A group of miscreants calling themselves The Flying Herberts go for a mountain bike every Saturday. The Flying Herberts is made up of members of York Alpine Club, Hashers, ex Hashers and various others of no fixed abode. Ride venues are usually decided a week in advance and advertised by email. However by last Thursday nothing had been sent out about a ride for the following Saturday so I thought I would post something out about a ride from Sutton Bank.
In response to the post came a wide variety of excuses ranging from Pagan Weddings and road riding to bad backs. Nobody apart from myself was at Sutton Bank at the appointed time, 9.30am so I decided to drive a bit further north and go exploring. I parked at the top of Sneck Yate Bank above Boltby. Starting from here the ride took me on a mixture of forest rides through Boltby Forest and quality single track before emerging from the shade of the trees into the scorching sun and the Cleveland Way overlooking the Vale of York. From here I cycled over Black Hambleton to Chequers Farm above Osmotherly and catastrophe the café was closed, I had got there earlier than expected because being on my own there was nobody to taking up time sharing lewd anecdotes with or discussing the iniquities of the civil service, what usually happens on a Herberts ride
Having composed myself I set of back retracing my tyre tracks over Black Hambleton and along the Cleveland Way until I got to Arden Great Moor, here I turned East on single track which descends steeply down into Thorodale, including a section too precipitous to ride. Once down in the deep valley I rode through woods to Arden Hall and from then on to Hawnby and a tea stop at the village shop and cafe.
The shop/café needs supporting having recently lost its post office, asking for a pot of tea I got enough for 5 cups with my bacon sandwich. Starting again I retraced my steps as far as the Church, from here I turned left to circle Coomb Hill. Cycling and route finding here were both difficult, the terrain was soft and the signage unclear. This is shooting country and there were pheasants everywhere. Back at Arden Hall an unmade road climbs steeply on up to the Cleveland Way. Before the moor top I turned south to bike across superb grassy tracks to High Paradise Farm and the Hambleton Drove Road. From here it was a 1km downhill blast to Sneck Yate Bank where I had parked the car 4 ½ hours earlier.
Peter E
Tags: MTB, North York Moors, Tea Stop
If a mountain biker falls in a forest and no one is around to hear him, does he make a sound…?
He does, but its the sound of one hand clapping.