Ride 029.

Date:    31st August 2004           Distance: 26.5 miles

An atypical Terra Trailblazers ride, the sun shone, casualties were sparse and the puncture happened right at the end. And  more miles than usual. We met up in the car park at Clay Bank and immediately gained height by dragging our bikes up the steps to Carr Ridge and Urra Moor, remounting to pass Round Hill, the highest point of the North York Moors. It’s a bit hard to understand how you can pass the highest point and still be climbing but a speedy descent down to the old Rosedale railway and Bloworth Crossing put it from our minds. A level and slightly wind assisted blast along the rail bed had us cruising in the big ring, speeding along to the (surprisingly full) Lion Inn and the obligatory coffee break. 

Suitably refreshed we headed a short distance on the road toward Rosedale head, using a short but sweet section of bridleway to cut the corner to White Cross, then more bridleway to the Castleton road. Another brief bit of tarmac before a left turn onto a little used bridleway took us steeply down the west side of Castleton Rigg, through the farms of Dale Head and Broad Gate and ultimately to the village of Westerdale. 

After Westerdale payback time began, a painfully steep grind up the road to Little Hograh Moor, our peleton breaking into distinct factions; fit, fitter, fittish and fifty plus bringing up the rear. The Skinner Howe Cross Road which traverses Little Hograh  Moor is interestingly technical with plenty too keep a cyclist amused – especially the big drop off to Bern’s Bridge. More uphill slogging on dry (!) sandy tracks took us across Great Hograh Moor and Baysdale Moor before dropping down to the remote Armouth Wath. And still the sun shone.  

From Armouth Wath we took The Flagged Road, turning left over Middle Head Top to Burton Howe, the continuous ascending beginning to weary our legs, retracing our start from Bloworth Crossing back over Urra Moor and Round Hill, back down Carr Ridge – much more fun in the gravity assisted direction, some of us even managed to ride down sections of the steps. The two Last Of The Summer Wine characters, Blind Bob and Chris, where nowhere to be seen, so we decided to wait in the car park for them. And then we waited a bit longer and even longer. We were just discussing who would keep Bob’s car and who would get Chris’s car when Bob rode up, sporting a minor flesh wound on his leg, it was Chris’s turn for the puncture. Strange, it’s usually me. A misunderstanding with his pump meant he couldn’t fit it on his tyre valve so the last mile and a half was done in the style of a pedestrian. He’d never have rode down the steps anyway. 

Other than that minor disaster a remarkably uneventful ride to mark my last day as a 44 year old.

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