The Aire Watershed

 This has its genesis in two threads on the Bearbones forums:  the North Peak 100 and the Strictly local threads.

When Shaf posted up his NP100 I thought it was a good idea and worked out a local loop in the southern Dales of similar length but it didn't really feel consistent and then the second lockdown started so it got shelved.

Craig's "Strictly Local" ride around the city limits of Aberdeen was interesting. Locally the boundaries of North Yorkshire, the largest county in England and Wales would be way too big to fit within the current guidelines. Our local authority area, Craven, would also have a large boundary, not really doable in a day. As a "rural" sort of chap, human imposed boundaries didn't really sit well with me, a more natural solution would be better.

A short ride last weekend gave the solution: the watershed of the upper River Aire. A bit of searching came up with this: https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/OperationalCatchment/3484, pull the bottom end up to Steeton/Silsden to avoid Keighley (if you've been there, you'll understand), onto bikehike and plot a route that follows the watershed as closely on legal RoWs as possible and I ended up with around 108km. Mostly road and stone track there were just a few potentially boggy sections. Very little technical terrain - the descent of Stockdale Lane being the hardest.

With fine weather forecast I decided to head out yesterday for a "midweek" hit. I rolled down to the "start" at Steeton & Silsden railway station but since I met the route a little before that and hit the lap button on the GPS at that point. The roundabout by the station was thankfully quiet and into Silsden before the long drag up and over to Draughton. Draughton's phone box is one of those that have been repurposed, in this case as a book club, it made national headlines a few years ago when it was vandalised.

Down to the A59, crossing this can also be worrying as it's a fast road with an overtaking lane at this point, then into Halton East which according to my unofficial schedule was to be my first hour point but I was ahead of that. The first off-road section will be familiar to those who've done the YD300 & YD200 routes as it's the last downhill section. A bit harder going uphill! The last thirty metres to the gate is the hardest and reaching it marks my hour point. The next section leading up to the road is the first boggy section but I'm in luck - the farmer has filled in all the deep puddles and it's pleasantly straightforward.

Not so pleasant is the strong wind that greets me when I get to the road, it turns out I'll be riding straight into this for the next three hours or so. The climb up and over Barden Moor is taken steadily, no need to burn matches at this point. Two weeks ago much of this track was sheet ice and we had to ride on the moorland to the side, today it's just slightly damp.

The climb over the moor is straightforward but harder work than it should be because of the wind. Even the start of the descent needed pedalling rather than a straight freewheel.

This gate was frozen in place a couple of weeks ago, the ice was about 30cm deeper than the water level seen here.

I'm still ahead of schedule at Hetton but the first "boggy" section slows me down. Normally it's ridable but I have to walk a couple of hundred metres due to the mud caused by the farmer out feeding stock, just no traction so I'd end up spinning comically at a standstill. The subsequent rocky track is fine as is Boss Moor which isn't as damp as I expected and the bit by the old barn hasn't been churned up too much by the cattle so is ridable with a bit of oomph.

Once I'm onto Mastiles Lane the going becomes firmer but the wind is pushing me back, slight downhills where you'd normally feather your brakes need hard pedalling. My third hour mark comes and goes but I'm now well "behind" schedule. I get some respite from the wind as I pass through the trees around Malham Tarn but then it's back into it as I head to the last big climb for a good while which leads to the top of Stockdale Lane.

I'm actually a bit cold by now - the temperature is nowhere near the forecast 10/11C and the wind is making that feel even cooler. My level of output is only just enough to stave things off. As soon as I turn east at the foot of Stockdale Lane the effective temperature soars and I begin to warm. The next bit is one of those RoW anomalies - the BW just stops in the middle of nowhere. There are plans to link everything up and local riders have used it for years without problem, the last time I rode it I met the farmers and had no hassle so I've no problem in including it.

Back on the road at Otterburn it's easy going to Coniston Cold and the second crossing of the A65, again relatively quiet. I'm riding through the next set of fields when there's a regular ticking from my back wheel, the rear brake pads have worn through, I'll fix it when I get to the next road. Unfortunately I don't have the right sized hex bit to undo the retaining bolt so I'll have to do the rest of the route with just the front brake, luckily there's only one steep descent remaining to deal with.

Another stony track leads across to the the A59 (again) but no need to cross it as I drop down to the Leeds Liverpool canal and pass under it. The canal is followed, muddily, as far as the Pennine Bridleway in Barnoldswick then it's the next big climb up Weets. Six hours ticks by as I start the climb, my unofficial schedule had me at the top by now. The climb is steepest at the start but then just seems to drag on and on. The last section to the next road is the last of the boggy bits, my rear wheel grinding at the brake pads that aren't there.

From here to the end is nearly all road but I'm debating whether to modify the route slightly and just follow the main road for a bit rather than a long climb on a minor road. In the end I decide to stick to the planned route. After Foulridge there's a ford to negotiate, well I say ford, it's more like the road follows a river bed for 200 metres, it's possibly the longest ford in Britain!

The ford ends around two corners just before the trees!

A long road uphill then a long road back downhill lead to some lanes near home that I don't remember ever riding. I pop out on the A6068, it's quiet at this time of day so straight across and onto ...

The last section - I've only ridden some of this in the opposite direction so make one or two minor navigation mistakes but then it's one of the very few bits of the route I'd not ridden before and it becomes a really steep downhill! With only one brake it's a bit sketchy. Fortunately it soon eases off and after a couple of small fords it's a steady climb up the other side.

Moon rising.

Eight hours sees me at Keighley Tarn, it's nearly all downhill from here, just one off-road section to finish things. The light is going and with it the heat and I'm getting properly cold, no heat being generated. I turn off for the final bridleway and it's there's an uphill to reach it that I've forgotten about. The true last descent appears and sunglasses are inappropriate under the trees in the gathering gloom. The road leading down to my finish is really rough as it's made up of sleeper sized lumps of stone.

I debouch onto the main road next to the chippy along with a socially distanced queue. I hit the lap button 8hrs18mins. I ring Cath, turn on lights and head (uphill) back home.

 

So there you have it: The Aire Watershed, 110km with 2400m ascent.  I was on a rigid 29er but given the road-track-field distribution it should be perfectly fine on a CX/gravel style bike, even more so if it was a bit drier. The route is 100% ridable, no hike-a-bike sections, though obviously a little conditions dependent - I walked about 300m in total because of boggy ground. At a guess there’s 50km of road, 50km of track/gravel & 10km of “rough” - if you use Komoot then it might give slightly different figures but the proportions aren’t far off.  There aren't many facilities between Silsden at 2km and East Marton at around 70km:

2km Lots of shops in Silsden.
71km Cafe at East Marton.
76km Cafe at Greenberfield locks
77km Shops off-route in Barnoldswick
86km Shops and pubs in Foulridge
92km Pub at Black Lane Ends
109km Chippy and shop in Eastburn

Water might also be a problem since the section from Hetton round to the bottom of Stockdale Lane is on limestone so not many surface streams.

 

If you want the GPX and route notes see the first post in this thread.

And the East wind doth blow ...

And we shall have snow

And what will poor bikers do then poor things?

