tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38603885557852613682024-03-13T17:05:11.239-07:00Mountain Biking In North YorkshireAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-16870991900336943052011-03-27T10:30:00.000-07:002011-03-31T05:27:41.915-07:00Rosedale & Glaisdale Moor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">For one reason or another there were only three of us today, and none of the reasons for not turning out had anything to do with the clocks having gone forward and giving us an hour less in bed!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">We set off slightly later than planned (again, nothing to do with the clocks) and headed north west on the road out of the village, keeping left at the junction to Dale Head. At Hill Cottages we turned offroad to the right, up past the farm with all the nice hens. Usually here we keep going up, but this time we turned left past the farm to take the old railway.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">We made rapid progress along there, pausing only just long enough to take a couple of photos before dropping down the trail through the trees, off to the left at Sturdy Bank.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Once down at the road by Dale Head Farm we turn left then take the next tarmaced right turn to head down past Moorlands Farm. Here we head offroad once more, through a gate and up the steep and sometimes rocky track on the other side. Mud at the bottom leads to a little pushing and denies any of us a "clean", but once beyond the mud we manage it with relative ease, even safely negotiating a section past a photographer with a camera on a tripod without embarrassing ourselves.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Onto the road near the Lion Inn where we turn right and head off towards Castleton. We're soon passed by a speedy bunch of roadies but soon afterwards turn off right onto tracks where they just can't venture. We take the singletrack that cuts the corner across Rosedale Head to end up at White Cross.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/Kl-s6dUwW14QyM5kti7AxtP0nSwzy7QLkitKd0LShjBjHdZfv*9ThW8GrLbJ1ZRsOlLJSQmuGq7UG1TiJMISmNG*dbPdw7I8/IMGP0340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/Kl-s6dUwW14QyM5kti7AxtP0nSwzy7QLkitKd0LShjBjHdZfv*9ThW8GrLbJ1ZRsOlLJSQmuGq7UG1TiJMISmNG*dbPdw7I8/IMGP0340.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This is very much not-as-advertised, being nowhere near the line on the OS map - just follow the obvious trail instead. It's showing signs of wear here and there, most likely from excessive 4x4 use, with some deep gullies in some of the more peaty sections. On the whole it's a pretty satisfying bit of track though, but all too soon over and we're back on the road once more beside White Cross, or Fat Betty as she's known locally.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">There's a tempting bit of singletrack heading off past this, but we're not going that way today. We're off along the road, turning left at the next junction and then pretty soon after turning right to go offroad once more on The Cut Road. We pass Trough House and make good use of the slight downwards incline to speed us along. In the distance, just cresting the hill, we spot two more riders. The chase is on (at least for Graham/Danny and me) and we up our pace, tearing along the descents and powering up the climbs. The track is great fun, especially when ridden flat out, and eventually turns to proper singletrack, cutting a narrow (sometimes almost invisible) ribbon through the heather. At about this point I capture and kill my prey (metaphorically).</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/ACpFPcr-rnowoN6M*bh-dqAFO6iMAn*6d4GxOLi-RFqLxSOfz25lkAwzsSZXxIiHjV244XLcr-T3q5tv6eWX5SfgDZOnhf6j/IMGP0344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/ACpFPcr-rnowoN6M*bh-dqAFO6iMAn*6d4GxOLi-RFqLxSOfz25lkAwzsSZXxIiHjV244XLcr-T3q5tv6eWX5SfgDZOnhf6j/IMGP0344.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">A rest by the road while Graham/Danny and I wait for Tony to catch up and then we're off again, turning right onto the tarmac to follow it for 4 gentle kilometers before finally turning offroad once more, to the right. This track was quite tough in the reverse direction a couple of weeks ago and is slightly better this way. It's still not in great condition though, and a quite boggy in places, but its fun and challenging to ride.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">It eventually becomes shooting track and we follow this, bearing left, for another 2k until we hit the road. Here we go straight over, onto yet another bit of singletrack that cuts across to Hancow Road. This is real proper moorland singletrack, an almost invisible ribbon of track cutting through heather that potentially hides the odd hazard.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/PUWQ*qqgpfRTddLxH2P6-imD1hfxRIHnX5z5hLQHaQbzh1YU2jlnNC4KKaQCVvrYuOBMeQEt6ZknwPupeEWv5akgd0VxJPn1/IMGP0351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/PUWQ*qqgpfRTddLxH2P6-imD1hfxRIHnX5z5hLQHaQbzh1YU2jlnNC4KKaQCVvrYuOBMeQEt6ZknwPupeEWv5akgd0VxJPn1/IMGP0351.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">...as Graham finds out when he hits a hidden wheelcatcher at speed and is thrown over the bars bringing nose and visor into close contact.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/-uvOw6D4VaQoQvwxmsi1XGjv19sCQANspuOdNfBwgf1XyMazfaGeMF6I6ivX9nk2lMTP227yHF78fKmo-LHBkYuwLtqmpQxQ/IMGP0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/-uvOw6D4VaQoQvwxmsi1XGjv19sCQANspuOdNfBwgf1XyMazfaGeMF6I6ivX9nk2lMTP227yHF78fKmo-LHBkYuwLtqmpQxQ/IMGP0353.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's only a flesh wound</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/r4Vv2IIkYAOzO-NL7FZSsGi*rPcbCPELi-2f*9FqPtQIGzhAcrqj9I8icJty4OqLNMnR3n*NLTs-fM4*Cs610CFMY-7AtlW0/IMGP0354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://api.ning.com/files/r4Vv2IIkYAOzO-NL7FZSsGi*rPcbCPELi-2f*9FqPtQIGzhAcrqj9I8icJty4OqLNMnR3n*NLTs-fM4*Cs610CFMY-7AtlW0/IMGP0354.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can barely see it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Once at the road the fun doesn't end. We quickly duck left again to drop down Hartoft Rigg, another beautiful piece of singletrack</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/TG3ITZVFunvwtiI84im5WjXDWn6vttxNrEP08pRIjtdCw7nVkqsMKb6IO-nM7kIYwyJoJRGDLs5rLGBnEJS3pkAREX4kZfw-/IMGP0356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/TG3ITZVFunvwtiI84im5WjXDWn6vttxNrEP08pRIjtdCw7nVkqsMKb6IO-nM7kIYwyJoJRGDLs5rLGBnEJS3pkAREX4kZfw-/IMGP0356.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Right on the road and short tarmac stretch to Rock House where we turn right to go offroad once more. This is a tough but rewarding climb climb up through the woods - all that great singletrack has been spoiling us, it's about time we had to pay for it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/qqo53DO2is71Z-pvdN15kuhkDOT2hLlYbEPAQESfUNtLBokBsnbgKzoAkVf5mHpz3HINJUsywNbEsSCrbkXyVWTpxQS8Z3ig/IMGP0358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/qqo53DO2is71Z-pvdN15kuhkDOT2hLlYbEPAQESfUNtLBokBsnbgKzoAkVf5mHpz3HINJUsywNbEsSCrbkXyVWTpxQS8Z3ig/IMGP0358.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">At the top of the climb we go straight over and diagonally right onto the woodland doubletrack that is a bit soft in places and feels like riding with the brakes on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/ACpFPcr-rnoLF8T3JB1iUn*AssITRS6cfRJYr2KLcVsAX7DUlfrN-5XU6*WxX-BUZSofAXevljI4ha2jFwWp6ID0jP5Q8ZW*/IMGP0360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/ACpFPcr-rnoLF8T3JB1iUn*AssITRS6cfRJYr2KLcVsAX7DUlfrN-5XU6*WxX-BUZSofAXevljI4ha2jFwWp6ID0jP5Q8ZW*/IMGP0360.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This eventually takes us towards Allotment Farm. This has been bought by townies who didn't like people and bikes passing through their "farmyard" and have had the bridleway diverted. The OS maps still show the old way, so this leads to confusion on trail user's part and shouting on their part. We made the mistake of going the wrong way last time - this time we get it right, though personally I'd be all for going the wrong way again because I hated their attitude last time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Once that's negotiated we come to the top of a nice woodland decent. It's quite steep and loose, but well within our capabilities and a fun final downhill.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/W-wuwDMIpzK-PD3aeJqyUFQfDxQU-FNQ1k07TBUyhbwZuJiHIafYUn4ECkeR*wHks*eH1CJYyai7kvxayWNHitVNPEEh95bL/IMGP0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://api.ning.com/files/W-wuwDMIpzK-PD3aeJqyUFQfDxQU-FNQ1k07TBUyhbwZuJiHIafYUn4ECkeR*wHks*eH1CJYyai7kvxayWNHitVNPEEh95bL/IMGP0362.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We exit the woods, sprint across the field that declares "Bull In Field" (if he was there, he was hiding), hit the road, turn right and return to our starting point in the village.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">What a fabulous ride. The weather has been great, there have only really been two climbs, and there has been singletrack after singletrack. Graham classes it a 5* ride and it's hard to disagree.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We're thankful that Graze O The Green is open again after its winter sojourn and the scones and cheese swirls go down very nicely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><i>Rosedale Abbey - Dale Head - Rosedale Head - Glaisdale Moor - Hamer House: </i>21 miles, 1800' of climb in 3'40 of which a whole hour was spent not moving (there were a lot of photo stops).</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Full stats and a GPX download are available over at <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/75391690">GarminConnect</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Rosedale Abbey, Pickering, North Yorkshire YO18, UK54.3543485450475 -0.8853740939025556154.3519930450475 -0.88778059390255559 54.3567040450475 -0.88296759390255564tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-3526268930282763642011-03-13T18:00:00.000-07:002011-03-16T13:16:20.818-07:00Fremington, Pinseat & Old Gang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It's been a couple of months months since I was last out in the Dales and almost 4 since I was last at Reeth. A combination of bad weather, other commitments and the odd ailment conspiring to make me miss every ride that's been over there within that time, so I was really looking forward to today's ride.<br />
The weather was pretty iffy when I left home, pouring with rain and just looking miserable, so I put on my full waterproofs. Within about 15 minutes of setting off from Reeth village green this proved to be a mistake. The weather was turning brighter by the minute and by the time we hit the climb up to Fremington Edge I was overheating big style. This led to an enforced stop to shed the waterproof trousers and let the legs breathe and cool a bit!<br />
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Barely 200m further up the hill I was forced to make another stop, this time for mechanical reasons. My rear brake had gone and the spring clip was clicking against the rotor as I pedaled. Barely 5 minutes were needed to change the pads over and I was off again, thankful that I'd found out about that brake on this climb, and not on the descent through the old quarry later on!<br />
Once at the top of Fremmy Edge it's David's turn to be bike mechanic, as he discovers that his brake rotor is loose. A quick application of the torx driver on my multitool is all that it needs, and once that's sorted we continue over Marrick Moor to Hurst, enjoying the fast, stoney blast down to the road.<br />
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Left at the road and a short while later we're back offroad and onto the track that leads through Hind Rake and on to Fell End Lead Mine. The descent through the old mine workings/quarry is one of my favourite, fairly loose to start with with some decent step downs and good little hairpin, then getting a bit firmer and faster as the track becomes more grassy. Unfortunately the grassy bit had become a bit sodden, especially near a braking point where the track darts between a couple of walls. A total lack of traction led to two offs from other riders and in me taking it sideways, speedway style, and lucky to stay on.<br />
At the bottom we hit the river and track along it to Langthwaite village, where the pub always looks very tempting - but never quite tempting enough!<br />
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From Langthwaite we took a route we'd never done before, turning left onto the main road then right onto the first bridleway off it, just before Arkle Town. This proved to be a right royal slog, steep and soft, not soft enough to make riding impossible but enough to make it feel like the brakes had locked on. I plodded on up it in granny gear all the way, happy to make it to the top and look back at the rest of the gang straggled out behind. I was more than a little surprised to see Doug right behind me!<br />
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A short but very welcome bit of tarmac now, down to the ford crossing at Fore Gill. This was the first of very many ford crossings we'd make today, all of which Tony wanted to video - "Sealskinz in action". This meant we all splashed through it as fast as possible, spraying as much water as we could. Most of it ended up all over us, and a good deal on Tony too.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='400' height='300' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CqTZ5dmzqO8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
We spent a good while after this messing about with Tony's forks. I made the mistake of "trying his bike" and found that the forks didn't seem to compress at all, like riding with lockout on. Somehow he hadn't noticed... We oiled them, let air out, put air in, nothing seemed to really work. We put it back to how it was - if he hadn't noticed anything was wrong, perhaps he still wouldn't...<br />
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Further on down the tarmac then off to the right up the track to Surrender Ground and Great Pinseat, another slog of a climb, but easier for being on stone track rather than grass. As we started the climb the sun was out good and proper and it was a real glorious day. Great, because this is one of my favourite areas and it looks way better in sunshine.<br />
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Half an hour later we were at the summit, the lunar-landscape looking pretty spectacular, and the promise of a good descent just over the rise.<br />
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The descent through Forefield Rake is one of my favourites. Steep enough to give you a good blast of speed and not technical enough to make you have to take undue care, the greatest danger comes from the looseness of the surface as the track snakes its way down the hill. The rear end twitched once or twice as loose corners were taken at high speed. The downhill fun ends at a gate, beyond which was yet another ford that Tony wanted to video us through.<br />
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By now my socks were quite wet enough - one thing about waterproof socks is that when water DOES get in, it doesn't get out again! And it's only a couple of hundred meters to the next, but still by no means the final, ford of the day, beyond which the downhill fun begins again with the very high speed descent down the course of Flincher Gill, Hard Level Gill and Old Gang Beck. There's usually nothing more than a bit of loose stone and your own lack of skill or courage to deter you from going flat out down here, but today extra excitement was added in the way of some washed out gullies that have appeared, running left to right across the trail at regular intervals. A bit of high speed jumping is all that is required to clear them and in no time (about 2 1/2 minutes) we're at Old Gang Smelt Mills for the requisite photo stop.<br />
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Downwards still for the final dash to the road then it's straight over and past the smelting mill, except that in my excitement I've gone and picked up the footpath rather than the bridleway so we have to track back across the moor a bit to get back on course. That course takes us to the difficult crossing of Bleaberry Gill. Coming east to west it's at least rideable down to the gill, with a difficult push up the other side. Coming west to east, as we were now, it was just a difficult push both down and up - and crossing the gill presented its own challenges too.<br />
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.. all of which pales into insignificance compared to the stile-in-the-wall at the top of the bank, requiring us to team up and shuttle the bikes over the top one by one.<br />
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Not much left to do now. We cross a damp and muddy moor and head for Thiernswood Hall, descending across moorland that we've climbed several times and thought "this would be a better downhill". While that is true, it's actually not a very exciting or rewarding downhill and pretty soon we're out at the road, with what used to be my least favourite road slog, the 1 1/2 miles back to Reeth from Helaugh. I didn't mind it today, my legs felt empowered and the distance passed in no time.<br />
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Afters, as usual, at The Dales Bike Centre where Bren has baked a double batch of scones for us. Not one to pass up scones Tony has one there and takes two home with him. Most of the rest of us have one each, and the baked bean toasties go down well too.<br />
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<b><i>Reeth - Fremington Edge, Hurst, Langthwaite, Pinseat, Old Gang, Helaugh: </i>17 miles, 2946' of climb in 4 hours dead, with a whole hour and a half stood still fixing bikes, videoing puddles and shuttling bikes over walls.</b><br />
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</b><br />
Full stats and GPX download available on <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72937101">GarminConnect</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Reeth, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL11, UK54.38895444229825 -1.942573785781860454.388173442298246 -1.9443977857818604 54.389735442298253 -1.9407497857818603tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-60092928854271678802011-01-23T10:35:00.000-08:002011-01-28T05:21:50.490-08:00Low Mill Loop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It's been a while since we rode from Low Mills and while for half of our 6 strong group this was treading over old ground (see <a href="http://mtbyorkshire.blogspot.com/2009/03/rudland-rigg-bloody-hail.html">this blog entry</a>), for the other three it was largely all new.<br />
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I won't go into too much detail, since the route is the same as shown in that other blog entry. We left Low Mill and headed south on the road towards Hutton-Le-Hole before turning off right, into the darkness and through the trees down Lund Road.<br />
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Despite the fact we've done this before, we still missed the turning off it at the bottom and had to backtrack a little. The field crossing was less muddy than last time, a surprise considering the rain and melt water that must be around. We crossed the "unsuitable for horses" bridge and climbed out of the woods on the other side of the river where we have to stop for Neil to fix a puncture. His comment of "that'll be enough air" when checking his pressures back at the car park prove to be incorrect!<br />
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Another road section takes us up to Aldergate Bank, a gentle gradient, but nonetheless an unforgiving slog over the dragging surface and with a stiff breeze in our faces. Soon enough we're at the top of Rollgate Bank, a nice bit of downhill at last, but inevitably this leads us on to the mud and dolomite hell of Little Roll Gate. It's so severely rutted by 4x4s now that alternative bits of track have begun to spring up to the sides of it where people (walkers and bikers) have had to avoid the damaged original trail.<br />
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On reaching the old quarry pond we bear right and head towards Stork House. Conscious of our having missed the bridleway turn-off last t(there's a more obvious, unmarked, track that goes straight ahead) we take more care this time. We spot the bridleway marker and peel ff to the left for a nice bit of downhill into Stork House.<br />
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This is quite an impressive ruined farm, probably the most impressive on the moors, but not all of us are impressed by tumble-down masonry.<br />
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We continue out by the corner of the farmhouse and down towards the crossing of Hodge Beck. A steep road climb out the other side followed by another grinding slog takes us off road once more onto Shaw Ridge. The grind continues, and even though our track eventually loops almost 180 degrees round to join Westside Road (Rudland Rigg) the stiff breeze seems to be constantly in our face. I'm starting to tire (mentally, not physically) of of these constant drags and so it's with a great deal of relief that we eventually reach the top of the Moor's best bit of downhill singletrack.<br />
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2km long and losing 140m it has a bit of everything (though no large drop-offs) and flows really well. Neil contrives to fall off in the first 100m before it even gets challenging, but makes up for it and is off again and flying. This is the kind of descent you want to do again and again, but without the hell involved in getting to the top!<br />
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A bit of a muddy track from the end of the descent back to the road where we turn right for the final few hundred meters back to the car park.<br />
Afters is at Castleton where I enjoy a veggie full English and the other lads go for the famous scones. The staff have changed since last time we visited, but the exquisite taste in 1940's music hasn't.<br />
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<b><i>Low Mill (Farndale) - Gillamoor - Rollgate Bank - Stork House - Rudland Rigg </i>19.5 miles, 2400' of ascent in 4hours, with 1 hour of standing around (exactly the same stats as last time - we're nothing if not consistent).</b><br />
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</b><br />
Full stats and GPX download available on <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/64854195">GarminConnect</a>.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Farndale West, North Yorkshire, UK54.348158814037674 -0.96642136573791554.347767814037674 -0.96733336573791506 54.348549814037675 -0.965509365737915tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-30794074151136138942011-01-09T10:50:00.000-08:002011-01-11T05:52:43.417-08:00Ice Road TruckersYes, I know I've used the title Ice Road Truckers <a href="http://mtbyorkshire.blogspot.com/2010/01/ice-road-truckers.html">before </a>but there was nothing more appropriate to call this ride - Ice Road Truckers summed it up perfectly.<br />
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The snow of the last few weeks had led Tony to design a route that involved quite a bit of tarmac, the plan being that the tarmac would be easier than the snowy off-road sections and give us a decent ride in a decent time. Overnight rain and sub-zero temperatures put paid to that plan - what we found instead was roads that were sheet ice and barely rideable, and in such a treacherous state that progress even when going downhill was painfully slow.<br />
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Four of us set off from the parking area at Marske, leaving till later the obvious problem that the van was not going to get out again given the amount of ice, and headed north out of the village. This is generally uphill, and difficult going in the ice, but the occasional downward undulation proved even more tricky.<br />
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On the first downward section I couldn't control my speed at all with the rear brake, the back wheel just skidding on the zero friction surface. As my speed built I decided it would be best to bail before things got too fast, so I laid the bike over and slid down the road on my side. This was my first (and thankfully only) off of the ride, but it was an early indication of how bad it was going to be.<br />
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After almost three miles we turned offroad, left into the woods and onto tracks that were much more rideable.<br />
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There hadn't been much through there ahead of us, mainly deer and rabbits by the look of it, but we got good traction on the soft, virgin snow and made decent progress. Until Tim noticed he had a puncture...<br />
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... which turned out to be 2, front and rear. 20 minutes later we were on our way again, leaving the woods and crossing open countryside on nice, frozen tracks that felt very safe after the ice sheets on the road.<br />
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We crossed the Richmond to Kirby Hill road and went straight ahead back into the woods on the opposite side. We passed a forestry worker in there who told us we were mad to be in there, with all the ice that there was. We told him it was preferable to the tarmac and continued on our way - he wasn't the only person that day who'd tell us we were mad.<br />
