Sunday the 17th part III - And then there were 7!

By the time we glanced around in Cracoe there was a hardy group of 7 of us: John, Chris, Dom, Andy, Melvin, Niall and myself. After the hesitant start we were beginning to warm up by now and pressed on to Arncliffe without incident. On the approach to the village and with Darnbrook looming the mood in the group was similar to that in the TDF bunch on the approach to Bourg d'Oisans. The mood wasn't to last however and was punctuated with the appearance of John Lumb with tales of ice and snow on the climb, he'd turned back and advised us to do the same. So rather than turn in the road we carried on into the village to follow the road down the north side of the river. We realised this may have been a mistake as we followed the two wheel tracks separated by a 10cm thick block of ice down the middle - we carried on regardless.

It was decided that we should somehow continue with plan A as far as possible (since, in Melvins words, the original ride was 'spread across the countryside') and return via Ayton cafe. A decision that probably added a good 15 miles onto the route.

On the return trip through Carlton John Lumb was the first to crack, closely followed by Niall (who was by now on the longest ride he'd ever done!). And that's where I have to leave the report, Dad's duties dictate that you get son's home safely - so I dropped off the group. No doubt there was a further sort out, perhaps on the climb out of Conenley, perhaps out of Keighley?

A latecomer's tale

After a bit of a cold last week I knew that I had no lungs and no legs on Sunday. Still, I'd foolishly arranged to meet Barker at the roundabout so thought I'd better make an effort.

The old road over Withens was still blocked by snow and there was no way through in my car. I had to double back round through Mixenden instead. Now being a bit late, I though it best to let them know. Robin answered his phone and gallantly said that they'd hang on a couple of minutes for me.

Well I found Robin still waiting patiently at the roundabout - but no-one else. It was clear by the time we got to the hospital that I was never going to catch the bunch so I let Robin ride off. Looks like he never caught the bunch either and ended up riding by himself for the day, coming back over Widdop on his knees.

In the car I'd overtaken Mr Gower earlier making his way through Denholme so now I waited by the level crossing and before long the familiar figure hove into view. Cracoe seemed like a good plan. They supplied bacon & egg (unlike some poncy cafes in Airton) but on brown bread rather than a teacake so only rated 5/10 I'm afraid.

We then rode back via Gargrave, being passed by Brian, Pete, et alia just before Carleton. By this stage it seemed best to finish with Paul as we were having a pleasant time and the pace was just fine for me. Even Nigel was there but he was glowing a bit and it looked like I might have had to dig in a bit hard.

Feeling a bit guilty I rode up Ingrow to Crossroads with Paul then turned back to fetch my motor. The second time up Ingrow I sat down all the way and only used one pedal ...

Calder & Craven Dales 100

Hello Condor, can anyone there help me with information about an Audax BP event run I think by John Lee and Paul Gower called Calder & Craven Dales 100 (not the 200). I rode it in 1990 and would like to do it again but can't remember the route, except it started at Grove Inn, Brearley.

roger walker hd22dj@gmail.com

I've moved the comment up here as a new post to make it more visible - Ian