MTB Routes in North Yorkshire
Welcome to the site. It isn't finished yet, in fact it's barely just begun, but already there are loads of good routes loaded and ready to ride. More routes, info & blogs will be coming along as and when we ride them.
The majority of rides that I tend to do are with a group called Muddybums. We're the real Muddybums, anyone else you may see using that name is a charlatan. Sometimes there's ten of us out, sometimes only two. I've never been on a ride yet that wasn't loads of fun in one way or another, even if we end up half dead, cold, soaked and covered in mud.
The route descriptions are provided in the form of a blog. They make no attempt to contain detail such as "go through the gate" or "turn left after 16.34m", but they do provide (usually) enough detail that you could follow the route on a standard OS 1:25000 map. Where appropriate, farm names, hill names, track names, etc are used as they appear on the map. If you're going to follow one of these routes I'd recommend that you do follow the description on the map while sat in the comfort of your home, and maybe transfer it to a GPS unit. Where available I'll also provide GPX format files of our track logs which can be loaded into most proprietory mapping software (e.g. Memory Map, Garmin Mapsource) and also into Google Maps and Google Earth via the very excellent GPS Visualizer site. These track logs are unedited and if we made a wrong turn (it happens) it will be logged!
Because the routes are written up as blogs they are "warts and all". If the ride was a right slog, it will say so. If there was a ton of mud, it will say so. Conditions will vary, the write-up gives an indication of how things were when we rode it, it also gives an indication of the types of hazard we encountered and how well managed to overcome them!
Most (but not all) route descriptions are littered with photos of varying quality - it's only lately that I've started taking a decent camera out with me, and in severe weather the last thing you want to be doing is stopping and whipping out a camera every 100m.
FYI, our routes are planned, plotted and analysed on Memory Map and navigated and recorded on Garmin GPS units (an eTrex Venture HC in my case). Other brands are available! The majority of routes are planned and led by Tony Harker who runs Muddybums and Fanatic as well as being the author of the North Yorks Moors Mountain Biking book (links to all three in the sidebar). No one knows the Moors & Dales like Tony.
If you'd like to join us, you can send an email or join our Facebook Group.
Steve
