Wednesday August 17th

Wanderers’ Ride

Drizzling a bit earlier on, and much cooler than recent days. Seventeen takers for the Wanderers’ ride to Fountains today, so we split into three groups, Geraldine and I taking the smallest group of five (including us). Thanks to Marwood and Barbara for leading sub-groups.

Standard route to Ripley and up Scarah Bank to the Drovers and Markington and then up Westerns Lane to How Hill where Marwood’s group caught up with us and we took a photo, and then Fountains. We decided to have coffee at Tate’s Garden Centre on the way down into Ripon, rather than at Fountains Visitor Centre. Barbara’s sub-group were already there, and several familiar faces were encountered. Liz from Darley appeared on her newly-electrified Marin. She had set out to join us at the Showground, but had forgotten to put the battery in the car…We pumped up Margaret’s new tubeless tyres, as they were a little soft (but not punctured). [Note to members: the recommended tyre pressure range is always shown on the sidewalls of the tyres]

Back through Ripon and Littlethorpe, and Bishop Monkton. We decided against the Mountgarret Estate, as all in our sub-group had electric bikes and the prospect of lifting them over the fence was not appealing. On to Farnham and Knaresborough, by which time many of our group had taken different routes home. About 30 miles. Joe S

 

Awayday – Steady Group

The glorious sunny weather had gone and we had drizzle and clouds as we gathered for todays Awayday from Masham Market Square. It seemed strange to have our wet weather gear on but the prospect was for cloudy but rain free so everyone was in good spirits.

The ‘train group’ set off and were quickly followed by the first of two ‘steady’ groups- although being part of the second group we never saw the first group till the end of the ride!

Led by James G we decided to amend the route to add a coffee stop at the cycle cafe in Bedale where we had been before and had good service.

It kept up its excellent reputation and the Tandem Cafe in 360 degree Cycleworks is highly recommend to be added to the list of WE cafes…

Having has a coffee stop after 7 miles we were keen to get going but we were held up at the level crossing- and guess who were on the train that went through? None other than the train group! We tried desperately to catch their attention and all the cars when we set off gave us a wide berth as they thought we were mad having been waving and shouting at the train!.

Back on the route we wound our way through undulating countryside towards Leyburn with the weather improving all the time. When we arrived we were able to sit outside and wait for the train group to join us ( the other group having been and gone). Lunch was tasty( if a bit slow) and we enjoyed the sunshine which everyone thought of as a bonus given the previous weather forecast.

For the second half of the ride we we were shedding jackets etc as we set off towards Middleham and then climbed up to the Gallops and Coverham before climbing again and getting great views over Coverdale and Pen Hill before the ridge ride into East Witton.

From their it was on to Jervaulx Abbey and a short off road ride through the park and then a ride back into Masham in warm sunshine ( the weather we normally expect on Awaydays)

Thanks to Martin Weeks for devising a great route and for organising the train ride option, to James Grimshaw and Steve Wright for leading the groups and for everyone who turned up to enjoy a great ride in a wonderful area which is almost on our doorstep. Kevin D

 

Awayday Deviants Group

We weren’t sure what you call people who deviate from the route but we thought we must all be deviants. Nine of us set out from Masham on what was almost a perfect day for cycling – weatherise. Just the right temperature after the heat of last week. And it turned out to be almost a perfect bike ride – just good fun, great views and, because of the deviation, a bit more hilly than was planned and a bit longer. Many thanks to Martin and Sue for coming up with the basic plan.

I won’t go into detail about why we didn’t go to Bedale – but we saved a couple of miles there. That meant that we arrived at our lunch stop before 11am. Tennants don’t start lunches until 12 so some of us had a lovely breakfast, others had scones or cake which were equally enjoyable.

Then there was the discussion about extending the route – particularly as we had missed the Bedale loop. We followed the planned route through Middleham and East Witton to Jervaulx. Then Mike took over leading from the front and Keith led from the back. We headed uphill to Ellingstring – a charming village. Then we went through Healey and somehow went though Swinton Park where we declined Helen’s offer to buy us all tea! Then back to Masham for 2pm and an ice cream in the square. And we didn’t lose anyone. My garmin says we did 32.7 miles and climbed 949 metres, 3113 feet.

Thanks to everyone for a very enjoyable day – and we had some adventures. Steve W

 

Awayday Trainride Group

The intention was a bit of a fun Awayday and it didn’t disappoint.  It was a damp start but we were soon at Leeming Bar Station on the Wensleydale Railway to catch the 10.30 Pacer Train for Leyburn. Wheel Easy member Sue Threadgold was our guard for the day and with a loud blast on the whistle Sue soon had us on the way. Going through the Bedale Level Crossing we were waved to by some Wheel Easy cyclists who should by then have been half way to Leyburn. Leave ‘em alone for 5 mins and they go off and get lost!

Sue treated us to some stories on the line and what all the volunteers get up to. Our tickets were checked by the volunteer who did couldn’t find his glasses so our phone digital tickets could have been anything.

Arriving at Leyburn we had time for a visit to the teapot factory and the chocolate factory before reuniting with other Wheel Easy members for lunch at Tennants.