Sunday, August 15, 2010

First proper 3 Peaks Training Ride

What a flying start! This morning I set off for Sheffield with the intention of doing little more than hopping on the train to Doncaster to collect TSK after his 600km attempt yesterday.

As it was, I got to Sheffifeld to a call from TSK to say that he thought he was fit enough to drive home himself so I set off along Psalter Lane to get an early start on the Peak District.

Getting to Dore, just beyond the outskirts of Sheffield, I recognised the fact that I didn't have enough food / energy / breakfast in me / lock with me to make it on a long ride out of town and back so I resorted to doing a circular route around the extents of Sheffield and the Peak meaning I could retreat to the safety of hte city and home at a moment's notice. Good plan!

Not-town riding proved to be fun. I turned into a lane called "Long Line" - home to the village of "Long Line" where I have decided I wish to live with TSK once we can afford it. Long Line is a dead straight road 1.5km long. You can see the top from the bottom and it steadily rises at 8% with a little 12% kicker at the top for good measure. In retrospect, I shouldn't have given it everything at this point.

Not-town riding consists of navigating circumfrentially around the city. Every time you cross a radial main road, you have to figure out whether to go right first or left to pick up the next circumferential road that will keep you out of the city and on your path. In Sheffield this results in a lot of climbing since all the radial roads follow valleys or ridges into the city at the bottom of the valleys and those have to be summited and descended each time.

Further climbs (and descents) took me over Rivelin, Stannington, Loxley and Oughtibridge vales with climbs up to 13% over 2km and a matching ride down the other side with hairpins and drop offs that reminded me of something out of the Tour De France.

I finally arrived in Outibridge looking for food and a way of getting home without climbing the big 1 in 10 to my flat. A forray away from town took me towards Stannington and a lack of circumferential roads so I resorted to heading back to the city on the ring road, stopping for a mars bar and climbing the 10% climb home. Not even stopping to chat to some kids at the top of the hill who wanted to know what I was training for. I was going so slow we maintained a conversation while they walked.

Back at home, TSK is sleeping and I am off out to buy dinner for two very hungry people.

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