Ride 053.

 
Chris enjoying our green and pleasant land

Look everyone, Simon's here again

Cliff Rigg Quarry, after fighting the gorse bushes

Darlo lads can't even walk downhill

Finally back on two wheels

Cliff Rigg Quarry

Cliff Rigg Quarry

Cliff Rigg Quarry

Simon gets a bit of air

Oz gets both wheels off the floor

Chris keeps to terra firma

Oz rides berm, note the scuff mark in the soil near his front wheel, Chris's exit point.

Oz goes back for more air

Simon chooses sustenance

Gribdale Gate, two cyclists trying to pretend they rode all the way up the hill

Percy Cross Rigg - playing the waiting for Simon game

The result of trying to talk and unclip at the same time

Chris at the bottom of The Unsuitables

 

Date:  16th August 2005             Distance: 13.5 miles

It’s not every ride that starts with a toddler hurtling downhill at you on a mini-bike, complete with stabilisers, alternately screaming in fear and laughing wildly as his bike bucks and wobbles down the fire-road. Future Terra Trailblazer we all thought as he flashed past, brake levers pulled to the bars, knuckles shining white in the forest gloom. Given a bet between him and Chris in the downhill stakes, I know where my money would be going.  

After making sure he got to the bottom uninjured, we continued upward, our own kid bringing up the rear, Simon on his third ride this year. Proving he’s on a diet by only bringing one sandwich – although it was well past lunchtime when we set off. Climbing steadily we made our way through the forest and out onto Roseberry Common, eventually reaching Cliff Rigg Quarry. The gorse bushes lining the track along the quarry top are rather thick this year and soon the moors rang to the sound of cursing process operators as the evil spikes found bare arms and legs. The quarry was surprisingly empty considering the schools are enjoying their six weeks off, only a couple of kids riding about and they soon disappeared – doubtless not wanting to be embarrassed by some old blokes trying to jump. And embarrassing it was too, although Oz managed a few inches after some practice. Chris had his first (and possibly last) attempt at riding a berm, obviously not realising the objective is to follow the berm all the way round, instead of flying over the edge half way round and landing in a heap in the dirt. As the saying goes: “It’s only funny until someone gets hurt; then it’s hilarious.” Because he’d been such a brave little soldier we rode down to Suggits in Great Ayton for ice cream and coffee. 

Suitably refreshed, we pedalled to Great Ayton Station and on up the hill to Gribdale, where a welcome downhill through Oak Tree Farm brought us back off-road at Lonsdale Plantation, where we began the unwelcome slog up Helmet-Breaker Hill onto Percy Cross Rigg. Approaching Percy Cross Rigg, I suffered a mysterious puncture, nothing stuck in the tyre and no visible signs of entry. The finger of suspicion was immediately directed at Simon, lounging in the grass stuffing his face and looking rather smug as I got busy with the mini-pump.  

Getting rather late by now, so it was straight up and down Percy Cross Rigg, a quick loop in Guisborough Woods, with some famous last words by Oz, just after we’d completed an interesting section of singletrack,

“We did all right there…” spoken as he forgot to unclip his pedals, keeling over to create a tangled mess of limbs and bicycle.  A blast down The Unsuitables to Hutton Village and we were soon back in the car park, still sniggering about the kid on the bike and Chris’s unplanned air time off the berm. If only I hadn’t put the camera away just before he took off.

 

 Height Profile: (click to enlarge)


 

Back To Rides page