Working those road bike leg muscles

My vintage Cliff Pratt velo

I took my 60s ten speed mixte out for a quick blast in the sunshine today.  It was a thigh burning 26 miles with 2100 ft of ascent. But not my usual thigh burn on the tops of my legs that I get on my upright hybrid. When I ride my drops, it's the side of my thighs that feels it and since I ride this bike less often, getting up steep hills is challenging!  But the breath taking views are always worth it.


Calderdale is a beautiful part of the region, but certainly has the steepest hills that I've come across in my life. I avoided the two worst ones that I know of and did a more 'sedate' loop up to Blackshaw Head and back past Widdop Reservoir, thus not dropping all the way to the bottom of the valley to eliminate some extra climbing.

Hardcastle Crags in the valley below

Widdop Reservoir

See that road snaking up to the clouds? That was a fantastic descent.  It felt to take less than a minute to get to the bottom of the hill.  Having a steel bike with some heavy gears probably contributed to that somewhat.

the view from the other side of Thursden Valley

I was in this part of my region afew weeks ago doing an off road ride (see previous ). The feel of the countryside seemed completely different somehow from the saddle of my roadie.

My mum sometimes asks me which bike I prefer. I dont think there's an answer - the two rides are not comparable and I still have a way to go to really get my head round what gears to use on the hills on my road bike; it somehow isnt as instinctive as the hybrid. I feel to loose a lot more pace as I gear down but still feel to be putting in an incredible amount of effort, perhaps that's the weight of the gears - the steeper the hill, the more I need to pull. She's fun, but we still have a way to go getting to know each other.

Night Riding

My trusty old ten speed mixte has been patiently waiting for an outing all winter long. Tonight was the night. I'm planning on doing the Isle of Wight Randonnee and the Pendle Witches Vintage Velo in the next few months so need to get my roadie hill climbing legs back in action. Big style.
So after a couple of short weekend off road rides to get my legs swinging and hitting the exercise bike for afew casual evening rides with the dvd player, I'm back out on the skinny wheels, in the wind and Pennine rain, up on them hills.

The toughest challenge was riding on unlit roads and through an unlit park. I think I need to invest in some new batteries for my head torch - it wasnt cutting it on faded power. I couldnt fathom where the edge of the road was and I cut back on my speed to save myself from any pothole mishaps. Plus my specs had one or two raindrops on them too.
Night riding in a group is much easier than on your lonesome. But fun non the less. Maybe I should try my hand at night mountain bike riding sometime...