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Emerging from the woods we continued on for a bit before taking a left fork and emerging back onto tarmac hell at the outskirts of Washton. At this point we'd done 6 miles in exactly 2 hours - slow progress and not boding well for our 20 mile ride! Would we get back before sundown?<br />
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We climbed slowly and carefully up to Kirby Hill then descended just as carefully back down the other side, through Gayles and towards Dalton - 7mph top speed on a downhill tarmac section!! After that, two miles of continual climbing that gained us almost 800 feet.<br />
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The higher up we got, the more the ice turned to snow until eventually we were riding in nice soft stuff a few cm deep!<br />
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Somewhere on this climb "Mr Angry" stopped and had a word with us. We were totally irresponsible being out in these conditions - and what would happen if we fell off in front of his car? We waved him cheerily on his way as we continued on our way, not bothering to ask him what would happen if he was to skid off into a ditch or through a wall.<br />
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Eventually the road ended with a choice - bridleways to left or right. We plumped for right, which took us across a totally virgin field of drifted snow, a foot to 18 inches deep.<br />
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There was no option here but to push, until eventually we got to the point where the ground began to fall away and the drifting stopped. The snow became shallow enough to ride and as we descended further all but vanished. Eventually we emerged at the road once more, turned left and followed it, undulating at first before plumetting quite rapidly down to Helwith. At various points down there we hit the heady heights of 17mph - Yee Ha!<br />
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We crossed the river via the bridge and were then faced with the long, steep push up the snowy bridleway on the other side. This was the most arduous part of the ride but thankfully was soon over, after about 15 minutes of pushing.<br />
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Back in the saddle once more it's now down hill (more or less) all the way back to Marske. I couldn't resist one last photo...<br />
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That pretty much summed up the ride!<br />
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First job back at the car park was to push the van into a position where we could swing it round without ending up in the river. We did it without much effort, thankfully! Unfortunately there was to be no post-ride scones, or refreshments of any sort, the Tea Rooms in Marske being shut (presumably all winter?).<br />
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<b><i>Marske - Washton - Dalton - Helwith: 19 miles, 4 hours 50'.</i></b> It would be considerably faster in better conditions.<br />
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Route, stats and download available on <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62815654">GarminConnect</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Marske, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL11, UK54.399315649694614 -1.842336952686309854.399120649694616 -1.8427929526863098 54.399510649694612 -1.8418809526863098tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-39008665704841237622010-11-07T10:30:00.000-08:002010-11-09T13:58:30.085-08:00Danby, Fryup, Glaisdale & LealholmHeavy rain throughout the week and again overnight prior to our ride, followed by a brief but heavy downpour on the morning too, meant that we pretty much knew what to expect from this ride in terms of the conditions under wheel. What we didn't know was quite what the route had in store for us in terms of the terrain. Tony had planned the route and then dropped out, leaving me to guide it, and a quick glance at the map made me think it was pretty much all stuff we had done before. I was wrong - a good 50% of the off-road sections were stuff we hadn't done before, and some of the stuff we had done before we hadn't done that way round, which made it totally different.<br />
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6 of us set off from Danby Moors Centre, heading up Park bank and taking the first left at the brow of the hill. A couple of hundred meters on and we turn offroad to the left and onto the bridleway over Castleton Pits. This pretty much set the scene for the day - it was totally waterlogged, the dual track being more like dual streams.<br />
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We stayed with this until it hit the road past Clitherbeck Farm, turned left onto the road for a short section then went offroad once more to the right. This is the Pannierman's Causeway and we've ridden a part of it on the other side of the road, but not on this side. We actually missed the causeway for quite a bit, following an obvious trail on the ground that was not necessarily the right one! Eventually we joined up with where we ought to have been (evidenced by the flagstones that mark this ancient right of way) and descended down towards the crossing of Ewe Crag Beck. Unfortunately here, near a dwelling, we stayed too far right and missed the actual bridleway, traversing a field until we reached the gate at the bottom. The landowner and his wife were both stood at the top of the field bellowing at us that "this is not a right of way". I decided that the only correct thing to do was to go back, face them, and apologise, even though we were just a gate and 4 feet away from where we wanted to be.<br />
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We dragged our bikes back up the hill and faced the music. The guy was pretty annoyed, but cooled down when we were apologetic and said we had no interest in going the wrong way, we had just made a simple mistake. He told me we were the first bikers who had ever apologised - perhaps if more did he wouldn't get so irate. Having said that, his own initial attitude left a lot to be desired and was rubbing some of us (yes, you Neil) up the wrong way.<br />
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So back on track again we headed for the ford crossing at Ewe Crag Beck, a crossing Tony had commented "might be a bit iffy". We needn't have worried, even with all of the rainfall there had been it was easily rideable and no one got there feet wet save for the splash caused by the wheels cutting through the water.<br />
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Up out the other side, a nice grassy climb and then an even nicer nice grassy descent back down to the road near Danby.<br />
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We do a sharp right at the road, almost doubling back on ourselves, and take this to the next junction where we turn left. Right at the next junction and we're on Longlands Lane for a while before we turn off down the track that leads up to North End Farm. Just before reaching the farm buildings there's a left hand turn through a narrow gate, and beyond that is a push up a slippery, rocky slope that gains us 200 feet before we're able to remount. We came down this way <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43791261">a few rides ago</a> and I'd forgotten just how steep and rocky it was. Gorgeous views from the top.<br />
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A bit more level riding (well, less steep anyway) and we reach the start of the descent - the reason we're up here! The previous time we'd come this way we'd come up what we were now about to go down, and even in the dry it was pretty much unrideable due to the steepness and the technicality that the various rocks and drops added into it.<br />
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We threw ourselves off the top as fast as we dared, taking care in the wet and slippery conditions but enjoying the challenge.<br />
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Towards the bottom the track swings left, flattens out slightly and broadens out into a more grassy surface. The ideal opportunity to let go the brakes and pick up some real speed. A bad line choice while doing 24mph+ saw me giving thanks to the "Jumps & Drops" course I'd done a couple of months back. The "grassy slope" suddenly became "4 foot vertical mini-cliff". My mindset is still not quite at the point where I think "Oh good, a jump". It starts off as "oh dear, how do I avoid this...?" followed by "this is gonna hurt a lot...!!" followed by "why don't I just jump it...?" I sailed off the end and landed it perfectly.<br />
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At the end of the track we're back at the road. We have a little amusement at Craig's expense. He's already part way up the road climb when we shout him back because we're going to be going the other way. But then find that we're not. Sorry Craig, back up that bank you go!<br />
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We do the road climb up New Way, ignoring the bridleway descent that we usually do (around Round Hill) and instead go down Raven Hill. At the head of the climb we meet a group of uppity walkers who try to tell us we have no right to ride this track and that "it has to be 3m wide before we can bring a bike on it". We smile, wave politely and continue on our way.<br />
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The walkers must gain a little amusement from the fact that the trail proves to be unrideable. The first hundred meters or so is fine, but after that it becomes too steep, rocky and slippery (and with a stream running down it) to ride. It's hard enough for me to walk!<br />
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Eventually the track becomes rideable once more and we decide to consign this track to the "don't bother" list - well, certainly not when it's wet. It may be more of an option when it's nice and dry. At the bottom of the hill the track turns left and becomes a nice grassy traverse that ends at Woodhead Farm.<br />
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We pass through the farm and continue on to reach the road, pass Fryup Hall Farm and turn right towards Street. This brings us to one of my favourite road climbs, up Street Lane towards Glaisdale Rigg. It's a tough old slog, especially near the road junction mid-climb where naturally we take the steeper, right hand option. At times it's hard to keep the front wheel planted on the tarmac.<br />
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Usually we take the road all the way to the top - today we're doing a bit of bridleway that cuts diagonally across Stony Rigg. Unfortunately Neil doesn't know this and is almost at the top of the road climb before we call him back. We take a look at the bridleway - it looks like yet another trudge up a muddy hill pulling a bike along, and we decide to bin it and take the road way after all. Sorry Neil.<br />
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At the top of the road we turn right and then turn back on ourselves onto Glaisdale Rigg, right by where we should have emerged. A quick glance down makes us glad we opted for the road way.<br />
A fairly quick, loose and rocky blast along Glaisdale Rigg and we take the second waymarked bridleway on the right.<br />
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This is a grassy, muddy slope in a bit of a cut that works its way diagonally down the hillside before turning to go straight down across a field and emerge at the road where we turn left.<br />
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As we go along the road I keep seeing bridleways coming down onto it - there must be dozens of ways down off Glaisdale Rigg. Eventually the GPS tells me that one of these "ways down" is in fact our way back up! Just before Postgate Farm we turn left onto yet another steep and slippery bridleway, but at least this one's rideable, bar for a few meters of pushing.<br />
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Up on Glaisdale Rigg once more we bear left and descend a track that emerges at the road by Broad Leas. Right onto the road then left at the first junction and we follow the tarmac until it runs out and becomes a rough track descending towards what I expect to be a ford. It's nice to see there's actually a bridge there, and Craig takes a bit of friendly ribbing for his well intentioned comment of "what a good place to put a bridge". "Yes, over a river. Where would you put it in Canada?"<br />
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Yet more mud and puddles (small swimming pools more like) await us at the other side of the bridge but we're soon out of it and back onto Tarmac. Not much excitement left for us now, just a long, largely road ride back to Danby. Thankfully our route isn't taking us up onto Danby Beacon, a bit of a pointless and boring drag whose only worthiness is as a fitness booster. None of that today, we just want to get back.<br />
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We stay on Rakes lane, through Lealholm Side and on to Oakley Side where we turn left for our final descent of the day.This is another track that is washed out from excessive water leaving a lot of bare rock and slippery cobbles, so it's speed and caution in equal measure down to the bottom.<br />
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Right onto the road at the bottom and it's just a quick blast of a mile or so back to Danby Lodge.<br />
It's been a good ride, though at times I've cursed Tony and said the "he knew what he was doing, planning this and then bailing out". There's been a lot of mud, but really only the climb to Ainthorp Rigg and the descent of Raven Hill were unrideable, and the rest was good fun and good exercise, and with some really splendid views. A good bit of banter today too, not least aimed at Howard and his constant wardrobe changes.<br />
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Only 3 of us bothered with the cafe. I had a culinary first - beans in toast (no, there's no spelling mistake there). Toast cut into fingers and built up into a square, a bit like a sheep pen, then filled with baked beans. It was a trifle bizarre, maybe showing some country influence. They'll be doing dry toast walling next.<br />
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<b><i>Danby, Fryup, Glaisdale & Lealholm</i></b>, 22 miles, 3300' of ascent in four hours dead, a pretty good pace.<br />
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<b><i>Riders: Steve, Tim, Neil, Craig, Sam, Howard</i></b><br />
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Full statistics, map and route download available on <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/55920997">GarminConnect</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Danby, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO21, UK54.464522530815223 -0.8937549591064453154.464133030815226 -0.89466695910644534 54.464912030815221 -0.89284295910644529tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-46898809034765606242010-10-27T10:30:00.000-07:002010-11-01T06:42:48.208-07:00The CalfWe'd had this ride planned for a while and there was no telling how the weather would be by the time the date came along. The previous day had been totally dire so we didn't hold out much hope for the day of the ride, but how pleasantly wrong we were!<br />
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Five of us set off from Sedbergh to tackle what could well be our toughest ride to date, covering 25 miles and with 4000 feet of ascent, a lot of it all at once at the start of the ride - well at least we'd be fresh for it.<br />
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We headed north then west out of Sedbergh, heading for Lockbank Farm where we wound our way through the farm and went offroad. The track up the hillside is long and steep and on a draggy grassy surface which started to sap our energy straight away. The track looks almost mowed into the hillside, giving a clear view of where we were going to be headed, and it looked a long, long way. This put me in two minds as to whether I should slog my way up some of the steeper slopes or take it more gently (and even walk) to conserve energy for later. Riding won out, except for where that was impossible, my leg muscles much preferring the cycling to walking!<br />
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By the time we had our first break we were about half way up and 40 minutes into the ride. The route ahead looked no less challenging than what we'd already done, and ominously we couldn't even see the summit. The scenery was spectacular though, in the directional light that the combination of sun and cloud was giving.<br />
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We pressed on, eventually crossing a saddle at the head of a valley which served to funnel the wind to more than gale force. No wind like this was forecast, and it was so strong it made riding totally impossible at times, and coupled with the steep gradient and dragging grass slope it meant that occasional hike-a-bikes were unavoidable.<br />
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Once this saddle was out of the way the wind was never quite that strong again, though it did still howl at times. We were glad to reach the cairn at Calders where the ground leveled off and the wind eased and got behind us a little. The ride from there to the summit of The Calf was a lot quicker and easier.<br />
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We had another break at the trig point on The Calf. Sam needed to relieve himself and for some reason decided to go and do it in the small tarn/large puddle that was nearby. We think he took delight in peeing in what could end up as Tony's drinking water, though I'm sure that it would be filtered through several beds of peat before it ended up anywhere near a tap.<br />
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"All downhill from here" we thought, having climbed 1800 feet in the last 4 1/2 miles, and our eyes seemed to back up what our minds were telling us. The trail stretched out seemingly forever, shadowing Bowderdale Beck all the way down the valley in what must be one of the most beautiful pieces of singletrack going.<br />
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If we thought that meant it would be easy from now on though, we were in for a nasty surprise. After the initial plummet, which was largely gravity driven, though technical and requiring a lot of concentration and a modicum of skill, the trail eased off quite a bit, and while still being largely downwards required an awful lot of pedaling to overcome the obstacles in the trail.<br />
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The most annoying of these were the constant array of minor fords that we had to cross, caused by the dozens of streams and springs that flow off the hillside. The amount of water that was around from the previous day's rain also meant that much of the trail was like riding in a river, or at best a constant trail of mud.<br />
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Progress along here was nowhere near as rapid as we perhaps expected it would be, though the weather was holding and the views were still gorgeous. The trail's difficulty meant we also kept getting strung out, our various degrees of skill and fitness meaning a fair few breaks to regroup.<br />
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Eventually we exited the moor, emerging on the road at Bowderdale. There followed a few miles of the least interesting part of the route, a combination of tarmac and pastoral bridleways that took us from Bowderdale to Weasdale to Ravenstonedale. I have to say that I was impressed by the look of Ravenstonedale, and the two pubs there looked very tempting!<br />
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We pressed on, taking the tarmac out of Ravenstonedale towards Adamthwaite. Progress was pretty good along here (well, it's tarmac after all) but just after the bridge over Gais Gill there's a steep section where I was hit by the dreaded chain suck. My drivetrain had been lubricated by nothing but mud for a good few miles now, and it was starting to show. No one had any lube with them, so a bit of lateral thinking from Sam had me trying out Gatorade as a chain lube. It worked!<br />
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Chain suck banished, we continued up the hill and on towards the point where we went offroad once more, on the bridleway towards Murthwaite. This looked like it would be a muddy, sodden morass, but although wet it was firm and well rideable. There was even time for some real gravity-driven fun down a rocky/stony section of the track where we finally hit the heady heights of over 20mph!<br />
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A bit more field-crossing, past some of the famous "wild horses", and we find ourselves in a particularly lovely little woodland descent. It's tricky - small sharp stones are hidden beneath slippery leaves, and a stream appears to be running down the entire length, but it's as fun as it is challenging as it is picturesque! Biggest grin of the day so far.<br />
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After that there was a succession of bridge and ford crossings that have all blurred into one! I know I got my feet wet more than once, and was thankful of the best efforts of the Sealskinz socks to keep my feet dry and warm.<br />
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A final ford and bridge crossing over Cautley Holme Beck, and a short wait for Tim to fix the day's only puncture, took us on to the final fun part of our ride, a few miles of nice singletrack as good as anything you'll find.<br />
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This was no more easy to ride than the section in Bowderdale, being just as wet and having almost as many obstacles en-route. It was good fun, but by now the legs were beginning to feel weary and mistakes were creeping in, and I found myself on my back more than once.<br />
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Eventually at Crook Holme we exited the bridlway early via a short section of footpath, so that we could hit the road and drop Tony and Ian at the B&B they were staying at. The promise of dozens of gates on that final stretch also had a bearing on our route choice, our weary legs and the diminishing light meaning that stopping every couple of hundred yards for gates was the last thing we wanted. We must go back some other time and complete that last mile of singletrack.<br />
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Back in Sedbergh we changed out of wet and very muddy clothes and hit the cafes. We were about to go into the well known Cafe Sedbergh but they put up the closed sign as we were about to step into the door. Their loss was Cafe Duo (next door)'s gain, and maybe ours too. The hand-cut cheesy chips that Sam and I had really hit the spot, I've rarely had nicer chips. A good big pot of tea too.<br />
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<b><i>The Calf (Sedbergh, Bowderdale, Ravenstonedale, Murthwaite, Narthwaite):</i></b> <i>25 miles, 4000' of ascent in 6 hours 20 minutes, of which more than 2 hours was spent eating, resting, photographing, fixing punctures and waiting to regroup.</i><br />
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<i>Riders: Steve, Ian, Tony, Sam, Tim</i><br />
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<i>Full stats and download available on <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54619393">GarminConnect</a>.</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10, UK54.322449333696994 -2.527713775634765654.321667333696993 -2.5295377756347657 54.323231333696995 -2.5258897756347656tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-58897545679261792132010-10-17T10:30:00.000-07:002010-10-22T01:04:16.196-07:00Grosmont: The Cursed RouteOnly four of us this week for this ride from Grosmont. Last time we did this ride we got 9 punctures and a snapped chain between the four of us and I fell into the icy cold river barely 100m after the ride had started. Hopefully it would be a bit better this time!<br />
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Parking proved to be somewhat difficult due to the WWII Weekend being held by the NYMR and we were forced to park at seperate locations. We regrouped in Grosmont and set off on our route. Down the lane just up the road from the level crossing to reach the first of three fords that we have to cross in quick succession. We all took it very easy this time around, no one wanting to repeat my early bath of last time.<br />
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We crossed the other two fords without incident too (they're all here in one spot, across a bend in the Murk Esk) and carried on up the lane on the opposite side. Quite a stiff climb it soon got us warmed up, and in the lovely autumn sunshine the high vantage point gave us great views back towards Grosmont.<br />
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We eventually reached the road at Green End and turned left onto it, following it for about a mile before heading offroad again to the right. This track is a permissive bridleway, meaning bikes are allowed on it. Last time out along here we were accosted by a "local councillor" (no idea if he really was) who insisted we had no right to be there. We were rather hoping to meet him again, but no such luck<br />
