Cycling up some Hills in South Wales

My wife and I had a long weekend away recently. She chose Wales (near Cardiff) as a location so we stayed in Port Talbot as its half way between Swansea and Cardiff. We actually stayed in the Best Western Aberavon Beach Hotel which was very pleasant, although the environs of Aberavon were not that great. Whilst we were away I negotiated an opportunity to take my bike and have a morning out.

I'd looked at the map and realised the Dragon Ride route that I'd ridden with Noel in 2010 was quite close, and whilst I was not going to do the whole route a possible few hours ride could be up and over the Bwlch and Rhigos climbs, and then back again. Whilst a there and back route was not quite as interesting as a circular route it would allow me to to these 2 reasonably big climbs from 2 directions. In 2010 we'd done the Bwlch from Pricetown (south to north), then down into Treorchy and up the Rhigos (again south to north), then down to the industrial park at Hirwaun, when we then turned off to the left towards Glynneath. The route I'd planned for this ride was from Pricetown to Hirwaun as in 2010, but then turn round and go back the same way - this would mean that I'd do 2 new climbs and 1 new descent - both the ascent and descent of Rhigos north to south and the ascent of Bwlch again north to south. The Bwlch descent north to south I'd done in 2010. Bwlch has 3 routes, and the other ascent (from Cymmer) I had also done in 2010 so this would mean I'd done all the climbs of these 2 hills.

In the 1st edition of 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs the Rhigos (from Hirwaun) is #98 and rates a 6/10 whilst the Bwlch (from Pricetown) is #99 and rates a 5/10.

I put the proposed route into Garmin Connect and got this:

The route came to just over 35 miles and about 4000ft of climbing. It also meant there were a number of bail out points as I could, for example, avoid the final descent of Rhigos and turn back having got to the top. A 35 mile route at home would be a non-ride - easy and nothing to to even think of, however the 4000ft of climbing was a significant challenge given the sort of riding I have been doing this year, but I was fully confidant that I could if necessary crawl up in the 34-28 gear.

In the week before we left the weather outlook was not great - rain and wind was forecast, but I knew I needed to wait and see when we got there. We drove down on Thursday afternoon and by keeping an eye on the weather it looked like the Saturday would be the best (or least worst) day. The weather was forecast to continue to deteriorate as the days went by to a huge storm forecast for the Monday.

I got up at 7am and had breakfast in the Hotel and then left just before 8am. It took about 35 minutes to drive down the M4 and to the Ogwen Valley. I wasn't exactly sure where I'd start from and didn't really want to start immediately at the bottom. I saw a free car park just leaving Ogmore Vale but was not sure how far it still was to the bottom of the Bwlch so carried on. About 2 miles further I reached Nant-y-Moel and found  small car park just beyond the Pricetown clock tower, so decided to leave the car there rather than drive back and start from the first car park. I was a little concerned that it was too close to the bottom but decided I'd go with the decision - if I was tired, getting back another 2 miles might be the straw that broke the camels back.

Helping me make that decision was the fact that the weather at this point was absolutely foul - very windy and the rain was throwing it down. The forecast had been for wind but with the rain clearing up so I sat in the car for 10-15 minutes or so and luckily the rain did clear, so I got changed ready to go. I was not quite sure what the weather was exactly going to be but I expected to get wet so I wore a base layer, short sleeve full zip top, long sleeve full zip wind proof top and my ever reliable pocket rocket waterproof. I also wore shorts but with leg warmers and 2 pairs of socks and my BBB neoprene overshoes.

It was only about 3 minutes ride to the foot of the Bwlch marked by the clock tower at the roundabout:

Google Streetview of the Pricetown Clock

The climb starts from the road in the centre of the picture. The first straight part really got my heart going (and I regretted a lack of a few more miles for a warm up) so I selected a low gear to get to the left turn where I remembered it flattened out for a while and then slowly climbed past the houses to the cattle grid. Crossing the cattle grid marks the climb proper as it rises through the trees and then sweeps to the left before the hairpin that climbs up the side of the climb and then to the top. By the time I reached the cattle grid I had warmed up and my heart rate was more where it should be and I felt OK. It was drizzling and the wind was very variable. In the shelter of trees or hills it was OK but suddenly you could get caught by a very strong gust.

