My second attempt at a ride after the temperature had dropped. The first attempt I had to turn back after 18km because my feet were too cold, admittedly I didn't really dress for the weather. I think I have developed some sort of circulation problem as I get older because I used to be able to ride a 200km audax in 0°C but that seems impossible now and I really feel the cold a lot more.
Anyway, I bought some merino socks and armed with them, leg warmers and overshoes and heavier gloves I set out this morning when it was about 6°C. Was OK for the first hour but when I dropped down off the Eastmoor to Curbar I began to feel cold in my feet again. Seriously thought of turning back and was feeling a little dispirited - especially by an unexpected road closure for tree pruning in Froggatt. Despite not really enjoying it I did press on, through Haversage and then up Snake Pass. The thing about that is that it's about 20km to the top of the pass and if it gets too much you can turn round at any time before the top and pretty much roll back to Haversage for sustenance. I did actually make it to the top in one piece and it was getting a bit warmer by then anyway. Course the climb helped warm me up too. So I "took the plunge" and descended to Glossop for lunch. About half way down the descent there was a strange plasticky noise from the bike and I was like "Huh, what was that?" then looked down and noticed my little Cateye cycle computer had gone on an excursion. I walked back about 100m and there it was, waiting by the side of the road in the grass. Resumed the descent into Glossop with no further problems, though I was on the brakes most of the time to avoid going too fast and getting cold. I don't like descending the west side anyway, it's steeper and the bike will run away from you very easily if you're not careful, there are lots of sharp bends and cars always seem to want to "sneak by" before the next bend.
Stopped at Tesco's, my usual stopping place in the summer. Costa coffee large mocha and those vanilla slice things they have (highly recommended!) helped fuel the return trip. It's probably not a good idea to climb Snake Pass on a full stomach but I didn't want to dawdle and get cold, and the sun was out behind hazy cloud and I didn't want to waste the afternoon. Probably need to find a cafe in glossop where I can warm up if I do this ride again. The climb from the west side is about 380m ascent in total, most of it at about 7%. I much prefer to climb from that side because once you're up, you're up, whereas the east side undulates up and down quite a bit. And descending the east side is also more fun. The autumn sunlight glinting off Ladybower reservoir was quite beautiful, I may have to go up there for a walk later this week.
Took 10 minutes in Hathersage to have a breather and refill my water bottle at the public fountain, while I steeled myself for the annoyingly lumpy road between Hathersage and Froggatt/Curbar. Not that it's gruesome, but I'd rather be saving my energy for the climb up
https://cyclinguphill.com/100-climbs/curbar-edge/ Normally I stop for a little rest at the crossroads but today I made it up without stopping - the first time ever. It's "hard stuff done" when I get to the top of there, there is some rolling stuff after that and across the Eastmoor but I know when I get 10km from home it's essentially downhill all the way which always helps with motivation!
126km, 1923m of ascent according to my GPS, but it undercounts by about 10% if audaxes I have done are anything to go by. 18.7kmh moving average, 16.5kmh overall average.
I'm signed up to do an audax on the 12th of November, I'll be watching the temperature closely, if it's like today I might just make it. There are still some improvements I can make to my clothing (double leg warmers, are they a thing?) and winter boots will help. I didn't really get cold anywhere else but my feet.
