Yorkshire Dales Epic

Whilst Joe and Niki were off riding Enduro 6, my Dad and I went up to Swaledale for some 'training' for the 3 peaks cyclo cross later in the year. We Had our maps and a route from MBR and we were all set.


After a few pints on Friday night, we were up and off about 10am for our 23 mile loop that would take in the highest pub in England, Tan Hill Inn, and some 'classic' moorland and rocky downhill. The ride was going well up to our luch stop at Tan Hill, where the landlady decided I should serve my own beer, as well as a couple of other customers and we were also treated to some George Formby style live music. Hmm.



After this, we set off on the moorland section. The MBR article had suggested this may be a little difficult to navigate at first. This was true, but we eventually found the trail. What the article seemed to completely omit though, was the fact that it was actually a bog and almost completely unrideable. This was not amusing, and combined with a couple of other hard to find junctions, seriously slowed us down. To cut a (very) long story short, we found ourselves at the top of Gunnerside Ghyll ready to descend at nearly 7pm! We then set off on the descent, only to realise that 6" full sus bikes might have been more helpful than my Fuel and Dads hardtail. Once past the stupid bits, it was a great descent, but this was then ruined by us not paying attention to the fact the bridleway cut back up the hill, and we went down to the footpath. Too knackered to retrace our steps, we went along the footpath, with stile after stile taking the last of our energy reserves. As the light faded, we found ourselves walking alongside the river on loose rocky ground, falling over regularly. At this point I had a bit of a paddy and started to get a little concerned. However, we made it into Gunnerside just as the last light went, so it was on with the emergency blinky lights for a 3mile dash back to the B&B. We eventually made it back at 10pm! Needless to say, neither of us will ever buy MBR again, nor are we convinced that they ever actually rode the route.

An epic day with several things learnt, however Dad is now very familiar with the pushing style required for a lot of the three peaks, and perhaps has been given the boost he needs to do more training? Have a look at the photos to see how it went from nice and cheery to a bit worried:)