Terra Trailblazers: From Ice Age to Global Warming. February 2021 Round Up and Video.

February 2021 Round Up and Video.

Lexical lassitude? Video here.

February was a month of mixed weather, snow, ice, rain, wind and wet finishes; spare clothes and hot coffee sort of days. We still managed to squeeze in a few rides of a local nature, occasionally ‘too’ local, if I never see another stretch of red tarmac or a brain-dead pedestrian as long as I live it will still be too soon. Even trudging through snow drifts on top of the moors was preferable to running the gauntlet of passive-aggressive dog walkers on the Castle Eden Walkway. There were a few of those strange February days where early summer slips through the space time continuum and you suddenly find yourself riding around in shirtsleeves, always welcome though and a relief from ice-breaking on other days of the month.

Slip Sliding Away.

The unofficial motto of the Terra Trailblazers has always been “Who Dares Wins”, which we cheekily stole from a long time role-model who comes to the aid of Britain in troubled times; nerves of steel, a backbone of titanium and an inspiration to us all - Del Boy Trotter. And today turned out to be a who dares wins sort of day, we defied the weather forecast, the lockdown, the covid police and Boris himself to meet in Great Ayton, ready to battle all conditions in pursuit of our daily exercise. Well two of us did, our absent companion, The Ginger One, motto: “If it looks hard it probably is. So let’s not bother.”, allowed the grim sight from his bedroom window to deter him. Hard to understand, he lives in Darlington, it’s always a grim sight from his window. So he stayed in his jimmy jams while real Trailblazers swung legs over crossbars and headed for the hills; somewhat moist, we rode up through Aireyholme Farm to Roseberry Common, pausing only to shed a layer or two, as coats became wetter on the insides. The tracks in Guisborough Woods are in appalling condition, one week ago they were frozen and we were ploughing our way through snow drifts to reach them, today they are like the philtrum of a snotty nosed toddler, runnels of water and mud coming down the hillsides like snail trails. Up through the woods we toiled, diverting occasionally to sample some of the less muddy tracks, we reached the top of the woods, did a U turn and headed back the way we had come, digressing behind Highcliffe Nab to take ourselves out onto the open moor of Codhill Heights. The wide bridleway descent is always fast and fun, even though it has had a dose of lockdown gravel in parts, the climb out from Sleddale is generally less fun and today was no different. We carried on around the Lonsdale Bowl in improving weather, to Fingerbender Bank, merely moist today, unlike last week when it channelled a small river. Muddier tracks took us down to Gribdale, any suggestions of extra loops remained unsaid as we followed the road directly back to Great Ayton, which basked in spring sunshine. We might have basked too but we’re uncertain if basking is permitted in the lockdown.

Only One Hill And No Mud.

I might have lied about the mud.

Drizzle and wind, not the best conditions for a ride but we were here anyway, so might as well get on with it. Like the title says, only one hill, but it’s belter, seven miles up and seven miles down. Climbing gradually all the way from Great Ayton, to Bank Foot Farm, then (a lot) more steeply up Turkey Nab, before more amenable ascending on the edge of Ingleby Moor above Battersby Plantation to our high point at Burton Howe. A lot easier than three weeks ago when this track was covered in knee deep snow and we met a bloke walking up with skis on his back. Just like the Grand Old Duke Of York, who had ten thousand... - teenage girls (allegedly), when we were up we were up and when we were down, we were down because it was too dank to hang about. Time for payback, first down the Old Coal Road, at the T junction turning north, back to Battersby Moor, plunging down the loose track, glasses fogged with condensation from the drizzle. The newly resurfaced Coleson Banks was our next target, it must be twenty years since it was completely rideable, having suffered from the predations of the wobbly-heads in their 4x4’s and guess what? Ruts are already beginning to reappear. How long will it take for them to end up head height again? Heading through the fields to Battersby, still nicely downhill, made a liar out of me. The no mud part of the description turned to loads of mud all the way down, luckily the water splash at the end of the track cleaned most of it off the bikes. But not us unfortunately because this was the day we all forgot our mudguards. Wet arses all round. From Battersby, we made like roadies all the way back to Great Ayton, concentrating on our cadence and heart rate, refusing to acknowledge other road users, especially scruffy bastards on mountain bikes and keeping our eyes firmly on those Strava KOM’s.

Glorious Tripsdale.

What a difference a day makes, positively spring like today, blue sky, temperature in double figures and no rain on the horizon. Perfect until we arrived at Clay Bank to be greeted with a stiff breeze and some ugly black clouds scudding across the moor tops. Just a regular Tripsdale run today but a first for SuperBri who has yet to sample the delights of the hidden valley. But first the Carr Ridge steps hike-a-bike to get over with, the monotony broken today by a call from the GP’s inviting me for my Covid vaccination; they must have got through all the old folks pretty speedily if they are inviting people on the verge of middle-age. From the car park to the gate at the top of the steps, leading onto Urra Moor, it is three quarters of a mile and four hundred and fifty feet of ascent, we’ve done it literally hundreds of times but it never gets any easier. From the gate, our route continued in a predominantly uphill manner to Round Hill, as has been mentioned before, the uninspiring highest point of the North York Moors. Pointed it out to SuperBri - he was less than impressed. Broad sandy tracks criss-cross this moor, all built to make things easier for shooting parties, who, it seems, are happy to lash out three grand per person for what is essentially a day on the drink with firearms; you can get that in some parts Middlesbrough for a lot less than three grand. The tracks are very useful this time of year, staying mainly mud-free and apart from the odd puddle, well drained, speedy non-technical riding in spectacular scenery, which we took advantage of today. Heading into the wind, we rode from Cockayne Heads, past the Badger Stone until we joined the Tripsdale bridleway, where we paused for a breather and to take in the scenery before heading downhill. Starting from Stump Cross, the bridleway drops almost six hundred feet in a little under two miles, imperceptibly at first, then becoming steeper and looser, dropping into the valley, some sharp hairpin bends calm you down before the final brakes off plunge over the bridge and up the other side to the NSP (Natural Stopping Point), where we revel in the buzz of the descent and contemplate the climb out of the valley. Being gentlemen of a certain age, the NSP’s are becoming NPP’s because there is an inevitable amount of bladder voiding at the stopping points nowadays. The climb out begins steeply and becomes steeper, modern cassettes take the sting out of it but it is usually the looseness which stymies most attempts. Today was no different. We stopped again, halfway up the ascent to look across at the descent, there is an awesome view of the track snaking down into the valley. We made our way back up to Round Hill, sticking on the broad sandy tracks, retracing our tyre tracks along Carr Ridge, getting a little payback from our deposits in the gravity bank. We turned off prior to the steps in favour of a muddy track through Greenhow Plantation, relatively clean bikes soon became splattered as we fought our way through a morass of clay and water, all for the fun of a few extra seconds of descent.

Urban Industrial

Another before work quickie for La Mujerita, we rode to Newport and along the river to the Transporter and beyond, past the Temenos sculpture to the Middlesbrough football stadium and back home again. It was a lovely day for it, the dinosaurs have been freshly painted and are proving very popular with lots of young families walking around the park. Not much else to say really. Keep an eye out for a separate video which is upcoming, is that the same as coming up? It’s a funny language this English. The video mainly details the artworks along the river against the backdrop of industry.