August Round Up And Video
Normal service has been resumed, after July’s poor showing, in August I managed to clock up 14 rides and 258 miles, 2018’s record so far. And most of the rides featured other people, the fine weather coaxing riders out from under their duvets or wherever they’ve been. I even found time to update the blog more regularly, although a few remained undocumented by the end of the month, so I’ve done a few lines below.
Mountain Bike Ride
The Ginger One, Oz, Benny The Brawl.
23rd August 2018 route
A dull and drizzly morning saw us at Lordstones ready to repeat last week's “There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.” ride. Well, a repeat for me, a whole new adventure for The Youth, The Ginger One and amazingly enough Benny The Brawl, who emerged from his car blinking, mole-like in the unaccustomed light, his skin pasty and translucent from his months of self-imposed exile to the land of Gymnasia. The hottest summer since 1976 and he looks like Casper.
The route was the same, the weather better, the gym boy rode like a beginner but still insists he’s fitter than 90% of his age group. If that is true the whole country is headed straight down the toilet. The consensus from the grown ups, stood on top of the hills waiting,”if that’s what the gym does for you, we’re glad we don’t go”.
Mountain Bike Ride
Young Briggs
The following week, me and Young Briggs, set off from Kildale, a very wet Kildale, it seems we’d just missed an epic rain shower. We were lucky the weather improved steadily until it was something approaching a summer’s day. The ascent of the Yellow Brick Road was, unfortunately not without dabs, loose gravel you understand, we continued over Codhill Heights and into Guisborough Woods for a scrounge about some of the off-piste tracks - still nice and dry. Later we rode another big climb, up to Captain Cook’s Monument, only to plunge back down the hillside to Mill Bank Woods, the bracken on the downhill track becoming a bit cheeky, grabbing handlebars and ringing my bell. Yes, I have a bell, still doesn’t please some of the walkers. A short blast through the woods and we were back at Glebe Cottage, sitting outside to take advantage of the summer sunshine.
Mountain Bike Ride
30th August 2018 route
All alone
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| Fat Betty |
Owing to the numerous other commitments of the regular (and irregular) Terra Trailblazers, I found myself alone today, which gave me a good excuse to repeat The Seated Man ride. Wanting to film sections and use the drone, a lone ride is the ideal opportunity and the easiest performer to direct is yourself. Plus, filming is time consuming and not everyone is prepared to wait about while the drone is being capricious, or different angle shots of the same section are filmed. The Seated Man appears to be more popular than the Metro Centre, so lots of random strangers have found themselves in a video they are never likely to see.
The Cut Road, (Trough House track to us) was, in contrast, deserted. Not a soul spotted in the whole two and a bit miles and it was glorious today, the view down Fryupdale a patchwork of green hues. The normal ten or twelve minute blast along the Cut Road became almost an hour, for less than thirty seconds in the completed video but I was in no rush, only hunger drove me onward, final shots in the can, as they say in the cliches and find the most direct route back to The Stonehouse Bakery in Danby, where I sat outside in the sunshine, contemplating the joys of early retirement.
The Cut Road, (Trough House track to us) was, in contrast, deserted. Not a soul spotted in the whole two and a bit miles and it was glorious today, the view down Fryupdale a patchwork of green hues. The normal ten or twelve minute blast along the Cut Road became almost an hour, for less than thirty seconds in the completed video but I was in no rush, only hunger drove me onward, final shots in the can, as they say in the cliches and find the most direct route back to The Stonehouse Bakery in Danby, where I sat outside in the sunshine, contemplating the joys of early retirement.
Mountain Bike Ride
31st August 2018 route
Benny The Brawl.
Another promising morning, dry and bright and virtually windless. On my last official day of employment, I met soon to be former colleague Benny The Brawl at Birk Brow, who immediately launched into one of his usual “he said, she said” paranoid ramblings where he attempts to analyse the nuances of every workplace conversation involving him he has heard, or indeed, hasn’t heard, over his shift cycle. Now that the tribulations of working life no longer trouble me, not that they ever did, my obvious disinterest did nothing to halt the flow of invective. Only plunging ourselves into the stream of Whitby-bound traffic on the A171 drowned him out. Luckily, we only had to endure a mile or so of the last week of the school holidays traffic before heading on minor roads to Moorsholm, from where we crossed the A171 and pedalled up the farm lane beside Freeborough Hill.
Many legends have been spawned by this lump of soil and grass, have a look in the comments section here. We continued to Dimmingdale Farm, then across the normally boggy moor of Middle Heads to Robin Hoods Butt’s, today both were all dried up apart from a couple of big puddles at the lowest point of Robin Hood’s Butts. Have I mentioned what a marvellous summer we’re having? Taking a right turn we got onto the Sis Cross singletrack, surely one of the nicest tracks on the moors and today dry and fast, flowing through the heather. I think Benny, normally only happy on groomed pistes, may have even enjoyed it.
We made our way to Danby Beacon and followed tarmac back to Robin Hood’s Butts, which we reversed then followed the road up to the dreaded Quaker’s Causeway. Dreaded by everyone except me it seems, a fine way of cutting across what would otherwise be a soft and squelchy moor, others treat it as though it is a buttock-battering ordeal to be treated with the same unease as an invitation to a Michael Barrymore pool party. Benny managed it with only a desultory bit of moaning, much less than the regulars and considering he rides a hardtail, he did well, a stellar orbit away from his only other attempt, just over twelve months ago, when it was and this is a direct quote, the worst experience of his life. It rained a bit, if I remember rightly. Today was the complete opposite and soon we were munching bacon cheeseburgers in the sunshine.
Many legends have been spawned by this lump of soil and grass, have a look in the comments section here. We continued to Dimmingdale Farm, then across the normally boggy moor of Middle Heads to Robin Hoods Butt’s, today both were all dried up apart from a couple of big puddles at the lowest point of Robin Hood’s Butts. Have I mentioned what a marvellous summer we’re having? Taking a right turn we got onto the Sis Cross singletrack, surely one of the nicest tracks on the moors and today dry and fast, flowing through the heather. I think Benny, normally only happy on groomed pistes, may have even enjoyed it.
We made our way to Danby Beacon and followed tarmac back to Robin Hood’s Butts, which we reversed then followed the road up to the dreaded Quaker’s Causeway. Dreaded by everyone except me it seems, a fine way of cutting across what would otherwise be a soft and squelchy moor, others treat it as though it is a buttock-battering ordeal to be treated with the same unease as an invitation to a Michael Barrymore pool party. Benny managed it with only a desultory bit of moaning, much less than the regulars and considering he rides a hardtail, he did well, a stellar orbit away from his only other attempt, just over twelve months ago, when it was and this is a direct quote, the worst experience of his life. It rained a bit, if I remember rightly. Today was the complete opposite and soon we were munching bacon cheeseburgers in the sunshine.
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