Well, the lungs, knees and weather were all in our favour...
I decided to risk bringing the Streetmachine for this one, as it seemed like a good opportunity to see how the knee performed with it on a longer ride - I knew I was going to be a bit slow (apart from the fast bits), but it wasn't going to be the fast kind of ride, so that wouldn't be a problem. In the end, while I found the climbs to be incredibly hard work due to The Wrong Kind Of Bent Legs, I got through the whole ride with little more than mild aching from the knee.
I caught the Early o'clock train from Mordor Central, and discovered the cleanest CrossCountry dangly bike space I've ever seen. They appeared to have fitted a brand new set of fully-functional ratchet straps for restraining the lower wheel, too. The novelty factor of this was beaten only by rower40 joining the train at Derby to put his Grasshopper in the other side. That's probably the last place you'd expect to find an HPVelotechnik convention, but the guard hardly raised an eyebrow.
Once andrewc arrived we set a course for the CrinklyDen, taking in the first mechanical of the day (MsCharly's upper limit screw was in need of a tweak - with friction shifting it's actually important), and discovered a house overflowing with cyclists, CrinklyCubs and all manner of cake. Two confused examples of
Felis catus looked on from a safe distance.
We loaded cakes into stomachs and panniers, MsCharly's gears were adjusted, and we set off. The first part of the ride was delightfully flat (I don't get to ride on properly flat roads very often, so that's always a novelty), and took in some lovely lanes and a couple of reasonably sensible cycle paths. There was a single silly Sustrans gate, but it was the kind that could be negotiated in hobby-horse mode with the mirror retracted, so not too annoying. We stopped after 16km at Stamford Bridge for CAKE and use of the facilities:
Off again, through Fangfoss, and a stop at Ings Bridge for Pooh Sticks. This one's a bit deceptive, as although the water's nice and fast-flowing, there's all sorts of potential for stuck stick issues. CrinklyLion won, but consensus was that I still hold the title of YACF champion as Wowbagger wasn't in attendance. I'm evidently going to have to work on my technique, possibly taking note of CrinklyCub's highly effective scientific stick-choice method.
After that, the flatness stopped. Gently at first, then round the corner and 110m of Proper Climbing up Givendale. Several of us opted for the 24" gear - a technique ill-suited for tackling long climbs on a under-seat steering recumbent, so I made use of the silly low gear and span my way up. The sun had come out, which combined with spinning at 90rpm for an awesome speed of 4.5mph made me very hot indeed. I had to stop halfway to remove some layers, at which point I realised my layer-stowing space was occupied by cake, necessitating a defrag of the contents of my rack bag.
I eventually made it to the top without any knee disasters, but with legs feeling like they were going to drop off. Fortunately the next bit was mostly down, including the good kind of chevron. The temporary traffic lights had disappeared, but we were turning left to Millington for lunch, rather than freewheeling all the way to Pocklington.
Lunch was had outdoors, because it was that warm:
And CrinklyLion's well-packed scone was declared Cake Of The Day:
With a bit of wandering dog retrieval and discussion of recumbent bikes, wheelchairs, small wheels and their allergy to loose gravel with some of the other customers, we set off up the valley. Rower40 and I noted that the zigzag at Pasture Gate was like a miniature version of Box Hill, and were glad that we didn't have to climb it, and weren't on the tandem.
The slow climb up Millington Dale and Pasture Dale was lovely. Only really hard work towards the end, and some fantastic scenery. It would have been nicer with fewer cars, so we didn't have to keep riding single file to let them pass, but otherwise that's going on my list of pleasant ways to gain elevation.
A bit of rolling terrain after that. While I don't have much in the way of climbing legs, this is what I'm used to, and the recumbent lends itself to my natural riding style of winching up short climbs and carrying as much momentum through into the next one as possible. I managed a particularly impressive bit of rollercoaster cycling at Westbeck Bridge: as we came round the bend on the descent I saw what appeared to be a vertical wall of road up ahead. Realising the only sensible approach was to try to gain as much speed as possible, I slammed it into a high gear, picked a line and managed to hit 35mph at the bottom. This gave me enough speed to get nearly all the way up the other side, much to the surprise of those I shot past on the ascent. It's not often that you get to pull that manoeuvre off quite so spectacularly.
The slog up Kilnwick Percy Hill was non-fun. I stopped for a rest in a gravelly lay-by half way up, and had fun trying to get moving again in the 19" gear - eventually resorting to carrying the bike into the middle of the road so I could get enough traction to avoid wheelspin. My mood improved rapidly as we reached the brow of the hill, though...
3km straight down into Pocklington. Including a chevron. Decent road surface, with good sight lines. CrinklyLion suggested that it was "probably best if Kim goes at the front for this bit". I achieved a respectable 45.9mph on the descent, and could probably have had 50 if I'd been able to see that the discolouration in the middle of the road before the bend wasn't loose gravel. I think I'm going to have to come back to that one armed with some prescription safety goggles to stop my eyes watering.
Once the others had caught up, it was round the corner to not-Granny-Annie's house for a scones and more cake stop. I may have had a comedy clipless moment on the tile floor, which may have ended in a giggling fit.
From there, it was mostly flat again, to Warthill (thus named presumably because it achieves about the same change in elevation as the average wart). It had just started to rain as we arrived at the pub, so a swift pint was called for. There's a comedy photo somewhere of rower40's Grasshopper parked amongst some (
PINK, tasselled) children's bikes.
A swift (and suspiciously inexpensive) pint was just what was needed to sort the weather out. We engaged the FRIKKIN' LASERS for the journey back to York, where the group fragmented according to relative urgency of trains. I returned to the Den with CL and rower40 to be greeted by an excited exclamation of "Kim!" from SmallestCub, who was having a bath.
I made it 86.5km. Here's the elevation/speed profile for those who were asking:
Rower40 left for his train, and we had a fun evening that included Captain Scarlet (and the dubious approach to risk assessment and fail-safe systems therein), being shed on by cats, curry, and late-night bike-fettling. It was also noted that if a large touring recumbent can be successfully stowed in their living room, CrinklyLion has no good reason not to get herself a nice, shiny and relatively compact Islabike road bike...
