Living on the edge of the Peaks it’s impossible to avoid hills on pretty much any ride. At some point you’ll hit a 10% gradient that feels like it’s a slog. In fact, one of my usual routes before I’ve even hit the “hills” I’ll have climbed 150m to get there. That said, I wouldn’t class myself as a climber, certainly not quick I tend to grind my way to the top spurred on by knowing there could be a breakfast at the top of the opportunity to bomb down the hill on the other side. But this year, with a change of jobs meaning the commute by bike was off the cards, I’ve found my mileage seriously drop and lethargy levels increase. So, I decided it was time to find a new challenge. I reiterate I’m no more of a climber than anyone else that can ride a bike, but when I saw a few images of people smiling after doing the Macc Wheelers organised race, I decided to bite the bullet and invest £6 into my fitness goals. I seem to recall messaging Bhima coordinating these climbs (alongside Roger and a small group of volunteers) saying that I wasn’t expecting much and I much more comfortable doing longer rides than short efforts. I think his response was “some of our best climbers are endurance riders”, it became apparent I was not one of them!! So, the first climb, Blaze Hill, 2.1km 162m, I roll up way to early having taken the gravel route there, was instantly greeted by Bhima, got my number pinned it on and then waited. Not awkwardly though there was some nice chit chat, I’ve not ridden with Macc Wheelers for several years and none of my core group of cyclist friends had entered (yet) so it wasn’t the clique I had nervously been anticipating, there were the cursory glances at bikes, requested to pin numbers those kinds of things but all pretty relaxed. Then someone did turn up that I recognised. I didn’t know it then but it turned out he is my nemesis @windydave . We cycling to the start, me starting 10 and Dave 9, I had someone to chase, every commuter’s dream!! So off Dave went, and I rolled up to the start. As Snowden grabbled my bike to hold me in place and I fumbled around to try and work out which pedal I want to have forward (I’ve still not worked it out) just before the countdown starts he say, this is the heaviest bike I’ll hold tonight. He was right, I had a full water bottle, three cargo mounts, a tool kit and GoPro strapped to the front, that along with 650b x47 c tyres – in hill climb terms approximately 33 seconds of worth of time. As the last beep went off, I set off, all power down pushing up the hill as quick as possible and at one point I was catching the person in front, Blaze hill goes steep, not steep, steep. I peaked mid first steep. As Dave started to pull away, I pushed a bit harder. I had anticipated that the Hill Climb would be a lonely affair bit it wasn’t, there were people at various point along the 2km stretch cheering you on, shouting encouragement, cow bells ringing, it was genuinely a really nice experience, distracting me from the burning legs and my own the heavy breathing. I reached the top and keen to know my time 9 min 36 seconds. I was pleased it was a PB for me up the hill and I knew I had pushed as I hurt, the somewhat unpleasant feeling of pulsing teeth and a metallic taste, but I’d done it, I’d pushed as hard as I think I could do, and to be honest, it’s an experience I had not felt in a long time. Testing how far I could push myself is a good feeling. Dave had come in 32 seconds faster clocking in a time of 9mins 34. Winners Fastest Male – 5:28 Fastest Female – 6:49 I’ve completed 9 races now and of those I’ve hit 8 Persona Bests and for me that’s the key achievement, I’m well aware that I’m not going to be up there at the top of the timesheets, but I keep coming back because the camaraderie other than the banter with my Nemesis which is all in good spirits it’s such a positive experience from the banter at the start, the cheers along the way and the motivation to push to the line is such a great experience.
Of course, if I had a lighter bike, if I had shed a few kgs if I’d prepared a bit more, I could be further up the rankings, but I’ve got a set of PBs and @windydave to chase and that’s enough for me. I’m sure the couple of people who sit behind me on the leader board are thinking I want to catch Mike, but ultimately when you get to the top having pushed as hard as you can, if you’ve won or lost you’ve got the top as quick as you can, you’re likely feeling the same as the person who may have done it 5-10mins quicker than you and that counts, because regardless of speed the push to your limit is your limit. I am certain that I’ll be “competing” next year and if the Gravel Hill climb season starts this winter I’m up for that too, I’ve found the Hill Climb project to be a very entertaining and welcoming series, and if there is a series near you, go give it a shot other than a couple of £s you have nothing to lose, and probably some PBs to best. As an aside Bhima has some great write ups and having seen some of his photos there should be some corkers to come, the organisation, notification and follow through by Macc Wheels has been hands down the best I’ve experienced, so if you’re local to Macclesfield seriously give it consideration next time, you won’t’ be disappointed. Yes you could probably do that on your trainer and get a bit of satisfaction from the ride ons as you climb a virtual mountain, but it’s much hard to stop when you’ve got people there cheering you on. Overall, I’ve finished ... well that doesn't really matter but lets just say i've taken minutes off pretty much every PB I had on the climbs round here. If you're interested in signing up for future races go check out https://hillclimbproject.co.uk/2022/ and you can also have a look at the times the superhuman men and women and young adults did too.
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Mike GaskellI started commuting around May 2017, mainly to save the £45 a week train fare and get ready for the Dunwich Dynamo. Archives
August 2022
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