Clifton CC

What a great weekend to be a cyclist in Yorkshire?
Best Sunday of the year so far with air that looked, and tasted, like it had been scrubbed clean. A couple of times around Bransdale we looked at the view on a climb, grinned at each other and just dropped a gear to sit back and take it all in.
Quick café stop in Helmesley then home via Ampleforth, drinking tea in my kitchen at 3pm. Thanks for the company chaps, see you next week for a ride to Osmotherley.

For those on the K Group, note that the tall chap on the grey Condor bike (sorry didn't catch your name), Chris & myself needed an urgent 'men's stop' at a point past Linton on Ouse. After the stop, the tall chap set off in hot pursuit of the group, and following the toll bridge after Aldwarke Manor, tall chap was a good 400m in front and we had no view of the group. A few minutes later we thought we saw tall chap turn right into a minor road which led to Great Ouseburn so we followed suit.

Once at Great Ouseburn there were no signs of tall chap or the group, so Chris thought they may have carried on to Boroughbridge. We set off in that direction, but unfortunately 2 miles later I noticed I had a slow puncture, presumably from the recently cut hedges on the minor road we just went on, so had to stop twice to pump the tyre, realising our hopes of joining the group had disappeared.

Once at Boroughbridge, we had coffee and cake, and found a friendly bike shop where my tyre got mended (better that on the side of the road later!). We enjoyed a nice ride on our way back into York, for a total 70Km.

My line of work involves sending out surveyors to undertake work on railway lines. Among the many safety checks that need to be done prior to setting off, is to ensure everyone has key contact numbers of those leading the groups in case they need to get in touch.

Perhaps it would be useful to include a contact number of those leading each of the rides in the weekly Friday email, and if possible include a GPX file of the route (I've seen some of the other groups do this). When I was having my coffee at Boroughbridge, I was thinking I would have liked to inform Kevin what happened, where we were, not to wait for us, and above all that we were safe.

Another good turnout for the Inters' ride with 11 of us leaving the square for the ride up to How Stean Gorge. They were myself, Tony, Rich, Graham, James, Dr Joe, Kev M, Stu, Ian W, Andy and Jon G. Many thanks to Steen for his advice concerning Thornton Bridge which, as he said, is indeed open to bikes and pedestrians and which enabled to take our prescribed route out via Helperby.
Conditions were pretty well perfect with only the lightest of breezes and bright, occasionally sunny conditions all day. We were conscious of needing to make a brisk pace with the increase in mileage and the group kept a fairly tight formation all the way to Masham where, following a minor navigational hiccup, way had a brief stop to wait for the odd straggler to catch up. We continued on to the climb over Jordon's Moss and our café stop at How Stean Gorge where we found Ian H already tucking in to pasty and chips having made his own way there. Unfortunately there were a couple of tumbles on the descent down to Lofthouse. Stu came off on a corner but more or less bounce straight back up, dusted himself off and continued down to the bottom as if nothing had happened. Kev M was not so fortunate and injured his wrist in the fall but made it to the café in more or less one piece. Sadly our mishaps for the day were not over. Dr Joe came off worst following a minor altercation between a pair of cleated shoes and a slippery floor in the rest room area, and I'm sure we all know how nasty an injury in the rest room area can be! With his back taking the brunt of the fall he was not in the best of form and elected to accompany the injured Kev M on a steadier and more direct route back to York. The consumption of industrial quantities of over-the-counter non-prescription pharmaceuticals procured in a local shop allowed him to make the ride back relatively pain free. He informs me that his back is now well on the mend and hopes to be out to play again this Saturday.
The rest of us made our way back via Summerbridge and the climb up to Brimham Rocks following which we were rewarded with a glorious descent in perfect conditions all the way to Aldwark Bridge and the flatlands of York beyond. I arrived home at 5.45pm with 97.5 miles on the clock. This felt like a proper ride after the lower mileages of winter and it was good to get home with the light just fading and the birds still singing. Spring has barely begun and I'm sure the weather will not be as kind to us every week but I'm certain we're all looking forward to continuing to up the mileage as the days lengthen.

Too many to name, 16 I think, in the Square for the “K” Ride to Ripley. Great to see DaveC and JohnC back out on a Saturday morning.

We had a discussion about splitting the ride into two groups but a lack of volunteers to lead and a general consensus that we could keep things safe by forming two groups on the road meant we all set off together. Alison had a mechanical issue on Shipton Road and pulled into a bus stop to investigate. SteveS and I slowed and volunteered to assist but she waved us on our way. Making our way towards Beningbrough, we were joined by TonyG .

As Jose mentions in his post, he, Chris and Steve stopped for a comfort break just after Linton on Ouse. We weren’t travelling at a fast pace at that point, although there was a bit of a breakaway bunch, and I assumed everyone was aware of the route over Aldwark Bridge and that the three riders would catch us up easily enough.

For whatever reason, this didn’t happen and although Steve did rejoin we didn’t see Jose or Chris for the rest of the ride. Sorry guys, we probably should have communicated better and slowed right down but with such a large group this was a bit difficult and by the time we realised we weren’t all going to get back together it was too late.

After this, the remaining riders split into two groups and I found myself in the company of Claire, Dawn, Steve, Jacqui, Kevin and Barbara (who’d come across from Harrogate to join the ride for the day, only to find herself cycling back towards home).

We made our way through Arkendale, Markington, Shaw Mills and Hampsthwaite before heading to the planned cafe stop at Ripley. Our scouting party were already in situ but service was going to take at least 40 minutes and so we decided to continue onto Knaresborough, using Barbara’s local knowledge to avoid the busier stretches, and choosing Marigolds cafe on this occasion.

Back via Little Ribston, Cowthorpe and Long Marston, we made really good progress and I had the luxury of pretty much hiding at the back of the bunch. Once back in York, we escorted Barbara to the A59 as she’d decided that 70 miles weren’t quite sufficient and she wanted to cycle back to Harrogate.

It was very unfortunate that Chris and Jose were left behind after their stop. This was mainly due to a lack of communication in what was a much larger group than normal (an issue which Kevin had correctly warned about in the Square) and the incorrect assumption that, at the point where the stop occurred, everyone was aware of the immediate route we would be taking.

“K” Rides don’t tend to have an associated GPS route posted in the weekly e-mail. I do include the main points we will be passing through and Kevin usually has a physical a map of the route, which people can check in the Square before we set off. As suggested, it may be a good idea for a few riders to share their mobile numbers.