Coast & Moors Trip

It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything about trail riding, a mix of work and life commitments that seem to have taken me in other directions for a bit, that and riding local stuff that has already been written about multiple times!

So I found myself with a block of spare time, Lucy had gone away, all my usual jobs, people etc all seem to be busy, so I thought it time to get another multi day trip set up and get out.

The plan, go to places I've not been before, explore those esoteric lanes near to those places and catch up with some mates along the way if the timings fitted. Thus I set off on a cloudy but bright fresh morning with a route in the GPX totalling 500 miles, skirting the edges of the Lakes National Park, The Forest of Bowland, Nidderland Area of Outstanding Beauty and the Dales before returning back home. There was a lot of surfaced road in sections of this route, but as the plan was to explore rather than just be a dedicated trail riding trip, that didn't bother me, I just had to check my tyres a bit more often!

Day 1.
First lanes were all local, with a stop off to see a mate who was building a camper van for some summer fun, then lots of tarmac to get down along the south west coast of Cumbria, Seascale, Ravenglass, Barrow etc.

I came across several tidal fords, which at high tide were not passable.

On the map, Seascale had a possible route along the coast to Ravenglass, but it turned out to be a footpath and a causeway, so I had to find a bypass. I'd never been to Ravenglass, which is the home of the Laal Ratty steam train. This goes up into the Eskdale valley and is an enjoyable trip with a good pub and cafe at the end. The village itself is a popular tourist spot and as such has a few cafes and amenities.

Hugging the coastline for the morning saw a variety of views, including the big nuclear plant at Sellafield, which has had significant impact on this area both in positive and negative ways. The West Coast railway runs nearby and I had to cross it several times, sometimes with a person working on the crossing and other times ringing a telephone to make sure the tracks were clear before I did my 3 journeys across opening and closing gates. Some really helpful and friendly folk these people were.

I turned inland briefly to climb on of the fell roads, where I stopped in the stiff breeze to enjoy the atmospheric day and views. Once fed I moved on to a new lane for me with an imperious ruin dominating the skyline. That would be a fab place to buy and restore!

As I dropped back to valley bottom I came across a lane with a tree down, I had a great little hand chain saw blade for such an occasion and managed to cut off the lower branch which tilted the main trunk back to just the right angle so I could pop over it. This chewed up some time, but was fun to do!

Tea and bacon butty was found at a great little burger van on the A595. Once refreshed I set off again just meandering down the coast stopping off in random places where the views were good. All of the roads in this part of the County are small and winding so very good for a little trail bike ride! At one point I found a beach with a beautiful wooden house perched on the bank, lovely views and an interesting sense of art in the garden!

I wanted to look at the byway that crosses Morcambe Bay, so I went down to Canal Foot near Ulverston. It is one of the few tidal fords left and you really need someone who knows the area to guide you across. It also needs to be low tide and you need to completely wash your bike down after... For me it wasn't going to happen today, but hey the historic info about the canal and industry there was fascinating for me.

 

By now, I was losing the daylight, so had to make a decision about where to stay. I opted for a mates in Lancaster and so off I went to get to his place so we could drink beer/wine and gossip for the night

Day 2.
The next dawned wet and windy, plenty of rain forecast for Lancashire, so as my mate had to be off for 8am and I didn't need to repack my pannier I was away nice and early. Riding through Lancaster is always a game of dodgems, but on a wet February morning in the rain it was even more scary than normal. I was glad to get out of a built up area and back into the countryside.

The first lane had a deepish ford which I'd never done before, there was a memorial on a tree nearby. After this I wound my way on the B roads heading eventually for a lovely long fell lane which was having some work done on it recently. There are very few lanes in Lancashire, something which dates back to a previous Lord who removed them all I'm told, not sure if this is just gossip or fact but the result is the same.

As I got to the end of the lane, I realised I'd not filled up in Lancaster and so used my GPS to try to find the nearest fuel, the info wasn't accurate and I wasted a few miles following directions to a none existent garage, where I then bit bullet and headed direct to Settle where I knew there was fuel. I got there with a thimble full in the tank. A hot pasty and some hot chocolate warmed me up as I was now pretty wet. The sun was starting to come out though in patches but where I was going was swathed in cloud.

The Dales is one of those National Parks that hasn't, (as yet), lost it quiet charm. Unlike the Lakes and the Peak which are desperately struggling under the pressure of millions of visitors each year and an infrastructure that wasn't built for the level of current use. As such you can find yourself in many places and not see a soul. Such was the case for the majority of the lanes I used, except for the one where I stalled in a ford, swearing as my feet got wet and cold. Only to find 3 cheery people pop up behind a hedge to check I was OK. Profuse apologies followed for my language and ten minutes of ribbing as I drained my now soaked boots!

