Author Topic: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington  (Read 4203 times)

Entries: https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=9254

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38065755

I already have a few entries. LEL prep, I assume, but it's a decent ride in its own right. Katie captured it last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17kZwcUhVtM and yeah, on the right day it really does look like that, and yeah, it is tough, I haven't pulled many punches, apart from Darlo being flat enough to make for an easy start and finish, and the night-time run from Moffat to Carlisle is as flat as it gets. Entrants get a full break-down of the hillage on the route ;D

It worked pretty well last year without a dedicated overnight control (riders booked a hotel in Carlisle, which is what I did on my helper's ride, or tried to get some kip at the services), and I'll probably run it the same way this year, unless I get an enormous number of entries.

It's loosely based on Joe Applegarth's classic Lanchester 400, plus a loop into the Lakes. You can check out my ride reports from the only two editions of that here and here. Joe likes his hills, and what a surprise to run into him and Caroline out in the North Pennines on my helper's ride.


Though probably not that much of a surprise to see Joe out in the North Pennines. That bit of the route is his, I added the Lakes bit, so you can blame me for that, but it's a really quiet route through, taking in Thirlmere, Grasmere and great views of Windermere from Gummer's How.



And the hall at the finish will have food on the go until you're done (but it is BRM this year, so you only have until 10 pm to finish)

IanDG

  • The p*** artist formerly known as 'Windy'
    • the_dandg_rouleur
Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #1 on: 07 March, 2022, 11:04:56 pm »
There's a nice village hall at about 300km- or floor space just over the road ;)

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #2 on: 08 March, 2022, 08:55:20 pm »
Ha, a little early in the ride :) Doubt I'll get enough entries to justify it, I'll keep it simple.

felstedrider

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #3 on: 09 March, 2022, 01:24:54 pm »
Looking forward to this.   For some reason I thought the Bank Holiday was the Mon/Tue after the event so I was looking forward to a leisurely trip home.

I can have a steady trip up on Friday and then use a half day to get home on Monday before 'WFH' in the afternoon.

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #4 on: 10 May, 2022, 10:16:00 pm »
This is starting to feel very real now that it’s the next ride in my calendar. Plans for lots of hilly prep haven’t quite materialised so it’s going to be a toughy!
How are the entry numbers looking Dean?

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #5 on: 10 May, 2022, 10:41:56 pm »
Healthy. Three dozen or so, knocking on forty. Space for more if anyone else is keen, though.

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #6 on: 13 May, 2022, 08:25:21 pm »
Just a heads up that the west side of Thirlmere is still closed and seems unlikely to open in the next few weeks.

Not my ride on strava but this was from last Sunday.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7108052662#2958362912922549222

Easy enough to carry straight on down the east side but not sure if this affects your minimum distance?

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #7 on: 14 May, 2022, 02:25:13 pm »
Cheers smuttie, that is a pain, I had a control down there...

Ah well, I'll sort it out, maybe Chapel Stile can sub in for it.

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #8 on: 16 May, 2022, 03:21:07 pm »
Yup, bonus trip to Langdale it is!

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38065755

Shame, I like the wee road around the back of Thirlmere, but the main road isn't that bad (and we'll all need to be getting through there not much later than 9 am).

felstedrider

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #9 on: 24 May, 2022, 08:01:34 am »
Booked a room at Southwaite services.   Not cheap but I think it will be worth it even if just a few hours off.

Maintaining 20kph average to there gets me in midnight and you then have until 11am to get to Newby Bridge, so set off 5/6am.



Rob

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #10 on: 24 May, 2022, 08:06:28 am »
We've booked the same services I think - Travelodge Carlisle M6.

Our biggest issue is that to get back to London we couldn't find a train with 2 bike spots so we've got one train at 7pm and one train at 8pm (there was nothing later).

So, we might have to be a bit friskier than normal on this ride to get back in time for work! :S

This is my maths based on the hilly 400k we did in Wales a while ago:
Worst case Day 1: 17kph, 350k, 20.5hrs, 2am
Worst case Day 2: 16.5kph, 15hrs, 7pm train, 4am start 2nd day.

felstedrider

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #11 on: 24 May, 2022, 08:20:07 am »
We've booked the same services I think - Travelodge Carlisle M6.

Our biggest issue is that to get back to London we couldn't find a train with 2 bike spots so we've got one train at 7pm and one train at 8pm (there was nothing later).

So, we might have to be a bit friskier than normal on this ride to get back in time for work! :S

This is my maths based on the hilly 400k we did in Wales a while ago:
Worst case Day 1: 17kph, 350k, 20.5hrs, 2am
Worst case Day 2: 16.5kph, 15hrs, 7pm train, 4am start 2nd day.

Best of luck.   I have booked a half day Monday morning and am WFH.   I just need to be able to be at my home desk by 13:00 Monday.

