3rd. Just me and The Pensioner today, meeting at a windswept but surprisingly sunny Square Corner for our first ride of the month. A steady ride into Silton Woods then a pathetic attempt at the downhill track pretty much set the tone for the whole day. Leaving the woods we continued on tarmac to Cowesby via Kepwick, then hauled our bodies and bikes up the bridleway behind Brickshed Cottage and a combination of pushing and riding through the swamplike moor to Boltby Forest. More amenable riding up Windygill Ridge and a short climb later we were on The Drove Road and a wind-assisted pedal northward. Some ongoing work has destroyed the section between the Kepwick Bank/Arden Bank crossroads and White Gill Head - now rutted and muddy. Soon we were at the Mad Mile ready for the highlight of the ride, a mile long downhill, starting with some rocky drop offs and culminating with a gravelled section littered with drainage humps finishing at the car park.

11^th. A little over a week later and we were once again shivering at Square Corner, me, Oz and Simon, this time a dull and drizzly day to remind us it’s still winter. The Pensioner and The Captain both absent today - obviously the shock of turning out three times last month was too much for The Captain because he wasn’t spotted on a bike for the whole of February. Leaving the car park we headed for Dale Head and the pleasant singletrack, passing the burnt out shell of the farm, my legs feeling somewhat tired already - not a good sign. The singletrack was slightly muddy but mainly rideable before too long we were back on tarmac, spinning uphill toward Moor Gate, where we went back off-road to Hill End House, then down through the woods to the river. The short climb to New Hall tested my tired legs to the max but it’s all downhill to the café from New Hall. Sustenance imbibed we had the fun of ascending Murton Bank, granny ring plodding all the way, I even suffered the ignominy of seeing Oz and Simon pulling away from me into the distance. The spirit of The Captain was living through me, well almost, at least I managed to pedal it all the way, albeit in the granny ring. The remainder of the ride continued in a similar vein, all the way to Sneck Yate and along the Drove Road, empty legs struggling to turn the pedals. The Mad Mile was just what was required to finish off the ride in a better fashion.

16^th. Me and The Pensioner plodging through the mud, just about sums up today’s adventure, no-one else turned out today which was a shame because they missed what turned out to be the best day of the year, sunny, warm and practically windless, more like May than February. We made our way from Kildale to Percy Cross Rigg on tarmac, losing layers of clothing as we went. Down Sleddale and up Codhill Heights and into Guisborough Woods where things became more “interesting” muddy singletrack and a blind pensioner with no sense of balance are not the best combination. Things became much slower as we skidded and slipped on the root-ridden tracks all the way to The Unsuitables, the riding improved as we crossed Newton Moor to Little Roseberry, descending to Roseberry Common. Continuing in a downward direction we made our way to Dikes Lane, then we got a few road miles in with a pointless detour to Great Ayton and Little Ayton returning to practically the same point via Brookside Farm. The rooty bridleway which heads upward to the Red Run area was a muddy disaster, unrideable for the majority of it’s length, as was the track on Easby Moor heading to Mill Bank Woods - significantly worse than when we rode it last month. More pushing then. At least Mill Bank Woods was okay, fast but muddy, we ended the ride looking as though we’d been in a mud fight, luckily Glebe Cottage has no prejudice against the mud-spattered and soon we were trying to stretch ours jaws around a couple of doorstep sandwiches.

18^th. It looks like the theme for this month is two person peletons, me and Oz this time, meeting at a drizzly Clay Bank ready to tackle an old favourite, hopefully a mud-free blast across Urra Moor, following the Cleveland Way to Kildale, then back through Battersby and Greenhow Plantations on fire roads. Usually a speedy ride but the weatherman spoke with forked tongue and we found ourselves battling a headwind across the highest point of the North York Moors, oddly enough although the wind was practically strong enough to blow us backward it didn’t have the power to blow the ground level mist away. Eventually we dropped out of the clag on the descent to Kildale and the ever welcoming café, where it was pleasantly sunny until we left the café and found the mist had followed us. Some speedy tarmac took us to Bank Foot, a meteorological anomaly meant we were again cycling into a headwind on the long drag from Bank Foot to the bottom of The Incline. Things improved in the shelter of the trees and we were soon back at Clay Bank slightly slower than usual but we could blame conditions.

25^th. Just me and The Pensioner again, for the third time this month, in a cold and drizzly Kildale station car park. Our new regular warm up saw us on tarmac up Percy Cross Rigg, then continuing off-road all the way to The Unsuitables and the top of Guisborough Woods. From there we made our way to Newton Moor and down the lumpy, bumpy track at the side of Little Roseberry, to Roseberry Common, where The Pensioner somehow managed to fall off on a perfectly level bit of track - in front of some walkers. Further downwards past Aireyholme Farm, we crossed the road at Dikes Lane, making our way past Brookside Farm to Little Ayton, then made like roadies for a while, passing (passing?) the butchers at Ingleby Greenhow, to arrive at Bank Foot Farm, the start of the long drag up Turkey Nab onto Battersby Moor. Putting my bike down after carrying over one of the steep, rocky , unrideable (well, unrideable to us) sections, the front wheel suddenly fell out of the fork drop outs, the nut from the end of the skewer missing but soon found near the bike. Surely that was tight when we set off? Attempted to screw it back up and found the threads on the skewer were stripped - or stretched to the point were they wouldn’t hold the nut. Not good way to be when about to embark on 4 miles of North Yorkshire’s finest downhill. To cut a long story short, some native ingenuity, a great deal of profanity, a brass Presta/Schraeder tyre adaptor and a bit of string resulted in the sort of bodge up which would give Health And Safety Officers the world over sleepless nights. Four miles of uncharacteristically cautious downhill later, ensuring the front wheel never once left the ground, we arrived back in Kildale unscathed.

Terra Trailblazers February 2011 from John Lavelle on Vimeo.

Plenty of riding this month, mainly damp and misty - and the mud is getting deeper.