April 2007 Video

Here's some helmetcam footage from our trip to the Lakes in April 2007.


Ad and Stu on the Loughrigg Terrace descent, Lakes from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.


Stu on the Walna Scar Road Descent, Lakes from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.


Ad descending from Iron Keld, Lakes from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Malvern nights

Ed and Hedd headed to the Malverns on 5 December 2008 to give night riding a try. Ed had bought some pukka night lights, whereas Hedd went for the cheaper (but more powerfull!) option.

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/mountain_bike_lights_review_led.html

We headed down from Warwick in the car and despite the rain bouncing off the windscreen, we were both enjoying the excitment you only get when you're a bit scared!

We set off from the Tank Quarry car park and were soon enjoying some impressive views of Great Malvern by night.

Ed on the first climb on North Hill with Great malvern in lights below

We soon found ourselves descending for the first time, and it was great fun with plenty of light to descend at daylight speeds.

The fun was soon over and we started the biggest climb of the night up to Worcestershire Beacon. This turned out to be a bit of a slog due to the really high winds, but eventually we reached the top.

Ed close to the top of Worcestershire Beacon

A triumphant Ed at the Worcestershire Beacon summit

Hedd at the Worcestershire Beacon summit

From the top of Worcestershire Beacon we headed down the longest and best descent of the night. A growing confidence in our lights, not worrying too much about the things we couldn't see or meeting walkers coming the other way led to a pretty fast descent.

From the botttom, we contoured around and headed down a switchback descent to the car park. We both struggled a bit to pick the right line into the switchbacks, but this will come soon enough.

We got back to the car just as the rain started to fall - a perfect introduction to night riding.

Stackage Top 5!

Here's a collection of some of the best stackage we've captured on camera.

Firstly, here's Stu showing us all how not to do the gulley at Rhayader. More of a tactical dismount that a stack, but still pretty amusing.


Stu's unsuccessful gulley attempt, Miner's track, Rhayader from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Next, it's the first entry from danger man Ross, as he finds some pace descending through Minton Batch (Long Mynd) only to be undone by a patch of mud.


Ross takes a tumble on the Monton batch descent from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Now then, what happens if you don't manage to spot obstacles as big as fallen trees? Let Ash demonstrate on the descent to Periton near Minehead!


Ash and the fallen tree, Periton, Near Minehead from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

To the Lakes next, and Ad cuts one corner too many on the Walna Scar Road!


Ad takes a tumble on the Walna Scar Road, Coniston, Lakes from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

And now the winner. It's Ross again, this time getting some air in miserable weather on White's Level at Afan Argoed, but getting the landing all wrong!

Ross gets air and dirt on White's Level, Afan Argoed from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

April 2008 Video

Here's a few videos from our trip to the Quantocks & Exmoor back in April. This one features Ad and Ed descending through Somerton Combe.


Ad and Ed descending through Somerton Combe, Quantocks from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

And this is Ad and Ed heading through the awesome Smith's Combe.


Ad & Ed on their way down Smiths Combe, Quantocks from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Away from the Quantocks to Exmoor next. Ad and Ed again, this time on the awesome Horner Wood singletrack.


Ad and Ed descending through Horner Wood, Exmoor from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

And finally, here's Ash at the bottom of the Lynch Combe descent.


Ash at the bottom of the Lynch Combe descent, Exmoor from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Back in the Saddle: September - Peak District

Well, we finally managed to organise another well attended mountain biking trip at the end of September. The hockey players were away at Chesterfield on Saturday 27 September. Nev and Hedd headed up that afternoon, pitched the tent in Edale and headed out for an evening ride in glorious weather.

We rode from Edale and took the Jaggers Clough bridleway up to Hope Cross, from there we descended "The Beast", walked back up and finally headed back towards Edale by the same route to meet the victorious hockey players: Ed, Adam and Stu.

Nev riding from Jaggers Clough towards Edale

High spirited hockey players, a long wait for food and the arrival of another two riders that hadn't been near their bikes for a while (Tom and Ash) meant overindulgence on a rather grand scale and the Old Nag's Head in Edale.

We awoke early on Sunday morning with shocking hangovers to the sound of heavy rain pounding the tent - not ideal. The process of getting up and getting the tent down was a very slow one, but we eventually left the campsite at about 10:30am, not bothering to try and reclaim our noise deposit!

