Winnets pass, should i be proud

Oh ,so my plans for Helvellyn got scraped due to the wife needing me back home for 5pm so a Dark peak trip was in order , on the decent into Hope , my mate (ex road biker) said instead of doing the broken road lets do Winnets (get ti f”*^ I thought) but did it anyway ,
The reason I ask should I be proud is not for my p-poor Strava time but for this reason

On the climb up a Mamil came flying past me all legs and huffing and puffing as such on at least £5ks worth of carbon , “brave man not long to go he said* with a arrogant swagger about him my retort was simply slow and steady mate slow and steady

It wasn’t till I rounded the last corner I noticed same said mamil honking his guts up ,I couldn’t help but tell him not long now !

I know hes ok as he stopped for a brew at the Caf at the top ,but I guess he along will not understand that mocking a fatty isn’t always best

You can feel proud, though excessive smugness is unbecoming.

Its about three years since I last tried to get up Winnats. Its closed to cars tomorrow for a sportive, could be a good day to have another go. Unless the wind is funneling down the pass, of course.

Is this the full climb, just to get an idea how steep it is?

http://www.strava.com/segments/winnats-pass-635215?hl=en-GB

Drove up it many a time, never tried on bike.

Yes from Hope to the top , my smugness was aimed in jest at his little dig about a fat lad on a mountain bike ,

Im chuffed with my self for doing it , it will be the last time I do it too ,

So he was being polite and you decided to take it as him having a dig?

Then you mocked him as he was throwing up?

Cool

No he was mocking me on the climb in his smugness and just repaid the favour 🙂

“brave man not long to go he said”

I must be missing something, how is the above mocking you ?
I’ll often say something similar, genuinely offering some encouragement and support 😀 Never realised some people might think I’m taking the piss. I’ll have to stop doing it and become another miserable git roadie.

If he’d passed you without saying anything would this thread be about miserable roadies instead?

Good effort, always satisfying. Last time I was riding in the UK I took a last minute diversion as I just couldn’t face Winnats, but quite pleased with the Mam Tor KOM on a muddy cross bike 😯

https://www.strava.com/segments/1353976

I know, it’s not real racing.

quote ” I know hes ok as he stopped for a brew at the Caf at the top ,but I guess he along will not understand that mocking a fatty isn’t always best ” he was just shocked that I had tried the climb on mountain bikes covered in muck and such , the climb itself is a pig ,but quicker than the broken road according to my times

It’s basically impossible to ride a bike past someone without them thinking you’re an arse.

If you say nothing, they think you’re arrogant
If you say something cheerful, they think you’re mocking them
If you say something miserable, they think you’re miserable
If you say something banal like “hello”, they’ll still think you’re mocking them as they can’t breath let alone talk

So yeah, you can’t win. It’s surprising how many riders don’t realise this.

Well done for getting up Winnats though. It’s a horrible beast, and I see a lot of people walking it.

pffft, my dad did it on a Rocky Mountain DH bike with 888’s

Winnats is a nice climb.One time got up by the top cattle grid and a taxi driver said well done mate smiling.You don’t get that in town.Try the climb from Edale up to back of Man Tor that’s a nasty one.lovely spot.

Did Winnats as part of a night ride a few weeks ago. The big advantage being that we couldn’t see the road stretching upwards in front of us! I don’t mind it as a climb, really don’t like descending it though, it’s very easy for the speed to run out of control down there.

We did the road decent to the rear of Man tor 3 weeks ago back into Edale , I know what you mean about speed running away from you , my speedo and Strava both said I clocked 76 kmh just over 50mph , it did take some stopping at the bottom , It does look like a zapping climb though , longer than Winnats

It does look like a zapping climb though , longer than Winnats

It’s more elevation from Castleton than Edale to Mam Nick. So if you’re going all the way over the top, then Winnat’s is more elevation and it’s steeper. The Mam Nick climb from Edale isn’t that bad; it’s kinda long but it’s all gentle-ish. On Winnat’s I feel like I’ve run out of gears before I even get to the bottom cattle grid, and then it’s a horrible slow cadence grind to the top which makes it feel worse to me.

my speedo and Strava both said I clocked 76 kmh just over 50mph

I think your kpm/mph convertor is awry.

AWRY indeed …. just fast will do 🙂

my speedo and Strava both said I clocked 76 kmh just over 50mph
I think your kpm/mph convertor is awry.

No, I’ve had over 50 down the Mam Nick descent into Edale on the road bike. Gets very scary very quickly as the road isn’t the smoothest ever.

Broke my phone down there years ago, it slid/bounced out of my jersey pocket while I was in an aero tuck. Took me most of the rest of the descent to come to a stop so I could turn round and pick up the pieces.