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In the dry this is a good fast track, but wet as it was today it was strangely slidey, the bike seeming to just behave very vaguely at speed! We reached the other end without incident or interruption and emerged on the road to turn right and descend down to the bridge over the river and the railway line.<br />
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Up in Goathland the WWII weekend was in full swing, and thankfully Goathland was in British hands, unlike Levisham further down the line.<br />
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We passed right through the village and at the fork at the far end, just past the Mallyan Spout Hotel, we took the right hand fork but almost immediately went offroad once more, on the left up onto the moor. The track here starts off OK but further on it becomes hard to stick to the bridleway. Footpaths are the more obvious trails, staying lower down the moor, but we stick to our GPS and climb the moor on quite indistinct tracks. Last time round we took the wrong track altogether, following a footpath almost all the way. We did better this time, getting higher up onto the moor than last and following a trail marked by cairns. Surely THIS was the right trail?<br />
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No, a study of our track after we returned showed that once again we followed a footpath! Next time we might just get it right, if there ever is a next time for this route (see later). The track, albeit one we shouldn't have been riding, was interesting and challenging, having a fair few technical rock gardens along it's length.<br />
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Eventually we followed the footpath back down to the road at Hunt House where we turned right and followed the road for a few yards before darting offroad once more on the left. This dropped us down a steep bank to yet another ford, followed by a steep grassy climb out the other side.<br />
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It was at this point we realised that once more it was going to be "one of those rides". Tony had a rear wheel puncture, and having tubeless rims, tubed tyres and rubbish tyre levers is a bad combination. It took fully 22 (yes twenty two) minutes to change the tube, time I would have been advised to have used checking my own tyre.<br />
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We'd only got another 50 yards when it became apparent that I too had a puncture. 7 (yes only seven) minutes later we were finally off again, but for how long? We continued up the farm track, exiting at the road by Hollin House Farm. We followed the road past Julian Park and on to Randy Rigg, going offroad again just before Randy Mere Reservoir. At this point we saw the surreal sight of a group of Waffen SS officers getting out of a Mercedes, with their long leather trenchcoats and jackboots! Time for a sharp exit...<br />
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We dropped down the trail past the reservoir, slippery and wet as it always is.<br />
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The bottom of the hill is a total bog, probably the boggiest place we ever ride. In some places it was up to our knees (I kid you not) and there was no option but to push.<br />
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Eventually we got riding again on what seemed to be a firm track. Appearances were deceptive, the innocent looking puddle Tony rode through swallowed not just his wheel but almost his whole bike and pitched him over the bars, his head narrowly missing a jagged tree stump.<br />
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After that it genuinely was firmer going, though still soft enough to make riding uphill a real chore, and we all had brief spells of pushing when there just wasn't enough traction to keep going. Eventually we crested the hill and left the mire behind, following a very indistinct trail around the reservoir and back down towards the road, near Struntry Carr where we make a sharp left turn to follow a thin trail through the heather. This is more like it.<br />
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Or at least it would be if not for my "accident". Fiddling with a strap on my Camelback while riding one-handed, the wheel hit a little divot that would ordinarily have gone unnoticed, but one-handedly it managed to pitch me off the bike and I landed with my groin impaled on the bar-end. That knocked the wind out of me, I can tell you, and it also banged my knee up quite painfully too. So painful in fact I thought I might have to abandon the ride. As the moorland trail emerged onto a road I took a couple of Ibuprofen to get me through the rest of the ride.<br />
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We crossed the road onto another moorland trail which did a sharp right after a couple of hundred yards and became very indistinct and quite squidgy in places. We muddled through it (but actually kept to it pretty much spot-on) and eventually emerged at a road again. By now Neil had developed a puncture, but obviously a very slow one that would probably suffice with being topped up now and again rather than having the tube changed.<br />
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We turned left onto the road which becomes quite steep, too steep for Sam's chain which snapped clean in two. The curse of the punctures and snapped chains was staying with us on this route. Thankfully we had all the necessary gear and the chain was repaired quicker than any of Tony's punctures (7 minutes). We took the road as far as The Delves where we delved offroad once again to take the track through the woods and alongside the river Esk. This was a wet, slippery affair and the elevated flagstones were especially treacherous - we did our best to avoid them where possible. Somewhere within the woods my GPS decided to log my max speed as 58.5mph - no way I ever went that fast in there!<br />
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We emerged at The Beggar's Bridge near Glaisdale without incident - well, except that Tony had our 4th puncture of the day. He was becoming adept at getting the tyre off now, and it might have only taken 10 or 12 minutes had he not allowed the valve to slip back inside the rim while putting the tyre back on, meaning he had to start again. Still, two tyre changes in "only" 20 minutes was good going - practice really does make perfect.<br />
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Almost all road now back to Grosmont. Up the mighty Limber Hill then first right down Broom House Lane and then alongside the river at Egton Bridge. A quick left-right at the T-Junction takes us onto the private road (track) back past the toll house to Grosmont. Somewhere along this track a three-legged mutt hobbled up to a fully-limbed Labrador and proceeded to savage him. Plucky little bugger.<br />
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Back at the car park we said our farewells to Neil and the rest of us headed off for Beck View Tearoom in Lealholm. The scones were very nice, as was the service, and I got quite a bargain in getting two scones on one plate. That entitled me to some sort of discount that saw my pot of tea thrown in for free. Can't grumble, although I did try to insist on paying more!<br />
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Another biking couple were sitting there too, and were doing a route from Tony's book, which naturally meant we had to endure the embarrassment of another impromptu book-signing event and him trying to flog them his up-coming walking book.<br />
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<b>Grosmont - Goathland - Glaisdale</b>: <i>17 miles, 2400' of climb, plenty of mud, plenty of punctures in 4 hours 11 minutes</i>.<br />
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<b>Riders</b>: Neil, Steve, Tony, Sam.<br />
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Full stats and route download available from <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53460533">GarminConnect</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Grosmont, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22, UK54.437279161171432 -0.7272005081176757854.435719161171434 -0.73084850811767577 54.43883916117143 -0.7235525081176758tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-46803873916108935022010-10-10T10:10:00.000-07:002010-10-14T00:55:26.829-07:00Rosedale RumbleMy mass advertising campaign brought no fewer than seven riders out this weekend, which is three or four more than we'd have usually got! It must have been the prospect of tackling the climb up Chimney bank that brought them all out.<br />
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We left the car park in Rosedale Abbey and headed straight for Chimney Bank, a couple of hundred yards down the road. This is (allegedly) the steepest road in the country at 1 in 3 in places. Strangely the sign at the top advises cyclists to dismount, though there is no such advice at the bottom. Good, off we went at whatever pace we could muster. At places the road is so steep it was a struggle to keep the nose of the bike down, but thankfully, despite its steepness, it's not such a long climb as some others and we were up it in seemingly no time (or just over 10 minutes to be more precise).<br />
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A well earned rest at the top and the obligatory photo and we were on our way again, off across the moor and past Ana Cross, left at the track junction to pass Redman Cross and towards the nice, rocky downhill back towards Hollins Farm.<br />
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A stop at the top to adjust seat posts and off we go. It's not too technical at first, but gets more and more so the further you get into it, so technical it has some people walking it. Eventually, towards the end, you come to a lip with a steep plummet just beyond it. This had washed out really badly, a deep gully having formed in the centre of the trail which made negotiating it even more tricky than usual - best keep to one side.<br />
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Down at the bottom we turn right to take the lovely "1 1/2 track" (not quite singletrack, not quite double) towards Lastingham. This is as fast and flowy as ever and proves to be a real popular find with those who haven't done it before (and those who have!). At one point I slow for walkers up ahead and have to call out "coming by on your right" which leads to one of the walkers actually stepping to the right, into path. Obviously clearer communication is needed!<br />
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Eventually after almost 3 miles of fun we hit the tarmac near Lastingham. We turn left at Lower Askew, left again at Cropton Bridge and then turn diagonally right into the forest about half a mile along the road. After 2 1/2 miles of gentle climbing along the forest road we hit a junction of fire roads just above Low Muffles.<br />
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We backtrack 10 yards because we've missed the entry into the forest and set off down a nice little forest run. Nothing too challenging but a little soft and slippery, and we then emerge at a field, which we cross and eventually hit the road at Muffles Bridge. This gives us a road climb almost as steep as Chimney Bank, but thankfully it's only a couple of hundred yards long. At this point Tim decides to puncture. It's been a while.<br />
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At the top of the bank we turn right and take the road for two miles to Higher Row Mire. I love place names with the word "mire" in them, you really know what to expect when you get there! This time it wasn't actually too bad and the "mire" was no more than a dirty, but firm and perfectly rideable track. It was however the start of seven miles of almost constant climbing, albeit gentle at times. It began on the track over Row Mires Rigg before hitting the road over to Glaisdale Moor. Here we went off road once more onto The Cut Road. It had been our intention to drop down into Fryup Dale here and re-emerge further along past Yew Grain Scar, but one of our number was starting to feel the pace and we decided to shorten the route and, more importantly, cut out another killer climb.<br />
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The Cut Road is quite a nice track, especially on the few downward sloping sections, but in general it climbs. Eventually at the end of that seven miles of constant climbing we'd gained another 700ft and reached our highest point of the day, on the road where The Cut Road emerges.<br />
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That would be welcome news for Steve.<br />
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Left onto the road, then left again at the next junction and we're soon at our next off-road transition, the bridleway that descends Sturdy Bank down to the Rosedale railway. We set off down it, with me at the head, and some way down I noticed I was well off track from where I "should" have been - according to my GPS anyway. I went trudging off at 90 degrees to the visible track, in search of where I should really have been, but there was nothing visible. This is one of those places where what is on the ground doesn't match what's on the map.<br />
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Back on the visible track again, we continued down the hillside, quite a fun descent, and a good place for some photos, until we reached the Rosedale railway.<br />
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</div>Once on the railway the tea room a Rosedale was really calling, so we hared off as fast as we could, eating up the last few remaining miles along the railway and road back to Rosedale.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It had been a good ride with a good mix of terrain, some decent downhills, some tough climbs and perfect cycling weather.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Riders</b>: Steve, Steve, Steve, Neil, Tony, Tim & Simon.</div><br />
<b>Rosedale Abbey - Chimney Bank - Cropton - Glaisdale Moor - Rosedale Railway</b><br />
<b><i>25 Miles, 2600' of up/down, 4 1/2 hours (2 hours 47 of moving time)</i></b>.<br />
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See the route, stats and download links <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52498929?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4cb234f6ea6cd4d7,0">here on GarminConnect</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Rosedale East Side, North Yorkshire, UK54.354424235666009 -0.8855849504470825254.354033235666009 -0.88649695044708254 54.35481523566601 -0.8846729504470825tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-60843419343777544782010-07-11T10:18:00.000-07:002010-07-14T10:23:05.221-07:00Rosedale Abbey - Blakey Ridge - Lastingham Loop"A bit of everything" we were promised for this ride. "Downhills, singletrack, climbs, easy distance and tearooms". Would it deliver? Well yeah, the ride was pretty much as advertised.The downhills were excellent (and mostly new to us), the climbs were tough, the easy distance, well it was just sooo easy and the tearoom was spot on.<br />
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There were six of us this week for this ride from Rosedale Abbey, our four regulars, one semi-regular and the return of a rider we haven't seen in a while. It was good to see him out with us again.<br />
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We set off from the car park behind The Milburn Arms, where another couple were also getting ready to ride. Tony spotted that they were using his guide book and struck up a conversation with them. I'm not sure if he was offering to autograph the book or not, but I didn't see any pens come out so either he didn't, or they declined!<br />
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We left Rosedale Abbey by the road, heading north west to Hill Cottages at which point we turn right to go off road. This track leads up to a farm where loads of chickens and ducks congregate near the gate and at which point there is a choice of tracks, bearing left to take to the old railway or going more-or-less straight on to continue up the hill. We take the latter - it's always up with us - and follow the fairly distinct track up to the road, about a mile on. The latter part of this track is not the bridleway as shown on a map, we've never managed to follow that and find it much easier to stick to the visible track.<br />
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At the road we turn left and continue on for about a mile and a quarter. You'll pass a bridleway post off to the left quite soon after starting along the road - this is the one we failed to come up - but at the next one, a mile further, we turn off to the left. You can go on another few hundred yards to a third left-pointing bridleway sign which will bring you out at the same end point as this one. Opinion is divided as to which is the more enjoyable way down, the second seems to flow better, but the first is more technically challenging (more hidden rocks in the heather) and has an unrideable stream crossing. We took this way today and mostly negotiated it without incident, though there were a couple of minor spills at the rear of the convoy caused by getting lodged in ruts.<br />
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Whichever way you decide to go, take the bridleway and follow it downhill until you reach the disused railway at the bottom. At this point there's another bridleway that continues on downhill just a little to the right. This is a fairly fast and fun bit of track, made all the better now that the large spike that used to protrude from the trail in a bikewards direction has gone. We always had fears of ending up impaled on this. Beware of walkers here, the track is narrow and there are signs placed to tempt them from the railway down to the tearoom at the end of the track!<br />
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At the bottom turn left onto the road, follow it for about 1/4 of a mile and then turn right onto a narrow lane. Follow this past Moorlands Farm and go through a gate. A signpost points to a footpath that goes up the moor, but we're going up the jeep track that zig zags its way up the hill. This is quite a challenge, some parts of it are so steep its hard to keep the nose of the bike down and we're not that far up before Neil has actually tipped his bike over backwards. I have to drop the seat to let me get my centre of gravity low enough to stop that happening to me, but the lower riding position isn't good for the knees on a climb like this! It's loose too, and regular losses of traction make for a stop-start ascent, but eventually we're all at the top where the track joins the disused railway, a good spot to stop for some carbs. One day I'll clean this climb. One day.<br />
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Last time out this way we went right here, today we're going left. This gives us a real opportunity to cover some ground as the slope in this direction is downward, though only at the gentle gradients afforded to railways. It's enough to have you bombing along at 20mph for most of the way, the 30mph crosswind adding a bit of fun here and there as it tries to blow you off the track and down into the valley. At some point along here I manage to get a pinch flat. How I managed it I've no idea, there's no major rocks or bumps and I don't recall hitting anything with any force, but the two "snake bite marks" on the tube confirm it's a pinch flat and the others take a breather while I get down to business. It'll be another visit to <a href="http://www.nextdaytyres.com/Tyres/Continental/Race-King.aspx?ID=142">nextdaytyres.com</a> when I get back to sort out a new rear tyre. The constant flats I get with this one are getting me down (and slowing me down).<br />
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After four miles of easy railway riding we reach the top of Chimney Bank. We laugh with contempt at the sign there that suggests that "Cyclists Dismount".<br />
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</div>We cross the road and continue on, passing Ana Cross, and a quarter of a mile after that we turn off left onto something that's a bit more "singletrack". This track leads to Redman Cross and eventually becomes quite indistinct.<br />
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We got lost in this area last time out, the tracks on the ground don't really match the map. Best advice is to download the GPX of this route and just stick with it! We press on, bearing slightly left and eventually the track widens a bit and becomes more distinct again. It begins to drop too, quite steeply in places, especially one point where it drops right off onto a very steep, loose surface with a bend in it! A challenge. We take a look, Tim cleans it and Neil and I back track a bit to get clipped in before we go over the edge. We all clean it without incident and continue on down to the main bridleway which is running left-to-right below us.<br />
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We follow it left towards Hollins Farm and then turn sharp right to take the track towards Lastingham. This is a really fast, flowing section of what once was single track. Now it can at best be described as one-and-a-half track, but it's still fun. Twists and turns, gentle undulations and unexpected rock gardens all conspire to keep it fun, while its gentle downhill slope keeps it pretty fast. I'm baulked at one point by Tim, who was backtracking to attempt a rock garden again. I think I heard him say he tried it six times in all! Eventually the track comes out at a tarmac road, where we pause a while for more carb intake.<br />
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Setting off once again, we continue straight on along the road until it gets to Lower Askew where we turn left and then turn left again at Cropton Bridge. A mile after that we turn off right into the forest for a 2 1/2 mile gentle uphill drag along the main fire road. This fire road ends up at a junction with Sutherland Road, another track through the forest, at which point we turn almost back on ourselves to take another bridleway that disappears into the woods and heads down to Low Muffles. This is a lovely, steep woodland descent that ends with a left turn onto the road at Muffles Bridge.<br />
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All that downhill means there's now another climb.Initially this is on road, and very steep. At the junction at the top of the bank we turn right and head towards Rock House. Here the map and the signpost have a bridleway going off to the left just before a greenhouse. There's no sign of it. Farmworkers inform us that it's <b><i>after</i></b> the greenhouse, which indeed it is. Very strange that both map and signpost have got this wrong! Anyway, if we thought the road climb was hard, what faces us now is a very tough, steep woodland climb. Thankfully there's been no rain for a couple of months and the ground is dry and grippy, so we manage the climb without too much trouble, other than aching legs and lungs! I think we're all looking forward to the teashop now.<br />
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Emerging from the wood onto Hancow Road we cross it and go offroad once more just slightly to the right. There's a choice of tracks here, the one that's marked as a bridleway on the map or the one a bit more to the left that isn't. We take the latter. Three quarters of a mile later we're skirting round the outside of the house at Allotment Farm, hoping that all the baying hounds we can hear are well chained up. A woman comes out of the house and starts having a real go at me and Neil about how this "is not a right of way". A man comes out too and is altogether more pleasant in explaining to us that the right of way has been moved and now goes behind the house rather than around it. He shows us the way to rejoin the track (presumably the old right of way way) and we wait a while for Tony and the others to join us. They've stopped to check the map, which is inconclusive. We thought they were getting their ears chowed by the woman.<br />
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Anyway, with this out of the way we come to the last woodland plummet of the day. It's such good fun that Neil gets carried away and takes a tumble at the bottom by the gate. Through the gate we go, across the field of cows (giving them a good wide berth) and out onto the road near Yatts Farm. We're on the home run now, just a mile or so of road and we're back in Rosedale Abbey.<br />
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<b><i>Rosedale Abbey - Blakey Ridge - Lastingham: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">23 miles, 2900' of ascent in 4 hours 20, 1 hour 40 of which was spent taking photos, eating bananas, getting lost, (and in Neil's case checking <a href="http://mtbguisborough.ning.com/">MTBG </a>on his phone!)</span></i></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/TD3xB8YM4dI/AAAAAAAAEh0/C0cBcaCnhWk/s1600/Rosedale+11-07-2010+13-48-09.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/TD3xB8YM4dI/AAAAAAAAEh0/C0cBcaCnhWk/s400/Rosedale+11-07-2010+13-48-09.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com2Rosedale East Side, North Yorkshire, UK54.354208525950185 -0.885483026504516654.354013025950188 -0.88593902650451661 54.354404025950181 -0.88502702650451659tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-89269219907177232102010-05-30T17:40:00.000-07:002010-06-02T05:39:23.807-07:00Rosedale Figure Of 8A poor showing from our regular bunch this week for one reason or another, but numbers were bolstered by a showing from some-time member Rob and first-timer (with us) Vern (kaya from <a href="http://mtbguisborough.ning.com/">MTBG</a>). The weather looked like it could do absolutely anything, including snow, as we left the Milburn Arms car park and headed north out of the village.<br />
