July 2022 Round Up and Video

It looks as though this month's roundup will have to be a full monthly report seeing as life has suddenly switched up a gear and I find myself too busy to write up the weeklies. Don’t worry, I haven’t done anything stupid like get a job. It has been an extreme month weatherwise, from the hottest day ever recorded in Britain to days of low teens temperatures and grey drizzle. The trails are in pristine condition and we have taken full advantage of the dryness to throw ourselves (literally in some cases) down them.

Too many words? Video here.

It Could Do With Being A Bit Warmer

An uninspiring start to the month, July crept in tentatively and the factor 30 stayed in the bottom of the bag. Me and The Breadlad rode from Sheepwash to Boltby Forest to explore a promising track I had spotted previously; it turned out to be as promising as one of The Ginger One’s bets and we cut our losses with a quick spin round Noddle End before taking the Drove Road back to Sheepwash.

The Timber! Bell Twins

Second day in a row for The Breadlad, meeting at Hutton Village for a scrounge about Guisborough Woods. He has joined the Timber Bell! Gang (their exclamation mark, not mine), so now there are two of us with a jangling, dangling cowbell to irritate the walkers.

If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you...

As if Neitzsche rode Stripes, I didn't even know he'd been to Guisborough.

Third day in a row for me and a lonely one too. Another scrat about Guisborough Woods, in a fit of uncharacteristic bravery, reacquainting myself with The Abyss on Stripes left hand variation, one of those features which is much less intimidating to ride than it is to look at. Unseasonably windy, a later descent of Little Roseberry saw me blown off track three times.

Hot Riding On Cold Moor.

The first of four days in the company of Rod, so it was always going to be steep and technical. His opening ride was almost tame, the Cold Moor Descent but utilising our Spanish training to ride in the rock filled gully as much as possible, followed with a couple of the enduro tracks around Cringle Moor. Pleasantly warm though.

Summer Didn't Last Long...

After yesterday’s foray into British Summer Time, the weather has reverted to mediocre. We met at a dank and dismal Swainby, made our way to the head of Scugdale and continued climbing to Carlton Bank. An awesome descent through Faceby Woods made up for the pain of ascending. For the second half of the ride we pedalled through Clain Woods and onto Scarth Wood Moor, descending through Arnecliffe Woods back to Swainby.

Battling Through Boltby.

Day three with Rod and he’s in his element today, leading us around the darker corners of Boltby Forest, introducing me to some of the Boltby Bash enduro trails, indulging his preference for the steep and technical side of riding.

Trailing Around With Rod

The ultimate day of Rod’s mini-break and we took advantage of the dry trails around Captain Cook’s Monument and Guisborough Woods with a smorgasbord of delectable delights from almost vertical rock drops to flowing berms, trails almost hidden by encroaching bracken and everything in between.

Before The Heat Quicky

It is forecast to be the hottest day of the year, century, millennium, whatever today and I have to admit it was a touch on the warm side. I managed a lonely spin around Roseberry Topping before the fiercest heat kicked in. When my Camelbak ran dry it was time to head home and ride the reclining chair in the garden for the remainder of the day. The hottest day record was to be superseded within twenty four hours when the thermometer peaked at an unprecedented forty degrees Celsius.

A Few Miles With Miles

This being England in the summertime, the temperature is heading in the downward direction again. Me and Miles had a spin from Birk Brow, heading down through Margrove Park woods, riding a few of Ralph’s trails before making our way to Guisborough Woods, where we met the man himself, cycling back from the local butchers with a shirt full of pork pies. In Guisborough Woods, Miles revealed some of the trails he has found walking the dog - not a euphemism, he does have a dog. We even spent a bit of time sessioning like the young people do before heading back to Birk Brow via Westworth woods and the Quaker’s Causeway.

A Bit Of A Leg Stretcher.

The Breadlad has been released back into the wild today and he was keen to do a long ride around Danby which has been on the back burner for some time. In the cold light of day, his enthusiasm waned somewhat (as has the temperature, it has dropped by twenty eight degrees in two days) so I kindly cut out a loop. Even so the route came in at just under twenty three miles. Climbing the endless Glaisdale Rigg in a rain shower was a tester but the indomitable Terra Trailblazers are made of sterner stuff, we made the rain vanish by sheer force of will, making the descent back to Danby all the more enjoyable.

Food offerings on Fat Betty

It's Only A Flesh Wound

When it happens to someone else.

It’s the time of year when the countryside is alive with the sound of teachers coughing chalk dust from their lungs as they break free from the tyranny of marking books and bouncing well-aimed blackboard erasers off unsuspecting young skulls for six weeks. As if they even have blackboards nowadays and it appears striking children has been forbidden for some time, I don’t think that would have stopped many of the borderline psychopaths who were paid to educate my generation. Our own escapee from education, SuperBri, joined me and Miles today for a scrounge about Guisborough Woods. Our first route was another of Miles’ dog walking discoveries, which turned out to be a bit challenging, especially for SuperBri who managed to sustain a flesh wound on the way down.

Can We Have Our Heatwave Back?

Freezing wind on the tops.

Three stitches heavier SuperBri joined us again, me and The Breadlad this time, for a run over the high moors from Clay Bank, the mishaps for SuperBri continued though, firstly a puncture followed by a snapped rear mech which meant he did the remainder of the ride as a single-speeder. Considering it is almost the end of July, the wind is ridiculously cold, not what you want when time is being spent with chain splitters and multi-tools.

Cruising Down Cold Moor.

Just me and The Breadlad today, SuperBri is busy sourcing a new rear mech, Lordstones for us today, like Clay Bank yesterday, very quiet for the time of year. The classic Cold Moor descent was our first objective and a bit of SuperBri’s bad luck must have rubbed off onto me because I did part of the track on elbow and knee, having lost the bike in a hidden rut. At least it was on the lower section, not in the rocky gully higher up. From Chop Gate, we climbed up to the summit of Carlton Bank to ride one of the enduro tracks, which I believed would be easier now it was dry - I was maybe overestimating our skill levels. A couple more enduro trails followed before we headed for the cafe to rehydrate with pints of a carefully formulated blend of minerals and carbohydrates, okay then, shandy it is.