Monday 6 June 2011

Hill no 22 - 30 Monsal Head, Bakewell

"Just one more Mark".

Bloody hills. Had enough of them today. I'm tired and slightly soggy. Hang on - what's this? One more hill - grah?! Hang on - climb time 2.5 minutes, that's not too bad! Rating of 3/10? No problem!

And the book also gives you the record time of 1 minute 14.2 seconds for getting up it? Well, I know its been a long day, I'm a little bit tired and I'm not a professional cyclist, but I must be in with a shout of the record surely?

So I lined the bike up, got on my pedals, pressed start on my Garmin - and bang! Away I went.

Head down, legs pumping, pedals whirring, here comes the slope - and yes, keep the cadence (no of time you turn your pedals) high, get out of the saddle, throw the bike from side to side to get every inch of power out of your body, through the cranks and into the road.

Aaaagh - legs burning, lungs burning, getting tired, energy depleting got to keep going, can't get enough air into my lungs - still more hill to do - what time have I done so far?

30seconds. Ah. Collapse back into the seat and grovel up the rest of the hill.

Illusions of grandeur shattered. Malcolm Elliot - your record is safe.


Cafe at the top was called Hobbs though - like our dog. That was nice.

Youtube video (largely of only the start I'm afraid) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1JUqXOFTA&feature=related
Garmin Data here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85626169
Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/100hillsforgeorge/sets/72157626982957796/

1 comment:

  1. I have just found your Blog. Sounds like a great challenge.

    I am researching the location of the 1920 to 1924 British Motoring Test Hills and this one seems to have been called Bakewell Lane back then.

    Best Wishes

    Frank
    http://franks4x4-1000milerally.blogspot.co.uk/
    http://franks4x4-solograndetour.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/day-1-of-around-britains-coast-roads.html

    ReplyDelete