A stressfull biking night!

Thursday 21st May 2009

A real long ride, some road rage and a useless light

Tonights ride was going to be hard from the start, leaving the garden centre at Abbeydale road, Sheffield and heading right out to Redmires reservior and back.

The majority of this ride would be pedalling, with very little descent, and when we would it was right back down low again meaning: MORE climbing.

We did 'the drop of doom in Ecclesal woods, it is a longish track down a bank to a stream that is quite steep. There are now 2 fallen trees near to the bottom, which would test anyone who tried to get over them.
Geoff tried on his 1st attempt, came off but managed to run it out!
He placed a rock before the last log for his second attempt, this should allow a bit of a kick to help clear it. Oh yes! He cleared it, but the landing.... well it wasn't really a landing, he ended up hurtling over a steep drop minus the bike which suffered twisted bars.
Adam had a go but managed to avoid the log all together, finding an alternative route just before.
We left the woods now and climbed up to Wirlow Park, and on to Ringinglow, where we had a Range Rover driver overtake us all 10 metres before a junction with motorbikes and cars coming the other way, hand on the horn all the way! Amazing the driver waited whilst we had turned the opposite way to them and started shouting abuse through the window at us.

Laughing we headed along the road across the top of Porter Clough, numerous cars and motor bikes passed us without incedent, but as geoff and myself approached the switchback narrow bridge, a white van passed Geoff, and then to my surprise drew along side me just as I entered the bridge.
Now any one who knows the bridge will agree, it is not a place to pass, so rather then get knocked off I sped ahead to get clear, this was not the result the driver was hoping for, and he began to press the horn, shout through the closed window, and wave an angry looking dog at me!
I attempted to stop, he stopped, so I set off again (uphill) so did he, now attempting to squeeze me into the bank i was left in the edge as all the other riders passed him on the outside.
My atempts to appologise (whatever I'd suppossed to have done) this didn't work, so I just carried on. He had pulled over his van and appeared to be on the phone or something so I made haste to catch the others up.
It was a couple of minuits later when I looked back that I noticed Andy way behind. Had he been held up by the driver?
It turned out not, and upon catching us up he said you guys are fit! Not fit, just SCARED!

My legs were now burn't out, and knowing how far we still had to go I was not happy. I thought about how I could cut the ride short but could do it without using footpaths instead of bridal way.

The descent from Stanage edge, a rocky steppy thing that is meant to stop errosion is a bone jarring ride to say the least, it was pretty quick tonight, and most of us also tried the rock jump at the bottom, the Lake District skills coming in again.
We now had to climb out of the valley and make our way to Fox house, and up some more to the woods leading down to Dore.
on reaching the woods Geoff anounced he was doing it with out lights, I would have normally but was so tired from the long ride and the terror induced sprint earlier that I decided to use mine.
WRONG! The light appeared to be flat or broke or something, so it was decided, I'd do it in the pitch dark.
The fast flowing track initially has a good surface but has ruts and muddy sections here and there. Both my self and geoff made it though.
Through Dore village, and past a really nice smelling indian restaurant, hunger had set in now, just one last blast in the very dark woods to the vehicles at Abbeydale.
All relieved to be back I think, we packed up and headed for the pub.

My performance: All things considered, not bad, managed to climb all the hills in the end and all the downs without lights.
Thoughts on the bridge incedent? If I was given a second go at the same situation I'm pretty sure I'd have done the same thing. Its not normall to stop when someone is over taking, but i'd better watch out for vans next time.