After going walking with the family at Malham I rode back home to York using my old MTB.
I first went up the 1 in 5 road called Malham Rakes to Makham Tarn before turning right onto the bridleway (The bridleways near Malham tarn are great!) down to Threshfield and on to the B6160 near Grassington. I then made a cockup by following the road and added about 5km before getting onto the route to Burnsall then Appletreewick. After Appletreewick the road gradually winds up and goes over a bridleway on moorland which ends at Thruscross reservoir. This is a lovely route and one which Paul Crane used a few years ago on one of his epic 2 day adventures.
From here I headed West on the road going past the radar station (golf balls) and then went down to Hamsthwaite before picking up a bridleway to Ripley. From here I did a reverse Scotton, going over the A1 near Arkendale (I ran out of water at this point) and down the bridleway to (again used in the Scotton) to Great Ouseburn and over the bridge and back via the Sustrans route into York. I think the distance covered was about 60 miles and it took me about 5 hours 40 mins. It was a lovely ride putting together a number of routes I have ridden over the years.
18th 19th Weekend Roundup
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woke up early saturday morning thinking do i or dont i..sod it.i enjoy the 8.45 rides.so due to the weather. i started off from a more central location and headed to meet the group. got to stensall and no sign of anyone so soft pedalled back to sherriff with regular checks over my shoulder.no sign.by this time i was soaked to the bone so carried on.squelchy feet heading up terrington bank.wiping my glasses every 30 seconds. some dodgy sideways action heading down into hovingham and brandsby but stayed upright.got to easingwold but wasnt sure of the rest of the route directions so batted on down the river in easingwold.erm. i mean long street and back to my starting point.only 32 miles but in the conditions on my own.milage or speed wasnt on my main agenda.
Eight in the Square for the belter to Robin Hood’s Bay, or Rob’s Bay as we called it. Merry men following Rob himself included Reuben, Andy T, Paul S, Dan G, Pete P, Richard and yours truly. Dan was decked out in electric gears (we feared what might happen in the ford at Little Beck!) and Richard was training for the London-Edinburgh-London.
The trip out to the Moors was uneventful, apart from a steam train holding us up at the Pickering gates. Towards the top of the Moors, I recall Pete motoring past me like I wasn’t there, he obviously was riding on a different planet to me – one which seemed totally devoid of gravitational forces. Some of the climbing by all the guys was incredible – Rob and I were waiting for them to fall away in the 2nd half but to their credit it never happened.
On the descent to Egton Bridge, I rode ahead to take a photo, I forked left down into Egton Bridge when I should have forked right, and lost the group – apologies to the group for causing worry. Tackled the remainder of the trip to Rob’s Bay by myself, including Goathland and the horrific drop into thick fog at Little B*****d, sorry, Little Beck – 33% down and 25% out again. Finally found everyone again at the café at RBH. Four explorers (Rob, Paul, Reuben and Andy) went down to the sea to ‘dip the wheel’ before we headed out and home. Highlights on the way home included the roller coaster descent into Hackness, the Troutsdale landscape and the Settrington descent. Pete and Dan then delivered the best turn on the front since Andy G and Shaun ploughed us back from Cleethorpes into a block headwind – Pete & Dan charged us in a tight group all the way from Settrington to Stockton on the Forest - superb!
We were lucky with the weather, no wind at all and sun in the afternoon. Rob did a great job as always with the nav duties, despite me trying to lead him astray by going AWOL. Thanks to everyone for a great day out. BTW, keep an eye open for a bloke with a baseball bat walking around the Moors because he managed to beat the hell out of my legs without me knowing – well that’s what it feels like today anyway.
D.
I’ve saved the best bits for a Cliftonite article. I know there’s others out there planning big rides in the next couple of months so please have pen and camera at the ready for a worthy contribution.
The trip out to the Moors was uneventful, apart from a steam train holding us up at the Pickering gates. Towards the top of the Moors, I recall Pete motoring past me like I wasn’t there, he obviously was riding on a different planet to me – one which seemed totally devoid of gravitational forces. Some of the climbing by all the guys was incredible – Rob and I were waiting for them to fall away in the 2nd half but to their credit it never happened.
On the descent to Egton Bridge, I rode ahead to take a photo, I forked left down into Egton Bridge when I should have forked right, and lost the group – apologies to the group for causing worry. Tackled the remainder of the trip to Rob’s Bay by myself, including Goathland and the horrific drop into thick fog at Little B*****d, sorry, Little Beck – 33% down and 25% out again. Finally found everyone again at the café at RBH. Four explorers (Rob, Paul, Reuben and Andy) went down to the sea to ‘dip the wheel’ before we headed out and home. Highlights on the way home included the roller coaster descent into Hackness, the Troutsdale landscape and the Settrington descent. Pete and Dan then delivered the best turn on the front since Andy G and Shaun ploughed us back from Cleethorpes into a block headwind – Pete & Dan charged us in a tight group all the way from Settrington to Stockton on the Forest - superb!
