Monday 27 March 2017

A North Yorkshire Spring Ride.

Last weekend I took a trip up to North Yorkshire staying at the Flask Inn Caravan site with Chris and Wendy. An eventful ride up on Friday afternoon / evening. After getting stuck on the M6 for a while filtering, I dropped in for a cuppa at Andy's house just outside Lincoln (always good to see him and hear tales of a the GS CLUB UK and trips he has planned) found myself riding over the Humber bridge and some of the moors in the dark! Quite spooky and arrived at the van 8.45 pm where Wendy cooked me a very nice Steak and potatoes with pepper and mushroom sauce followed by a few beers in the Flask Inn.







In the morning we had wonderful warm bright sunshine with great views over looking Robin Hoods Bay while eating a fantastic breakfast of Venison sausages and black pudding cooked by Chris. I then loaded a Ride mag route into the Garmin to cover the moors, Goathland, Rosedale Abbey, down to Pickering.







While riding on the moors there were great plumes of smoke in several places coming from fires lit burning the heathland. There was a real haze in the sunshine, quite impressive.



Superb riding winding through the moors and forest, down to Helmesly, packed with bikes in the square and up on the famous biker route to Stokesley, ending up late afternoon in Staithes with a ride down the 'no access' road through the cobbled streets to the village near the shore.



Nice little fishing village, with the great aroma of fish and chips in the air. Kids playing in the sand and walkers high up on the cliffs. Very picturesque.





Back to the Van for Wendy's Leek and Potatoe pie followed by a few more beers at the Flask with Chris.



On Sunday I headed along the coastal road through Scarborough and past Filey further south to RSPB Bempton Cliffs to see the sea bird reserve. An amazing place, well worth the 4 quid donation. There are viewing platforms along the cliffs and a well maintained path allow you to walk between them with RSPB guides at each explaining what birds are out on the cliffs to see. There are Razorbills, Guillemots, Gannets and even the odd Puffin. The guide has a monocular trained on the Puffin, an early bird to the UK shores, and through my own glasses I could get a great view of a pair of Razorbills sheltering in their nest. Definitely worth the visit I say!



Later I rode further down to Flamborough Head to the Lighthouse there, before starting my ride home via the Humber, Lincoln and the A42,M42,M6,M5 arriving home at 6pm.





Thanks to Wendy and Chris for great hospitality. Most enjoyable start to the 2017 riding season 👍

Saturday 11 March 2017

Round the block at last for a blast

First ride of the year round the block as they say, down to Bridgnorth up to Ludlow then on to Clee Hill and Tenbury Wells and back in time to watch the Rugby with Dad.

Magic our Morris! Like riding a rocket ship. Flip through the suspension settings, Lou holds the road like glue. Still love that Paralever and Telelever suspension. Utter quality!