Originally Posted by
Ady In Accy
A nice 70 today out toward the coast and back through the trough. Saturdays ride will take me up to 300 miles for the week so won't be far off race fit soon seeing as there is no hope of running in the immediate future. Grand ride out on Tuesday, did a write up for the club forum so thought I'd paste it here too...........
Around 14 were almost present and correct at Whalley this morning, the exception being 1 member who had punctured at the top of the hill. After a period of waiting, Harry held on whilst the rest of us set off in the direction of Sawley. On Sunday I had put forward the idea of a ride over Fleet Moss from the Wharfedale side if the weather was still favorable so seeing as it was, those that were up for it were in for a longish one.
At the Paythorne turn off, 5 hardened riders and myself veered off whilst the rest headed towards Settle. A cheery pace was maintained on to Hellifield and along the leafy back Lanes through Airton, Calton, Winterburn & Hetton. We turned off the B625 to Linton & Grassington and took the back road to Conistone & Kettlewell where the Welsh one demanded a stop at the local store to get some snack food. After a brief stop we continued to the upper reaches of Wharfedale before turning left at Buckden into the quiet Langstrothdale where there were quite a few cars parked up by the banks of the river Wharfe enjoying picnics, the sun and the birdlife of which we had commentary on from the naturists of the group – or is that naturalists? Anyway, at least 2 of us knew what to expect as we veered right at Beckermonds to face the road that is Fleet Moss. I kept telling myself that it’s not as bad from this side and actually it wasn’t, just a couple of steep kick ups amongst the rises which hurt just a little. The group spread out on the climb with Tommo out in front and me just about keeping him in sight. We stopped at the precipital tarmac summit (is that a word?) to regroup (eventually). There was a strong rumor that one of the non Welsh Harwood riders had liked the view so much he actually got off and walked a little to take it all in but as this cannot be backed up with fact I won’t mention it. After quite a while enjoying the view down to Wenslydale we threw ourselves over the edge and nailed it down to Hawes avoiding verge side sheep and in my case the local bus at Gayle which had those mirrors that don’t seem to work. It was market day in Hawes and I was straight in the chippy as I had been fantasizing about fish, chips and a drink made in Scotland from girders on the way up Fleet Moss. Meanwhile, the rest of the group was in a quandary as the normal bikers/cyclist café that is Penny Garth was closed for re-furbishment so a few hand signals to me indicated something or other and they disappeared as I got served by Lin Wang in the traditional Yorkshire chippery. I sat with a line of old dears outside to eat my fodder before bumbling off to look for the rest of the group who had found sanctuary in an upstairs café with a massive choice and expensive sausages. The section back to Ribblehead was headed up by myself and Tommo but it was quite a stop/start/slow/slower sort of pace as the combination of lunch and Fleet Moss seemed to have taken its toll on some riders but as we turned left into Ribblesdale with the breeze on our backs, the pace upped to brisk with the Fleet Moss rambler coming on to the front to try and make amends! By Settle, the yellow clad Blackburn rider had tired legs and did well to stay on the back with a look of pain across his face. As we reached Chatburn there was talk of a comfort break and even ice cream, but as I have to fit into an LVRC license shortly I continued home alone.
A belting ride through what is my favourite part of the world under glorious sunshine.
STATS:
Distance: 110 miles (200K for Bob – grand effort!)
Pace: Social
Ascent: Yes
Scenery: Bloody ace!