Hell of the Worth 2014

[jonathon.e]

International Take your bike for a walk day.

This year it was held around the Haworth area of Yorkshire, a lovely undulating area, where the local councils decide that to cut costs, rather than resurfacing the roads, they just leave them, as the used to be, and say they are a listed antiquity.

Question : What is the first rule of cycling.

Come on, don't look at your feet, or out of the window, yes, you know who I am looking at, the first rule if cycling is-
If you have an electric device, always ensure that it is powered up the night before, and there is enough power to supply the device for the duration if the event.
Exactly, the first rule!!!
NO EXCUSES.

A fantastically well organised event, nine riders, all of which almost turned up on time, but a good number, given that they had come from quite some distance. Hopefully we haven't scared off Anthony who was brought along by Si, nice to met Ewen and Steve C. For the first time, and good to see Trev turning up for more fun with idiots. Will and Ian arriving fashionably early. Jack had persuaded the local butcher to provide free pies, to which the local hostelry heated up and added mushy peas, total quality Yorkshire hospitality, so a huge thank you to Jack, the Landlord of the Dog and Gun, and the local Butcher, chapeau.

The route had been published and attracted quite a bit of interest from the cycling fraternity on other forums ( apparently there are other forums ).

Basically, it consisted of going up a steep gradient, then finding a steeper gradient with cobbles on it, and then seeing if here was a more vertical route with more cobbles that were more uneven.

My day consisted of, cycling a bit, stopping, getting ( or falling ), off my bike, taking off my shoes, walking the bike up the hill, replacing feet back in shoes, cycle for a few minutes and then repeat. This really couldn't have been enjoyable for the other riders, who had quite possibly run out of topics to talk about as they waited for me at the top of the third climb, only another nine to go.

I possibly wasn't in the best frame of mind, so if I was a bit off, I must apologise, I am not a social creature at the best of times, and I should have made a better effort. So sorry, this may have been encapsulated on the winding descent, where I made every effort to take every corner as fast as I could, trying to catch Ian M. and quite literally almost face planting into the back of an ambulance, which was the second time that day I almost went into an ambulance, the first was when someone shouted ' clear ' at a road junction, but being a slow coach, by the time I got there it wasn't, so had to swerve into the back of a parked Ambulance.

As I just tagged along at the back of the pack, not wanting to upset the momentum of the others, the ride was a blur of cobbles and pain, but, on the odd occasion I could take note of the odd occurrence.

The Jose Beloki moment.

When descending I heard a sharp crack similar to a gas powered bird scarer going off. It was Trev's wheel rim exploding, he was lucky to stay upright, and not end up with an eighteen inch piece of hot wheel rim sticking in his leg. V.Lucky indeed.

The most professional cycling attitude.

This was Si. he would do all the correct hand signals for group riding, say hello to the locals, and obey the rules of the road, so much, that he distracted Anthony into riding across a pedestrian crossing and almost taking out a local.

The true spirit of Yorkshire moment.

Rider A. " has anybody lost any money, I found it whilst walking up the hill "

Rider B " if its twenty pounds, it is mine, it must of dropped out of my pocket when I was getting my phone out of the pocket to take photos of you walking "

Rider A. " good job I saw it as I was walking "

Rider B. " If you weren't walking I wouldn't have taken pictures, and lost it in the first place "

Rider C. " not the reply you expect is it , can't argue the logic "


Technology is great, if you remember rule one. Electronic gear changing apparently doesn't have an inexhaustible power supply, but discussions were held.


I will leave the more intimate details of the route, to the ones that completed the route, I didn't, I pulled the pin.

[Worrying Will]

If you have an electric device, always ensure that it is powered up the night before

Cracking piece of advice.

If it helps Jon mu head wasn't in the right place either. your encouragement as always was a great source of help to me and also you advice, down a few descents gave the encouragement to let go which had a massive effect on my mood and also my confidance.

[Jack Hughes]

So, you had a nice time then

[jonathon.e]

So, you had a nice time then

A bad days cycling, beats a good day at work. And you know the types of days at work I have had lately.

[Kevy427]

So, you had a nice time then

A bad days cycling, beats a good day at work. And you know the types of days at work I have had lately.

Sitting around schmoozing on sofas having been fed Pain au chocolat at the TV licence payers' expense, before bumfuzzling them with acronyms?

[Sir Jibbenstein]

Cracking stuff! So what gear did you ride it in?

[jonathon.e]

Cracking stuff! So what gear did you ride it in?

Standard Double ( 53/39 ), and a 12x26 cassette ( I tried a 28 cassette but the short cage couldn't cope ).

[Jack Hughes]

Cracking stuff! So what gear did you ride it in?

Standard Double ( 53/39 ), and a 12x26 cassette ( I tried a 28 cassette but the short cage couldn't cope ).

Madness, in other words.

I think Chappers had 34x30.

Contador was using 36x32 for the Similarly steep bits on the T-A the other week.

I don't think that either are that much heavier than jon.e

[jonathon.e]

It isn't the gearing, it is my knees, I have ludicrous gearing on my MTB, but it is my knees that give out first, so I could have the best gearing, use a triple, I may get slightly further up the hill, but I will always have to preserve the knees, simple as that.

Maybe, if I had nearby access to large steep slopes, then I may get better at going up them, however, the geo-socio-Eco-nomics make it non viable to invest in a machine for that simple purpose, I will live with the derisory comments, and stick with Shank's Pony.

Madness yes, definitely.

[chappers]

Cracking report Jon and great to have met you, thank you so much for the loan of the carboot, accommodation tip off and the pint, my round next time

Turns out it wasn't a lack of secondary power supply that was the problem but loose cable in r/h shifter.. Just back from the LBS after charging overnight and awaking to dead rear derailleur. My garmin however did run out of juice right at the end of the ride... shame as I'll never know if I got up to 200rpm along the flats towards the pub