I was also struggling with maintaining a sensible body temperature. I was getting too hot from the level of effort but when I unzipped my tops I was then too cold and getting wet. The best compromise seemed to be jerseys undone and pocket rocket done up.

Despite the temperature issue it was not really too hard to spin up to the top - I think I was in the 34-21 (3rd gear) almost all of the way up. When I got to the top rather than go straight on immediately I turned left as I'd remembered that the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs claimed that the top was actually about 1/4-1/2 mile further on. It's pretty featureless on the top so I made a guess and claimed the top. When I turned around I realised how strong the wind was - I was being blown pretty strongly across the road in the gusts. I had some doubt then whether or not it was sensible to continue, but decided that I'd give it a go on the descent. It was less windy on the lea of the hill but still gusty enough to make caution the order of the day. This was a pity as the road is really fast and the bends sweeping. On the Dragon Ride I probably was in the high 30mph zone, on this descent it was more like high 20mph but riding on the brakes to keep the speed manageable - this was more than fast enough. The cattle grid at 25mph in the wet was also a tense moment. At the very bottom it was left and into Treorchy and Treherbert and a few miles to the bottom of the Rhigos - its an odd climb as one moment you are in a village with houses and the next its onto a steep climb. There are a couple of switchbacks in the first mile (and a green micro bikini top on the road!) and then the fairly level climb up the side of the valley to the top. The gradient is fairly constant ad again for almost all the time I was able to plod up in the 34-21 again. There were just a couple of points where I used 34-24 (2nd) and this was mainly due to the climb being more exposed to the wind. Despite being at the top it is still a bit of a drag across to the descent. It was still quite windy so the descent from the top was again cautious but when I got to the long straight stretch down to the roundabout for the Hirwaun industrial park it was a dead headwind and I got up to 40mph. Just before this I saw a few cyclist climbing including one chap in shorts and short sleeve top - must not feel the code!

At the roundabout I stopped to eat a cereal bar and then got ready to cycle back. Up to this point and I cycled the roads before but from now they were all new.

The climb back up Rhigos was quite hard. The wind was more of a headwind and the climb was longer. First there was the drag up the dead straight section then a left kink, then a right through some stunted trees up to the hairpin and the probably the steepest section to the top. I rode a lot more of this climb in the 34-24 to spin a bit. It was probably harder than the 2 climbs I'd already done but not difficult. The drag over the top was again windy and the very top of the descent also care but as I got lower the wind started to drop and I built more speed. I dropped back into Treherbert and Treorchy and set bat off for the Bwlch. Again the climb was not difficult but it was the last of the 4, and I was reasonably tired by this point. I think I did most of it in the 34-24 and was starting to think I might need the 34-28 given the wind, but when I pulled round the hairpin and could actually see the top I carried on in the 34-24. It was a tiring climb but I found it harder mostly because it was the last. I went straight over the top and down to Pricetown. It was really windy at the hairpin and it almost blew me to a complete stop. As I was rolling down through the tree zone I saw 2 cyclist climbing up who didn't look as though it was the most enjoyable ride!

I had had a daft few thoughts to climb up again but the weather was not great and I had been slower than planned and didn't want to abandon my wife for what would have taken another 40 minutes or so of very hard work, so at the clock tower it was back to the car, into dry clothes and back to Port Talbot.

Here's the Strava data:

I was quite pleased when I looked at the data - for the climbs I was in the top 1/3 of all the riders (at the bottom of the top 1/3 admittedly) but I was please with that. It was hard work but not a lungbuster, I had at least 1 gear in hand even at the hardest place, and again my Scott perfomed well and was comfortable.



We actually drove back home over the same route on the Monday so I irritated my wife and stopped to tale some photos.

At the Bwlch hairpin looking up the last straight section

At the Bwlch hairpin again

Looking at one of the waterfalls at the Bwlch hairpin

Bwlch hairpin waterfall again

The bigger of the Bwlch waterfalls

Looking at the hairpin (with wife and car!)

