Ride Report - Leicester to Hull and Back 25/26th June (LONG)

Having never travelled on a bike further than 40 miles in one go before,
in April I decided to cycle from Leicester to Hull and back for
charity. Being a Veterinary Dermatologist who also suffers with
psoriasis( mildly, thank god) I decided to raise money for the Animal
Health Trust, researching allergy and for the Psoriasis Association.

I've been training since the beginning of April, doing short rides mid
weak (25-30miles) and longer rides at the weekends (35 -50miles,
gradually working up to a 60 -70mile ride on a Sunday morning.) I took
a day off work 2 weeks ago and tried 110 miles going half way up my
route and back and managed it with an average speed, not including
stops, of 15.5mph. This training ride was marred by the fact that my
Trek saddle bag full of spare tubes, multitool kit and some cash
managed to fall off sometime after leaving home and I only had a credit
card which luckily I had put in the mobile phone pouch attached to the
bars. I managed to use it to buy some water north of Newark on the
return leg, but by the time I had done 85 miles, my supplies of malt
loaf had run out and I was not managing to go much faster than 11mph
and had fears of the Bonk coming on. I found a village store in Long
Clawson, but they wouldn't take credit cards and the cash machine in the
shop was out of order. I was beginning to panic that I might not make
it, as there is a colossal hill to climb near Old Dalby, but then I
remembered that there was pub on the main road in Nether Broughton and
I so I stopped there for a prawn baguette and a shandy and that saw me
home!

I had been watching the weather forecasts for the week before the big
day and was getting increasingly anxious about the forecasts of
thunderstorms. Friday came and so did the thunder. Depending on which
weather web site I looked at, Saturday would be cloudy with moderate
north easterly winds but some were predicting it to dry whilst others
were predicting light rain. I felt optimistic when the rain in
Leicester stopped around 3pm. I went to bed about 1030pm and was woken
up twice during the night by torrential rain again! The second time it
was 4am, only 2 hours before my intended time of departure!

