skipton, Author at Skipton Cycling Club

May 9, 2022May 10, 2022

Club Ride Report 7th May

So today we headed down Wharfedale to do a circuit of the lanes between Otley and
Almscliffe Crag. Despite the absence of many of the Saturday regulars who were suffering
the hot conditions in Mallorca, 15 turned up for this popular route. The weather was
“middling” but thankfully dry.

Arrangements made with our café stop at Leathley Farm Shop meant that a prompt
departure was necessary to make their breakfast food cut off time of 1130. They had been
very helpful in taking advance orders and reserving tables for us from 1100.
We split into 2 groups and got away as the church clock struck 9.30 with Edward and Dave
arriving just in time to join in. Both groups kept up a brisk pace and kept the “catch ups” to a
minimum ensuring that we arrived in good time at Leathley to enjoy the bacon or egg or
sausage butties or toasted tea cakes that had been ordered.

Mechanical problems dominated the chat in the first group as Paul had lost the power in his
Di2 and was thus stuck on his big ring. Not a helpful situation to be in cycling around these
parts! Inevitably he had to withdraw from the rest of the ride to make a beeline home and a
recharge! Progress from Leathley was at a more relaxed pace without any deadlines to meet. The route through Weeton and Huby gave us a view of “how the other half live” in the “Golden Triangle” of villages between Leeds and Harrogate.

Almscliffe Crag dominates the skyline for miles around and after a short climb up to it we
could take in the panorama stretching from Cookridge in Leeds to Ilkley Moor and beyond.
Several members hadn’t been this way previously and expressed their pleasure at finding such a spot.

The route then covered several miles of quiet lanes before crossing the bridge at Lindley
and climbing steeply to Farnley Primary School then quickly descending to Otley.
A pacey turn of speed from Askwith to the pack horse bridge at Ilkley provided the chance
of getting a PR on Strava with the group riding tidily together behind John putting out some
power at the front.

Interestingly along this part of the route all the way to Embsay we were passed by scores of
cyclists taking part in the Big Fat Bike Ride finishing at Ilkley Rugby Club. As usual the ride ended with a coffee and cake in the Clubhouse.

Steve Wilkinson
Ride Leader

April 27, 2022April 28, 2022

SCC Away Day 23rd April 2022

Let’s face it, however creative you are, there’s a finite number of cycling routes you can plot when they all start and finish at the top of Skipton High Street. So, to dodge the monotony of “Oh, no… not another 50 mile bike ride through the spectacular Yorkshire Dales”; 20 club members decamped to Harrogate on Saturday 23 April where they convened to explore a 40-odd mile route taking in four of North Yorkshire’s most famous tourist hotspots.

A planned start time of 10:00 at Park View car park in Harrogate gave everyone sufficient time to arrive either by car or, in the case of 5 ultra athletes: by cycling in from as far afield as Skipton, Baildon and Earby adding another 50 – 60 miles to their day’s outing. Easy!

The first section of the route took us to the riverside at Knaresborough via the Beryl Burton Cycleway which offered intimate, traffic free views of the Nidd Gorge. Beryl Burton (MBE, OBE) rode for Knaresborough Cycling Club during her five decade career. She held 7 world titles, won over 90 UK championships and was Britain’s best all-rounder for 25 consecutive years. She became the only woman to beat a men’s competition record by riding 227.25 miles (446.2km) in 12 hours.

The route then headed north through gently undulating farmland and through such delightful villages as Farnham, Burton Leonard and Littlethorpe to eventually arrive at the foot of Ripon’s famous Cathedral.

Founded as a Benedictine monastery in 672, it became the cathedral for the Diocese of Ripon in 1836, and is particularly noted for its gothic west front – where, of course, we foregathered for a group photo.

A short spin around Ripon Market Square led us to our lunch stop at The Sun Parlour café in the town’s old spar gardens where Tracy and her colleagues went out of their way to rustle up hot sandwiches and beans on toast for the ravenous multitude.

Rested and replete we then bade farewell to Ripon and cycled off via the tiny village of Studley Roger to traverse Studley Royal – the extensive grounds surrounding Fountains Abbey. A long, steady climb ensued which led us up towards our penultimate goal of Brimham Rocks. Formed from coarse sandstone deposited over 300 million years ago, the rocks have been weathered into a multitude of fascinating shapes.

Then it was, pretty much, all downhill until, about 5 miles from Harrogate, we joined the Nidderdale Greenway and completed our journey on this delightful, traffic free cycle route via Ripley Castle and the spectacular crossing of the Nidd Gorge back to our starting point in Harrogate. The homeward drive was punctuated by a refreshing ice cream stop at the farm shop in Fewston. Those who cycled home missed the ice cream but chalked up another 25 miles.

April 10, 2022April 23, 2022

Saturday Social – 9th April 2022

SCC club ride 9th Sept A great day for the 22 members and 2 guests that joined us for the popular 50 miler route to Chatburn with a cafe stop at Greendale. A group of 3 opted for the 30 miler through Halton West and back through Otterburn. We set off in 4 groups in the bright sunshine although the northerly breeze was a chilly reminder that elements of winter are still around which we were to meet later! The route took us through the Broughton Hall estate to Elslack and then through Thornton to Bar-lick. Onto Paythorne via Horton and the Hellifield road where we met the faster riders who were struggling to fix a troublesome puncture. The road down to Bolton by Bolton and onto Grindleton gave the opportunity for some pacey, good group riding. Up to Greendale from Chatburn for a frustratingly long lunch stop. 20 plus hungry cyclists descending on them was understandably a challenge to the kitchen staff. The ups and downs of the route through Rimmington gave impressive views to Pendle hill and Penyghent over which a wide “curtain” of winter showers was falling. Eventually this caught us through Bar’lick before we completed our ride through Gargrave and to our post ride rendezvous at the Clubhouse. Another enjoyable and successful Saturday.

March 18, 2022April 23, 2022

Reliability Ride – March 2022

Club members recently took part in the ‘Reliability Ride’ which is a traditional way of seeing in the new Spring season and testing how fit we all are! Members made their own way around a 50 mile route into Lancashire and the quickest riders were rewarded with a Gold time.

There was a charity collection for Centrepoint (the young people’s homeless charity) which raised a grand total of £375. Coffee was provided by The Club House and welcome beers were donated by member Christian Townsley, of North Brewing Co.

The event was a great success thanks to Phil Probst and Steve Wilkinson for organising.