Self portrait

The Graffiti at the top of the Bwlch

The first part of the descent to Treorchy from the Bwlch

The road below

The straight part - the cattle grid just visible at the top of the picture

From the bottom looking up to the Bwlch

Rhigos south-north - about 2 miles from the top

The "cottage" thing about 1/2 way up

About 1/2 way up, the top is just visible

The south-north descent - the road follows the trees

The hairpin just visible

The left hander after the hairpin

Beyond Meriden

In line with going to new places I went out to the other side of the A45 to Meriden:

 

I was  surprised how quiet the roads were. I'll go over again and push over towards Fillongley next time. It was relatively quiet but Corley Moor was not really a Moor. I was within a few meters of the M6 at the northernmost point which did spoil the peace!

The weather was "wet" and my Scott got absolutely filthy - a horrible noise from the drive train on one bit of mud covered road, although once the rain had washed it off it was OK again. Its getting close to the time to retire the good bike for the Winter and ride the Giant (not that this isn't a good bike either) but just to use the mudguards. I have been filthy the past few rides due the mud thrown up from the back wheel.

The Black Country Museum

My wife and I went to the The Black Country Museum in Dudley. Its relatively close to us (<15 miles) but in terms of location its another world!

A pretty good day out all told, weather held off and not too busy. We've been a couple of times before but not for 10 years I'd guess so there were some new things to see.

In the pharmacy there was some "Bristow's Beauty Cream". Being a Bristow it was good to see some relative did something - whether this morphed into Bristow's Shampoo remains a mystery to me.

Here's the equivalent of Wonga - notice "Money Liberally Advanced"!!:
 

We watched a demonstration of some chain making. This 2 person mallet clearly has some potential for serious damage:

Here's the Blacksmith making a link -I missed the sparks flying 6 feet out by a fraction of a second

We had lunch in the Working Man's Institute Cafe. I had a traditional Black Country meal of faggots and mushy peas - excellent it was too:

The last 3 pictures are of the iron house - read the sign to see why it was designed - classic case of trying to create a market to maintain a dying industry. Despite the I cpuld see some really good design features in the house - it would have been really quick to assemble, and no risk of dry rot! However I guess insulation would have been a real challenge:

I was a bit shocked at £15 per adult for entry sp we saved a couple of quid and bought the tickets online in advance, and they actually allow repeat entry for a year after first use so not as bad after all. Overall a good day out

My Home Made Thule 561 - More Details

A while ago I wrote briefly about my home made version of a Thule 561 cycle carrier here: my-home-made-thule-561-bike-carrier and some pictures in use here: my-home-made-thule-561-in-use and here: bike-transport.

The first version was a disaster. As I described in the first article the base was a Halfords carrier. This consisted of an aluminium extrusion with an pressed steel assembly at one end This is seen at the top of the image, Figure 1.

Figure 1

At this end is also mounted the arms that clamp the down tube. The down tube clamp is the key element clamping the bike to the rack and since it is fixed firmly to the roof bar mounting area it is rigidly constrained. At the other end the bar is constrained with a piece of steel that pulls it down to the roof bar. Figures 2 and 3 show this partially.

Figure 2

Figure3

This clamp arrangement only pulls the extrusion onto the roof bar and does not provide and torsional resistance (probably by design).

Figure 3a (of a standard design) hopefully shows this as well:

Figure 3a

In Figure 3a the arms can be seen to be fixed to part of the rack that is bolted to the front roof bar. Under the rear wheel is the simple clamp that just holds the rack to the roof bars - the rear wheel is strapped to the rack but only to stop vertical movement - any rocking of the frame is managed by the bars to the front mount.

My modification involved removing the arms, and at the other end of the rack mounting the Saris fork clamp, also seen clearly in Figure 1. The fork clamp is mounted to the rack using a piece of aluminium plate which is bolted to a piece of aluminium box section, which finally is bolted to the rack. I chose aluminium over steel because it is much softer and hence easier to work and because it would not need painting or any other corrosion resistance treatment which steel would.

