cheshire cat

I'm never a big fan of large organised group or public rides - partly because I am not hugely sociable (a 'sociable loner' like Robert Millar?), partly because I am always (unnecessarily) slightly nervous riding in a large group and partly because I like to do my own thing. I ride on my own almost exclusively and it is strange though almost always pleasant to have company from time to time. Whilst Flanders with it's 17,000 riders was a little excessive, the sold out 1600 strong Cheshire Cat sportive promised to be reasonably busy. However, there was a group of old and new friends meeting up to ride together and this was for me the raison d'etre for the whole affair. And the chance to do my first century in over 15 years.

Leaving aside any puns about weather, smiles and the Cheshire Cat, it was a stunning day. The sub zero temperatures on leaving home with Mark warmed up slightly to leave a cold but cloudless day with sunshine for the whole event. Sometimes warm, sometimes very cool, it was a perfect, indeed rare spring day made better by a great route maximising use of quiet Cheshire lanes and hilly Peak terrain.

There were the usual groups coalescing and dissolving constantly for the first flat miles as people found their pace and we managed to stay pretty much together, regrouping at the first 2 feed stations. The route was nicely judged as it turned from the flat Cheshire Plains and headed toward the hills north of Stoke and the eponymously named Mow Cop Killer Mile. Coming soon after a feed station, it was a bit of an effort to get going on this but it was fun heaving up it's 1 in 3/1 in 4 gradient and Ella (4) loved the celebratory medal given to those who got up without a foot down, and passed onto her when I got home.

Mark at the top of Macc forest

From then on the route became more like the terrain myself and Mark are used to riding in, as the hilly edge of the Peak made itself known, north of Leek. The section toward and out of Macclesfield was sublime in the Spring sunshine and the climb up through Macc Forest was harder for me and many others than the Killer Mile itself. A final effort up the Swiss Hill cobbles in Alderley (easier than the Paterberg in Flanders?) led to a flat run in as I towed Mark to the finish. He'd only been riding and training for 3 months prior to this 100 mile test and finished in fine shape considering the minimal preparation undertaken. Onwards and upwards!

I was trying out road tubs for the first time too and whilst comfortable gluing and riding cross tubs, was wondering how I would get on. I needn't have worried - they were extremely comfortable and trouble free, and the braking with road calipers and cork pads really progressive. I had 2 forms of puncture solving technology so although this aspect went untested, felt reasonably reassured that I would be able to continue in the event of any trouble bar a big tear or blowout. Seeing as I dont carry spare clinchers either that would have been game over whichever way.

Fred Whitton is the next stop, via an unoffical Lakeland Loop next month, so time to get serious on those miles and those hills.

The crossjunkie blank look after 90 odd miles

ronde cue sheet

UPDATED for 2011:

Full ride details, GPS exports are available on Ride with GPS. Click here

Cue sheet available for print on Ride with GPS page.

Alternatively,for a handy A5 size Cue Sheet, simply right click on this document and click 'Fullscreen' before printing using button on far right. Then cut out and laminate/protect to take out with you on the ride.

Note of caution: the distances on the A5 cue sheet below don't entirely match the distances on Ride with GPS. Please bear this in mind if switching between both.

Enjoy.



Ronde Cue Sheet -

ronde van oost lancashire route description

Update: The 2013 Ronde will be on Sat March 30. Details to follow soon.

The Ronde starts and finishes at the beautiful Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford, a Grade II listed farmhouse dating back to the 15th Century. There is a car park on the opposite side of the road with an honesty box and a cafe and art shop within the Centre making it a lovely base for a day out.

The full route on ridewithgps

Pendle Heritage Centre http://www.htnw.co.uk/phc.html

Whilst the cobbled sections of the route are certainly a little contrived, I hope they add to the overall experience. They are indeed optional as the route is easily followable by missing out these slightly nadgery sections but I urge you to check up on the directions and photos and include them for the nearest thing to a full-on Flanders experience you will get this side of the Channel.

From the start at the Heritage Centre, the route begins climbing almost immediately leaving Barrowford and heading for Pendle Witch country - http://www.markdimages.com/PDF/nloct06.pdf.

A series of short, but sharp climbs criss cross the area and mimic the multiple crossings the Flandrian Ronde makes up the local escarpment.

After crossing from Pendle and into Burnley, a long scenic descent skirts with the Ribble Valley before swinging back toward Padiham. Here the first cobbled climbs of the day await in Padiham centre first up Mill Street and then the ancient Double Row - sit down and try to use a biggish gear with as much speed as possible! These are good warm up for the really hard cobbled sections later.

Mill St cobbles

Entrance to Double Row cobbles

Double Row cobbles

Leaving the conservation area of Padiham the route swings west toward Blackburn and over into Hyndburn. The landscape is more open and at times industrial, leading toward the Brickworks climb between Clayton-le-Moors and Huncoats where Accrington brick became famous. On through the shallow ford and climb at Mill Hill before a long run toward the outskirts of Burnley.

