The first section to Pateley Bridge is mostly road apart from a section of track over Pock Stones Moor.
We'd only set off at dinner time so a quick pub tea
Shortly after this you get in to the first big section of off-road which includes this rather steep climb out of Bouthwaite. This lower section is one of those hit and miss as to whether you clean it, managed it this time.
You've then a set of undulating tracks around the edge of the dale
Time was getting on a bit by now so it was a choice of bivy near Scar House reservoir or push on for a couple of hours and bivy somewhere above Park Rash/Kettlewell. We decided to go for the short option. We'd bivvied here in the trees a couple of years ago but this time it was pretty windy and the suitable spots were a bit exposed so we ended up a couple of hundred metres further on in a sheep pen.
The only time I used the light on the entire ride!
So in the morning we'd then got the climb over Dead Man's Hill. This used to be a right mess having been churned up by 4x4s but it's been repaired, the worst bit has had at least a couple of metres depth of rock put down, you used to be in a trench that was deeper than a vehicle and now you can see across the moor. This also happens to be at the steepest bit: stones set into concrete with gravel lying on the surface all at about 25% gradient. It's a struggle to keep the front wheel on the ground then you get to the speed bumps!
This is the easier lower section.
A blast down in to Coverdale before more road work. A cheeky ask to use a tap outside a barn and it's on to Park Rash. The sun's making an appearance now.
Eh up! Are we on the Tour Divide? No lass this is Yorkshire.
The descent into Wensleydale
We bumped into J.R. Hartley
It had become apparent that Cath wasn't firing on all cylinders, there was on pep in her step, so we headed off-route into Askrigg in search of a café to discuss our options.
One of which was staying in the café and working our way through the cake, purely in the name of research of course
We decided to skip the "northern loop" and start heading back. This meant the Roman Road out of Bainbridge.
Not easy in the heat. Once on the top we picked up the Pennine Bridleway heading down towards Newby Head. The Lakes just visible in the distance.
On to a short section of bridleway that doesn't get that much attention that heads back towards Ribblehead. I've done it once before and it depends on how wet things are as to how much is rideable but today it was pretty much dry.
After a pub stop at The Railway Inn at Ribblehead it was back on-route.
We were going to bivy up on Sulber Nick but there's no water up there so stuck to the east side of the valley which had the advantage of also being out of the wind and ended up bivvying at Sell Gill.
All very quiet apart from the 5am wakeup call from motorbikes racing up the Dale.
A breakfast in Stainforth then there's a steep climb up past Catgill Foss. I've never managed to clean the bottom of this but a different line leads to success.
The Settle Loop leads over to Malham Tarn and a stop at the ice cream van. Mastiles Lane and Weets Top drop us down towards home. Another pub stop in Gargrave to rehydrate then a flat bit along the canal. Well it would be apart from the various locks. Just one hill to get home, of course it's one of the biggest of the day.
