200 miles in one week, second trimester

Long before I discovered I was pregnant, or even got in that state, I put my name down to lead around 9 rides for the South Pennine Walk & Ride Festival. Over the last few months I'd been wondering whether I'd be able to carry out the rides, now the festival is here, I have my answer! From the post-title, I'm sure you can guess it's a 'yes'.

The week began with an easyish RSF club ride that was due to have just one significant climb over Weets Hill and the rest around Nappa Flats returning by canal.  I was on my newly aquired second hand mtb - suspension for off-roading when pregnant is pretty sensible to avoid pain in appendages that don't usually bounce on my athletic frame.

The day was stunning, although the ride was marred by events out of our control that meant we were out for 11 hours solid and had to do some route backtracking and replotting. Thankfully it was dry and a lovely day to be out. The report from the day is on the clubs website.

Despite a whole day out, on Monday I'd decided that since I couldn't make Wednesday's club ride of the Trough, I'd do my own. Stephen had a meeting in Lancaster in the morning, so he gave me a lift up the M6 and my plan was to ride home through The Trough (a first time for me), over Waddington Fell & the Nic O Pendle.


Along the route I met up with four other guys from the club who shared the bulk of the ride with me and Ian rode the whole way to visit the Carradice Factory. He'd pedalled up from Southport to meet me at the start.



I was on my new vintage French steed testing it's hill climbing skills. I'd picked it up the other week and only done a couple of commutes. Ian and Steve were also on old vintage steel cycles.
It's an interesting little bike - google Claude Pottie` and you'll see that not much info exists.  The triple and lighter weight makes it much better on the hills than my 60s mixte and my only issues on the day were the fact I'd not done many hilly miles in one go recently for months. I pedalled up all the hills, and only needed to stop on the Nic for a few mouth fulls of malt-loaf, although the climb out of Sabden felt tougher than usual.
 


Still, I was very pleased that at 15 & 1/2 weeks pregnant, I'd done the 36 miles and over 5000ft of climbing that Memory Map tells me the route is. And had a lovely day in fantastic company.

Tuesday, Weds and Thursday were rides to my mum's and work, so no pictures of anything of much interest there.
On Friday we had a meeting in Chorley and it was Stephen who had brought up the option of cycling there. Not me! So a 15 mile ride to the office followed by a 22 mile blast from Rossendale to Chorley along some lovely lanes, but against the clock, so no dawdling and sadly no pictures. The sun was shining, but the headwind kept us cool. We met up with Geoff from the club and his good lady for a pub tea and our plans to ride all the way back were thwarted when Stephen had one too many pints to brave a journey that long. Instead we cycled to the train at Bamber Bridge, had a heart attack at the one way fare back home (£19.40!!!) and then enjoyed the uphill back to the house over the hill.

Saturday morning arrived with some leg ache, but the Walk & Ride Festival was here. The rain was torrential as we donned our wet weather gear and hats to meet Brian for the family ride from the park. Luckily the rain turned into a drizzle for the rest of the day.
Sandwiched between the family ride and the evening ride, I had a 2nd birthday party to pop into, so there was much rushing around, pressie buying and lugging up to and from Loveclough.

I had hoped nobody would turn up for the sunset ride and I did have two cancellations from people that had 'chickened out' - possibly due to the weather or perhaps night riding for newcomers to cycling is a bit daunting. But we were greeted by the warm smiles of Ian as we rounded the corner.

As we set off the clouds were still dominating the sky. We enjoyed exploring the tracks above Clowbridge Reservoir and at this time of night we had the place almost to ourselves.

By the time we were reaching the Singing Ringing Tree, the clouds were dissipating and a warm golden hue was forming across the hills.

As we turned to leave The SRTree, a blast of sunshine emerged from the cloud over Hameldon and we were gifted with a pretty amazing sunset.

From here it was mostly downhill and as we neared the reservoir, the skies lit up bright deep pink, illuminating the dark waters.


I was very glad to have enjoyed this little 5 mile loop and had a beaming smile all the way home.

So second trimester cycling is going really well. Better than the first, although that was hot weather, body overheating and then adding to that any cycling made it far too hot to be comfortable.

I have some handlebar adjusting to do soon - I think the forward leaning position on the mtb combined with pedalling motion pushing against my tummy really helped create some discomfort.
But I've had plenty of energy to keep going and the 'blooming glow' everyone keeps saying I have is far more to do with getting the sunshine on my skin than anything else I think.

I'm surprised that I'm managing to continue to keep up the miles without any problems and without really piling away any more food than I'd usually be eating.

Now all I need is a big Bump On Board sticker / flag to attach to my bike!

The weekend ride pics

Stephen hasnt done much cycling over the last few months, which was very apparent on saturday when he was worn out after just a couple of little hills.

We climbed the rugged moor edges - feeling like you were in the middle of nowhere...

Until we turned round at the top of one climb to see the beautiful mill town spread out around the whole valley (Queen St Mill is where they filmed scenes from The King's Speech - I still havent seen the film & I've still never visited the mill!)

So we climbed some more!

We had made it to the lunch stop at the top of the moors, only to discover it was closed! So we freewheeled down towards the rows of terraced houses and headed for the canal to find a different food stop. We ended up at Parkview Cafe in Barrowford and were treated to a really lovely lunch - all delicious home made fare; Stephen had the biggest solo meat & potato pie that I've seen, I had a very spicy soup that warmed my frozen toes & fingers through after just one sip & we both had a massive cherry scone a piece. A bargain too! I'll be visiting again soon.  We then popped in to see my aunty for a lovely catch up. By the time we were ready for the return, Stephen had ceased up somewhat, so we plumped for an easy canal return leg & were treated to some dramatic skies.

