A bit of everything - Chris Otter - 12/3/22

So do yer like a bit of bend work?  Yeah!  And do yer like a bit of hill work?  Yeah Yeah!  And what about fast sweepers?  Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Well all these and more were to be had on Saturday, and all youse T5ers that weren't on the ride...missed the lot!
You may remember one of the wisdoms is "if you can string a whole bunch of Favourites together, you got yourself a cracking ride", well C Otter Esq. did just that :-)
A certain amount of satisfaction was felt with so many potential registrants for the ride 15 in all if I remember correctly including Anne Dufton, AKA Dora the Explorer (used to lead just about all the rides when I were a lad) who we haven't seen for months cos of a back prob, but no, a text sent that morning disappointed us, including Anne, spot of poorliness had out broken :-(
After a precise briefing by Chris, 14 of us hung a right towards Sherburn and then left down good old Sir John's lane sliding into Tadcaster and then left up to Cattal, crossing the river Nidd.  Rattling over the Aldwark Bridge we swung right towards Newton on Ouse, across to Tollerton and into Easingwold.  All this doesn't seem to be as spectacular as promised but hey the roads were dry and all the twists and turns on these flatlands were just really enjoyable at a good pace we've not really been able to keep up for most of this year.
Nipping across to Husthwaite and Coxwold, and Wass, Ampleforth and Oswaldkirk we climbed the steep bank to join the A170 and cruised down to Helmsley where a deserved T&P break was enjoyed at the Ryeburn ice cream cafe where the ice cream is actually made, good stuff an' all ;-) 
Were we due to cruise the TT up towards Stokesley?  No we set off Eastwards and then immediately North up into the Moors through a village called Carlton, you know you're climbing, and then right up into Bransdale past the village of Cockayne at the top about as far as you can reasonably go and then down the dale again to Gillamor of Surprise View fame, brief and amazing, right across the valley.
What next in this Moor Tour de Force?  Well obviously more climbing up into Farndale, sharp climbs descents and bends abounded with the final really steep climb of Blakey Bank up onto the main road from Hutton le Hole to Castleton.  Somewhere during this brilliant challenge was encountering the gate across the road, where some version of group riding etiquette was observed, is there an approved way?
Full steam ahead across the Moor through Castleton to Danby, great bakery there :-) joined the A171 to Whitby, diverting round the back way into Sandsend via Lythe bank.
For the first time for, well years, we all squeezed onto the sloping bit of land opposite the ever open Sandsend cafe; lunch at last!  I have to say the screening of the outdoor sections against the sea winds have hugely improved the enjoyment at this famous watering hole.
So what next?  Some of the team set off for their abodes, claiming some rugby match as excuse, but a number of stalwarts that weren't bothered about this blood sport, heaved off to the A169 back across the Moors via Ruswarp and Littlebeck (the final real challenge of the day).  So where were we going?  Seaways of course!
Noticing what time was left to get there, a true romp through Thornton Dale, Yedingham and Sledmere saw us land @ the said cafe with 10 mins to spare before closing time, yay!
Just to round of the day the final 4 took a trip across the Buttercrambe TT to Stamford Bridge, just had to be ;-))
Well you can all see what a cracking ride it was and many thanks to Chris for the indomitable lead and of course for John Coe keeping the rear end in order.

Here is the route:
















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