Ride 037.

 
Oz gets in the festive spirit

Chris attempts to ride over the big rock...

...Paul attempts to swerve round it.

Can anyone hear bells?

Chris takes the lead, food is the incentive.

Is it three o'clock yet?

Down the field to Scugdale Beck

Down the field to Scugdale Beck

Down the field to Scugdale Beck

Down the field to Scugdale Beck

Down the field to Scugdale Beck

Passing Scugdale Hall

The big push up through the bog

The big push up through the bog

Downhill all the way to the food from here.

 

Date:    11th December 2004           Distance: 15 miles

 

“Is it three o’clock yet?”

 

Our Christmas Dinner Ride and the weather was seasonably crap, grey and misty with not a glimpse of sunshine the whole afternoon. Dinner was booked for three pm, hence the above question which was repeated many times from around 11 o’clock onward. Oz, Chris, Paul, Howard and myself met in Lordstones car park, only Oz had made the festive effort and wrapped some tinsel round his handlebars – the rest of us couldn’t afford to carry the extra weight. 

Our actual route held no surprises being the same as TTB 034 but lacking the snow and blue skies. Muddy tracks were the order of the day with severe chainsuck being experienced by me after my Scottoiler suffered a terminal hit to the reservoir early in the ride. On the plus side, it never actually rained, it was reasonably warm for December and considering it was a Saturday, there were very few people about. Especially those strange ski pole toting chaps with the “Haven’t you got a bell on that?” routine. 

“Is it still half past one?” Oz asked at one point, about twenty minutes after originally being told it was half past one. I guess it was oxygen starvation after hauling his bike up the bridleway at Scugdale, or possibly time really does stand still for Yarm folk. After all some of them still believe they live in Yorkshire. 

The last drag over Carlton Bank was a wheel-dragging, energy-sapping grind but the blast downhill to Lordstones made it all worthwhile, with high-speed mud shedding an added bonus. And at last it was three o’clock, or near enough by the time we packed the bikes away and attempted some semblance of hygiene with a cursory hand wash. 

The main event of the day, the meal was worth every penny, three courses plus coffee for £10. The portions were easily enough to fill all of us until the next day, plates piled high with meat and vegetables, steaming hot and perfectly cooked. It was a suitable end to a good ride, certain people said they would like to do it every ride but I think we’d all be in the Clydesdale class within weeks. 

A great idea for an annual festive treat which will definitely be repeated next year.

Height Profile: (click to enlarge)

TTB037 Height Profile 1635 ft ascent


 

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