Perfect driving (or riding) conditions on the top of the Pennines…  magic light over the moors on a gorgeous warm evening. The heather caught the sun, the clouds added just enough contrast for drama, and bumblebees hummed around, enjoying the late start to springtime this year.

This is where Blackstone Edge Road becomes Turvin Road at the top of Cragg Vale on the boundaries of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester: this stretch of road is England's longest continuous gradient. I've yet to freewheel down it on my bike, but on an evening like this I'm sure it'd be glorious… and much more enjoyable than the long, slow slog it'd be to climb it! 

It was serendipitous to choose this spot to represent a great cycling route; in July 2014 this was one of the climbs on the second stage of the Tour de France. You can see a panorama of all the action further down the road in Ripponden on the day by clicking here…

My original blog post about this can be found here.