Following on from Friday evening’s Steak dinner and hilarious entertainment we awoke on Saturday to find there had been a slight overnight frost. Fortunately the weather forecast was for steady improvement with sun peeking out from the clouds like a nosey neighbour twitching the curtains. Our destination for the day was the Tan Hill Inn. If anyone was in any doubt about how much climbing would be involved, the fact that Tan Hill Inn boasts to be the highest pub in England should have been a clue. 🎶The only way is up 🎶

Two routes had been chosen, a short 40 miler or a longer 60 miler depending on weather conditions but both using the same roads to our lunch stop. Just as we set off, James realised he had a problem with his electric gear shifters. As Chris stayed to assist, Pugwash chased after the peloton to advise them of the “mechanical” unfortunately the lead riders were well on the way downhill at full tilt. When the message did get through, we waited at Askrigg to regroup unfortunately without James who had to take his bike to a repair shop.

Once on our way again we continued to Carperby and Redmire over rolling terrain. Mark was having trouble with “clipping in” so we stopped beside a magnificent oak tree in Redmire to see what was wrong. Neil and Mark eventually came up with a makeshift solution by sticky-taping his shoe onto the cleat.

Meanwhile some of the group set off “to get a start up the hill”. Did they know something that I didn’t? I soon realised what they meant when we turned onto the foot of Sissy Bank where the gradient went skywards touching 17% at one point. After regrouping at the junction of Whipperdale Bank, Neil piped up with “We were not supposed to come up that climb. We should have come from that road” he said waving his arm in the direction of Leyburn. “We were only following the route on the Garmin” we assured him.

By this time, we were out on the exposed moorland and could feel the full force of the North westerly wind in our faces as we headed to Robin Cross Hill. The initial section went through an army shooting range. We were glad to see the ‘🎯targets🎯’ were facing away from the road as we heard the occasional gun shot ring out. The terrain was undulating generally upwards with nothing too steep but made much tougher by the head wind.

The next sector took us back down towards Grinton then into Reeth where we stopped at The Buck for coffee and a few biscuits. While enjoying the sunshine, our peace and quiet was disturbed by procession of around 30-40 motor bikes passing by making an infernal racket as they went.

Suitably fortified we set off for next climb to Tan Hill, an 11 mile (17.5km) slog into the wind with an ascent of 1086ft (331m). It may have felt like an unrelenting climb but there were a number of downhill bits along the way to recover on. Having said that, the sight of the pub over the brow of the final hill was a welcome sight indeed. Which is more than can be said for the welcome we received from “mine host”. When asked if they “do sandwiches” replied “You can have what’s on the menu”.

Full meal it is then. “I’ll have the scampi and chips please” said some while others went for “Fish finger sandwich with chips”. Chris tried to pull a flanker and ordered Chicken Nuggets from the kids menu plus cheesy chips. “Sorry you can’t order from the kids menu, oh and very sorry there’s no scampi either”. This is going well. Despite all that, the food was delicious and service prompt.

“Right folks, what’s it to be?” asked Neil “40 mile route or 60 mile route?” With the thought of Buttertubs on the short route, we all opted for the longer 60 miles “We should have the wind behind us from Kirby Stephen” we said encouragingly. Still Neil tried to take us to Buttertubs as he took the first turn towards Keld. Many shouts of “wrong way” brought us back on track heading off downhill to Oxenthwaite.

Turning south through Kirby Stephen we then followed the river Ure valley through the small villages of Castletwaite, Aisgill and Hardraw before returning to Hill Top Farm where we were greeted by coffee and an array lovely cakes to celebrate Chris’s upcoming birthday.

It was a tough ride but I think we all enjoyed the challenge. Although someone did suggest we should look for flatter terrain next year!

Ride to Bolton Castle

Driving into the dales the scenery was stunning and there was an abundance of welcome signs, 10%, 12%, 15%…..25% you’re welcome! For those riding today, the plan was to arrive around 1230-1300 have a two hour ride and back in time for the food delivery between 4-5pm. It was a good plan but…..