We headed to the Woodbine Cafe in Hope for some breakfast. We were still nursing hangovers, but at least the weather was improving.

After yet more faffing, we finally got riding at about 11:45, heading up to Hope Cross in the sunshine.

Ed and Ash after a spot of maintenance on the climb out of Hope

Rather than repeat "The Beast", we headed on to the Blackley Hey descent. Everyone enjoyed this, although Ad did take a bit of a tumble on some loose rocks.

Tom (with game face on!) and Nev at the bottom of the Blackley Hey descent

From Blackley Hey, we crossed the A57 and headed straight up the Rowlee farm switchback climb.

Ed, Ash and Nev reach the top of the Rowlee farm climb

We paused for a break at the top, we'd made good progress to this point but one or two of us were still not feeling at our best!

Eventually we headed North and took on the "Suicide Brake" descent. This was most peoples favourite from the day, with some great opportunities to gather some speed and a few mildly techy bits to catch the unwary.

Ed taking on the "Suicide Brake" descent at pace

After a puncture repair (Hedd) and some snacks at the Fairholmes visitor centre (near the Derwent Reservoir Dam), we headed off around Ladybower Reservoir and after helping a family with a snapped rear mech hanger and twisted chain, we began the climb up to Whinstone Lee Tor.

Team photograph at the top of Whinstone Lee Tor (Ed, Nev, Stu, Tom, Ash and Ad)

From the summit, we headed East and after a good start disaster struck as Tom and Nev missed the right turn that the rest of us had taken to deliver us to The Ladybower Inn. Adam set off to look for them, but unfortunately they'd decided to head back to their car so they could use their mobiles. Eventually the call came, and the rest of us headed back to Hope by road. It was a strange end to a very enjoyable weekend - good beer, good riding and great company!

Day 0: Friday 18 July - Kirkby Stephen

We all eventually arrived at Kirkby Stephen during the evening, after some very heavy traffic on the M6. Fortunately for the rest of us, Nev and Ed travelled ahead and pitched the tent at the Pennine View campsite. We adjourned to the local pub (The Croglin Castle Hotel) for a few appropriate pints of Wainwright bitter with everyone a little uneasy, not really knowing what they'd let themselves in for. Nev and Ed had done a good job with the tent, just as well because we were all woken by heavy rain showers during the night, which did nothing for that sense of unease!

Day 1: Saturday 19 July - St Bees to Grasmere

We all woke very early, it must have been the excitment! Thanks to Ed, we had a spot of breakfast and then gradually organised our kit into bags and wandered over to meet the Packhorse (http://www.cumbria.com/packhorse/) minibus with our bikes. The minibus was soon loaded and by 8:30 were on our way to the start at St Bees. The weather was dreadful, and we were all very quiet - what were we doing? After an hour an three quarters, we arrived at St Bees and flagged down a passer by to take the obligatory photos on the beach.

The team - Nev, Ed, Hedd, Matt, Stu and Ad

It was absolutely freezing, and we took shelter in the local cafe/shop, picking up a few last minute supplies. We were away by 10:30, heading along roads and a disused railway line to Cleator Moor. A quick stop for some Greggs sausage rolls for lunch and we headed on into the Ennerdale valley. Our Packhorse driver had recommended a route change, avoiding the boggy Floutern tarn bridleay over to Buttermere, and instead staying in the valley up to the remote Black Sail youth hostel and crossing using the Scarth Gap Pass. This climb was very steep and involved a bit of carrying, but we were all pretty fresh and we handled it without too much trouble.

Nev and Ed carrying up Scarth Gap Pass

That said, we were all pretty happy to reach the top. The descent started out ridable, but soon became very difficult. Ed and Ad managed to do the most riding, although their lines often took them way off course with stopping in the wet a real challenge. From halfway down, it became much easier, with some fantastic technical rocky sections for us all to get our teeth into. A few of us took tumbles here, including Hedd and Stu, but we all agreed it was great fun when we arrived at the bottom to repair the first puncture of the ride.

Hedd on the Scarth Gap Pass descent

Our next challenge was a road climb on the Honister Pass, which was tough but doable. We stopped for some tea and panini at the Slate Mine Museum Cafe at the top. It was 3pm and an early finish was on the cards. We descended quickly on road and headed for Stonethwaite and the start of the final pass of the day - Greenup Edge. We'd all read some pretty daunting reports about Greenup Edge, but how hard could it be? ....errrr ....very hard!

