Friday 1^st June. Mileage, 14 miles. Ascent, 2,257 ft.

Summer, that little teaser from the last two rides of May has withdrawn its favours and we’re back to cold and drizzly, curiously enough we managed a big team today, half a dozen turned out, the only no-show being The Captain who’s had something more important to do for 40 of the last 44 rides . We set off from Kildale, immediately climbing up through Little Kildale to Warren Farm, then over a slightly soggy Field Of Heavy Gravity and across Kildale Moor down into Baysdale. The steep, rocky descent proved too much for The Darlo Boy who spent some time connecting with the ground. Naturally it was because he was riding his spare bike while his Cube is repaired, his natural skill at all the sports he plays constrained, as always, by the limitations of his equipment. Unkind onlookers may have muttered something about bad workmen and tools. The Baysdale bridleway was wetter and muddier than a bridleway in June should be, testament to the poorest of poor summers we are enduring. A long road ride took us to Percy Cross Rigg, or Sustrans NCN route 168 as it has become, which we followed to Guisborough Woods. The first two sections of Les’s were fun in slippy, barely in control sort of way, then we ploughed on to Roseberry Common and up onto Newton Moor, proper drizzle now, no surfaces dry. Continuing up to Captain Cook’s Monument, we introduced Jordan to Rock And Roll, with a more pitiful than usual descent of the technical sections. The fire road through Mill Bank Woods was more in keeping with our limited skill. No-one volunteered to sit outside Glebe Cottage today.

Wednesday 6^th June. Mileage, 15 miles. Ascent, 2,142 ft.

Another good turn out for a before nights quicky, once again meeting at Kildale Station. After the usual 20 minutes of faffing and fettling we departed the car park, half a mile later we’d lost The Pensioner, apparently he’d stopped to fiddle with his wheels, when he looked up we were out of sight, using his extra-sensory powers he deduced which turn off we’d taken, wrongly of course. Jordan being the youngest it was only fair he would be the one to go and find him. Reunited we rode through Mill Bank Woods, along the flank of Easby Moor and across to The Red Run. Riding up to Aireyholme Farm en-route to Guisborough Woods, the rain caught up with us, and we were all a bit damper when we reached the top of The Unsuitables. As we took a breather by the gate, parts of the sky turned a curious colour - blue, coats were packed away and we cruised Percy Cross Rigg down to the crossroads, continuing straight ahead, up steeply, then down until we turned off onto the Baysdale Bridleway. From the three barns we shouldered our bikes up the scene of The Darlo Boy’s crash on Friday, before riding down the steep and technical singletrack to The Field Of Heavy Gravity, thankfully this time in a gravity assisted direction. The final drag up to Warren Farm was completed, then it was mainly downhill on tarmac all the way to Kildale. Except for one uphill section outside Little Kildale where the three youngsters in today’s crew were firmly annihilated by The Pensioner, who performed one of his trademark Ninja Assassin overtaking manoeuvres, blazing past before they had time to react. Oh the ignominy.

Monday 11^th June. Mileage, 16 miles. Ascent, 2,257 ft.

The dismal summer continues unabated, another dull and drizzly morning assembling bikes in a damp car park, Hamsterley today. A varied route took in all the major tracks, the new section after Transmission and Accelerator - Nitrous - has gained a new finish which makes it even more fun. More fun was the river crossing on the Black Route which was somewhat deeper than the usual few centimetres, no-one managed it without wet feet but Marty’s full body immersion was the most spectacular. And all caught on camera.

Wednesday 13^th June. Mileage, 23.5 miles. Ascent, 1,823 ft.

Just me and The Pensioner today for a long but steady ride taking us from Birk Brow to Danby and back via The Quakers Causeway, Robin Hoods Butts, Damby Beacon, Lealholmside and Lealholm. Robin Hoods Butts contained some lake sized puddles which would not be out of place in Cumbria. It stayed dry for us which was a bonus.

Thursday 14^th June. Mileage, 44 miles. Ascent, 2,034 ft.

Just for a change from mud and water, a roady ride was done today, from Teesside to Great Ayton via the largest housing estate in Europe where we inevitably got lost in the featureless streets. Once through Great Ayton we couldn’t shake of our mountain bike roots and hauled ourselves up to Gribdale Gate, then up some more to Coate Moor, just to see if we could do it. We returned to Great Ayton via Kildale and headed directly to Number 5 for well earned refreshments, finding the place filled with proper roadies, not a Camelbak® or a peaked helmet between them.