Setting off from Hill Top Farm there was a lot of gear crunching and out of the saddle groaning as we immediately hit a steeper than expected narrow lane leading up to the main road. The road to Askrigg was generally downhill with a short 7% ramp through the village. We then turned south to cross the river Ure at Worton before tackling the climb up to Cubeck where we were faced with a 600m climb at average 9%.

Fortunately we then had a chance to recover as the terrain went mostly downhill once more as we passed through Thornton Rust before hitting a scary 25% winding downhill to the bridge at Aysgarth Falls.

There’s only one way to go after reaching river level so upwards we went again, all the way up to Carperby, a mile featuring ramps up to almost 12%. As we approached the junction turn to Carperby we met Alison heading in the opposite direction. “Is there a 25% climb along that road?” she asked “I’ve just taken a picture of the warning sign”. Faced with the prospect of the tough climb from Aysgarth Falls, she decided to join us and go to Castle Bolton instead.

From Carperby we had a lovely downhill section for about two miles before turning up towards Castle Bolton. Just as well we had that recovery segment as the climb up to the castle was about half a mile with average gradient of 9% hitting 19% around the half way point with another 16% ramp near the end. “Why do they always build castles at the top of a hill?” someone asked pleadingly.

The views from such a lofty position were stunning in the afternoon sunshine as we sat outside enjoying the panorama and our refreshments while “shooting the breeze”. Soon enough we headed back down the castle hill to commence the slog back up to Carperby. Nothing too taxing along the way but heading into the the North westerly wind just to add to the degree of difficulty.

As we zoomed into Askrigg, Neil pulled up next to the Crown Inn. “Anyone fancy a pint?” he asked looking around at the noncommittal faces. “Puggy looks thirsty and needs a drink” he added as way of encouragement. “Oh alright then, just the one” was the consensus as we trooped across the road to find a nice sunny spot in the appropriately named “BS Corner”.

It turned out we were all so “thirsty” after exercising our mouths that another round was called for. “Not for me Neil” said Heather donning her sensible head. However such entreaty fell on deaf ears and a small glass of sherry soon appeared in front of her. Well this lady was “not for drinking” and with stoic resolve left the drink untouched. As we got ready to depart, Neil just couldn’t let a drink go to waste and necked it in a oner. A decision that he’d come to regret on the final mile or so back to our abode at Hill Top Farm.

“Laydees n’ Gen’lemen, take your places for a shimmy to Hornsea Floral Hall. Our opening act is the renowned Raymondo with his unique rendition of a popular Music Hall classic! Take it away Raymond”….. “🎶Oh I do like to be beside the seaside🎶”…. “Join in if you want” he added. No sooner said than Matt waded in with “I’ll be there prom prom prompt”

It was obviously a popular venue as “tickets” were sold out very quickly. The “near capacity” crowd…. (ok thirteen then) gathered at Market Cross ready for some wonderful “entertainment”. “Everyone happy with the repertoire?” asked our host. “Do you know the road to Bewholme is closed” sang Paul. “No, that’s a new one on me” responded Raymondo “How does it go?” “We’ll just play it by ear” suggested everyone.

When the participants took to their seats, the show began as we waltzed our way through town to the sounds of heckling from the back of the ‘audience’. On reaching Tickton we came across AndyG “🎶Leaning on a Lamp Post🎶” eagerly awaiting to join the show, swelling our numbers to fourteen.

“🎶Those Magnificent Men🎶 (and lady)” then went flying off on their machines towards Leven and Brandesburton to the sounds of “🎶Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way🎶”. In no time at all we found ourselves in North Frodingham. Coming to the junction at Beeford “🎶I Stopped, I Looked, I Listened🎶” before spotting the “Safety Curtain” appear across the stage indicating “Road Closed”. “Now what?” thought the audience. Undeterred by such obstacles the show must go on to Skipsea Brough.

