Bike Ride 2014 | St Michael and All Angels Houghton-le-Spring

This years team: Malcolm Forster, Morris Lee, Darren Snaith, Dave Turnbull, John Lambton, Andy Slater, Darren Snaith.

This year we had chosen a section of the Way of the Roses, travelling across Yorkshire, as in parts of it follow the route that the Tour De France will be taking this year.

Having had the benefit of an early departure we arrived into Harrogate to get a bite to eat and a cup of tea, but it was shut so we carried on to Skipton to a small cafe we had used before on a previous ride. From there a short drive to Cracoe and the start of our ride. A gentle start and pretty soon we were rolling through some lovely scenerey and litle villages. Aftera quick look round a small church we hit our first small hill.

After a pleasant break we set off and found hills, steep hills, lengthy hills and more hills! The views were fabulous and it was warm and sunny as we struggled to make our rendezvous at a picnic spot just outside Pately Bridge. After lunch an exhilirating 40mph ride down into Pately Bridge and a 4mph back uphill.

We carried on past Brimham Rocks where we were accosted by a group of scantily clad young ladies who had got lost on their Duke of Edinburgh’s expedition and we were able to help them to their meeting point as we had just ridden past it. Approaching Ripon Dave started getting some odds noises from his brakes, having worn the pads out; I don’t know how effective they had been slowing him downhill but I am sure he still had them on going uphill. Entering Ripon Malcolm was greeted by a bird leaving a large deposit on his arm. We have received better welcomes!

After a good nights sleep we set our on what would ultimately be a flatter but longer days riding. Sometimes having no hills is a harder ride as you can never stop pedalling. We carried on to York where we decided to have a coffee break outside the Minster only to find that Karen Lambton, Sheila Forster, Rita Turnbull and Sue Wardle had travelled to York, ostensibly for a day out , but I suspect to check that we really do ride the bikes and don’t just drive from point to point and pose for photos. After coffee we rode to the Yorkshire Museum of Farming where we had arranged to meet for lunch.

We carried on riding through a glorious sunny afternoon to Bishop Witon , a village a mile away from our digs and where we would also be eating that night. After a peacock interrupted we set out expecting another flat day only to find the steepest mile long climb of the weekend five minutes into the ride. It was a real killer; lowest gear from the start, head down and just keep hoping that the end comes soon. Finally we reached Driffield and decided to stop there, load up the bikes and grab a coffee.