I wound my way north to Reeth, when I got a phone call from a place I help out at now and then, asking if I could help them tomorrow as someone had a possible broken arm, so that was the end of my trip and the start of a very cold, dark and wet ride home. I passed through Kirby Stephen and Shap riding the odd few lanes in the dark cursing the KTM candle I had for a headlight. However when I got home, had a shower and warmed up I felt really relaxed and recharged from two days of trail riding.

Another brilliant little trip out, some magical places explored and passed through and some friends I've now caught up with again.

Mmm lets see when I can do the last bit now...

Three days around Rhayader in Mid Wales

After seeing how busy Devon was, I was craving some open space and the mountains, so drove upto Rhayader on Thursday night.

Gareth agreed to come out for the weekend, so I was tasked with planning the routes, I started with a day for myself whilst I waiting for Gareth to arrive Friday evening. My chosen route went north of Rhayader this time, with lots of lanes I hadn't visited before and even found a stretch alongside Offa's Dyke, which turned out to be a lovely part and I got to chat to a group who were all following the trail up through the English/Welsh border. A really happy bunch of people which is always nice...

Unfortunately for trail riders lots of this path has been closed off to motor vehicles, (something that is not uncommon in our current society!), so to find a bit that is both open to us and also pretty was well worth the journey!

Some of the trails I found were little used, some completely overgrown, I managed to always find a way through, albeit sometimes a little scratchy and frustrating, but it was good fun never the less and I think it is important to use some of these trails otherwise we will lose them.

The day was really relaxing with no drama's, I never saw a soul away from the Offa's Dyke area and it felt like I had the whole place to myself!

I got back to the van, my rear tyre was just about bald, so it was a good job Gareth was bringing his tyre changer and I had a nice new shiny one in the van! I camped again that night in a lovely place, with the wind blowing the van around and the odd squall coming through to make the night interesting. Drinking some nice red wine, reading a book and all tucked up warm, a great way to spend an evening!

Gareth & I met at the cafe at Crossgates, caught up on gossip over a big breakfast and then set off for a ride heading north east this time. Another day of mixed trails, some long and flowing, others short and a bit overgrown.

We seemed to spend a lot of the day helping various horse riding groups, (who were on a planned multi day ride), however their navigation wasn't the best so we had to set them back onto their tracks again each time we found, this is where a GPS does come into it's own.

We also found a lane that is having lots of repairs to it at the moment, at one end their is clear signage but at the end we started from there was none, no wonder the workmen didn't look too happy when we turned up! Lots of new fencing going in, some graded trail and lots of new drainage. This is something that needs to be done on many trails of the UK, maybe one day the government will wake up and change it's rather dogmatic policy and develop an 'inclusive' method of trail management instead of the current exclusive version they have. We can dream I suppose!

The day finished up at a pub in Rhayader, plans were made for the final day which included the long lane at Sennybridge, there was a no live firing day, so that was the plan for the next day with a couple of big river crossings to clean the bikes before heading home.

The day started with a lesson on using a Rabaconda tyre changer, ten minutes later I had a shiny new tyre, oooh want one!!

Just after lunch in Llanwrtyd Wells, my front sprocket bolt came out and disappeared, luckily we were still near town, so I went into a garage and found a spare washer and Gareth had a spare bolt, so we fitted this, but it had gone again by the end of the day! A visit to KTM needed...

Bike wash time came as the final lane of the day, the rain had soaked us most of the morning, but the afternoon had dried up nicely, the moorland throughout the day was sometimes a bit tricky and a bit boggy, Sennybridge was a little freaky, with all the bits of target stuff lying around and the potential threat of unexploded ordnance lying around, (we never saw any but you just never know!), so it was good to chill out and have a giggle in a plain old bit of river crossing, even if it was partially blocked by a tree and with some deep water!

Here ended the trip, time to go home, go back to boring and normal life and dream about the next big bike adventure!

Cornwall for a couple of days...

Having plenty of time as holiday plans had changed at the last minute, I decided to go to some of the areas I haven’t ridden in before. I spent awhile looking at the UK map, then decided on Cornwall followed by Devon before heading up into Wales and then back home. So with a high expectation and a good weather forecast I drove down to Cornwall via a family visit and a ride around Monmouth.

