CX Bike Ride
The Little Woman
1st October 2018 route
The month started with another gentle CX bike ride around rural Teesside, taking in those little villages which exist in countryside within sight of the chemical factories. Very pleasant it was too.
Mountain Bike Ride
The Sheik Of Bristol.
2nd October 2018 route
The following day, I met the Sheik Of Bristol at Danby to acquaint him with some of the fine riding we have discovered during his Middle Eastern hiatus. Not quite so fine was the brutal westerly wind, which gusted across the moors, giving us a bit of an extra workout. After the usual exchange of pleasantries in the car park, we set off up the hill and soon found ourselves being blown across the moor from Clitherbeck Farm on the wide bridleway. TTB 1, Wind O. The road to Danby Beacon gave us a sidewind, we’ll call that a draw. A slight pause to regain our breath at the beacon and we continued on tarmac, heading into the wind this time, the usual blast across to the Danby road somewhat slower than usual. TTB 1, Wind 1. Robin Hood’s Butts is even higher, always windier and giving us a more butch version of the same headwind. TTB 1, Wind 2. Luckily our route turned off across the moor to Sis Cross, from where we had a tailwind again, TTB 2, Wind 2.
The track from Sis Cross to Danby is in the best condition I have ever seen, the Sheik will be imagining it is always like this, he’ll be in for a shock when the peat hags reappear and wheel-sucking mud puddles are trying to drag us from our bikes. But today, it was merely perfect pleasure, carving through an ocean of heather on a track, in places barely wider than our tyres, wind at our backs, beneath a breathtaking blue sky. TTB 3, Wind 2.
Shortly afterwards, the same tailwind was pushing us up Ainthorpe Rigg as we headed for Fryupdale, TTB 4, Wind 2. Despite the sanitisation of the lower part of the ascent, the top is still slightly technical, with enough rocks to take your mind off the climbing. From the top it’s a fast as you dare plummet to the road, starting in a rocky gully, which opens out to a grassy track, still with the odd lump and bump to catch out the unwary. Today was dry and pedestrian free, so plummet we did, all the way to the Yorkshire Cycle Hub for refreshments. Satiated, we reluctantly took ourselves outside into the wind again and made our way through the fields from Stonebeck Gate Farm, also dry, a change from the winter mud slog it sometimes is. All that remained was a last bit of road work before we were back in the car park.
Mountain Bike Ride
The Breadlad, The Sheik Of Bristol
4th October 2018 route
Two days later, the Sheik Of Bristol re-appeared along with the Breadlad at Sheepwash car park on a less windy but equally pleasant day. We picked our way through what can only be described as a herd of canines, along the shore of Cod Beck Reservoir before an attack of bladder weakness forced us to stop, my nether regions unaccountably moist until we discovered my trusty old Camelbak reservoir had sprung a leak, like a geriatric in a post office queue it was dribbling as we moved forward. A bit of bodging ensued and we were back on our way, climbing through the woods to High Lane, heading for the Dale Head singletrack. The track to the old farmhouse seems to have been flattened out somewhat, what used to be rocky is now merely gravel, the farmhouse itself is in a sorry state now, the roof has gone and the walls are beginning to collapse, just a few years ago it was almost habitable. The famous singletrack, named after the farm, is marvellous today, dry and bog-free, contouring the moor beneath the gloomy North face of Black Hambleton, plenty of technical features to maintain concentration. We arrived at the gate with an audience of sheep staring at us like altar boys watching a priest.
And then the climbing began, up to Low Cote Farm, up to Hill End Farm, up to Arnesgill Ridge, there’s a theme developing here, some more up to Osmotherley Stones, all on sandy thoroughfares across wide open, deserted moors. Finally, Barker’s Ridge presented itself and we began to descend, payback time, scene of many accidents in the days of V brakes and skinny tyres, on modern bikes it barely registers. After the stoney delight of Barker’s Ridge, the track down Scugdale came next, from Stoney Wickes to Scugdale Hall, varied all the way down from loam to rocks and ruts, the surface constantly evolves as it heads into the valley below the climbers’ playground of Barker’s Crags. We regrouped at the gate, happy but aware that the way back to the cars involves a big hill.
A gradual ascent through the farmyard at Harfa House, which is actually a whole house and some years ago, scene of one of the funniest Terra Trailblazers’ incidents, when the Ginger One rode over a hidden obstacle and stalled in a farmyard full of knee deep slurry. We knew it was knee deep because that’s how far it went up his (bare) leg, an evil smelling feculent sludge even by the Ginger One’s standards, as we had all successfully negotiated the excreta, sympathy was expressed by loud guffaws and childish banter. Today, the farmyard is a much different place and we breezed through without even a cowpat to sully our tyres. Leaving the farm behind, we rode through fields to Clain Woods, before hauling ourselves and our bikes up the infamous steps. From the top it was only a short distance back to Sheepwash and even shorter drive to the Rusty Bike cafe in Swainby.
Mountain Bike Ride
The Breadlad
5th October 2018 route
A fifty percent chance of rain, generally means a hundred percent chance of getting soaked and sure enough we did, we entered the cloud driving up Carlton Bank to Lordstones and stayed in the clag all day. The kind of constant drizzle, which, although not heavy, permeates every layer, laughs at claims of waterproofness and turns glasses opaque. Our actual route remains vague for various reasons, the main one being we maybe ought not have been in some of the places we (inadvertently) found ourselves. Suffice to say, it was wet and slippy, many fallen trees were negotiated in some woods and we found a few nice tracks before emerging somewhere near Faceby and sneaked back over Carlton Bank under the cover of mist. Probably our slowest and shortest ride of the year but were not concerned, we’d got out and beat the weather, forced ourselves from the gravitational pull of the couch and had some (mainly type 2) fun despite the elements. And we were wise enough to bring spare clothes, the luxury of getting out of wet kit cannot be overstated on days like today.
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