Tuesday turned out to be a good day.
Weather windy but warm for the time of year and traffic pleasantly light throughout the journey.
Illness removed one rider from the start line, wisely avoiding the perils of sneezing inside a full-face crash helmet, but numbers were maintained with the welcome addition of pillion Lynn.
Four bikes (800; 900; 1000; 1100cc, and 74years old in total), four riders, and one pillion(total age – don’t ask) set off from the Rose Tree Inn, Shincliffe at 10am and travelled down to Kirkleatham Hall, our chosen start and finish checkpoint on the Boundary 500 Classic Challenge circuit. Potential navigational issues for the day were flagged up when we struggled even to find the entrance to the café!
Having decided upon an anti-clockwise circuit our first checkpoint came after a long haul to the location halfway between Leyburn and Masham; unfortunately we added a 20 mile detour through Aysgarth before getting there. A short hop on to the second checkpoint at Masham with lunch at the brewery visitor’s centre.
Back across the Vale of Mowbray to Osmotherley and a delightful road up onto and across the moors towards Helmsley; enlivened by two Hercules transport planes flying up the valley on our right and overtaking us on the same level, if not lower!
Not much route choice from there onwards but we (ok, I) still managed to miss the turning for Rosedale Abbey out of Hutton-Le-Hole which meant we had to reverse our intended direction of travel through the last three checkpoints along the Esk valley. The consequence of this was yet more extra miles but with views of some stunningly illuminated moorland scenery as the sun lowered towards the horizon but eventually with the added hazard of driving straight into the sun as we turned onto the Whitby-Guisborough road to take us back to our start point.
Finish time – 1830 hours.
Stat’s;
| checkpoint | distance |
|---|---|
| Kirkleatham Hall, TS10 5NW | 34 miles from Durham |
| Brymor Ice Cream Parlour, HG4 4PG | 68 |
| Masham, HG4 4EF | 4 |
| Osmotherley, DL6 3BN | 21 |
| Beadlam Grange Farm Shop, YO62 7TD | 18 |
| Hutton-le-Hole, YO62 6UA | 7 |
| Castleton Market Place, YO21 2EG | 13 |
| Danby Visitors Centre Car Park, YO21 2NB | 3 |
| Lealholm, YO21 2AJ | 5 |
| Kirkleatham Hall, TS10 5NW | 22 |
Totals
- 161miles for the Classic Challenge
- 230miles return from Durham
- 248miles Chester-le-St/Washington return
Many thanks to those taking a day out of the working week and all for a fine example of sustained careful and considerate riding.
