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I am organising a Dales trip for August and am quite keen to do something around Swaledale. I've done a bit of looking on YouTube etc and it seems there is some brilliant riding. Ideally I'd like to do the best ride possible with as much fun descending as possible - subject to the following rough constraints.
Start at Dales Bike Centre.
25 miles max.
1500m climbing max.
Including Gunnerside Gill.
Finishing by descending off of Harkerside.
So, as Pat Benatar sang:
"Hit me with your best shot" (please)
I reckon it will be an anticlockwise loop. I'd like to know the best way off of Harkerside too, please, as there seems to be a lot of options.
👍
If you email the bike centre they have maps of some routes that are good. They used to have gpx files for them too.
Thanks, I had thought about that - but thought I'd give the STW personal touch a chance.
If I don't get much on here I will give them a shout. Ta.
No worries, it's been a while since I was last over that way. What I do remember is the descent off Fremington Edge was a blast. Loose and rocky.
This is a ride I did up there last year, and really enjoyed it despite the wind and rain being pretty bad at the top. Not sure if it covers everything you're after or how to share the gpx?
Just email Stu at the Dales Bike Centre, he’ll sort you right out.
The descent off Fremington Edge is indeed a lot of fun.
If you email the bike centre they have maps of some routes that are good. They used to have gpx files for them too.
They've got them on the website. That's what I've used in the past.
Standard advice would be to haul up to Fremington Edge, Langthwaite, Cringley Hill, Great Pinseat, Gunnerside Gill, then as directly as possible over to Harkerside to find the Pipeline descent (check Strava for its location, as it's tricky to find). That's probably the best single one, you can always reclimb to add another of the hush descents if you've got the energy.
Will be bumping up or slightly over your upper mileage limit, but inside your climbing limit, which is the one that matters. If you're capable of 5000ft of climbing in 25 miles, it should be no bother.
PS be careful with the tarmac ford you encounter on the way to Great Pinseat. It will be very algae-slippery given the weather we've had, and I still have the scar. 🙂
If you're heading for the pipeline descent as recommended by martinhutch I can recommend a short detour down the high harker gully descent for a bit of fun. It would mean you have to re climb the hairpin surprise segment but I think it's worth it, or if feeling knackered by that point you could just carry on down the track that high harker gully leads onto and miss the pipeline.