RR -A Grand Day Out - First Dead Badger of the Year - Mini NW200 Audax

I must be a glutton for punishment after last year's Mini NW which I found
gruelling and lumpy - one of todays riders described the mini NW as the
NW200 with the flat bits taken out - I entered for this years ride. I
considered my self to be better prepared. LAst year the ride was my first
BP of the year this year it was my eighth. At the start I looked out for
TonyB but to no avail. The ride has no big climbs as such but has long
unrelenting drags. Riding through Burnley, Todmorden and Colne was
unremarkable and I found that I didn't flag on ascents as long as my heart
rate didn't exceed 170 bpm - yep I've found my heart rate monitor again.
The climb towards Gisburn was a different matter, My riding buddies were a
unique bunch a grandfather, son-in-law and grandson from Blackburn. The two
youngest members of the trio often forged ahead and waited at summits while
grandad and I toiled.

There were one or two unsavoury moments when motorists acted agressively
towards the dad and he reacted very assertively which escalated the
conflict. One car received dented panels the other was forced on by
othermotorists before things could get ugly. It's the first road rage that
i've witnessed directed at a cyclist and it was totally unjustified in both
instances as there was plenty of room to manouevre for the motorists. I'm
relieved that no personal injuries occurred.

The control for the ride had been moved to a farmshop/cafe a few miles on
from the intended cafe at Waddinham what a treasure trove of delights. Home
made ice creams, gourmet crisps, Fentimans botanical brews oh bliss and deep
joy!

It was here that I made my mistake. Not enough of the right calories.

The ride back on the homeward leg took in a little detour so that I could be
shown the Abbey and railway viaduct at Whalley. The viaduct rivals
Stockport's for awe and wonder. The Abeey was nice too. I'll have to
revisit the area as a tourist. A long slog to Halingdon was despatched and
the need for slow release calories made itself felt. Nevertheless we
soldiered on with more and more riders on the 200km ride catching up with
us. Andrew Southworth came hurtling past on a fixie berating me for being
further out from Rochdale than last year when he caught up with me on last
years ride. I think I was faster this year and he was faster still! I was
gobsmacked as I saw him descend with one heck of a cadence.

Not long after seeing Andrew I spotted my first dead badger of the year.
Are dead badgers seasonal?

After cresting the last climb before Rochdale we stopped for a cup of tea at
a road side greasy spoon. An extravagance but we had plenty of time in hand
for the slower paced 120km ride. The tea lifted our spirits and we enjoyed
the descent into Rochdale. I celebrated the end of the ride with a plum
flavoured fruit beer and the free pie and beans that was dished up at the
Inn. Just as I was about to go MSeries introduced himself. We've been at
the same events a few times but we'd never got to meet.

Here's to next year's NW200 - I resolve to be fitter and lighter and able to
take on a 200 so early in the year.

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:52:58 -0000, vernon wrote:

Not long after seeing Andrew I spotted my first dead badger of the year.
Are dead badgers seasonal?

Dunno, but I saw my first of teh year today.
However, I was driving a car, so it doesn't count.

regards, Ian SMith
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Mark creatively snipped Vernon's prose to misrepresent what he said:

he reacted very assertively [...] One car received dented panels

I'd hate to see him act aggressively...

"vernon" wrote in message
...

The control for the ride had been moved to a farmshop/cafe a few miles on
from the intended cafe at Waddinham what a treasure trove of delights.
Home made ice creams, gourmet crisps, Fentimans botanical brews oh bliss
and deep joy!

Waddington?

cheers,
clive

"Clive George" wrote in message
...
"vernon" wrote in message
...

The control for the ride had been moved to a farmshop/cafe a few miles on
from the intended cafe at Waddinham what a treasure trove of delights.
Home made ice creams, gourmet crisps, Fentimans botanical brews oh bliss
and deep joy!

Waddington?

Aye, thathat's the one. They speak funny in Lancashire. The deli and farm
shop is called Bashall Barn Cafe. Well worth a visit even though it evoked
the Yorkshire War Cry: "How Much!"

The Mini North West Passage is certainly a ride that I'd recommend to folk
who are unfamiliar with the borders between West Yrkshire and Lancashire.
There's some wonderful views and the urban/industrial Landscape is somewhat
different to that of the Leeds/Bradford environs that I'm used to.

I must get around to reducing my porkiness to take on further hilly rides.

Not long after seeing Andrew I spotted my first dead badger of the year.
Are dead badgers seasonal?


With closer observation, you should also have seen one on the top of
the climb out of Blacko over to Gisburn, on your right just before the
Rimmington Middop parish sign.

Andy S

"Andy S" wrote in message
oups.com...
Not long after seeing Andrew I spotted my first dead badger of the year.
Are dead badgers seasonal?


With closer observation, you should also have seen one on the top of
the climb out of Blacko over to Gisburn, on your right just before the
Rimmington Middop parish sign.

I was too busy fighting altitude sickness to notice that one.

A two badger ride....cor.....

I'm almost empted to have another go to up my score.

"Mark Thompson"
pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_t o_reply*.com wrote in
message . 1.4...
Mark creatively snipped Vernon's prose to misrepresent what he said:

he reacted very assertively [...] One car received dented panels

I'd hate to see him act aggressively...

The two motorists were the most aggressive. Deliberately aiming their
vehicles at a cyclist is a very dangerous thing to do. Like I said in my
previous post I had not encountered this sort of motorist behaviour at all
and to have two incidents in one ride was incredible. The retaliator might
not have been within his rights to dent the car but I can now see where some
cyclists are coming from with their all car drivers are gits if they
encounter driving behaviour like this on a regular basis. Prior to the poor
behaviour of the drivers the cyclist had done nothing wrong as far as road
positioning and riding style was concerned. The second motorist seemed to
deliberately swerved towards the cyclist seeing how close he could get
without contact. I was gobsmacked.

vernon wrote on 18/02/2007 12:29 +0100:

The two motorists were the most aggressive. Deliberately aiming their
vehicles at a cyclist is a very dangerous thing to do. Like I said in my
previous post I had not encountered this sort of motorist behaviour at all
and to have two incidents in one ride was incredible. The retaliator might
not have been within his rights to dent the car but I can now see where some
cyclists are coming from with their all car drivers are gits if they
encounter driving behaviour like this on a regular basis. Prior to the poor
behaviour of the drivers the cyclist had done nothing wrong as far as road
positioning and riding style was concerned. The second motorist seemed to
deliberately swerved towards the cyclist seeing how close he could get
without contact. I was gobsmacked.


I am teaching my daughters to drive and have been disgusted at the way
some drivers react to a learner driver these days - and this is on a
Sunday morning, not a mid week rush hour. Last week we had a white van
following us down the street just off the back bumper to demonstrate his
displeasure at having to travel a couple of mph under the speed limit.
When he finally could pass he swung back in very deliberately to cut us
up to reinforce his displeasure.

Then we were waiting in the right turn box on a busy A road for a
suitable gap in the oncoming traffic when the Jag behind pulled out and
overtook on the right to turn into the turning as soon as there was a
gap because he couldn't wait a few seconds. Fortunately my daughter was
slow in moving off or we could have hit.

Then the week before when she stalled at junction the SUV behind drove
up the kerb, along the pavement and then turned right across the front
of us rather than wait for her to restart and move off. Do none of
these people remember when they were learners?

/Rant
--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Tony Raven wrote:

Do none of
these people remember when they were learners?

Did any of these people ever bother learning to drive?
--
Chris

Drive defensively. Buy a tank.