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We kept to the road, staying left at any junctions along the way until we passed through School Row. Just at the end of the row of houses i a phone box, just beyond which we turn off right onto a bridleway. This climbs up through a small farmyard where there are always lots of nice looking hens, just beyond which the bridleway branches. Stay to the right - we'll be coming back this way via the other branch later!<br />
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The track climbs up and over the hill, quite steeply at times though thankfully the nature of the track means there's plenty of grip and not <b><i>too </i></b>much drag. The track continues on until it reaches the road, a route that bears no resemblance to where the bridleway goes on the OS map. Over the years we've given up looking for the proper bridleway, there's nothing at all to be seen on the ground, and it's better just to stick to the track.<br />
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Once at the road we turn left and at this point the weather starts to turn too. The wind is blowing gale force into our faces and the black clouds that have been looming finally decide to empty themselves on us. It starts as drizzle, then becomes hail stones, lashed into us by that wind they sting the face. We have only 1 1/4 miles of road work to do but it feels like 5 or 6 riding into this weather. I look hopefully at each passing track off to the left, hoping it's the one we're going to take, that will lead us to some respite by both turning our faces away from the gale and by losing us some ground. Eventually we reach our turn off (it's the second of the signposted Bridleways, as stated just over 1.25 miles from where we joined the road).<br />
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As soon as we make the left turn and stop to wait for Neil it feels loads better. Neil arrives with a right gob on, complaining about the wind and rain and threatening to bale if it doesn't improve! We head off down the bridleway, keeping left when a junction tempts us to go right. The track starts out as undemanding double track but eventually begins to drop pretty steeply, becoming rockier and a lot more technical too. It's a fun blast down to the railway line, where I somehow manage to lose it on the last 100m, catching a rut on a fairly easy bit of track to go spiraling off into the heather.<br />
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At the railway we go straight across, following the very handily placed signposts for the tearoom at Dale Head Farm. This track is just as steep as what had gone before but is not as technical. It does have a few corners around which walkers may be lurking though, so exercise a little caution.<br />
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Once down at the road at Dale Head Farm Vern tells us of the time the tea room there was giving away free beer! Sounds too good to be true, and unfortunately it doesn't look like they're repeating the offer today so we turn left onto the tarmac and continue on our way. We follow the road a little way, pass Red House Farm and then turn right on the track down to Moorlands Farm. Here we go through a gate with a sign saying "Footpath", but we (legally) ignore this and follow the very obvious jeep track that snakes its way up the hillside. This is the longest climb of the day and fairly tough, but it's easily cleanable despite the loose surface. I say "easily", I didn't quite manage it, having one dab when the back wheel spun out on some loose slate and lost me all of my traction.<br />
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The climb ends where it joins the old railway at a crossroads - don't miss this turn, you'll do a load of unnecessary climbing if you do, but at least you'd be by the Lion Inn, what better place to be by accident! We rest for a while, wait for Rob to catch up (he'll be glad to see the end of this, the worst of the climbing on this route) and then rest a while longer while we take on some energy.<br />
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Eventually we're up and riding again, heading north-west (i.e. a right turn) along the disused railway. It's pretty easy going from here on for the rest of this part of the loop. The railway loops around the head of the valley, its nature varying between doubletrack, singletrack and bog. Thankfully it's been very dry of late and the boggy bits are a lot less extreme and a lot less numerous than usual.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>We have fun down the only interesting descent on railway and then continue on towards the old workings at East Mines. It's fairly easy trail and the slight downward slope means the pace really picks up along this stretch.<br />
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We pass Sturdy Bank where we crossed the railway line earlier in a matter of minutes and maintain the high pace right back to the farm with the nice hens just above School Row. From here we retrace our earlier steps, via the road, back to the village centre. The improved weather has stopped Neil acting like a right girl and he's happy to press on and do the second loop.<br />
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The second loop begins by heading out of the village in a southerly direction and heading as if to go up the dreaded Chimney bank - a challenge I'm relishing for another day. We climb a little way up the bank but then turn off left through the car park of the pub/hotel.<br />
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Straight through the car park we get onto the broad double track that leads past several farms and eventually comes to Hollins Farm. Here there's a whole host of different bikes lying in a pile on the grass and Neil takes a shine to a nice little full-suss trike.<br />
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Enough of the larking around, off we go again following the bridleway around the farm and then sticking to the left fork just beyond it - we'll be returning via the right fork later. From here on the track is excellent. Its slight downward (but undulating) gradient gives you a bit of speed and the lumpy, technical terrain keeps it all interesting as you try to pick the best line to keep your speed up. There's one or two surprises along the way as unseen rocks loom around corners and over ridges and one such rock spells the end of our good run of fortune on the mechanical/puncture side. A familiar sharp thud through the back wheel tells me I've smacked a rock too hard and seconds later I'm running on wheel rim rather than tyre.<br />
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One quick change later (I'm getting good at these) and we're off once again. From now (near Hartoft Bridge) until Lastimgham it's a little less interesting as the track becomes smoother and less technical. Once at Lastingham track turns to road and we turn right to follow the tarmac into the village. In the village centre we turn right and then go straight ahead, heading north out of the village towards the moor. I make a mental note that I should have taken a photo of the very sturdy and interesting looking church - something to do next time I'm here.<br />
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We exit onto the moor via a gate and from here it's an easy but quite incessant climb up a wall surfaced track.<br />
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We continue on towards Ana Cross, bearing right at a place called (on the map) Spring Heads Turn. From here it all gets very vague for a while. The track on the ground becomes very indistinct, something that's not helped at all by the fact that heather burning has been going on which means that the usual visible ribbon of track through the heather has vanished.<br />
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We muddle about for a while, alternating between unseen bridleway and highly visible, newly laid dolomite track, before we eventually find our way onto the track we're looking for that leads back down to Hollins Farm. It's probable that we could have done it by sticking entirely to the new tracks, but we're here anyway so it's all irrelevant.<br />
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Off we go down the track to Hollins Farm, a wide, fast track that twists its way through the heather down the hillside. It throws up the odd technical section and one nice little stretch of rocks, but on the whole it's fast and relatively undemanding.<br />
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Once at Hollins Farm we just retrace our steps from earlier, exiting the track via the hotel car park, turning right to descend the foothills of Chimney Bank and rolling back into Rosedale Abbey still as fresh as daisies and ready to do it all again. If only GrazeOn The Green wasn't calling so loudly!<br />
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We pack away the bikes, get changed, say goodbye to Vern & Rob and take the cars round to park in front of Graze On The Green, one of my favourite tea rooms. The object of my desire is the concoction they call The Hill Farmer, a lovely high-protein "lite bite" (it's hardly that) of thick crusty bread topped with ham, eggs and melted cheese.<br />
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Being veggie I take it without the ham and they kindly substitute an extra egg <b><i>and </i></b>charge me less. You can't grumble. Neil goes for the Fish Finger sandwich from the kids menu, and I have to pretend to be his dad in order to persuade the waitress. She conjours up a man-sized sarnie that must contain a whole box of fish fingers!<br />
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<b><i>Rosedale Abbey Figure Of 8: 23 miles and 2800' of climbing in 3 1/2 hours</i></b>, 40 minutes of which was spent stationary.<br />
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<i>The ride comes from an old edition of MBR magazine which describes it as "A Killer Loop". It's hardly that, it's not too physically or technically challenging to any but the least experienced of riders, but it's still a darned good ride, scenic and interesting and with plenty of opportunities for stops along the way, or even to bale out at a little over half way!</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Rosedale East Side, North Yorkshire, UK54.35446643960838 -0.8852335810661315954.354270939608384 -0.8856895810661316 54.354661939608377 -0.88477758106613158tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-62959091105451470222010-05-09T15:20:00.000-07:002010-05-14T09:59:19.812-07:00Reeth - Bunton Hush - GunnersideThe weather couldn't really decide which way it was going to go today as we set off from Reeth. Dark clouds loomed, but sunshine never looked far away either. I set off in my lightweight rain jacket and hoped that I'd soon be taking it off.<br />
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We started out along the road to Healaugh, passed through the village then branched right onto the minor road that leads to Surrender Bridge. A short way along here and we turn right again, through some gates and up what appears to be someone's nice gravel drive. In fact it <b><i>is </i></b>someone's nice gravel drive (Thiernswood Hall), but it's also a bridleway. Last time we were here we lingered about a bit, wondering if it was the right track, the "<b><i>No Entry, Private Road</i></b>" sign being slightly off putting. I'm not sure whether he'd ever be allowed to close and lock those nice iron gates of his.<br />
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Up the gravel path we go, straight ahead at the hall and into the woods for a few yards before emerging at a gate. Through this, up a small bank to another gate and then we're cutting diagonally up the hillside on a nice grassy track that's steep and draggy, thank goodness it's not also wet! It's a fair old slog to the top, but once there we're onto more level ground as the track heads west towards the delightfully named Cringley Bottom. Part way along we have a fairly lengthy wait for Tony, so long in fact we're just about to set off back and look for him when he emerges over the brow of the hill. He's had another of his falling off sessions, and judging by the delay not a trivial one. (With the state of his back and joints no falling off is trivial any more!)<br />
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A little further on and the bridleway passes through a narrow ladder stile in a wall. This is bizarre, as there's no way you could get a horse through there and as such it must surely count as an obstruction to the right of way. The reason is probably because the slope down and up beyond the stile are treacherous for horses - but they look fun for mountain bikers! We pass our bikes up and over the stile and head off down the hillside, zig-zagging our way down to Bleaberry Gill.<br />
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Once across the gill we have to lug our bikes up the other side - it's way too steep to ride and hard enough to walk. No wonder they don't let horses through this way any more.<br />
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Once at the top there's a nice stretch of moorland singletrack, a narrow ribbon through the heather that's probably not seen many bikes. This eventually comes out by some old smelt mill buildings that we've not visited before where we stop for a few photos.<br />
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All our photographing done we continue on, climbing the road from Surrender Bridge towards Fore Gill Gate. Tony has left us at this point, he's taking the shorter, less hilly route to Bunton Hush by going straight up alongside Mill Gill (Old Gang Beck). The rest of us are going up and over Surrender Ground. It doesn't start too well as I miss the bridleway off to the left and we go a couple of hundred yards too far before tracking back across some grassy hillside to rejoin the correct track. This is a loose stone and dirt track, typical of a lot of the tracks in this area, and it climbs relentlessly upwards, gaining 600 feet in 2 miles.<br />
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Once at the top there's a lovely blast back down to Level House Bridge. This is fast and furious, and the track is dry, stony and dusty, which equates to quite slippery and the back wheels are snaking about a bit at times. We blast down Forefield Rake and turn left to follow Flincher Gill, at which point a conveniently located ford, an enthusiastic buddy and a load of good luck provide me with one of my best ever action photos!<br />
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At Level House Bridge we turn sharp right and head back uphill again, past Old Gang mines to eventuall meet up with Tony again at the top of Bunton Hush. He's been waiting for us for 10 minutes and has used the time to scope out the approaches into The Hush.<br />
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Bunton Hush is amazing, a rock garden on steroids it's a huge gorge full of rocks and boulders of all shapes and sizes, all of them sharp and dangerous looking. You have to wonder if there's a rideable route through all of this debris, but eventually your eyes pick up the tracks that have been worn smooth and cleared of a little of the debris.<br />
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We drop into the hush and pick our way gently through it, taking it in a number of small sections, each one separated by a period of scoping out the route for the next bit. The landscape in the lower section has changed since we were last in here, winter obviously brought some kind of land slip.<br />
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Eventually we all find our way to the bottom, no one having crashed or even banged their bikes (last time up here I bent some teeth on my chainring) and end up by a finger post. Tim has got the downhill bug and heads off down the bridleway off to the right before anyone can stop him. It's the wrong way, we should be going left. It's left to me to go chasing after him to call him back. On my return I'm so taken in by the awesome look of the Hush that I spend too long looking at that and not at the trail ahead. Next thing I know I'm face down in the dirt again, my front wheel having been swallowed by a bit of landslip that I didn't notice. The slow, uphill speed meant no harm was done, and soon we were all off once more, heading in the right direction (i.e. left) alongside Gunnerside Gill.<br />
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The scenery here is truly amazing, a mixture of natural beauty mixed with the "ugly beauty" that the years of mining have brought to it. We track along Swina Bank Scar and up along Winterings Scar, the track clinging precariously to the side of the hill at times. Evetually it opens up into a wider trial and loses some height as it passes Winterings, meaning you can really open the throttle. This bit of track is beautiful - fast, undulating, twisty, with the odd bit where you need to pedal to keep your speed as high as possible. It's a shame when it ends by the gate at Barf End Gate.<br />
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The view from here is as lovely as it gets.<br />
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The fun isn't over though - through the gate is a wide, grassy track that looks like it's been mowed and rolled, reminiscent of riding on a golf course. This works its way at a fairly high pace down to another gate in a wall. Normally we go straight ahead through this gate, but today we're in for a real treat, a new entry into the Top Descents section. We cut sharp right at the wall and drop down the bridleway to Gunnerside, a plummet that loses us 500 feet in about 3/4 of a mile! It has a bit of everything - swooping grassy track, loose stony stuff, a few drops, some nice humps that you can get a decent jump off (you've got to love Stewart, he can't help but shout "woo hoo" every time he grabs some air, so you know what's happening even when he's behind you), narrow sections of track between walls, even a few walkers thrown in to make it "interesting" (caution advised at all times!) It all just flows so well, you never want it to end. It's all over in three minutes.<br />
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After this it becomes relatively boring, though never entirely so in this part of the world with its stunning scenery as far as the eye can see. We head south from Gunnerside to cross the Swale and then turn left onto the road to Crackpot, another of the wonderful names you find out in these dales. Two miles of roadwork takes us to Crackpot where we turn left and do another three miles on road and "track" before turning off road again proper, to the left, just past Browna Gill Bridge.<br />
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For much of this last section of the route we've been just above the river, this next section takes us right by it. A fast descent down a good grassy track that traces the side of the hill brings us to within a few feet of the river and a lovely bit of riverside single track that skims by trees and judders over roots. Briefly it becomes a cobbled pavement that rattles you to the core before eventually becoming singletrack again.<br />
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Eventually the track branches away at 45 degrees to the river to cross a field (just before you get to the picturesque suspension footbridge that crosses the river). Through a few gates and across a few more fields and we emerge on the road into Grinton. Left in the village, over the river and back to Reeth via the road. It's been a fantastic ride, one of the best we've done in an area that has a load of great routes!<br />
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<b><i>Reeth - Surrender Ground - Bunton Hush - Gunnerside</i></b>:<br />
21.5 miles, 3000' of ascent in 4 hours dead, 1 1/2 of which were spent stood still!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com1Reeth, North Yorkshire, UK54.388612407573511 -1.942868828773498554.388417407573513 -1.9433248287734985 54.388807407573509 -1.9424128287734985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-20944168260603291432010-04-25T23:50:00.000-07:002010-04-26T13:55:01.559-07:00Danby - Glaisdale Rigg - FryupNo Tony this week so the route planning was down to me. I adopted a bit of a "join the dots" approach, choosing as many steep off-road downhills as I could reasonably fit in and joining them together with (by and large) on-road climbs. It's an approach that sounds OK in theory, but is not guaranteed to provide a satisfying ride in terms of variability (and suitability) of terrain and scenery. In practice I struck lucky and ended up with a ride that had a bit of everything - some lung busting climbs (one of them an excellent off-roader), two of the finest off-road descents in the area, a previously unridden bridleway and copious amounts of mud.<br />
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Four of us set off from Danby Moors Centre car park, heading up into the village where we turned left. Down the road, under the railway bridge, sweeping round to the right before eventually forking left at Ainthorpe. Up the road past the tennis courts, we eventually turn off right onto the bridleway that goes up onto Ainthorpe Rigg.<br />
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We'd no sooner gone through the gate that leads onto the moor proper than we had to stop. I thought I'd seen enough of mechanical breakdowns with last Thursday's <a href="http://mtbguisborough.ning.com/profiles/blogs/bike-maintenance-with-steve" target="_blank">debacle in Guisborough woods</a>, but no, they were to strike us again. Sam's rear dérailleur cable had snapped, frayed away where it clamps to the mech. Fortunately we were able to free up enough slack to re-clamp the cable, leaving Sam with only the four lowest gears to choose from, but given the amount of climbing I'd planned into this route that was three more gears than he'd need.<br />
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Off we went again, up the climb to the top of Ainthorpe Rigg, one of the nicest off-road climbs around. It's pretty steady, not so steep as to be unrideable, just enough to be "challenging" and with a variety of step-ups, gullies, ruts and rocks to make it very interesting.<br />
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Once at the top it was the first of our good descents, the drop down Crossley Side, one of our favourites that seems to find itself in most of the rides we do from Danby. No photos this time as it's been <a href="http://mtbyorkshire.blogspot.com/2010/03/sunny-sunday-in-danby.html#Pics" target="_blank">photod to death</a>, so for once for me it was just the full-on enjoyment of taking the descent in one go.<br />
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From the bottom of the descent it's back onto the road, turning right to climb up New Way, the first of our lung-busting road climbs gaining us over 400 feet in just under a mile. At the top of the climb, just as the road bears sharp right, we turn off left for our second big descent. This one drops down a fairly steep but grassy section of hillside to a gate before continuing on, hugging the edge of the hill at first before cutting down it towards another gate.<br />
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Through this and then we skirt around the side of the aptly named Round Hill, dropping down it's flank to cross a field and eventually end up by a gate back out onto the road, our 400 feet lost again in nine brisk minutes.<br />
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We mistakenly go left at the road, but soon realise our mistake and back track, following the road (to the right from the field gate) to Fryup Hall Farm where we bear left and then right, up Street Lane towards the hamlet of Street and our second big road climb of the day. From bottom to top, by the time we reach Glaisdale Rigg, we've gained 600 feet in just over a mile, and felt every single foot of it. It feels, and looks, like the top of the world.<br />
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Turning right at the summit of the climb we go a few hundred yards down the road before taking a bridleway on the left where Glaisdale Rigg joins the road. Here we shoot off to the left along a singletrack amongst the heather. This track becomes so indiscernible that we soon find ourselves off track and have to cut across the moor to get back onto it. What could have been a nice bit of singletrack is spoiled for the moment by having recently been burned, an essential part of moors management. It improve steadily as height is lost before coming to a gate in a wall. Beyond that there is just a dead-straight track down a field, though a couple of gates to the road at the bottom. 500 feet lost once more, not in the most exciting of fashions but hey, they can't all be <a href="http://mtbyorkshire.blogspot.com/p/great-descents.html" target="_blank">Top Descents</a> candidates.<br />
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You know what they say in mountain biking - what comes down must go up - so we're faced with another climb, up Caper Hill. Surely it can't be as bad as the one at Street? Wrong - if anything it feels worse, a fact that is confirmed at the top by the 25% sign - the climb at Street was only graded 20%. Allied to that is the fact that we've already done enough climbing to last a whole month of rides and our legs are starting to complain! By the time we hit the top we've gained another 600 feet and that must surely be it for the day?<br />
