Short Ride
On a lovely sunny Wednesday, 6 people turned up for the short ride, a fine testament to the club that 25 miles is considered “a shot ride”! The group was made up of Paul, Judy, Dennis, Sarah, Paul and myself, a perfect size group, although a strangely different dynamic, in that there were 5 pedal power and only 2 pedal assist bikes. We went out via Abbey Rd, up to the top of Farnham hill to pull in for people to shed clothes, enjoying the downhill and flattish ride to Staveley, where we said goodbye to Dennis who headed via Arkendale and home.
We arrived at Hideaway in Boroughbridge after a steady 12.4mph avg, the garden was in shade, so we settled around the upstairs Wheel Easy boardroom table to enjoy our lunch together with many interesting topics covered. Refreshed and hydrated, the remaining 5 of us headed out through Roecliffe and onto the gravel shortcut to Copgrove, then up and down to Occaney beck and onto to incline up to Farnham crossroads, which I must have paced correctly, as on stopping, everyone had come up together and were all right behind me!
We continued to Knaresborough where Judy left us to go up Beryl Burton, the remaining three of us smugly cycled down the outside of the very long line of queueing traffic down to the level crossing, then left towards Morrisons where Paul left us and Paul 2 and myself headed up to Woodlands where Paul left me to continue to the show ground alone and the further 4 miles home. An enjoyable undulating steady ride with a good sized group that flowed well, an enjoyable coffee stop with good conversation, for me it was 33.42miles 1692ft. Mike W
Wednesday Wanderers – Steady Group
With good weather promised and a ride into Nidderdale on offer the numbers were so good it required 2 groups with Steve promoting Nicky to lead the Steady group of six riders. A different route to exit Harrogate via Beckwithshaw, Pot Bank and Hampsthwaite before heading to Birstwith and the Toll Bridge. We headed to Brimham via Stripe Lane and we were making good progress ( we could still see the faster group in the distance!). From Brimham we headed to Sawley and via Low Gate Lane to Fountains Abbey and the Visitor Centre for coffee. Margaret had to get back so she pressed on alone for home. The Faster group were already there and enjoying the sunshine.
Over coffee we had excellent chat about football( inevitable), theatre, opera, and prog rock, Colin and Kevin struck a knowledgeable conversation about the band Yes and were appalled that Karen did not know what Prog Rock was! After forgiving her the reduced group of 5 set off for home via Littlethorpe and Bishop Monkton where the group decided to divert from the route and head home via Markington,Ripley and the Greenway.
Colin left us at Bilton and then Karen and Liz at the bridge ( Karen was given strict instructions to listen to Yes on Spotify before she was allowed to go home!) Nicky and Kevin headed over the Stray and home. It was a great days riding in good weather with some great views over Nidderdale that made the climbing worthwhile. Nicky led the group well and we all chipped in with route directions to ensure no major ‘diversions’
40 miles for most of the group and tired legs from the early climbing but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Thanks to Nicky, Karen, Liz, Margaret and Colin for their company. Kevin
Wednesday Wanderers – The Other Group
A good take-up for the wanderers this morning considering that it was an Away Day Wednesday. We split into two groups and set off in sunny, warm, low wind conditions to tackle some gentle hills. By the time we got to Pennypot various layers were coming off, how nice to be riding with the sun on our backs instead of rain. Seven of us made our way through Hampsthwaite and Birstwith and took a very steady climb up Stripe lane and on to Brimham rocks where we were reduced to six. On to a very busy Fountains cafe where the queue was out the entrance door when we arrived, once served we took a table outside in the sunshine and Gordon told us how he completed the LEJOG only two weeks after breaking his ankle, Chapeau! With most of the climbing done we returned via Bishop Monkton and the usual route home. Thanks to everyone for a lovely summer ride. Steve B.
