A chilly Sunday morning saw Jeff long with 700 other riders kick off on the Wiggle Tour of the Peaks. One of the blue chip classics in the sports calendar. Two distances 67miles and 95miles were on the menu.
“I hadn’t been on the bike for a month due to work so I opted for the shorter ride” said Jeff. Short it may be but anything but easy. After a two mile descent from the start, the road kicked up into a 12% climb that seemed to go on forever. This was not even mentioned on the tour handbook. If onward and upward ever applied to a ride it was surely this one. The hills were one after the other with very little downward slopes it seemed. The Cal and Fiddle pass just east of Macclesfield was the first recognised climb about 7 miles long at an average of 6%. Easy shift for some of the local boys. The road began to curve about half way when the Wynett pass reared its head between a gorge of 2 great rocks. After 50 miles the course veered off into little more than farm tracks with plenty of mud and grit on the roads from recent storms.
3 miles downhill back to the sports centre chapel en le frith but still a nasty short 10% climb at the end.
Great morning on the bike with great riders and great food for company.
3 miles downhill back to the sports centre chapel en le frith but still a nasty short 10% climb at the end.
Great morning on the bike with great riders and great food for company.