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A brief respite at the top as we chat to a guy on a tourer and get our map out to help him with directions before turning right and heading off along the road as far as its junction with the Cut Road Path. Here we turn left but instead of taking that very obvious path we head off at 90 degrees to it in amongst the heather. Two walkers ask us "oh, so that's bridleway is it?" and I'm suspicious of why they're asking. It <b><i>is </i></b>bridleway and perfectly legal for bikes, so I give them a curt "yes" as we continue on our way.<br />
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Part way along this track we see a rare sight - Tim & bike part company and end up in a heap amongst the heather.<br />
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The narrow heathery singletrack ends at a gate through a wall. Beyond this is one of the area's top descents. It starts off in a narrow, rocky gully that is almost always damp to the extent it's almost a stream. This has a few tasty drops, a couple of narrow pedal-catcher sections and a right old boggy bit before it hits a very dry section and turns sharp left. At this point is a triple rock-step. Tim had three goes at it before cleaning it; I had three goes at it before walking it! The body wants to do it, the mind says "no way". Beyond that the trail stays bone dry but steep, grassy and slippery, takes a sharp right down a pretty technical stretch and eventually levels out a bit into a final blast down to a gate.<br />
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Beyond this gate the descent continues - in a stream! This section of trail is almost always wet, literally running with water, and I'm regretting leaving my crud catchers behind as the spray streaks up and muddies my face & glasses.<br />
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We turn right at the road then first left, past Wood End and Raven Hill farms and back to Fryup Hall up a moderately steep climb (180 feet) that after our previous exertions can only be described as an "undulation" - something this small doesn't pass as a hill with us boys!<br />
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Back along roads we've already ridden today we go left at Fryup Hall Farm and back to Stonebeck Gate Farm. Here we turn right onto a bridleway of unknown providence - none of us has ever ridden it before. It proves to be quite a mixed bag - wide, easy farm track at first, a succession of gates sees it gradually deteriorate (or to us, improve) into a more rough and ready cross-country trail. Grassy in parts, it twists its way across the base of the hillside below Danby Crag before entering a wood. This wood has a surprise waiting for us - a quagmire of mud over a foot deep. Thankfully there are stepping stones right across it - if we can ride them. With me at point and Sam (too) close behind, we set off. I'm doing well until near the end when the stepping stones all but vanish beneath the mud and I lose sight of them. The front wheel comes off the stones and embeds itself up to its centre, forcing me to leap from the bike. Sam has no option than to stop/swerve, so it's wet, muddy feet for him too.<br />
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We drag our bikes out of the mud, taking the long, unrideable, but dry and clean route around the last of the mud, and head out of the woods on the remainder of this very varied and quite interesting trail.<br />
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Eventually the trail emerges by Head House Farm, at roughly the same point where our usual route along the top of Danby Crag emerges. We take the concrete farm track down to the road and then follow the road back to The Moors Centre via the shortest, quickest, driest and most hill-free route. We've had enough climbs and enough mud for today and the scones are beckoning. If there are any left!<br />
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Well, back at the tea room there was only one scone left, which Tim snaffled. I had my usual beans on toast, which the waitress informed me she calls "skinheads on a raft"! The staff did their usual job of getting the food out in double quick time (tea was already on the table before I got sat down!) and we nattered about (of all things) wood turning, lathes and general machining as we basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun. It had been a great day's riding.<br />
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<b><i>Danby - Glaisdale Rigg - Fryup</i></b><br />
<b><i>16 miles, 2800' of ascent</i></b> in 3 hours 40, 1 hour 15 of which was spent fixing bikes, chatting, eating, admiring the views and taking photos.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com1Danby, North Yorkshire, UK54.464466409710624 -0.8937281370162963954.464076909710627 -0.89464013701629641 54.464855909710622 -0.89281613701629636tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-41332926696511502902010-04-18T22:00:00.000-07:002010-04-21T00:33:31.260-07:00Castle Bolton - Carperby - RedmireOur luck with the weather was back to normal this week as Sunday was a bit cold and grey compared to the previous few days. At least it didn't look like it was going to rain and the preceding dry spell meant there was unlikely to be much mud.<br />
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Four of us set off from Castle Bolton car park, amongst us Dave who had somehow forgotten his helmet and was going to have to take things very easy, especially on the descents. "Fortunately there aren't any tricky descents" we were told, not something I really like to hear.<br />
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Leaving the car park we set off due west along the very obvious track. This passes through several gates and splashes across no less than three small fords (which were in fact almost totally dry) before passing though one final gate and becoming a more grassy track that heads off across the moor.<br />
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We go straight on at Low Gate and take a sharp left before we get to New Pasture. This takes us down a fairly steep grassy hillside that shows up very well on the elevation profile graph of my flashy new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Edge-Heart-Cadence-Bicycle/dp/B002O0QBN4?ie=UTF8&tag=eatyourcarrot-21&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Garmin Edge 500</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=eatyourcarrot-21&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002O0QBN4" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. In fact it shows that up ahead is what looks like a vertical drop!<br />
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After 200 yards of pretty steep hillside we arrive at the edge of Ponderledge Scar and what would be - if you went straight on - a vertical drop! Amazing stuff this technology. You have to hook right and come back across diagonally to get down it, but what followed was still full-on steep, though being entirely on grass it wasn't too dangerous or tricky - unless you have no helmet!<br />
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A few hundred yards on from the base of Ponderledge Scar we made our first mistake of the day. We should have hung left to stay with the bridleway but stayed straight ahead instead on what was a pretty obvious track. This took us to the wrong side of West End Farm whereupon we were accosted by the farmer who asked us "had we not seen the signs" (we hadn't). In the end he was OK, probably because we're such reasonable people - if we'd have been bolshy we'd have no doubt gotten his goat up (farmer - goat... I should be on the stage). So we cut 100 yards or so left across his farmyard to get back on track - if you're following this route, don't make the same mistake, and if you do, don't get bolshy!<br />
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So out of the farm and onto the road at Carperby, just in time to see the Heritage Bus passing through.<br />
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A right onto the road followed by a couple of left turns have us on Low Lane which eventually we leave for a track that cuts under the old dismantled railway. There's what is quite obviously an old railway bridge taking the track bed over us a little way down the trail.<br />
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The section of track from here on is pretty good, once you get through a few more gates. It becomes quite narrow and "singletrack-y", though it's penned in between a wall and a fence and has a load of twists in it around which may lurk horses or walkers, so we can't open the throttle too much.<br />
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Half way along we make a slight detour of exploration, taking a look at a bridleway that leads down to the river (Ure) to a crossing via stepping stones. One of those "something for another day" options that we suss out from time to time. It's not very promising as the bridleway actually doubles as a stream, with plenty of inopportune rocks and low branches thrown in for good measure. We abandon the exploration and get back on track.<br />
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Our nice narrow green lane eventually ends at Low Thoresby and we continue on through Low Bolton and on to Redmire. We turn left up through the village and keep to the main road up and right to begin climbing the lung-busting hill up to the top of Preston Scar. This gains us 500 feet in just over a mile and we're happy to rest in the huge Tank Turning Area at the top for Go Bars and Brazilian Mix.<br />
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A slight downhill then, as we continue along the road, but it's short-lived as we turn off to the left onto the track up to Cranehow Bottom and beyond. This is a long, long drag uphill, but thankfully not too steep and not too loose.<br />
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At Cranehow Bottom we (I say "we", but I mean "Tony") make our second mistake of the day. "We" decide to try out the track that goes over to The Height Of Brownseat. It's one of those tracks that he's never done before and always wanted to. Well, after a mile or so of heather-bashing with no visible track in sight it ends up in the corner of a moor between two walls. Beyond each wall is yet more heather and still no sign of a discernible track.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S84gX7pv-xI/AAAAAAAAEVA/81sMdKfTkYk/s1600/Castle+Bolton+18-04-2010+12-51-40.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S84gX7pv-xI/AAAAAAAAEVA/81sMdKfTkYk/s400/Castle+Bolton+18-04-2010+12-51-40.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Heather bashing.</i></div><br />
There are, however, some quite queer animal traps perched at intervals along the wall. Smallish arched cages with an entrance at one end and a spring trap - like a mousetrap but bigger and stronger - in the middle. I set one off with a twig to see what it was like and it disintegrated the twig. Really evil.<br />
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We tracked along the wall for a while until it came close to the road, lobbed our bikes and ourselves over it and got ourselves back on track. For Tony & Dave that meant a left on the road then right at the next track along to Dent's House. For me and Sam it was the longer trip, right on the road, down to Ridley Hush then turn left onto the track up to The Heights Of Greets. Second time I've done this climb in 3 weeks and it doesn't get any easier. Drier than last time but still by no means dry, it's an energy-sapping drag up the moss, grass and water covered hillside.<br />
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Thankfully it's all downhill after this (well, almost). A full speed pelt down to Dent's House, down that weird track I described last time that seems to somehow defeat your suspension and give you loads of kickback. By the time we got to the end of it I had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_white_finger">vibration white finger</a> and cramp in my thighs.<br />
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A slight climb now to the top of Black Hill and then it's full speed ahead. Plumetting down the grassy track from the summit for what must be one of the fastest off-road descents around, a few muddy bomb-holes and a large group of walkers being the only cause of consternation as we descended all the way back to Castle Bolton.<br />
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We didn't much fancy the tea room at Castle Bolton so it was off to Leyburn and The Posthorn for afters. Friendly service as always, scrambled eggs on toast, chunky scones fresh from the oven and a huge pot of tea. Lovely.<br />
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<b><i>Castle Bolton - Carperby - Redmire</i></b><br />
<b><i>16.7 miles, 2100' of ascent</i></b> in 3hrs 22mins, of which roughly 1 hour was spent stood still, either eating, being chastised by farmers or trying to find a way out of dead-end tracks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Castle Bolton, North Yorkshire, UK54.322267871488279 -1.951575279235839854.321485871488278 -1.95339927923584 54.32304987148828 -1.9497512792358398tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-72295007950492070892010-04-04T20:43:00.000-07:002010-04-13T02:22:07.651-07:00Marske: Assault On Fremington EdgeHow would the weather treat us today? The forecast had been all over the place for the three days leading up to this ride, promising anything from sunshine to a little bit of drizzle and the day as we set off was looking "changeable".<br />
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Five of us set off from the small car park in Marske, heading west along the road before turning off left about a mile into it onto the bridleway to Hollins Farm. We had a bit of puzzling when we got to the farmyard, trying to figure out if we go in front of or round the buildings. Asking the farmer reveals that we go round them, but that the way ahead is "pretty shitty". At this point we don't realise just how literally or severely he meant that statement!<br />
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So round the farm buildings we go, through a gate to come out into a field that is basically just liquid cow slurry. It's up past our ankles, green, smelly and too deep and slippery to ride - and the last thing you'd want to risk is falling off in it. To make matters worse there's a whole herd of cows with very small calves blocking our path. We skirt around them, taking to the deeply ploughed and rutted field, treading nervously as the cows start bellowing defensively.<br />
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Eventually we're past them, it's taken us 12 minutes to negotiate 100m of field and we all need to stop at the first available puddle to wash what we can of the green slime from our feet and bikes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7r9QE7EjOI/AAAAAAAAEMI/pDmoB9Uq58w/s1600/DSCF3244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7r9QE7EjOI/AAAAAAAAEMI/pDmoB9Uq58w/s400/DSCF3244.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Horrid green slime!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>After a few more gates we progress a little faster now, with the short and speedy descent down to the road, remembering to keep our mouths firmly shut as green debris flies up off our tyres. Right at the road then sharp right just a few yards on, onto a bridleway that skirts the river Swale. It's a picturesque spot and I'm eyeing up the river for an opportunity to dip the whole bike in and give it a good clean. No suitable spot emerges though.<br />
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At Low Oxque we start another long, slow climb/push up a muddy, rutted farm track that gives little grip and pass through yet more gates. Already this ride is being dubbed "the ride of a thousand gates" and with all the mud, slurry, gates and pushing, so far it isn't high on our list of favourite rides!<br />
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Once at the top of the hill there's an interesting traverse along the side of it. Clinging to a path just a few inches wide we follow the edge of the hill before gradually working our way down to the track below. It was a tricky little section and quite fun, but despite having two GPS units and at least one person who's ridden it before, we've taken the wrong track and gone a bit "illegal". We should have stayed higher up, nearer the wall where the track is more obvious and easier.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sAt-OY8WI/AAAAAAAAEMg/eB3a2GIRYAc/s1600/DSCF3254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sAt-OY8WI/AAAAAAAAEMg/eB3a2GIRYAc/s400/DSCF3254.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>We were all off-track, none more so than Stewart!</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Once down at the base of the hill we followed the track past Nun Cote Nook to emerge at the road, where we had a brief stop for some carbo loading. Only five miles in and already we were snacking.<br />
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So off we head to Marrick, looking forward now to the delights of the climb up to Fremington Edge. At Marrick we miss a turning just before Helmsley House and have to back track, eventually taking the correct route, a narrow, rutted and slippery track between two stone walls. The proximity of the walls means it's not somewhere you really want to lose it!<br />
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Bearing right at the end of this track we follow the byway past Marrick Abbey, staying parallel to the river until we reach the road at Ewelop Hill.There's a lot of walkers about, many of them carrying painted Easter eggs, perhaps there was some event on at the abbey.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S8I7KY2rimI/AAAAAAAAESU/wEqNB-aNfh0/s1600/P4040387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S8I7KY2rimI/AAAAAAAAESU/wEqNB-aNfh0/s400/P4040387.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Just before the road junction at Low Fremington we turn right, up a steep path to rejoin the road a few yards up. We follow this road now for as far as it goes. The tarmac eventually begins to break up before vanishing completely to leave a track of loose stone. Welcome to the hell that is The Climb Up Fremington Edge.<br />
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If you're fit enough, it's all rideable (though none of us managed it this time, "photo stops" got the better of me. I'm determined to try again later in the year). The tarmac section is "easy", the looser sections more troublesome, easier if you can stay clear of loose stuff by sticking to the edges of the track. The very loose and rocky bit at the top is the biggest challenge and having ridden/pushed so far it seemed a shame not to be going down it! So I did, taking on the most interesting 300m section and then having to come back up again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sFP23sXpI/AAAAAAAAENQ/gNbPnOuBDv8/s1600/DSCF3265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sFP23sXpI/AAAAAAAAENQ/gNbPnOuBDv8/s400/DSCF3265.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>It was a fine effort by Sam.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It's quite a nice feeling to be riding past people who are having trouble just walking it! This climb goes straight in at No. 1 in my "Most Challenging Climbs" list. At the top we stopped for more food, including Easter eggs courtesy of Tony, and some interesting chat with some walkers who were up on holiday from Southampton.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S8I7SV4iouI/AAAAAAAAESc/wxAgzMlNql0/s1600/P4040406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S8I7SV4iouI/AAAAAAAAESc/wxAgzMlNql0/s400/P4040406.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A well earned rest at the top!</i></div><br />
Setting off once more we crossed Marrick Moor towards Hurst. Half way across we met a renegade group of Muddybums, a couple who haven't been out with us for a while and one who's usually a regular (a further one had had to abandon due to bike failure). Apparently the thought of the climb <b><i>up </i></b>Fremington edge had led to this mutiny, they much preferred the thought of going <b><i>down </i></b>it!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sGq9cr3jI/AAAAAAAAENc/9CUA967j1vE/s1600/DSCF3271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sGq9cr3jI/AAAAAAAAENc/9CUA967j1vE/s400/DSCF3271.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Renegades to the left, regulars to the right</i>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The area around Hurst is one of my favourites with its mining spoil and picturesque disused chimneys. It also provides us with a much needed high-speed descent - there's been far too much uphill lately!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sHY9DKn3I/AAAAAAAAENk/p4mgTmZlhrk/s1600/DSCF3272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sHY9DKn3I/AAAAAAAAENk/p4mgTmZlhrk/s400/DSCF3272.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
On reaching the road we turn right and keep with it through Washfold, going down and over the very picturesque Goat's Bridge.<br />
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Up the other side of the valley and we're eventually at a crossroads and a decision point. The original route was going to go right here, down to Helwith, along to Telfit Farm and crossing Marske Beck at Orgate Bridge. I'd spotted a track that crossed some altogether steeper contour lines though, and was prepared to form my own mutinous breakaway group, but in the end it was decided we'd all go that way. So off we went, staying with the road we'd come along as it bears left, dropping down and over the beck at the head of the valley where it hairpins right and continuing on through the MOD "Danger Area". Eventually, after the woods and farm buildings on the right, we turned off onto a bridleway that appears to have been landmined!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sKekDWNYI/AAAAAAAAENw/TMmXS-XFu6c/s1600/DSCF3279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S7sKekDWNYI/AAAAAAAAENw/TMmXS-XFu6c/s400/DSCF3279.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Let's hope our navigation skills are up to it!</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The track begins as a dead straight farm track then turns 45 degrees left after passing through the first wall and becomes quite indistinct singletrack, though there's enough on the ground to work out where your supposed to be going. Just as well, considering the warning signs we saw earlier!<br />
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After passing through the gate at the far end of this track it becomes a bit more indistinct, but thankfully by now we're out of the Danger Area, and just as well as we weave aimlessly across the moor before spotting the gate in the far corner and making a beeline for that. Well, we're at the top of those steep contour lines now, so what lies ahead is a feast of fun, but not before we take in the magnificent views across the valley.<br />
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Off we go, speeding down the undulating grassy track as it hugs the hillside down towards the valley bottom. A little too much speed almost sees me parking in one of the disused out-buildings near Orgate Farm, but skilful bike handling has me back on track and whooping it up! A few lumpy sections give us the chance to catch some air, but at this speed the fun doesn't last long and in under 3 minutes we're back on level ground.<br />
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On past Orgate Farm and into Clint's Wood for one last chance to get the bike nice and muddy. We emerge onto the road in Marske, looping round to the right on this to end up back at our cars.<br />
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After the inauspicious start, where we bust our lungs on a steep road climb simply for the honour of immersing ourselves in cow dung, it's been a great ride. When the sun shines on this corner of the world, it's hard to beat. Most of the climbs have been tough, Fremington Edge <b><i>very </i></b>tough, and the downhills have been short and undemanding, but it's been fun and surprisingly none of us are reporting undue aches or strains. Being out 6 weekends in a row is obviously starting to pay off.<br />
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For afters we try the tearoom in Marske that we just spotted as we rode by, The Lodge Tearoom. Set in a large conservatory attached to an even larger house, and with a large garden too, it's a very welcoming place. No scones for the scone lovers amongst us (i.e. all of us) but the Yorkshire Rarebit was the best I'd ever had and the bacon buns, chocolate cake and custard pie seemed to go down well with the others.<br />
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<b><i>Marske - Marrick - Fremington Edge - Hurst</i></b><br />
<b><i>18 miles, 2700' of ascent</i></b> in 4 1/2 hours, with quite a few lengthy stops!<br />
<i>(I seriously think I'd avoid Hollins Farm in anything but the most prolonged of dry spells and head south on the road out of Marske and pick up our route beside the river at Sour Nook)</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com3Marske, Richmond, UK54.3992376 -1.841578754.3492726 -1.9583081999999998 54.4492026 -1.7248492tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-22941269335188867952010-03-28T14:14:00.000-07:002010-04-07T01:02:21.605-07:00Tough Day Out!We did a route much like this <a href="http://mtbyorkshire.blogspot.com/2009/06/square-corner-scugdale-bilsdale.html">back in June</a>, it was 27 miles long and had 3500' of climb. I was dead at the end of it, it was long and it was tough. At <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966;">only </span></i>20 miles and 2500' of climb, this shorter route somehow managed to be no less tough and I ended up feeling no less dead!<br />
