Cycling in the Sun

Bank holiday Monday and the sun is shining, there is absolutely no excuse for a fair weather fellow to wangle his way out of not abusing his body around the infected regions of North Yorkshire & Cumbria, not to mention the fact that he does require some exercise after months of sitting in front of a television (computer screen).

The little group of select cyclists met up in Hawes, quite late in the morning as I remember, one with a leg injury sustained while trying to impress young ladies with his bunny hopping mountain bike routines. Always did think there would be a useflul purpose found for these overweight bloated cycles one day, and perhaps this new pursuit will finally get a lot of them off the back of shiny 4x4 vehicles. I was not the only person today who had not been active on the bike recently and when the choice was taken as to whether or not to ascend over Garsdale station into Dent or take the longer route around via Sedburgh, the choice was easy. After a long ride around to Dent we stopped for a snack, which took forever to arrive, and this left us a bit short of time to complete the days intended route to Ingleton via Barbondale.

The decision to cycle along Barbondale and then retrace our route back through Dent would allow us to view most of our scenic route. The incline out of Dentdale had Ron reaching 196 bpm on the heartbeat scale, not to mention the number of calories he was using up on the calorimeter. Those of us who can remember Steve Hirst during his cycling days will have a bit of dejavu at this point. The cobbled streets of Dent were remarkably clear of traffic for a bank holiday Monday, and especially so considering the wonderfial sunshine. Meandering slowly along the back lane, a few road walkers and the odd deer were seen, but the disinfectant mats proved the biggest hazard. The majority of which are now well worn and had not had any attention in the last few days or even weeks in some cases, and I would think some of them will still be around long after the foot and mouth has subsided.

We passed Dent Youth hostel as a train trundled along the Settle - Carlisle railway line above us, both endangered species at one time but possibly now having a revival of fortunes. The climb up to the Hawes to Ingleton road was not as severe as I seemed to recall and we were all soon enjoying the log descent back into Hawes for the traditional ice cream while soaking up the last of the day's sunshine.

Helmsley weekend started on Friday afternoon at 4.00 o'clock for Helen, Liz and myself as we headed off towards Osmotherley in good old English sunshine. The Hawnby road was as hilly as usual and the panniers were not making the going any easier, so we stopped for refreshments at the Hawnby Hotel, before descending down into Helmsley where we met up with the rest of the group at the Youth Hostel. Ray & Lillian had brought the Tandem from home via Osmotherley under their own steam as befits this incredible duo. This entitled them to miss the Burgess ride, a gift they also manage to perform with great foresight and years of wisdom. The main part of the evening was spent in a public house with two old friends, who had been given a late hostel key. We did not feel too guilty about arriving back at the hostel in the wee hours of the morning as the warden (she likes to be called the manager) was still in the drinking establishment when we left.

Saturday was billed as a Burgess ride and in fact Martin had organised the whole weekend, so we did feel obliged to entertain him with our presence on his ride. The route took us along the relatively flat roads though Harome, Wombleton, Salton, Kirby Misperton (Flamingo Land), Low Marishes and on to a tea stop in Thornton-le-Dale.

Sitting in the glorious sunshine, we had a false sense of the passing of time, and little Knowledge of the remaining route. Thomton-le-Dale is on the edge of the North York's moors and we were about to cross them to reach Goathland (Heartbeat Village) and squeeze down into Beckhole for a quick drink, before ascending over to Grosmont for another quick stop at the station. The North York's Moors railway had a steam train special busily turning around and entertaining masses of passengers and railway enthusiasts.

This is the point at which the major mutiny of the weekend took place, Ray & Lillian took no part in this mutiny as they had wisely taken no part in the Burgess ride, Martin's intended route would not get us back into Helmsley in time for the hostel meal. By a majority vote his leader status was removed and a committee was set up to find a route that would give us a chance to get back to Helmsley in time for supper. The shortest route would take us back via Stape, Wrelton and Kirkbymoorside, but this did mean a very steep climb out of Grosmont and back onto the moor. Years of experience have taught us all to laugh at hills and this was taken to the extreme during this final leg of the journey, so if while out walking you hear roars of laughter from cyclist's ascending hills, please do not be lulled into the false assumption that they are actually enjoying themselves. The hostel was packed with cyclists tonight and there was not enough room in the bike shed for the Penny Farthing that along with its rider had arrived for Sunday's Coxwold Service. Everyone sat down for dinner in time, and Lillian described the excellent day Ray & she had enjoyed looking around the walled garden and Nunnington Hall. They fully understood that the rest of us were not going to admit that we had enjoyed a great day out on a Burgess ride (it only encourages him to lead more!!).

Sunday was Coxwold Service day and the 75th annual service at that. We had a leisurely morning looking around Helmsley, despite Martins insistence that he had planned a 100-mile ride for today. The short ride to Coxwold was done in part with the Penny Farthing which was fascinating, on descents the rider places his legs over the top of the handlebars to increase stability, this caused consternation and alarmed looks from the people we passed.

With the sun still blazing the turnout at the service was very good, so good in fact that the WI feeding everyone at the Village hall ran short of food on occasions. They do sterling work, as there is no clear idea from year to year as to how many cyclists will attend the event. The Archbishop of York gave the guest speech and reflected on how life can change due to chance meetings, recalling that 75 years ago a meeting between two cyclists and the vicar of Coxwold had a conversation which led to a cyclists service that has become a national event still going strong today. More SOC members joined us for the trip back to Northallerton, and I seem to remember someone even moaned about the heat, we are not easily pleased.

Another good week to add to the list, Thanks to all concerned.

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

Cycling in the Sun

Paul