This 300km Audax was organised by Darrell Whittle to incorporate some of his favourite cycling areas in the beautiful countryside north of Manchester. Quiet roads, lots of hills, great views and high on the AAA scale
Setting out as a figure of eight pattern starting from Haslingden, anticlockwise loop included two different crossings of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, a trip into the Yorkshire Dales, passing Ribblehead Viaduct on the way to Hawes and a brief visit to the beach in Arnside in Cumbria
This would be my third Audax having successfully completed the Delightful Dales 200 and Knock Ventoux 300 a few months earlier with Audax legend Farooq Chaudhry. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make this one due to family commitments. However, I had planned to ride with a work colleague Graham. We were both participants on one of the banks charity rides back in 2016 riding from Edinburgh to Pudsey over three days
As a Muslim the day started at 4am with fajar (morning) prayers followed by a quick breakfast and then the one hour drive to the start at mcDonalds in Haslingden. Here I had a coffee and collected the brevet although I was trying out the new e-brevet for the first time
While congregating at the start I also recognised another rider from a previous Audax event. We exchanged words until we were interrupted by the rider briefing. It was apparent a large number of participants were put off by the weather conditions as it was thin on the ground! The weather wasn’t ideal with rain and wind forecast for most of the day. However, I didn’t let this put me off and made the most of the situation. The plan was to ride together and regroup on the climbs keeping a lid on the efforts to ensure we got round
There was lots of stunning and varied climbs on the route, my favourite being Cross of Greet. It was my first time riding this climb and absolute gem. Stunning views with a gentle kicker towards the end although made easier with the tailwind and photographer at the top
Widdop Moor and Cragg Vale also featured on route, both which I’ve ridden before although not after 200km on tired legs! It was a crawl up Widdop before descending into Hebden Bridge were I stopped at a coop in true Audax fashion for some food. It was getting late and I still had Cragg Vale to climb so decided to press on
A headwind as usual made it harder than it should have been. Not long to go now I thought to myself as I descended towards littleborough ticking off more control points. A few more leg snappers before reaching the start/finish made it a tough day in the saddle
The bike of choice was my trusty Kinesis GTD Titanium fitted with Fend off guards. I also recently had the SRAM Force AXS groupset fitted and some wireless blips to the aero bars. These worked flawlessly and saved me having to move off the aero bars when needing to change gear. The Tailfin top tube bag carried my OTE food supplies and the brevet card in the waterproof compartment. In terms of kit Spatz Squadron jersey, Convoy bibs and Toez worked a treat keeping me warm and dry
The roads and route were expertly picked, extremely quiet and some of the nicest surfaces around. The event organiser was also the photographer using his drone to capture some memorable moments. Organisation was exemplary and all in all a fantastic day despite the weather
Altaf Hussain 
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