Friday 27 December 2013

Boxing Day Cycling

I'm getting to grips with Do It Yourself Audax rides. And with the niggles that seem to crop up. First I plot in Memory Map, then I do the Google Man walking distances. Then when I ride the route and pull the tracklog data off... the distances never tally & of course the elevations are never on mark (but that seems a universal issue & I'm too lazy to count contours).

Coal Clough windfarm, Long Causeway

Yesterday I decided to have a go at my second short hilly ride after thoroughly enjoying the first a couple of weeks ago.
Later this year I'd like to do some of the hilly 100 / 150k calendar rides, but I'm building up to that. That distance on a non-hilly ride is a piece of pie, but I'm a slow hill climber (I'm really an off road rider - so low gear & chill out going up), so I need to get my legs in gear for a faster pace. Doing short hilly rides seems a sensible option & there are no shortage of hills where I live.

Google Man had tallied the most direct routes at 53.5kms, but the tracklog was a mere 49.8. It probably wont count. Which will be the second duff DIY route I've done (the first was a gps problem when it lost signal).

In any case, it was a lovely Boxing Day ride. I probably should have rested with the cold I have, but I'd have hated missing out on a beautiful day.  The first six miles were hard as I warmed up, but the rest was lovely and the massive thumbs up from a German couple driving past me on a steep hairpin gave me an extra big smile as I continued climbing.


And of course, I got to cycle past where my Dad's ashes were scattered. He'd usually drag me over this way on very cold boxing days when I was growing up, so it's always nice to relive that tradition.












Widdop Reservoir

That road in the distance snaking past that tree- that's where I'm heading. Very deep valley just below with one of the toughest inclines I can think of... thankfully it's quite short.

Thursden Valley

I wont be making the Rapha Festive 500 this year. Right now, my nose is a tap and I'm living off vapour rub & I'm not a martyr to cycle in gale force winds either (well not on road anyway).
So time to spend a couple of days tucked up, vegging out & watching cartoons. Hopefully I'll be fine for the club ride on Sunday. 

5 comments:

  1. Wow, some truly awesome pics there. What a great way to meditate about your father.

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  2. Very sweet write-up and photos recounting your boxing day ride. Take care and rest up for more rides to come, Georgie.

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  3. Widdop is one of my favorite rides. Splendid views.

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  4. "Google Man had tallied the most direct routes at 53.5kms, but the tracklog was a mere 49.8. It probably wont count." The good news is - you're wrong :-)

    The Google Man is the definitive distance for your ride, the GPS track log is not. All the GPS track log is for is to show when you started/ended the ride and to prove you went through your control points.

    I've done plenty (er.... 20? 30?) DIY by GPS rides and often I only look at the GPS when I'm nearing a control. Lots of times that's when I notice the battery has conked out! I stop to replace the batteries, make sure the GPS is logging again as I pass through the control point and carry on. The track log is under distance but the ride still get validated.

    Hope this helps.

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  5. what beautiful landscape georgie, and also google man ... :)
    thanks for sharing such special moment about dad with us. i miss mine and mi brother beyond words but here we are, on our journey onto a brand new year. best wishes and all the best for you+ your loved ones in 2014 xxom

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