3^rd. First ride of August and the much-publicised “barbecue summer” has yet to make an appearance, Square Corner was it’s usual 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the North East. Me, Dom and ever-enthusiastic youngster Peter made our way through what is left of Silton Woods to the downhill track, where Peter proceeded to demonstrate to us the correct way to ride a downhill track. Making our excuses regarding suspension travel, wrong geometry and lack of body armour, we demonstrated the middle-aged way of riding a downhill track – with pitiful caution and an abundance of braking. The boy is far too polite to actually snigger but we punished him anyway by making him haul his 40lb downhill bike up Kepwick Bank. The Gods repaid my cruelty by sending a spaniel to sexually assault me as we got our breath back at the top, much to the amusement of my companions. A short blast along The Drove Road and down The Mad Mile had us back at Square Corner. Short but satisfying – especially for the spaniel.

4th Undaunted by yesterday Peter turned out again with me and Oz to drag his monster bike about Guisborough Woods, putting us to shame on the downhills and drop-offs. The actual route escapes me but the woods were far more muddy than they ought to have been for August.

11^th Reeth again. Me and Peter met Howard and a couple of others for a gruelling route which began with a six or seven mile uphill to sample an excellent downhill track from Great Punchard Head to Langthwaite. From Langthwaite, we took the minor road to the hamlet of Booze, Peter discovered the true meaning of the word uphill when he rounded the bend and found a nearly vertical road looming before him. At the summit we turned left and crossed an expanse of moor with a lengthy and speedy downhill prior to riding an evidently unused bridleway which returned us to Langthwaite. Another bridleway, only slightly less overgrown running parallel to the river brought us, very entertainingly, to the Fremington Edge road, thankfully we headed down and directly to the Dales Bike Centre or more specifically it’s café, for a well earned chunk of coffee and walnut cake.

12^th Another day: another ride and here we are at Kildale once again, a larger than usual contingent ready to tackle the worst the North York Moors could throw at us. Firstly we introduced Peter and his monster bike to The Field Of Heavy Gravity and he still made it to the top of Kildale Moor faster than three fifths of our party. Naturally the downhill section to the three barns was merely a gentle slope to him; to us a stern test of technique and bravery, to be topical if it had been a GCSE, Peter would have attained an A*, we’d be E’s and a U bringing up the rear in the shape of Captain Slow. The Baysdale track to the Hob Hole road was rather more damp than we’d have liked and the road up from the ford at Hob Hole was rather more steep than we’d have liked, especially for Peter who left his bag at the end of the Baysdale track and ended up riding the road section twice. The two Hograh moors, Great and Little we’re as technical as they’ve always been and the long drag across Baysdale Moor on the shooters tracks featured a long rest when my tubeless tyre mysteriously deflated. Heading for Armoth Wath, the Captain began to fall behind as he realised pram-pushing is no substitute for pedal pushing. Soon we were at Battersby Moor, with only downhill tarmac between us and the all important café, naturally this section was completed with alacrity.

18^th In deference to The Captain a practically flat ride was planned for today, flat being a relative term of course, your average Dutchman might consider the four hundred and odd feet of verticality from Clay Bank to Carr Ridge more than a slight incline. Manfully we shouldered our bikes and plodded up the steps before setting off to ride “The Rim”, the delightful singletrack along the edge of Urra Moor. Several falls and one submission later, we came to Medd Crag and a steady uphill grind to Round Hill, then, more pleasantly, across the top to Bloworth Crossing where we picked up the old railway track for a gentle six mile pedal to Blakey Ridge, or more importantly, The Lion Inn. Satiated by a surfeit of food, we retraced our tyre tracks along the rail track, basking in the glow from the strange yellow ball in the sky. Rather than risk rims and limbs bouncing down the steps to Clay Bank, the Jackson’s Bank, Greenhow Plantation return option was utilised a good choice enjoyed by all.

20th Not a lot to say about this ride, pretty much the same as 25^th June, except only me and Simon turned out. The abandoned farmhouse at Dale Head appears to be being renovated by a bunch of hippies, judging by the traveller’s bus parked adjacent, the main mystery being how they drove the bus down the track to the farm. We spent a lot of the ride dodging showers, exemplary timing as the heaviest shower of the day so far hit as we were enjoying lunch in Hawnby Tea Room. The grind up Murton Bank was hot and sticky despite (or maybe owing to) expensive GoreTex and coats were removed yet again for the remainder of the ride. Or so we thought, a shower of biblical proportions caught up with us as the end was in sight, the heavens were flinging buckets of water over us as we pedalled along The Drove Road like North Sea trawler men in a Force 9. Luckily it relented by the time we reached the top of The Mad Mile, allowing us the usual euphoric rocky, gravelly, plunge back to Square Corner.

26th For the first time in a while we met at Pinchinthorpe Visitor Centre, the tree felling had rendered a lot of the lower parts of Guisborough Woods muddy and/or inaccessible, however a major tidying operation has taken place and things are pretty much back to normal - apart from the lack of trees that is. Dave rejoined us today, on a rare bit of leave from defending the country, keeping us safe from the enemy without. We introduced him to some of the less well known bits of singletrack between Pinchinthorpe and Kildale we’ve discovered since he’s been away, needless to say their locations will not be divulged here. Excessively windy but predominantly dry but still rather inclement for August it must be said.

28^th. Doing a Billy No-Mates today but not before I waited out another torrential downpour, sat in the car at Bank Foot farm, watching the rain sheeting across from Clay Bank, giving it five more minutes, then another five more minutes until, eventually, the sunshine won and the bike came out of the boot. I’d waited so long the ride had to be a quicky, so it was through the woods to Clay Bank, up the steps, Carr Ridge, Round Hill, Bloworth Crossing, then the Cleveland Way back toward Kildale, turning off on the bridleway above Battersby Crag for a steep and rocky descent of Turkey Nab.