We headed out through Coxwold and Byland Abbey before deciding, just for something different, to scale the hors categorie, Bank de Wass, rather than the Col d’Cheval Blanc. The following miles offered magnificent scenery in bright sunshine through the hills around Scawton. We then dropped down to the ford behind Rievaulx and found ourselves having to clamber over a locked farm gate with our bikes to avoid the torrent in the beck. The climb up the gravelly track on the other side was pretty steep with Dave C taking the King of the Mountain points. On the way to Hawnby, the countryside was magnificent, albeit hilly. We tempted fate by commenting on how good the weather had been thus far, and just as we stuck our noses out onto the moors, we were forced to hide underneath a clump of trees to avoid a huge deluge. Eventually we made our way over the moors to Osmotherley where we sat in the feed zone and watched the multi-stage coast-to-coast cycling sportive go by.
The return leg began well before we saw an ominous-looking electrical storm heading our way. Granty found a farmyard containing an open-sided barn so we took refuge under the roof beside the tractors for a while. We soon lost patience and headed out into the rain from Over Silton all the way though Kirby Knowle and Felixkirk to the A170 where the rain eventually stopped. We then headed west across to Dalton and Sessay where we found ourselves in the rain again on the Helperby road back to York. Dave and Ian peeled off at Shipton, their jobs done for the day. That left three of us to go under the red kite on the ring road with Tony leading out and hanging on to pip John by a tyre’s width on the line.
This was a great ride and for the second week in a row, I really enjoyed the tight, smooth group riding in tough conditions. I’d cleared the ton in mileage by the time I got home with heaps of elevation gain on the clock. Many thanks to my fellow TdF racers for a great day.
For those looking for omens, we chose the first day of the TdF to go to OZ-motherley – does that mean anything?! It should also be noted that we didn’t get to Wiggin-ton and that the ‘Sky’ did have some sunny spells, but also plenty of bleak moments too, with it culminating in rain at the end!…read into that what you will.
D.
