Clifton CC

Sorry for heading home without saying ta-ra on Sunday - marital harmony was at stake so I had to go. Got in before the carefully prepared Sunday dinner was spoilt so it turned out ok in the end. Had a very enjoyable Sunday club run thanks to all and thanks for easing up on the climbs.

7 of us set out on the intermediate group to Masham, Myself, Cath, Rich, Paul, Piers, Ben and Alistair. Firstly and unexpectedly at the square Kevin was going to entrust me with thee route map until he found out that I'd not seen the route he'd put on this very discussion board and as such not dowloaded it to my garmin. So responsblity went to Cath and Alistair to get us to Masham. For what its worth I now have it on my Garmin from Saturdays ride albeit from my house amd not strictly the same route (oops! I shoud'nt have said that Kevin will find out we took a slightly different route through West Tanfield even though he'd said to Cath not to go through there). Well 2 punctures later we arrived at the cafe in the square orderd food only to find out later they had forgotten our order. Alistair gently reminded them.

Howards group arrived just as we were leaving which was good timing ( that was not meant to sound awful I meant good timing in as much as you could have our seats) also the sun finally made an appearance for a brisk pace back to York this time the correct way even though we wer't entirley sure which way was the correct way at times.

I finaly arrived home at about 6.30pm having dome 120 miles some how, these rides just keep getting longer but I must be doing something right as I didnt feel all that bad just a bit dehydrated.

Jon

A merry bunch of MTBers headed to Builth Wells for the first in this year's series of MTB Marathons.

We arrived at the base camp at the Royal Welsh Showground Friday lunchtime, pitched the tents then cooked a group meal on the campstoves before sitting back and watching the sunset.

Saturday we went for a short (ish) ride around the local hills, having to put in a significant detour to avoid being shot by the military doing some tank training. In the evening it was the pasta party followed by a night marathon - 50km of off road, night riding. Well done to Lisa who completed it as, not only her first Marathon, but her first time night riding!!

Sunday was glorious weather and we spread ourselves across all 3 events. Top marks to Jez who did a great time on his own on the 50K event. Must be the skills training and that new bike!

Great weekend with wall to wall sunshine throughout, really good organising and routes (quite technical in places for a change) and a good crowd.

Sorry to have to leave the group at Riseborough- but the overnight stomach bug finally caught up with me & I decided it would be better to take a more gently route to lunch. I took the Helmsley road via Salton, welburn, Harome; had a soup etc at the cafe in the walled garden & felt a lot better for it. So decided to take the route to Sutton Bank via Rievoue Abbey, Old Byland, Boltby top, before riding along the A170 & down Wass Bank as there was a lot of traffic around White Horse & I thought wass would be safer. Thenback to York via Coxwold, the Priory & Easingwold, during which I saw Mick M on one of his round about routes; so back home with 88 miles which i was pleased with after the early part of the day- how did the others manage ?
Bernard

Having decided that my legs would feel less pummelled on Sunday morning this week, I intended to join the intermediate rider on Saturday but old habits die hard! As the intermediate ride eased out of the square I found that I was still deep in conversation. It would have been rude to abruptly depart and so a few minutes later I found myself on Howard's wheel heading for Jordan Moss.....

8 riders - the usual crew - Howard, Dave C, John C, Ian H, Virginie, Chris C, plus Willhub wound their way along Kevin's pre-selected route (www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=6052) towards Pateley Bridge. There seemed to be plenty of horses (+ their riders!) out but we carefully managed to avoid spooking any of them. As the gradients became more 'interesting' the group stretched a wee bit - the long drag just after the junction with with the Ripon - Pateley Bridge road had everyone dripping and gasping. Then came the descent to Wath....

I think that Kevin mentioned to Virginie that this descent was a bit tricky but this information somehow didn't get through to the rest of us. Consequently the sight of a nice descent after the previous climbing had it's usual 'Banzai!' effect. Somehow the group spaced out so that we were each 50 yds or so apart as we in turn hurtled down the hill. One by one frenzied cries of terror were involuntarily blurted as the bottomless chasms that went by the name of drainage channels were thundered into at full pelt. Prayers to the Gods of rims, spokes and front forks were frantically utterered as the second and third gullies (that bottomless third trench!!!) followed swiftly after the first. Mercifully the brakes - now smoking - were beginning to retard our descents and the remainder of the gullies were mere ripples compared to their predecessors but several fillings were still on the point of departing their sockets before the final hand clenching squeeze on the brake levers had us pulling up at the bottom.

By this stage the group had split with Dave 'The Cat' Cook, Ian, John and Will nowhere to be seen - and thus presumed to be speeding along towards Middlesmoor whilst Howard, myself, Chris and Virginie felt compelled to stop & verify that front forks were intact, rims still ran between brake-blocks and shorts were still as clean as they had previously been.

We regrouped at Lofthouse then climbed Jordan Moss - not as bad as I had been expecting - then had a spendid 8 miles or so into Masham where we met the intermediate group as previously mentioned.

