This weekend saw the first time there was a club ride on a Saturday and a Sunday since I joined the club, so I thought I would attempt both.

Part 1 – Saturday (Barnoldswick)

Saturday’s destination was Barnoldswick. Ominously Hamish sent out a route the day before and foolishly Dan and I didn’t study it closely enough.

There was clearly some debate regarding the weather forecast as Dan was dressed for a summer ride, I was in shorts but had gilet and arm warmers (just in case) and Hamish was in full winter gear.

Things started out well, due a tailwind and a not particularly hilly route we made good progress.

We arrived at the factory cafe in Barnoldswick and enjoyed some reassuringly inexpensive sausage / bacon sandwiches and then Hamish casually mentioned that the second half of the route was back loaded with one or two hills.

Thirty miles later and we had pretty much climbed every hill either side of the Aire Valley. Dan and I were no longer smiling (I have no idea about Hamish as I could only see the back of him in the distance).

We got back to Rawdon after 69 miles and 6000 feet of type 2 fun.

Part 2 Sunday (Skipton)

I woke up Sunday morning feeling very fatigued but thought I would head out anyway. My legs were in disbelief that I was putting them through it all again as I gingerly made my way up the hill from my house to our meeting point.

I arrived dead on 9am to be greeted by Ian, announcing that we were only going to Skipton (my legs gave a little cheer).

Alan’s route took us up Cocking Lane which was hard work, but apart from that and being to told by Kim that ‘we could rest on the downhills’, the ride was steady and enjoyable.

This was until we arrived in Skipton to find our usual cafe and the backup cafe both closed.

Ian saved himself from a mutiny from Andre, Ben and me and an embarrassing domestic situation with Kim by finding ‘a piece of the Mediterranean in Skipton’ (the owners words, not mine)

The ride back was as steady as on the way out and I managed to persuade my remaining companions to go for a drink. Andre had already left us to go climb some extra hills (note to self – must introduce Andre to Hamish, could be a beautiful friendship…)

The ride was 46 miles for me with 3500 feet of climbing.

Cheers, Steve