3rd June 2023 - Brian's Glorious Day In The Dales

“I don’t think we’ll bother with the drop off system today” was Brian’s suggestion.  It made sense as, given there were only three of us, I had no-one to drop off with.

Brian, Chris and myself met at the Wetherspoons in Otley and, after finishing our pints, set off on what was set up to be a day of fantastic riding in the glorious Dales.  We were not disappointed!

Our first section took us over Swinsty reservoir, through Pateley Bridge, up past Gouthwaite reservoir, through Lofthouse and then over the top, past Leighton reservoir and finally to the market square in Masham for a cup of tea.

Refreshed, we then headed up to Middleham and along the spectacular (and very quiet) road down Coverdale to Kettlewell, hung a right toward Buckden and then a left there to Hubberholme, Oughtershaw and again, over the top to Gayle and Hawes.



Once in Hawes we joined the throng of other bikers, found a surprisingly easy place to park on the main drag and went upstairs to the Wensleydale Pantry.  Spacious and welcoming the three of us enjoyed a hearty lunch and hearing Chris’s tales of his recent trip to Morocco.

Could the riding get much better?

Well, actually, yes.  We contemplated either sticking with the original plan of Ribblehead Viaduct or a trip over into Swaledale via Buttertubs Pass.  Opting for the latter , again with barely any other traffic, we came over the top and we greeted with absolutely stunning views along the dale.

I was having a whale of a time (I even put my bike in “Dynamic” mode – I know get me!) when we took a quite sudden right turn up some very steep hairpin bends that took us up, up and up and back over the top before descending into Asgrigg.  That road – which I’ve not been on before - was sublime.

Grinning from ear to ear we headed along the northern side of Wensleydale, through Redmire and then headed back through Middleham before our final stop for ice cream at Brymor’s (of course).

I’d say the ride was actually a bit too good – sun, views, great company and probably my four favourite routes in the Dales.  I’ll have to get back out there and find some more routes that I’m sure will be just as good.

Many thanks to Brian for leading such an enjoyable ride – even more so doing it old-school with no satnav - and to Chris for performing back marker duties admirably.

As always (and I keep telling myself this) but leading a ride really is pretty easy and fulfilling.  If you’ve not done one – give it a go, everyone’s very supportive. 

See you all next time!

Mike W

PS If you’ve read this far then I’ll point out the “pints” was merely a little joke – 9.30am is a little early, even for me!

PPS If you're really keen then you can download the track of our day out and re-live it for yourselves!