The rain became drizzle by 4.45am but the wind was up, blowing the trees
around. I though I'd better set off early if I was to get to Hull by
1pm and meet my wife and son (who travelled up by car that morning) at
the hotel. I was not looking forwards to this trip now, the thought of
pedalling 106 miles against a strong headwind made me think of this trip
as a chore rather than a pleasure! I eventually set off at 5.20 ,
leaving my house in Cropston and travelling east via Rothley, Cossington
and then on the edge of the Wreake Valley via Ratcliffe, Thrussington
and Hoby, then north to Ragdale. With an hour's pedalling I had arrived
on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir with a lovely, normally 40mph,
descent, near Old Dalby called Green Hill. With the headwind and the
wet I decided not to go any faster than 27mph. I got into Nether
Broughton only a a few minutes later than on my training rides - I
suspect the main reason for this is that the first hour has a few hills
and the headwind doesn't really affect a hill climb (where most of the
time is lost). Once in the Vale of Belvoir the headwind was making its
presence felt - I was still maintaining a reasonable speed but whith
much more effort. I went through Long Clawson (home of Stilton Cheese)
and via Hose, Harby Plungar, Granby and then on to Newark via Elton and
Kilvington. I arrived on the outskirts of Newark at 7.45am, entering
via a residential estate and then taking the inner ring road to the
north side of the town centre. There are two very busy roundabouts north
of Newark...the first one is so busy with several lanes of traffic, that
I bottled out trying to cross it so took a footpath instead. The second
one a few hundred yards further on was a left turn towards Gainsborough
on the A1133 and that was obviously an easy one. By now the wind
appeared o be getting stronger and the drizzle had started again. Just
before entering Collingham there is a level crossing (which was being
repaired when Simon Mason went over it a week before). Well they didn't
do a very good job repairing it, as on this crossing and about 45 miles
into the ride a NEAR DISASTER occurred. I approached the level crossing
fairly slowly keeping my wheels straight and holding the bars steady, I
went over the first 3 rails OK and on the last rail suddenly my front
wheel just slipped from underneath me and the bike fell onto the left
side in an instant. My head hit the ground with enough force to put a
nice dent in my helmet ( I don't like wearing a helmet, but on this
occasion it may have saved my life) It all happened so quickly I'm not
completely sure how it happened. Anyway, there was blood pouring down my
arm from my elbow, my outer two fingers were cut up and bleeding
profusely and my hip and shoulder felt like they were in a similar state
to my elbow. I got back on my feet to inspect the damage. Miraculously
the only thing wrong with the bike was that both brake/gear handles had
been pushed inwards and needed pulling back into place on the bars. I
inspected my elbow...it didn't look a pretty site with strips of outer
skin hanging off in places and blood pouring down to my wrist. I had so
badly bruised my leg that walking was very painful, but I found I could
pedal OK. Would I be OK to get to Hull? What about tomorrow?
I decided to keep going. I turned off the A1133 at Besthorpe and I
stopped in Wigsley to have a look at my elbow. The blood was clotting
now and I decided to give it a clean up as best I could. Not having
brought a first aid kit with me, I improvised and used some dock leaves
(which were nice and wet from the rain) to try and wipe all the blood of
my lower arm. I then went through Saxilby and up the B1241 as far as
Kexby and then cutting across to the B1398 at Harpswell via Upton and
Heapam. Once on the B1398 there were great views of the 3 Trent power
Stations, but being on the edge of a hill the headwind seemed to be even
stronger than when I left Cropston. I eventually arrived at Kirton in
Lindsey at 10.45am and stopped to top up my water bottles (I carried
some spare GO and PSP22 powder with me). I limped into the local
convenience store and bought some elastoplasts for my fingers and some
tissues to do a better job of cleaning my arm/elbow up. God knows what
the shopkeeper must have thought. May be "How the hell can he ride his
bike when he's hobbling into this shop like an old man with arthritis
and with a bloodied up arm and torn jersey?"

By now I felt I was on the home stretch and took the B1398 north. I
missed the turn to Scawby and ended up on the A18 to S****horpe. This is
a dual carriage way and the B1398 joins the west-bound carriageway. I
was going in the wrong direction and I either had to travel for a mile
before the next roundabout or try crossing this very busy and fast road
to get on the eastbound carriageway. There was no contest - I wasn't
going to cycle an extra 2 miles, so I limped across when there was a
large enough gap in the traffic. After pedalling eastwards for a mile I
then came to the junction with the old Roman Road Ermine Street and
skirted through part of Brougton and then through Appleby and then onto
the A1077 onto the banks of the Humber. Soon I could see the
magnificent Humber Bridge. This bridge had just started being built
when I moved from Hull at age 14 in 1973 and the lure of coming back to
my childhood home gave me enough of a spurt in energy to keep pedalling
hard against the headwind. The river looked fairly rough. Once in South
Ferriby I rang Simon Mason, who had very kindly offered to take me over
the bridge so that I would take the correct cycle path at the north end.
I rang my wife who was also the same distance as me from the bridge, but
travelling along the A15 at 70mph. The climb up South Ferriby hill
was made without getting off my bike, but I think Green Hill in
Leicestershire is more of a challenge. I joined the A15 for a half mile
downhill to the windsock at the start of the west side foot/cycle path.
The path was closed so I had to go underneath the carriageway to get to
the eastern path. Simon soon appeared on his Frondriest road bike and
he guided me back over the bridge and we had a brief discussion about
a common interest apart from cycling - the Pirate Radio Station Radio
Northsea International - RNI- which I think a lot of young people in
the early 70s living in eastern England listened to rather than Radio 1.
We left the bridge and went through Hessle, Anlaby and then to Willerby,
past my childhood home and on to the Willerby Manor Hotel where my wife
and son were waiting for me. I had told my wife on the phone about my
accident north of Newark but she was quite shocked when she saw the
state of the left side of my body. I arrived at the hotel at 1.15pm and
was tucking into a T-Bone steak nd having a pint of Boddingtons by
1.50pm.

