January/February.
Shorter Sunday club rides tend to be the norm at this time of year but still provide enjoyable cycling and give the opportunity for a social get together at the obligatory café stop. The introduction of weekly A & B rides both starting at 9.30am from the “Range” provide an opportunity for riders of varied abilities to enjoy club cycling.
February is the traditional month for our annual MTB “Treasurers Trek” which follows the canal towpath and trails to Manchester for lunch before returning to the “Range”. The wintery conditions provided somewhat challenging riding, as some would say, “character building”, though not everyone would agree with that point of view.
Cyclists everywhere look forward to more favourable weather which hopefully will be evident in the coming months. As always check the Trans Pennine website for details and remember non members are always welcome on our club rides.
March/April
The first Sunday in March saw the start of our reliability series with the 30 mile event which was well supported despite the somewhat unfavourable weather conditions.
Our members are always keen to support local events and this was certainly the case with the “Spring into the Dales” audax starting and returning to Hebden Bridge after negotiating what seemed, most of the steepest climbs in and around Keighley providing a severe challenge for all but the fittest
The following Sunday we continued our series of reliability rides with the 50 mile version finishing at Millcroft Tea Gardens, Norden for refreshments which were much appreciated after a challenging ride.
May/June
With improved weather conditions our programme of events went ahead uninterrupted. Our version of the “North West Passage” event takes riders to Gisburn then through Bolton by Bowland, West Bradford to Waddington for lunch retuning via Whalley, Painter Wood and over Haslingden Moor and home. An ever popular ride through beautiful countryside with good company, it does not get much better than this!
The club’s well supported 100k reliability ride, took place on the first Sunday in June which included a lunch stop at Rivington, before returning via Edgeworth and Ramsbottom and finishing off at Owd Betts.
July/Aug
The Holmfirth ride, setting for “Last of the Summer Wine” sitcom, is always a popular ride. Our route through Delph, Uppermill, Greenfield and over the curiously named “Isle of Skye” road takes us to Holmfirth for lunch (see café reports on our web site). The return journey via Meltham, Marsden and Denshaw can be quite demanding but provides a rewarding day out.
September
The somewhat interestingly titled Whalley Wobble is a car assisted event which starts from Spring Wood picnic site and “takes in” quiet roads and lanes around the beautiful Ribble valley, breaking for lunch at Waddington before returning to Spring Wood and the journey home.
We like to offer cyclists of all abilities the opportunity to join us on our Sunday rides which always comprise both A and B routes. The B routes are particularly suited to riders “coming back” into cycling and are ridden at a gentle pace over shorter distances.
Remember we run our Wednesday evening MTB trail rides for you off road enthusiasts starting at 7pm from either the Alpine, Whitworth Road, Rochdale or the Crimble, Bamford, see our website for details.