Get the fat bikes out!

As our neighbour noted: "When you bought those (fat bikes) did you think you'd get to use them in this country?" Well we have done on occasion but it's been dribs and drabs TBH, this week was different. We'd got almost to the end of February and realised that we needed to get a bivy done to keep in the Bivy a Month challenge so on Tuesday night after we'd had our tea we headed out, me on the fat bike, Cath on her Stooge. We were only going very local so just packed what kit we needed into small rucksacks.

With the strong easterly we really needed somewhere sheltered but my first option, known locally as "murder wood" following the discovery there in the 1970s of the body of a lady of ill repute was rejected by Cath. Fussy! We continued on snow covered roads with my Van Helga tyres making a right racket on the hard surface. We ended up just shy of the summit of the local hill in some old, shallow, quarry workings. Just enough shelter to be usable. I'd used this spot a couple of years ago so knew it was OK. The only problem was that there was a slight slope to the site and with the wind in the direction it was it meant that if we slid around in the night then we'd slide out from under the tarp. Oh Well.

It was almost a full moon so with the lying snow it was very bright and you certainly didn't need a torch to find kit by. Things were enlivened during the night when one of us knocked one of the poles away and we took a few minutes to get a sense of normality back. I was using my bag and quilt combo whilst Cath was using her better rated quilt. I think it's safe to say that we both found that we were at the limit of what was comfortable for the kit. I recorded -7C whilst Cath recorded -8C, suitably nippy. Whatever, come the morning we weren't about to hang around so we were up and packing before our 0630 alarm went off. It was cold enough that we kept our duvets on as getting back home was nearly all downhill.

It was just as well we got the bivy that night as the following day The Beast from the East (as our press liked to call it) or Thursday as it's known to the Finns, arrived. I chickened out of biking into work, it turned out I'd have been the only person in the office anyway as no-one else got in. I had to dial in to a video call but that could be done from anywhere, most of the day was spent keeping the wood stove going. We were still blocked in on Friday so that was another "snow day" and another conference call. I'd noticed a knocking in my headset and couldn't fix it - the top bearing had collapsed so a quick phone call to Stuart Rider to check he'd got the appropriate bearing ("Is it the 41.2mm or the 42mm version?" - typical bike industry and their standards) so head into town to get it fixed.

It comes to something when you have to wear full on winter mountaineering kit to ride a bike but I was wearing a full set of Paramo salopettes and jacket just to keep the wind at bay. No drama except for two incidents: I came across a council grit spreader stuck in a snow drift (didn't take any shots as the guys weren't happy and they had big shovels!) and whilst negotiating said drift I sprained my already sore back. Bummer! Headset sorted there was no problem getting home.

Come Saturday and it was going to be something local again. We worked out a route that used a mixture of mostly roads to gain height and mostly bridleways to lose it that looped in and around the hills. If things started to get out of hands then we could just use the roads to get back home. So back up the mostly cleared road up to Murder Wood (not dropping any hints dear, honest!) then a short bit of bridleway that I'd never been on before. Cath said it was usually boggy but with the cold and snow it was fine, just the odd drift as you rode across a sloping step and the back wheel would give way or coming to a comedic halt as the drift ahead deepened. 

A quick dog-leg on the next road and then it was more bridleway, this time through heather and a mixture of pushing and rideable. Soon the gradient headed down and we could ride for longer sections. The next bit was tracks and fields to get us down to the old Skipton to Colne railway track. There were some good snow banks here that were firm enough to ride down, great fun.

This bit of the track is used by a "Land Rover Experience" setup which in practice means puddles, not nice in winter so we'd wind on and off the old track bed trying to keep our feet dry. The next bit of track is now access road to a farm and easy going. What we came to next was the result of one person clearing the road from one end "as far as possible" and someone at the other end clearing the road "as far as possible". We were just left with "possible", except it wasn't. A couple of hundred metres of steeply drifted snow. Hmm.

Next the big climb of the route. First bit on road (part of my preferred road ride route home) then some cheeky riding through some woods to the top road. Cath managed to clean the first of the steep ramps of the route through the woods for the first time. 

We'd got into the woods and spinning steadily away when I got the feeling that the bike was handling differently. The back tyre was nearly flat. The thing was, in the snow it gave brilliant grip so I thought I'd leave it and see how I got on. Pretty well as it turned out so once at the road I pumped it back up hoping that the (fifteen month old) sealant would do its job.

Another bit of cheeky riding ensued, well it would have been riding if the track wasn't a metre deep in snow! We'd ridden this bit getting to the bivy the other day but now it was twenty minutes of hike-a-bike. Our bivy site looked quite drifted in, a change in  wind direction had scoured some parts of the hill and deposited everything here. You could see our tracks from Wednesday pressed into the now bare ground. No time to hang around at the summit, the wind was biting, down the same descent as Wednesday but on lightly drifted ground not 30cm deep snow.

The white strips are our tracks from three days earlier.

Lower down the snow was again in a completely different configuration to earlier in the week and we got to the next road to find that my tyre was semi-flat again. Another re-inflation and we decided just to head back on the road, the next bridleway looked drifted in.

So, you are just going to park your bike there then?

For a 20km ride it packed a lot in!

A little exploration does you good.

Sometimes it's worth doing a little exploring, while things may be known to others it's nice to be able to find them for yourself rather than having them handed to you on a plate. With Cath off doing the Yorkshire Dales 200 I'd got the time to myself to locate a couple of descents in Swaledale that I knew about and knew of their approximate location but had never been to or ridden.

The first began near the road and I'd remarked to Cath several times that "That gully starts round here", so parking up near where I thought it would be I followed the first path through the heather that I came across and purely by chance got the right line! A piece of singletrack snaked its way along and down an old "hush", a very old (back to Roman times) means of mining, until it opened out in to a set of mine workings. All very rideable so I walked back up to the car.

The second trail is known as the "Pipeline Descent", I've seen it in a couple of videos and had read a blog on how to get to it, though the latter didn't make a whole lot of sense plus it was described from the opposite direction to how I was intending to get there.

Setting off from the Dales Bike Centre, it was the usual ride along the banks of the Swale until it was time to gird the loins and head up on to Harkerside Moor. I must still be suffering from the cold of a couple of weeks ago and felt like I was struggling and my legs just weren't working. Ahead on the upper traversing track was a group of riders, probably watching me heave my way upwards though they'd gone by the time I reached their position. As I got on to the plateau I could see them contouring the edge of the moor - exactly where I needed to be heading! They must be aiming for the same descent. With the morning dew still on the grass it was quite easy to follow them threading my way through heather and patches of open ground.

The group were just beginning their descent when I got to the start. Declining the offer of the last two to go ahead as I was sure I'd be slower than them (I'm always really slow on descents) I watched them on the first part. The ground wasn't steep but there was really just the one line through it - a semi traverse before pointing downhill as the angle eased and a blast through more heather to the start of the next drop. I committed my usual sin of going too slowly and had to dab but there was really only one short section that was hard. The next part of the descent was in a shallow gully so no chance off falling off and rolling down the hillside, you just had to keep rolling downwards. There was a slot in the bed of the gully about twice the width of the bike tyre so it was a matter of ensuring you followed that. Halfway down there's a couple of blocks across the line so you need to keep some speed going. After that it's just more heading downwards to the moorland below.

