3^rd Pretty much the same ride as the last one, except it was me, Darlo Boy Simon and Andy from the bread factory. We introduced Andy to The Rim and the proper way to ride Medd Crag, ie, downwards, (we caught him dragging his bike in the opposite direction once) , then as a slight diversion we went up Raisdale Mill Lane and along the bridleway past Brian’s Pond to Carlton Bank and the speedy descent to Lordstones. The usual coffee and cake was followed by The Fronts back to Clay Bank.

9^th As they used to say on Monty Python, and now for something completely different, a predominantly urban ride with a nautical theme and the return of one-time TTB stalwart Sweary Bob, aka Blind Bob. The carefully planned mass ride to visit the Tall Ships at Hartlepool was underway, although the mass ride was thinned down to three of us as excuses came thick and fast, despite the day being chosen to accomaodate as many shift patterns as possible. Despite not riding for five years, Sweary Bob is still more than capable of putting The (absent) Captain to shame. Reaching Hartlepool we were reduced to pushing our bikes through masses of tourists thronging the usually deserted docks. The Tall Ships is a magnificent spectacle but secondary to the variety of food stalls which lined the quayside, offering a selection of comestibles from all over the globe and not one but two Black Sheep Brewery tents - very useful for sheltering from the unseasonably cold and showery August weather. We settled for wild boar burgers from the exotic meats stall, we could have had venison, ostrich or buffalo, washed down with phenomenally expensive coffee.

16^th. A sudden influx of young blood today, a teenager and two twenty somethings joined to fifty somethings for an introduction to some of the “less obvious” singletrack in Guisborough Woods and the surrounding moors. And great fun it was too, weaving between trees, skidding over roots and generally riding with more enthusiasm than style. The exact route must remain vague (for obvious reasons) but most of the tracks are well-used but not overused, let’s hope it stays that way.

23^rd. Just the one teenager today and two fifty year olds. We left Kildale and proceeded in a generally uphill direction, New Row, Sleddale, Codhill Heights to Guisborough Woods. A couple of sections of the Black Route, then we were out on Roseberry Common before shouldering bikes up the steps onto Newton Moor and back into Guisborough Wood again. We made our way to Gribdale and the long climb up to Captain Cook’s Monument, failing (as ever) to negotiate the hairpin steps around the memorial. The weather was against the attempt today, dull and slightly drizzly, rendering the rocks greasy and beyond our limited technical ability. In fact the weather was deteriorating to such an extent the N.S.P. (natural stopping point) of the Monument was eschewed in favour of downhill plummet to Mill bank Wood and a direct line to Glebe Cottage. Reached the café just as the proper rain started, piling in before several other parties, both walkers and cyclists. Luckily from the café we only had a brief pedal back to our cars in the station car park, unlike the Coast To Coast cyclists we were chatting with in the car park, as they donned their wet weather gear - they still had another 10 miles or so to reach The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge.

“Next time,” remarked one of them “I’m doing this in the summer.”