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Seven of us set off from Square Corner (where we are greeted by the sight of no less than 14 MTBers heading off up Black Hambleton - we wonder if we'll bump into them again) and headed back down the road towards Osmotherley, turning off road (to the right) by Solomon's Temple to take High Lane. A few yards after the gate we turn 90degrees left to go through a cattle grid/gate that leads into the woods and down to the reservoir. An early chance to get a bit of speed up, though it's almost ruined by a playful Golden Retriever who thinks retrieving mountain bikes looks like big fun!<br />
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Over the head of the dam and out onto the road on the other side. Six of us turn left, one (Tony) turns right - the climb to the top of Beacon Hill will be a climb he doesn't need, so he's giving it a miss. Probably a wise move, last time up there he almost got mated by a frisky bull.<br />
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The climb up to Beacon Hill via Swinestye Farm is uneventful, not too tough and thankfully there are no frisky bulls today. A chance for some proper speed now as we head down the Cleveland Way across Scarth Wood Moor. I love this bit of track, it's nicely flagged in places where it needs to be (though these can be treacherous when wet) and the drainage channels are not too huge. You can get a fair lick of speed up if there are no walkers about - and today there aren't!<br />
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Once at the road we do a left, then take a right after about 500 yards to head into Clain Wood. A gentle tootle through the wood brings us to a scenic viewpoint on our left, beside which is a set of widely spaced wooden steps that drops down the hillside. These were a nightmare on my hardtail, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Sparky handles them. I shoot off, Neil close behind, and it's fantastic not to feel every lumpy bump as we shoot down the steps. The descent is one long blur of speed until finally it's over and we're at the bottom. I stop to take some shots of the others coming down and realise something ain't quite right... My front quick-release has jarred itself loose and the front wheel is just sitting in the cups! Lucky there wasn't another dozen steps or it would have been another job for The Great North Air Ambulance!<br />
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Right at the bottom we follow the track between the fenceline and the edge of the woods, keeping more-or-less straight ahead until we emerge into fields of sheep. We track directly across these, encountering our first (but certainly not the last) gloop of the day as we approach Harfa Bank Farm. Swinging a left here, we continue on the track past Harfa House (what use is Harfa House? geddit?) to eventually emerge at the road. We turn right and follow this up to Raikes Farm and Scugdale Hall, where Neil decides to have a flatty. Prepared as ever, he has tubes but no pump because "he knew someone else would have one". Oh, if we all thought that way... It's quite a quick repair, about half the time it took him last time, and we find the mother of all thorns (and half a branch) embedded in his tyre.<br />
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On we go, ignoring the first bridleway that comes down at 90degrees from Barker Crags and go a bit further on to swing left onto a track that looks a bit like it says No Cycles but actually says No Vehicles - Cycles.<br />
The No Vehicles portion of the sign has obviously been ignored big-style because the whole trail is really churned up, either by 4x4, Quad Bikes, Scrambler Bikes or all three. It's a right mess, quite sad to see really, and prompted me to start a new section of this blog "<a href="http://mtbyorkshire.blogspot.com/p/most-damaged-trails.html">Most Damaged Trails</a>".<br />
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We trudge up the hill, having to push almost the entire way, avoiding trenches that are almost a foot deep in places to eventually emerge on Barker's Ridge.<br />
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A brief stop here for Go Bars, sheltering behind a wall from the icy gale that's sprung up, and then we're off again, semi wind-propelled as we tackle Barker's Ridge, eventually bearing left at a three-way junction to Green Howe. This is the highest point of the ride and the slight downward gradient beyond it gets the better of us and we have to track back to a missed turn-off. Not that missing it was any great surprise, there's absolutely no trail to see on the ground. This is where the bridleway crosses the shooting track at Wether Hill. Neil and I go for it, just following the GPS track while the others track further back and try to find something more obvious. A few minutes of heather bashing eventually brings us to a more obvious bit of trail - the map here doesn't match what's on the ground at all.<br />
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This is a sweet little descent down to Head House. Narrow singletrack with the odd hidden rock and pothole to keep you on your toes.<br />
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From Head House it's a brief plummet down the track to the valley bottom then the long drag back up to the top again, bearing round to the left as we go and eventually joining the track that we just left some 30 minutes earlier. Sharp right here and we're into another section of ruined track, though this one's ruined for a purpose. They're currently digging it up and laying drainage pipes in it, which will help in the future but for now it just makes for an unpleasant quagmire of mud.<br />
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We stay with this track right up to Bilsdale Transmitter. Finally we're here, a landmark that we have seemingly been approaching for hours without it ever getting nearer.<br />
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At this point we meet the 14 MTBers who'd been going up The Mad Mile. It turns out they're from Swaledale Outdoor Club, and although one of them asks us if we're The Muddybums he doesn't go on to explain why he thinks that or what the relevance of his question is. It leaves us wondering. How did he know...?<br />
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Leaving the transmitter we head down to Low Thwaites, a steady descent though into the face of a howling gale that saps your speed and has you pedalling even though you're losing height! At Low Thwaites we turn off the main track, sharp right to take a bridleway none of us have ever done before. It falls steadily down the hillside on a track of grass that appears to have been especially mown to show where the track is.<br />
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It's not too challenging, though there is the odd unexpected drop, but it gets steeper, trickier and altogether more "interesting" as it approaches the stream in the valley bottom.<br />
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Feet get wet as we ford the stream and push our bikes back up the the other side. We mount up again, but there's consternation. A gaggle of riders has gathered around Neil's bike. all taking a close look at some kind of problem. Has "Bike Maintenance Neil" struck again? Well I don't think he could be blamed this time, no amount of lube, cleaning and preparation was going to stop his frame from cracking! Yep, yet another<a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=commencal+frame+crack"> cracked Commencal frame</a>.<br />
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A short road section takes us from Lane House to Locker Low Wood. At this point 3 of our group decide they've had enough fun for one day. Neil's busted bike, Sam's cramping legs and Howard's In-Laws provide sufficient excuse for them to take the easy route home, staying with the road all the way back to Square Corner. For the rest of us the delights of Locker Low Moor await. It's renowned as "a bit of a mare" when wet, and wet is how we expected to be. We were pleasantly surprised, damp but not too wet, its long but fairly gentle technical climb was quite enjoyable. I still think I'd enjoy it more as a downhill though.<br />
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Passing through Dale Head, now being heavily restored, it's an easier, less technical trail but my legs have just about had enough. Having stopped to take one last photo I find it impossible to catch the group up again, not even Tony. Yes, it was <b><i>that </i></b>bad.<br />
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The track eventually emerges back onto the road where it's a left turn and a gentle last half mile back to the car park. Nowhere really to go for scones around here since Chequers closed. Osmotherley is the only option but that's just way too packed. In fact just driving through it was a nightmare of constant reversing and squeezing by. So straight off home for a bath and a rest, my thighs aching as I drove back, telling me just what a tough ride this had been.<br />
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<b><i>Square Corner - Scugdale - Bilsdale - Locker Low Moor:</i></b><br />
<b><i>20 miles, 2600ft of ascent, 4 hours.</i></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com2Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, UK54.356556262089562 -1.26342773437554.331547762089563 -1.321792734375 54.38156476208956 -1.205062734375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-42764090780930425392010-03-21T23:00:00.000-07:002010-04-07T01:59:01.795-07:00Apedale The Wrong WayAnother lovely sunny Sunday saw us over in Reeth for the first time since we ventured out in the snow back in late December. The lovely weather had brought out the crowds and Reeth was teeming, unfortunately it hadn't brought out many of our squad and only three of us were doing this ride! Apparently we'd done much of this ride before, more than once, but always in the other direction. Today we were doing it "the wrong way", just for a change.<br />
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We started with a short road section from Reeth to Grinton, just long enough to warm up the legs ready for the slog ahead. Taking the Grinton to Redmire road we climbed and climbed and climbed. It seemed like it would never end, every time a welcoming looking bridleway left the road we'd pass it by and continue climbing. It was a climb to sort the men from the boys, and fortunately only men had turned up, the boys had decided to stay at home today.<br />
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Eventually, after about 1.5 miles of road climb, we took a bridleway off to the right. This didn't make life any easier, as the gradient stayed the same but was now on damp, slippery, energy-sapping grass instead of lovely tarmac. Eventually, after a total of 1100' in 2.5 miles, we reached the summit at The Height Of Greets. 1100', that was half of the day's total climbing done on the first hill!<br />
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Well, if this was the summit then the only way from here was down! Down we went to Dent's House, 500' of descent on fast, stony double track. There was some strange undulation going on here, a series of small, sharp bumps that reverberated through your arms despite the fork's best efforts and it felt really wierd. I guess I don't have my fork set for optimal <a href="http://small%20bump%20compliance%20rockshox/">small bump compliance</a>, and Neil reported the same sensation.<br />
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First photos of the day at the bottom of this descent and then it was off again, though not straight back up as I'd expected, but a right turn and a little bit of (almost) flat before the climb steepened again up to Apedale Head.<br />
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From Apedale Head it's another fast plummet, not quite as fast as the last one because of the twisting nature of the track (though it looks straight on the map!) but all the more interesting for that and with a nice little splash through a ford near the end. The attention I'd paid to the "How To Keep Speed In Corners" section of the <a href="http://www.bikemagic.com/bike-reviews/dirt-school-dvd/6666.html">Dirt School DVD</a> had obviously paid off as I had to wait a fair while for Neil to arrive at the bottom. Nothing compared to how long we waited for Tony. I had my phone out and was calling Dales Mountain Rescue when he eventually appeared, quoting "loads of photo stops" though knowing Tony this probably meant "fell off".<br />
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A brief lunch stop and then off again, taking the tarmac to the right as we followed the road to Grinton for about half a mile before taking a bridleway on the right. This starts off quite easy going but eventually turns into a right slog as you work your way at 45 degrees through a field towards a gate in the far corner. It's uphill, riddled with molehills and covered in half dead vegetation. It's horrible. Beyond the gate it doesn't get much better and soon we were all off and pushing as we trampled through the worst of the heather on a barely discernible track.<br />
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Glad to be able to get back in the saddle (I hate pushing) we joined the main track running along to Harkerside. Half a mile of easy going brought us to Blue Hill where we were saying goodbye to Tony for now. I was going to introduce Neil to the delights of "The Pipeline" and given Tony's variety of skeleto-muscular problems and his propensity for falling off, he'd decided not to risk this part of the route. So off we went, another lung busting climb (though thankfully short at only a couple of hundred feet) took us to the start of the bridleway to The Pipeline. This is just about the most indistinct bit of track we ever ride, and even locked onto the GPS trail we still had no idea where we were supposed to be headed. Sam has an uncanny knack of being able to ride straight to the start of the descent, without him Neil & I weaved about a bit until we found the cistern, the man-made landmark that marks the starting point.<br />
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Seats down and off we went. The pipe seemed even more vicious than usual, determined to send you off in directions you didn't want to go as you switched sides to keep away from the worst of the rocks. Part way down we hit an unexpected hazard - snow. A shady gully harboured a patch of soft, deep snow that came up to your nadgers and meant that cleaning The Pipeline was out of the question today.<br />
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After a bit of a lark about in what is hopefully the last snow we'll see this year, we set off again. I got an action sequence of Neil taking on one of the tricker, rockier sections of trail, one of those bits where you just know that any sort of fall is going to hurt. A lot. I love the way his facial expressions seems to change from coolness to concentration to panic in the space of a few seconds.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6lAe7_xV1I/AAAAAAAAD94/dFF7DUMyHyM/s1600-h/DSCF3180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="center" border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6lAe7_xV1I/AAAAAAAAD94/dFF7DUMyHyM/s400/DSCF3180.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Coolness</i></b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6lAqaY289I/AAAAAAAAD-A/O9ocmZ6e_DM/s1600-h/DSCF3182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="center" border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6lAqaY289I/AAAAAAAAD-A/O9ocmZ6e_DM/s400/DSCF3182.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Concentration</i></b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6lA3Jb0B6I/AAAAAAAAD-I/IInz1saaDqQ/s1600-h/DSCF3183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="center" border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6lA3Jb0B6I/AAAAAAAAD-I/IInz1saaDqQ/s400/DSCF3183.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Panic</i></b></div><br />
He admitted later that "he was a bit scared". The Eston Mountain Man, scared of a few sharp rocks! Off we went to complete the lower section of the descent, nothing sharp in the way anymore, just a nice, fairly speed heather singletrack with a few hidden boulders. The whole thing was big fun, I love The Pipeline.<br />
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Nothing left now but the road back to Reeth, starting with the almost 40mph tarmac downhill to Grinton. If not for the narrow bends and the danger of cars coming the other way this could be one of the fastest downhill sections anywhere.<br />
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A quick change back at the car then for me & Tony it's off to <a href="http://www.dalesbikecentre.co.uk/">The Dales Bike Centre</a> for scones and a latte. For Neil it's off to work, no rest for the wicked. First scones of the year for The Bike Centre, and a damn fine effort.<br />
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<b><i>Reeth - Apedale - Harkerside:</i></b><br />
<b><i>14.1 Miles, 2262' of up/down, 3 hours dead.</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6ovv6YSbRI/AAAAAAAAD-o/N5pOhiRHMgs/s1600/Profile.jpg" target="_blank">View Elevation Profile</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Reeth, Richmond, Yorkshire, UK54.3895446 -1.942858754.289590600000004 -2.1763182 54.4894986 -1.7093992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-55174482044153992212010-03-07T05:40:00.000-08:002010-04-26T13:44:55.485-07:00Sunny Sunday In DanbyFinally we got some good weather this weekend. All week it had been lovely and when that happens you usually just KNOW it's going to be rubbish come Sunday. But for once the weather surprised us, and we got full sun from start to finish. This really brought the crowds out and we had 10 people on our ride, including 2 first-timers (first time with us anyway) and no fewer than 3 long-term absentees making a welcome return to the fold.<br />
<div>We set off from Danby Moors Centre and began with the climb up Park Bank towards Danby Beacon, a nice tough road climb to get us all warmed up.</div><div>We turn off left for a traverse along the moor by Castleton Pits to eventually come out at the road past Clitherbeck Farm. We then turn right onto the road and follow it for a short way to the point where it bears sharp right, at which point we turn sharp left. Here we come across an example of the harm that taking 4x4s onto the moors can do. The track here is so deeply rutted and filled with water that it's impassable, even by 4x4s, so all vehicles, bikes and people have started taking wide detours to the side, leading to more erosion off the actual trail. The "pond" was actually totally frozen over. I was hoping Tony would try to ride it.</div><div>"Not thick enough", said Sam.</div><div>"Tony or the pond?" I enquired.</div><div>So having negotiated this obstacle we track across Gerrick Moor to eventually reach the road at Three Howes Rigg where we go straight across, initially staying on the road before swooping off onto the bridleway that leads down towards the railway near Commondale station.</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/Vhhgpn26QuU7i5lgoQXAxo9NsbCUKLV1YsjkCLmgWikRgzAQKNkabHWmuOlN3kQ0kCRbG000SVN-yy3xm6G9w*vB07-VI*kq/DSCF3107.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Vhhgpn26QuU7i5lgoQXAxo9NsbCUKLV1YsjkCLmgWikRgzAQKNkabHWmuOlN3kQ0kCRbG000SVN-yy3xm6G9w*vB07-VI*kq/DSCF3107.JPG?width=300" /></a></div></div><div>We follow this, staying parallel to the railway, all the way to Castleton where we hit the road once again. A Left/Right at Castleton puts us onto Wandels Lane, around the back of Danby Low Moor. A left turn from this takes us onto the bridleway to Rowantree Farm and some exceptionally sticky mud. We'd done well to be largely mud-free up to now, a result partly of the ground still being frozen in some of the potentially muddiest places. No such luck here though, the mud stuck with a vengeance, increasing our tyre diameters by a couple of inches and dragging against the crowns of our forks. Once off the track and into the farmyard we bounced our bikes along, practicing bunny-hops in a desperate attempt to shed the extra few kg's of unwelcomed weight we'd just gained!</div><div><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/Vhhgpn26QuWCAw5NXIndh0hlAe8xohKnFxyzpyjxwHV5muu9i1n*i5eM7yLGNB9WuyvEeOpKcZYoOOzGn7C97-E7l0nFZeka/DSCF3114.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Vhhgpn26QuWCAw5NXIndh0hlAe8xohKnFxyzpyjxwHV5muu9i1n*i5eM7yLGNB9WuyvEeOpKcZYoOOzGn7C97-E7l0nFZeka/DSCF3114.JPG?width=300" /></a></div><div><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/Vhhgpn26QuWCAw5NXIndh0hlAe8xohKnFxyzpyjxwHV5muu9i1n*i5eM7yLGNB9WuyvEeOpKcZYoOOzGn7C97-E7l0nFZeka/DSCF3114.JPG" target="_blank"></a>Eventually we came out at the Danby-Ainthorpe road. Here we lost 3 of our group, 2 who were having mechanical problems and decided to take the quick way back to Danby, and another who was feeling the pace a bit in his first ride with us for quite a while. The rest of us turned right for a few metres of road work before turning right once more for the technical climb up to Ainthorpe Rigg. This track was noticeably more difficult than usual, having suffered a good deal of erosion since the last time we did it.</div><div><a name="Pics"></a>Once we made the top, what lay ahead was one of our favourite descents. Steep, rocky and droppy at the top it turns narrow and technical a bit further down before finally opening up into a fast and furious finish down to the road. It made a good spot to take some action shots (click for larger images).</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/zNnOrQd3xulFVEFdNdmRErykB5--v0T7Jsex2XF7rRS5xafzbOjnBS9e9g09qb3grgwIrDnuMVvQZjE3YuLyZl4Duwn-3FTf/Neil5.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/zNnOrQd3xulFVEFdNdmRErykB5--v0T7Jsex2XF7rRS5xafzbOjnBS9e9g09qb3grgwIrDnuMVvQZjE3YuLyZl4Duwn-3FTf/Neil5.JPG?width=180" /></a><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/W4EckLwGioMHnGUzv*iE2qoXouuVwlgTMlbc0hNxCF7iRmQqxpvyICFWKP-Ws4CqFfgEdhCFTz6-ySRsGt4u9aSFE3cnkjK1/DSCF3130.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/W4EckLwGioMHnGUzv*iE2qoXouuVwlgTMlbc0hNxCF7iRmQqxpvyICFWKP-Ws4CqFfgEdhCFTz6-ySRsGt4u9aSFE3cnkjK1/DSCF3130.JPG?width=180" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/W4EckLwGioMZ5Cg722D89NuSgPfqRJiTA0jfhxqNX0P7QDCQbjAD6VxW6Krpk32vhg9BLRE7Sk1FvZ5cHNmVDphKKnEXnTnM/DSCF3126.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/W4EckLwGioMZ5Cg722D89NuSgPfqRJiTA0jfhxqNX0P7QDCQbjAD6VxW6Krpk32vhg9BLRE7Sk1FvZ5cHNmVDphKKnEXnTnM/DSCF3126.JPG?width=180" /></a><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/Zn5sCpe4o9ajeprSolF9PdSBTaFJ7rZE84PO0U964kjia8CG1hA9hPcwcAeCzkrr7bl8wV2uJZ*hELj0xRDNF9Hf3JLHSioH/DSCF3141.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Zn5sCpe4o9ajeprSolF9PdSBTaFJ7rZE84PO0U964kjia8CG1hA9hPcwcAeCzkrr7bl8wV2uJZ*hELj0xRDNF9Hf3JLHSioH/DSCF3141.JPG?width=180" /></a></div></div><div>At the bottom we meet a bunch of motorbikers who are headed UP the bridleway. Illegal and potentially very damaging, it made me realise it was probably more than just the weather to blame for the poor state of the climb we'd just done.</div><div>A short section of roadwork took us onto the bridleway into Walker's Plantation, another potentially unrideable mudfest that was rescued by the fact that the wall at the side of the track cast a shadow, meaning that half of the trail was frozen. We stuck to that half.</div><div>A traverse along the edge of the moor here took us to Danby Crag where we left the moor onto the ridged, concrete farm track. We followed this till it reached the road then continued downhill for a while before realising we'd missed our turning. Back up the hill then, and back off road once more onto a short section of bridleway that brought us back onto the road back to Danby.</div><div>By now no one could be bothered with the final steep road climb that would reward us with a fast but unchallenging downhill back to the very same road we're already on. The lure of the scones was way to strong, so it was just a couple of miles of roadwork back to the Moors Centre. The weight of mud on the bikes and the drag of our tractor-like tyres made this a real slog, except for Laurie who seemed to get some extra energy from somewhere to go sprinting off ahead. The lure of the scones, indeed.</div><div>It was a largely uneventful ride; No one fell off, conditions were excellent and Neil didn't break anything on his bike. Not much for me to write about then!</div><div>Oh, The Dales Centre was out of scones! Damn You!!!</div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i>Danby - Commondale - Castleton 16.6 Miles, 2034ft up/down, 3 1/2 Hours</i></b></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Danby, North Yorkshire, UK54.465298864866 -0.8945059776306152354.464519364866 -0.89632997763061528 54.466078364866 -0.89268197763061519tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-3218534775326923142010-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:002010-04-07T01:59:53.265-07:00Ice Road TruckersWe had no idea what the conditions were like on the moors, especially as there had been a fresh fall of snow on Friday night. As a result I had 3 different routes plotted into the GPS, all starting from Square Corner but going off in different directions.<br />