A leisurely lunch was followed by a straightforward trip back to York. Howard will be able to report on the stats properly but I had 102 miles at just under 17mph. Thanks for a good day out everyone!

PS My headset felt decidedly strange on Sunday - I've just nipped it up a tad and it seems OK but.........

PPS Weather permitting I may be sporting a lowest gear of 39/25 next weekend so a nice long ride with no steep hills please Kev!

I rode the Lakeland Loop yesterday, 12 months after riding it for the first time in 2008.

Beautiful day, gorgeous hot weather and not a cloud in the sky. Progress has been made, going round in a whopping 2 hours 37 minutes faster than last year, a bit of training doesn't half help.....

2 other clifton riders there, one whose name I didn't get but thanks anyway for the offer of company up Whinlatter Pass.

Hello also to Tim Jackson, by lad I've seen your finishing time and that is seriously quick, bearing in mind I passed you once helping someone with a flat, and then you came flying past me on the climb up cold fell. You'd have had a shout at winning otherwise.

A highly recommended day out, with 75 miles and an alleged 3000m of climbing, something which is not my strong point. I only wish I'd had one of those Garmin things for my heart rate, that would have been interesting going up those last 3 bumps.

Here's the view halfway up Hardknott:

A great weekend's riding. I've just written and then somehow lost my account, rats!, so I'll simply post Garmin stats for anyone who's interested...

As an addition to Dr Dave's eloquent description above of the cunning roadie traps in the vicinity of Wath, I reckon from analysis of the Garmin "Action Replay" function that I hit the first one, whilst in the drops, at about 32mph...

Log for Sat Grp H:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3387167

Log for Sun club run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3508531

I can't match the peerless exploits of the previous posters. Up and away early saturday AM to fit in with the weekend's engagements (a fully "voluntary?!" schedule of painting/decorating and gardening) - a steady pace up and around Norwood Edge (here as Saturday crews would have been gathering at the square), Lindley, Blubberhouses, Pannal etc saw me home for lunch and a subsequent weekend full to the brim with jolly domestic duties. Almost a ton on the clock though, so not too bad for a morning out.

As Jon said a small & select group went to Masham on Sat. I got the map and tried pretend I was a Garmin...unfortunately, despite riding with Kevin for the past few years his navigational abilities haven't worn off on me yet! Alastair had a better sense of direction though and we made it there and back with only a couple of wrong turns.

I'd got 87 miles on the clock when I got home, which made it the 2nd longest ride this year after last weekend (88 miles). Sorry for deserting suddenly at Shipton - I was, unusually, suffering from bad cramp in both calves and had run out of water a while back, so it seemed a good place to bail out and head home through Wigginton/Haxby after a short stop to try and stretch my legs a bit.

Really enjoyable ride esp as the rain held off and it was nice to be able to sit outside at the cafe at last.

Not much to add that hasn't been covered by Jon and Cath about the intermediate ride on Saturday. I think riding on unfamiliar roads was refreshing and a couple of wrong turns are always forgivable (unless it's tipping it down ), 90 miles door-to-door for me and actually felt quite strong whilst riding for a change, especially on the climbs out of Masham after lunch.

hi Andrew m
Glad you had an enjoyable event on sun.Great day wasnt it.Hardknott was a bundle of laughs,makes wynrose feel pretty flat dont you think?Suprised by the great weather .Cars on all the route were a credit .Even got a couple of thankyous
Well done on youre improved time.Nothing like a good day for the motivation!
cheers Tim

Dr Dave and Howard have covered the Sat 'H' ride, really enjoyed it, i.e. apart from the infamous descent with the concave drain gutters across the road, savage.

Tonight (Tuesday) I did the Croft circuit TLi RR. Started in the 2nd group, passed the 1st group on lap 6 of 12, and I think I was 7th or 8th in the 8th lap sprint. Kept with the main pack untill the last lap and a half when about 20 broke away and I finished somewhere in the middle of the next group. It was a superb race with around 120 riders, there was an under 16 race before our race which was well attended.

Next week Walshford TLi.

So it looks like I was the 3rd Clifton rider to tackle the Lakeland Loop on Easter Sunday. I rode the first half of the route with my Honister92 mates from back home and had a quick crack with AndrewM before Whinlatter.

The weather was perfect (see Wrynose decent pic), and the roads not too busy with the exception of Hardknott, which always exposes unconfident un-Cumbrian drivers. Still managed to get up without a dab though. Did almost fall off at Cockley Beck when some kind lady was handing out 'snacks' for the last climb of Wrynose; Jelly babies? No. Haribo? No. Power bars? No. Dried Fruit? No. Salted Peanuts? Oh yes! Was rather thirsty so kindly declined.

The actual distance was 110k (69miles), 10k shorter than advertised, with 2,300m of climbing. Pleased with 4hrs11min
http://www.epicevents.org/section.php?xSec=5
although its going to be abit harder in 4 weeks time
http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk/routemap.html