A long trip to a closed pub

Several years ago, I used to do a lot of time trialling. Given that, at my peak fitness, I weighed 8 and a half stone and looked like a bundle of pipe cleaners tied together, my favourite races were always hill climbs. Hill climbs are essentially short time-trials up a hill, and they usually happen at the end of the season in September and October. In a typical season I would ride several around Sheffield, Monsal Head and Curbar Edge being particular favourites. Then in 1999 I went to Canada to study for my PhD, and I didn't race again until this year.

This year I joined Stockport Clarion CC, and I've been riding the odd weekday 10-mile time-trial with no great success. But the event I was really looking forward to was the club hill climb championships. Hill climb courses are typically between several hundred yards and a couple of miles long, and they're usually steep, with gradients of 10-20%. Just to be different, ours is on the Cat and Fiddle road, between Macclesfield and the eponymous pub that stands, hemmed in by peat bog, at the road summit. That's about 6.5 miles of climbing, but at an average gradient of less than 4%. There are steeper railway bridges around here, but there's still about 335 m of height gain involved. The course starts in the outskirts of Macclesfield, opposite a bus stop, and the first 3 miles or so is a fairly steady 4.8%. The next mile and a half is very bendy, contains some short downhill sections, and is nearly flat on average. The final mile and a half takes you up onto Axe Edge Moor proper, climbing at 3.5% or so.

I had never ridden up the climb before, but I had a gameplan of sorts. The first section was the bit where my light weight would give me an advantage, so I would ride hard, but not flat out: the key is not to overdo it, what with there still being 3 miles to go. I would then use the fast section to take a bit of a breather, riding at slightly less than 10-mile pace, since you don't gain much time there anyway. Then it would be eyeballs out over the last mile and a half to the summit. What gears would I use? Hell if I knew. I would figure it out as I went along.

The race was last night, and I actually really enjoyed it. The conditions could scarcely have been better. It was clear and dry, about 18 C, and there was a moderate tailwind. There were only 8 riders, and I was off Number 2, with a slower rider starting one minute before me. I started well, settling in very quickly, and once I had emerged from the trees at the bottom of the climb I could see my minute man almost all of the time. I was clearly gaining on him, and that gave me a psychological boost, as I finally reeled him in on a sharp right-hand bend about a mile and a half in, just before Walker Barn. I was first on the road now, a nice feeling, and my legs were holding up just fine. After Walker Barn, into the fast part of the course, I switched into the big ring, and tried to maintain a slightly-slower-than-10-mile-time-trial pace. My biggest problem here was gear selection. The gradient changes so often and there are so many sharp curves that I felt like I was using nearly every gear on the bike, and I was changing front rings too often: I should have picked one and stuck to it. But I still felt good, and I knew I had something left for the last mile and a half. No strategy involved here; just eyeballs out until the summit. There was a guy out for a training ride in front, and that gave me something to chase. Round the last bend, and there was the welcome sight of the Cat and Fiddle Inn. One last leg-breaking effort, and I was past the timekeeper in 26 minutes dead, gasping like a freshly landed fish. It was about a minute faster than I'd hoped for, so I couldn't have been happier.

It was glorious at the summit, with views across the Cheshire Plain and the Peak District. Unfortunately, the pub is closed on Monday nights, so there was no chance of a swift half before the 25 mile ride back home. At least the first seven or so was downhill.

Biking over mountains for fun

This blog is becoming far too serious, again, so it's time for some Pennine punishment. On Saturday I got up at 8:30 just so I could do some proper cycling. I was on the road by 9:15, and headed out through Longsight, Belle Vue and Gorton (all the sights), into Hyde and over to Mottram via Godley and Hattersley. At Mottram I took a left, over the hill and then a fast and long descent into Stalybridge. Then out towards Greenfield. A section of the main road was closed here, so I had to follow a diversion that takes you all the way to the valley bottom, before you climb steeply through a housing estate back to the main road. I'm unreasonably annoyed by this, as I know the ride already has plenty of hills. At Greenfield the ride really begins, as you begin the climb past Dove Stones Reservoir onto Saddleworth Moor. This is a longish climb, but not that steep, and I was able to get into a low gear and plod my way up easily enough, though drenched in sweat as the sun came out. You get good views of Dove Stones behind you and to your right before you get onto the featureless moor top.

Then a very fast and long descent into Homfirth, where I stop to have an apple. I'm in West Yorkshire now, and on roads I used to train on when I raced relatively seriously. In Holmfirth, you're really out of good options. You're in the valley bottom, and whichever way you go to get back to Manchester involves some serious climbing. I'm out to prove to myself that I'm fit, so I'm going over Holme Moss. Holme Moss is the highest main road in England, and it climbs about 400 m in 5 km or so. I once rode a 25 mile mountain time trial that started in Homfirth, and I went from Holmebridge to the summit in 22:15. This is not going to happen today.

I get up the lower half of the climb into Holme village OK, and you get a brief respite through Holme and Lane, and even a short downhill before the serious part of the climb begins. There's a series of hairpins, followed by the last gruelling section to the road summit. I run out of gears far too early, and I'm barely making walking pace by the last section. Every quarter of a mile the distance to summit is painted on the road, and I'm already suffering as I pass the 1 mile to go marker. Goddamnit, I grit my teeth and I get to the summit somehow. Beautiful views over West and South Yorkshire at the top, and then the steep descent to the Woodhead road.

This bit is narrow and lacking in fun as the trucks fly past, and I'm out of water. I head through Tintwistle and into Hollingworth, and start the climb into Mottram. The traffic here is solid, waiting for the lights at the top of the hill, and I ride down the middle of the road. Past Mottram there's a filling station, where I get some cold water down my neck and rest for a couple of minutes. Downhill into Hyde, then back through Gorton and Longsight, and I'm home at 1:30. The ride is only 80 km or so, but I reckon it makes up for it in climbing.

Tour de Farce gets even more farcical

After the departure of Vinokourov, I might have been forgiven for hoping the rest of Le Tour would pass without incident. Since then, yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen has been sacked by his team, nominally for lying about his whereabouts in the pre-season, and Cristian Moreni of Cofidis tested positive for testosterone.

Most of the discussion today is about the exit of Rasmussen, unsurprisingly as he was the race leader. However, he denies any wrong doing and there is no evidence he has taken banned substances. The evidence against him is that Davide Cassani supposedly saw him in Italy at a time when he told his team he was in Mexico. He has also missed a number of out-of-competition tests. Rasmussen may be a suspect character, but as Tour director Christian Proudhomme said, 'We cannot say that he cheated'.

The worst thing is the positive test of Moreni. Moreni has not denied doping, and has not asked for his B sample to be tested. He rides for Cofidis, one of the eight teams that staged an anti-doping protest following Vinokourov's exit from the race. Cofidis is supposed to be a clean team, and this is surely a bigger blow to the credibility of the sport's nascent clean up than Rasmussen being sent home.

Amid all this mayhem, the fact that yesterday ETA let off two small explosions along the race route, albeit after the riders had passed, has been almost overlooked.