November Round Up and Video.
Video here.
November wasn’t too bad a month, weatherwise, a bit cold and windy but really quite dry, although, like the poor (as Jesus said), the puddles and the mud will always be with us. We managed a selection of riders this month, The Breadlad topped the leaderboard with 5 outings, it ought to have been more but the month was cut short for me. The Ginger One managed to tear himself away from golf and overtime for a couple of rides, Olly the student only managed a single ride, too busy copying and pasting from Wikipedia, or whatever students call studying nowadays. La Mujerita managed a trio of outings, she’s less than impressed with all the mud and water and I’m sure she would like Boris to put us on a proper lockdown again, so we can spend more time on the red tarmac. And Benny The Brawl dragged himself from wherever he’s been hiding for one brief ride, he’ll back again when he realises gyms are about exercise not mirrors. We have been on lockdown all month, only able to meet one person outdoors for exercise and no cafes again. Except takeaways and the Branch Walkway cafe at Pinchinthorpe Visitor Centre is doing a grand job of feeding hungry cyclists and walkers who don’t mind sitting in a cold field to drink their coffee, similarly the burger van at Birk Brow is keeping us fuelled up. Other than that we have been back to tailgate picnics, which aren’t quite as endearing in November as they were in June.
Only one ride left to blog this week, as usual the ride names are the Strava rides, under the pseudonym Lordy Lardy.
Wind Colder Than A Politicians Heart.
I knew this wasn’t going to be the most productive of weeks, riding wise, appointments Tuesday and Thursday left only three days for bicycle-related japery. A vicious tooth infection wiped out the rest of the week - even I’m not crazy enough to go riding while my body is trying to fight off an invading horde of bacteria and I feel like a stand in for Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man. But a ride was managed the first day of the week, mainly getting footage for November’s movie, so, bag loaded with camera, drone, batteries, GoPro’s and assorted metalwork, I left Great Ayton behind and had a wind-assisted pedal up to Roseberry Common, via Aireyholme Farm. At the steps I waited while a pair of fell runners made their way cautiously down the slippery incline, then bike on shoulders, I headed up onto Newton Moor and got my filming head on. Took a chance, sending the drone up into the buffeting wind, it was being shoved around like the contents of an anorexic’s plate but the footage came out mostly steady. Isn’t technology marvellous? Filming complete it was time for a few miles to fill in the rest of the day, a quick scoot round Hutton Moor, Guisborough Woods and Percy Cross Rigg, culminating with a descent of old time Gizzy classics, Les’s One and Two. The start of Les’s One has eroded a great deal but the actual track isn’t too bad, still a pleasant meander down, Les’s Two hasn’t changed at all, still has the drop through a gap in the trees, which may or may not fit your handlebars and the usual selection of greasy rocks to bounce over. Or clear with a stylish jump, lofting the bike into the air like Danny Hart although in my case, not so much Redcar Rocket as Hartlepool Hippo. But in my imagination I was shredding, which is all that matters. From the bottom of Les’s Two, I reversed my outward route all the way back to Great Ayton, not forgetting the crucial detour to the butchers.
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