Turning south to Bewholme it was time for the final ‘act’ before the interval, the dance on Butterfly Hill. Raymondo “fluffed his lines” and somehow missed the start of the cycle path and strayed slightly over the halt line almost into the face of oncoming traffic, earning himself a huge blast on the horn from an approaching car. As the “curtains” came down on the first half of the show, the audience made a mad dash weaving through the heavy traffic to join the queue at the cafe.

After enjoying the sunshine and refreshments, the “bell sounded” signaling the end of the interval. The ‘audience’ took to their seats once more as we jostled our way along the prom prom prom to the sound of “🎶Ship Ahoy! All the nice girls love a sailor 🎶. For the next act from Hornsea to Mappleton the “compere” decided to split the audience into two sections. “Right you first six will be in the ‘Allegro’ group and the rest will perform the ‘Largo’ segment.” Looking around at the Largo group, he suddenly shot off to join the Allegro group. “Was it something we said?”

The two groups came together again at Mappleton….. briefly. The higher tempo at the front soon split the audience again as we made our way to Great Hatfield. However the “tortoises” eventually caught the “hares” when the latter missed the turn to Long Riston and had to back track to the junction somewhat red faced.

Heading down to the underpass at Long Riston, a shout came from the front “CAR”. “What! But there’s no road here” we thought. Sure enough, tucked away in the corner was a vehicle idling waiting for us to pass. Once on the other side, the performance continued through Arnold with the ‘Allegros’ stretching out the peloton before coming together at the junction of the Meaux Road.

For the next act, the audience once again split into two sections as we headed north to Routh. The ‘Allegros’ giving a rendition of “Knees up Mother Brown” while the ‘Largos’ followed “Down at the Old Bull and Bush”.

“And now for the final act. A journey down cycle lane”. “No!” cried Michael “I want more!”….. more miles that is as he swivelled his seat and headed off in the opposite direction. “🎶Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly?🎶” sang someone. “Yeh, he’s just headed off towards Leven”. Soon enough we arrived back in Tickton where it was time for the finale. “🎶Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay🎶. The audience then filtered out to make their way home feeling very satisfied with the days entertainment and the wonderful repertoire provided by the great Raymondo.

“Twelve? Hang on a minute. I can see 1…10,11,12,13,14…. oh and here comes Colin. That makes fifteen”. Yeh but, no but, it’s still the Glorious 12th, the start of the shooting season and we’re off duck hunting. “OK gang, it’s going to be a warm one today, so keep your ‘powder dry’ no going off ‘half-cocked’. No need to rush, them ducks are going to be a bit lethargic with this heat. Easy pickin’s”

Getting through town with such a large group would prove problematic as splits in the peloton appeared immediately. Some managed to get through the various traffic lights while others were held up. “Never mind, we can regroup at Tickton where Chad and Andy will be waiting to join us.” Trying to get over the Tickton road crossing also proved difficult with constant stream of traffic in both directions until one helpful driver stopped to allow our group to cross to the middle. Unfortunately the traffic in the opposite direction were not so obliging. When some of the group made a dash for it, Iain decided to follow behind only to be greeted by an irate motorist blasting the horn📯. Good morning to you too!

Our now seventeen strong group set off towards Routh. Oh great, now we have to recross that busy road to head to Meaux. Once on the way, the “breakaway” hit the front with ‘guns blazin’ while the peloton and the gruppetto followed. Another traffic altercation occurred when a ‘white van man’ decided to overtake approaching a blind bend only to be faced with another van coming in the opposite direction. In a rush to avoid a collision, the van squeezed our gruppetto into the edge of the road narrowly avoiding forcing them off the road in the process.

Our route then took us through Skirlaugh to Old Ellerby. By now, the sun was beginning to burn off the light sea fret and the ‘mercury’ was rising, so it was a blessed relief as we passed under the wooded canopy of trees bordering the Burton Constable Estate with a cool easterly funnelling through. On reaching the junction, we waited in the shade for the gruppetto to catch up.

