The Six Dales Aftermath

[kaya]

There are rides which follow arrows, there are rides which follow instructions from a book.......

Then there are rides which you join the dots on a map and see what happens........ (old skool)

The famous five meet up in the car park on a perfect Autumn morning, after a quick coffee with Dr S's special additive were ready for the off.
With a few miles of easy tarmac on quite back roads we start to pick up speed, at a slippery left-hander Mrlee shows us his speedway skill and escapes without injury.

looking forward to the first B/W its slippy wet and rooty but we all make it down safely, at the bottom its mud, mud glorious mud and its deep and lots of fun.

Climbing back onto tarmac we head toward Rlevaux Abbey.

Pictures taken its up hill on easy farm tracks to the Hemlsley TT ( the B1257 ) the road is a fantastic road for rider/driver, but not good for cyclists .

The TT out of the way and we're on the edge of forest with a view point, a quick top up of Dr S special additive we're off through the forest.

Then the first and only mechanical of the day a puncher, quickly fixed we're off to the edge of the moors with picture perfect views as far as the eye can see.

Next is a short muddy B/W descent where slmracing checks out the mud up close and personal by trying to descend with his helmet over his eyes.

This is were things start to get interesting, we have a few problems finding the trail and end up in a moss bog.

So shouldering bikes we set off yomping through the bog, down to the beck. Up the steep bank side to the B/W and then off through the woods on the singletrack trails.

We stop at a deserted woodman shed and explore.... finding treasures beyond our beleife.... in reality we spent too much time here and under an old trailer, also the moss bog before, we realized the pub kitchen would be closed.

So after a short singletrack descent we hit the tarmac, a short and twisty descent and then a long tarmac climb lay between us and food. The inn at Hawnby is a pleasant way to spend a few hours watching the world go by.

but today we don't have that luxury so a swift pint and a packet of crisps then a bit to much chatting made it certain we would be riding the last stretch in fast fading light.

We head towards thoradale and take a steep B/W then things start to get a bit cereal, there seems to be a lot of pheasant and sheep staring at us.

We carry on up the small valley to be confronted by about a dozen dead sheep in various stats of decomposer.

We push and carry a our bikes to the top of the moor and in falling lite we head for the drovers road along the grassy trial.

Stopping at the drovers road two ladies ride past looking totally out of place on there town bikes, then its off again on well surfaced flat trails all the way back to the car park.

Daylight is dwindling and we now need the service's of Dr S's 100,000,000 lumen (sun in a can) light, catching the two ladies we escort them on there way home.

Then we spin the pedals for the last mile or so to the car park, at the car park with a slab of " lemon not so pretty cake" in hand we chat about the days events as we pack our bikes, say our goodbye's then head for home.........


Thanks to the famous five for making this a proper "old skool" day out.

 

[PrimalAdventure]

Well that was an interesting day out, the weather was spot on, plenty of sliding about in the mud and Mr Lee power sliding on tarmac, it was a perfect crash with no injury's I had a scary moment when my crash helmet covered my eyes hurtling down hill which resulted in me hitting the deck right in front of Vern taking photos getting lost caused us to miss out some of the ride but it made it more of an adventure, like the old shed we found and the valley of dead sheep, then riding back in the dark with no lights. Another epic adventure by the famous 5. One thing to bring on every ride like this is some lights and wear decent socks my feet were like blocks of ice :shock:

 

[marc two tone]

6 dales aftermath

A chilly but dry and sunny day for this ride from sutton bank to around six dales and other off-beat stuff, all good exercise and recon

nice to see you all. and, thanks to si and vern for sorting it all out.
mrlee's stuntman slide was awesome, in full control all the time. im sure he's a stunt double or something

looking out the window now, im sure we were blessed for yesterdays ride.

Most of the pine-needle slaloms were good fun. November is usually soft and sticky under tyre but we good round just fine. stacks of wildlife too some alive, some long since dead and in skeletal form! plenty of oportunity to clear the tyres of mud on the odd bridal path and tarmac sections.

mr lee's Dawes in rather good condition with cosmic trail top pad.

plenty of mud around, mostly here.....

you just can't beat a classic.

middleburn cranks are good, real good.

