog sitting for his son. So we get talking and it turns out he used to live 4 doors up from the Palm pub in Walkley before he moved out to Bradfield (after 30 years living here I realise this type of coincidence just happens in Sheffield)
Time to set off again so I just headed to the nearest piece of fresh tarmac I came across and kept following it. Blindsale Lane, single track, smooth as a pancake and not a car in sight. Glorious views over Dale Dyke Reservoir and across to the Strines. I must have been the first cyclist back up it, it was so freshly laid.
At the top of the lane had to swerve to avoid numerous toads basking on the fresh tarmac
I just carried on taking whichever freshly surfaced lane I saw, the speeds crept up to 25mph on the flat and even the hills just rushed by.
At this point all I could think about that Ewan Maccoll song "the the joy of living". Not in a morbid way (he was dying when he wrote it of course) but just the shear joy of pedalling along smooth empty lanes in stunning scenery.
Ended up back down at the Damflask and took the main road back down to Malin Bridge. Not even Hillsborough's traffic jams could spoil the ride and I easily made the big climb up to Walkley via Walkley Bank
That whole area between Strines / Moscar / The Bradfields and Stocksbridge gets overlooked compared to the tourist traps around Hope, Castleton and Edale. I know where my next ride will be...just don't tell everyone else just yet .
Not the longest ride in the world (16 miles), not the fastest ride either, but just a perfect start to along weekend.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Up the Pole
The next Friday night ride (bike week 2012) is a little bit different
from the normal city based fair as it’s a trip out to Stanedge Pole where
Sheffield meets the edge of the Peak, and leads directly to nearby Stanage Edge
(why the different spelling?).
Micks away for the actual night of the ride, so together with
Richard, Mick & I arranged a recce ride. I’m no stranger to heading out to
Stanage (or Stanedge) but we were interested to try a route more in keeping
with the gentler FNR approach and give Richard and myself some pointers for
leading the route on the night.
We certainly wanted to avoid the main drag though Lodge Moor
out to Redmires as the outbound carriageway is in an appalling state, all the
way from Lodge Moor. We know this section well as it features on our regular Thursday
evening circular route.
We set of from Devonshire Green, after just managing to stop
Richard from heading off down West St, clearly on autopilot to Rotherham at
that point.
Luckily we had picked a break in the rain (so we thought).
From Devonshire Green we took the Peak District Anniversary
route out, except for a slight diversion from Broomspring Lane down Gloucester
St, through the woods at the back of the Francis Newton pub (Aunt Sally’s as
was). It just avoids a short section of busy road, and awkward junction by the
Hallamshire Hospital.
From there it was along Clarkhouse rd. and up Endcliffe
Vale. A Sheffield commuty transport bus did its best to wipe Mick out while he
was waiting in the bike lane to turn right.
Onto Bingham park and a quick stop to look at the newly refurbished Shepherd Wheel. At this point it seemed to be raining quite heavily, although
we weren’t sure if this was just the overnight rain still being blown down from
the trees (it wasn’t!). Half term kids were enjoying jumping in the puddles.
Off onto the non-tarmaced sections through the woods, Mick and I walking across the stepping stones,
Richard took the plunge at the ford instead, brave man (now always known as Gordon Selway’s stepping stones
to me, having seen the man negotiate them complete with briefcase, umbrella,
walking stick and Dawes galaxy at the Sheffield CCN way back when )
Onwards up past Forge Dam and onto tarmac again at Clough
Lane. From here a neat little switch of lanes that Richard and I discussed over
a pint of Lord Maples in the Hallamshire House the previous evening. Double
back along Mark Lane, Mayfield Road, onto Gorse Lane and Brown Hills Lane and
you achieve the reservoirs at Redmires with a minimum of hill climbing. By now the
rain was coming down hard, but we pushed on up to the Long Causeway cycled to
the gate to the open moors and then cycled / walked the last 50m to the Pole.
I’m not mentioning any other points of interest along the
route as we need to save them for the ride night.
Photos at the Pole then a swift ride back through the rain
to Crosspool. The whole ride was highly enjoyable. It’s a short but invigorating
ride and a pleasant way to get from the City Centre to the Peak. It rained hard
up on the moors, but it was mild. Our only concession to the weather was not stopping
for a pint at the 3 merry lads on the way back. We didn’t really feel like sitting
in a pub in wet gear then setting off again. Total distance (Walkley to Walkley) a little
over 15 miles.
Now looking forward to doing it all again on the evening of
Friday June 22nd, all the details are over on SNFR.org.uk
My Pompetamine worked beautifully for the whole ride. I seem
to have got the 8 speed Alfine hub dialled in to a suitable range for gentle
off road stuff, still able to spin up to 22mph on tarmac. My cyclocross tyres
were ideal for the mixed surface conditions and Id final got my rear avid 7
disk brake set up nicely. The Pompetamine has proved itself so accomplished as
a cyclocross / commuter / tourer / gentle off roader that my brand newly built Cotic
X hasn’t had a look in yet this year.
Ian
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Frame swap
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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