Grosmont: The Cursed Route

Only 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!

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.

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.

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

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.

Up in Goathland the WWII weekend was in full swing, and thankfully Goathland was in British hands, unlike Levisham further down the line.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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...

We dropped down the trail past the reservoir, slippery and wet as it always is.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Grosmont - Goathland - Glaisdale: 17 miles, 2400' of climb, plenty of mud, plenty of punctures in 4 hours 11 minutes.

Riders: Neil, Steve, Tony, Sam.

Full stats and route download available from GarminConnect.

Thorn In My Side

Four of us gathered on this lovely sunny spring morning for a ride that would take in a fair few bits of untried trails on a route round "Heartbeat Country".

We set off slightly later than planned, leaving the car park and turning left to cross the level crossing. Just beyond that we take a right between some buildings, down an "unsuitables" towards the river. Here there are three ford crossings in quick succession, two of them across the deep and fast flowing Murk Esk. No problem though, they're proper fords with a concrete base only a few inches below the water, crossing should be a doddle. Well, no. Whether it's slime or ice or whatever, there's no grip at all and within a few feet both front and back wheel are skating off in opposite directions, dumping me on my backside into the icy cold water. Thank God for Endura waterproofs! Not for the last time today though I was wishing I'd gone for Sealskinz socks too as I set off again with cold wet feet.

Forewarned is forearmed and the next two crossings were uneventful and we began the steep tarmac climb up past Dale End Farm and Morton Close to eventually reach the road. Sharp left here and just over 1k of roadwork brings us to a permissive bridleway off to our right. The key word here will be "bridleway". About half way along this track we run into Mr Angry, claiming to be "on the parish council" who blocks the way and insists we shouldn't be riding on this track as "it's bridleway". He's lucky that we're reasonable people and responsible riders; standing in the way of a fast moving mountain bike can be a dangerous pastime. We leave him behind shaking his fist, and spend the rest of the ride moaning about him.

It doesn't say "No Bikes!"

After just over 2k we arrive at the road once more at Goathland. We turn right onto the road, cross the river and the railway (with a particularly nice view of the station) and climb up into the village where I have to stop by the "Aidesnfield Garage" (tourist trap shop) to repair the first puncture of the day. If only we knew then how this day would turn out... Repair time, approx 11 minutes.

Off once more, following the road through the village, keeping left at the end of the main street and eventually passing the Mallyan Spout Hotel, just beyond which we take a bridleway off to the left. We stay low, parallel to the road, eventually staying TOO low and following the wrong trail. No harm done, other than a couple of hundred m of illegal riding, and we exit at the road just a little way short of where we should have. It's been a good stretch of moorland trail, nice rocky, technical singletrack.

Along the road a short way before turning sharp right at Gill View to drop down another bridleway towards yet another ford, though this one is totally dry! A nice tough climb after this, up a challenging bit of singletrack that's cut in a channel up the hillside. It gains us 65m in just over 1/2k before levelling out by Hazel Head Farm.

A nice bit of farm track now, past Hollin House Farm and on to Julian Park where we turn left. 800m further on and we're turning off road once more at Randy Rigg! A little drop down takes us into an area of grassy wetlands that is tricky to ride, in fact impossible in places. Once or twice we almost lose our bikes completely in water that is up past our wheels and my just-about-dry feet are wet and cold once more.

Having got through that we now have a tough climb up, tough because of the lack of traction rather than out & out steepness. At the top of the climb we come out onto open moor and take a track that is barely visible before pausing at a gate to look down at where we're meant to be going next.

There's barely anything visible at all as we pick our way down the steep moorside and we find ourselves on the wrong side of a wall. A bit of fence and ditch hopping ensues as we try to get back on track, but we've no idea where the real right-of-way is. We press on, generally in the right direction but never quite on the right track until eventually we pick up the route again, a fine bit of barely-used singletrack that climbs up and over In Moor to eventually come out at the road. It's been a difficult job of navigating but worth it.

Left onto the road for a short stretch before turning right once again onto more indistinct track. It's hard to navigate at times, but it's a nice downhill section, nothing exciting or challenging, just gentle moorland, but a chance to rest the legs a bit. Passing Swang Farm and Hall Grange Farm we eventually hit a steep and very straight downhill section where the brakes come off and the speed goes up, before coming out on the road.
Left here for a bit, as far as The Delves where a right turn has us back offroad once again, ducking into the forest. At the start it's a steep uphill over rocks that are slippery when wet (are they ever dry here?) and we have a few goes at trying to clean it before giving up and hiking.

After hitting level ground again we have to stop to fix a broken chain, once again that great invention the SRAM Power Link coming to the rescue (note to self, order another few, that's 2 we've used in the last few months).

The track through the woods is interesting and exciting. Undulating but generally downhill, it is paved the whole length with great stone slabs and in some parts this path is quite high compared to the ground around it. It's like riding a stone boardwalk, and with the river cutting a steep cliff just to your right. At one point I get a little too much excitement, I lose my line and plunge off the path, a healthy sized drop off with the river cliff just beyond, but I hold it and get back on line at the next convenient point.

The stone path levels out next to the river, where Rob decides to plunge his bike in to get rid of some of the excess weight it's carrying in the form of mud - oh yes, mud is back on the menu on this ride. Pulling the bike back out of the water we can hear a hissing noise that can only be air escaping from a puncture. Were there thorns in that wood? It's a beautiful spot to get a puncture.

A little further on and we emerge from the woods by the magnificent arched packhorse bridge at Glaisdale. Apparently there WERE thorns in the wood because I find I've got a puncture too, my second of the ride. I change the inner while Rob puts more air in his tire - repair time 14 minutes, I'm not getting any faster.

Off we go again, right at the road and up the precipitously steep Limber Bank. This looks and feels like the steepest section of bank I've ever done and the front end wants to rear up with every pedal stroke. Eventually the gradient lessens to something comparatively flat, though it's still an uphill slog to Egton. Here we make our biggest mistake.

A quick plunge down the bank brings us to a bridleway off to the left by the school. This track will take us downhill to the railway and the path back to Grosmont . Unfortunately it's littered with freshly flailed thorns, some a couple of inches long. As my bike seems to have become a thorn magnet today it's not long before I'm riding on a flat again. I have to borrow my second tube of the day to make the repair - time taken 7 minutes. Fastest change so far, no doubt down to the realisation that my pump is rubbish and tires inflate much faster with Tony's.

From here I'm not even going to ride, there's just too many thorns and I don't want a fourth puncture, that would be too embarrassing. It doesn't work out though, and even pushing I manage to get a bad boy right through my front sidewall. I'm in good company. When we catch up Rob & Tim we find they have 3 punctures between the two of them. With no spare tubes, and no great enthusiasm for trying to repair the holes anyway, we trudge our way the last 2k back to the start point. Tony gleefully and gloatingly cycles most of the way before succumbing to his own slow puncture a couple of hundred meters from the end.
Four riders and 9 punctures, that has to be a record!

How Much For Bikes?

The tea shop at Grosmont Station, the only offering at this time of year, was a disappointment. No cooked food at this time of day (and anyway, they only do full English till 11:30), no scones, a limited selection of cakes and soup that looked and tasted like it came from a packet. At least the coffee was nice.

Grosmont - Goathland - Glaisdale
16.5 miles, 2400' of ascent in 4 hours 45, 1 hour 50 of which was spent fixing punctures and wondering where the trails had vanished to, and half an hour's slow trudge back dragging bikes beset by punctures.