Mountain Bike Ride
The Ginger One
8th April 2019 route
The Couldn't See A Thing Ride.
“The east side of the country should start cloudy but this will soon blow over to leave a fine, sunny day.” lied some fork-tongued witch on the national weather forecast, waving an arm in the general direction of an area of the country which is considered to be an irrelevant industrial wasteland by the southern based media. The cloud didn’t clear, we chose Lordstones which nestled in a grey blanket, damp and cold, although it meant the car park stayed predominantly empty, despite it being the start of the Easter holidays. We set off to explore some tracks around Carlton Bank, looking to link up some tracks further down the valley. A few fallen trees, muddy bogs and steep ups, combined with the lack of visibility made for slow progress but eventually we joined the downhill tracks in the woods above Faceby.
Our pleasant cruise along a sunken roller-coaster of pine needles was interrupted to read a sign nailed to a tree trunk. It seems someone has took objection to some trails in an area of woodland so remote most people are unaware it exists and laid traps sometime over the weekend. It is the third certainty of life, behind death and taxes, whatever someone does, someone else will find cause to complain about it. Leaving the forest to the saboteurs, our route took us through Faceby and across the fields to Whorlton and Swainby, ending up in Clain Woods and eventually Scugdale, climbing steadily to Scugdale Hall from where we began the long ride/push/carry up the B.O.A.T. to Stoney Wicks. My knee is still a bit dodgy, so limping along like Long John Silver with a bike on his shoulder instead of a parrot meant it was never going to be a brisk walk. Visibility was still on the poor side of mediocre, like trying to drive a car with all the windows steamed up, or riding a bike with your glasses steamed up, by the time we reached Brian’s Pond, the glasses had to go, as they were more hindrance than help, even I can manage to keep the bike on a track over two metres wide.
Our final descent, down the old gliding club access track, was taken cautiously, owing to not being able to see a thing and colliding with anything ovine, bovine, canine or indeed human would have probably put a damper on the day. We returned to Lordstones, mileage barely into double figures but feeling as though we’d done a much bigger route.
Relive 'The 'Couldn't See A Thing' ride'
Mountain Bike Ride
La Mujerita
9th April 2019 route
A Bit Better Than Yesterday
The mist and clag did eventually blow away, sometime during the night, we found ourselves in a chilly Great Ayton, taking the road option to Kildale as a warm up, it didn’t warm us that much but it was up. From Kildale, we kept on climbing, up to New Row, continuing up the Yellow Brick Road (as it is known locally) to Percy Cross Rigg and still more climbing took us along Percy Cross Rigg, to the wartime building at the top, which was part of the starfish decoy system employed in World War Two, more details here.
Our first bit of downhill for what seemed like many miles was over in a flash, arriving at the gate at the top of The Unsuitables in seconds. La Mujerita was introduced to some pretty standard Guisborough Woods weaving through the trees singletrack, dark and slightly damp but all rideable, not the usual mudfest we can expect this early in the year. She was not too impressed, despite it being only gently downhill and not featuring any of the usual trail ‘improvements’ commonly built to add a little spice to the ride.
Our route continued on fire roads, La Mujerita is probably not yet ready for the lumpy bumpy, rooty rockiness of Les’s or the near vertical drops of Stripes but like all things, it’s only a matter of time. We made our way back to Great Ayton via Aireyholme Farm and Dikes Lane, passing Fletcher’s Farm Coffee Shop, closed because it is Tuesday, stopping for refreshments in the new cafe in Great Ayton, the name of which escapes me at the moment but it was very tasty.
Relive 'A Bit Better Than Yesterday'
Cross Bike Ride.
Alone
10th April 2019 route
A Quick Scrounge About On The Cross Bike.
Returning home after yesterday’s ride, I decided to adjust my rear brake caliper because it had been rubbing slightly on the disc all ride, to cut a long story short, it ended up a bit like when Father Ted tried to hammer out a small dent in the car he had borrowed. An incautious attempt to free and lubricate the pistons led to loss of brake fluid, requiring a full bleed, in a “why did I start this?” frame of mind, I soon found out that my calipers are equipped with the latest in brake bleeding technology, which of course requires a special part, which of course is not in my toolbox, and of course, today is Wednesday when all the bike shops are shut. So my choice for today’s ride was either ride everywhere with one brake or take the CX bike out for a spin. The latter was the obvious choice while I waited for next day delivery to sort out my hydraulic predicament. Just a local ride, cyclepaths, dog walkers and quite a few families enjoying the Easter holidays on two wheels, which is nice to see, it seems not all children are slaves to their screens.
Mountain Bike Ride
La Mujerita
11th April 2019 route
Glorious Gribdale
Last ride for this week because as seems to be the norm these days, I’m at a funeral tomorrow; I swear if my car doesn’t have bikes on the roof rack it drives itself straight to the crematorium. Still, at least they are over quicker than weddings, which have the potential to waste a whole day of your life. Gribdale was today’s chosen start, the car park already busy with those who choose chocolate eggs over gross domestic product, everyone from hikers who would not be inappropriately dressed to scale Kilimanjaro to the less experienced who looked as though they were out for a day in the Metrocentre. Plenty of kids about, revelling in the outdoors like cattle being released from their winter sheds.
We made our way up to Percy Cross Rigg via the newly resurfaced track at Nab End, steep but now rideable all the way, from Percy Cross Rigg, we dropped down to Sleddale before ascending Cod Hill Heights, to the outskirts of Guisborough Woods, where we climbed some more, around the back of Highcliffe Nab, following the ‘top’ fire road eastwards through the woods. We enjoyed a some trails, both through the trees and on open moorland, as we headed back towards Highcliffe on the lower fire road. All good things must come to an end and all that and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves climbing again, this time to the top of The Unsuitables.
After a short breather, Percy Cross Rigg beckoned for us and we ascended then descended to the gate, La Mujerita taking the downhill in her stride, pedals level, knees bent, getting the hang of it. The Lonsdale Bowl was skirted and we were soon at Newton Moor, above Gribdale where one of us kindly let some small children on little horses (ponies? I’ve never been sure whether ponies are juvenile horses or a special breed of small equines) go ahead of us before we tackled the ruts and rocks of the bridleway, downhill all the way to the car.
No comments:
Post a Comment