The Rake Hillclimb, Ramsbottom, Sunday 15th October

Thanks for the reminder. 👍

weather is looking cracking, cold but bright, may have a ride over and avoid the 1/2 marathon chaos round these parts

I was just going to add that. A fantastic forecast. clear blues skies and sunshine. The weather always seems to be good for the Hillclimb, bizarrely for this time of year. I live half way up the route and the rain is absolutely biblical at the moment.

The pub at the top - The Shoulder of Mutton - is open again after being closed for 6 months. We ate there last weekend and the food is absolutely top notch! Its just a nice old boozer though if you fancy a pint while watching the prize-giving at the end, as it's in their car park. The winners will be getting a framed print of my new design (above), whether they want one or not 😂

just need to figure out if there is a route from south manc that doesnt involve shit roads :-/
anything better than bury new or bury old road?

@mrchrispy - from south Manc I'd go through Salford then come up Route 6 through Prestwich

Here the route as far as Bury, then pick up the lines (offroad but tarmaced) from Burrs Park from Bury to Rammy

http://www.gps-routes.co.uk/routes/home.nsf/osmapdisp?openform&route=manchester-to-bury-cycle-route

cheers mr binners. appreciate it.

Bump for anyone around the area wondering where to ride to on such a beautiful day 😃

Bugger! I've only just seen this - I have yesterday's car tinkering to finish otherwise would have wandered down with my Fort William Shimano cow bell!

I wanna see Binners race it

HounsFull Member<br />I wanna see Binners race it

I've ridden up the Rake with binners many a time. I've still got the scar on my chest from falling off on black ice while climbing the steepest bit about 8 years ago! That was some bruise.

cracking weather for it

P

A cracking day for it today. A good turn out of 93 rider, some proper fast boys and girls among them. There were some crazy fast times. I think 2min 24 was the fastest which is insane! It seemd rude not to have a couple of ales afterwards in glorious sunshine the Shoulder <br /><br />I've had worse Sundays :D<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

route over was rather nice but not one for the fancy road bike but my Camino bloody loved it.
didnt hang around that long and as its been something like 400 years since I (may or may not have) met you binners there was not much change of recognising you.

Glad you enjoyed the route. It’s remarkably pleasant considering some of the less salubrious areas you pass through. It’s most definitely gravel bike or hardtail territory. I should have mentioned that really, but I’m glad you made the right bike choice

Did anyone win the Rolex? (Is that still the prize for beating the course record?)

No Rolex today. The course record is 2 min 14 which is insane. Fastest time today was 2 min 24. Terrifyingly there were a couple of juniors put in times around 2 min 30 😳

Peter Graham, who held the course record for over thirty years, taught me PE on a few occasions.

Peter was an absolute legend.

We were talking about him today and raised a glass to him as he sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 87. He was still commenting last year, so his presence was still very much felt and his name will always be associated with the Rake due to the incredible amount of time his record stood. RIP Peter. Quite a life

That's a great shot of Winnats. All those spectators and no lycra!

Good article binners.
We have some old racers from that era up here,always think how tough they were back then.
Riding big miles to events with their racing wheels fixed to carriers,then heading home or staying in hostels so they could have a few beers with their mates. 😃