I caught the group up a little later, they were on an Orange Bikes demo day and Stu the owner of Dales Bike Centre was with them showing them some trails. After a chat (and to get my breath back) I headed up and across the moor to find the other gully descent. A bit of road climbing and I was there.

No stopping and I was straight in to it, nowhere technical, the hardest part was making sure you had your pedals set correctly so you didn't catch any of the rocks to the side. The whole thing was over far too quickly but then in the workings below I got the wrong side of a drainage channel so a quick dismount and a hop over it and I was on my way again. The rest of the ride was a simple blast down old mining tracks and the road back to the Centre.

After some grub I declined to head out on the second demo ride and drove up the dale to Muker. One published ride that I'd not done in Swaledale was the ride over Kisdon, a curious hill that divides the upper dale - the river runs to one side, the road and habitation are on the other "dry" side. The only problem was that I wasn't entirely sure how to get across the river to begin the loop.

In the end I simply road back down the road until I came to the bridge that we'd crossed on the YD300 and grunted and groaned my way up the tarmac climb on the other side. Eventually the tarmac gave way to rough farm track and I was following the Swale in a wonderful semi-abandoned part of the dale.

All too soon the track began to head upwards towards the wonderfully named Crackpot Hall then it was back down to the level of the Swale where a three-way fingerpost sign gave no indication of where to go (I'd no map with me hence the earlier uncertainty on how to cross the river), two fingers simply said "Pennine Way" and the third, pointing back the way I'd come: "Bridleway". I took a punt and headed down to the bridge and pushed up the other side until another sign indicated "BW Keld". All that remained was the climb back over Kisdon to Muker.

This started off OK but after about 100 metres my legs and lungs simply gave up so it was a case of pushing the bike to the top of the steep section and the first gate. The rest of the climb was steady and soon loose stone gave way to grass, the general angle easing all the while. A couple more gates and I'm at the top. There's hardly any time to savour the views as the track drops away  quckly and begins a helter-skelter of a descent down to Muker pausing only for several gates and losing 250 metres of height in about 1.5 kilometres. Not a route I'd like to do in the opposite direction! A gentle roll back to the car and I'm done.

Somewhat curiously despite my feeling that I wasn't up to par, Strava shows that I recorded some of my best times on the rides including some top ten times.

On an ITT no-one can hear you scream!

I try to push on the pedal but it's no use, the pain is too much and the air turns blue with pain and frustration. Again I get off the bike and massage and beat the offending muscle. Back on the bike but this time it's the other leg, off the bike and attend to that. I'm on my own, I think, on the track up Great Pinseat above Swaledale and I've only done 110 of the route's 300 kilometres.

I stagger on, walking and pushing the bike even on the flat, eventually I reach the summit and can freewheel down the other side. Then there's another hill. The reality is that there's more of those ahead, a lot more. Quitting is looking the sensible option. There's an old joke about fighting a gorilla: you don't stop when you are tired, you stop when the gorilla's tired. Except this gorilla cannot tire, its unyielding stones impervious to fleeting rubber.

My companion for the last 50Km has moved ahead and the rider behind isn't catching up (I later learn that he too is suffering from cramps) so I'm still on my own for the crux of the route: the descent in to Gunnerside Gill is steep, technical and hard to find the correct entry point. I get the wrong line and resort to walking down 45 degree boulder strewn heather. The old mine workings mark the end of this and the route down to Gunnerside is dry and fast. There's a pub = food.

The idea of a Yorkshire Dales ITT had started last year when Stuart Rider had attempted the Highland Trail 550. He'd had to withdraw but it gave him an idea of a similar event in the Dales. So when he announced it, I signed up. So did another 60 or so. The original route was 320Km and had another, big, hill but with a bit of tweeking the distance dropped down to just over 300m. Oh, and the small matter of 6700m of climbing. In the event just twenty started on Saturday morning and only ten finished.

Simon Lerpiniere on Stake Moss

The gorilla is winning. I know there's a descent coming but it's nearly midnight and I'm weary and becoming prone to mistakes. The descent is fast but with some lose sections. Time to stop. Fittingly the bivvy is at the highest point of the route at the head of Cam High Road. A wall provides some shelter from the wind. It's never truly dark through the night at this time of year and I drift in and out of sleep. There's the occasional very light shower. One of my wraps suffices for breakfast and I'm on my way.

The rain arrives about an hour later. On a fine day the route over the shoulder of Whernside and across Great Wold has grand vistas, today it's grim. On the climb on to Great Wold I pass another rider with a mood to match both mine and the weather.

Temptation: I come to a T-junction. I have to take the left towards the forestry and then down to Horton-in-Ribblesdale but I know that if I turn right and go through the gate then in less than a kilometre I'll pick up the route again where it joins the Pennine Bridleway and crosses the Ribble. Local knowledge can be a cruel thing. By the time I'm at Horton, I've run out of water. I can't see any outside taps from which to refill. Head down to hide from the rain and carry on.

Stuart's idea was to include as many of the best tracks that the Dales have to offer. I'm beginning to feel like he's included all of them. The route is intestinal in its loops and there will be more such shortcuts on offer later in the day with the route ahead in sight but an hour or two's riding away.

Wet limestone is very slippery and once or twice I nearly come a cropper on the lanes leading off Sulber Nick. I'm out of the clag and things ahead are looking a little brighter. Passing Austwick I've a choice of ford or clapper bridge - I chose to walk the bridge, wet slate is also very slippery. A couple of kilometres ahead is Feizor and a cafe but it doesn't open until 0930. Completely unsure of the time I turn on my phone: 0950. Decision made - I'm having some breakfast!

The rather filling full breakfast at the cafe in Feizor

A couple of riders arrive and I dally longer than is needed but we are social creatures and company feels good. Having seen no-one since the rider leaving Dentdale I spend the rest of the ride shuffling around in a small group that is dispersed over a ten minute or so gap.

My hands are bruised and sore, holding the bars is increasingly difficult, the soles of my feet are burning and I have to continually adjust my position on the pedals. None of this matters, the end is in sight, another minute or so of concentration and there's 10Km of tarmac left to the finish though I convince myself it's only 5Km. One last climb and the descent in to town then it's just the ramp to cross the railway, "Attack! Attack! Just one metre of climb to do!" Quite what the bloke walking beside the road thought of the shouts of a filthy, smelly rider on a bike I've no idea. Turn on to the last road, pot hole avoidance and then finally ride in to the yard nearly 36 hours after leaving. My first ITT event is complete.


Here's my ride on Strava.

Long days in the Saddle

We've used the Settle to Carlisle railway before to get to a distant starting point and then ride home. One time we rode back from Kirkby Stephen via Buttertubs and Fleet Moss, another we rode back from Garsdale Head on the Pennine Bridleway.

With Cath away on a weekend's biking in Swaledale I thought I'd get some distance done on the mountain bike so headed down to Skipton to catch the early train. Except I didn't as there were engineering works on the line so a replacement coach service was in place. There were just two of us on the coach and the other lad got off (after we woke him up) at Settle.

