Sunday 9 October 2022 - The Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon

This was the 24th running of this event, and the 19th time that I've participated. However, it was the first time I've been without companions, albeit we don't usually cycle together. Excuses ranged from "I have a list of jobs to do" to "I'm in Nice after cycling from the Channel."

No matter, there are always people going at a similar pace (very sedate for me these days) and happy to enjoy a chat.

As last year, the start was from Sowerby Bridge Cricket Club, from where our numbers were collected before setting off. No timing chips here, it's not a race, and it takes the organisers a while to publish the results.

I thought the start was at 9am, but it turned out to be 8:30. I just made it to the grass beside the lead riders, and waited for everyone to go by before setting off at a leisurely pace at the back of the field of 200 or so riders.

It was a new route. Having not had a bike ride of any consequence for months, I was content to walk up some of the steep hills that littered the new route like sand dunes on a beach. I was pleased to find the route still included the technical descent to Mytholmroyd that I've enjoyed so much over the years. I've slowed down a lot, but still passed a few folk who despite having suspension preferred to walk down here. 

Further on, a short section along the Rochdale Canal towpath in Hebden Bridge offered the chance of a scenic breather, after stopping at a support point for orange juice, banana and chocolate caramel shortbread.

After that very short flat section, the route led steeply upwards to join the Pennine Bridleway for a while. The ascent offered increasingly good views across the valley to Stoodley Pike.

After passing the pub at Jack Bridge, this new route went through Colden before turning sharply left through a ginnel where I passed a chap who was preferring to walk along the narrow bridleway (pictured below). These narrow paths between two walls are a pleasure to cycle along, unless you happen to want to overtake (a rare occurence for me these days).

A lovely ride along the Edge Lane track brought me to Reaps Bottom, where a curious sheep looked on whilst I admired the view down to Gorple Lower Reservoir.

After the easy but stony descent, during which I encountered a few walkers, I paused at the dam before crossing the rather depleted reservoir. Here, a bike with a huge electric motor whizzed past at about 40 mph. Not part of the event, although electric bikes are allowed - just the ones that you have to pedal in order to keep them moving.

On reaching Clough Foot, I caught up with the errant biker, who was struggling to get his  heavy as a motorbike machine through a narrow gateway. Event marshals and participants looked on with disdain before watching this person zoom off up towards Widdop.

We headed in the other direction, to join the old route at Walshaw and head up the slithery path that is the Calder/Aire Link bridleway. I've often cycled this, but I walked it today. I realised that I'm definitely far from being 'bike fit'.

After the fast but technical descent to Grain Water Bridge (this is a section where suspension makes a big difference to the speed you can go), the support point was most welcome, with a number of riders congregating there.

The easy lane (Old Road) leads on the old route to the A6033 and a fast descent to Pecket Well before attacking the rigours of Midgley Moor. I was expecting this to be the way. But no, at SD995311 I was directed left, up a narrow, steep, stony path that only the most expert of mountain bikers might be capable of cycling. Even going down this way may have seen me pushing. Anyway the path rose steeply to cross the A6033 road and continue even more steeply up towards Spinks Hill Edge. Luckily, high above the road, a bench offered a little respite for my stalwart steed, the 32 year old Shogun Trailbreaker, which behaved impeccably throughout, despite not having had its usual annual service before the event. (The loss of top gear was almost completely irrelevant!)

Looking ahead, I also needed a rest. In the picture below, the dots on the horizon show the people ahead of me on a very steep section. I could see that even those carrying their bikes were slithering backwards and were then resorting to pushing. We congregated on the top, before they went off ahead of me.

Once on the top of the moor, the trig point at High Brown Knoll (444 metres) was reached without too much difficulty. I stopped there for a few photos.

You can see from the next picture that the route was well signposted, even across the desolate moorland. This section, all the way to Catherine House, covering about 5km, took me around 50 minutes, as great care is needed on some tricky rocky and very boggy sections as well as the easy paths like the one shown. All great fun though!

Luddenden Foot was the next target, but the (easy) old route has been replaced by a more challenging undulating route that uses more of the narrow ginnels that feature in several parts of this marathon.

