The Dales Diary

(with apologies to Luke Casey)

Sunday 13th. Aug.

Some of you may well have noticed the Yorkshire Dales Cycle Way marked on your O.S. maps, well John Deighton thought riding around the Dales on roads would be far too easy so he set about planning an off-road equivalent. A group of five intrepid explorers were assembled for this pioneering expedition. Members of the group being chosen for their specific qualities, which would be needed on such an expedition. John was to lead the off-road group with Maura leading those on road. Carol was enrolled as Nutrition Consultant, her main responsibility being to choose five nice bananas each day. Liz was taken on board for her culinary expertise, her job being to choose which pub offered the best menu. So why was I included, well someone had to write the article for the newsletter.

We all met at Grinton Youth Hostel. Having driven Carol to Grinton, Steve was on hand to take photos of the starting line up. Photo shoot over, we were on our way along the Redmire road. The first parting of the ways came at Ridley Hush where John and I headed off-road towards Castle Bolton via Dent's Houses. After bragging to everyone about my bargain buy panniers (£12.50 from Halfords), the mountings broke on the first descent, what would we do without bungee straps? This track seemed a lot easier than I remembered and we soon arrived at Castle Bolton. From here we followed the gated road towards Wensley. A length of string tied to the first gate was a sign that the ladies were in front.

We left the road route at Spigot Lodge and headed past Penhill Farm and along High Lane, dropping down into West Burton. Two miles south of West Burton. we left the Whiterow Road to head along a bridleway that took us to Braidlev. We were now back on the road route following the steeply undulating road down Coverdale. With our first night halt almost in sight, we turned off onto another bridlewav along Tor Dyke to descend via Top Mere road to Kettlewell.

At Kettlewell the ladies found us in the King's Head. After a couple of drinks we had a walk around the town's display of scarecrows. We were reminded on a number of occasions of one or two SOC members, but I'm not naming names. I managed to purchase some nuts and bolts to repair my panniers. After a shower and meal we were down the pub again chatting about our first day.

Monday 14th. Aug.

It had been raining heavy overnight but it had eased slightly by the time we set off. Unfortunately there wasn't much in the way of off-road alternatives for today's route and so it wasn't till after Barden Bridge that John and I deviated from the road route taking the Embsay turn-off as far as How Gill. Here we took the bridleway to Bolton Hall. We had arranged to meet up with the roadies at Bolton Abbey for lunch, where Liz was to join us for the afternoon's off-roading but after much searching we assumed they must have been delayed. The rain was now quite heavy so John and I took shelter while we ate our YHA continental breakfasts. We hung around for a while longer drinking numerous cups of tea but time was getting on. After one final search for the roadies we were off again.

Half a mile south of the Abbey we headed west along our next section of off-road. The only problem we encountered along this stretch was a mean looking bull. Although he kept a close eye on us, I think his mind was on other things, namely his female companions. On reaching Draughton, our days off-road complete, we had the sharp contrast of the main road from Leeds to Skipton. With the rain still falling we now had a head wind to contend with, it was one of those occasions when it's head down and just pedal. With John slipstreaming behind, I kept expecting him to take his turn at the front but I don't think it crossed his mind. Anyway it wasn't too long before we reached the safe haven of Skipton Town Centre. There being no Youth Hostel in Skipton we had the luxury of a B&B.

We were pleased to see the ladies had arrived safely. The owner of the B&B very kindly made room in her kitchen for our wet clothes to dry in front of the stove. The advance party had already sussed out the best pub for a meal. After washing the meal down with a few drinks everyone was in high spirits as we walked back to our B&B. Having been back to their rooms to collect their complimentary tea bags, everyone congregated in my room for a cup of tea. Maura came equipped with towel and bungee straps on her head and bum bag stuffed up her front, don't ask.

Tuesday 15th. Aug.

