A weekend at Dales Bike Centre

Had a weekend at Dales Bike Centre in Swaledale. A great place to stay, or stop off for a coffee, between Grinton and Reeth. Highly recommended.

Friday: rode up to Swaledale on the road, via Scotch Corner, Richmond and Marske.

Distance: 26 miles (map)
Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Surface: On-road
Weather: Warm with showers
Bike: Inbred Singlespeed (32:17, with 2.2″ tyres)

Saturday: off-road ride round Swaledale in strong winds and rain. Got blown to a standstill on the tops a few times, and got a little lost on the top of Gunnerside, which meant some creative carrying down the fairly steep valley side. Had planned on a slightly longer loop, and following it up with a road loop, but the slow going and carrying put paid to that.

Distance: 28 miles (map)
Time: 5 hours
Surface: Off-road
Weather: Wet and very windy, but fairly warm
Bike: Inbred Singlespeed (32:17, with 2.2″ tyres)

Sunday: rode home via Hurst and Newsham on mainly road with some off-road. This route will be my new way to/from Swaledale from now on. Really quick coming home (Newsham to Darlington town centre in exactly one hour!) GPS lost satellite after a few km, so no map or GPS data.

Distance: 28 miles
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Surface: On-road (with one short off-road section)
Weather: Windy, but fairly warm
Bike: Inbred Singlespeed (32:17, with 2.2″ tyres)