We were lucky with the weather, no wind at all and sun in the afternoon. Rob did a great job as always with the nav duties, despite me trying to lead him astray by going AWOL. Thanks to everyone for a great day out. BTW, keep an eye open for a bloke with a baseball bat walking around the Moors because he managed to beat the hell out of my legs without me knowing – well that’s what it feels like today anyway.
D.
I’ve saved the best bits for a Cliftonite article. I know there’s others out there planning big rides in the next couple of months so please have pen and camera at the ready for a worthy contribution.
My first Sunday ride with Rob and his merry men for quite a while...
Darren has summed it up pretty well to be honest. One of the finest, if not, the finest rides I have ever done. Great scenery, great climbs, quick descents and a fair priced cafe!
Finished with 124.7 miles, 9000ft of climbing and just over 8 hours in the saddle.
Legs surprisingly ok today, which slightly worries me!
AndyT
Darren has summed it up pretty well to be honest. One of the finest, if not, the finest rides I have ever done. Great scenery, great climbs, quick descents and a fair priced cafe!
Finished with 124.7 miles, 9000ft of climbing and just over 8 hours in the saddle.
Legs surprisingly ok today, which slightly worries me!
AndyT
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reubenbarrett
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:44 pm
- Location: Tadcaster Road
I really enjoyed my first ever outing on the Sunday club run - 121 miles door to door and just under 9,000 feet of climbing. If I had a penny for every gradient warning sign we saw on the day, I'd be a rich man! The highlight on the gradient warnings was Little Beck with the road in warning us of 33% (down thankfully) and then the two routes out warning us of a choice of 25% or 20% - clearly we took the 25%!
And we even managed to ride our bikes all the way to the sea. Evidence below! Thanks to everyone for a very enjoyable ride and particularly to Rob for solid route planning.
And we even managed to ride our bikes all the way to the sea. Evidence below! Thanks to everyone for a very enjoyable ride and particularly to Rob for solid route planning.
I took 1 look at the forecast on Friday and decided Sunday looked far too hot and dry so stuck with the original plan of the 845 ride.
5 of us set off from the Square, Jenny, Finlay, Dave C, Howard and yours truly. Usual format of non-stop, brisk pace out through Haxby, Strensall, Hovingham then left hook to Easingwold.
We'd convinced ourselves that 'it's not too bad when you're moving' and 'it always looks worse than it really is' but the truth is the conditions were awful; heavy rain, flooded roads and hidden pot holes. By Easingwold Dave's hands had lost all feeling and we were all soaked through so my suggestion of the short way home didn't warrant too much debate.
Home by 11.30 with a slower than ave 16mph or so and 52m on the clock, but it was a ride of attrition.
Not sure why you didn't see us Paul. Sounds like you got the route about right.
5 of us set off from the Square, Jenny, Finlay, Dave C, Howard and yours truly. Usual format of non-stop, brisk pace out through Haxby, Strensall, Hovingham then left hook to Easingwold.
We'd convinced ourselves that 'it's not too bad when you're moving' and 'it always looks worse than it really is' but the truth is the conditions were awful; heavy rain, flooded roads and hidden pot holes. By Easingwold Dave's hands had lost all feeling and we were all soaked through so my suggestion of the short way home didn't warrant too much debate.
Home by 11.30 with a slower than ave 16mph or so and 52m on the clock, but it was a ride of attrition.
Not sure why you didn't see us Paul. Sounds like you got the route about right.
Excellent photo.
This Sunday’s 9am ride consisted of Dave C, Heidi and newcomers Mark and Zak.
Heading out to Cockayne, the straight Roman road of Castle Howard was a sight. The trees lining the road freshened by the previous day’s rain, the lake mirror flat and several MGs and E-type Jags from the 1970s gurgling past us from a car enthusiast’s meeting at the Castle.
Mark turned off at West Ness (hope you got back alright). With 5 riders now down to 4, that meant a bit less drafting and a fraction more work for the rest of us. I got a little panicky by this and was about to leave for home too. But that would have triggered a cascade with the remaining 3 turning back one-by-one, as the workload mounted, to result in the first ever Sunday clubrun to break up mid-ride and not actually reach its destination.
Instead, we pushed on to the Cockayne loop- an 18 mile stretch of road that serves a village with a population of perhaps a dozen. So we enjoyed the moorland road to ourselves… until 20 Harley Davidson-type motorbikers had the same idea driving the opposite way. There’s probably a vintage motorcyclist’s discussion forum that post the same stuff as we do- “Sunday clubrun. Meet at the Square. Cockayne Loop.”
We then descended to the café in Helmsley, where conversation was diverse due to having two hardcore runners and two regular cyclists. We were silenced in awe of 50 mile off-road running events.
They were silently puzzled by our talk of Mont Ventoux.
Heading home, there was a lot of grit washed onto the roads after Saturday’s rain. This strangely prompted the others to point to their shoes and shout “grovel!” which I thought was a bit rude, but obediently went onto the front to pull each time.
And then we did some of the 10 mile TT course, to be ridden in the Clifton Thursday evening TT series starting this week. The council have kindly left that little section of potholes unrepaired, so you can accurately compare your time with that of last years’.
