White Water Biking

Initially I was hoping for a good turnout for this ride, a 25mile trip around Wensleydale I thought would appeal to many and my new tactic of e-mailing every Club member I’ve seen astride a mountain bike should bring them out in droves. Unfortunately one thing I didn’t predict was the weather, you may remember on Sunday 4 June everywhere was flooded as a result of the torrential rain the day before, well at least people wouldn’t be staying at home to watch the cricket. Geoff rang me on the morning and we decided the conditions would be too ridiculous but I thought I had better turn up just in case anyone else was daft enough to. It was an adventure in itself just driving to Aysgarth, where roads weren’t under water they were covered in debris. The car park was busy with people making the trip to see the falls in flood but no sign of any mountain bikers. Time was quickly approaching the 10.30 deadline when Nigel turned up, having been delayed by road closures. We decided we would go and have a look at the falls in case there were any late arrivals. To say the falls were impressive is an understatement. Nigel was busy deciding on the best route if only he had a canoe with him. I was trembling just standing on the bridge. On our return to the cars there was no sign of any more (fool)hardy souls. The original route was out of the question so we decided on driving to Castle Bolton and trying the track to Askrigg with a possible return along Apedale. All started well till we came across a farmer who told us of a stream ahead that, according to him we wouldn’t be able to cross. How could we resist the challenge? Sure enough Beldon Beck had now become Beldon River. It was off with our shoes and socks and clutching out bikes we managed to wade across.

Our next major obstacle was of course the ford which was a raging torrent starting from a lake which normally is Thackthwaite Beck. Above the lake was another raging torrent feeding into it, this is where we decided to cross. Out theory was if we got washed away we would end up in the lake rather than the River Ure 300 feet below. I must admit I wasn’t too keen but Nigel has had experience of this type of thing on his treks abroad and if he thought it was safe enough to risk losing his brand new bike, maybe we weren’t going to die. Nigel gave me a crash course, always face upstream so your knees don’t give way etc. To be sure his theory worked I waited till he was safely across. In case we parted company and never saw each other again, I said goodbye to my bike and apologised for not oiling his chain as often as I should. After a few scary moments I eventually made it across. Next time you’re planning a trip to Alton Towers save your money and come on one of our mountain bike rides!

Eventually we made it to the Askrigg road. We now had the choice to turn left into Askrigg for tea and toasted teacakes or turn right to head back down Apedale. The roasted teacakes were very nice. What should have been an easy ride back along the Carperby road was made treacherous in places where gravel and stones had been washed onto the road, particularly on the steep climb up to Castle Bolton.

I must admit whilst driving to the start I was hoping nobody else would turn up but I very much enjoyed the ride in a strange sort of way. For my next ride we’re all meeting at the Tees Barrage! Thanks to Nigel for his company, hope your new bike hasn’t turned to rust.

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

White Water Biking

Dave Neesam