Total journey time 7hrs 55minutes. Distance 106.2 miles Average speed
13.4mph.
Cycle computer average speed 14.4 mph.

Soon after arriving, my right knee started to hurt and stiffen up, so
that we went for a walk around Beverley later on I was hobbling on BOTH
legs. Would I make the return trip tomorrow?


The next morning was a total contrast to the previous day, the wind,
still north-easterly, was light and it was sunny and warm with only a
few clouds in the sky. I was still hobbling when I woke up and took 2
Ibuprofen tablets at 9am. After kissing my wife goodbye at 10.40am I
went for a leisurely ride through my old haunts and into the centre of
Hull to look at my old schools, arriving back at Willerby for the trip
back proper at 11.35am.

On approaching the Humber Bridge country park where the cycle path
starts, I saw hundreds of motorcyclists on Harley Davisdons and other
makes being directed into the car park..apparently this is an annual
event for Charity, going over the bridge to Barton on Humber to raise
money for a childrens's charity. Once on the cycle path it became clear
that there was another charity event, a family walk over the bridge, so
I had to dodge pedestrians and keep my speed down to around 6mph. It was
half way along the bridge when I mentioned the congestion to a chap on a
touring bike and that got us talking - he was a retired Physics teacher
who had travelled from Carlisle to Thirsk and then from Thirsk to Hull
and he was now on his way to Caistor (or wasit Cromer?- a big
difference!).

After getting off the bridge I nearly missed the turn off for South
Ferriby. By now my legs and knees felt fine again and I was easily
pedalling around 22mph on the flat on leaving South Ferriby and onto
Appleby. I had to have a quick pee break just before Appleby and made
the mistake of choosing a field of rape that had only recently finished
flowering--my yellow jersey attracted all the pollen beetles in the
vicinity With no rape flowers to feed off, they though my jersey would
be the next best thing!

Back on my bike and I was making fantastic progress, the speedo was
often hovering around 20-23mph - such a difference compared to
yesterday. I reached Kirton -in- Lindsey at 1.25pm 28 miles in 1.75
hrs, average speed 16mph and that's including the crawl over the Humber
Bridge. After a stop for buying water and eating some malt loaf and
ringing my wife who was already home enjoying the sunny weather, I
headed south.

The views south of Kirton were even more impressive today, You could see
all the Trent power Stations, even one that you can see from the edge of
the Vale of Belvior in Leicestershire plus two power stations in
Yorkshire. You then realise just how small this county is.

By the time I'd done 50 miles my right knee started hurting again so I
took some more Ibuprofen. This kicked in within 10 minutes and I could
pedal pain free again.

On reaching Saxilby the brief bit of A- road that I go along was shut
for bridge repairs - luckily I was allowed over. On going through
Wigsley I tried to spot all the blood covered dock leaves that I had
used the day before and in no time I was back in Collingham to top up
with water.

I reached the south side of Newark by 4pm and stopped for more to eat
and phoned my wife. I was on the home stretch now and told my wife I'd
be home between 6.30 and 7.00pm.

I had to stop for a couple of minutes just outside Granby in the Vale
of Belvoir to allow what looked like 150 cows go over the road into
their field after milking time - their milk probably goes to Long
Clawson to make Stilton Cheese.

My knee started playing up again and by Plungar I was gettiing the same
feeling that I got on my 110 mile ride 2 weeks previously. I seemed to
be loosing energy and whenever I pushed hard my right knee hurt like
hell. More Ibuprofen were taken and I hoped I wouldn't give myself some
gastric bleeding as it had only been 3 hrs since the last 2 tablets had
been taken. I stopped for a minute and took on some more malt loaf
and fluid. My energy seemed to come back and I got through Harby, Hose
and Long Clawson OK and then through Nether Broughton. Green Hill was
only a mile away and it is a very steep climb - I was not looking
forward to it. I managed to get half way up before I had to get off
and walk. By the time I was at the top my legs were killing me, but at
least that was the worst hill out of the way, There were only two more
hills to climb between here and home and they were short and not too
steep.

