Mountain Bike Ride.
The Pensioner, The Ginger One, The Bread Lad, The Fireman.
An actual team out today, a whole five Terra Trailblazers ready to take on anything the wilds of North Yorkshire can throw at them, although with a combined age well in excess of 250 years, let’s hope it doesn’t throw too much.. My first ride on a mountain bike since the buttock battering of The Sandstone Way and it felt okay, as though it has a different saddle to the torture device I sat on for 128 miles. A new starting venue today - Lealholm - a metropolis by the standards of North Yorkshire villages, featuring a pub, two cafes and a cake shop. Like most of these Esk Valley villages it’s built around the river and reached by steep descents from the surrounding moors, inevitably all rides start with some uphill and today was no exception as we made our way gradually to Danby Beacon via Houlsyke which seemed to be the kindest way to achieve the height gain. It must have been because it elicited only a minimum of bitching from The Pensioner. Weatherwise today could only be described as a reet grand day, as they might say in Yorkshire, plenty of sun but a coolish wind to temper things, there were no complaints from us.
From Danby Beacon, the Roxby Moor singletrack beckoned and it was in awesome condition, dry and fast, snaking through the heather, at times reverting to doubletrack, we reached the NSP (natural stopping point) where the track becomes wide and sandy and slightly uphill, grinning like baboons. The Pensioner inadvertently took a wrong turning which proved to be a bonus shortcut to Hardale Beck and the climb up the other side, known on Strava as The Slagbag. The Bread Lad rode it on his 36 tooth single ring set up, most impressive, the UCI will be keeping a close eye on his hematocrit levels. Continuing over Thorn Hill and down to Green Houses, where, as usual, the spaniels went berserk, straining at their chains, barking madly but tails wagging, so hopefully they are friendly, just worth keeping in mind in case the chains ever snap. We then regained tarmac and did a spot of road riding through Egton and down steeply to Egton Bridge before climbing again toward the hamlet of Delves, luckily the climbing did not reach the signposted 33% section before we turned off into East Arnecliffe Wood.
We were here to try a bridleway through the woods I’d partially explored on foot a few weeks ago, it turned out to be a mixed bag, slippery rock ascents and muddy patches in parts but also some long, roughly paved downhill sections which wouldn’t have been out of place in Hamsterley Forest, finishing with an ascending rooty singletrack, which rose higher and higher above the river requiring thoughtful riding to avoid the steep drop to a wet landing. The Bread Lad almost took the early bath, a handy tree stopping him polluting the Esk. This section ended with a splash through a ford, except for The Ginger One, whose hydrophobia forced him to take the yellow option. Apparently he once fell off riding through a ford and now treats them rather like normal people would view riding through molten lava.
Back on tarmac, it was time for the second biggest climb of the day, Glaisdale High Street, still festooned with yellow bikes and scarecrow riders, left over from The Tour De Yorkshire, we looked like scarecrows by the time we had winched ourselves up to the top of the village, although The Ginger One was tempted to stop and check out the butcher’s pies, he did not break his rhythm. Back on more familiar territory, we descended to cross the river near Rake Farm before making our way to Underpark Farm to pick up the riverside bridleway which pops out at the car park in Lealholm where we had left our cars.
The Beck View Tea Room had the pleasure of our company for the essential refuelling break, where we sat outside in the sunshine, sweaty but, for a change, not muddy, indulging in our usual multi-faceted and far-reaching intellectual discourse; this may have been interpreted as raucous banter by the other patrons. Either way, it was the end of a good day’s riding and the end of my days off, I could only listen enviously as the others planned where to go tomorrow.
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