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| Descending through Oxenhope in the Spring into the Dales Audax |
My hopes of starting this Audax on time were dashed after I put the TV on as I was getting ready, and was confronted by another Formula 1 clothing feature by the BBC presenters of the Chinese GP, with EJ & DC modelling some interesting choices of clothing.
Leaving late, I took the most direct route to Hebden Bridge, through Dewsbury, Brighouse & Sowerby Bridge. I arrived 45 minutes after the start to find the start was busy but all the riders were waiting for the start of the shorter ride that day.
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| James Colley (left) pausing on the Aire Millenium Bridge, Castleford with John Wriglesworth and Ken Pickles during a Calder mid week ride, 3 days before he tackled the Spring into the Dales Audax |
After getting my Brevet card from Chris Crossland (the Organizer), it was on the bike, and almost immediately up hill.
This Audax has 2.25 AAA points, points in this case don’t mean prizes, but give an indication of how much climbing, and in this ride there was a lot. The first 10km was straight up to Oxenhope, then it was a hilly rolling ride to the first control. About 4km from the control I passed a group of riders, who I later found out had left about 10 minutes before me. After a near miss with a cat I made it to the control 5 minutes before it closed. From there it was an easy & quick 16km ride to the next control, where there were a large number or riders enjoying the cafe break.
the next 46km section was rolling, harder than the 2nd, and easier than the first, with 2 info controls. I passed, and was passed by riders, catching one in particular who was relying on GPS at every junction. My computer battery decided to run out during this section, but with the route card it was pretty hard to go wrong. The final control was at Rossis Cafe in Keighley, and when I arrived it was packed with riders. After waiting for 10 minutes I gave up on the idea of food and got back on the bike for the long slog back up to Oxenhope and the decent back into Hebden Bridge.
At the finish there was a great selection of sandwiches and cakes, which were most enjoyable after a hard ride, and set me up for the ride home.
This is a hard ride and not one which you would want to do as a first time event, but it has a very good easy to follow route card and general organisation; with the food at the finish being among the best I’ve been to, it was a nice way to spend a Sunday.
James Colley