It was a really enjoyable 75 miles at a pleasant 15.5 mph. Thanks for the company everyone, real solid riding by Zak and cheers Dave for leading.
(Mark- could you please “pm” me?).
This Sunday’s 9am ride consisted of Dave C, Heidi and newcomers Mark and Zak.
Heading out to Cockayne, the straight Roman road of Castle Howard was a sight. The trees lining the road freshened by the previous day’s rain, the lake mirror flat and several MGs and E-type Jags from the 1970s gurgling past us from a car enthusiast’s meeting at the Castle.
Mark turned off at West Ness (hope you got back alright). With 5 riders now down to 4, that meant a bit less drafting and a fraction more work for the rest of us. I got a little panicky by this and was about to leave for home too. But that would have triggered a cascade with the remaining 3 turning back one-by-one, as the workload mounted, to result in the first ever Sunday clubrun to break up mid-ride and not actually reach its destination.
Instead, we pushed on to the Cockayne loop- an 18 mile stretch of road that serves a village with a population of perhaps a dozen. So we enjoyed the moorland road to ourselves… until 20 Harley Davidson-type motorbikers had the same idea driving the opposite way. There’s probably a vintage motorcyclist’s discussion forum that post the same stuff as we do- “Sunday clubrun. Meet at the Square. Cockayne Loop.”
We then descended to the café in Helmsley, where conversation was diverse due to having two hardcore runners and two regular cyclists. We were silenced in awe of 50 mile off-road running events.
They were silently puzzled by our talk of Mont Ventoux.
Heading home, there was a lot of grit washed onto the roads after Saturday’s rain. This strangely prompted the others to point to their shoes and shout “grovel!” which I thought was a bit rude, but obediently went onto the front to pull each time.
And then we did some of the 10 mile TT course, to be ridden in the Clifton Thursday evening TT series starting this week. The council have kindly left that little section of potholes unrepaired, so you can accurately compare your time with that of last years’.
It was a really enjoyable 75 miles at a pleasant 15.5 mph. Thanks for the company everyone, real solid riding by Zak and cheers Dave for leading.
(Mark- could you please “pm” me?).
A note of thanks to the guys on the Robin Hoods Bay ride. Terrific day out and your waiting at the top of every climb for me was very much appreciated although it must have been incredibly frustrating for a fast group of riders in such good conditions. It my first outing with Clifton in about three years and I really enjoyed riding as a group for a change. Brilliant route too, I've been wanting to tick Littlebeck off my list for a while. After I lost touch (junctions south of Pickering?) I made my own way home via the Wolds. Good prep. for LEL in August.
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Steen Berg
- Posts: 122
- Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 7:10 am
The Lincoln 400km Audax for Ian Hallet and I. It turned out to be 417km that's about 260 miles for you Ukip voters. Not the longest ride in human history but the longest ride in the history of these two humans. This took place on Saturday a day of wind and rain for the first part. The route was from Aldbrough St John just north of Scotch Corner to Lincoln. So a flatish route which would account for our speed just shy of 30km/h to get to Lincoln and for the trip total just over 28km/h. We rode most of the way with Bob Robson or Robinson the guy who had the run in with a deer last year at the Wiggington 300. He also must take some credit for our pace.
Controls at Stanford Bridge where I met Julia as she was buying gin and fags or whatever, but looking well on it. Howdon Lincoln York and Ripon. The rain stopped after Howden and it turned out to be a nice day. The route was lots of busy A roads easy to navigate but not one I would rush to do again. We started at 6am finished at 5 to midnight. We were the second back some poor guy did not get back in until 8.30 Sunday morning. Your right nuts but while we have the fitness we going to give a 600km Audax out of York a crack on the 1st of June. We should get the real deal sleeping on a village hall floor with a bunch of snoring old blokes maybe something not to tell the grandchildren about.
Steen
Controls at Stanford Bridge where I met Julia as she was buying gin and fags or whatever, but looking well on it. Howdon Lincoln York and Ripon. The rain stopped after Howden and it turned out to be a nice day. The route was lots of busy A roads easy to navigate but not one I would rush to do again. We started at 6am finished at 5 to midnight. We were the second back some poor guy did not get back in until 8.30 Sunday morning. Your right nuts but while we have the fitness we going to give a 600km Audax out of York a crack on the 1st of June. We should get the real deal sleeping on a village hall floor with a bunch of snoring old blokes maybe something not to tell the grandchildren about.
Steen
You mean Bob Johnson, Steen.
Well done on getting round the Lincoln, I agree it's not the most exciting ride but it's a good way to get 400km done quite quickly. You'll see me at the start of the 600, I'll be handing out your brevet cards before going off to a wedding instead of doing the ride, then probably riding it on my lonesome the following week.
Well done on getting round the Lincoln, I agree it's not the most exciting ride but it's a good way to get 400km done quite quickly. You'll see me at the start of the 600, I'll be handing out your brevet cards before going off to a wedding instead of doing the ride, then probably riding it on my lonesome the following week.