Short Gentle Ride
On a slightly duller day than of late, and after sulking that I couldn’t go on Mike Clarke’s adventure history tour, we got a healthy 8 turn up for the short gentle ride. My sulking soon stopped when I had Jeanette turn up who had joined our group of 4 on last Saturdays Acorn ride for the last 20 miles as she was riding alone, I’d told her to come along over tea and cake at the end, and surprisingly she had. Then another old friend Dave who I hadn’t seen for ages joined us, plus Michelle who I’d ridden the coast to coast with many years ago, plus many WE regulars too, so no more sulking, just smiles!
We made our way out past M&S and picked up Justine, who I’d not seen for ages, so another old face to join us, then upon entering Kirby Overpriced we were joined by Paul B, so we were now 10, (all made aware of the gap we must leave), we shortly turned off for the shortcut through Woodhall, where not to be outdone by Mike C, I gave a brief history of Woodhall, also, some of the group hadn’t been that way before. On through Linton towards our coffee stop at Breeze where we (after some faffing) got our bikes tied up securely and were quickly served, as the chat flowed freely. Dave left us here to go to meet a plumber, the remaining 9 headed for little Ribston to be greeted with a tailwind for a change towards Spofforth, Nicky left us at Follifoot, followed by Paul B who was going to risk the muddy underpass with horse droppings!
The remaining 7 headed back past Rudding, up Gia’s way to our last hill up to the car park where David and Paul powered up on turbo, leaving the rest of us to plod slowly up, we all said our goodbyes at the top after a very enjoyable ride, it was a great group to lead. And hopefully Jeanette will come back for more Wheel Easy adventures? A big thank you to Gordon for back marking. 34.87m 1489ft on my Garmin Mike W
Wednesday Wanderers
Fifteen of us set off into a nithering wind with dense cloud and no sign of the promised sunshine. Our aim – a cross-country ride to Boroughbridge calling at St. Martin’s, Allerton Mauleverer in the hope that some might find the historical artefacts interesting.
We formed two groups to Follifoot, Spofforth and Little Ribston, where the bravest skylarks tried to sing to us, then on to Walshford, where we loosely amalgamated the groups, and tried to stay together. But it was not to be, as a couple of minor mechanicals split us up and Roger, losing sight of his stationary companions, lost us and left us.
Thus fourteen stopped at the church in Allerton Mauleverer. Over the chancel arch hangs a large painting of Moses and Aaron, flanking the two tablets of stone bearing the Ten Commandments. And Moses has horns. Horns of light, shining from his temples. These arose from St. Jerome’s mistranslation of the Hebrew text (Exodus Ch.34) now rendered as …his face shone… in modern versions. But Moses is commonly depicted with horns in both painting and sculpture throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.
Next we examined the wooden effigies of two of the Knights Mauleverer. Mediaeval knights’ tombs supported effigies of the deceased, lying in prayer with their feet resting upon a dog. If the knight had been a crusader, then his legs would be crossed. Rich knights could afford an alabaster effigy and tomb chest – poorer men’s were carved in wood. At the time it made no difference. All those alabaster, marble or stone effigies we see today were originally painted – their faces were flesh coloured and their robes and shields were correct in the family colours. A wooden one, painted, looked just the same ! But cheaper. Carved locally from local wood, not quarried and carved then transported from Derbyshire (Britain’s only source of alabaster). Only 93 wooden effigies remain in Britain. The rest have been lost to woodworm, rot, theft and fire – or just thrown out.
We then took to the countryside, making for Whixley on farm tracks, bridleways, a grass field and a bit of a wood. Everyone made it, although some had brought all terrain bikes just to be safe. The sun was still hiding and that nithering wind in our faces all the way to Boroughbridge. Some conversations were audible in Lower Dunsforth. You know who you were. There will be 50 lines or a detention next time !
The Hideaway fed and watered us well and surprisingly quickly considering everyone had something different – and seemed to get it all right. And when we left, the sun came out. It was warm. The wind was behind us. The factor 50 wasn’t wasted after all. We bowled merrily along through Minskip, Staveley, Lingerfield and positively raced up Knaresborough Hill, turning right at the top only to find ourselves lost right outside the Gardeners’ Arms. Many thought they knew their ways home, and went. A select group decided the best plan was to ask directions in the pub – and it would have been rude to leave without buying a drink. The sun was warm, the brook was babbling, and Corinne’s chair was unoccupied. Apparently we were close to the Greenway, but how were we to know ?
