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Hi all,
Looking for some inspiration.
Wedding anniversary in May, and we usually take off on the bikes or walking somewhere.
Rough plan would be to start riding mid-morning on the Saturday, ride until late afternoon with
cafe stops. Finish at a nice B&B or boozer, food in a local pub, bed for the night, ride back on the Sunday.
Probably looking for up to 70-90Km max on the saturday then 30-50Km max on way back on the Sunday. Either road or gravel or a mix is cool.
I fancy going to the Eastern ish area of the dales, starting somewhere around the richmond / leyburn area (it's not too far to the grandparents for babysitting duties!)
Anyone got any pointers for either good places to stay? just need a bed and food really, small shop could be helpful would be good if fairly remote as that just seems more fun.
Also any local roads / trails not to miss?
Thanks for any ideas!
Easy enough to ride above Swaledale on shooting track - Moresdale Road, Whaw Moor, Great Pinseat on to Muker and Keld, returning on the Swale Trail to Reeth for the night, then back as you fancy the next day.
Roadie or mtb? If mtb, you'll be surprisingly disappointed at whats available out of both Richmond and Leyburn themselves. The bridleways that are around Richmond are basically garbage, you need to head upto Grinton/Reeth, at which point the world is your oyster. See Stu at the Dales Bike Centre in Grinton, he knows the trails better than you know the back of your hand - but Apedale, HArkerside, Fremington, Whaw Moor, Pinseat, Bunton Hush and the Electric Gate descent into Gunnerside are all grin (and sweat) inducing. As far as Leyburn is concerned, you need to head to Castle Bolton or Bainbridge for some fantastic trails. If its roadie you're after then pick any road from any map of the area, theyre bloody amazing. The usual suspects apply, Swaledale, Tan Hill, The Stang, Buttertubs, Grinton Moor, Redmire Moor, Low Row, Oxnop, The Fleak (the hardest climb in the Dales IMHO), Fleet Moss, Park Rash.
"the fleak" where's that? Two candidates come to mind: the road up to Bents from the electric gate and the road from Langthwaite to Booze.
the fleak” where’s that?
the fleak is the climb that goes above crackpot and summer lodge, back to askrigg. it is a bastard.
the fleak is the climb that goes above crackpot and summer lodge, back to askrigg. it is a bastard.
Ah. That's the one road climb out of Swaledale I've not done, I've descended the top section a few times when doing the Apedale loop from Castle Bolton.
So from Leyburn then.
To and from this place:
https://www.bestpubinthedales.co.uk/
Gets a few good reviews:
And deservedly so for food, beer and ambiance (I'm having second thoughts about bigging it up, but I guess I'm unlikely to stay somewhere quite this close to home.
In terms of routes if on the road make sure you go up or down Coverdale (direction depends on how Rash you're feeling...), and spend as little time as possible on the main Wensleydale Rd (which is quite easily dodged). If off road, there are various green lane/BW routes round Semerwater which are pretty obvious on the map. Make sure you arrive at the White Lion riding down the Stake Moss track (gets up high but xbike friendly and easy angles). I'd find a way to work in Drumaldrace - up the roman road (another easy gravel track). The two bridleways off it down to Butterset (wrong side) or Counterset (end of Semerwater) actually give decent mtb descents. Whatever, its all on the map...
Cool, this is all great info. Thanks very much, will look into planning something around these options.
So the road looks good and the MTB (some of which I know) around reeth looks good...but what about gravelly stuff? Any nice smooth green lanes around, not too rough?
The Wensleydale round semerwater trails are gravelly bumpy rocky in a few places. Better to climb than descend on a xbike if you're not over keen on being rattled about a bit. But they're fine.
Day 1 you could ride to Bainbridge, road or bridleway that tracks a terrace on the n side of the valley (I've never ridden but vague memory of a guidebook recommended this for a family ride. Don't sue me if this is wrong.) Then up the Roman road straight as a die to the top of wether fell, and on to the road at fleet moss. Down the road to langdale, buckden, then up to Cray and the white lion. Next day, either track up and over to semerwater, or kettle well and park rash (arguably the toughest road climb in the dales) and blast down Coverdale. Cake in the forbidden corner...
Cake in the forbidden corner…
You need pre bought tickets to get in. 🙂
Smogmonster's on the money.
You need pre bought tickets to get in.
Not for the cafe you don't 😃
Not for the cafe you don’t 😃
Noted!