My pieces of aluminium, and their assembly, was fine. I managed to drill all the holes in the right places and bolt it together (using stainless steel screws and nyloc nuts). It resulted in a neat job with no movement. The problem was however that the bike could easily put twist into the aluminium extrusion, as this had no torsional stiffness. With the original design the twisting force transmitted by the arms from the bike "wobbling" is constrained by the wider steel mounting assembly. I had not considered this torsional loading in my original design.

Given that I now realised the torsion problem from the bike to the extrusion, I had 2 options to resolve this:
1 - to move the fork clamp the the other end of the rack so that the torsion was constrained by the mounting plate, or
2 - beef up the fork clamp mounting so that it would be bolted or at least clamped to the roof bar itself

I decided on option 2, partially because I came up with a modification to the mark 1 version rather than starting completely again.

The finished Mark 2 version ended up looking like this, Figures 4 and 5:

Figure 4

Figure5

Figures 4 and 5 show the development of the carrier by bolting the box section through to a base plate (which clamps to the roof bars) and then stiffening the fork clamp mounting further by bolting the top and bottom plate together. This is achieved by some studded bar and aluminium tube acting as the spacer. This design ensures that all of the load from the bike into the fork clamp is now rigidly constrained onto the bottom plate. The design has proven fully satisfactory.

Here is a picture of it in use:

I am fully confidant of it now - I don't bother using any rope any more - it holds the bike as well as the Thule model. The run to university in September 2013 saw a high speed run (we were late!) in high winds for 170 miles on the M25, M4 & M5 with absolutely no problems.


Further Improvements
There is still an issue with this design. I now have forced the spacing of the roof bars to match the spacing of my carrier design. Most cycle carriers have one end of the rack fixed with the other end floating and I have removed this capability. I think the fix needs to be to mount a slightly modified design at the of the rack. This would leave the original clamp for the opposite end but as it has no need to constrain any torsion this won't be an issue, and it would allow adjustable roof bar spacing.

The final improvement is that some security is required - both for the bike to the carrier and the carrier to the car. On the Thule there is a for locking the clamp that holds the rack to the roof bars and the fork clamp is also secured with a lock. For my design the rack security to the roof bars is by the fact that 8 thumb bolts need to be undone, so not secure but time consuming. There is no way to lock the bike to the carrier. However several months later and purely by chance I saw this product in Halfords:

This is lockable using a padlock though the holes. Its more expensive but a viable alternative to the Saris model I have used .

The Listers Jaguar "Ride Like a Pro" Event

I work at Jaguar LandRover and among the many things we do for marketing we sponsor Sky Cycling. At work a few weeks ago on the internal communication website there was a item about the Jaguar "Ride Like a Pro" events. Further reading showed that there was an event reasonably local to me in Worcester on the 12 October, that the event was free to ride and that just for riding there was then a possible chance to win an opportunity to ride with Team Sky as they train on the stunning island of Majorca - this was a lottery draw and not based on ride performance. I signed up as Worcester is only about 1/2hr away. The distance was about 50 miles as well so not too excessive (see burn out). I needed to join the Listers Worcester Jaguar Strava club as well but no problem with that.

All the info arrived on the Thursday before, and the only doubt was with the weather which was unsettled - it was unclear if it would just about stay dry or rain heavily. On the morning I erred on the side of caution and wore longs, a base layer, short sleeve top and a long sleeve top - it was showery and very windy. Turning up at the event base (Worcester Rugby Stadium at Six Ways) suggested an increased risk of rain so I also put my overshoes and waterproof top. I set off in the first group at about 10.30. It started showering a bit more and I was glad of my waterproof. I managed to hang on the back of the first group for about 5-6 miles but could not hold the pace and dropped back knowing I needed to pace myself for the whole ride (about 48 miles).

The route was "interesting"- there was a stretch of what looked like it used to be dual carriageway but has now been painted to make it a single lane - the traffic kept its distance but it was fats moving. Fortunately this was only about 2 miles. Along this stretch I was following another ride who looked like he lost concentration for a few moments and he rode into the kerb, did a forward role and landed in the nettles and grass. I stopped but he was OK. I rode on for some more and got caught by a 2nd ad then 3rd group over the next 5-10 miles or so. For this stretch the weather was showery and sufficiently wet to keep my waterproof on but progressively dried out and I started to get too warm. In the end I stopped and stuffed my jacked into my jersey. This was after the first climb. Obviously having then got pretty warm on the ascent I then got quite cool as the route was more level and down hill. However I definitely needed to have the jacket off for the biggest climb (which Strava rated as a Cat 3). After this bigger climb I was pretty well Billy No Mates for the next hour or so seeing hardly anyone nor getting passed.

