Saturday’s ride from Leyburn was only for the fit, the brave — or the slightly deranged! That pretty much summed up our group.
Yvonne set off from Masham, while the main group of seven started from Leyburn. After some lively (and very hands-on!) discussions, we decided to alter the planned route slightly. This left us well behind Yvonne over Trapping Hill, which turned out to be diabolical in the wind and drizzle. We were hugely relieved to finally enjoy the calm of the valley road leading into Pateley Bridge.
There, we had just enough time to glance at the reservoirs and notice how worryingly low the water levels were — clearly, we need a lot more rain than we got on Saturday! We all savoured a very well-earned meal at Wildings Café, which recharged our batteries for the hills that still lay ahead.
Shortly after, the “Case of the Missing Glove” unfolded (though fortunately, not for long!). The return leg via Masham felt like a relaxing blessing, especially with an afternoon tea stop at Johnny Baghdad’s. We bid farewell to Glenys, who had impressively cycled to the start and was heading all the way back to Catterick — an impressive feat, especially in such testing weather conditions.
Thank you, everyone, for coming — it was a most welcome sight to finally roll back into Leyburn and see that car park again!
Richard Harmer