After a couple of puntures we got started. The climb was brutal. We pushed/carried for about two hours, focussing on the rocky outcrop of Lining Crag ahead.

The Greeup Edge climb with Lining Crag on the horizon

Some walkers struck up a conversation with the line "Why?" - we explained our mission and they kindly donated £5 to Cancer Research UK! We were hoping that our trail passed to the right of Lining Crag, but unfortunately it went to the left, up a really steep rocky climb that was flowing with water in the rain. Stu struggled with this due to vertigo, and wasn't helped by leaving his rucksack at the bottom and having to go back for it. Eventually we all made it to the top, expecting the summit and a nice easy descent to the Grasmere youth hostel.

Stu on Greenup Edge.... But where is his rucksack?

Unfortunaltely, what followed was another hour of traipsing through knee deep bogs on the summit plateau, followed by a descent that was largely unridable. We managed to ride some sections, but this was scant reward for all the effort we'd put into the climb.

Matt takes a tumble on the Greenup Edge descent

We eventually arrived at the Thorney How youth hostel in Grasmere at 7:30pm. The drying room was just what we needed, and after a quick shower we strolled into Grasmere for a bite to eat, making the pub's 9pm food order deadline by seconds!

Matt at the Grasmere youth hostel

Day 2: Sunday 20 July - Grasmere to Kirkby Stephen

Thanks to the youth hostel breakfast, we managed to get our bikes and be away by 8:15. We freewheeled down into Grasmere, before the tarmac climb up to the top of Loughrigg terrace. The sun was shining and we all really enjoyed this descent. It's usually very busy with walkers, but our early start was paying dividends as we enjoyed a clear run.

Matt on Loughrigg terrace

We rolled into Ambleside and headed for Biketreks (http://www.biketreks.net/), Hedd and Ad needed to replace rear disc brake rotors damaged during day 1's hike-a-bike. When we described our day 1 route, the Biketreks boys were pretty scathing about Greenup Edge (the descent from Langdale combe is much more ridable apparently - one for next time!).

After a brief delay to buy some lunch we were on our way again, climbing Jenkin Crag with great views over Windermere.

The start of the Jenkin Crag climb

Our progress was slowed by Matt taking another tumble into a stream (much to the amusement of some passing walkers). This route is definately better in the opposite direction, but we all enjoyed a fast drop into Troutbeck all the same.

Our climb up the Garburn Pass started on tarmac, but soon we were racing along the track past Dubbs reservoir. We went through a gate and the proper climb started, with some really challenging steep and rocky sections and great views over the Troutbeck valley and back to Windermere.

Ed climbing up to the Garburn Pass

Matt, Ed, Hedd & Ad at the top of the Garburn Pass

The Garburn Pass descent into Kentmere was a real highlight, rocky and fast with a few short technical sections to keep us on our toes. We stopped at the bottom to eat some lunch and swap our 'near miss' stories from the descent.

Lunch at the bottom of the Garburn Pass

Kentmere was really busy as there seemed to be a fell running event being based there. We weaved between competitors and spectators and left them all behind for the climb on tarmac and then tracks over Stile end. We were at the top in no time and really enjoyed the descent to Sadgill. It was another fast one, with just a short technical section. The sun was shining and this was turning into a very good day!

Ed on the descent to Sadgill

Coast to coast purists would head North from Sadgill and make their way towards Shap, but really boggy conditions meant that we were heading South to Murthwaite for some grassy climbs and descents which took us to the A6. We headed North, passed by some very fast motorbikers taking the corners horizontally, and after a pretty painful climb we dropped down into Borrowdale and left the tarmac behind.

The team head into Borrowdale

As we followed the river downstream we had some navigational issues. The bridleway shown on the left bank on the map just couldn't be found. We forded the river and took the easy track on the right bank instead.

Hedd wasting no time with the ford in Borrowdale

Stu and Ad (team Orange) re-cross the stream in Borrowdale

All was going well until the climb over Roundthwaite Common. We could see it winding away to our left but were just hoping it wasn't our route. We were already pretty tired and all found it really tough.

Ed on the tough climb out of Borrowdale

As we reached the top and took in the view, we all agreed we had never been so pleased to see the M6. This landmark meant that the Lake District was behind us, but we still had a fair bit of distance to cover before we reached our campsite in Kirkby Stephen.

