A Couple Of Shorties

Mountain Bike Rides.

Sunday: The Pensioner and Scott. Route

Tuesday: The Pensioner, The Bread Lad, The Ginger One (+Richie and Barnett) Route

A couple of short rides, 48 hours apart.

Sunday started so well, with a steady plod across Codhill Heights and a blast down the fire road beside Highcliffe Nab. A left turn onto the start of the Guisborough Woods’ Red Route, which appeared to have rather less trees than last time we rode it, we soon found out where the trees had gone, spread across the track, walking became the only option, followed by clambering and battling through brushwood in the style of three idiots trying to find the source of the Amazon. A clear bit of fire road was no better, ruined by heavy machinery, sticky mud turning our footwear into slippy 1970’s platform shoes. Eventually we made it onto the main fire road, where The Pensioner discovered he had a puncture, just as a minor blizzard struck, somehow he tricked Scott into pumping up his tyre. Standing watching Scott exercise his arm muscles, we were being passed by many cyclists bailing out and returning to Pinchinthorpe. Pity we were parked at Kildale. A painful ride into the wind awaited us, doubly painful because it also included an ascent of The Unsuitables and Percy Cross Rigg with horizontal snow blasting into our faces.

Tuesday saw us gathering at a windy Gribdale, a big crew for a few miles. We made our way across the moor to Guisborough Woods, attempting to find any tracks which are holding up against the weather. Les’s 2 and the infamous tree gap claimed a casualty, a bit of over enthusiasm with the front brake and I was over the bars. Escaping with a few grazes which I’ll spend the next week hiding from the little woman, we continued up Roseberry Common and eventually to the top of Cliff Rigg Quarry, to the part known as The Elephant’s Hole, which was followed by a painful track through some gorse bushes. The weather was glorious, a heatless sun beaming from a blue sky, in complete contrast to 48 hours earlier. The tarmac slog up to Gribdale remained, which was dispatched with a tailwind. Reaching Gribdale with a mere ten miles under our wheels, a group decision was made to add in an extra loop, unfortunately up the fire road to Captain Cooks Monument  - all so we could descend a muddy track back to the cars. A motorised exodus to Great Ayton took us to Stamps for the cafe stop and Petch’s for the pie stop - suddenly it all seemed worthwhile.