“It might be a bit boggy down here”

In an attempt to cover a bit of unfamiliar ground in the short winter day, we decided on a figure of eight loop to keep us amused. Assembling at a curiously balmy Square Corner, Howard donned his helmet cam. I hope he plays the tape back at double speed to make us look a bit faster.

Down the road, past the now closed for winter Chequers and onto route 65 through the woods to Cod Beck. All downhill up to know but all knew it was too good to last, soon we were panting up the tarmac to the mysterious collection of antennae and high security fencing known locally as ‘The Table and Chairs’. From here a pleasant cruise on the Cleveland Way across Scarth Wood Moor took us back to the road. We followed the road back past Cod Beck reservoir and on into Osmotherley, heading directly for a well earned coffee break after almost eight whole miles of pedalling.

Suitably refreshed the Snilesworth road back to the Square Corner car park wasn’t quite as challenging as we imagined but still contained a few test pieces. Passing our cars, still intact despite the notices warning of recent attacks by the two-legged vermin who trawl remote car parking spots, we headed into Silton Forest, once again (albeit briefly) on route 65. Eschewing the fire road for a bridleway on the right, I uttered those fateful words:

“It might be a bit boggy down here” It is normally given to a couple of small boggy patches at the start but boggy didn’t begin to describe the Louisiana swamp we found ourselves wallowing in, water moccasins and alligators wouldn’t have came as a surprise. Every slurping step of the way those portentous words were uttered with various degrees of sarcasm by my fellow cyclists. Eventually the track reverted to mere mud and we enjoyed a slithering downhill until we joined another fire road. This proved only a brief mud-free interlude and we were soon, quite literally, back in the thick of things heading south west through the woods above Thimbleby Bank, recent tree-felling work adding to the chaos of mud and roots.

The last steep little drop into Over Silton, down a leaf-strewn gully, gave my companions a chance to see there is some justice in the world, as it spat me off, trapping my leg between frame and handlebars, the angle of slope rendering me helpless until I was extricated. To make matters worse, every second was captured on video, doubtless to appear on howardsbikevids at some later date, if not You’ve Been Framed and Kirsty’s Home Videos. One large bruise later we were on our way through Over Silton on a pleasant low-level bridleway to Nether Silton, passing Greystoke Farm and back into Silton Woods. It sounds so easy written in a brief sentence; back into Silton Woods, in reality it was up the fire road used by route 65, 350 feet of ascent, relentless, grinding, 4 mph ascent - but at least it wasn’t boggy!

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