Once at Luddenden Foot, the route designer had given in and resisted any further innovations, sending riders up and down and then brutally 'up', towards the finish, with such good views across the valley towards Warley that I had to stop and take pictures before struggling to the final, short but lovely, descent to the cricket club.

The welcome was welcoming, and I was awarded the 'oldest bike' award, apparently trumping someone who had assumed that title with a 1995 bike. The spicy tomato soup was delicious, and as a late finisher there were plenty of seconds because the caterers were happy to minimise left overs. It was good to sit outside the pavilion in the warm sunshine and enjoy the feeling of having succeeded in meeting a fairly tough challenge, with a young couple, Liam and Sophie, from nearby Warley who I'd passed and re-passed many times during the day.

The challenging route is shown above - click on the image for a better version. It took me about 5 hours 25 minutes, much longer than ever before, and my Garmin measured it at 44km with 1250 metres ascent. The results are here. I came in position 155 out of 164 normal cyclists, behind a further 26 eBikes, and 8 wimps who did a shorter course.

Well done to the organisers for planning such a brilliant, albeit tough for old timers, outing, and thanks to all the marshalls and to those who put up all the very many signs to keep us 'on track'.

Reports on earlier years' exploits are here.

Sunday 10 October 2021 - The 22nd Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon

Paul and Greg joined me on what was my 18th participation in this ride, organised as a fundraising event for the local Scout group. My reports since 2007 can be found here.

This 'Covid' year there was no mass start. You could arrive, register, and collect your number at the cricket pavilion in Sowerby Bridge between 7:45 and 9:00, and you were deemed to have started from the pavilion ten minutes after collecting your number. The system worked well, and social distancing was achieved as effectively as could be expected. I think everyone was glad to be back after last year's event was cancelled due to the pandemic. 

Despite having to come through fog on the M62, the weather for this year's ride was superb - sunny and not too hot, with fairly dry undertyre conditions. Minimal cleaning of bike was needed afterwards.

The three of us paused in Dean Lane for a couple of photos near the spot from where the usual mass start sets off.

We were delighted to discover that the course had been adjusted to avoid the steep climb out of Mill Bank. Greg went ahead, but Paul stayed with me at a slow pace until after about 10 miles.

Before the first food point, we got good views from near Moor End. My sunspecs kept misting up, as at this point did my camera lens.

An ascent near Moor End

Paul was waiting for me at the Hardcastle Crags checkpoint and food and drink station.

Support was provided at just two points this year, here (SD 987 298) after 9.2 miles, and later at Fly Flats (SE 036 317), after 17.7 miles. There were lots of drinks, flapjack, jelly babies and bananas, and plenty of cheery volunteers to encourage the riders. The bananas eventually ran out - I got the last one at Fly Flats.

Hardcastle Crags support point

A little further on, I saw Paul pedal off into the distance whilst I sought not to over exert myself on the climb up the grassy slope out of Walshaw. Others did likewise.

It's steeper than it looks!

I stopped again on a long ascent near Stairs Dyke. It really was a lovely morning.

The riders were pretty spread out, and by now the faster people were all ahead, so there was a fair degree of cameraderie on the long ascent on the new route after Grain Water Bridge, where we turned left up the hill rather than right towards the terrors of Midgley Moor.

The next section beside a culvert to Hebden Bridge Road and beyond was delightful. I stopped to take a few photos just before the road, above Grinding Stone Hole.

A mixture of tarmac and tracks on the well signposted route (so far) offered great views over the South Pennine countryside. My camera came out for the last time as we passed above Wainstalls after pausing for a while at the Fly Flats support point above Warley Moor Reservoir.

The next section to Luddenden involved some steep downhills and squealing brakes as a group of about ten of us made our way down. On Abbey Lane I think we must have missed a sign, or it had been removed, so instead of a steep track, we had a steep road by way of the descent, coming out at a junction with no signage. A left turn proved to be correct and we returned to the signed route at a junction with the A646 road.

From there, an undulating (mostly in the up direction) route took us up some very steep cobbles (I walked, but still found myself at the head of the 'group of ten') near Hand Carr Farm, before reaching Sowerby Lane and a fairly docile final 3km to return to the cricket pavilion.