A mere 21 miles with 2300ft of climbing. Stephen now shocked into how lazy he's become over the last few months. If we are planning on a tour to Cardiff from Chester, he has some work to do!

Happy New Year

Holidays are great for utility cycling. Most people are not rushing about in their cars! And as such, it makes for happy stress free pedalling. To make my ride home from Stephen's even more enjoyable, I picked a different route; about a mile & a half further, but avoiding the shocking potholes of Intack & Accrington and the pitiful, pathetic new road layout east of Accrington, which I contend with on my commute.

The route I chose passed mainly industrial estate areas and fewer residential places, so with it being new year, the traffic was at blissful minimum. 

The holiday cold still hanging on, the 13.5 miles was a little tougher than usual so I was happy that there was a significant amount of freewheeling available to me until the last few miles.

 And what a lovely day to be out & about in the sunshine.

Pendle Hill with Moorhouse's Brewery in the foreground

The new year will hopefully see S & I in our new house together, so this ride will be a thing of the past. No more need for two hair-driers, two hair-straightners, two lots of pretty much everything. And more free time to enjoy rides together :-)

Best wishes to you all for the new year.

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. 

New roads, new smiles

The last few months have pretty much been dominated by long days at work meaning virtually all my cycling has been commuting in the dark at both ends of the day.  My road commute is grim. Unavoidable A-roads (the off road route is not suitable this time of year). I think grim commutes dominating life can make you forget how much you love cycling.

Recently I've taken a reduction in hours at work - I get one day off per fortnight so I can spend the day with my mum. And the last two freedom days I've enjoyed leisurely cycling from Stephen's back home after the morning rush hour traffic has dissipated. Last time I took the most direct route, which is usually pretty dull and busy, but I found myself enjoying a quite ride in the sunshine.

So today, I chose a longer, hillier route on roads I'd never been on before in my life.  When you've lived in the same place your whole life, there's something wonderful about discovering new roads and seeing familiar places from a different perspective.

 I smiled the whole way. And happily this seemed to make many motorists smile too. As I was enjoying a fast descent towards Whalley, an older gentleman beamed back at me from his delivery truck. Being up on the open moors is a wonderful feeling and I hope everyone was enjoying the beautiful day as much as me.



I extended the ride by riding around Pendle rather than through Padiham. Familiar roads, but good ones! Back Lane is usually devoid of cars and after the initial double chevron climb, once you're up  there you ride along a ridge, meaning no tough climbs, just speed and the wind rushing by.

I ventured through Higham village for the first time in my life (usually I leave the ridge at another point) - very pretty and I must visit the pub for grub there sometime soon.


The last stretch was mainly in town traffic, which did stifle the smile a little, but I sped through and was in the park and back home in time for lunch.

22.2 miles, 2630ft of ascent, almost no flat  - which is why living in the Pennines is amazing!

Friday night post-work bike date

I've been meaning to head up to The Halo during the evening for a while now. It's a panopticon which lights up its tiny blue l.e.d.s every night to resemble a UFO that landed on a hill over Haslingden.  Last night we finally made it.

Working on the outskirts of Rossendale means you're never far from hills and bridleways, so after work S & I pedalled from one side of the valley to the other for a pub tea at The Whitchaff.

We followed the NCN6 before climbing a stoney track from Irwell Vale. As we stopped to take some photos, a mountain biker passed us with a big smile, a great track to be riding on, but possibly also amusement that I was in my work clothes tackling the off road - pencil dress & heels.

I knew the route back would involve some serious climbing, but still polished off a huge plate of enchilladas & wedges. I was very full. 

The approach to the Halo was pretty dramatic as we snaked up Cribden side.
Sadly the sunset wasnt up to as much as we'd hoped, but it was still great to be up there.

13.5 roller-coaster miles, which for an evening ride with dinner in between was just right. 

Spicing up the working week

The new route home from work is amazing. Off road, right over the hill. It takes a little longer than by road, but I have sheep instead of cars to contend with (for the most part), beautiful views and the countryside to myself.

The King's Highway

It's 32 miles as the crow flies from this point to the coast, but you can see the sea & Blackpool tower as you climb the hill.



It's a rough old track up to the summit of Great Hameldon, beautiful views down the Rossendale Valley and over Clowbridge Reservoir. From this point it's 3 miles to descent 885feet to my front door (that's a good downhill). 

I love freewheeling downhill - I imagine it's what it must feel like when a dog sticks its head out of a car window as it zooms along.

I'm looking forward to trying this out in different seasons, though not sure it will be a viable commute in the ice or when the days are short (but I'm going to try!)

Glorious Hills...

...make for glorious views

The Trough of Bowland is famed for it's stunning road that runs through it, but if you get off road and onto the fells of Lancashire, you are in for a treat.

The full ride report for this one can be read here http://www.rsf.org.uk/lancs/report-1.html over 3000ft of ascent over about 25 miles. Woo.

Over the last week, I've found a brilliant off road commute home which takes me right over the biggest hill in the area, Great Hameldon.  Having sheep to contend with rather than cars is amazing. We have had some serious downpours over the weekend though, so tomorrow might be a bit squelchy!!