“Now then. Hands up those that read yesterday’s message on Slack” said Raymond. A statement that was met with dumbfounded silence and no hands in the air. Whatever can he mean we all thought. “Which bit was that Ray?” ventured one brave soul knowing that we’d all read it but…. “The bit about it being hot and we should go at a sedentary pace” he clarified before emphasising “SEDENTARY pace”. As we all looked at each other blankly (and innocently) “But we were going sedentary” claimed Matt with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

After phoning ahead to the cafe warning them of an influx of cyclists winging their way in their direction, we set off again towards Humbleton. Clearly having taken Raymond’s exhortation to heart, the breakaway peeled off the front and disappeared up the road. Perhaps it was the thought of seventeen cyclists having to queue to give their orders and wanted to be first in line to “Spot the Duck” at Fitling.

Having filled our “bags” and “shot the breeze” it was time to head for home. While Chad turned right heading for Garton and Aldborough, the rest of us turned left retracing our path back to Humbleton. Now the wind was behind us and the “sedentary” pace increased creating a “lead group” and a “chasing group”. On reaching Sproatley, we turned off to take the back road past Burton Constable taking us into Coniston.

Mike took to the front as we flew into Swine but almost missed the turn by heading straight up Main Street until shouts of “RIGHT!” from behind brought him back on track. Shortly after we returned to Kidhill Lane and retraced our outward route back to Beverley. A warm day in the saddle but great choice of destination and thankful for the cooling sea breeze.

Anyone up for a challenge? 147 miles ✅ 7300 feet elevation ✅ Despite these daunting figures, there was no shortage of willing participants for this year’s Wolds Way Ride. Training? What training? Just jump on a bike and get pedaling. I’m sure we’ll manage! After our last effort in 2019 I’m sure I told myself never again but as in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again.

Twelve Knights turned out at Market Cross at the earlier start time of 8am. It was still a little on the cool side but with the sun shining it promised to be a wonderful day for cycling. When we’d departed, our support team of Neil, Dave 💦🏡 and Alison headed off to meet us at the A1079. Our “opening sequence” took us over the Westwood to Walkington picking up the back road to High Hunsley. After plummeting down Trundlegate and through Newbald our first “warm up” climb loomed on the horizon as we headed up Stoneknowle hill to the junction of the A1079.

Setting off in two groups we made the short hop along the A1079 to Kiplingcotes Lane with our “support” car following behind à la Tour De France. While we headed downhill, the support car carried on to Thixendale to get ready for our first feed stop. Once on Spring Road, we turned into the light breeze as we cycled gently into Market Weighton and onwards to Londesborough up the “lovely” Intake Hill.

There was then a chance to recover as we followed the relatively flatter section down to Burnby and through Pocklington before ramping up again past Kilnwick Percy to Millington. It seemed a bit strange cruising past Ramblers Rest without stopping, but hey-ho we’ve got our own mobile makeshift cafe to look forward to. The route along Millington Dale was really pleasant with the wind now generally assisting. Unfortunately we all know what comes at the end of it with a “little” ramp up to Pocklington Lane. At this point Steve G left our group to return home for “domestique” duties while we turned into the wind again along York Lane winding our way to Garrowby. The zoom down past Robert Fuller’s gallery was a welcome respite as was the sight of our cafe trio set up in a layby in Thixendale.

Our support crew had really outdone themselves with rolls, sausages, bacon and eggs on offer along with tea or coffee and a wonderful array of cakes and other goodies. I heard tell that in order to decide who should wear the “Scottish” apron it was decided to give it to the one who was born closest to Scotland. It was either Scarborough or Sheffield. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I would have thought the answer was evident but Neil being a competitive sort had to resort to getting a map out “just to check”!

