Medium Steady
The weather forecast clearly discouraged some but there was a reasonable turnout at the Showground this morning and ever the optimist I think there were signs with enough blue sky for the proverbial elephants trousers that the heaviest of the rain may have passed through. With no leader for the Medium Steady Yvonne took nominal charge and together with Debby, Tim and myself we sallied off through Knaresborough on a route which was unusual in the direction it took and to misquote the immortal words of Eric Morecambe we had done all the sections before but not necessarily in the order set out. From Chain Lane our route along Hazelheads Lane resulted in four nice clean bikes being pretty well covered in mud in a short space of time, to say nothing of our shoes but it was worth it to pass the former gravel pits nature reserve and the eco-friendly house (see photos courtesy of Yvonne)and the avoid the worst of Chain Lane and Boroughbridge Road. By now the sun had made a full appearance and the forecast wind and rain never made materialised . Snow drops were in abundance as we progressed through Arkendale, Staveley, Copgrove, Burton Leonard and safely negotiated the fast downhill section of the A61 to Wormald Green and on into Markington, the Drovers cross roads and down to Ripley. A unanimous decision to patronise Grindus cafe in the castle proved to be good one and there was ample room and good coffee, tea and cake. Due to road works Tim left us to head along the main road to Killinghall whilst the rest headed up the Greenway and departed at various points to head for home and get the hoses and cleaning fluids out for both ourselves and the bikes. A much better trip out than expected weather wise and the company was as good as ever and depending on where you started it was 25/30 miles. James G
Wanderers
An optimistic band of nine gathered at the showground, hoping for sunshine but expecting cold, rain and wind. Well, the sun shines on the righteous – and we were blessed with lots of it from Kirkby Overblow onwards. Unfortunately a farmer had been out with his hedge cutter (has to be done by March 1st to protect nesting birds) and Alison fell victim. But she had two of our finest flight engineers for company and we were soon freewheeling down to Linton. Uneventful from there to Tim’s cafe, where we were the only cyclists in. The usual wide ranging discussions finally settled upon Nicci’s multi-layered attire as the most interesting topic – although we only saw the half of it, or maybe even less! We just hope she manages to disrobe by bedtime! There were spots of rain as we left, but the dark clouds parted for us. We saw lovely rainbows around Follifoot, whilst our patch of sunshine followed us home. All the way!
A splendid day out after an unpromising start. Thanks, everyone, for your excellent company. 37 miles from showground to showground, and possibly a few feet of climbing, but who’s counting ? Mike the vet.
Short Ride
A Trip to the Teepee with Peter, Paul and Carey – oh the songs we sang! This was a short, slightly challenging, and beautiful ride to the Bamber and Brown café at the end of Crag Lane. The somewhat ominous weather forecasted quickly turned into a glorious day for cycling up hill and down dale via Burn Bridge to North Rigton, followed by a wonderful ride along the ridge opening up long views for us to savour as we cycled in the warming sun towards Almscliffe Crag and onward along Greenmires Lane to the not too busy Otley Road. Low gears and steady climbing took us up to Briscoe Ridge Lane where we opted to go right and along to Shaw Lane for a whizz down and a short, final climb up and into Beckwithshaw. A desire to stay off main roads as much as possible meant that we rode along Otley Road and carefully turned right onto Howhill Road, then left along Beckwith Head Road to the traffic lights. Ahead and along Crag Lane we rode and after a short bit of very easy gravelling we arrived at our café. Service was leisurely but that suited us as we were only three in number and happy to wait but a larger group might find that a bit challenging. We sat outside in the sun eating, drinking and being merry (well the chat was anyway!). We can certainly recommend it as a final stop because in addition to the lovely food and drink, there’s plenty of seating, a massive teepee if it’s wet, and for those who have tea of coffee and want to pee there’s a portaloo too. Leaving the café we cycled to the top of Otley Road where we parted ways. 18 fabulous miles and 1465 feet of elevation for me in lovely company – we won’t be available for celebratory events however 😀. John C
