Perambulations From Pinchinthorpe.

Mountain Bike Ride

Oz, Trainee#2

9th February route

Yellow warning for snow and ice today, which seems to indicate there may be a fifty fifty chance of snow somewhere in the Northern hemisphere. A red warning for mud would have been more useful, three intrepid Terra Trailblazers lashed out a quid each to park at a dry and chilly Pinchinthorpe. Yet again brazenly ignoring the press warnings. Me, Oz and Trainee#2 - now known as Juan Crank, following some maintenance issues, muttering about the cold, even though it was not too bad for early February.

The first climb, past Bousedale House, was rather muddier than a fire road ought to be and felt especially difficult to those of us who embarking on their third day of riding. Not that I received any sympathy from my dilettante companions, whose lack of exertion had left them fresh and powering up the hills as I shed gears just to stay on the bike. Several more hills later we were on Newton Moor,  looking back at Roseberry Topping, a meagre dusting of snow highlighting the tracks. Deciding to introduce Trainee#2 to an old track known as Follow Me, we rode across the moor to the start, a drop in through a small rock outcrop which has eroded to beyond our ability, fortunately there is now a more amenable chicken run to one side. The remainder of the track is enjoyable, holding up fairly well to the winter weather, with just the odd muddy section. Our fun was prematurely halted by the Forestry Commission, who are cashing in their investment and indulging in a spot of conifer genocide, leaving the remainder of the trail buried under tree trunks and discarded branches. Exiting stage right through churned up furrows from the logging machine, the road at Gribdale gave a brief respite prior to ascending the fire road to Captain Cook’s Monument. Legs burning, heart hammering, lungs panting, we arrived at the monument and rested briefly before plunging back down again via some especially muddy tracks, which claimed the odd scalp from our trio.

Reaching Gribdale again, another highway to hell wended it's muddy way up to Newton Moor, where we continued ascending on Fingerbender Bank (so called following a finger related accident by The Pensioner many years ago) and around the Lonsdale Bowl, to the road at Percy Cross Rigg. Trainee#2’s crank arm by this stage wobbling like a spoon in a pan of porridge but still hanging on owing to the magical properties of thread lock. More climbing; more suffering for my tired legs, from Sleddale and over Codhill Heights to Highcliffe. A swift descent on fireroads took us to through the forest to Stripes, where some more muddy descending was attempted in a start/slide/stop/start/fall off sort of fashion. Picking up the end of the Blue route, we slithered our way past the Blue Lake and out of the forest, finishing the ride on firmer tracks to reach the Branch Walkway cafe, ready for essential sustenance from the extensive menu. And bike wash tokens.