BUT if you want quality steel with a poly-vinyl coating for...erm...extra quality, you have to be prepared to spend a bit more.

rivaulx abbey. lovely. draft proof salesmen can give this address a miss.

slmracing in action

contemplation.

flouro marins are easy to find in low light.

the sun now well down we headed back, sharpish, to sutton bank and the refuge of vehicular transport.

thanks, see you all soon.

 

[saltyman]

looking forward to more pics, im craving another ride out, bloody work :cry:

 

[kaya]

More pics added

 

[paininthe]

Super pictures again all, damn this work thing.

 

[Dr S]

Some cracking photos again chaps. It might be a few days until I can load mine up. Double disaster in that department. My SLR has died, probably ont hat rough field edge before the woodsman's refuge. To add to that, I dropped my iPhone in the road when I got home and only found it an hour later when I wanted to order a very well earned curry- thouroughly squashed by every passing car!

What a ride eh? First half was without problem (mud aside) but things went Pete Tong on Roppa Moor. My guess is after so much climbing one yearns for something pointing downwards. I only saw one trail- not a track for human consumption unfortunately, but one made by sheep with a penchant for bog trotting. Loosing that 90 minutes getting back on track cost us the best singletrack of the route- firstly around Easterside Hill and lastly along the escarpment toward Sutton Bank above the aptly named Paradise Farm.
We need to do it again but in the hieght of summer ( although sweating up the hill into Hawnby in bright early evening sun with bare arms and midges gave one the impression it was nearer mid summer than the winter equinox!)
Then there was the climb up the new, improved 'Valley of Death- now with extra added dead sheep'. YUK!!!! not only was it steep and stoney but to have rotting sheep staring up out of the grass ( I counted eleven casualties in under half a mile),..... Well, imagine stepping into one of those bad boys? Would seal skins keep out to gunge? Roast lamb is deffo off the menu for a few months.
The last Tarmac spin was a killer. Tired legs and the knowledge that the best section of the route and killer sunset views were just a few hundred yards over our right shoulders, combined to provide a less than satisfactory end to the day. Only quality cake and a warm van could rescue spirits from such lows.
Actually quite glad we had to shepard those old dears back towards Byland. I liked the pace they rode at- just fast enough to retain balance, but not fast enough to feel the last 19 miles worth of lactic acid and a swift pints worth of 'bikers leg ache' syndrome. I wish I'd got their numbers, they could be my new riding buddies- steady away and plenty of tea and cake in Osmotherly sounds like my kinda thing.

So no pics yet, but I will sort it. Thanks to y'all for enduring another tough one with grace and dignity. Hope you enjoyed another oldskool adventure and will join me for a re-run next summer. I promise that the fine singletrack we missed is worth another visit.

Finally, words of wisdom from Uncle Vern...

'I've never considered myself a mountain biker, but rather an Adventure Cyclist'
Wisdom comes with age. Happy 50th my friend.

Si

 

[mrlee]

had a great day out saturday realy enjoyed all the different trails and vistas, my bike bit me in the a*se in the first mile turning left onto a quiet country lane my front wheel started to wash away :shock: with a quick weight and rear brake adjustment we went into a full on rally drift sideways, with full opposite lock and a long slide it ended up completly letting go with a swift 180 degree spin thus chucking ont floor, ah well just my pride again :roll:
I loved the valley of dead sheep that could be turned into one hell of a downhill, I will defo be back to these parts of the north yorkie moors,
cheers for another great day and see you all soon,
Lee.
p.s happy 50th birthday vern

 

[giant-one]

Wished I could have made it but seen as the Mrs is about to drop any day now, it was a good idea to give it a miss
Looked like you all had a grand day out.

Ps. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vern

 

[drystonepaul]

All looks fairly epic and old school chaps.
It'd be good to see a route map as I'm sure I've been to some of the places you've described in the past.

Next time I suggest you stay out of my cabin though.

Logchopper