The long downhill run into Cossington was great - fantastic views of
Charnwood Forest and going down at 37 mph in top gear.

I arrived at home with my wife and son waiting at the door at 6.35pm -
exactly 7 hours. Average speed including stops, 15.14mph. On bike
computer 15.97mph.

I immediately downed a glass of Old Speckled Hen. After sitting down for
10 minutes could hardly get up!

This morning I'm walking very stiffly and my right knee is still hurting
and whole left side (arms and legs) which hit the ground on Saturday is
feeling very stiff. I think I strained my left groin in the fall also.

Despite the fact that I'm a physical wreck today, I did enjoy the
experience and I do feel a great sense of achievement and hopefully I've
raised £1500 for charity (not much I know but so what).

Finally, although in the past I've reluctantly worn a helmet (at my
wife's insistence as he lost her first husband because of a head
injury), wearing a helmet at the very least, allowed me to continue the
ride and it may have saved my life. I won't be such a reluctant helmet
wearer in future.
--
David Bentley

in message , David Bentley
') wrote:

Firstly - wow - congratulations. Congratulations on a whole lot of
levels, but particularly for getting up and carrying on after a UPD
like this one:

Well they didn't
do a very good job repairing it, as on this crossing and about 45
miles
into the ride a NEAR DISASTER occurred. I approached the level
crossing fairly slowly keeping my wheels straight and holding the bars
steady, I
went over the first 3 rails OK and on the last rail suddenly my front
wheel just slipped from underneath me and the bike fell onto the left
side in an instant. My head hit the ground with enough force to put a
nice dent in my helmet ( I don't like wearing a helmet, but on this
occasion it may have saved my life) It all happened so quickly I'm
not completely sure how it happened. Anyway, there was blood pouring
down my
arm from my elbow, my outer two fingers were cut up and bleeding
profusely and my hip and shoulder felt like they were in a similar
state to my elbow.

And then getting up and riding the next day. Well done that man.

As to your fall, don't blame the repair men, I'm afraid.

The fact is that crossing a smooth steel surface is very dangerous on a
bike - around here it's mostly cattle grids, which aren't as polished
as railway rails, but are dangerous enough. They're especially
dangerous in the wet. Your tyres have virtually no grip on them at all
and consequently will slip very easily; it's extremely sudden and there
is no warning. I know someone who had a fall very similar to yours -
including a similarly dented helmet and similar injuries - on a cattle
grid only a few weeks ago.

The tricks are cross at /exactly/ right angles to the rails, don't
pedal, don't brake, don't try to steer. However, these doesn't
guarantee your safety. The only really safe way to cross these things
is to get off and push.

The only other possibly useful advice I can offer is to do some mountain
biking. On a mountain bike, if you're riding routes which are
sufficiently challenging, you will have falls, frequently. What you
fall on is typically a lot less hard than tarmac and steel, so you
usually tend to get away with fairly minor injuries; but you do learn
how to fall off a bike, and IME those skills do transfer to road bikes.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Just as defying the law of gravity through building aircraft requires
careful design and a lot of effort, so too does defying laws of
economics. It seems to be a deeply ingrained aspect of humanity to
forever strive to improve things, so unquestioning acceptance of a
free market system seems to me to be unnatural. ;; Charles Bryant

Simon Brooke wrote:
in message , David Bentley
') wrote:

Firstly - wow - congratulations. Congratulations on a whole lot of
levels, but particularly for getting up and carrying on after a UPD
like this one:

Well they didn't
do a very good job repairing it, as on this crossing and about 45
miles
into the ride a NEAR DISASTER occurred. I approached the level
crossing fairly slowly keeping my wheels straight and holding the bars
steady, I
went over the first 3 rails OK and on the last rail suddenly my front
wheel just slipped from underneath me and the bike fell onto the left
side in an instant.

