#Festive500 in Five

Christmas isn't just about tinsel and a long Doctor Who suggests Philomena Cunk in her own Christmas special for BBC2. No, the cycling cognoscenti take advantage of quieter roads and time off work to get a head start on preparation for a new season of sportives, sprints and crits. It's a great opportunity to have a social ride and the perfect excuse to leave the house on those days when staying in bed might seem like a better idea. 

#1

Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday in 2016 so I'm off work and can get a good length ride in with the fast boys at Holmfirth Cycling Club (HCC). It's one of the windier days left in 2016 so the company of a group ride is appreciated. The HCC fast group have a ride planned pretty much every day for the #Festive500, today's will lead east towards Pontefract with a stop for cake at the Womersley Blue Lagoon dive cafe.  The strong westerly is down to winter storm Barbara and she blows us up the climb from New Mill to the Sovereign crossroads and rapidly east past Barnsley and Wintersett. It's only when we reach the A19 and turn north that that we really notice the strength of the wind, and on turning west towards Womersley we are working hard in pairs to make progress across the exposed flatlands.  

RAF plane at the Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon is a dive cafe in every sense, it sits in a Portacabin in a car park next to an uninviting pool of grey water presumably frequented by scuba enthusiasts on days warmer than today. Today the cafe is occupied by a couple of dogs, a large ginger cat and the aroma of stale cigarettes. Still, it's the first time I've received change from £2 at a cafe stop and there is soon smoke pouring from the grill in the kitchen as cooked food is prepared for our table. The cat is polite enough to wait until we've finished before jumping on the table to tidy up bacon scraps. The return home is a slog into Barbara's teeth, we only manage a couple of miles each on the front before retiring to catch our breath at the back. We haven't been looking forward to this part of the ride, riding out on a tail wind is a bit like riding down a massive hill in the knowledge that you've got to ride back up to the top to finish your ride. Everyone gets stuck in and eventually we've made it back to the Sovereign junction from where it's downhill to home. 132km done, 368 remaining.

Christmas Day is a busy one so I do Park Run in Huddersfield, this doesn't count so I'm now dreaming up ways of making sure I ride the distance (ride to Scotland and back anybody...?)

#2

Tandem action - hands free stoker

By Boxing Day Barbara has given up and been usurped by winter storm Conor, he's not much better and appears to dislike tandem teams. I head out anyway with my eldest boy who is complaining of sore legs after giving it the berries at Park Run on Christmas Day. It's only our second ride on the borrowed Cannondale tandem but we're getting it together as a team and the traffic light track stands are impressive. Arran's sore legs subside as we keep it easy on the Calder and Spen valley greenways although we are forced into an emergency Costa stop for hot chocolate as he runs low on fuel and enthusiasm. 
Post hot chocolate we've picked up a couple of mph and smiles have returned. Another 55km done, 313km remaining. 

#3

 Tuesday sees Arran and I up early for a trip to the Llandegla MTB trail centre to meet up with friends for a couple of laps. En route we collect regular mountain biking accomplice Andrew before driving west across the Cheshire plain to the wooded slopes of Llandegla. I'm looking forward to a second ride on my Cannondale Habbit, I normally ride without suspension so I'm interested to see if the trail centre will be more fun with suspended wheels. It always takes longer than expected to hustle the large group of adults and kids in the direction of the trails but we get there and drag everyone to the trailhead. Hoar frost adorns the grass and the normally grippy hardpack trail is made treacherous by the water turned ice dropped by the wheels of the early bird riders. I'm also trying to scrub in a pair of  new Nobby Nics which is tricky riding on ice, needless to say it's a bit steady until we reach the wooded sections which have been saved from the previous night's frost by their heavy green cloak of needles.

It's rare to get a clear run at a section of trail on a day as popular as today but when I do the Habbit flatters, messing up the landing from a jump or drop off ceases to worry, the suspension and lazy geometry lap it up without drama but it's on the climbs where I'm surprised by the ease with which it flies upwards. I'd always been under the impression that full suspension bikes don't climb well, not this one. Arran gets a ride on the Habbit after an al fresco cafe lunch of beans on toast so I take his single speed which is no hardship, fortunately he returns the Habbit in time for the big drop offs of the final free ride section. By mid-afternoon he is exhausted and it's time to head home to clean the bikes by torchlight. Today's 28km may not sound like much but there's more to the #Festive500 than pure distance, it's the people and places along the way that make the endeavour worthwhile. 

#4

285km remain and my cunning plan is to ride most of them today on a long loop out to the Humber Bridge and back. I wake up before my alarm to get a fifteen minute head start on the day but opening the bedroom blind reveals a familiar mosaic of thick ice; it's going to be one of those deep winter base layer days. I have the roads to myself at this hour and spinning up the Holme valley towards Honley I'm glad to have made the effort today. The temperature lifts towards the positive as I climb out of the Holme valley but it soon plunges back below freezing as I pass Barnsley. This part of my route is familiar having ridden it last July to reach the Humber Bridge on the first leg of a 400 miler. Today I'm aiming for the south side of the bridge rather than the north so I veer away from the familiar near Doncaster to slog out what feels like a hundred miles on the straight as an arrow A18, it's actually only ten miles before I can turn off on to some back roads to dodge Scunthorpe. Dodging Scunthorpe is definitely a good plan, instead I find quiet back roads winding through picturesque villages and there's even a bit of climbing to break up the grinding monotony of the flat roads I've been stuck on for a couple of hours. 

Eventually the twin towers of the Humber Bridge come into view and I'm soon stopped mid-span for some homemade flapjack and a few photos, the scale of the bridge still impresses on this, my third crossing on two wheels. On the north side of the bridge I negotiate the cycle ways to find my route north past Beverley. I've haven't ridden much in East Yorkshire and I'm pleasantly surprised by the scenery and gently undulating lanes. The sun lazily skims the horizon at this time of year, the payoff is dramatic light at every turn, the photo opportunities are many but I need to keep these wheels turning if I'm going to make it back home this afternoon. Turning right down a steep lane between dense hedgerows is the surprise highlight of today's ride, the lane follows the base of a narrow, steep sided valley. The scenery reminds me of the South Downs, only minor panic as my back wheel locks up on the hoar frost mars the serenity of the moment as the lane winds down the dale. Eventually I climb up to follow more lanes towards Pockington where I stop at the Co-Op for a croissant and a water refill. From here it is nearly flat all the way to Rothwell, but I am treated to a beautiful sunset south of York. When I finally reach Dewsbury riding through the late rush hour traffic is in stark contrast to the empty roads I've enjoyed for much of the day but these local roads are the quickest route home. Today's 280km take me within 5km of completion. One more ride remains.

Sunset near York

#5

New Year's Eve dawns as I return to Holmfirth for the final Holmfirth Cycling Club ride of the week. This time we climb south out of Holmfirth towards the knarly ten miles known as 'Strines'; the steep twisty descents and climbs of the Strines are frequently strewn with gravel and require full concentration. Riding them in the southerly direction is easier, a popular choice today as it's been a big week for the time of year. A cafe stop at Tideswell is followed by the return ride which skirts western Sheffield through Stocksbridge culminating in a slog past Penistone into a strong headwind. Turns up front are brief but everyone pitches in to get us home for the evening festivities. Another 117km completed, my Croix de Fer is rinsed, lubed and racked in my shed for another day. By midnight I've resolved to ride another #Festive500 in 2017. Now where's that bottle of Ardbeg, I'll drink to that.

Dusk near Rothwell