Classic descents In The Cleveland Hills. Episode Four - Tripsdale.

Classic Descents In The Cleveland Hills.

This series hopes to show our best-loved tracks on the moors, usually using the GoPro Hero 9 Hypersmooth mode because nobody wants to sit through fifteen minutes of chest cam footage, however magnificent the surroundings. Being someone who is against the whole best of, top ten mentality, especially when applied to unquantifiable entities, they are in no particular order, each one is someone’s favourite.

Episode Four.

Tripsdale

The little frequented valley of Tripsdale runs parallel to Bilsdale, between Hagg House Moor and Nab End Moor. A bridleway drops down steeply and crosses the beck. The bridleway is wide, dropping steadily until some hairpin bends zig zag down to the stream. Loose and rocky for most of the way, it’s a little like the riding in Southern Spain without the guaranteed good weather. This video rides the bridleway from east to west, although it can be ridden the opposite way. We usually begin at Stump Cross above Bransdale (Grid ref: SE 60640 98209) which can be approached from Bransdale or off the Cleveland Way via Cockayne Head and Badger Gill, crossing Hodge Beck near the Badger Stone. From Stump Cross the bridleway heads westward across Slape Wath and Hagg House moors, gradually losing height and steepening until the last drop to the bridge over Tripsdale Beck. Inevitably, all pleasure comes at a cost, in this case, it is the climb out again, equally loose and rocky, although perhaps not as steep, it tops out on Nab End Moor from where a variety of routes can be taken back to Bilsdale or returning to the Cleveland Way path. If you are aiming for Bilsdale, two of the options are the bridleway through East Bank Plantation or the one down Medd Crag, both worth doing, although there is a short boggy section in East Bank Plantation.

About Classic Descents In The Cleveland Hills.

They might not all be in the Cleveland Hills, possibly not even descents and whether they are classics or not is purely subjective but we enjoy them and I’m not one to spoil an alliterative title with facts. The Cleveland Hills form the North West edge of the North York Moors and it is the area where most of our riding takes place, predominantly cross-country; purple moors under big skies, criss-crossed by a network of sandy tracks which link up wholly natural descents, loose and ungroomed, a world away from risk assessments and construction design management. No marker posts or direction arrows, get a map or some local knowledge, “To boldly go...” might not be the wisest course of action, some of these trails change week by week depending on the actions of weather and walkers, you can expect loose rocks to miraculously appear dead in the middle of a moorland singletrack, placed by militant ramblers, who are a little overzealous in their belief the countryside should be closed to any other user groups. Self reliance is your friend, all the usual stuff about bike spares, extra clothing, reserve food, phone battery charged up and generally not being a knob apply, it might be a long way to the nearest road and an even longer way back to your car park. If the worst comes to the worst and the mountain rescue team needs to be called out, a grid reference or What 3 Words phrase will be enormously helpful, if you are unaware of either of these things, should you really be leaving the trail centre? An old-school whistle comes in handy for those spots where phones don’t work. Either three blasts or six blasts with a minute gap between sets is the approved method. Handily most hydration packs have a whistle included in the buckle of the sternum strap. I am not trying to be alarmist here, it’s all just common sense really. The majority of our routes are not gnarly or extreme in any way, we leave that for those more skilled but steep inclines and sudden drops, along with the dreaded ruts will always be possible. https://www.adventuresmart.uk/ Relax, enjoy the scenery, journey not destination and all that, when the heather is in bloom, the sun is shining and the winds are favourable there is no finer place to be.