Cornwall is a place I nearly lived a few years ago, I’ve climbed a lot around there on the beautiful granite sea cliffs and have a soft spot for the county, it’s just a nice gentle place, relaxed and friendly in that way only a place can be when to pressures of money and status haven’t yet taken full hold on the local mentality. 

I found a place overlooking the sea on a high clifftop just north of Redruth and parked up, fettled my kit and slept. The next day dawned with heavy sea fret and low cloud, so I hibernated with a book and drank lots of coffee. The afternoon brightened into a warm day and I managed to get all my kit dry from a soggy Monmouth day. Red wine and a glorious red sunset rounded off a really lazy day.

I had planned a route that took in lots of the byways around Redruth, all clearly marked on the OS map. I’d contacted the local Cornish TRF group with a question if anybody was out but got no response, so planned to ride alone. I set off at 7am and was soon lost in sunken lanes, covered in arched trees where a sense of time and place disappear. The trails blended into one long trail as the surfaced roads were often similar. Some of the trails clearly hadn’t been used in awhile, overgrown with hawthorn and blackberry bushes, others were fast and flowing, none were ever difficult, even though the schist and what looked like sandstone was often greasy and slippy. I dropped the bike a couple of times, catching ruts in the long grass, the back wheel sliding out on slippy rock. Whilst waiting for the King Harry Ferry to cross the I got chatting to a lady and her niece, who came from Cumbria and it turned out I knew her brother! Such a small world... The day finished with the best lane which took me along a clifftop route, down into a little cove and back up the other side. Great views of the beaches and the folk playing in the sea. 

Once all packed up and fed, I decided to move on to the Liskeard area which was the plan for the next day. Liskeard was a much busier area, there was very little choice for parking a van up, so I ended up in a layby on the Looe road, noisy for the whole night but hey it was on my planned route. The area seems to have more UCR’s than byways, so it was a matter of stringing them together into a circular route, which in this case turned out to be 130 miles long. As it was such a length I set off early again, and was soon off into what turned out to be very similar types of lanes. The bed rock for the area is very different, with some schist again, but also plenty of limestone, some red granite and a few of the ‘sandstone’ type. The main reason for mentioning this is that each one has a different riding style needed, the schist and sandstone both need gentle throttle to get going on the steeper hills, something I’m not good at, the others can suffer a little heavier handedness. 

I passed through some beautiful areas, where all kinds of industry has gone on in the past, some of the mines are now reopening, the old mills have gone though and all that remains is the buildings and the mill races, some of which have been repaired and now house holiday homes etc. 

My route passed from the coast to the moorland and as such the variety of places changed all the time. I got talking to a nice fella who pointed out I was looking at the wrong entrance to a lane, as we chatted he tole me his place had the source of the river on it and that he thought a lot of the lanes started life as ways for the farmers to move pony & trailers back to the farms, I suspect this may be the case with some but not all.

For a short time I crossed over into Devon, the lanes were very similar, I met a lovely couple walking their little spaniel down one narrow lane, they lived locally and were very chatty, quite happy to see someone using the lane. We had a ten minute chat about loads of things and parted company. 

I got back to the van at 5ish, the bike was now missing the bolt and spring for the side stand which had disappeared somewhere and one of my handguards had fallen off, probably on the lane near Tavistock, which had a very rocky technical ascent which I took in a complacent manner and lost traction, spun the bike and almost headed off own the hillside! Hey ho, a beautiful lane it was too, climbing through some woodland above Tavistock to open out onto a panoramic vista. Another good days riding, lots of trails and plenty of great scenery. 

Once back at the van I decided to head over to my next port of call, near Torquay in Devon. I’d spotted loads of lanes in a smallish area, so thought I’d go check them out. The night was extremely wet though, so I spent the morning picking up parts for the bike from the Saltash KTM dealership, JD Racing, really friendly and nice people. I serviced the bike in the van, then wrote up the blog before heading out for a few lanes in the afternoon. 

One thing I noticed around the lanes I drove on though, parking is a nightmare, there seem to be very few layby’s, lots of narrow roads with people racing around all the time. The folk I’ve encountered seem to be aggressive, slightly negative and a bit grumpy. Not sure what the reason is or why the change when 20 miles away people are a lot more pleasant, there must be something in the water...

My trip finished here in the south as I decided I was pining for the mountains now and a bit of solitude, so I packed up the van and drove to Rhayader, had a curry and found a beautiful place to park up next to a river for the night where I planned the next days adventures!