My plan was to start from Horton in Ribblesdale and begin by taking the Pennine Bridleway as far as the tops between Stainforth and Settle then work my way to Malham, Kilnsey, a couple of moors and back to Skipton. About 100Km in total.

I started to head in the wrong direction - North - to pick up the route near the new(ish) bridge over the Ribble. Very fancy it is too. Once over the Ribble and across the main road it was a long steady climb on to Sulber Nick. The first part was pretty cut up by the resident cattle but once out of their enclosure it was fast riding over the grass covered limestone to Long Lane. I normally ride up this so it was quite nice to not have to fight upwards through the steps and loose rock. A turn left at the bottom and I was soon in Austwick.

The next few kilometres were a complete contrast to what I'd just done, instead of open views I was riding ancient valley rights of way enclosed between stone walls. A bit of road work to get to Stainforth then the first big hill of the day. Which meant get off and walk as the bottom couple of hundred metres are silly steep. Once the angle eased it was back in the saddle and full gas again. Unfortunately no sooner have you gained height than you have to lose about half of it before climbing again. At the top of this climb I decided a food break was in order as the next few Km were heading directly in to the wind.

Those next kilometres were hard work! and I was quite glad to turn uphill(!) and start to get some help.At the summit the route didn't head towards Malham but away from it, down Stockdale Lane. In dry conditions and with the wind behind me it was pretty quick. I even managed to clean one section that I'd not done before - getting the right line helps as does being able to see where you are going!

Back on tarmac again it was a left turn and over to Kirkby Malham then Malham and another chance to grab some food. Whilst sat on the bench I thought I'd check out a persistent squeak that my drivetrain was making, I thought it was one of the pedals. It turned out that the bearings in the bottom bracket had gone! Effectively the end of the ride so I thought I might as well have a coffee and cake in the cafe before nursing the bike back home.

There were a couple of bikes outside the cafe and it turned out that they belonged to a couple of club members so plenty of time for a chat. Getting home was a matter of taking the roads and taking it easy - I wasn't going to do any damage to the bike itself but I didn't want the bottom bracket fitting totally disintegrating on me.

Despite cutting the route short, I still managed to have done 75Km so not a bad day out. One internet order later and I'd replaced the bottom bracket, which had lasted about 2000Km, with a Hope one.

Jealous Guy (or Gal)

Last year I bought myself a new mountain bike, hence all the posts about mountain biking! I was looking for a hardtail to use to get in to remote Munros and the like. In the event I spent (considerably) more than I had originally planned and didn't use the bike for my original purpose. The bike handles 95% of the off-road riding I do, the remaining 5% is at trail centres, but I can muddle through or apply rule #5.

Whilst we were sorting out my bike, Cath picked up one of the display frames and couldn't believe how light it was. "I've bought the wrong bike" she thought to herself. Since then she's secretly been hankering after something similar and with a significant birthday in the offing she decided to go for a test ride on one back at the Dales Bike Centre. Originally she was looking at a 27.5 inch wheeled bike as her FS bike uses that wheel size but with her lack of height we reckoned that the original 26 inch version would be best for her so she borrowed the shop owner's wife's bike. This was the 26" version of what I have, or rather it's the original Cotic and I've the 29" version. The effective wheel diameter on the bike was actually greater than on the 27.5 wheeled hire bike, due to different tyres.

Well she really liked it so colours and parts were decided on and an order was placed. Then the waiting began. Two weeks later and the email came through that it would be ready at the weekend so we headed up to Reeth. After a bit of fettling with getting the seat the right height and so on, time for a test ride.

Proud owner of a new bike!

Riding a hardtail is a little different to a full suspension bike, you have to be a bit more active in moving about the bike. You can't just sit there and let the rear shock absorb all the little bumps you have to be up off the saddle anticipating rougher stuff and picking your line. We did a loop on the south side of the valley that we'd done before in various parts. The climb up and round the valley was in to a stiff headwind but once we began heading over to Apedale it was on our backs and we made better speed. One last climb over Greets Hill then bridleway and road (with a strong sidewind this time) back to the Centre.

Heading down Apedale.

All in all she's really pleased with it. One thing that does look slightly odd: the front rotor is the same size as that on my bike but with the smaller wheel size it looks absolutely massive as if it's a full on downhill rig!

A Dales Loop

On Saturday Cath was leading the Skipton CC club ride so I had the day to myself to fill. Having kept myself indoors on the turbo-trainer for virtually all of January to avoid icy roads I was keen to get a longer ride in.

It always helps to have an aim when getting out and for this ride I was looking at both distance and pacing. Pacing isn't that hard to do on a road bike in flattish terrain, if you've a heart rate monitor you just aim to keep your HR within certain bounds. Things get more interesting and harder when there's lots of up and down involved add in riding a mountain rather than a road bike and it simply adds to the interest.

I'd worked out a route that took me through Skipton, Appletreewick and Hebden mainly via roads before striking uphill past the old mines at Yarnbury and dropping down to Kilnsey (cafe stop). The second half crossed Mastiles Lane (with the added incentive of trying to clean the initial climb) to Malham Tarn, down to Malham, up on to Weets Top, down to Hetton then over Barden Moor and back home through Skipton. A total of 96Km.

Riding a mountain bike on the road is an exercise in frustration, even with the forks locked out it isn't particularly efficient with low pressure tyres set up for off-road activities. It wasn't until the climb up from Parcival Hall that the tarmac finally came to an end. For two kilometres. Then it was back on the black stuff to get to Hebden.

I'd ridden down the track between Hebden and Yarnbury but never up it. It's actually a very steady climb with a few small rocky steps and a couple of beck crossings along with several gates to break up the flow. Riding through the old mines was surprisingly hard work - along with a headwind the surface was that slightly soft texture you get following a thaw (the last time Cath and I were up here it was sheet ice and we did a total of 6Km in over an hour). It was like riding on sand.

It was a relief to get on to the tops and scurry along next to the occasional snow bank. Mossdale came soon enough and I only had the top three gates to deal with on the descent to Conistone as the farmers were out feeding their stock so the lower gates were open. Across the valley to the cafe at Kilnsey: 3hrs15mins for the first 48Km.

Half an hour and I'm replenished but I've one of the big climbs of the day to come: Mastiles Lane. Since I was pacing myself for the whole ride rather than rushing at individual sections it didn't turn out too bad - I nearly had to put a foot down right at the top when I spun on some exposed damp limestone but managed to push through. 

Then it was on over to Malham Tarn. One of the problems with drawing out a somewhat convoluted route on a map is that once on the ground you can see shortcuts to points ahead. So it was that I could see Weets Top all of ten minutes to the south when I still had to go west to Malham Tarn, down to Malham and then climb back up. Very tempting!

The climb up to Weets Top from Goredale along Hawthorns Lane is a real drag, quite steep and seemingly never ending. Then, when you do leave the road it's still uphill at a similar angle. The payoff is that in the next 6Km to Hetton there's very little uphill. Which is probably just as well given that there's another hard climb coming up.