After a short delay while I took my bike into the local bike shop to get my headset tightened (free of charge), we were tackling the steep climb through Embsay and on to Black Hill. Here the three of us, John and I now had Liz for company, turned left onto a bridleway that runs east below Lower and Upper Barden Reservoirs to Rylstone. At this point we were warned of grouse shooting in the area so we kept our heads down. On reaching Rylstone, we passed under the railway and headed along Moor Lane, which took us past Winterburn Reservoir to Hetton Common Head. Here we faced the biggest challenge of the day, apart from getting out of bed, this being the steep climb to Weets Top in driving rain. At the top we had only a short distance to cycle before joining the road that took us past Janet's Foss (and her cave) and into Malham.

We met Carol and Maura at the Youth Hostel and then went to purchase our sandwiches and bananas for tomorrow's lunches after which we visited the local pub. After our evening meal it was back down the pub (have you noticed a familiar pattern emerging here).

Wednesday 16th. Aug.

After a long steep drag out of Malham, Liz, John and I were soon off-road again circling the tarn in an anti-clockwise direction till we reached the crossroads just south of High Trenhouse. Here we headed southwest along the bridleway, at this point Liz took the lead charging across the moorland at break neck speed. Mountain bikes can withstand a lot of punishment but the speed Liz was going something had to give and sure enough snap went the chain. We soon had it fixed and we were on our way again. Now those of you who are avidly following this on your map may notice the bridlewav suddenly comes to an end at Gorbeck but John's newer map shows the track continuing along an "other route with public access", good enough for us. This track took us past Jubilee Cave to join a road where we climbed for half a mile before heading off-road again to Stainforth. If my memory serves me correctly, Stainforth was where we found a nice spot to eat our sarnies down by the beck, after a photo shoot on the stepping stones. Our lunch over we headed along the Dales Cycle Way route for a short while before heading off-road again to Heiwith Bridge; from here we headed west. Unfortunately at this point we rode off the edge of my map (luckily no one was injured), mine being an old single sided map I bought cheap down my village shop. I do remember we passed through Clapham (not the one with the railway junction). Clapham I think, is where we stopped for jam & cream scones and a big pot of tea. From here we cycled along Laithbutts Lane to Newbv and then on to Ingleton. After a meal in the Hostel, it was down the pub for a few games of pool, modesty prevents me from saying who won.

Thursday 17th. Aug.

I'm sure you appreciate that when John was planning the route he had to take most of the off-road routes straight from the map, it not being practical for him to try them out in advance of the ride. Having said that the tracks so far had been excellent with the bonus of superb scenery but there was better to come.

Today was to be Carol and Maura's final day with Steve picking them up at Hawes. As it was their final day, Liz accompanied them on the road route. Just past Thornton in Lonsdale, John and I took to the hills climbing along a steep bridleway which would take us along the eastern flank of Whemside. As we climbed higher we noticed a van above us slowly making it's way along the hillside, perhaps it's a farmer who can't afford a Landrover Discovery we thought. As we climbed closer we realised it was an Ice Cream Van. By the time we reached him he had his van up on blocks and was lining up chocolate flakes ready for the rush for 99s. He said he had been selling ice creams from the same spot for I think it was fifteen years, he had over a hundred customers the previous day. It was too early for ice creams for us so we carried on carefully picking our route through the limestone pavements. Throughout the morning both the tracks we were riding along and the views we were experiencing were absolutely superb, never to be forgotten.

Having passed Whernside we had a long descent down to the Settle-Carlisle Railway. This was very enjoyable apart from it was boggy in places, which wasn't a problem except, with our brakes on practically all the way down (it was very steep), we were very conscious of our brake blocks and more importantly our wheel rims wearing away. After following the railway for a short while, we joined the Craven Way which took us into Dentdale. We dropped down to join the metalled road just east of Dent. It now began to rain, so we took shelter under some trees and ate our lunch. We also took the opportunity to clean and inspect our brakes and yes you've guessed it, a crack had started to develop around the rim of my rear wheel, I would have to keep my speeds down to below 40 mph. from now on!

We now had the luxurv of a short stretch of tarmac our first since leaving Ingleton but we were soon back on the rough stuff and boy was it rough! In sharp contrast to the tracks we experienced during the morning, we now faced a long steep stony climb. There was no way we could ride this section and in fact it was very difficult just pushing the bikes up it. Both John and I agreed this wasn't fun and before we reached half way John had come up with an alternative route for any future expeditions. Although it seemed like eternity, we did eventually reach the top and were glad to get back in the saddle for the drop down to Widdale (no rude comments please) Bridge where we road along lovely tarmac for the drop down into Hawes.