After “blagging” some goodies Colin left to return home while the remaining ten riders continued along the valley to Leavening. It’s a gentle rise with a little “kicker” near the end. Turning north at Leavening we had a nice downhill run to the turn off at Penhowe Lane. This led us through the beautiful village of Westow then Kirkham. Turning off at Stone Trough Inn we were immediately faced with a rather steep ramp hitting 17% in the early stages before gradually easing off averaging around 6%. Now that we were suitably warmed up we had a more gentle climb along Menethorpe Lane eventually leading us to Norton.

It was not long until we reached Settrington. Unfortunately for Michael he suffered a puncture. Fortunately for the rest of it gave us a chance to rest before tackling the next climb. The first section is Horse Course Lane which “ambles” upwards with the gradient averaging 7.8% over 1km. Having struggled up that, we were then faced with Settrington Bank which starts with an encouraging sign warning road users of the 17% gradient to come. Ah well, head down and keep spinning/grinding away. The views from the top are certainly worth the effort.

From the top of Settrington Bank we turned to Duggleby and a welcome downhill recovery section before arriving at Kirkby Grindalythe. From there we had a further two mile lumpy section to negotiate with yet more steep ramps before leading into Sledmere and our lunch stop.

Our lunch stop was laid out beside the monument at Sledmere. Another chance to top up on the calories needed to fuel our way round the remainder of the route. Luckily most of the climbing was now out of the way and we could look forward to more gentle inclines. Perhaps that’s why Dave decided to join us for the second half. 🤔

Leaving Sledmere behind we set off to Foxholes via Helperthorpe and Weaverthorpe, an 8 mile slight descent with a following wind… “Luxury”. Enjoy it while it lasts as it was back to climbing (although a much easier incline than the first half) along Ganton Road to Fordon Lane. After Fordon we turned towards Hunmanby and another brief refreshment stop.

Continuing onwards, we started to make our way south to Reighton and Grindale before going east once more through Buckton and Bempton. Heading south once more we arrived at Limekiln car park overlooking the sea near Sewerby where our wonderful support crew had set up shop.

Heading homeward on the final leg of our journey we were faced with a slight head wind all the way from Bridlington through Burton Agnes, Lowthorpe and Nafferton to Driffield where we had a long wait for a train to pass. Now back onto more familiar territory we set off to Skerne and Hutton Cranswick where our support crew were ready to meet us one final time. Having agreed to meet at the Farm Shop cafe car park, we were surprised to see them outside the White Horse pub. Unfortunately Mark and Matthew had arrived too early and carried on before realising and having to double back. Some might say they just wanted to add extra miles.

Iain decided he’d had enough so decided to leave us at this point while some of us joined the “crew” in the pub garden. The temptation to have a pint at this point was almost irresistibile, in fact too much so for Michael. Martin and Karl opted not to stop and continued on promising to meet us at the pub in Beverley. By now, the sun was getting low in the sky and the temperature was starting to drop. We decided not to dawdle any longer…. but wait Michael has still got his pint. “You’d better glug that Michael” we all suggested as we started mounting our bikes. Never the best way to enjoy your drink. Still, it all counts towards rehydration! 🍺

Battling into the wind again along the exposed roads of Burnbutts Lane, the thought of the pub at the end helped to focus the mind. From Bracken farm we followed our normal route back through South Dalton and Etton to Cherry Burton and back to Beverley and the welcome sight of the Tiger Inn. “Pint please landlord….. make that two” 🍻 seemed to be the sentiment for most of us. Excuse the quality of the pictures from our apres-ride celebration. The photographer was probably a little “misty eyed”.

It was a superb end to a wonderful day of cycling in brilliant company. A huge congratulations to all who took part in the challenge. For anyone else who may be inspired by these efforts, it has already been proposed to repeat the challenge next year. Finally a massive thank you to our excellent support crew Neil, Dave and Alison who followed our progress all the way round using what Neil designated as “Puggy Cam”