Clifton CC

Inters/A-Ride

Excellent turnout in the square, despite the prevailing cold temps and unforgiving wind. James, Graham, Rich, IanH, IanW, Pete, Dr Dave, Stu, TonyG and myself, plus a few K-riders out for their own impromptu ride.

The wind was relentless, but we made good progress. Some attrition in the group and we picked up JohnS near Boroughbridge and he accompanied us to Masham.

Reaching Masham provided some respite from the wind, blowing orthogonally as we headed out toward Bedale, admiring the view of the snow-capped hills to our right.

After a welcome stop at Thorpe Perrow our tailwind-enhanced pace made quick work of the ride home, impeded only by my flat/puncture just outside Huby.

Another great day out with a great bunch of guys. Thanks all.

Easy going Sunday Ride over the Wolds. Wintery morning and good to be out. The odd slushy puddle to slow down for, but nothing melodramatic. Market Weighton, Kiplingcoats, Middleton, Millington. A few wintery showers, but open fire in the cafe and home for 2pm.

Thanks to Kev, Muzzy, Steen, Austin and Andy for the company.

Four riders in the "K" Group on Saturday, with ClaireG, Bernard, DaveI and myself setting off for Helperby and once again allowing the weather to dictate our lunchtime destination.

Road conditions were generally pretty good, no frost and the heavy rain had washed away the mud that's plagued our roads for the last month or so. That said, we did encounter deep puddles, fallen branches and the odd bit of flooding during the day.

As predicted, we had to battle a strong, bitingly cold headwind as our route took as out via Beningbrough, Aldwark Village and Flawith, then sticking to the main road to Helperby, rather than Kevin's favoured loop around to Myton-on-Swale.

At Helperby, banana refuels all round saw Boroughbridge voted the cafe stop of choice and a left turn at Thornton Bridge the best route to get there, although the farm shop was full and so we lunched at the bakery instead.

Bernard is currently on a sponsored mission (all contributions greatly received) to complete 1,000 miles before early December. So not only is he riding very strongly at the moment, he's also roping unsuspecting cycling chums into doing a bit more mileage than is absolutely necessary. Hence our slightly elongated "How come we're still riding into a headwind?" route home. A slight delay, when Dave suffered a puncture, didn't dampen our spirits too much and we got back to York with about 60 miles on the clock.

Another good ride, great company and sensible decision making in slightly testing conditions. Thanks all!