I've never managed to clean the climb from Rylstone up on to Barden Moor and so it proved today, just one section just below the top defeating me. The ride over the moor and down to Halton Heights is a blast with one quick change of line to avoid a cyclist coming up the track (only the second I'd seen all day).

The last bit of off-road is one I've never done before: Halton Heights down to Halton East. A good firm track at first there's then a section of rather deep muddy dips to get to the fell gate. From here on down it's very bumpy and muddy.

Once back on tarmac it just remains to get home - with one last hill in the way. Total moving time was just under 7hrs giving an average speed of 14kmh. Not bad since it's the longest ride on the mountain bike that I've done since early September. That time I'd done 8Km extra in the same time so I've a little extra fitness to get back.

Overall not too bad - didn't feel particularly fatigued afterwards and I could have kept going at that pace for some time longer.

Data, Data everywhere nor any time to Think

(with apologies to Tenysson)

Take a close look at many club cyclists and most triathletes these days and they and their bikes will be kitted out with an array of electronic devices that not long ago would have only been available in well equipped sports laboratories. Heart rate monitors, power meters and the like all communicating with a central unit that can display this information to the cyclist in real time as well as broadcasting it further afield. The data is also recorded so that it can be analysed post ride. Most of the head units are also GPS enabled so that the rider can plot their ride on mapping software.

But other than bragging rights (colloquially known as "willy waving") what's all this data used for? Well for many, not a lot. Online systems such as Strava will use the GPS data to map out your rides and show the times over whatever segments you have passed through potentially handing out "cups" or "King of the Mountains" should you be particularly quick but other than displaying the rest of the data not a lot is done with it. Training applications such as TrainingPeaks or Golden Cheetah will provide basic analysis of the personal data but ignore most of the GPS derived data. There is then the problem (and it really is a problem) of how to do the analysis of the data and how to draw the correct conclusions from it, i.e. convert data to information.

With the generally crap weather that the winter months have brought us recently I've been spending a lot of time on the turbo trainer which while hardly interesting is better than doing nothing or sliding around on icy roads. Simply getting on a turbo and spinning away is deadly boring, after twenty minutes you've had enough. Fortunately there are ways round this with varying degrees of cost depending on what kit you already have. Many GPS units let you set up workouts that let you vary the effort you are doing so you can set them up to make/encourage you to do two minutes' hard effort every ten minutes or whatever takes your fancy. It's a bit basic though. There are also video services such as Sufferfest - you set up a computer in front of the turbo and ride along to race footage along with exhortations to go for it.

I settled on Trainerroad (TR) which is sort of halfway between the two: it consists of predefined workouts but has on-screen instructions and tips to help you along. Another advantage was that it is power based rather than heart rate based so no dealing with the lag between changes in effort and your HR going up or down. Although I don't have a power meter TR has power profiles for lots of turbo trainers in their virtual power section - not 100% accurate but so long as the values are consistent then you can work against them and it's a bit cheaper than £600+ for a power meter! The TR training plans also include regular fitness tests as each workout is adjusted to your current fitness level - an estimate of how much power you can sustain for an hour known as Functional Threshold Power (FTP).

After a couple of weeks following one of the training plans based on my estimated FTP all was going well. The workouts were hard but then that's the point but I was completing them OK and either matching expected power or exceeding it. Some of the workouts in the plan are 90mins long - there's no way I could sit on a turbo for that length of time without some stimulus but with things to do and targets to meet . Then on Monday things went a bit wrong and I had to finish the workout without completing the last effort. Although slightly different in number and length of efforts, the workout was no harder than one the previous week but I felt as if I'd been trying to sprint through the efforts rather than a measured output. Time to look at the data.

A quick look at the data in Strava (it shows HR, power, cadence, etc but doesn't do any real analysis) showed my heart rate was constantly climbing from effort to effort. Cardiac drift isn't unusual in exercise but rather than a sawtooth profile where each effort is similar to the previous one, each effort carried on from where the previous one had left off. By the third effort my heart rate was at 95% of my theoretical maximum for nearly the entire ten minute effort! Although the rest intervals had my HR dropping back to reasonable levels it was obvious that I wasn't really recovering.

Moving over to Golden Cheetah and comparing the distribution of my HR with a previous workout showed the problem. Whereas the previous week I'd spent less than 30% of the workout in upper zone 3 or higher, this workout it was over 60% and that while producing less power. My power output was even more telling: at the end of the third effort my power dropped by over 30% with no corresponding drop in heart rate. Plotting heart rate vs power was even more telling. I was starting with a cold or some form of infection.

Rather a lot of time spent in Zone 4

This is from a decent session, virtually no time in zone 4.

Sure enough by Wednesday morning I'd got the tell-tale tickle at the back of my nose/throat. By Wednesday evening it hadn't really developed so I chanced doing the planned workout which I completed OK though my power tailed off for the last effort. By Friday it was back and even short efforts on a ride over to Wycoller on Saturday had my HR soaring so it might be best to lay off the training for a while.

Actually the efforts on Saturday showed that the limited turbo training I've done so far has already made improvements: there was very little muscular stress and the limiting factors were my heart and lungs going in to overdrive! This is somewhat unusual for me: my muscles are normally screaming while heart and lungs are ticking along.

Went out for a quick ride this evening it was a bit icy so times weren't brilliant, especially on the downhills where you had to be careful of suddenly coming across sheet ice. The climbs though felt good, not as fast as my fastest times but those were done in daylight and on dry ground rather than at night with ice and snow.

I wasn't expecting anything outstanding but was pleased with how things went especially with regards muscle efficiency and lack of tiredness in my legs. Will be nice to get out of the other side of this bug.

Close to the Edge

There are times when you step a little too close to the edge for comfort, the wrong decision leading to trouble rather than adventure, maybe even a statistic rather than a learning experience. Sunday's ride was pretty close to that. 

The plan was pretty ambitious for the time of year: start at Cray at the top of Wharfedale, head over to Helwith Bridge via Littondale then back via Cam High Road and Semer Water. About 40 miles in total. With good weather forecast it was just about doable. Sat in the car at the meeting point with the car rocking in the wind and sleet covering the windscreen it began to look less likely. The forecast however was for a decent day and was meant to clear up.

There were only two of us, Simon and myself, all the others having found reasons not to come along and by the time we set off the rain/sleet had stopped and things did look a little brighter but the wind was still strong. Strong enough that I didn't need to brake heading down a 15% road. The first bridleway down in to Buckden was hard work (and this was going downhill), the effort only broken by Simon getting a pinch flat at the top of the main downhill.

A quick bit of road then it was on to the first major climb, Firth Fell. I'd only been over this once before many years ago and that was in the opposite direction. Today it was a mixture of riding and pushing/carrying. The ground was pretty sodden  but at least we were out of the wind. That all changed when we reached the crest and even with shelter from a wall it was hard going to get to the gate on the summit ridge. All I remember from the last time here was pushing up over rock steps so I'd got it in to my head that it would be a walk down. Wrong! Simon set off like a rocket (well compared to me) and was soon a yellow blur in the distance. 

