Alan Coldray reports on - "HOPEY" new year Audax - 5.1.08

Posted January 12th, 2008 by Ian Marshall

Road Race

Alan, Claire Yearby, Lynne Coldray and Ian Marshall brave the cold, wind and hills of Derbyshire.

Simon Cannings chickened out, too many miles over the Christmas period!!! Ian had decided to bring his good old trusty lead filled work bike out for the hill training, to try out the gravity theory…

We set off on a clear cold Saturday at 9am from Hope, the downhill start to Hathersage was the normal blast not much of a warm up. We turned off up the first hill of many into a nice cold head wind and the legs said no not this ride again, with endless ups and down and nowhere really to recover.

Heading through Bakewell with empty streets, in the company of some Sheffield CC riders, we headed down through Winster past Carsington Water into Ashbourne through the old railway tunnel, which is now lit after all these years, to the bike hire hut to get out brevet cards stamped. We left there to go back along the A52/A523 west straight into a strong head wind (and inner ring climb!!!) stopping a few miles later for a nice cuppa in Waterhouses and Claire ate a not so nice Eccles cake, but the tea was lovely…

We then left the nice warm café (we stayed there too long and the legs were now stiff) to head west again onto the B5053 north through Onecoat where the hills just keep coming at you, but at least the wind was sort of behind us at times.

Onto Warslow and through to Longnor then on the A515, but when theres a down there's always another up which always seems longer than the down somehow!!! Desperate to get her granny ring working, Claire mis-shifted and got her chain jammed between chainrings, but after much cursing, it was released.

Stopped for a few photos, which always seemed to have us eating for some reason??? Across the A6 through Blackwell and Tideswell another down hill, which is the best of the day. Heading back through Brough, left and we are home back at hope after 71 testing miles.

A nice cup of soup was waiting, but the even nicer warm car was there too, it was getting rather cold as the sun began to set. But at least it didn’t rain and snow like the other years.

All in all a well organised event – again.