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Swaledale Outdoor Club |
| > Home > Newsletter > Mountain Biking > Howardian Hills Hextravaganza |
Howardian Hills HextravaganzaFour cyclists met at Helmsley for Liz’s ride around Castle Howard. Nigel enjoyed the last ride around Hamsterley so much he returned for more. Graham couldn’t resist trying us out after listening to me rave on about our mountain bike rides, when out together on S.O.C. walks. Weather forecasts had predicted a wet morning but becoming drier in the afternoon. We made very good progress on the first leg to Gilling East, even though it was raining, making the six mile trip in less than ten minutes! Fortunately, as we parked the cars in Gilling and unloaded the bikes the rain stopped. We set off riding along lanes and very muddy tracks to Hovingham and then onto Castle Howard. Here we headed south to Welburn negotiating the Gatehouses and Obelisk on the way. At Welburn we chose the “Crown and Cushion” for our lunch stop. By this time we were thoroughly caked in mud so decided we would eat our soup and turkey rolls outside but the Landlady insisted we came in. Perhaps she should have consulted with her other customers first, they didn’t look too chuffed sat there eating roast beef and Yorkshire puds surrounded by helmets, rucksacks and muddy cyclists. We finally managed to drag ourselves away from the log fire. Encouraged by the forecasts of a dry afternoon, we continued our ride heading towards Terrington. Five minutes down the road we hit hailstones or rather they were hitting us. By the time we reached our next spate of off-roading the hail had turned to rain. This track was the muddiest of the lot so muddy in fact one member of the group took a tumble but to save embarrassment I won’t mention her name. Due to the weather and mud we decided to cycle the remainder of the ride on roads. As we approached the next village Liz’s tyre decided to deflate. Luckily stood in the middle of the Green was the old village pump. Unluckily they must have had strange tyre valves in the olden days as we couldn’t get it to fit. By the end of the 22 mile ride I think we had just about managed 50% off-road, which was quite commendable in the conditions. Thanks to Liz for leading the ride and to Nigel and Graham for braving the elements. Dave Neesam |