Greg was some 45 minutes ahead, and his dad was a good ten minutes ahead of me, but there was time for me to enjoy soup and a roll and a coffee for lunch, before we returned home - no time for a beer as Paul and Greg had lots of commitments for the rest of the day! And we were all in Paul's car as mine would have been trapped by Manchester Marathon road closures, so I'd cycled in the dark to Paul's 'outside the Marathon zone' house earlier.

Here's this year's route - 44km (28.4 miles), with 1050 metres ascent. Click on the image for a better version.

Here's my CMBM spreadsheet, I've excluded the eBikes (17 this year).

Thanks, as always, go to the many volunteers who make this event possible.

Sunday 13 October 2002 - The Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon

 

Some more old Olympus digital images downloaded many years ago have come to light.

 

This was my second participation in the Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon (CMBM). Numerous other reports are included in this blog - here - but there are still four more reports to be added in due course!

 

The 2002 event must have stretched the limits of uneventfulness. My diary entry for the day records "13 October - Calderdale Bike Ride - 3hrs 46mins".

 

Meanwhile, my assiduously maintained 'Bike Log' would indicate that the bike lounged in the shed between 8 January 2000 and 12 October 2003. Well, it would have moved sheds from Chorltonville to Timperley in that period, and it certainly did the CMBM in October 2000, as well as a number of other unrecorded outings.

 

The four pictures unearthed today show my companions on that day, Al and Robert, at the start, and later at the commencement (SE031279) of the descent to Jerusalem. Robert is pictured above, waiting for us there. It's at the top of a short, sharp ascent that follows a flattish section after the descent from Midgley Moor, and you have to be careful here to avoid succumbing to cramp.

 

 

 

 

 

After this, Robert forged ahead to finish five minutes ahead of me and Alastair. We were in positions 204 and 205, out of 269 finishers. It's not a race, just a very enjoyable morning's exercise to which Robert and I frequently return, joined these days by Paul and Greg Barber.

 

This year's CMBM is in the calendar, on 11 October. I suspect that if it goes ahead, it'll be on the excellent new route that was used for the first time in 2019.

 

Here's hoping, but I'm not over-optimistic.

Sunday 13 October 2019 – The Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon (Number 21)

 

Just like last year, we managed to choose a wet day for this event. We are pictured above, at the start, before slowly succumbing to total saturation from a mixture of sweat, and water ingress. Luckily, it was not cold, or windy - there was just a persistent light rain that left the camera in my pocket until transferred to a dry set of clothes at the finish. Here, in the cricket club this year, we enjoyed a welcome pint, Greg sitting at the edge of the lounge as he was forbidden entry due to still being caked in mud. (Or is he concealing some sort of contagious lurgy?!)

 

 

In between these two photos we had spent between 3 hours 24 minutes (Paul and Greg), and 3 hours 53 minutes (me) on the new 44.6 km course - a little longer than the old one - with 1100 metres ascent (as before). There were just two (very welcome) refreshment points, fewer than usual, as shown on the map at the foot of this posting. The route was very well signed - no need for a map.

 

Whilst the others used their modern bikes, out of tradition I used my 29 year old Shogun Trailbreaker, which finished up with a cracked frame after last year's event. Since then, it has been welded and re-sprayed, and as usual it performed well on this occasion - albeit a service is needed.

 

The new route involved turning left instead of right at Grain Water Bridge, where it was disappointing not to find the usual refreshment point. Instead, rather than the flattish road to Pecket Well, a steep hill (I walked up it) led to Stairs Edge. Then there was a long section over rough ground beside water conduits, some of which the organisers had needed to get special permission from the Water Board for the paths to be used for this event. Those with suspension (ie everyone else in the event) had a decided advantage here.

 

Robert had zoomed past me before Grain Water Bridge, having succumbed to a puncture near the start - otherwise he'd have been far ahead at that point.

 

Nab Water Lane was eventually reached. The juice, banana, chocolate and jelly babies were all most welcome at the support point. By now I think most people would have been soaked, and some were getting cold in the wet, rainy mist.

 

From here, over Oxenhope Moor on a quiet road, then an excellent, mainly downhill, route led to Luddenden Foot, where the A646 main road was crossed, and a final 200 metre climb was endured (most of us had to walk up a steep cobbled section) before a final glorious descent to the finish at Sowerby Bridge Cricket Club.

