Monthly Update

February 2008

4^{th. About time for another visit to Reeth and a lovely day it was too – until we actually arrived in Reeth and got the bikes out. The grey clouds and drizzle arrived on cue as we set off. As we gained height, the drizzle turned to sleet, which higher became snow. The only highlight of the ride (apart from the café) was another “King Of The Mountains” outburst from Simon on the frighteningly steep hill leading to the hamlet of Booze, maybe he thought a brewery would be hidden at the top of the hill. After ascending for a couple of hundred more feet, the terrain became tedious owing to deep snow and soft, sodden ground, looking at 4 or 5 miles of this coupled with gale force wind and driving snow our decision to pull the plug on this ride was an easy one to make. A few miles on tarmac took us back to Reeth and soon we were sitting in a café, watching the rain lashing against the window, congratulating ourselves on actually reaching double figures in mileage for this ride. The second ride we’ve been rained off this year – and it’s only the start of February.}

11th This is more like it, almost a spring day, blue sky, light wind and no rain forecast for days. Just as well because this turned out to be a day of mechanical failures, 3 punctures, loose wheel bearings (twice) and a rear mech twisted so far round it pointed skyward. Other than that it was a cracking ride, from Square Corner onto the Drove Road and down into Thorodale, past Arden Hall and into Hawnby. Oz gave us a demo of his skill at riding steep ground on the descent into Thorodale – his skill appeared to consist primarily of falling of his bike and sliding uncontrollably down the slope. Leaving the café wasn’t easy especially as the only way out from Hawnby is up, we chose the easy option, Murton Bank (if a 25% incline can be considered the easy option.), to Sneck Yate, then back along the Drove Road and down The Mad Mile, yet again using our Glentress honed downhill skills to float over the rocky sections .

12th Back to Billy No-Mates riding, two days in a row being a bit too energetic for some of our riders. Even hotter than yesterday if anything but a bit windier, rode to Tripsdale from Clay Bank via Medd Crag, then down to Bank Foot via Ingleby Bank and back to Clay Bank through the woods. So warm I ended up cycling in just my base layer.

19th Alone again, the country is going through a cold snap, it’s been -7C for the last few nights. Very misty today down at Pinchinthorpe, once I got up onto Roseberry Common the mist was below me and it was bright sunshine all the way. No set route today, up through Guisborough Woods, Percy Cross Rigg, down to Gribdale, back up to Percy Cross Rigg, Sleddale, Codhill Heights, down The Chute in Guisborough Woods and back to mist-shrouded Pinchinthorpe on fire roads. Just a quick blast to pass a couple of afternoon hours.

21st. Once again the Terra Trailblazers break another record – this time for the slowest ride ever, moving average of 5.3 mph, mainly owing to the dreaded North Yorkshire mud, the sort which sticks like sticky stuff to a blanket, building up on the wheels until they refuse to turn any longer. Not to mention the headwind and the continual drizzle. Lordstones, Cold Moor, Chop Gate, Clay Bank, Broughton Plantation and back to Lordstones for coffee and soup, replacing calories expended – which were out of proportion to the length of the ride.

27th Time for another Terra Trailblazers trip away, this time to the Lakes, to give another man made trail a look at – The North Face Trail in Grizedale Forest and also an opportunity for Simon to try out his new Marin Rift Zone. But not before we’d scoured towns and villages looking for an en-route breakfast, reeling from the shock of an Ambleside café’s offer of a £13 per person breakfast, we settled for a bacon butty elsewhere to fuel us up for the ride ahead. Surprisingly amenable gradients and even better weather combined to give us an enjoyable ride, fairly short at around 11 miles but some entertaining sections, particularly the “unavoidable North Shore” kept us grinning the whole way round. Compared to the Red routes at Dalby and Glentress it is much easier (ie less exciting), particularly lacking bermed corners which would give a more flowing, faster ride but as a way of passing a couple of hours on a February afternoon it couldn’t be beaten. For pictures click here.

28th Our second day at the Lakes found us following a route from MBR out of Hawkshead and upwards – some real climbing compared to yesterday’s manufactured gradients – in the morning sunshine. Riding coatless in February? Who’s complaining? Not us. Through the Iron Keld plantation, then a lovely descent to the road near Skelwith Bridge (previously done the opposite way on TTB 048). A bit of tarmac riding on quiet country lanes brought us to a farm, our route guide instructed us to find “a sunken, tree covered, wet track”, this turned out to be an actual river, running over a bed of slippery slate which tested our Terra Trailblazer riding skills to the limit – needless to say we were off several times. A little more tarmac brought us to the shore of England’s biggest lake, Windermere and a pleasant lakeside path which is where Oz’s pedal decided to part company with it’s axle, killing our ride in the process. This is a well known fault with “Eggbeater” pedals and it seems the company has done little to address the problem, Oz’s are the second pair I’ve seen fail in this way. The escape route back to Hawkshead was utilised, tarmac all the way but still fairly pleasant and a little earlier than expected, we were back at the cars, ready for a trip home via the Windermere ferry and a look in (allegedly) Britain’s biggest bike shop a Stavely near Kendal. Strangely enough, a lot of the pedals on sale were of the Eggbeater variety, not so strangely Oz’s wallet stayed firmly closed – once bitten and all that.

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