1st The first day of June and if it keeps up like this we will have nothing to moan about, an absolute scorcher and only me and Oz to enjoy it, Simon recovering from a bout of alcohol abuse which apparently rendered him virtually comatose. Oh for those halcyon days of lost youth. Our route was a meandering peddle from Kildale to Guisborough Woods, at a pace befitting the weather conditions, i.e. leisurely, visiting assorted sections of singletrack as the inclination took us. Passing through Great Ayton called for a detour to Suggits for ice cream, which was consumed to boost our carbs and aid us through the remainder of the ride before we arrived back in Kildale for further sustenance at Glebe Cottage. Our first two café ride of the year and Simon missed it.

3rd The same route as the 29^th of May but reversed to take advantage of the prevailing wind, me and The Captain who seems to be making some gains in the fitness department, or maybe it was just the wind pushing him along. Weather not as hot as two days ago but pleasant all the same.

10^th Any route which begins with a casually muttered “we’ll just start up Fremington Edge and see where we go to from there…” is probably being planned by a sadist or an optimist. Or in this case an optimistic sadist. I didn’t give Howard the satisfaction of seeing me cry - I was too far behind for his limited vision. Anyway, the Dales classic, up Fremington to Hurst, then the descent to Storthwaite Hall and Langthwaite is still a classic and we greatly enjoyed it. A bit of road work brought us to the bridleway across Hind Gill to Fore Gill Gate and down to Surrender Bridge where another bridleway took us through Cringly Bottom (no we didn’t see Noel Edmonds or Mr. Blobby) and ultimately to Healaugh for the road back to Reeth, only a brief ride but enough climbing to let us know we’d done some exercise.

11^th Another ride revisited, this being the same route we did at the beginning of April, going from Lordstones, along The Fronts to Clay Bank, with a quick mud bath for me when a puddle turned out to be somewhat deeper than expected - one minute riding along merrily, the next minute wallowing like a hippo, much to the amusement of my companions. From Clay Bank, bikes on backs up the steps before remounting for the singletrack along the edge of Urra Moor, or riding the rim as Simon prefers to describe it, perhaps a reference to his other free-time activities; I couldn’t possibly speculate. Down the bridleway past Medd Crag and on the road through Chop Gate and up to Beak Hills farm where we sheltered from a brief shower as we waited for The Captain to make an appearance. We retraced our tyre tracks along The Fronts back to Lordstones, managing to get into the café just as a cloudburst of tropical proportions hit our little corner of North Yorkshire, this was rain with a capital R, turning the car park into a lake within minutes and sending people scurrying for the shelter of the parasols.

17^th Another day: another soaking. It began raining gently as we pulled into Kildale station car park and pretty much stayed that way for the majority of the ride, not made any pleasanter by the gale force wind. The ride was another scrounge about assorted singletrack between Kildale and Guisborough Woods, me and Howard introducing Simon to at least four tracks he had never previously sullied with his rubber. As we took a breather at Captain Cooks monument the wind and rain increased to epic proportions, prompting an unvoiced but unanimous decision to follow the most direct route to the café. Which we did; arriving at Glebe Cottage in wringing rodent mode, so drenched certain items of clothing had to be shed before we ventured inside.

19^th The widely forecast hottest summer of the decade is taking it’s time to materialise, today being quite cool and breezy, me and Oz left Lordstones behind and climbed steadily up Carlton Bank for a repeat of the ride young Sean and I did last month. A pleasant tail-wind from Swainby Shooting House across Whorlton Moor gave us a boost to the moving average and we were back at Lordstones within two and a half hours. No falls, no submissions.

22nd The first Billy No Mates ride of this month, just a quick blast from Square Corner, along the Dale Head singletrack, up to Low Cote Farm, Arnesgill Ridge, Whorlton Moor to Swainby Shooting House, down to Clain Woods and along to Scarth Nick before climbing back over Scarth Wood Moor and descending to Cod Beck reservoir. Another climb through the woods to High Lane then back along the road to Square Corner. Once more, a particularly uneventful ride, even the weather managed some semblance of summer, well it didn’t actually rain.

25^th A whole four of us today, Simon was excused owing to his being at Glastonbury acting like a young person, suffering the hardships of life under canvas - no television, no snooker, no betting shops. The rest of us set off from an uncharacteristically warm Square Corner and made our way along the Dale Head singletrack, signs of recent activity at the abandoned farm house point to the fact someone may have watched too many TV property programmes, it’s been empty for thirty years that I know of and has defied a few attempts at refurbishment. Some tarmac took us to Moor Gate before we went off-road again around the Hawnby Hump to Hill End House where Chris (The Captain) treated us to a bit of stunt riding, somehow managing to fall off his bike on a flat piece of grass. He laid for a short until he realized sympathy wouldn’t be forthcoming - it’s hard to be sympathetic when your ribs are hurting from laughing - and we continued through Low Wood, across the new bridge over The Rye and up to New Hall, where all that remained of the first half of the ride was a blast along tarmac to Hawnby Tea Room, where we sat in the garden and availed ourselves of the bargain price fare. An hour of the day wasted but suitably carbo-loaded we set off, rather unenthusiastically up Murton Bank, which succumbed to the collective assault of our granny rings. The usual run along the road to Sneck Yate and we were back on the Drove Road for a steady plod to The Mad Mile, for a somewhat faster but less steady descent. Unbelievably, our quickest ride this year, with a moving average almost in double figures.

30^th It’s getting warmer, not much sun about but heat wave conditions all the same, somewhere in the high twenties Celsius. Another lone ride, just a quicky from Kildale, over Codhill Heights and around the top end of Guisborough Woods’ Black Route, surprisingly muddy in the trees. Popped out at the top of The Unsuitables, then along Percy Cross Rigg and down to Gribdale. I plodded my way up to Captain Cook’s Monument before spending a little while following likely looking tracks in the woods on Coate Moor, which eventually returned me back to Gribdale. Following the road to Dikes Lane, I turned left and picked up the bridleway past the Red Run and through Mill Bank Woods, directly to Glebe Cottage for much needed refreshment.