Rosedale Killer

Opening the curtains and being greeted with drizzle wasn't the ideal way to start the last days riding in north Yorkshire but to everyone's credit we all loaded up and headed over to Rosedale for a "wilderness" ride.

Uphila had pulled this option together and it promised much although many of the posse had other commitments or simply weren't committed ;-) and didn't opt for a full loop.

After a few km's of road climbing we plunged off onto the soggy moorland and off up into the low cloud. With dodgy conditions and/or poor line choices several of the posse took a nap on the soft springy terrain. Rob#3 executed a particularly "awesome" roll that generated more than a few :lol

To reach a short road section most of the posse (the nesh'uns) stopped line a stern at a large(ish) puddle which Jenni was already steaming towards. Down shifting I cranked onto her 6 and dived ankle deep into the surprisingly warm, shimmering obstacle. Just the ticket !

After a quiet section of quiet black top we heaved off down a stunning hillside drop with a trail that gave a myriad of options and obstacles. Whist watchin' the rest of the crew make their way down Baggy entertained us with a goof on the slippery grass.

At this point 3/4's of the posse headed off along a more gentle trail while those with less sense slithered down boggy double track to a gate. The only option to the left was a complete hoot of a descent on grass and mud that offered absolutely NO traction. With Darren perched on the ground we all sighed relief after clocking the near vertical 40-50ft drop he opted not to plunge down. Around the corner we were greeted with a farm yard "stench" and ankle deep, toxic green goo.

A few cranks along a lane found us strugglin' for traction on a long technical climb where we eventually met up with the "easy option" posse ;-) After rotating maps for a while we decided to blast back down the climb which turned out to be a complete hoot.

With the posse snaking their way back to Rosedale I found myself at the back (with Checkov and Dozer) about to negotiate a damp and slightly muddy looking right hander. On the brakes in a straight line I scrubbed off speed, set up for the turn, leaned in only to find the back starting to slide around the turn. I'm not sure what happened next but I think I caught the back before the front plunged into the asphalt. Fortunately my inside leg was now unclipped and as I heaved the slidin' rig half back up as momentum faded to a stop. Turning around I clocked my wide eyed pals wondering how they hadn't ridden over me - phew !

Back at the car park the posse dwindled to just 2 (Dozer and myself) who would now take on the southern loop that Dom/Zena rode on Friday. Personally I could have quite easily removed my damp clobber and eaten cake with the others but Dozer was riding this afternoon and that was that. Thanks for the motivation dude.

The southern loop soon had us winching up wet, slippery tracks that gradually dwindled from asphalt to double track, to single track and heath before closing on the top around Ana's Cross. The brakes then began grinding as mud, glorious mud was flung from our rapidly spinning knobbly's as we steadily descended "sarf".

I've learnt the hard way that when Dozer says "the flat bit"that's is gonna be far from FLAT and true to his word the final leg to the car park was a long and steady rise over tracks that soon deteriorated into boulder strewn obstacles. On a fresh pair of pins, a dry day and with a rear tyre that offered some traction this would be a great section. But today was far from perfect and it's been a long while since I've been so happy to feel easy pedaling on asphalt.

What a great weekend but boy oh boy do my legs know that they've cranked over 100km's.

Tracklog and pic's and pic's.

Posse: yup plenty of 'em, minus 3 from yesterday
Weather: Drizzle all ride long. Oh wait it did stop raining as we got back to the car !
Mechanicals: pads, the wet ate our brakes
Injuries: Do wrinkled fingers and toes count ! I managed to twist my left knee after misjudging soggy ruts.