a day in the dales

Swaledale was the chosen dale of all dales this time. I must admit, I love this place, load sof character, great villages, top pubs, real ale and for me a lot of childhood memories of holidays of old.

So, this ride, I decided was to commence from Reeth which is about 30 mins from the A1. I parked up in the centre of the village on the cobbled car park and paid my due's into the honesty box. Whilst pulling the various bits of bike from my car another mountain bikers taxi pulled up beside me and out got a father and son combination. They had travelled from Lincolnshire and were staying in the area and getting in as much mtb'ing as possible...ideal!

This was a cold morning and I was glad to set off to get the blood circulating and some warmth regained. Leaving the village on a fast tarmac descent I was already looking forward to my flask of tea and a lump of cake on my return to the car. That, I hoped, was to be sometime away as I had a days riding to do in this wonderful part of the country.

I followed the tarmac to Grinton where I turned off the 'main' road and eventually picked up a bridleway which was to lead me adjacent to the River Swale. The route along the Swale was mainly bridleway and good bridleway at that with a few bits of road mixed in. The last stretch of bridleway takes you very close to the Swale so much so that the latest heavy rainfalls had caused the river to spill over onto the track. Looking along the track as far as I could see, which was a long way, the end was nowhere in sight. The water was deep and I didn’t particularly fancy riding it this early on in a ride. Luckily there was a bit of a makeshift path to the side which I managed to tentatively wobble my way along using the bike as a walking stick.



Leaving the bridleways behind for a short while I made my way by road into Gunnerside village before taking a minor road out and up onto the side of Gunnerside pasture. This was the start of the long climb. I soon got myself back onto a bridleway which immediately doubled back on itself and then turn north to start taking me up into Gunnerside Gill. The climb was good, not too steep but nice and long. Somewhere near the top I decided it was time for pasty and chocolate and with that in mind i found myself a seat where I could take in the amazing views.



Refuelled and eager to continue I carried on up the last section of uphill and the higher I climbed to more icicles I spotted dangling at the side of the track. Everything levelled out for a short while until I started to descend in to the main site of Gunnerside Gill where some of the mining remains still stand. The downhill was good and fast and admittedly a little worrying due to the amount of frozen water covering the path. A few sideways moments and trying not to use too much brake I got myself safely to the bottom.






The climb back out from the Gill starts with a very narrow singletrack which immediately climbs steeply before again descending back to the Gill for a water crossing minus bridge. Once again, using my bike as a walking stick I picked my way across the Gill. Another very narrow singletrack climbed and headed me further north and then back on myself to pick up the main bridleway on top of Friarfold Moor.

I remembered this path from many years ago when I came here during my student years and I had a sneaking feeling that a good downhill was in wait at the other side of the moor. The land up here is very barren and bleak, not a place to have bike mechanicals! I was heading down again and the path headed off into the distance as far as I could see. With smile firmly in place I freewheeled as fast as I dared downhill at the side of Old Gang Beck. The freezing air was doing fine job of numbing my knees and chin but this was not to dampen what was an amazing downhill...I will definitely be back to visit this one again.







Seeing tarmac again, i had a short climb up hill to the start of the next bridleway. Not too easy to find which was the correct path I slowly inched my way forward, checked the map and checked again I decided to descend onto what I believed to be my chosen path. Then disaster struck, my chain snapped. Not too upset as I knew I had put a powerlink in my Camelbak not too long ago, so I set to work. But, my powerlink was doing a fantastic job of hiding, it was not to be found anywhere. Now getting seriously cold as the weather was starting to change I decided, whilst chomping through a sausage roll that I would do a quick fix and shorten the chain. This done, but deciding this was not the best chain repair I had ever achieved and after consulting OS once again I opted for the road option back to Reeth.

It was a shame, but it just means I will have to return sometime soon to complete the full ride. All in all I covered approximately 33km and had a great time.

One last thing to do before driving home....cup of tea and cake...only the tea I left in my Dwain Dibbley flask in my car had gone stone cold...how disappointing!