42 miles, nearly all flat, great company. Thank you all for tolerating it – and me ! Mike the vet
Medium Steady – brisk
Six set off (Yvonne, Tim, Mark, Charlie, Tony and myself) and 6 returned. Always makes it a good day!
The ride set off from Harrogate, in what can only be called cooler weather. Anyway, the roads were dry and quite light with traffic today. Route 169 There wasn’t long to wait before first leg warming climb, past Rudding Park, the onto Follifoot. Through Spofforth and onto Little Ribston, with the pace being set by Yvonne. Not much waiting, as the group kept together and moved on to the railway crossing near Whixley. Some manoeuvring to be done, to get the bikes through the gates, but once successfully achieved we made pace through the Ouseburns and onto our stop at The Hideaway, Boroughbridge. A popular choice, as we were joined by the throngs of the Wanderers ride. What a selection of cakes they had to offer! Mark out did us, by having “smashed avo on sourdough toast” (is that a thing in Yorkshire?). He was a little let down though when informed there wasn’t any Kombucha. To think the rest of us were happy with tea and coffee!
Setting off again and now well into the ride, we calmed the pace and returned through Knaresborough, leading onto the last ascent of the day, Harrogate Hill.
Job done! All back safely without a hint of incident. 34 miles, 1205Ft of ascent, av speed 12.5mph and av temp 50F (I’ve been told you all like stats). Richard Abbott.
EG’s Ride
I had to leave home at 8.15 this morning for an 8.30 appointment in Harrogate. In my early morning rush I hadn’t realised just how cold it was today until I was descending Otley Road. I definitely needed more clothes, but it was too late to turn round. When I joined the EGs assembled at Low Bridge at 10am, the temperature had risen to 11 degrees: not exactly hot, but slowly moving in the right direction.
Just 4 EGs were riding today: Dave Watson, Phil Stell, Geoff Waters and Eric Waters. Bedale and Thirsk were agreed as our destinations for today, with a possible coffee stop at Ripon Spa Gardens en route. We made rapid progress heading into the north wind, in an effort to get warm, as the wind chill made the ‘feels like’ temperature a few degrees cooler than 110C. We also opted out of any coffee stop, and decided to crack on to Bedale, via Wath and Kirklington.
We tried the newly refurbished “cyclist’s cafe” at the cycle shop in Aiskew – just beyond Bedale. The cafe now operates under the name “No Brainer”. In its refurbishment, all the cycling memorabilia that previously adorned the walls have disappeared, including the cycle shirts from the many clubs that had visited the cafe. The cyclists fare had also disappeared from the menu, so there’s no beans on toast, scrambled eggs on toast, soup and a roll, etc. etc. It was possible to have bacon or sausage sandwiches, but these weren’t served on plates – they came in large brown cardboard boxes! So we now had 3 brown cardboard boxes on the table as I awaited my ‘bowl of chicken and bacon salad’, which duly arrived – not in a bowl, but served in yet another large brown cardboard box! In fairness, the salad was excellent and the portion size was immense. However the gentrification of the cafe clearly indicates their target market is no longer the cycling fraternity, so we won’t be rushing back to No Brainer on future visits to Bedale.
By the time we left Aiskew, the sun had come out and the temperature had risen to 150C, but we still felt a sharp wind chill as we headed east through Leeming Bar, Morton-on-Swale and Ainderby Steeple, where we turned south giving us a tailwind to speed our homeward leg of the journey through Thirsk to Boroughbridge where we arrived at the Courtyard Cafe at 3.58pm. Was it too late to serve pots of tea and niceties? Absolutely not. We were made most welcome, and spent a very relaxing 40 minutes basking in their courtyard in the now very warm sunshine.
At the top of Sandy Bank, we parted ways. Phil and I turned right for Scotton, Ripley and the Greenway to Harrogate, leaving Geoff and Dave – now unable to move and grimacing with pain from cramp in both legs – to eventually return to Knaresborough where they would have completed 66 miles at an average speed of 13.5mph. I arrived home having completed 83 miles with 3,000’ of climbing. Phil had done just a few miles less. An excellent day’s cycling, with excellent company. Eric W.
