A Ride From Square Corner

Mountain Bike Ride

The Trainee

8th October 2015 route.

The Trainee reappears after a month on days where he was being taught how to distribute nitric acid and deal with customers; in the form of tanker drivers, who feel they ought to be loaded within seconds of arriving and are never wrong because the customer is always right and they are The Trainee's customers. Putting the trauma of being on days behind him, he put leg over crossbar for a ride from Square Corner. Not a bad day weatherwise but it was following a couple of days of continual rain so we expected things to be a bit squelchy underfoot, especially our first objective - The Dale Head singletrack. Things were predictably damp, although not too muddy, standing water above a hard surface, so the going was wet but fairly firm and our progress was not as hindered to any great degree.

The road bank up toward Scotland Farm, Hall Lane, came next and The Trainee thought he would make a name for himself by powering up the hill like Chris Froome on Mont Ventoux; with age comes wisdom and the knowledge that Murton Bank had to be conquered later in the ride, so the older generation opted to pace ourself. A few tarmac miles followed pleasantly to Moor Gate, where we went off-road again, following a damp track to the lonely Hill End House. From here the track goes downhill through a couple of fields, then even more steeply through Low Wood, slipping on the muddy slope to the bridge over the River Rye. A quick climb up to New Hall Farm, then it is downhill on tarmac all the way to Hawnby, or more importantly, the tea room at Hawnby, which has been rather neglected by the Terra Trailblazers lately, mainly because The Pensioner has now renounced mid-ride cafe stops in favour of gallons of tea when the pedalling has finished.  The other reason why Hawnby is infrequently visited loomed large following our repast, Murton Bank, less than 450 feet of ascent in just under a mile but some steep sections which sort the men from the boys. The Trainee’s previous display of youthful power seemed to have deserted him, winching slowly uphill until the road levels out past Peak Scar and merely a gradual rise all the way to Sneck Yate car park.

Sneck Yate translates from the old Yorkshire vernacular as “gate with latch”, the gate is long gone but it is the point where the Hambledon Drove Road becomes a track leading through the top of Boltby Forest and northward to rejoin the road at Square Corner above Osmotherley. Following the scenic track along the Western Edge of Arden Moor, fine views across the flatlands of Northallerton to the Yorkshire Dales, Wensleydale and Swaledale. Pausing only for a little play in the bomb hole near the exit from Boltby Forest, we continued steadily north until we reached the highlight of the ride, what surely must be the highlight of many rides, The Mad Mile. A glorious 1,600 metres of gravity-assisted ecstasy, banishing all previous hardship and agony as the investment in the gravity bank is paid back with interest, all the way back to the cars at Square Corner.