Larkling: Hassop Station
Four intrepid Larklings out today for a very hilly ride through the Derbyshire Dales to Hassop.
Riders out today were: Rob, Simon, Phil, and myself (Ian). Weather was overcast in the morning but looking better for the afternoon.
Chris reminded me that we did this route in the spring. I remember it being challenging then and it doesn’t seem my fitness has moved on much since!
Todays route - click to enlarge.
We set off up the hill toward Allgreave, when we got to FourWays Phil decided he needed to adjust his front hanger, a delicate operation. From Allgreave it was up and over top and then down into Longnor, then to Simon’s dismay back up via Crowdicote! Lots of vintage cars were around here doing the Retro Run. Even the small lanes seemed surprisingly busy with motor traffic today.
Phils “front hanger” rubbing.
We then dropped down the steep long hill near Sheldon, knowing we would have to come back up it after lunch. We went over the footbridge into the pretty village of Ashford in the Water, and there was discussion about stopping at the cafe there instead of going on into Hassop, as the route from Ashford to Hassop is “non pleasant”. Fortunately Hassop Station was not as busy as I have seen it in the past. I ordered a cake starter, expecting service to be slow, but all our food came almost immediately. We were there for about half an hour before the larks rolled into town.
Recomposing ourselves after the awful climb up to Sheldon. Rob (left), Phil (centre) and Simon (right).
We rolled out knowing what was ahead of us, and the climb was just as evil as I remembered. We had told ourselves that was the last hard one, but the climbs felt relentless, maybe I was on a bad day. The one around Chelmorton just keeps on giving with false summit after false summit. At least this way we didn’t have the climb up past the raceway over Axe Edge.
It was back through Harpur Hill, for a while we had a lady from Buxton CC riding behind us. The final test was the Cat & Fiddle. Simon stormed away in pursuit of two other cyclists ahead of us. The rest of us crawled our way up. By the time we got to the top the sun had come out. It was just the long descent back into Macc. Rob raced ahead with Phil, Simon and myself took it easy. I was done!
What my Wahoo said:
48 miles, 5,518 ft elevation, 11.9 mph average (not too bad considering all the hills).
OK, I think it’s a flat one in La Vuelta :(
Ride safe, Ian.