Today's Bike Ride

[Graham Breeze]

After Fleet Moss last week I was wondering what would constitute an encore. Unfortunately the answer was staring me in the face because some time ago my son (he loves his father!) bought me a framed poster of Park Rash which adorns my dining room, complete with information on the climb (781 feet) and that it includes several ramps of 25%. Or 1 in 4 as the road sign at the bottom helpfully advises. Not that I had forgotten from several previous ascents.

Park Rash lies on the road north of Kettlewell going towards Leyburn. On the east is Gt Whernside and to the north is the glorious valley of the River Cover. After Middleham High Moor with its gallops for the race horse stables I descended the 25% Witton Steeps towards the Hawes - Leyburn road. I have ridden up the Steeps and I had forgotten how awful and wet and winding the road is. However I had already decided to ride east to West Witton and ascend on roads new to me exploring all the hamlets in Coverdale before rejoining the road back to Park Kash at Gammersgill.

Thirty five miles and 4300 feet of climb. Another wonderful day out in Richmondshire with, not suprisingly considering the roads I was on, hardly any traffic - if you discount monster tractors.

[mr brightside]

Glad to hear you've discovered this; running is a higher cadence activity, (you can't run well at low cadence, but you can pedal a bike as slowly as you want), so I would expect spinning the pedals to feel better for a runner. It saves your fast twitch muscles, too

I'm out of the saddle though, i can't climb properly seated.

[Marco]

Is this an explanation for why I, a dedicated grinder up hills at a low cadence on my bike, am finding it ever more difficult to keep a running gait going when going uphill in fell races?

Not necessarily, as they're different sports and different techniques. At the same time, your running won't benefit from the training effect that your cycling could (big emphasis on 'could') give you as the different techniques are further apart than what they would be if you were pedalling quicker

Actually, no it isn't. In my younger days, when I was rather good at running up steep hills, I was even more dedicated to grinding up hills in a high gear at a low cadence on my bike. In fact, in my teenage years, I was under the impression that the object was to stay in the highest gear possible when going up any gradient. And when I did change down to the 49-inch bottom gear on my Triumph Roadster, I could get up 1-in-8 hills. According to the principle that "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger", this may be why I have had very few problems with my knees in all my years of fell running.

I did all my early cycling on my own, and adopted an economical style of grinding big gears. It wasn't until I started riding with clubs, and getting dropped on hills, that I discovered (the hard way) that I could generate more power using lower gears and a much higher cadence. Those of you watch professional cycling on the TV carefully will have noted that they all pedal at a high cadence, even though they could use higher gears if they wanted to.

In running there is a limit to your stride length, so if you want to run very fast downhill you have to use a high cadence. My opinion is that if you want to run downhill fast, and do some cycling, you may as well pedal fast to get your legs used to it

[Graham Breeze]

Today I did the Halton Gill - Stainforth - Langcliffe Scar - Arncliffe - Halton Gill loop.

It is a glorious ride - only 24 miles but the 2600 feet of climb includes one 16% climb and two 20% climbs (Langcliffe Scar is a Simon Warren climb) and the screaming descent into Arncliffe with its hair pins, blind corners, ascending traffic and very close dry stone walls sorts the men from the utterly mad. Interestingly the parapet wall on the bridge as you turn at the bottom of the descent has collapsed - but that might just be normal wear and tear.

The valley route has Pen-y-Ghent (694 met.) on one side and Fountains Fell (662 met.) on the other and the Pennine Way route between them crosses the road.

I love it.

But the thing that touched me most today was that soon after I left Ilkley on the long steepish drag towards Addingham I was at a back of a very slow-moving tail back. I concluded this was a cyclist ahead and so it was - but when I caught up it was a slow moving, wheelchair bike and the rider was using hand pedals. So yes, I did feel humble and grateful.

[mr brightside]

A little over 50m yesterday, up to Burnsall and back for a social occasion. The day tripper's field now has electrically operated contactless card payment barriers!

[Graham Breeze]

A little over 50m yesterday, up to Burnsall and back for a social occasion. The day tripper's field now has electrically operated contactless card payment barriers!

You mean what was once a farmer earning a few extra bob is now Burnsall Big Business plc?

[mr brightside]

You mean what was once a farmer earning a few extra bob is now Burnsall Big Business plc?

I'm surprised he got planning permission, they are an awful eyesore. The bogs have been upgraded from '1980s Scottish camp site' to 'swiss airport departure lounge', so it's a mixed results. There's ample room to squeeze your fattening carcass into a wetsuit and act like you're still 7. My friend insists on this, but the upshot is that he has learned to catch signal crayfish and spends hours in the chilly water catching us food.

I'm doing two stoops tomorrow. This is what the Muggle sportive crew have begun calling it, I just know it as peat lane and that I have to be riding the winter bike with the hill block to get up; a full compact is too tall on the lowest gear, even at 39/26.

In preparation for my return to running I'm going for all the hills, every single one of them within my distance range. Blubberhouses moor from otley, peat lane, hartlington rakes, embsay fell, cow and calf, chevin, plus the lumps in between. I don't know if I can eat enough cake to fuel that.

[Graham Breeze]

I'm surprised he got planning permission, they are an awful eyesore. The bogs have been upgraded from '1980s Scottish camp site' to 'swiss airport departure lounge', so it's a mixed results. There's ample room to squeeze your fattening carcass into a wetsuit and act like you're still 7. My friend insists on this, but the upshot is that he has learned to catch signal crayfish and spends hours in the chilly water catching us food.

I'm doing two stoops tomorrow. This is what the Muggle sportive crew have begun calling it, I just know it as peat lane and that I have to be riding the winter bike with the hill block to get up; a full compact is too tall on the lowest gear, even at 39/26.

In preparation for my return to running I'm going for all the hills, every single one of them within my distance range. Blubberhouses moor from otley, peat lane, hartlington rakes, embsay fell, cow and calf, chevin, plus the lumps in between. I don't know if I can eat enough cake to fuel that.

"Just keep moving forward. It isn't a race. It isn't, it really isn't".

[mr brightside]

The biggest day out i've ever had on a bike today, including an unplanned hill. I was thinking the route from Fewston church to Yorke's Folly at the top of Nought Bank would be a steady amble through fields and quiet lanes. Turns out that between Stone Houses and the folly there are two valleys, and the elevation of Nought Bank summit is the same as Greenhow so i may as well have gone up to that and back down. So the ride took in 7 hills not 6:

Askwith Moor from Otley
Yorke's Folly from Fewston church (Nought Bank reversed)
Peat Lane
Hartlington Raikes
Embsay Fell
Cow and Calf
Otley Chevin the hard way

There wasn't a lot of time to stop and make social visits, i refused tea at Fewston and just went for a square of millionaires shortbread. There were a load of old Austins coming up Nought Bank, no steam, they all made it. Only 2 pints in the craven arms and a sticky toffee pudding. The legs were getting heavy over the undulations on the way to Embsay, and the fell was a first gear ride. Tea and two slices of cake at St Peter's addingham, all for the princely sum of £4. Cow and calf came and went, but my back was getting very sore and i was dreading the chevin, it being the second biggest climb and last on the list. Chevin was a first gear grind, and if i'd have had a rape whistle i'd have blown it. I felt like i'd been out for years when i got home, 5h17m riding time to be precise. The s-bends at the bottom of Peat Lane are awful, sand banks and huge holes everywhere.

The computer showed 73.5m and when i traced the route on MMap it returned an eye watering 7200' of climb.

[MattPo]

Good effort Luke! Yorkshire at it's finest. Hope you had some beer in at home after you abstemious day!