Really pleased

Last night I decided to go to Winnats Pass. I wrote it in my blog so thought, "I've got to do it now". I psyched myself at work so by the time I got home I was chomping at the bit.

I rode out to the Peaks entirely against the wind and wondered whether I wasn't being a bit ambitious - a. do I have the energy? and b. is it going to get dark while I'm out?

Whe I got to Hathersage I decided I would definitely go for it. By the time I got to Castleton (it's just after Castleton that Winnats Pass starts) I was feeling a little tired after nearly an hour of riding uphill against the wind (I can't believe it's possible to ride that far with only one descent!). I turned left at a split in the road and started up Winnats. The road itself looks terrifying - a real scar in the landscape with huge crags on either side. It really looks like you're going to ride to Mordor or something. I hadn't even got to the bottom of the climb proper and I was in bottom gear! Anyway, the climb started and I heaved myself up the hill. I was so steep that my bike pretty much stopped between pedal strokes (Have a look at this forum to see what other people say about it - it makes pretty amusing reading http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=12403&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=09213fa961d8257ee6cdc9c2ad2e5fce).

Anyway, I made it to the top and was delighted that I had made it without feeling like I needed to get off the bike. I was tired though and as I was worried about the light I turned round at the top of the road to go back the way I had come. As I was turning round a man rode his bike round the corner (coming from the top of the hill in order to ride down Winnats). I said "I'm tired now". He said, "are you just going to ride back down there? You might as well go to Edale and make a loop of it!". So I did. I went down an insanely steep descent to Edale and started on my way back to Sheffield. by this stage I was very worried about the light. "I'm in Edale and the sun's starting to go down!" I pedalled pretty hard all the way back - all the time waiting for the point where my energy suddenly runs out or I start to get those shooting pains in my legs.

I was amazed and delighted that when I got home (just about in the light) I was still riding hard (rather than rolling along struggling to turn the pedals) and I'd had only one hint of a shooting pain - not even a proper stab. The ride was 2.5 hours and considering I usually start to run out of energy after 1.5 hours I was really pleased with how it went - especially as it had been so ambitious.