Weekend Round-up 13th/14th

[Dr Dave]

Only 6 riders in the square this morning at 10: John B, Rich, Graham, Maple-leaf Tony, self and Claire O. The forecast had been suggesting unremitting heavy rain for today until late on Friday when it became less apocalyptic and by 9 this morning it was for light rain clearing by 10am to give broken skies - and so it proved!
Claire said she'd come with us as far as she could keep up and so all 6 of us left town heading for Castleton.
The light rain stopped more or less as we left the square and after a slight detour on the way out of town we ascended Terrington Bank, passed via Slingsby and were soon passing Surprise View and the bottom of Blakey Ridge. Claire turned down to Hutton-le-Hole, leaving the rest of us to slog up the long drag to the Lion Inn - into a distinct head wind this proved a taxing climb. As we passed the turn to Blakey Bank we ascended into cloud, the visibility shrank to 50 metres and the temperature dropped as we absorbed moisture from the clag that had enveloped us. A brief discussion ensued resulting in a majority decision to forego Castleton in favour of Rosedale for lunch so we continued on through the cloud to the R turn and then accelerated down into Rosedale, soon descending below the cloudbase into a pleasant early afternoon.
A quickish lunch (the cafe was deserted - presumably the usual clientele had seen the forecast and decided to go shopping instead?) and we were off again, down via Appleton to Great Edstone and then Great Barugh and thence to Amotherby and home via Castle Howard in definite sunshine.
91 miles for me which sounds OK but actually seemed harder than recent 100 milers. Thanks to all for the company - what was looking like a miserable day cycling in heavy rain turned into a very enjoyable dry!! day

[Darren N]

Thought I should post given that I said I’d be out yesterday. I had some essential stuff to do beforehand and didn’t get back home until 10.00am, so by the time I rode past the Square the Inters were long gone. My experience was very similar to Dr Dave’s. Decided to push North through Terrington Bank and Hovingham where it became bright and sunny and the roads had dried off. Then up Caukleys Bank and northward – even the ford above Welburn was dry. By this time I thought maybe the Cockayne loop ACW would be a good option and so pointed the front wheel up Bransdale. I echo Dr D’s thoughts about the top of the Moors because at the northern end of the loop, the temp suddenly dropped about 10 degrees and the fog closed in, luckily I was at the top turning point and so was quickly back in good weather on the way back, just needed to watch out for the suicidal lambs grazing on the side of the road. Btw, there were some fantastic new smooth tarmac sections at the top end of the Cockayne loop - don’t know when that happened but it was very nice indeed – every time I see these new road surfaces appear I now wonder whether they’re preparing for a stage of a pro tour. A quick stop at the shop in Helmsley to get some food and then home via Ampleforth, Easingwold and Aldwark Bridge, where I spotted a couple of other Clifton friendlies out for a meander – 90 miles in total and a nice day out given the terrible weather forecast. I’ll be enjoying the mother of all NYMBO’s on the slopes and foothills of Ingleborough and Whernside next week so can’t make it out with the Inters.



D.

[Rob]

Well done DrD for committing to the Saturday ride given the forecast. Fortune so often favours the brave.

The brave on Sunday for the Spurn ride were just IanH, AndyG and self. I say "just", but I couldn't have picked better team to ride with. These guys are strong as oxen, but consistent and aware of those around, making efficient riding a pleasure.

Damp start and it remained cool and breezy all day. The "Rotsea Transit" felt smoother this year - maybe more bike traffic recently. Some great lanes and sleepy villages then as we headed across the meridian. It's not often you go for a ride into another hemisphere! Passed Andy's grandparent's house which he hadn't seen for 40 years in Withernwick, then picked up the coast road down to Camp Bastian café in Withernsea (it's not really called that, but it has spiky railings around it...)

Bacon did wonders then off out into the cold and windfarms all the way down to the spit. It has now been virtually washed away though - the road has gone and it is just two back to back beaches. The YWT rangers said the high spring tide and surge due at 4pm would breach it. Next time we go it will be Spurn Island.

Back via the wilds of Sunk Islands. What a place - dead straight lanes at sea level. Opportunist café stop in at Andrew's church in Paull. Pot of tea and cakes to die for.

Next, Hull docklands. Lots of repair work to the flood defences going on , and stretches of the path closed, including the famous warehouse roof. So a little finessing of the route required. Nevertheless, we were soon hacking up the main drag through Hessle, before the Sustrans route under the Humberbridge and along the waterfront.

Then, just kept it rolling. Nobody missed a turn, and we just clicked the triangle of riders round every 5 mins. Mind-you, Elvington lane has a special sort of pot-hole after a long ride like that...

250odd km at 27kph. Really interesting ride, and all in reasonable physical shape at the end. Thanks chaps.

Something sensible next week, will keep it around the 130k mark.

[ClaireG]

As Dr Dave describes above, the torrential weather forecast seemed to put off lots of riders on Saturday morning, but some of us have only limited windows of riding opportunity, so tend to just get up and climb out of the window........

At the square afraid it looked like a solo K ride for me, so instead I opted to see if I could hang onto the wheels of Dr Dave's group. Big thanks to DrD, Rich, Graham, John and Tony for letting me tag on the back wheels without taking a turn. They all put no pressure on me and certainly gave me the impression if I'd asked for them to steady up, they would have been happy to. Fortunately, just at the points where I thought the elastic was going to snap for me, they either soft pedalled at the top of a climb, stopped for the loo, had a puncture, waited for me at a junction........all contributing to lots of micro-breaks for me (I've been listening to too much Dauphine commentary )

Good route out and enjoyed having the company for my 'training' ride. Sense did prevail, however, at the bottom of Blakey, as I'm not yet (am I ever?) ready for a 90+mile ride. I waved the guys off & turned into Hutton Le Hole for a well deserved macro break and some tasty fuel.

I also took the Appleton Le Moors, Great Barugh, Amotherby route home, the tail wind aiding my now solo ride & the 2 deer on the Amotherby-Coneysthorpe lane my highlight, along with the extra-fresh wild garlic smells whenever you rode through a damp, wooded & shaded area......

This was definitely a benchmark 75mile ride for my fitness after being side-lined with sore knees Q4 '14 - Q1 '15, so despite my serious flagging by the end, I finished the ride quietly smug

Thanks.
ClaireG