Buy about 20 miles to go it started to shower again- given that those 20 miles might take another hour or so I put my jacket back on again. I got caught and passed by a few riders (from St Johns Cycling Club Worcester I think) whilst putting the jacket back on but I managed over a few miles to drag myself back to them and cling on to get a bit of tow. This made a big difference and my speed for the last hour or so was a bit better. There was a small climb after a bridge and that group split slightly - myself and quite a big rider got dropped. The rider I was with was not a climber but he could motor on the flat. A few miles later there was a small ascent and I passed him as I needed to go a little faster for my natural cadence. We then rode onto the A38 - not the best choice of road for cycling although it was fortunately quite quiet. The roundabout to get onto it felt slippery and I was cautious - correctly because on the slip road there was a rider on the side of the road - upright but looking winded - with a car stopped next to him so first thought was he'd been knocked off - I stopped but he had slipped on some oil or something and was relatively OK  - winded and some road rash. So I moved on again and rode the last few miles back to the rugby stadium.

Total ride time was 2:39:15, 46.1 miles, 2733 feet of climbing and an average speed of 17.5mph:


I was pretty tired but happy with the time - I'd have liked to have made 18mph but the mucking about  with the rain jacket didn't help and I was never quite the right temperature and felt tired - especially in the middle hour.

Its clear Autumn is here - longs and a base layer is the first time for months.

The route could have used less busy roads but once off those it was petty good - I have never cycled around there so it made a good new area on my cycling map zoomed in around South Birmingham:

The highlighted (blue) ride is to Mucklow Hill and the ride on its own to the right is the Ride Like a Pro route

Burn Out??

Its been an interesting year this year for cycling to meet my target of 5000 miles

Based on the previous 3 years I felt that another 5000 miles this year would be relatively easy, and this was despite needing to moderate the weekend durations to make sure that I spent time with my wife who is still not over the illness of this time last year. There have been a number of events however that have put reaching the target at a serious risk of failure.

The first was weather. For the first few months of the year it was dreadful and definitely unsuitable for cycling. I barely managed 600 miles by the end of March meaning that the target was challenging already. Whilst the weather started to improve I still struggled to build any serious miles until June.

By now the weather was better and I made a concious effort to cycle to work as often as possible - cycling to work is "like" free miles in terms of time out of the house and hence time with my wife. I get up pretty early anyway and around this time was getting up even earlier so as to be able to leave work earlier. Thus the morning commute is a freebie. The earlier start meant an earlier finish so I could be home barely any later than normal if I started later and drove.

As a result this year I managed a pretty respectable number of commutes and a higher number of 3 days/week commutes. I work on 2 sites - my main site is 18 miles each way and reasonably quiet roads, the other site is 25 miles each way with less quiet roads and is really not a practical option to cycle - so I don't. This means commuting only when I can be sure of being at the main site which is 2-3 times per week, normally Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays. Twice a week is OK but I do find the commute home on the 3rd day pretty hard as I am pretty tired. An alternative on Friday is to make an extended commute home bringing the return trip to about 25 miles and over 40 miles for the round trip.

As well as pushing the commuting distances from June I managed to get some reasonable weekend rides in - again by making an early start on Saturday or Sunday. So for June I managed 600 miles, July 700 and August 580 making 1800 miles in 3 months. The 700 mile month in July is the biggest monthly mileage I have ever done in since getting back into cycling. I also went out quite a bit with my son who is keen on cycling (and now quicker than me under most circumstances) and for example we rode the Donington Circuit one evening.

The downside to all this was that by the end of August I was getting pretty tired. And by mid September I was feeling really pretty spent. I managed just over 400 miles for September which is the minimum monthly distance required to achieve 500 for the year, and by September I was just about back on target - that is I had made up for the poor start of the year and caught back up.