I was wearing glasses which in hindsight was a mistake as I could hardly see but I'd done most of the steps by the time I realised what was going on and only stopped at the point where I thought it was going to get really tricky. As it turned out it was no worse than what we'd already done. Another dismount lower down when I got blown off the bike and then I'd rejoined Simon at the midway gate. A bad line choice let him get past me and it then started getting a bit sketchy as the ground was soaked and the wind and rain were pushing me around. Definitely not enjoyable. The last bit of the descent followed a stony track down to the road at Litton.

What should have been a steady amble along the road to the start of the next section was a battle in to driving wind and rain. At the bridleway junction we stopped and assessed our situation. To carry on would mean at least two hours pushing and riding in to the teeth of the gale and we were both wet and cold already. A check on the time and we'd done a quarter of the route in two hours and it was nearly midday so there was no way we were going to get round. Turning tail we headed down the valley and pulled up at the door of The Falcon in Arncliffe just a couple of minutes before 1200. Sat by the fire in the pub we looked at our options and decided to bin it. Simon rang his wife who kindly came out to pick us up and take us back to the cars.

It's been a long while since I've been out in such horrid conditions, the temperature was just above freezing (and actually rose slightly while we were out) but that was immaterial in the face of such strong winds. The Spine race redirected runners from going over Penyghent due to 75mph gusts so we weren't alone in deciding that discretion was the better option. Clothing wise I wasn't too bad - the only bits of me genuinely cold and wet were my hands - US designed ice climbing gloves. My feet were fine - I'd updated my sock regimen to thin inner, plastic bag then SealSkinz over the top so although damp they were warm. It's surprising just how having a small part of your body being wet and cold can affect your outlook, but then again having numb hands that can't operate anything isn't going to do anyone any good.

So what if we'd carried on? Well the next section would have been much longer riding in to the wind with no chance of any shelter and I think we'd have been turning back before too long anyway. We weren't (well I wasn't) approaching hypothermia but it wouldn't have taken long to make us that way. For a 16Km ride it was very hard work, I've done 100 mile road rides that have been easier. 

Experiences meted out, lessons learned.

Mirky, mucky riding

I managed to use up some of my holiday allowance last week. We were going to have a few days away but Cath had managed to double book a couple of events so we ended up just having one night away. I'd never visited Chatsworth House so we planned on a couple of rides in the area along with a look round the house and gardens.

I'd got a new rear tyre the previous weekend and was running it tubeless. At the top of the first hill I got the feeling that the tyre was a bit soft and as soon as we went off road I felt a thud. Out with the pump to put some air in. Unfortunately unscrewing the pump from the valve also unscrewed the valve insert, resulting in a completely flat tyre! With no way to inflate the tyre Cath nipped back to get the car and we headed for Chatsworth House.

The following day was again overcast and we did a loop starting from Calver and in to an area of the Peak I'd never visited before, partly because there's no crags in it. Unfortunately quite a bit of the ride had been "sanitised" so what had been an interesting descent was now little more than a blast on old road planings. There was one good bit along a rooty-rocky track to a ford but after that there wasn't much until the traverse above Baslow Edge which while not technical at least wasn't road.

Saturday was another grey overcast day and Cath was leading the club ride so I decided to have a blast along the Pennine Bridleway down to Widdop and back. The lane down from the house is really muddy at the moment and I managed to fall off within 50 metres - oops! Everything went much better after that but it was pretty muddy getting to Wycoller. I thought I might have problems getting up the fields out of Wycoller but I managed to get a decent line with some traction. The next couple of kilometres are the most technical of this part of the way and there's quite a bit of avoiding rocks, slots and holes. Before too long the surface improves and then it's a blast down in to Thursden (I saw the only other biker all day on this part).

The climb on the road over to Widdop felt hard with the slight headwind and also slightly worrying in the fog with drivers not switching their lights on so you didn't see them until they were a few metres away, it was a relief to turn off and cross the dam and start the climb up Gorple Gate. This was as hard as ever though the top part isn't as loose as it used to be. The traverse round to the gate is wet and gritty then it's the blast down the track to rejoin the PBW. Up, big down, big up and a big down get me back to Thursden and then it's back home the same way out with a cafe stop at Wycoller. I was so muddy when I got home that I needed to rinse my clothes twice before putting them in the washing machine.

Sunday was actually a nice day, Cath suggested a route out of the VP Dales MTB guide. I'd done most of the tracks before but nearly all of them in the opposite direction. The one track I hadn't done was the descent down in to Littondale. Most tracks in the Dales are rocky so are pretty much all-weather and all year round so apart from the odd big puddle there's no real problem in most of the first part of the ride. The descent in to Littondale is damp though and being both steep and either grass or limestone means that we need to take care not to let the front wheel wash out.

A bit of a bite to eat at the bottom and then it's road work to get to Arncliffe Cote and the big climb of the day. The bottom of this is again wet grass over limestone and it's basically a push as it's too steep to gain traction in these conditions. Further up we can ride more and more but it's heavy going. We get passed by a group of lads who've ridden over from Hetton and who are the first mountain bikers we've seen all day. Once on top there's a chill wind and there's no hanging around but it's a blast anyway down to Street Gate.

All that's left is the climb up to the Settle Loop and then follow this back towards Langcliffe. It's not all downhill though and there's a few short climbs before the final drop down to the road where I happen to bump in to someone I worked with at my last workplace so after a quick chat it's the final climb up the road before dropping back down to Stainforth on the Pennine Bridleway.

A total of 90Km mostly off-road for the weekend which does feel like hard work.

Bonfire Night

After a couple of failed attempts to get out for a night ride this week we finally managed to get our act together to head out on Wednesday night which just so happened to be Bonfire Night. In recent years it seems that bad weather has plagued this traditional celebration of home-grown terrorism but with clear skies and a near-full moon it looked like it was going to be worth getting out.

Our earlier ineptitude reasserted itself as we were parking the car at Threshfield - Cath wondered if she'd put her cycling shoes in the car. Of course she hadn't so since she was using flat pedals I suggested that she use the Crocs she was wearing (other hippy plastic shoes are available). It seemed to work so off we set, twitching occasionally when a particularly loud firework detonated nearby.

With the clear skies it was pretty cold and it was with some reluctance that we rode past a large bonfire at the bottom of the lane leading on to Boss Moor. My hands still hadn't warmed up by the time I reached the top though a minute or two's rest allowed the warmth to return. The bridleway over the moor was resurfaced a few years ago and old railway sleepers put in to span drainage ditches and frost was already beginning to form on these - the cold air can attack from all sides so they cool quicker.

At Bordley Lane we had a choice: down towards Kilnsey and up Mastiles Lane (the opposite way to how we'd ridden last time up here) or head up the lane, on to Mastiles Lane and round to Lee Gate Farm before heading back to Bordley then southwards towards Hetton before getting back on to Boss Moor. Cath didn't fancy the climb up Mastiles so up the road it was.

The moon was so bright that we kept thinking that there was a car behind us, understandable on a road but we kept thinking it when off-road as well! At the drop down to the end of the road we cut right and climbed steadily to Mastiles Gate then left and along the open lane until we could cut left through the fields to Lee Gate. Things were a lot muddier than the last time we were up here and it was with relief that we got on to the hard surface of the bridleway back to Bordley farm.