A unanimous decision was made to ride straight past the Youth Hostel and not stop till we reached the first pub, Theakstons has never tasted so good. I plucked up courage to inspect my wheel rim and what had been a short crack at lunchtime, was now halfway round the circumference of the rim. The roadies joined us on their way back from their daily scouting mission to find where the best sandwiches and bananas for the next day's packed lunches were to be had and which was the best pub for meals, John and I had them well trained!

While everyone was sorting out which dormitories we were in etc., I sneaked into the bike sheds and swapped my damaged wheel with Maura's! After getting showered and changed we were off down the pub to meet up with Steve and Zoe for the evening. We bored them with our exploits during the week and they brought us up to date with what had been happenning in the big wide world. We returned to the hostel to load Carol, Maura and two bikes into Steve's car (luckily Maura never noticed the cracked wheel). After waving them off, Liz, John and I dashed back down to the pub.

Friday 18th. Aug.

Our final day. Even after five days of cycling, we sat eating our breakfasts, all three of us in good spirits looking forward to the day's cycling ahead. Rain delayed our start for a short while but when the rain lessened slightly a decision was made to go for it. The early part of the day's cycling was to be along the road route, along which we were accompanied by a couple and their son from Scarborough, who we kept meeting throughout the week as they were also cycling the Yorkshire Dales Cycle Way. We left them just above Bainbridge to head north to Helm where we joined the short bridleway to reach Low Straights Lane which would take us back onto the Cycle Way north of Askrigg. Now this bridleway may have been short in distance but we faced a problem crossing Whitfield Gill which had slightly more water gushing down it than you would normally expect. At the fording point, John as ride leader was sent in to act as a depth gauge. Although it wasn't quite the raging torrent Nigel had dragged me through a few weeks earlier, we didn't fancy the extra weight of panniers full of water so we looked for an alternative route. We noticed on the map that further down stream a public footpath crosses so I was sent to investigate and sure enough there was a bridge. How come walkers are provided with nice little bridges and us mountain bikers have to risk life and limb wading across, that's discrimination that is. Anyway, we're very sorry walkers but this was an emergency so we borrowed your footpath and nice little bridge.

The obstacle overcome, we were soon back on the Dales Cycle Way heading towards Gunnerside and who did we meet but our friends from Scarborough who couldn't understand how, after a long cafe stop in Askrigg, they still managed to be in front of us. After the steep climb out of Wensleydale we were rewarded with the descent into Swaledale. At Gunnerside bridge the route stays on the south side of the river but the cafe in the village beckoned. We like this cafe because it takes ages to get served and so you have a long rest. After our refreshments we cycled back over the bridge to turn left onto the track that follows the south bank of the Swale to Grinton. Spurred on by the knowledge that this was the final stretch, we made good progress and the three of us were soon in Grinton. Only one hurdle remained between us and the cars, this being the steep climb out of Grinton to the Youth Hostel but we had been up worse during the last six days. At the hostel it was congratulations all round and of course the final photo call before loading the bikes and driving home for a bath.

Well that's it, I've tried my best to put our Dales Tour into words but to be honest you had to be there to fully appreciate it. Apart from Thursday afternoon's offroading the tracks John had chosen were unbelievably good. The scenery was absolutely breath taking, this ride being final proof, if proof were needed, that a mountain bike has got to be the best way to explore countryside such as the Yorkshire Dales. Even the weather wasn't too bad, although it rained on a number of occasions at least we had warm sunshine and clear skies the remainder of the time. I'd like to thank my four cycling chums for being excellent company, the only disagreements I can remember were when playing pool. I doubt very much whether I would have been able to complete the ride if Maura hadn't very kindly offered the loan of her wheel (I didn't really pinch it), thanks Maura. Last but not least, a special thankyou to John for putting the time and effort into both planning the route and organising accommodation etc.