A Snowy Start To Summer. May 2021 Round Up And Video.

A Snowy Start To Summer. May 2021 Round Up And Video.

 What a month May 2021 turned out to be, it began with snow, progressed to rain and managed to rustle up a bit of sunshine to end the month. Still scraped in 15 rides, 223 miles and 24,000 feet of ascent. Almost all the rides ended with a change of clothes and half of those rides were alone; it appears a few people need to have their water-prooofing reapplied. And special mention must be made of The Bread Lad who has not been out at all this month, suffering with a herniated disc in his spine, laid on the settee waiting for some beardy-faced, long-haired bloke to say “Pick up your bed and walk...” He’s spending some much time on his back he could get a job with The Ginger One. 

Too many words? Video here.

Another Day: Another Drenching.

A fine morning tempted Keith to drive south and meet us in Great Ayton, when I say us, that means me, as everyone else seems to have been put off by the weather forecast. We managed a decent ride around what The Ginger One likes to call Jizzborough Woods, diverting to circumnavigate Easby Moor and climb up to Captain Cook’s Monument en route to the woods. At the monument a shower could be spotted heading toward us from Carlton Bank, we made it down to Gribdale, across Newton Moor and onto Percy Cross Rigg before the rain caught us up, punishing our optimism with a lashing downpour as we hurriedly donned waterproofs. Grim riding over Percy Cross Rigg and down to the Unsuitables gate, rain dripping from our faces. A few trails in Guisborough Woods were attempted, a slurry of mud and water usurping our best efforts, a descent of a much eroded Les’s 1 was included, it is definitely suffering from the weather (and perhaps old age) worse than we are. We dropped down the side of the mighty Roseberry Topping and made our way to Cliff Rigg Quarry, ready for a few attempts on the nursery slopes ahead of next week’s half term. During half term it will be full of kids getting more air than Buzz Aldrin while we slink out of sight and head for home. 

Double Causeway Day.

The sort of start where sanity is doubted and motivation is hiding somewhere beneath warmth and dryness, it wasn’t too bad when I first arrived, the sky looked like a ceiling emulsioned by Stevie Wonder but the rain was very light. As the bike was being unloaded, some big boy clouds muscled in and began a minor monsoon, the whole car park soon flooded. Not being completely insane, I sat in the car, sulking, until it relented back to light drizzle before heading out across the moor to the Quaker’s Causeway, a raised track of buttock battering boulders which strikes fear into the hindquarters of lesser men. And I did it twice, it goes without saying I was alone, with only the rain to keep me company. The unpaved sections of the track are in dire condition, the sort of state usually seen in late December not late May. A distinctly soggy bridleway took me to Commondale, where the sun put in an appearance, shining on a couple of llamas who were looking longingly towards Peru. From the Box Hall bridleway, I joined the road and plodded up to the Sean The Sheep bus stop, where I had a rest and watched another cloudful of misery heading toward the only cyclist for miles around. The return across the causeway was as damp as the outward journey but it is still a useful way to cross a boggy moor. Back at the car park, dry clothes on but being steadily brought to the same state as the ones now residing in a plastic bag in the boot, as I waited in the burger van queue. The lady serving said “I bet you haven’t had much fun today...” But she was wrong, drenchings are the new normal, apparently we’ve already had twice as much rain as a normal May, we’d be sitting at home forever if the weather put us off, obviously my view is verging on the unique but it’s always good to be a free thinker.

Wot? No Soaking?

Hmm, after yesterday’s rest day which followed the usual May pattern of drenching showers interspersed with light drizzle, today is suspiciously springlike and NO RAIN is actually forecast. I whizzed up to Sutton Bank, notice it says up to Sutton bank, not up Sutton Bank, as in I went in the car, not holding up the traffic like one of those weirdo roady types. I was eager to check out the new improvements which have been made for us cyclists. As Gilbert O’Sullivan once sang, alone again naturally, as everyone must have better (but probably worse) things to do and they would balk at the parking fees here anyway. The track through the woods from the car park has been completely remodelled, widened and extended, passing the new pump track which looks superb for those who enjoy that type of thing. I had a quick blast but as my former colleagues can attest to, the sort of pumping which is my forte owes little to bikes and a lot to curry and Guiness. Leaving the woods behind, a quick blast down the road took me to Sneck Yate, where the car park was rammed, more full than I have ever seen it, that is what a £4.80 parking charge at Sutton Bank has done. A quick scoot up the track to Dale Town Common was followed by a pedal across the grassy common to join the track which leads to the Drove Road at the top of Kepwick Bank. A couple of vintage roadies who had just rode up the coronary-inducing Kepwick Bank, had a bit of a marvel at my 52 tooth rear cassette, incredulous at the size of it. The one whose face was a dangerous shade of beetroot probably should be thinking of investing in one, or going electric. A quick scout about Boltby Forest and then it was on to The Escarpment, a picturesque singletrack, skirting the edge of the moor, fields and racehorse gallops on one side, a dramatic drop over scrappy cliffs to the valley below on the other side, all leading to the self-proclaimed “Finest View In England.” Another scoot around the pump track for some pictures and back to the car for some food and a Facetime with The Breadlad, who has to enjoy his cycling vicariously at the moment.

Another Dry Finish.

Two days without rain would have been too much to expect and it’s just as well we didn’t expect it. Some un-forecast light rain was steadily dampening the pavements along with my mood as the bike went on the roof rack, the rain continued almost all the way to Hamsterley Forest, where it was surprisingly dry. Simon T. and Keith were just ahead of me, Simon T. eager to be out on his new baby, giving it a thorough beasting on the trails of Hamsterley. We did a similar reverse hot lap to the one last week, riding up past the skills loop to Windybank Road and directly to Section 13, which is hanging on to a few puddles but still an improvement on the past few weeks. It was so enjoyable, we rode back up the top half of Cough Up A Lung Lane to do it again before continuing to the valley floor via Special K and Brainfreeze. The Grove Link took us to, yes, you’ve guessed, The Grove and the long climb up to Polties Last Blast, passing the still closed Transmission. Never mind, Polties, K Line, Accelerator and Nitrous were just as much fun without it, before we knew it we were back at in the valley, contemplating another climb, this time up to Gorse Bush Alley, ready for Pike’s Teeth but first we continued up to have a go at an off-piste section, which may be called Little Owl, rooty but not too slippery, shooting us straight along Gorse Bush Alley to Pike’s Teeth. Pike’s Teeth is allegedly a black route, if it is it’s the easiest black route in mountain biking and everything in Guisborough Woods is double black. A little bit of exploration found us a fire road leading straight back to the start of Pike’s Teeth, as we rode the fire road, a deer popped out of the woods to inspect us for a while before turning tail to disappear into the trees. We rode Pike’s Teeth again, almost on the verge of sessioning like young people, despite our combined age well in excess of one hundred and fifty years. We finished the day on another off-piste route, which I think used to be called Green Man but I may be wrong. It was the worst route of the day, wet and muddy, rutted and rooty but still not bad, which might have something to do with the sun coming out.

As usual clicking on the route name will take you to the Strava page