1^st. First day of the month and the first ride out for almost three weeks and (allegedly) the hottest day of the year. Took myself up to Pinchinthorpe for a run through the Newton Wood bluebells before the school holidays begin and unleash battalions of grumbling dog walkers. A brief blast through Great Ayton to Dikes Lane then back off road through Ayton Bank and Mill Bank woods to the road at Bankside Farm. Painfully upward to Coate Moor and fire roads back to Gribdale and a return to Guisborough Woods across Newton Moor taking in a bit of the Black Route and finishing down The Chute.

3^rd. Hard to believe but it’s another hot one, also another lonely one, nobody wants to come out and play nowadays. Set off from Clay Bank and hauled up Carr Ridge onto Urra Moor before turning right to Medd Crag and ultimately, Tripsdale. The three miles of ascent from Tripsdale back to the Cleveland Way wasn’t as much fun doing it the opposite way but a bit of head down, arse up and it was soon over. I continued on the Cleveland Way northward until it turned off toward Kildale and I kept straight on down the filling-loosening descent to Ingleby Bank and Bank Foot Farm. Only a straightforward plod through the woods to Clay Bank remained, which came and went without incident.

9^th. Two hot weeks in July would be too much to expect and this the second week of our eighteen day break saw some of the most torrential rain since Noah was spotted in the wood department at B&Q. Today however we managed to stay dry and I managed to scrounge up a companion, Oz, our route was essentially the previous route reversed except with a tarmac start to bed in my new brake pads.

11^th. Terra Trailblazers at the climbing wall. The rain returned so we made like the hearty outdoor types we are and went to an indoor climbing wall to introduce Oz and Simon to the dubious delights of rubber, chalk and sweat. A fine but tiring afternoon was had by all at Rock Antics in Newton Aycliffe.

14^th. Reverting to type we found ourselves at a grim and cold Square Corner, shivering as we assembled our bikes. Then again, Square Corner is always grim and cold. Me, Simon and Howard pedalled steadily away from the curious micro-climate towards Swainby Shooting House as the weather gradually improved, even having a go at being sunny occasionally. Naturally the sunny spells always coinciding with the climbs. We crossed Whorlton Moor to Arnesgill Ridge before descending Barker’s Ridge and down into Scugdale, in Simon’s case pausing for a roll about in a large thistle plantation. Through Clain Woods and Howard took King Of The Mountains for his no-dabs ascent of the Clain Wood steps - I guess he’s been hitting that oil rig gym a little more than he lets on. A quick loop up and Scarth Wood Moor brought us out at Cod Beck Reservoir and a last bit of toil through the woods brought us to High Lane and the road back to Square Corner, a cup of coffee and a scone in Chequers would have gone down nicely but the café (as usual) was closed.

22^nd. Five months since Chris’s last mountain bike ride and here he was in Clay Bank car park raring to go, being the kind and gentle souls we are, we chose a kind and gentle ride to celebrate his return to off-road riding. Carr Ridge excepted of course, he had to reacquaint himself with hauling his bike up the steps before more amiable riding took us across Urra Moor and over to Bloworth Crossing. The old railway line to the Castleton to Hutton Le Hole is a flat six mile blast through some spectacular countryside which ends at a pub - could anything be better? We ate the miles with the assistance of a tail wind and before long we were eating our sandwiches in The Lion Inn, casting envious glances at the food choices of adjacent diners who’d actually bothered to read the menu. The return was a little slower as we lost the wind advantage but the sun was shining and we were full of shandy, so what did it matter? A quick haul back over Urra Moor before we laughed in the face of the “Horse and bike riders advised to dismount” sign and rode down the steps of Carr Ridge like the downhill gods we are. Or most of us rode down some of the steps like the middle-aged pubescent we are.

25^th. Would you believe it, another scorcher, another hottest day of the year, another lone ride. Just a quick leg stretcher around Guisborough Woods, Percy Cross Rigg, Codhill Heights, Kildale and back to Guisborough Woods. Passed some of the most miserable, unfriendly walkers I’ve ever encountered outside of the Lake District. Is it something to do with the school holidays?

30^th. Another mass start, well, four of us anyway, left Pinchinthorpe to show returnee Chris around some of the singletrack which has appeared during his absence. The fire road prequel proved quite challenging for him, especially the ascents he thought he’d blanked from his memory. Roseberry Common, Newton Moor, then the grueller to Captain Cooks kept us all panting, then some sweet stuff through the woods and lunch break in Glebe Cottage. Back up the Low Row track, all of us pushing now owing to the resurfacing job (ie stick a few tonnes of dolomite on that track and leave it), along Percy Cross Rigg and into Guisborough Woods for more of that special singletrack, finishing, several tumbles later, down The Chute. Obviously our riding abilities being no match for the tracks we crashed, prevaricated and generally made fools of ourselves, as we weaved between the trees but it was irrelevant - we were having fun.