Beginners' Ride

Having attended my Beginner's Ride from Reeth last February, Steve Watson very kindly offered to lead a similar ride in sunny August. Whilst talking on the telephone the evening before, we estimated an attendance in double figures judging by the enquiries we had received. The bad news was seven of my enquiries failed to appear but with a number of cyclists just turning up on the day we still managed a total of twelve! Emma was so keen to join Dad and her sister Laura on the ride that she splashed out on a new helmet from Halfords. By a strange coincidence Andy, who sold her the helmet, also turned up at Reeth for his first trip out with SOC.

As is the norm. with these rides, the start was delayed whilst everyone made adjustments to bikes, helmets, backpacks etc. When we were all finally ready to face a days mountain biking, we set off. We started with an easy cycle along the road to Grinton where we came upon (and overtook) SOC MTB regulars Peter, Kev and Andy. From Grinton, we cycled up past the church to join the bridleway on which we would begin our off-road adventure to Gunnerside. As well as the nice bit of concrete path where the Swale had eroded away the original track, we now have a stone roadway in place at How Hill. I think the roadway is there as access for those replacing the suspension bridge rather than a goodwill gesture to mountain bikers!

Unfortunately drainage at the gateway before Stubbin Farm hasn't improved at all and so we carefully made our way across the mud. The mud and the short but steep climb up to the farm meant most were very pleased when we joined the tarmac road for an easy stretch of cycling to Low Lane. Everyone seemed to manage very well along Low Lane and we were soon passing Isles Bridge to join Dubbing Garth Lane. Again everyone was doing fine until we came across another scene of erosion from flooding. This time large rocks have been used as a repair making the track practically un-rideable even for an experienced mountain biker but just because it was a Beginner's Ride doesn't mean we couldn't have a go. Claire, egged on by yours truly, decided she would give it a try. Claire being a seventeen year old riding a bike I suspect she's owned since she was thirteen, would struggle to make any headway, or so I thought. She set of with great determination and did amazingly well riding over the rocks. Unfortunately, now it was my turn. Fair enough I did manage to cycle further but considering I had a far better bike, with suspension, I think Claire was the real winner (beginner's luck!).

We had our lunch stop at the cafe in Gunnerside where we had refreshments on the lawn while we debated which route we should take for our return to Reeth. Choices being the easy option down the main road, a return along our outward route or use the two bridges across the Swale for a combination of the two routes. We agreed on the latter, bombing down the main road to Isles Bridge then back along Low Lane to Scabba Wath Bridge. Here the original plan was to cross back over to the main road for the drop down into Reeth but that sounded a little boring for us mountain bikers so we continued back along the bridleway to Grinton. Who should we bump into at Grinton, regulars Peter, Kev and Andy still where we had left them!

Having returned to Reeth everyone was still speaking to me so I assume they enjoyed the experience. In fact Duncan, Philip and Andy have been seen on rides since and should be reading this as new members!

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

Beginners' Ride

Dave Neesam