Unfinished business with that one, rain and head wind the first and only time I’ve tried it. Near standstill down the other side.

Plus not being warmed up properly, chest infection, brakes rubbing etc. etc.

Your dad needs to zigzag going downhill

First time I did Winnats I attempted to big ring it (52-28). I got as far as the yellow grit bin on the left, before having to drop to the 34t. I was seeing stars by the time I crested it. The second time I was on the inner ring as soon as we turned off the main road. Some memories are so vivid you can still feel them…

dirtyrider – Member

pffft, my dad did it on a Rocky Mountain DH bike with 888’s

Your dad has stopped for at least one rest though. Now if he’d cleaned it… 😉

I went up it once in a similar situation. A guy on a road bike passed me in Castleton and I caught up with him 3/4 of the way up the pass walking. He looked utterly broken and I didn’t have the heart to pass him so walked with him. He was about 80 miles into a 100 miler, sounded like a tough day out.

Also, if you don’t ride hard enough to throw up every now and then you are probably doing it wrong.

You should not be proud for two reasons.

First, you can’t even spell it correctly. Second, you clearly didn’t ride it as hard as the roadie as otherwise you would also be throwing up.

I’ve passed people on mountain bikes riding up Winnat’s Pass before. It’s easier on an MTB because you’ve got much lower gearing. Even on a compact chainset it’s tough work on an MTB.

I remember descending it back in the day on my proflex 857. It totally got away from me and as I was approaching the cattle grid at the bottom I was totally out of control. Luckily the car approaching the cattle gridiron the other direction had spotted me and waited but I hit that grid and roughly warp 8. As it levelled out I got it back but for a moment there I seriously thought I was a goner.

I think your kpm/mph convertor is awry.

No, I’ve had over 50 down the Mam Nick descent into Edale

I’m sure you have. I’ve done almost 50 down Winnat’s which is terrifying on a road bike. Someone died last summer when they couldn’t stop and went into a drystone wall.

I was merely suggesting that 76kpm is not >50mph.

No youre right its around 47mph which with tears in your eyes and the smell of brakes is close enough to 50 for my liking

I think someone was killed recently on a nike on the Winnat’s Pass descent. They came off on the cattle grid or something having lost control,of their sped.

I’m sure it feels close enough, but 50mph is a barrier to be broken. And 47mph might as well be 4.7mph, it’s not 50mph 😉

(I don’t think I’ve ever done 50mph btw).

EDIT: From last year: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/death-on-winnats-pass-yesterday

13% grade with only 400ft elevation change overall is pretty tough I guess.

I thought this was bad, 17% grade with 3000ft elevation change.
http://www.strava.com/segments/3288322

Or this? 28%, 2285ft difference
http://www.strava.com/segments/4520426

I don’t understand how Strava classifies climbs. It says some things are hill climbs even though the average grade is only 4%?

I don’t understand how Strava classifies climbs. It says some things are hill climbs even though the average grade is only 4%?

HC = Hors Catégorie

To decide the category of a climb we multiply the length of the climb (in meters) with the grade of the climb in percent. If that number is greater than 8000 then it is a categorized climb. The minimum percent grade must be 3% or higher. So, for a 4% avg grade climb, it has to be 2km at least to be categorized. Cat 3 > 16000, 2 > 32000, 1 > 64000, HC > 80000.

Your first link I’m sure is a bit wrong though. Looking at the map, it doesn’t look like there’s 1000m of elevation possible there. I mean, it ends next to a primary school and I’m pretty sure there are no primary schools at 1200m above sea level in the UK. I’d guess it’s a bit of a GPS error that’s made its way into Strava.

Winnets pass, should i be proud

If reaching the dizzy heights of Strava position 5124 out of 6206 then go ahead,bask in the glory.

Bradfield, Edale up Mam Nick max gradient 12% i think then down the old collapsed road and up Winnats max gradient 17% back to Sheffield for a beer prior to Cote D’Bradfield just about used to make a “Mont Ventoux” day that is over 1700m of climbing – I cheat though – old age, bad knees and laziness mean mtb touring gearing on my CX – have thrown up at top of Mam Nick on my road bike though

Beware pigeonholing roadies struggling on hills you don’t know how many loops they’ve already done

One problem with the descent of Mam Nick is oncoming cars on wrong side of road cutting the bends – be careful if you want to twiddle on

Beware pigeonholing roadies struggling on hills you don’t know how many loops they’ve already done

Quite, or indeed what they are capable of on the flat. At the end of last year I did a club run in the hills and was dropping one particular guy on the climbs by quite a margin. But a week later, in our club 25, he took over three and a half minutes out of me.