by craigdabrown
Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:00 am
For the A-Riders who couldn’t make the 9.am. Coverdale ride, Graham had suggested a standard 10a.m. ride to Helmsley via an anticlockwise loop of Bransdale (Cockayne). So JohnB, JonG, newbie James, Kevin, Tony and myself joined Graham at the square.
I had a quick look at my Garmin records for this ride and I don’t think I’ve ever done the same route twice. On this occasion we headed out through Haxby and Strensall and across to Farlington, where we were supposed to meet IanW but he’d obviously gone on ahead. A jet-lagged Tony, who’d just flown in from L.A., left us at Brandsby and we continued down through Hovingham and on to Fadmoor via Nunnington and Welburn.
The forecast was for showers and we skirted a couple up on the moors which had obviously been heavy enough to deposit a fair amount of surface water on the road. What then became apparent, by the fact that 4 out of the 6 of us were stung in quick succession, was that the bees were going absolutely mad for the gorgeous heather which was in full bloom. They were thudding off us as we rode across the tops and if you stopped on the road the buzzing noise emanating from the heather was incredible. IanW, who had also been stung, was already at the cafe and we watched as the intermittent showers developed into something more persistent. So a bit of a soggy restart as we headed home via Ampleforth, Coxwold and Crayke with a nice tailwind resulting in a bit of a blast back to Wigginton.
A really good ride, just over 80 miles for me, we stayed together all day and James did particularly well as he was suffering with a painful knee for most of the ride.
I had a quick look at my Garmin records for this ride and I don’t think I’ve ever done the same route twice. On this occasion we headed out through Haxby and Strensall and across to Farlington, where we were supposed to meet IanW but he’d obviously gone on ahead. A jet-lagged Tony, who’d just flown in from L.A., left us at Brandsby and we continued down through Hovingham and on to Fadmoor via Nunnington and Welburn.
The forecast was for showers and we skirted a couple up on the moors which had obviously been heavy enough to deposit a fair amount of surface water on the road. What then became apparent, by the fact that 4 out of the 6 of us were stung in quick succession, was that the bees were going absolutely mad for the gorgeous heather which was in full bloom. They were thudding off us as we rode across the tops and if you stopped on the road the buzzing noise emanating from the heather was incredible. IanW, who had also been stung, was already at the cafe and we watched as the intermittent showers developed into something more persistent. So a bit of a soggy restart as we headed home via Ampleforth, Coxwold and Crayke with a nice tailwind resulting in a bit of a blast back to Wigginton.
A really good ride, just over 80 miles for me, we stayed together all day and James did particularly well as he was suffering with a painful knee for most of the ride.