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #12 on: 24 May, 2022, 08:41:43 am »
Yeah, we might end up doing something similar, though without the prior approval of employers :)
That's how I normally roll anyway but my missus is a bit more worried. It's also her first 600k so she's got other things to worry about first :D

Bernster

  • ACME (Herts Branch)
Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #13 on: 24 May, 2022, 10:04:00 am »
Booked a room at Southwaite services.   Not cheap but I think it will be worth it even if just a few hours off.

I rode this as a DIY last year, and stayed at Southwaite - it worked out pretty well, although I had to phone the number on the desk to raise someone to come into the reception to check me in. It's not totally obvious where the footbridge is to get to the hotel on the Southbound side of the motorway, although that might have been me being a bit tired. Costa was open in the morning for breakfast back on the Northbound side.

Enjoy the ride, it was stunning!

felstedrider

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #14 on: 24 May, 2022, 10:18:41 am »
Booked a room at Southwaite services.   Not cheap but I think it will be worth it even if just a few hours off.

I rode this as a DIY last year, and stayed at Southwaite - it worked out pretty well, although I had to phone the number on the desk to raise someone to come into the reception to check me in. It's not totally obvious where the footbridge is to get to the hotel on the Southbound side of the motorway, although that might have been me being a bit tired. Costa was open in the morning for breakfast back on the Northbound side.

Enjoy the ride, it was stunning!

Thanks for that.   That removes another thing that would have stumped me on the ride.


Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #15 on: 26 May, 2022, 09:13:08 am »
I have  booked  into the Harrowgate Hill lodge on Friday - they do sound helpful, Think I will take a preliminary visit to check out the tricycle accommodation.. :-)

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #16 on: 26 May, 2022, 10:19:56 pm »
Booked a room at Southwaite services.   Not cheap but I think it will be worth it even if just a few hours off.

I rode this as a DIY last year, and stayed at Southwaite - it worked out pretty well, although I had to phone the number on the desk to raise someone to come into the reception to check me in. It's not totally obvious where the footbridge is to get to the hotel on the Southbound side of the motorway, although that might have been me being a bit tired. Costa was open in the morning for breakfast back on the Northbound side.

Enjoy the ride, it was stunning!

Am at Southwaite too, though I not sure how long I’ll be staying! Depends on the toll the hills will have taken. Worried and excited about this ride in equal measure at present!
Being motivated by the prospect of one of Deano’s Northumbrian SR badges (although still have the 300 and 400 to go too)

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #17 on: 04 June, 2022, 11:24:55 pm »
31 away this morning, looks like a couple are flying around with a decent tailwind, and a few DNFs with minor issues.

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #18 on: 04 June, 2022, 11:50:04 pm »
Looks like the bastard hill out of Newcastleton did for them!

felstedrider

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #19 on: 05 June, 2022, 08:52:07 pm »
Epic.  More later.   I was perky at the finish but everything has caught up with me.

Thanks to Deano and the team at the finish.


Rob

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #20 on: 05 June, 2022, 10:24:52 pm »
Many thanks to Dean for organising a great event, and for the excellent post ride catering
Early morning in the Lakes:


Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #21 on: 06 June, 2022, 10:32:35 am »
That was a fun weekend. I'm not sure the 100k in the Dales followed by a pub crawl was the best preparation but we both got around. That was Malwinki's first 600k and completes her AAA SR series and well, her first SR series.

Because LNER are knobs and their trains are knobby, we had to get two separate trains back for extra money but turns out both had free bike slots! Meant I didn't get to hang around for food and bantz at the finish (I did grab some more of that lovely millionaires cake though - never one to miss an opportunity for extra cake!)

Thanks to Deano and whoever helped out. Tough but very nice route. Of course I carried a camera around the whole way and didn't use it once because of the time concerns! I'll see if I have any phone shots worth posting.

Oh, did anyone else get papped by "biker photos" on that big climb on day 2?

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #22 on: 06 June, 2022, 10:41:18 am »
Yes, I was papped. Hopefully they will never see that light of day as I was somewhat bedraggled on Hartside with the incessant wind on the way up (and down).

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #23 on: 06 June, 2022, 10:52:50 am »
Yes, I was papped. Hopefully they will never see that light of day as I was somewhat bedraggled on Hartside with the incessant wind on the way up (and down).

I guess we'll find out. Assume they will appear here: https://www.bikerphoto.co.uk/f174790635

I was pretty shattered by then - I was feeling a bit sick of flapjacks and had not eaten enough by then I suspect.
I think because we both go shopping I've started buying stuff for "us" (savoury, flapjacks) instead of the pure sugary crap I would usually eat and that's maybe not sitting so well with me.

Re: Peewhits and Curlews 600 - Saturday 4th June 2022 from Darlington
« Reply #24 on: 06 June, 2022, 11:56:27 am »
Well that was indeed brutal, but then, it's not like we weren't told!
Tried to take it slower than usual on Day 1 to save the legs, but found it was in vain and my legs had very little to offer on Day 2 anyway. Really struggled at times, (climb out of Newby Bridge, I'm looking at you!)
Thanks for a great event, Deano and for the grub at the end - that chilli really hit the spot after too much sugar.