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It was a fine, sunny day when we set out, so hopes were high. We went down the Hawnby road a little way before taking the shooting track up to Swainby Shooting House.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/tPEuIfkj0G9aqZuD7EPcACMAy5vzDvK*OGWPFks0YziyFDEjwuvIuOHl0aZzVDw4J24scDvbe*aNoXWU-HhihszQ3A7y6HVM/BilsdaleRide31012010215013.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tPEuIfkj0G9aqZuD7EPcACMAy5vzDvK*OGWPFks0YziyFDEjwuvIuOHl0aZzVDw4J24scDvbe*aNoXWU-HhihszQ3A7y6HVM/BilsdaleRide31012010215013.jpg" width="75%" /></a></div><br />
This was a nice bit of track, easy to ride with a thin covering of icy snow. If it was like this all the way then today would be great, though even this track threw up the odd challenge as Neil and I, in unison, crunched through the ice of a puddle to find our wheels grabbed up to their centres and us flying through the air and onto the icy ground. Sam meanwhile just skated over all of the ice, oblivious to the fun and games going on behind him. Icy puddles; something to watch out for on the rest of this ride! We eventually got to "decision time" and decided that as the tracks were easily rideable, the sun was shining and the sky was blue, we'd do the longest, most remote loop of our 3 options, up to Bilsdale transmitter and back down through Arden Hall.<br />
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The further along the track towards the transmitter we got, the worse and worse the snow became. Deeper, softer, and with "hollow" bits underneath where meltwater from the moors had tunneled underneath the snow. Neal went over, and consequently into one of these, a knee deep wheel-catcher full of the wet stuff and hidden by a cunning layer of snow. The most spectacular crash of the day so far, but unknown to us, soon to be bettered!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/tPEuIfkj0G-mnNHq3nQyncn-4Qp53MleI6CYEZsIxxVpJ4hBAwxVrkYw0-BNapdzpAzdOLHZ7OpCP2gFPQ4wr-rU6vACHUlN/BilsdaleRide31012010215045.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tPEuIfkj0G-mnNHq3nQyncn-4Qp53MleI6CYEZsIxxVpJ4hBAwxVrkYw0-BNapdzpAzdOLHZ7OpCP2gFPQ4wr-rU6vACHUlN/BilsdaleRide31012010215045.jpg%20alt=" width="75%" /></a></div><br />
We proceeded even more carefully after this, not wanting to be carrying too much speed into one of these hidden hazards. Not that "too much speed" was much of an option now, the snow was so soft and icy that it was hard to go more than a few meters without sliding to slippery stop again. Unless you're called Sam, who once again powered on ahead unaware of the right dog's dinner me & Neil were making of it. These super-duper mud tyres don't seem quite so good in these conditions. Perhaps it's the wrong type of snow.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/tPEuIfkj0G*U8XDXT*QHCdGg9U0ebMEPuXUgT8eY8jlE*c8gj85aLjEvGVtm74zSAIIbz2o3KZjAsU95VW74yQ-BG7O2XPd7/BilsdaleRide31012010215050.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tPEuIfkj0G*U8XDXT*QHCdGg9U0ebMEPuXUgT8eY8jlE*c8gj85aLjEvGVtm74zSAIIbz2o3KZjAsU95VW74yQ-BG7O2XPd7/BilsdaleRide31012010215050.jpg%20alt=" width="75%" /></a></div><br />
Leaving the transmitter behind meant saying goodbye to the deep snow, but not to the ice. What is usually a good 4km, unchallenging but very fast downhill blast became a careful, sometimes sideways, always scary, tootle!<br />
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Once at the road we had to take the bridleway to Hill End House. We got a little distracted by an interesting looking singletrack climb up Hawnby Hill, hoping that it would lead to an equally interesting downhill at the other side. It didn't, it just led to an alternative farm track down to Hill End House, and later examination of a map showed it to be non-existent and therefore doubtless illegal. Oops!<br />
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The final descent down to the river had a couple of muddy/icy technical sections that were quite fun and we were thankful of the two lovely bridges that took us over the river so we didn't have to get our feet wet.<br />
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Up and out to the road via New Hall and their usual array of wildly barking dogs and we're skirting round Coomb Hill. The road is a bit frosty, and I'm watching Sam riding in the running water at the edge. I'm thinking "that looks a good idea, you know that bit's not frozen, but then again, the watery spray will get my feet cold & wet". Suddenly BANG, Neil goes down on a sheet of solid ice. I'm not sure whether I was always going to go the same way, or if seeing him go down made my fingers twitch on the brakes. Either way BANG, I'm down too, a heavy fall on a solid road, skidding along until I'm in a pile with Neil. For the umpteenth time today Sam glides on, unaware of the debacle behind him. We could barely stand back up, the road was so slippery. A quick check of bikes and bodies revealed nothing broken (though I ached a bit later) and on we went again.<br />
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The climb from Arden Hall is never easy. Give the road a good covering of compressed snow and it becomes, as they say in these parts, "a right bugger!" It was rideable all the way, but when every third pedal stroke results in slippage, and when you can't stand out of the saddle for a bit of respite on the toughest bits, it was slow, tough going.<br />
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We all made it without stopping and plodded on towards the Drove Road.<br />
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I always hate this bit of any route that comes this way. All you really want is the frenetic dash down "The Mad Mile" but prior to that you have a few km of drudgery. It was made a little more interesting this time by the conditions - we had to ride in a 6" deep Land Rover track for a good way up to The Drove Road, which again made the going tough.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/tPEuIfkj0G*YnjyRBwx5sFEaSxA9tuxloZxC03xBVruSJtaLHG5mLKqkRbtwfTYYlNfMm4pW*7XgcHZDKP3EorCSnjbx4g9n/BilsdaleRide31012010215138.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tPEuIfkj0G*YnjyRBwx5sFEaSxA9tuxloZxC03xBVruSJtaLHG5mLKqkRbtwfTYYlNfMm4pW*7XgcHZDKP3EorCSnjbx4g9n/BilsdaleRide31012010215138.jpg%20alt=" width="75%" /></a></div><br />
Once we reached the Drove Road I have to say (I'm not ashamed) I reached down and gave my nads a good cuddle! The lack of opportunity to get up out of the saddle, combined with the cold, had almost cut off circulation! I was just happy to find they were still there and still alive!<br />
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We plodded on towards The Mad Mile, finding more knee-deep poholes in the snow on the way. It was quite incredible and I'd love to know what force of man or nature had created them.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/tPEuIfkj0G9xth*MpuFSqNT-AtOWu0vHFv2cSrasfu*-wOEmcBwInlIrD*LSan-Jq5bEbZ9HRkjtaULU9ci0QCZS8p3ezMKx/BilsdaleRide31012010215147.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/tPEuIfkj0G9xth*MpuFSqNT-AtOWu0vHFv2cSrasfu*-wOEmcBwInlIrD*LSan-Jq5bEbZ9HRkjtaULU9ci0QCZS8p3ezMKx/BilsdaleRide31012010215147.jpg%20alt=" width="75%" /></a></div><br />
The Mad Mile was madder than ever. The larger drops at the top were made all the more interesting by being covered in compressed snow, the drainage gullies that run across it further down were filled with sheet ice and the whole run was done just a tad more nervously than usual - and with a lot smaller jumps than I usually go for.<br />
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So back at the car, the 19 miles covered in just under 4 hours elapsed, an hour of which was spent stationary, taking photos, eating bananas, picking ourselves off the floor and larking about in snow-holes. The state of the trails in the latter part of the ride made it very tough going, we all knew we'd had quite a workout, but that's exactly what we all needed. Good times.<br />
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<b><i>Square Corner - Whorlton Moor - Bilsdale - Black Hambleton: <br />
19 miles, 1900' ascent, 4 Hours</i>.<br />
</b><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4OHWnHm-eS0/S6oJSL6utJI/AAAAAAAAD-g/ztyHbxdbbuU/s1600/Profile.jpg" target="_blank">View Elevation Profile</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, UK54.356756329272393 -1.26342773437554.331747829272395 -1.321792734375 54.381764829272392 -1.205062734375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-35511960325769764422009-12-27T06:18:00.000-08:002010-04-07T02:01:10.598-07:00Snowy Day At The MinesWe'd been dying to do a good snowy ride up Reeth way, but it was looking like conditions would be too snowy to make a ride possible. Info from our friends at <a href="http://www.dalesbikecentre.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Dales Bike Centre</a> and a reccy by intrepid squad member Matt suggested the icy backroads and 3-4 foots snowdrifts would make reaching Old Gang mines nigh on impossible, unless we stuck to main (boring) roads.<br />
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What the hell. We decided to just go and see what we could manage.<br />
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6 of us set off from Reeth village green and headed up the Arkengarthdale road. Nothing too challenging in its constant, gentle climb and we were soon at Langthwaite at which point we turned left onto the minor road to Low Row. This was more interesting - the snowy top-covering had been ploughed off to leave only the icy base layer. Thankfully this wasn't totally glass-like ice and had enough grip in it that we could ride it, albeit slowly and carefully.<br />
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On up the hillside we went, gaining 500 icy feet and taking almost 1/2 an hour to do the mile to the summit (though a chunk of this time was spent taking photos, it was quite spectacular scenery).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/XRUnOVzQJB0tIcVXqtxa2otaKLj5zZzM77t1-Vc-RXU_/Reeth28122009113139.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/XRUnOVzQJB0tIcVXqtxa2otaKLj5zZzM77t1-Vc-RXU_/Reeth28122009113139.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div>At the top the ploughing had come to an abrupt halt, and so therefore had the road. All we could see ahead was fields of snow and we had no idea where the road ought to be. A best guess was to stay close to the wall as we tried our best to make headway in the feet-deep crystallised snow.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/toC3nytWzhG9qXMK8HAltQWUlNFb*sUgOyIvo7ov0lY_/Reeth28122009115718.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/toC3nytWzhG9qXMK8HAltQWUlNFb*sUgOyIvo7ov0lY_/Reeth28122009115718.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div>This had hardened to a degree where it could almost support our bike weights, the tyres only digging in a few inches. With careful weight distribution (keeping the front wheel light so it doesn't plough and dig in) slow progress was possible. The fact it was downhill helped too. In places the snow would become a bit too soft and we'd grind to a halt, this on occasion causing gentle, slow-speed endos with a cold but soft landing in the snow beyond. We all stopped to take pictures of our bikes, standing up on their own, supported by the wheel deep snow, or of the road signs warning of zig-zag bends ahead (road, what road?).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/XRUnOVzQJB2mT*5--iuvmIYhbLrJdIoMaXfxmNWUGMEI9nqgZe7hKLWsvBpoDPMsmksoph6uKTgNp0cTYY0YxMrxSi55sNUw/Reeth28122009120453.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/XRUnOVzQJB2mT*5--iuvmIYhbLrJdIoMaXfxmNWUGMEI9nqgZe7hKLWsvBpoDPMsmksoph6uKTgNp0cTYY0YxMrxSi55sNUw/Reeth28122009120453.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div>Eventually we reached the ford at Fore Gill Gate. All but one of us rode this without problem, but one (there's always one) managed to fall off right in the middle of it. Fortunately he didn't get icy cold water inside his waterproofs, only in one of his gloves.<br />
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A right turn shortly after this took us onto the track up to Old Gang Mines. Thankfully for us a 4x4 or quad bike or something had been up that way and had compressed 2 tyre tracks into the snow. We rode these as best we could, once again getting just enough grip to keep going while trying to keep our trajectories straight enough to stay inside the tyre marks.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/KRlCbNiDyEHcYgY5bWxTL56ZIWR*PGeGYpmUYeokdFJ9OZ2dRobfD0flTy42NRggybQ3js3r*raMkK9ulQemFhqy9nTkWH-y/Reeth28122009123845.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/KRlCbNiDyEHcYgY5bWxTL56ZIWR*PGeGYpmUYeokdFJ9OZ2dRobfD0flTy42NRggybQ3js3r*raMkK9ulQemFhqy9nTkWH-y/Reeth28122009123845.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div>We were rewarded with some spectacular views of the old buildings as mist started to descend on the valley and the weather looked like it was going to make a turn for the worse. This wiped out any thoughts (if we ever had any) that we'd press on to the top and after a 15 minute photo stop we turned tail and headed back down the valley. This was fun and required maximum concentration and a bit of speedway technique to keep the bikes upright and on-track at the relatively high speeds of our gravity-induced descent. I lost it at one point and almost hurtled headlong down the bank into the beck, but managed to get back under control in the nick of time.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/Ef*RbPEPbj1kj7ZGwVMBj0Lejmc0MD7sOLIXKlBXfLE_/Reeth28122009124436.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ef*RbPEPbj1kj7ZGwVMBj0Lejmc0MD7sOLIXKlBXfLE_/Reeth28122009124436.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div>Once back at the road we took another side road back to Healaugh. This was another road that had been scraped by the plough to leave an icy covering, only this one was downhill rather than up. How fast dare we go? How much grip was there? Not very, was the answer to both questions. Some of us managed better than others, and the odd off-bike excursion took place as various patches of ice took on friction-free glass-like properties. Spot them soon, keep a straight line, a sensible speed, a relaxed gait and STAY OFF THE BRAKES and you'd skate over them. Get it wrong and the hedge or the ditch was waiting for you!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/Ef*RbPEPbj2po1qtuIWJy*7*HzEixF3*Pu*yRO0UO2VLYVuEIfq7ASPZkdds3UHjCY7w5mjWg5BsxQouas*ZgOSMjw5UY831/Reeth28122009130257.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ef*RbPEPbj2po1qtuIWJy*7*HzEixF3*Pu*yRO0UO2VLYVuEIfq7ASPZkdds3UHjCY7w5mjWg5BsxQouas*ZgOSMjw5UY831/Reeth28122009130257.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div>Once back to Healaugh all that remained was my least favourite road-slog back to Reeth, though today this didn't seem as long or as arduous as it usually does, probably because we'd only done 10 miles by now.<br />
<br />
A quick change and short drive to <a href="http://www.dalesbikecentre.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Dales Bike Centre</a> for speciality coffees, home made cakes, beans on toast and friendly craic. It had only been a short ride, but it was good given the conditions and it was great to be out seeing the countryside with its blanket of snow.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Reeth - Langthwaite - Old Gang:</i></b><br />
<b><i>11.5miles, 1750ft up/down, 2hrs45</i></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Reeth, Richmond, Yorkshire, UK54.3895446 -1.942858754.289590600000004 -2.1763182 54.4894986 -1.7093992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-55381789988374473652009-12-06T05:23:00.000-08:002010-04-13T02:23:34.971-07:00Chop Gate: Canyoning<b><i>Canyoning</i></b>. Apparently that's the technical term for the sport of running up and down waterfalls. We did better that on Sunday, we turned it into a triathalon; a bit of running, a bit of cycling and (almost) a bit of swimming, all of it in the waterfalls that the trails on the moors had become.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>The BBC had promised us a sunny, cloudless day after heavy overnight rain, so we optimistically bore that in mind as we set off in the drizzle that still persisted. Leaving Chop Gate we headed straight up the bridleway to Medd Crag, the first of many hike-a-bikes that we'd be doing today. It's a hard enough climb when it's dry, it was impossible in the wet.</div><div><br />
</div><div>At the top we turn south along the ancient earthworks before dropping down the fast and furious descent into Tripsdale. I'd already wondered what the crossing would be like and I soon got my answer. The usual trickle of a beck had become a fully fledged river and it was almost impossible to spot the shallow way across. The first five of us walked it, treading carefully, hoping not to get washed down stream by the torrent. Neil, Eston-bred mountain man that he is, decided to ride it and came across totally unscathed and with dry feet, and made us all think "wish I'd done that". <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/cAQGeYxG95MaY8BzU6RiPOJfkOGUjUQdH195zxHuivQ_/DSCF3034.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/cAQGeYxG95MaY8BzU6RiPOJfkOGUjUQdH195zxHuivQ_/DSCF3034.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>So back up the other side of Tripsdale, up the never-ending zig-zags, another tough but easily achievable climb made impossible by the slippery conditions. Hike-a-bike number 2, we'd come about 4 miles in 80 minutes. At least the sun is out at last.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The speed picked up a bit after that as we crossed the open moor, and thankfully Hodge Beck was still just a beck and in no time we were at at the descent of Jackson's Bank, the second 4 miles had taken "only" 40 minutes. The drop down Jackson's Bank is a delight, the fact that it was now a river of mud didn't really take anything away from that. The fact that my rear brake stopped working did though! A quick examination revealed that after less than 130 miles of riding my pads had completely worn out. Thankfully I'd ordered spares on Thursday. Unthankfully they hadn't arrived yet. The second half of Jackson's Bank (and the rest of the ride) was done with careful modulation of the front brake only - in this slippery stuff the last thing you want is to have to jam on the front brake to try to stop. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/JppWnZcUxcweBnKfZ-YYzkOmK7MGWVB3khFMGvNZcZ8_/15735_358593420500_725070500_10094736_6664897_n.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/JppWnZcUxcweBnKfZ-YYzkOmK7MGWVB3khFMGvNZcZ8_/15735_358593420500_725070500_10094736_6664897_n.jpg" width="75%" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Left through Greenhow Plantation we eventually emerged at Clay Bank car park, something that usually signals the end of the ride, but this time it was just the half way mark. Across the road into Broughton Plantation and we're into hike-a-bike number 3. This one is a real bastard, and once again I'm taking issue with horse riders who insist on going out in stupid conditions and churning up trails. We plodged our way uphill through a mire of mud pockmarked with horseshoe sized holes full of water. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/ErACBa10wckrI3PDsYlvblB1N4eckGQTkEmk7ucTDnA_/15735_358643480500_725070500_10095794_5616467_n.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/ErACBa10wckrI3PDsYlvblB1N4eckGQTkEmk7ucTDnA_/15735_358643480500_725070500_10095794_5616467_n.jpg" width="50%" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>100 vertical meters later and we're back onto rideable stuff, eventually bringing us out at the two stone pillars on the Cleveland Way.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Good to see that these have been repaired after one of them was somehow demolished a few months back. The steep little down and up across Trows Beck is always fun, and something we all always do, but today the mud was making some think twice. Neil was thinking the combination of mud, loose stones and £10 tyres was a sure fire way to A&E, but he gritted his teeth and went for it and once again came up smiling. Sam just made it look plain easy.<br />
<br />
<div><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/MHExn7ORuYp7CikzqlHsyEKGfsriRPsn7vwyOIuMjog_/DSCF3047.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/MHExn7ORuYp7CikzqlHsyEKGfsriRPsn7vwyOIuMjog_/DSCF3047.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>At this point Howard's brakes also decided they'd had enough. Luckily for him though he did have spares! "Avid Juicy, the brake pads you can change with just the tools that God gave you - your fingers". So Howard begins by removing the brake calipers, cos that's the only way you can actually get the pads out, which rather makes a monkey of that slogan of theirs. And you try pushing the pistons back in with "just the tools God gave you". Still, he has the whole job done in under five minutes and I'm rather impressed.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So on we go, on to the aptly named Cold Moor (though today they're all bloody cold!) via the tough switchback climb from the farm at Beak Hills. Usually we can clean this as far as the final 100m or so, today loose ground, running water and chain-suck mean it's hike-a-bike number 4, really one hike-a-bike too many. To top it all it's hailing and blowing a gale now too. Thanks BBC.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We're all just looking forward to the end of the ride now, and what a good end it is. The drop off Cold Moor to Chop Gate is one of the best there is, and just like at Jackson's Bank the river that it has become does nothing to spoil the fun. Some lines are harder to spot because they're under water, some are easier because you just "go with the flow", literally. We all end the ride soaked, tired, as muddy as hell and beaming from ear to ear. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/gpReQad-P0lHtLyJEkms4DTE0Z2SjqfEe9x4Yri7cCs_/DSCF3051_edited.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/gpReQad-P0lHtLyJEkms4DTE0Z2SjqfEe9x4Yri7cCs_/DSCF3051_edited.jpg" width="75%" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>All the pushing has given us our slowest ride time "since records began" (the end of September), a stupendous 3.78mph. Really, we could have walked it quicker. Oh hold on, we did walk half of it!</div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i>Chop Gate, Urra Moor, Cold Moor: 15.1 miles, 2800ft, 4 hours dead</i></b>.</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Bilsdale Midcable, North Yorkshire, UK54.378957731240206 -1.137428283691406254.366460231240204 -1.1666107836914064 54.391455231240208 -1.1082457836914061tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-56505827962552607902009-11-15T05:35:00.000-08:002010-04-13T02:23:10.334-07:00Danby: Route OneYesterday we met up with a group of riders from down south who were up here for a long weekend in God's Own Country. Due to time constraints the plan was just to do a short loop from Danby Village, Route 1 from the fine book "<a href="http://www.muddybums.org.uk/moorlandtrails.asp" target="_blank">North York Moors Mountain Biking: Moorland Trails</a>" by a certain <a href="http://mtbguisborough.ning.com/profile/muddy?xg_source=profiles_memberList">Tony Harker</a>. An added extension made this route slightly longer and threw in an extra fun downhill.<br />
<div><br />
<div>We decided to split into two groups - fast and not so fast - and off we set. I was in the fast group, so I can't comment on anything that happened to the others!</div><div><br />
</div><div>After the previous four weeks of soggy, shit covered rides that we'd done, this week was looking promising. Bright blue skies and very mild temperatures, the weather was way better than the forecast had predicted.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We left Danby and headed west, paralleling the railway all the way to Commondale. This is a lovely bit of trail. While not in any way challenging it gives great views down over the valley with the river and railway running below you the whole way.</div><div><br />
</div><div>A bit of a climb at Commondale and then we're onto the green lane from Three Howes Rigg. Constant use of this lane by 4x4 has left it deeply rutted, and those ruts were full of water, most of them up past our axles. I rode into some of them with real trepidation, wondering if, in fact, the water might come up past the handlebars, not just past the axles!</div><div><br />