And then getting up and riding the next day. Well done that man.

As to your fall, don't blame the repair men, I'm afraid.

The fact is that crossing a smooth steel surface is very dangerous on a
bike - around here it's mostly cattle grids, which aren't as polished
as railway rails, but are dangerous enough. They're especially
dangerous in the wet. Your tyres have virtually no grip on them at all
and consequently will slip very easily; it's extremely sudden and there
is no warning. I know someone who had a fall very similar to yours -
including a similarly dented helmet and similar injuries - on a cattle
grid only a few weeks ago.

The tricks are cross at /exactly/ right angles to the rails, don't
pedal, don't brake, don't try to steer. However, these doesn't
guarantee your safety. The only really safe way to cross these things
is to get off and push.

I spent a lot of time riding around Oslo with it's tram tracks. These
are at interesting angles and can be difficult to cross. The trick is
counterintuitive. As well as the advice Simon has given (which is good)
I would add Don't slow down. The big problem is that you take a long
time to cross the inch or two of rail if you slow down, long enough
that a minor slip continues on the rail rather than catching the tarmac
on the other side and stopping.

Quite seriously, if the rail is at a steeper angle than about 40
degrees from your direction of travel and is not raised(so it doesn't
catch the tyre and force it to travel in the direction of the rail,
speed is king.

Cross at as steep an angle as possible, as fast as you reasonably can.
The same is true for cattle grids unless it is raining when the
sensible thing is to get off and push if you cant go fast enough to
bunnyhop them.

The only other possibly useful advice I can offer is to do some mountain
biking. On a mountain bike, if you're riding routes which are
sufficiently challenging, you will have falls, frequently. What you
fall on is typically a lot less hard than tarmac and steel, so you
usually tend to get away with fairly minor injuries; but you do learn
how to fall off a bike, and IME those skills do transfer to road bikes.

Indeed they should.

...d

In message .com,
David Martin writes

I spent a lot of time riding around Oslo with it's tram tracks. These
are at interesting angles and can be difficult to cross. The trick is
counterintuitive. As well as the advice Simon has given (which is good)
I would add Don't slow down. The big problem is that you take a long
time to cross the inch or two of rail if you slow down, long enough
that a minor slip continues on the rail rather than catching the tarmac
on the other side and stopping.

Quite seriously, if the rail is at a steeper angle than about 40
degrees from your direction of travel and is not raised(so it doesn't
catch the tyre and force it to travel in the direction of the rail,
speed is king.



Yes I've been thinking about this the last 3 days- should I have been
going faster and then my momentum would have kept me going if I did
contact a slippy rail?

I did a quick google search this morning for "cycling accident level
crossing" and there was a web page devoted to a similar crossing in
Spring Bank Hull (which I actually crossed on Sunday morning very
gingerly!) This crossing is a similar angle to the one on the A1133
just south of Collingham and there have been quite a few nasty
accidents on this crossing. Very interesting reading.

http://www.thebikezone.org.uk/thebik...pringbank.html
--
David Bentley

David Bentley wrote:
In message .com,
David Martin writes

I spent a lot of time riding around Oslo with it's tram tracks. These
are at interesting angles and can be difficult to cross. The trick is
counterintuitive. As well as the advice Simon has given (which is good)
I would add Don't slow down. The big problem is that you take a long
time to cross the inch or two of rail if you slow down, long enough
that a minor slip continues on the rail rather than catching the tarmac
on the other side and stopping.

Quite seriously, if the rail is at a steeper angle than about 40
degrees from your direction of travel and is not raised(so it doesn't
catch the tyre and force it to travel in the direction of the rail,
speed is king.



Yes I've been thinking about this the last 3 days- should I have been
going faster and then my momentum would have kept me going if I did
contact a slippy rail?

Yes. Did you slow down for the crossing?