Going past Bordley was a little tricky as there's no option but to go through the farmyard and wake the dogs up but we did the best we could. Getting across the beck below the farm meant that we both had wet feet to some extent - not good in the temperature at the time. The track down past Lainger House is fast, well once the sheep get out of the way, and there's just a short steep pull on tarmac until the next bridleway cuts left over Boss Moor.

Soon we are at the top of the initial track and the tricky part is making sure to hit the wooden water bars square on as they are now pretty frosty. I'm thinking I'm struggling to see and it's a while before I realise that the light on the handlebar has come loose and is pointing nearly straight down - oops!

The bonfire is nearly out as we pass it again but it's still pumping out plenty of heat and we grab a minute of warmth before coasting down to the car. The bikes are filthy and I grab a rag out of the car to wipe the worst of it off but it's all frozen to the frame! Cleaning will have to wait. It's now ten o'clock, time to get something to eat.

Night Rides

The evenings are definitely drawing in now that we are past the autumn equinox which leads to a quandary: hit the turbo or sort out the lights and head outside.

Actually it's not so much a quandary as when to actually start night rides, there's still some light at around 1830 - 1900 so unless you wait for an hour or so you end up with half the ride in daylight and half in the dark. Riding in the dusk is either quite risky if you are on the roads (drivers are even less aware of what's going on) or hard work off road since you don't get the benefits from your bike lights and the natural light isn't quite enough.

Last week I nipped out for a quick blast round the local bridleways to check that the lights worked after a summer's holiday. This Thursday Cath was going to go for a road ride but the weather looked a bit iffy with a strong breeze and showers blasting through so I persuaded her to go mountain biking instead.

The loop over to Earby that I'd discovered a few weeks ago was going to be ideal and hopefully the recent rains hadn't turned things to gloop. The initial road section was done in the twilight so by the time we turned on to the bridleway it was just about dark. The first field had cows in but they weren't interested in these strange creatures moving among them. The bridleway was firm and straightforward and soon we were on the lane leading down to Earby.

The climb was steady, one thing about biking in the dark is that you only see a small part of what's ahead because of the limit of the lights but this means that you just take everything as it comes, there's no looking up and seeing another 400 metres of climbing to dishearten you. Once off the lane and on to the moor it was going to be a case of seeing how boggy things were: generally not too bad but keeping off bare earth was the key to keeping forward momentum.

A bit more road leading back to the top road. "Road back home?" asked Cath, "Straight on, it should be firm". Again the lack of a view ahead meant that you just got on with the climb. At the summit I made Cath look round and take in the view, it was one I'd see a lot a few years ago as this was my turning point when I did night runs after we got the Hope headlights.

We took the descent steadily, dismounting for the sleepers crossing ditches - no point in taking a flyer. Rather bizarrely we passed a couple of tents pitched for the night, presumably they were bemused by a pair of bikes trundling past. Down at the road we decided to skip the last off-road section as it does get very boggy and headed home on the road.

One point we realised is that just having a light on the handlebars isn't quite enough - it lights where the bike is pointing but often you need to look in a different direction so having a light on your helmet adds an extra dimension. A bit of internet searching and a light was ordered (all of £20 including mount and posting) and arrived this morning so we'll see how it works on the next ride.

MTB Endurance - sort of

Most mountain bike rides are pretty short, last week's ride in the Lakes for example was just 37Km for example, they feel a bit more intense as the terrain isn't conducive to rolling along but that of course is part of the attraction. With Cath away riding on the Seven Stanes I'd free rein in getting out for a longer ride.

The Pennine Bridleway passes quite close to us so I worked out a route that picked that up and headed north in to the Dales then back via other trails. Most of the outbound route would be new to me but the way back was on known trails, we'd actually done most of them when riding the route back from Garsdale Head earlier in the year.

The morning was foggy, really foggy and some of the early road sections up above the house were quite worrying but once I was on the trail leading down to Earby the visibility improved and the stress level reduced. A bit of main road along to Sough and the start of the PBW part of the ride.

Climbing almost immediately on steep grass felt hard work, I still hadn't warmed up, but once that was over the trail followed hard packed ginnels and lanes to gain the edge of Barnoldswick. The climb up from the main road was a bit of a shocker - I'd expected a steady ascent but it began with cobbles at 20%. Fortunately the angle soon eased and I climbed steadily to cross round to the road leading to the top of Weets. All this was new to me, but the route was easy to follow for the moment, the tarmac gave way to an old track dropping down towards Gisburn. This was quite wet and muddy and I was filthy by the time I gained the roads in the valley bottom.

The next section hadn't made much sense when I had looked at it on the map as it looped in and around Gisburn Park (which is a rather grand looking stately pile) but by dint of following the most obvious way I didn't get lost even though I didn't really have much clue where I was! From here to Paythorne was a bit frustrating as there were quite a few gates to negotiate. The gates continued all the way until just short of Long Preston. This was probably the hardest section as even though it was flat(ish), riding over pastureland is much harder work than you might realise, it was relief to get on to the climb out of Long Preston.

The bridleway over to Settle was really quite nice, you are on the very edge of the Craven Gap so have a great view over to the Forest of Bowland and the Southern Pennines, or you would if the weather was clear. A blast down in to Settle and time for some food. I'd been on the go for just over three hours.

The climb out of Settle is hard work on a recently filled stomach but soon I was descending back down to Stainforth and a section on tarmac up to Helwith Bridge. This was my turning point and from here on I was on tracks I'd ridden before and knew that they were fast going.

First though was the little matter of a big climb back up on to the tops. This was a long loose track fortunately with a few easy bits to get your breath back. There were a couple of bikers coming down (only saw six MTB riders all day and not many more roadies) so a quick hello and it was onwards and upwards. The next bit was on road and possibly had the steepest climb of the day out of Tongue Gill then it was on to Malham Tarn and an ice cream.

From here on the end was in sight (for most of the time) or would have been if it hadn't been so mirky. On to Mastiles Lane then cut through to the short steep climb up to Weets Top. The last time I was here it was blowing a hoolie and you had to pedal to keep moving downhill. No such problems today and the descent towards Calton was a blast.

By the time I got to Gargrave I was in need of more refreshment so a quick trip to the Co-op was in order. The next few miles were easy in that I followed the Leeds-Liverpool canal for a while before roads and old railway line lead back to Earby. All that was left was the climb back over Pinhaw. I stopped the GPS with 104Km of riding done in 6hr45. I don't think I'd have liked to have done much more with my current level of fitness but it was good to find out what a long distance ride feels like. 

I think a hardtail is best for longer rides like this - lighter and less faff, but against that is the constant minor bumping of the saddle against your backside, non-technical tracks seem to be worst for this. This for me is the only real downside of hardtails vs full-sussers: you tend to be out of the saddle for the bigger bumps so don't notice them as much.

No photos as it was such a mirky day.

I just went for a steady spin over to Clitheroe and back on the Sunday to get some of the tiredness out of my legs.

Local Investigation

We've lived in our current house for nearly thirteen years yet there are still things just a couple of kilometres away that we've never investigated.