 

It was a fairly hasty beer for me, as those who had finished half an hour earlier had already feasted on the soup and rolls provided to finishers, and Paul and Greg needed to get home for an imminent birthday party. Which, as it was Paul's party, it would be appropriate for him to attend. I hope it went well.

 

Here's a summary of results over the years.

 

 

Here's the route - 44.6 km, with about 1100 metres ascent. Click on the image for a better version.

 

 

Other CMBM reports I have written are here, and the CMBM website with results etc, is here.

 

Thanks go to Robert, Paul and Greg for joining me on this event, and thanks, Paul, for the lift.

Sunday 14 October 2018 – The Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon (Number 20)

It’s that time of year again. My 16th appearance at this event which started in 1999. Only Brian Jennings has made more appearances here. During those 19 years the nature of the equipment has changed from classic mountain bikes with no suspension or disc brakes to the high maintenance modern kit. I was even passed by an electric bike on today’s first hill.

However, my old 1990 bike performed well today despite not having been serviced for some time.

Whilst Robert couldn’t make it this year, I was joined by Paul and Greg for their fourth outing in this event, and by recently retired Richard who was tired after a cross country run yesterday.

We arrived at Sowerby Bridge in light rain, which continued throughout the morning. Greg, Richard and Paul are pictured above before the start, by which time we were all swathed in waterproof clothing that kept the rain out and the sweat in… I suspect we all felt pretty damp for most of the morning, relying on the brisk activity to keep us warm.

The Hardcastle Crags support point was excellent. It breaks a steep ascent and today as always it was manned by a very efficient team. I stopped there whilst other participants admired my bike …

Rider(s): “That reminds me of my first mountain bike.”

Martin: “It is my first mountain bike.” [Not quite true as I had a ‘Rough Stuff’ bike before that.]

By now, Paul, having waited for me at the first checkpoint near Mytholmroyd, had sped off into the distance in the heavier rain.

I didn’t take any more pictures during the ride. My well stowed camera (‘phone) survived an uncharacteristic incident at the very top of Midgley Moor. I was sizing up a good route across some rocks that were bordered by deep puddles, when I leant too far forward – causing the bike to tip me gently into one of said puddles. Luckily there was no witness to this carelessness, and after much wringing out I managed to recover sufficient to cycle (rather than walk) most of the brilliant descent from the moor, the last technical section of the route.

I’d passed Richard a little earlier, just getting ready to set off after a puncture repair, and I had a fear that he was lurking just behind me and would have captured the ‘lying in a bog’ incident on film, but luckily he had inexplicably (the route is very well signposted) got misplaced and finished (out of position) just behind me. He’ll fare better next year, I’m sure.

We all finished within a half hour period and collected some pretty buffs after a selfie in which my camera’s misted up lens punished Greg for his failure to take a picture of me at the start. Can you tell whose bike has mudguards? They worked well today and enabled me to discard the glasses that kept misting up.

We adjourned to the Church Stile Inn for a pleasant half hour’s debriefing before the other three returned to Hale, where Paul was due to attend a birthday party. Happy birthday, Paul. I went home, leaving Sue somewhere in the vicinity of rainy Hebden Bridge, where coincidentally she was out with some of our walking pals.

Here’s a record of our CMBM efforts, excluding Don, Liz, Craig and two Davids whose efforts would just clutter this page, that they are unlikely to visit anyway.

Here’s the route – slightly different to last year’s course that was adjusted due to a path closure – 42.2 km with about 1100 metres ascent.

The results are here, and all my blog reports are here.

Today’s Statistics:

Winner – 2 hrs 3 min – 164 finishers – slowest 5 hrs 9 min
Paul: 3 hrs 19 min – 89
Greg: 3 hrs 39 min – 114
Martin: 3 hrs 45 min – 120
Richard: 3 hrs 50 min – 124

Congratulations to the organisers for making the event run so smoothly and for providing lots of drinks and food along the way and at the finish.

Finally, here’s a photo of me descending to Grain Water Bridge last year. I’ll add this year’s picture if there is one (see below). It may be very similar but I’ll be covered in waterproof clothing that is struggling to breathe.

Later: here’s this year’s picture, as promised.