Monday 18^th June. Mileage, 17.5 miles. Ascent, 1,972 ft.

An old favourite in a different direction, the Clay Bank to Kildale run but beginning from Kildale. It wasn’t as good, climbing more or less non-stop for the first ten miles until Round Hill - the highest point on the North York Moors - before the descent back to Kildale. Again we were lucky with the weather, managing to stay dry and relatively mud free all day.

Tuesday 19^th June. Mileage, 18.5 miles. Ascent, 2,100 ft.

Another repeated route, one which is becoming something of a trade route for the Terra Trailblazers. Scaling Dam to Lealholmside, Lealholm, Danby, Fryupdale, Ainthorpe Rigg, Danby Beacon and Roxby Moor back to Scaling Dam. At one point we found ourselves in a herd of cows as they were being moved from field to field, The Pensioner began educating us with his theory that cows have a mentally proscribed barrier which prevents them coming too close to humans, his theory may have had more credence if he’d noticed one of the cows was licking my hand as he spoke. The ride was fine, we cracked along quite speedily (for us), the Stonehouse Bakery had it’s usual fine selection of comestibles and once again it didn’t actually rain - although it didn’t come close to June weather either.

Wednesday 20^th June. Mileage, 19 miles. Ascent, 3,093 ft.

Sitting in the bar of The Patterdale Hotel, sinking pints, looking out of the window at the diagonal slash of bridleway rising up to Boredale Hause, I reckoned it would make a good descent, someday, when I was a little more experienced, my three month obsession with mountain biking had already turned my right arm and leg into a pretty much continuous scab from elbow to wrist and thigh to ankle, a carapace of congealed platelets; evidence of my first proper crash, on my first proper mountain bike. 14 years later, almost to the day, I’m laid at the top of the same track beneath a considerably more expensive mountain bike, slowly realising that all I had learnt in the intervening 164 months is wear pads in the Lakes because the ground is harder than North Yorkshire. We’d met up in Pooley Bridge on what was possibly the hottest day of this whole sorry excuse for a summer and rode a nice track along Barton Fell, from The Cockpit to Martindale. A minor road took us to Boredale Head, from which point the only route is up the imposing wall of hillside at the end of the valley, a slim line bisecting a buttock-like cleft the only weakness. A few buttock-like clefts quivered at the sight of the ascent. The last section proved to be a gruelling push/carry in the blistering heat (never thought I’d write that this year) up loose rocks, eventually we arrived at Boredale Hause and regrouped, psyching ourselves for the aforementioned descent. The first bit proved somewhat testing, to say the least, our technical skills pushed beyond their limits, hence the numerous involuntary dismounts, things improved as the track progressed, soon we were masters of our machines, launching off rocky precipices, railing berms, hopping water bars and generally shredding like the radical dudes we are. (NB some sections of the preceding sentence may involve elements of fantasy) We celebrated our relatively unscathed descent with an ice cream at Side Farm before proceeding to the lakeside bridleway which runs between Patterdale and Sandwick. What sounds more pleasant and innocuous than a lakeside bridleway? This virtually unrideable slice of purgatory was neither pleasant or innocuous, particularly for The Pensioner who reckons he fell off six times, once tumbling down the slope and almost ending up in the lake. Never have we been so glad to be on tarmac, the next five miles back to Pooley Bridge were almost blissful in comparison. More blissful was the beer garden of The Sun Inn where we indulged in some much needed refreshment until we were driven indoors by - yes you’ve guessed it - rain.

Monday 25^th June. Mileage, 50 miles. Ascent, 1,335 ft.

Another outing for the CX bike, riding from Teesside to Osmotherley and back via Swainby, Crathorne and Yarm. Yarm High Street is always worth avoiding, especially on a bike.

Thursday 28^th June. Mileage, 10 miles. Ascent, 1,466 ft.

Another before nights quicky which turned into a before nights slowy when another XT skewer stripped its thread. Being unable to tighten the wheel into the dropouts made for a cautious ride back to the car with the nut gaffer taped to the forks, not using the front brake and keeping the bike upright on the corners got me back in one piece. It seems I’m the only person to have ever suffered from stripped skewer threads and it’s happened to me twice. Hard to understand. The ride was going well until I reached the bottom of the Les’s and noticed the front wheel was a bit wobbly, could have been a disaster. Guisborough Woods is not surprisingly somewhat muddy at the moment and the rain continues unabated. I can see the road bike getting some stick this summer. Summer?

Terra Trailblazers June 2012 from John Lavelle on Vimeo.