Though the climbing now is not steep, the height gain is appreciable as can be seen from the profile as the southern fringe of Burnley passes by, dropping down to the corner of Townley Park and a possible cafe stop if you fancy a small diversion - http://www.burnley.gov.uk/towneley/site/index.php.

The landscape begins to become more traditionally Pennine as we head above the narrow valleyed mill towns of Todmorden and Hebden - watch though for the descent off Long Causeway into Hebden. It is very steep, very bumpy and contains several hairpin bends. There are good cafes in Hebden to break up the ride.

I discovered the Packhorse climb in Hebden on a shopping trip with the kids. It is brutal to ride, probably impossible in the wet or damp, a throwback to the days when mules and horses lugged huge bails of cotton and wool around the area, providing great wealth to these small mill towns. Enjoy it and turn left at the top to almost immediately turn right to begin the climb to Hepstonstall. This too is cobbled in it's upper section and combined with the Packhorse climb makes for a very tough ascent - http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/tourist-info/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/sense_of_place/heptonstall_1.shtml

Packhorse cobbled climb up from Royd Terrace

Packhorse cobbles

Town Gate, Hepstonstall


Now the countryside opens up as the route wends its way along narrow lanes toward Widdop Moor and back from Calderdale toward the Burnley and Pendle towns. The scenery here is stunning with wide open moorland, big views and some short sharp climbs here to sap the legs before a steep descent toward Colne. Save a little for the final hard section up from Colne's South Valley on cobbled back streets, finishing with a 1 in 4 cobbled monster up Chapel St to Colne's central spine. This is similar to the Muur and Kapelmuur sections (well sort of) of the real Ronde, which also form the penultimate cobbled sections of the Flandrian classic. Dropping off this into the North Valley, it is worth the small diversion of Langroyd Rd for the cobbled Dickson St and Montague Street, throwbacks to a bygone age.

Entrance to cobbled climb off Shaw St up to Duke St

Chapel St - it is as steep as it looks!

Last section of cobbles up Dickson and Montague St

Montague St - the Bosberg of Colne (without the woods)

Your day is almost done now, save for a beautiful section along narrow lanes above the lake with panoramic views, and the final climb after the canal and back to your starting point. Make sure you get back before the cafe closes!

If you come and ride it, please let me know and give some feedback. I hope you enjoy your day and get a real flavour of the area, cobbles and all.

the ronde is here!

After much shenanigins with mapping and the like, I bring you the final version in a couple of different formats to make it as user friendly as possible.

The profile looks like this:

It's a ride of 3 halves really (!)- short sharp climbs at first descending back to the lowest point on the route, some mostly rolling climbs before a long descent and the hardest section of the whole ride containing the biggest and steepest climbs including one bordering on 1 in 3.

For those that like to GPS I understand the route can be downloaded in bikeroutetoaster:

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=36728


I have also mapped it in mapmyfitness but it keeps on crashing my entire system when I try to mix html and composition views so I will post it separately - see below.

Please note there are some glitches with the mapmyfitness version - it covers the whole route but records the distance incorrectly as 35 miles. The cue sheet appears OK but I cannot verify it's accuracy. Unless you cannot get the version above to work I would avoid it to be honest.

There is an accurate (proofread) Cue Sheet available through bikeroutetoaster but I will be posting a full guide over the next few days with photos and general info.

My suggestion is to book yourself in a ride on 5 April at the same time as the real Ronde, tape it on Eurosport and come home to a couple of well earned Belgian brews and the pros in action in Flanders.

mapmyfitness version of ronde

ronde nearly there ....... still

The weight of expectation is heavy on my shoulders as I try and box off this bloody route - struggling with online mapping sites that dont work properly or produce nonsense Cue Sheets. I'm trying to make it into a classic route that is still user friendly and not so esoteric that someone outside the area can't come and ride without getting lost all the time. So, technology willing, it will be loaded up in time for the real Ronde to one of the generic route mapping sites, GPS enabled for techy people and with a separate cue card on the blog for those wanting to use a proper map. The real Ronde is April 5th so the clock is ticking..........

rabobank shred the paris-nice peloton on stage 3

I watched this with awe - brutal, clinical and yet a beautiful example of the art of cycling. It was blowing a hooly, and lashing with rain. The stage had been hard from the word go and was entering a section of villages with twisty roads, interspaced with long straights bordered by open fields. Cross winds ripped across these fields as Rabobank came to the front at 45km to go and simply attacked on mass in an incredible display of force. Within a few kms the peloton was shredded and Yellow Jersey Contador was isolated and in the 4th group on the road. Watch the gaps just go as tired, cold riders simply cannot make it on to the wheel in front. An awesome display of strength and grit putting 5 Rabos into the lead group of 20. It nearly, but not quite, paid off with a stage victory. Contador reacted to the danger, jumping on his own across the groups and toward the front but lost 1 min 20 in the end, putting the attentive and astute Chavenel (Quick Step) into Yellow. Ouch.