</div><div>A quick right-left-right and we're on The Pannierman's Causeway, one of the many stone tracks laid across these moors in centuries gone by. Fun to ride on a full-suss, bouncy as hell on a hardtail, it's not quite as challenging as The George Gap, which seems to have wheel-catchers placed at regular intervals.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then it's off across the moor to Castleton Pits, a very indistinct section of moorland singletrack that involves a fair bit of heather-bashing in the early stages. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/mY5tDJsVvMd1-WOEUWlE-*tqHtGJoiUeeuqR31qvAbmzPzCbvnHlgw1PbE6VHdV95twHL18lYe5aEMQ2iSSBcwx0qHJSwdPr/DSCF2978.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/mY5tDJsVvMd1-WOEUWlE-*tqHtGJoiUeeuqR31qvAbmzPzCbvnHlgw1PbE6VHdV95twHL18lYe5aEMQ2iSSBcwx0qHJSwdPr/DSCF2978.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Heather Bashing</span></i></b></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>This brings us out at the plummet down Oakley Side and today there's no oversized walker blocking the entire trail, so it's heads down and brakes off all the way to the bottom.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We take the road from there, past Danby Castle (never seen that before) and along Fryup Dale, saying goodbye to one of our group on the way. He's suffered SPD failure and has decided to take the short, easy, road way back to Danby. The rest of us push our bikes up the excellent downhill from Danby Rigg. It's a worthwhile effort on two counts. First, we'll get to do the cracking downhill at the other side that we've only ever ridden up and secondly it makes us appreciate the size of the rocks and drop offs we encounter when we usually ride down this way. Personally I was quite surprised that we tackle such stuff with relative ease - it doesn't look nearly as big on the way down! <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/JuQd8uLSqp0on-j2o8ha22X59Plmo6oob6YURjn7sqCViqVZhEfQIS4JTaSmkk0wEGB30cQ3xOb8DiWvATiUsk1oHOi6Auhe/DSCF3016.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/JuQd8uLSqp0on-j2o8ha22X59Plmo6oob6YURjn7sqCViqVZhEfQIS4JTaSmkk0wEGB30cQ3xOb8DiWvATiUsk1oHOi6Auhe/DSCF3016.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It Makes A Fine Downhill!</span></i></b></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>So all that's left is that downhill - fast, narrow and technical, but with generally good run-off areas if you lose it. But do we ever lose it? Another incident-free ride, we're getting pretty good at this not-falling-off malarky. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/mY5tDJsVvMeQcbR4zNJggY0ouIFrXaz*VF50pu7q96y8SZVLG9RZWGxZLW*naC6s0mFi9neJ4SVc2acYbTxz0ohvDxp8Y458/DSCF3028.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/mY5tDJsVvMeQcbR4zNJggY0ouIFrXaz*VF50pu7q96y8SZVLG9RZWGxZLW*naC6s0mFi9neJ4SVc2acYbTxz0ohvDxp8Y458/DSCF3028.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Downhill From Danby Rigg In Fading Light</span></i></b></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Having split into two groups, the second group had further sub-divided into two and yet by an amazing quirk of timing we all arrived back at the same time for tea & scones in The Moors Centre. Lovely.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i>Danby - Pannierman's Causeway - Fryup Dale: <br />
15.2 Miles, 1854ft Up/Down, 2hrs48mins</i></b></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Danby, North Yorkshire, UK54.465186624709176 -0.8945488929748535254.464407124709176 -0.89637289297485356 54.465966124709176 -0.89272489297485347tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-82706399762002662562009-11-08T05:30:00.000-08:002010-04-13T02:22:45.749-07:00Osmotherley: Gloopfest"<b><i>Mostly hard track so not too much mud</i></b>" read the invite to this ride. Great, after the last couple of rides the chance to stay largely mud-free would be very welcome.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>We set off from Square Corner and headed off across to Stilton Forest. A nice, but wet, bit of forest singletrack brought us out onto fire roads and the fast drop down to Over Silton. All that loss of height meant just one thing - a tough climb coming up in the shape of my least favourite hill, Kepwick Bank. I don't know what it is about that hill - probably the fact that it levels out at a gate part way up, making you think it's all over when the reality is there's still a fair slog left! The new Trailraker tyres didn't make this climb any easier, but then what do you want? Grip when it gets gloopy or fast rolling on the roads, you can't have it all ways.</div><div><br />
</div><div>With Kepwick Bank out of the way it was obvious there was only one way we could go now - back down. We headed along the Drove Road a short way then cut off right down towards Boltby Forest on a fast, rutted and fairly muddy doubletrack. Thankfully this didn't lose us all our height, I wouldn't fancy another climb like Kepwick Bank so soon after the last one. A little meandering through Boltby Forest and we were back up onto the Drove Road and heading for Noddle End.</div><div><br />
</div><div>A long, uneventful grassy track eventually ends at an almost vertical plummet down a grassy/rocky bank. Some walkers informed us that we couldn't ride it - "it's too steep". Steep wasn't an issue. What <b><i>was</i></b> an issue was rain and cows, never a good mix. The bank had been churned into a sodden mess of potholes, ruts, mud and cow shit that made riding difficult on the upper section and impossible on the lower.<br />
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</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/4J*naqZUueHn-BqPte6jBmlwJgCpatmBV1IKblBdR2LlU25I7ief7Mjcok9VC-IObdKoXVjgVLKkGv9PyN*iJUCL0XEVgA9j/SquareCorner08112009122636.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/4J*naqZUueHn-BqPte6jBmlwJgCpatmBV1IKblBdR2LlU25I7ief7Mjcok9VC-IObdKoXVjgVLKkGv9PyN*iJUCL0XEVgA9j/SquareCorner08112009122636.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Descending At Noddle End</b></i></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>We left Noddle End via our least favorite natural obstacle - a muddy field full of cows with their calves. One of them got a bit frisky and took a shine to Neil, galloping off after him, jumping and high-kicking as it went. I think it was better that Neil hadn't realised what was happening, it would only have paniced him.</div><div><br />
</div><div>This was the lowest point of the ride (in terms of elevation) so now there was 6 1/2 miles of continuous uphill. Some of it steep, some of it gradual, all of it a right slog in the mud and wheel-deep puddles. The promise of a mud-free ride was ringing very hollow. All of the gloop had stripped our chains of lube too, and chain suck was affecting most of us. The shit had even killed Neil's rear mech, reducing him to a three speeder. That drag up the hill from Arden Hall has never seemed so long!</div><div><br />
</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="noborder" href="http://api.ning.com/files/LtkLUMQPJOFaVAywXMuxRr3OaIPoSk8tc8Ghywf6ZbW3FqOh0xrSh9VvnRR1GR2z*zWVvRUaH5G6qv8BCc*XAxZF9abeM5kF/SquareCorner08112009123711.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="Mud Mud Glorious Mud" src="http://api.ning.com/files/LtkLUMQPJOFaVAywXMuxRr3OaIPoSk8tc8Ghywf6ZbW3FqOh0xrSh9VvnRR1GR2z*zWVvRUaH5G6qv8BCc*XAxZF9abeM5kF/SquareCorner08112009123711.JPG" width="75%" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The new mud tyres were put to good use</i></b></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>6 miles and an hour's hard slog later we were at the top of The Mad Mile. Thankfully now the only way is down. (Has this suffered some erosion at the top? It was a lot less rocky but a lot more loose than I remembered it). Down we flew, passing a good few of our second-least favourite natural obstacles - walkers. Most of them were good enough to shift out of the way, though some were quite slow to do so. I've never passed so many people as I did here, and it was impossible to let the brakes off and fly down - there would have been a very nasty accident.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So back at the cars and no one had stolen the knee and elbow pads that Neil had left on the boot of his car. This probably says more about the quality of the product than the honesty of the people around ;-)</div><div><br />
</div><div>This ride knackered me more than anything I've done in the last few months, and I was very glad of that. I'd been needing a hard workout and pushing the pace on that 6 mile drag to The Mad Mile was just what my legs and lungs were needing.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i>Square Corner - Silton - Boltby - Noddle End . </i></b><br />
<b><i>19 miles; 2475ft of climb; 3hrs46mins</i></b>.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Probably the muddiest ride since the last time we passed through Kepwick, but fun and a good workout.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, UK54.356393706786157 -1.263449192047119154.35483070678616 -1.2670971920471192 54.357956706786155 -1.259801192047119tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-48426955764161446752009-07-05T19:00:00.000-07:002010-04-13T00:33:53.853-07:00Just The Two Of UsOnly two of us today - where have all the Muddybums gone? It's been ages since we had a good turnout.<br />
<br />
I feared the worst when I saw the route we were doing - it was "the wrong direction", meaning that a lot of what are normally good downhills would become tough uphills. And so it proved.<br />
<br />
Starting from Reeth we set off on the road to Helaugh. This was a lot faster and easier than the usual drag back from there to Reeth, usually done on tired legs, and we were there in no time.<br />
<br />
Passing a couple of hundred m beyond the village we turned off up the private road to Thiernswood Hall (no mention at the gate of any right of way, but there is!), the pebble paved drive eventually giving way to some woodland then open moor. This was a new bit of track for us and would make an excellent downhill (the first of several excellent downhills we went up today), the steep grassy slope making it a difficult climb!<br />
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Eventually it levelled out and we followed the track on to Cringley Bottom where we were forced to make a detour. The bridleway went through a very narrow opening in a wall (bikes would have to be lifted over, impossible for horses to negotiate) and beyond that was an unrideable drop down to the stream. That probably explains the obstruction - you really wouldn't want to take a horse that way.<br />
<br />
We cycled round it, rather than do the down and up push that would have been required, following the track north west to cross the stream by a ford, and then heading south on the road to rejoin our intended route.<br />
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Turning right at Surrender Bridge we climbed up to the Old Gang Smelting Mills where we stopped for a few photos and a bit of exploration. It was nice not to feel rushed by having other members with us today.<br />
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After 15 minutes or so we set off back up the track to Level House Bridge. Left here, over to Old Gang Mines and then on towards Bunton Hush. Last time we did this we went straight down the middle, but the actual bridleway on the map goes down the left hand side. We attempted to do that today but found that eventually it just seems to run out into an unrideable drop. We carried our bikes across huge boulders back into the centre of the hush and road the last section of it. With hindsight it's better to just go down the middle, but we had to have a look at the other route.<br />
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Left at the bottom of the hush, riding parallel to Gunnerside Gill down to our right. Eventually this bears left and climbs diagonally across the contours up to Winterings.This is quite an interesting (and not too difficult) climb that has quite a drop off to your right if you mis-place a wheel! We continued past Winterings on the track to Barf End, beyond which our intended route prived to be too boggy to be worth following, so we detoured for the second time, dropping through the gate to the right and following the wide, grassy track down to eventually drop sharp right down the concrete road to Low Row.<br />
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Right on the main road, then first left to cross the Swale and then turn left again towards Low Houses. Past the farm, where the road ends, a track starts to climb away at 45 degrees to the right. This is a right bugger! Steep, loose and damp it proved impossible to ride (firmer, dryer sections giving you false hope as they died out again after just a few meters).<br />
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Eventually we got to the top, coming out at a road where we turned right and rode as far as the next bend where we went offroad once more, sharp left through a gate taking us into a series of fields, all with gates between them. In the next 10 minutes I never wanted to see another gate! Eventually we ended up in a field full of thistles and had to track across to the far corner, a slog once more up soft ground that was akin to riding with the brakes on. The slog didn't end there, but thankfully the gates did, and we continued on up a quite indistinct moorland track (that would be a lovely, fast downhill) that eventually joined the main track up to Harker Hill.<br />
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Left here and on up to the top of Hight Harker Hill, where we began our search for the hidden bridleway that descends off to the left from there - this was the sole reason for doing this route backwards, so it had better be worth it!<br />
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There's absolutely nothing on the ground, so we did a bit of heather bashing until we eventually saw where the track must go. Heading off in that direction it eventually opened up before us, a lovely narrow singletrack over a couple of sets of crags that drops away towards the valley floor in a gully that's shared with a narrow bore pipeline that gives this route its colloquial name.<br />
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Some technically difficult sections are thankfully bordered by some lovely soft heather and all of our falling off was onto a nice soft blanket. Rumour has it that one fall was captured on video, though the evidence has yet to surface.<br />
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Eventually the steepness gives way to a more gentle traverse of the contours as the track heads towards the road to Grinton. Once at the road its a brisk blast back to Reeth, though en-route we stopped off at the <a href="http://www.dalesbikecentre.co.uk/">Dales Bike Centre</a> to check out their scones. They had none!<br />
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They did however promise to warm up some frozen ones for us (which didn't sound too appealing) so we decided to return there after packing away our bikes in Reeth.<br />
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The scones were decent enough, considering they'd been ice 10 minutes earlier, and the guy who runs the place is a nice bloke, and a keen biker who knows his stuff, especially about routes in the area. He seemed slightly miffed that we'd found "The Pipeline", perhaps he likes to think of it as his own little secret ;-)<br />
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<b><i>Reeth - The Hush - The PipeLine:</i></b><br />
<b>19.5 miles in 4 hours 40</b>, 1 hour 40 of which was spent exploring old smelting mills, snacking on go bars, rolling around in heather and sussing out scones. A tough but very enjoyable route with some lung-busting climbs, compensated for by some great views and a couple of decent downhills, especially the "secret" one at the end.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-78617286780856145962009-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:002010-04-07T10:32:00.679-07:00Kildale, Baysdale & Great HograhI don't usually write up the Wednesday rides. They're short, 10 to 12 miles, designed to last just a couple of hours and not be too knackering. They also tended to be round the same 2 or 3 circuits every week. This year has been different, we've done a fair few routes, most of which have been very good, but last night's was the best of the lot. It was more like a weekend ride, but in miniature. Still only 12 miles and with not too much climbing, it crossed some great moorland and took in a number of fantastic singletracks.<br />
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Starting from Kildale we headed along the road back towards Great Ayton for a short way before turning off left to head up the tarmac climb up onto Warren Moor. At the top we followed the road a bit further before turning off left onto a bridleway down to Baysdale Abbey, the first time any of us have ridden this way. Vague rumours of "isn't this where Craig went over the bars" had us taking it easy, just in case, but there's no need to worry. The track cuts a fairly narrow path through the heather as it drops a hundred and odd metres, interesting & challenging but not too difficult. Eventually we hit the road for the final stretch down to the farm buildings.<br />
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Right here, through a gate and up an indistinct grassy track up the hillside (a real energy sapper) that eventually vanishes into the woods. At this point it's too slippery to ride, the thin coating of soft mud giving no traction whatsoever. The first of a fair few GOAPs of the night.<br />
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Emerging from the wood we follow the track across Middle Head and on to Armouth Wath where a fast descent down a stony track takes us through a ford before tackling the steep climb back up the other side to the highest point of our route on Baysdale Moor.<br />
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We press on over Baysdale Moor, past Great Hograh Head, eventually bearing right to drop down and cross Great Hograh Beck. Ahead of us now is Skinner Howe Cross Road, one of the best moorland crossings there is. Climbing gently at first (with a little bit of GOAP) it gives way to a gentle descent along a very technical, boulder-strewn singletrack. You can make this more technical by sticking to the proper route and not taking any of the alternative paths that are beginning to be carved out alongside the original. After almost 2km of bliss we hit the road and turn left down to Hob Hole.<br />
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A short, sharp climb up the other side then we turn off left back onto bridleway once more. As we ride along the track in the drizzle we see the strange sight of what looks like smoke but is actually steam rising up the hillside ahead of us, the drizzle evaporating from the retained warmth of the woods on the hillside.<br />
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At the three-way junction ahead we turn right for the final bit of GOAP of the day, a slippery push to the top of the hill. A brief crossing on level ground takes us to the other side of the hill and a very difficult rut and rock littered descent down the other side. Only Sam manages to clean it, the rest of us taking a fair few dabs and one or two multi-bike pile-ups.<br />
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Almost home now. A slow hard slog up another grassy slope with a herd of frisky cows and a brooding bull for company brings us out at Warren Farm and onto the road back down to Kildale. Fast and furious and just a little loose (and in the current weather difficult to see in its canopy of tree cover) it's a speedy descent back to the start in Kildale village.<br />
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A brilliant ride, three great singletrack descents, a couple of tough climbs and some great moorland scenery.<br />
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<b><i>Kildale - Baysdale Abbey - Great Hograh - Hob Hole</i></b><br />
<b><i>12.5 miles, 2066' climb in 2 1/2 hours</i></b><i>.</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0Kildale, North Yorkshire, UK54.475561302467419 -1.06522321701049854.475171802467422 -1.0661352170104981 54.475950802467416 -1.064311217010498tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3860388555785261368.post-42443365021118591192009-06-07T21:00:00.000-07:002010-03-31T00:23:30.566-07:00Square Corner - Scugdale - BilsdaleThree of us showed up for this, what turned out to be our longest and highest ride for quite some time - 27 miles with 3500ft of climbing. The weather had promised to be rubbish, cold & wet, but it turned out a lot better than that, though I'm not sure we saw any sun. As a consequence I was a bit overdressed for the ride in the full waterproof rig, which led to some overheating on some of those serious climbs!<br />
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The route is too long and too devoid of major incidents or pitfalls to describe in great detail. <br />
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Briefly then: <br />
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We left Square Corner and headed north on the tarmac, leaving it to the right just past Chequers to take the track towards Sheepwash, turning left through the woods to cross Cod Beck Reservoir. Out the other side, left onto the road towards Osmotherley then sharp right up towards the transmitter station on the hill. Back down to the road at Sheepwash via the Cleveland Way (sticking to the bridleway), then left down the road a short way before ducking right into the woods. <br />
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Through the woods, going down the stepped descent by the scenic viewpoint, right at the bottom and along the field/wood edge (following The Cleveland Way once again) before turning left and descending across a field (we'd have been better going straight ahead, but didn't see that bit of track) to emerge once more onto a road. Right here to head towards Harfa Bank Farm, left at the junction of tracks at the end to go past Harfa House, following the farm track back out to the road.<br />
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Right here on the road to Raikes Farm and on to Scugdale Hall, passing beyond there on a deteriorating track and following the sign saying "Cycles" off to the left at the end and up a difficult ascent. It was made easier by the dry weather, it would have been totally impossible if the usual mud had been around. We got to the top with a few "dabs", mostly avoidable errors, and then turned right along Barker's Ridge. We followed that bridleway for a few km, bearing round to the right and passing Osmotherley Stones before coming to a T-junction of tracks. <br />
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Here we turned left and headed towards Head House where the sight of a downhill got the better of us (we should have stayed level) and took us well of route (and onto footpath). Realising our mistake we climbed back up the hill to Head House and got back on the bridleway. This was a quite gentle, but still tough, climb up to Cock Howe (not the only good descent that we cycled up on this route) where we turned right onto the track that would take us to Bilsdale transmitter, the first time I've been right up to this landmark that's visible from the whole of this section of the moors.<br />
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A sharp right from there takes us back down to Low Thwaites, a speedy descent down a good stone doubletrack, turning slight right just past there to pass Round Hill and Sunley Slack before emerging on a road once again.<br />
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Left onto the road all the way into Hawnby, turning right at the T-junction in the village and heading out towards Church Bridge. Just after the bridge we turned left onto a piece of bridleway that would take us round Coomb Hill. This is a lovely, and little used, section of bridleway but would be best enjoyed as a downhill! The bridleway ends by diving left to take an indistinct path across a field to rejoin a track/road. This would be really hard to spot coming in the other direction, without prior knowledge - one reason why the track is little used, perhaps.<br />
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Right on the road and follow it round past Arden Hall where it rejoins the road proper, though this road is an "unsuitables", the steep, steep climb up past the quarries that eventually emerges on the Drove Road after 3km.<br />
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Right onto the Drove Road and we're on the home leg, following it (and The Cleveland Way once again) back towards the top of Black Hambleton and "The Mad Mile".<br />
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The walkers at the top of the mad mile add a moment of nervousness - hoping that I won't come a cropper on the rocky steps right in front of them. No problems though (for now), and it's off down the steep track back towards Square Corner, honing my technique to suck up the drainage humps, getting some big air on a few of them. <br />
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A mistimed glance back leads to a moment of panic - while looking back, and doing about 35k, I hit a lump. The initial impact throws me forward a bit, then the rear wheel hits and unseats my already off-balance body. Feet come out of the pedals, arse comes well off the seat and the handlebars are my only point of contact with the bike. I don't even have time to crap myself before it all comes back together and I land squarely (and gently) on the saddle and continue as though nothing had happened. Feet back in the pedals and full attention from now on, that would have hurt big-style if I hadn't been so lucky!<br />
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More mirth at the end - arriving at the car park mine & Sam's bikes decide to try and mate, throwing us all into a pile on the grass. Luckily not too many walkers were around to witness this amateurish bit of riding skill!!<br />
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It had been a ride full of death and carnage. On the route I'd spotted a dead Jay, a dead hawk, 4 dead (Grouse?) chicks, 1 dead sheep and 400 dead rabbits. I was lucky not to have joined them.<br />
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No really suitable cafe here, so it's straight back off home for a hot bath to ease the aching limbs.<br />
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<b><i>Square Corner - Scugdale - Bilsdale - Arden Hall </i></b><br />
<b><i>27 miles and 3500' of climb</i></b> in just 4 1/2 hours was pretty good going and my legs know all about it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15833764109743431041noreply@blogger.com0