24th June 2010 - Ribblehead - Mid-summer ride

7 riders (Grant, Chris M, Neil, Charlie, Jamie, John and George) turned out amongst all the photographers waiting to capture the spectacle of the steam train crossing the viaduct. We all donned windproofs as despite it being warm everywhere else it was really cold at Ribblehead and were ready to set off at 6.40pm . As Paul had not arrived George said he would wait and catch up later. Chris m suggested that if George and Paul took the track to the right of the viaduct they could easily catch up with the group. When Paul and George arrived at the track they could not see the rest of the group so they headed back down to meet them coming up but unfortunately the group had got past this point so the pair had wasted another 15 minutes. The problem was neither Paul or George had completed this route before fortunately George spotted a group on the creast of the hill in front but when they had climbed the steep ascent they discovered the group they had spotted were girls completing their D of E award. However the girls informed them that the group was only 5 minutes away. So it was after 8pm when Paul and George re joined the group for the fantastic Downhill. By now the sun was shinning and everyone had removed their wind proofs. We headed down to Wearnside and keep going on up the steady climb, now it was warm but great to get to the top and head around the hill and start heading down towards Dent, watch out for the rocks, but it was a blast, a bit sketchy at times on the corners but enjoyable. Head all the way down to Dyke Hall lane, then right along the road next to the river Dee, which was almost dry. Easy ride along the lanes, ready for the climb to come. Look out for Artengill viaduct and head up Arten Gill bridleway, this is steep and steady to start and goes on and up, if you get to a gate first you can have a breather! At the top of Arten Gill moss windproofs back on as the air was starting to cool. From here we enjoyed the fast downhill to the road. Following a group discussion it was decided that it was too late to take the route via the Cam road and John got out his map which showed a bridleway that lead down to the main road. So the group turned right on the road and after about half a mile took the bridleway on the left. Here we arrived at a farm gate which had a sign NO F---ing Bikers so realising we had gone the wrong way we turned around and took the next gate on the left and rejoined the bridleway back to the main road for about a mile and half ride back to the car at 9.50pm with a few of the riders meeting at the pub. This was an absolutley superb ride in what turned out to be an excellent evening from that cold start. GT. Next ride is Lowick.