Here's some of the data that I manage in Excel:

Weekly mileage for each bike with annual cumulative average in orange

This graph shows that it has taken to about week 40 to get the average 100 miles per week that is equivalent to 5000 per year

Annual mileage - total and per bike

This shows that 5000 miles is possible for me starting from 2010 when I set the objective.

As of mod-October I am at 4000 miles with about 10 weeks left so I need to maintain 100 miles/week. This is going to be hard - previous years I had about 500 miles to go in 10 weeks having got more miles in the first few months as a cushion. Now that its very dark in the mornings I have stopped cycling to work. I have some holiday left but its still a huge ask.

Given a target of 100 miles per week from Oct-Dec is difficult because of the weather and light, but as per title - The huge mileage I have done over the summer has almost burnt me out. Even without commuting a 40 mile run on Sunday morning is really hard, and I have started to look for other places to cycle to rather than push the distance. For example I went over to Mucklow Hill in Halesowen a week or so ago - climbed it twice and also Gorsty Hill. This is the route:



2300ft of ascent in 36 miles isn't bad for round here!

I have also been over to Beacon Hill in The Lickey Hills (or The Lickeys) having been shown it by my son - although we went down it that time and ow I have been going up it. It is the steepest climb locally peaking at 16% and forcing me to use the 34-28 gearing - everything else that I can ride to from home I can manage in the 34-25:

Beacon Hill Segment, near the Lickeys

 I am currently 21st so fairly happy with that.

The upshot is that I am getting resigned to reaching about 4500miles this year and will be very pleased with that. I ma pleased because of the challenge of getting time to do the miles and because I am quite tired - I still want to get out and ride but am looking for something slightly different. These shorter routes covering some slightly newer areas have been a refreshing change and have helped maintain interest even if not distance.

Also my new Scott has been really enjoyable and I am enjoying riding that as well.

Cleat Failure

Shimano Cleats

On my "best bike" - what was the Focus and now the Scott - I use Shimano PD-R540 pedals and cleats. These pedals are pretty cheap but the same design and style as all the other Shimano pedals. I fitted the first set of pedals in 2010 when I got the Focus and have continued to use them since then. As these are fitted to my "best bike" and it only gets ridden in better weather they get used from about March until October (or if good weather November), they don't have too hard a life. Also as they are ridden on a "leisure" rides they don't really get walked on much, unlike the SPD pedals and cleats I use on my Giant for commuting. However during the summer this year I noticed that the cleats were getting pretty worn. I certainly didn't think that they were completely worn but did accept that a new pair would be needed at some time. I therefore started to look on-line to see if there were any reasonable offers. If I was honest the price of cleats is outrageous for a little bit of plastic. Various searches showed that the cleats typically retailed at around £17-18 and a set of pedals and cleats could be got for £22-25. A chance internet surf showed PD-R540 pedals on offer for £20 from Wiggle. At this price it seems absurd to spend £17 when for £3 more one can get a set of pedals as well. So I bought a set and put the pedals in store for future use. In fact despite a few signs of scrapes etc the original pedals are in excellent mechanical condition.

Anyway the real reason for this post was that when I swapped the cleats I found that one of them was actually cracked:

Split Cleat -split just about visible

I had not noticed this until I removed the cleat. I was a bit puzzled why but realised that this cleat had one of the square washers missing:

The "square washer"

Even further thought and I recalled that on one ride  a year or so ago I had heard a tinkle noise as I clipped in. I stopped and realised that the front bolt had come out of the shoe but amazingly found it straight away and screwed it back in, carried on and clearly forgot completely about it for the next year or so. I guess what happened was that the the bolt clamped on the plastic of the cleat and as a result caused a high stress region and this is why the cleat cracked. Its a credit to the strength of the material used that it lasted ~5000 miles before cracking and was still functioning OK - perhaps this is a reason that they cost 80% of the price of a pedal and cleat set!

In terms of the cleat wear - here are a couple of shots how well I made the original set last:

Not that much wear

I have kept the original set as emergency spares - I won't use the split one but the other will suffice for  while as an interim spare