I'd been looking on a map at the route of a recently opened section of the Pennine Bridleway which goes quite close to us when I saw a couple of bridleways that I hadn't noticed before. It looked like they'd make a short loop, both started from the same point on one road but I've been past that point many times both in a car and on a bike and never realised there were bridleways there. So, last night, having biked back from work and with lovely skies I reckoned we should have an investigation.

There was a bit of road to get there from the house but soon we were turning down what to all intents and purposes looked like a track to a farm, no signs or any indication that there was a right of way. We decided to do the loop clockwise so headed left through a field. The track was a typical farm track of two ruts so you had to choose one or the other. Both had lots of nettles and thistles!

Eventually we got to a gate and the fun began. A really fast, well surfaced track and singletrack followed the wall downhill. It did however feel quite rough but I put that down to the speed we were going. Another gate and now the track is walled on both sides and it soon joins a larger track. Turn right and down to another gate. At this point I notice that my front fork is locked out - I'd forgotten to reset it after the road section so no wonder the track had felt rough!

Rough then smooth tarmac led down in to the neighbouring village and it was then a matter of finding the track back uphill. It turned out to be a long steady climb, it wouldn't make a good descent so we'd chosen the right direction. The bridleway leading back to our starting point didn't look that good (will have to investigate later) so we carried on the one we were currently on. This led to a house, just before this there was a gate leading on to the moor and a continuation track.

With all the dry weather this track was really pleasant and soon we had rejoined the road at the top of the hill. We could hear other cyclists and as we crested a brow we could see them heading off on what is technically a footpath, though I have seen tyre tracks on there before. We decided to follow as it would avoid a long road detour.

The group had stopped at the summit, they were effectively doing the same loop as we were but had started from the neighbouring village. Cath happened to know one of them. After a few minutes chat and spotting deer (as you do) it was time for the descent. I've run up this way and it can be boggy but now it was dry and firm and we could zoom along. All too soon we were back at the road. Ahead was a footpath that has been upgraded to bridleway so along that and up one final hill then it was back down the road to home.

So quite a good little loop to find on our doorstep. I think it will stand up to wet weather use, maybe not the boggy section on the way back up, and it is not overly technical so will do for night rides in winter. Result!

Le Tour de France

Well it's finally come and gone. Wow!

I'd never spectated at a Grand Tour before so didn't really know what to expect. The forecasted number of spectators was 2 million over the two opening days (the initial estimate of actual figures as I write this was 2.5 million).

Certainly for the first day's route this was going to be mostly in rural areas so the potential disruption to the normally sleepy Yorkshire Dales was going to be immense. The route itself would be shut to motor traffic from 6am on the day of the race with cyclists being stopped half an hour prior to the publicity caravan coming through a couple of hours prior to the riders. However there were also restrictions on many of the roads leading to the route. If you weren't on a bike then basically the Dales were shut.

For the Saturday, we figured that we'd try to ride as far up Wharfedale as we could, hopefully we'd get close to the summit of Kidstones (or Cote de Cray as the official site has it) which was the first categorised climb of the Tour. Originally the first day was categorised as "flat" which for those of us who ride regularly in the area was a joke. Fortunately the organisers saw sense and categorised three climbs.

Some ten thousand mad Kilnsey their temporary home.

It was a truly weird experience riding up the road from Skipton towards Grassington. Lots of small groups of spectators were already (9am) sat at the side of the road but the truly weird part was the number of cyclists all heading up the Dale like moths being drawn to a flame. At a truly random guess there were about 50 riders a minute going past any particular point. It took until we were nearly at Kettlewell before I realised just how quiet it was. We've become so accustomed to the noise of traffic that it feels truly odd for there not to be any in situations where you'd normally expect it.

Some of the early crowds on Kidstones.

We managed to get up to Kidstones and decided not to head round the last bend but found a place on the bank above the road as it crossed the slope. We could see down the road as far as the pub at Cray so would get a bit of advance warning of what was coming.

The publicity caravan on its way past.

Even after we'd arrived there was a steady stream of cyclists arriving for the next hour to ninety minutes. Every child on a bike coming up the hill received a massive roar, the atmosphere was one of genial expectation. A few Mexican waves and the publicity caravan could be seen coming up the road. This is something that you rarely see on TV coverage but is best described as an bizarre mix of super sized versions of whatever the particular franchise is selling, so you'll get a ten metre bottle of fruit juice or a massive bag of oven chips. Each vehicle has someone throwing out some relevant trinket. I picked up a key fob but there were also cycling caps, inflatable cushions, herb seeds(?) - NO! not that kind of herb!

The king of the mountains needs to go on a diet!

The breakaway going past.

Just a quiet bike ride in the countryside.

The first sign that the cyclists were on their way was a group of five helicopters coming up the Dale. About ten minutes later the breakaway came through to huge roars. Finally the TV helicopter that accompanies the peloton throughout the race could be seen some way below us. In just a couple of minutes the lead car and TV motorbike were attempting to push their way through the crowds and the peloton followed looking remarkably unruffled, none of them were even out of the saddle!

The peloton making the first climb of the tour look very easy.

And that was it. As the hubbub died down the crowd got on their bikes and attempted to ride back down the hill. Eventually we got moving, heading for one of the big screens that were laid on for people to watch the rest of the race.

And so to Sunday. Cath was a Tour Maker so I headed over to Stanbury with the Wiggans clan. After a bit of fuss getting past a rather over-eager policewoman who had decided to shut the road 2 hours early we got ourselves a roadside spot about halfway up the hill - going much further looked as if it was just going to be a big crush.

Look! This is important, you'll just have to wait.

Much of the waiting time was spent chatting to the Police officers "on duty" - "We're only here in case there's a riot" - definitely an easy shift. Lots of the Police motorcyclists were high-fiving the crowd to cheers as they went past. Perhaps one of the only times that a crowd is likely to cheer them.

You mean I've got to ride through that lot?

Once again lots of noise and pzazz as the publicity caravan went through. We could see about a kilometre of the route leading to our position so we'd get plenty of warning of the riders approaching even if we missed the helicopters. This time the lead group of five could be seen circling over Haworth before swooping overhead.

The breakaway passing through some field art.

It wasn't long before the lead riders could be seen across the way, a quick swoop across the dam and then they were steadily climbing past us. Again they looked remarkably nonchalant  on a slope I'd been straining to get up.

The breakaway coming up 

 It wasn't long before the peloton arrived, a lot slower than Saturday so you could make out individuals: Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas of Team Sky passed right by us.

Again, that was it. Once the team cars had passed by there was just the broom wagon and a few Police outriders and the road was clear.

Riding back through Haworth, Crossroads and down to Keighley was bizarre: what would normally be a fraught dance with impatient motorists was now a closed road bike fest. By chance I caught up with Cath as we were riding through the village. Finally home we watched the rest of the stage as it headed to Sheffield.

So was it worth it? Too right! To have one of the biggest sporting event pass within a couple of miles of your house doesn't happen every day. The Tour is an event as much as a bike race and even as a Lancastrian I have to say that Yorkshire got it right. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.