I did a quick google search this morning for "cycling accident level
crossing" and there was a web page devoted to a similar crossing in
Spring Bank Hull (which I actually crossed on Sunday morning very
gingerly!) This crossing is a similar angle to the one on the A1133
just south of Collingham and there have been quite a few nasty
accidents on this crossing. Very interesting reading.


All too common, and everyone who might be responsible is passing the
buck.

...d

http://www.thebikezone.org.uk/thebik...pringbank.html
--
David Bentley

In message .com,
David Martin writes

Yes. Did you slow down for the crossing?

Yes, and I'm now thinking than maybe I shouldn't have.

--
David Bentley

David Bentley wrote:
Having never travelled on a bike further than 40 miles in one go before,
in April I decided to cycle from Leicester to Hull and back for
charity. Being a Veterinary Dermatologist who also suffers with
psoriasis( mildly, thank god) I decided to raise money for the Animal
Health Trust, researching allergy and for the Psoriasis Association.


Great story David - glad your nasty gashed elbow didn't give you any
problems the next day. Know what you mean about the right leg though;
as I told you when we rode together, my right calf ballooned to about
twice its normal size the day after my ride. Good to know you arrived
back safely and it was a pleasure to have met you :-)

Simon

In message .com,
writes


David Bentley wrote:
Having never travelled on a bike further than 40 miles in one go before,
in April I decided to cycle from Leicester to Hull and back for
charity. Being a Veterinary Dermatologist who also suffers with
psoriasis( mildly, thank god) I decided to raise money for the Animal
Health Trust, researching allergy and for the Psoriasis Association.


Great story David - glad your nasty gashed elbow didn't give you any
problems the next day. Know what you mean about the right leg though;
as I told you when we rode together, my right calf ballooned to about
twice its normal size the day after my ride. Good to know you arrived
back safely and it was a pleasure to have met you :-)

Simon


Likewise.


I think I'll do the trip again some day. I really enjoyed the trip back
on Sunday with perfect weather - it's a shame Saturday was so ****ty.
I keep trying to persuade my wife that it would be nice to spend a few
days in East Yorkshire, as there are so many nice places to visit. I
can travel up by bike and leave it at the hotel whilst we spend a few
days visiting The Wolds, Spurn etc and when its time to go home I can
cycle back. My next long trip (probably next year) will be down to
Swindon where my wife's cousin lives.

BTW have you ever suffered with numb fingers/hands on your long rides?
I'm still suffering in my left hand 3 days after getting home although
has been some improvement. I daren't re-start riding until the feeling
and strength comes back.
--
David Bentley

David Bentley wrote:
In message

BTW have you ever suffered with numb fingers/hands on your long rides?
I'm still suffering in my left hand 3 days after getting home although
has been some improvement. I daren't re-start riding until the feeling
and strength comes back.

Yes - my little finger on the left hand is still tingling even now.
Takes a few weeks to go away usually. What's more worrying is the
numbness in my ahem "bits" down below. The day after, you could have
slammed a car door on it and I wouldn't have felt a thing - and I had
two pairs of padded shorts on.

Some feeling is gradually returning thankfully, although I read in a
Long Distance Cycling book that it someone 3 months off the bike to
return to normal. Can't decide what is worse - 3 months with no cycling
or a numb winkle!

--
Simon

In message .com,
writes


David Bentley wrote:
In message

BTW have you ever suffered with numb fingers/hands on your long rides?
I'm still suffering in my left hand 3 days after getting home although
has been some improvement. I daren't re-start riding until the feeling
and strength comes back.

Yes - my little finger on the left hand is still tingling even now.
Takes a few weeks to go away usually. What's more worrying is the
numbness in my ahem "bits" down below. The day after, you could have
slammed a car door on it and I wouldn't have felt a thing - and I had
two pairs of padded shorts on.


Ah yes, Pudendal nerve compression, I've read about that. Is your
saddle tilted upwards too much? - that's one of the causes.


--
David Bentley