Away Day Ride – Group 1
Having had the advantage of reading Helen’s excellent ride report before attempting to write this, I’ll defer to that for detail of weather, route, scenery and refreshment stops – all of which were pretty good. The only slight quibble would be being described as fast – I think we just set off first and didn’t have nearly as many punctures. For the record, we departed from Nuns Close car park, Richmond; the first group off consisting of Sarah R, Lesley H, Rachel, Derek, Mike C, Will, John and me. The crossings of the A66 worked well (a slight concern of mine) and, in fact, must have been OK as our group managed two more. After the first scheduled crossing we were into the Tees Valley with gently rolling hills, quiet roads and distant views. We soon reached the village of Eppleby and although we had only done 10 miles it was well worth stopping at the village shop – fast and friendly service and excellent home baking, and a steady stream of cyclists from far and near dropping by. After Barnard Castle the hills got a bit tougher; the first taking us back to the A66 and Cross Lane farm shop for lunch. From there, a bit more climbing took us onto a lovely descent past Brignall Church down to Greta Bridge. Unfortunately there we encountered the ‘Road Closed’ sign and the guard insisting the we must not pass. (The suggested diversion route involved a mile along the A66; not particularly helpful for cyclists.) Not managing to persuade him to look the other way (a personal failing on my part I’m afraid) and not wishing to go back up the hill we set off down a slightly unpromising looking bridleway and, via a small underpass, found ourselves again on the north side of the A66 again. At this point Mike C’s excellent navigation skills kicked in and we were off on a loop via quiet country lanes (and another bridleway for some) and the excellently named village of Hutton Magna to the next A66 crossing and from there to the village of Newsham where we re-joined the original route. No more than an additional 2 or 3 miles and, on the plus side, managed to bypass a steep-ish climb. The final climb of the day was a long one; about 2.5 miles long taking us over 1000ft, but fairly steady. At the top we re-grouped enjoying spectacular views to the south and east and from there another cracking descent took us all the way back to the car park. Thanks to all for a great day out! Doug H
Away Day Ride – Group 2
Today was just about the finest day of the whole of this year’s summer with uninterrupted blue skies and fair weather cumulus as far as the eye could see – all day long! Due to various reasons there were just two groups today and some fast people went off first, followed by our Leader Terry Smith, James G, Sarah C, Liz F, Fiona & Mike W and Me. We had the luxury of a coffee stop at Eppleby Village Shop after ten miles but had a short hiccup at eight miles when Sarah C sprung a rear puncture. Sarah and I made a good effort at fixing it, under the very close supervision of James! Incidentally, although Eppleby is “just” a village shop and café, they had some very fine cakes and top notch scones and were super efficient. Consequently there seemed to be a steady stream of friendly cyclists from all over the North East convening at its portals – always a good sign.
Thereafter it is quite simply a beautiful, challenging undulating ride round to the delightful town of Barnard Castle where we made all the predictable jokes about getting our eyesight tested – childish, I know, but we were happy. It’s good stopping every ten miles to eat and in what seemed no time at all we had made our second crossing of the A66 (always a slightly terrifying prospect) and had an excellent lunch at Cross Lane Organic Farm, sitting outside and feeling rather hot. Mustn’t grumble!
Every silver lining has a small cloud and we were all marvelling at the stunning scenery and starting our descent to Greeta Bridge when I heard the unmistakable hiss of a deflating tyre. There had obviously been a bit of vigorous hedge cutting and I won the lottery of a large thorn in my front tyre. James returned to assist and I put in my spare inner tube which either had a faulty valve or I had graunched it with my pump (most probably the latter) and no air could be persuaded into it, so Plan B was James fixing the first puncture using a muddy puddle and an emergency sticky green patch. Meanwhile, Group 1 had met with a road block at Greeta Bridge and a man in a white van, who was immovable on the subject of letting them through, so they had to make a detour. Group 2 had kindly and patiently waited for me and had experienced similar difficulties with the immovable object of the man in a white van! I was hot and tired after a lot of fruitless pumping of tyres and did not fancy a detour. I therefore deployed my legendary tact and diplomacy skills and had a little chat with man in a white van. Much to my surprise, he fairly readily agreed that he hadn’t seen us and hadn’t said we could go through the road block and would look away for a couple of minutes! Off we went and immediately the green sticky patch failed and my front tyre deflated. As we had by now crossed the Rubicon we settled down by the side of the road again, Sarah sacrificed her last inner tube and the problem was finally solved.
The last few miles were just idyllic and we eventually experienced the promised three miles of downhill into Richmond where we all heaved a sigh of relief. Despite the technical hitches it was a totally fabulous day, faultlessly organised by Doug and I can only repeat my heartfelt thanks to the whole group for their patience, good humour and invaluable assistance in the face of adversity! The Wahoo thing recorded 41.3 quality miles. Helen T
Away Day – Medium Plus Brisk
Starting from Grassington the Brisk Group headed out to Blazefield, Cracoe, Hetton & on to Airton where the ten riders stopped for teas & coffees taken outside. Following Route 1020 we climbed Black Gill Lane till we were up above Settle for some gorgeous views & thereafter plunged down into the town for another break at the 3 Peaks Cycle café. The second big climb of the day came after we left Stainforth and up Silverdale Road – no particularly steep parts but it just keeps on going up and then up again. And this just delivers the most wonderful panoramas on what was turning out to be a wonderful summer’s day. Down to Hatton Gill and an enjoyable sprint along the valley bottom to Arncliffe and then Kilnsey via the north side of the river Skirfare. Beer was taken in the Clarendon Hotel at Hebden. 42 miles. Young Tim.
Away Day Photographs