Matt at the bottom of the Roundthwaite Common descent

We decided on a pub stop in Tebay (The Cross Keys Inn) to refill water bottles and fuel up on drinks and crisps. By now it was 5pm and we had another 15miles to cover, approximately 50:50 onroad:offroad.

The pub stop in Tebay

The onroad part seemed to pass in no time and we all got together and made our way onto the bridlepaths that headed for Smardale Fell. With a shout of "Come on lads, just one more climb!", we fought our way up the mainly rideable trails towards the Fell. We reached false summit after false summit until, just as we were starting to believe this would go on forever, we reached the summit and started heading downwards on a fun, grassy track.

Matt climbing Smardale Fell

After a few miles on the road, we cycled through the centre of Kirkby Stephen to reach the Pennine View campsite at 6:30pm. We were relieved to have made it and were begining to belive that the worst was now behind us.

We showered and made our way back to the Croglin Castle Hotel for more fuel!

Day 3: Monday 21 July - Kirkby Stephen to Richmond

After a long day 2, we gave ourselves a bit of a lie in and left the alarm until 7am. We got some breakfast and organised our bags for Packhorse. We were ready to ride at about 9am.

Ready to leave the Kirkby Stephen campsite on Day 3

Thankfully, the first six miles were on road, passing through the villages of Winton and Rookby, which allowed us to knock-off some easy miles and warm up before the proper stuff!

Heading off-road for the first time on day 3

Our obvious track soon ran out and we found ourselves trying to pick the dryest route possible over some boggy ground at the bottom of a wide valley.

Nev always confident (?) as he crosses a stream

After some traipsing, the trail headed upwards and we began the big climb up to the road. We were again indebted to our friends at Packhorse for some route advice as we follwed a trail along a wall to avoid the worst of the boggy ground.

Matt and Nev climb to the road

After a few undulations on the road we reached our next target, the highest pub in GB, the Tan Hill Inn. This is a great pub and the staff were very helpful, making up some sandwiches even though we arrived 40mins before the start of their lunchtime!

The team at the Tan Hill Inn

The pub also had some very interesting regulars, including a sheep that was determined to get inside.

Nev talks about the problems with having a massive left ear with a fellow sufferer

From the Tan Hill Inn, we headed over Arkengarthdale Moor and navigation became tricky. The main problem was that we couldn't believe we were on the right track because it was such heavy going! We gained confidence and headed further and further from civilisation, the only reminder was a view of the A66 in the distance. The trail over the moor seemed to go on forever, but in the end it led to a fantastic, fast descent.

Ad, Hedd and Stu head over Arkengarthdale Moor

After a little distance on the road, we found another pub (The CB Inn, Arkengarthdale) and had another break. Time was passing and unfortunately, Stu left it until we needed to get going before checking his bike for punctures.... Whoops!

Stu and his puncture at the CB Inn

All these pub stops meant that our next bit of offroading, over Booze Moor, was particularly appropriate! It started with a steep climb on tarmac before progressing to a moorland track. Navigation was difficult as once again we were struggling to find paths that were clearly marked on the map.

Eventually we found a good trail and made fast progress on a double track descent. After some more tarmac around Washfold we found a great grassy descent over Skelton Moor and dropped into Marske.

Matt on the descent into Marske

From here it was onroad all the way into Richmond. It was about 7pm so to save some time we found a chippy and ate there, before heading off again for the last couple of miles out to the Brompton On Swale Caravan Park. This was a great site and we got a great pitch right next to the River Swale.

A fellow camper takes pity on Ed and pumps up the airbed with their car powered pump!

Day 4: Tueday 22 July - Richmond to Lion Inn, Blakey Howe

When we awoke on day 4, we all agreed that the sound of the nearby river had helped us get one of our better nights sleep under canvas. We packed the tent away, got some breakfast and were away at about 9am, following some faffing from Hedd who lost and found the backup map a number 0f times.

(Nearly) ready to go on Day 4

The day started with a long road section. This section across the Vale of York was always going to be the dullest from a riding perspective, but at least it passed quickly.

Matt and Ed get a tow from Ad on the initial road section

Although we were making good progress, we were also feeling a bit peckish so we had a quick pitstop in Brompton.

Fueling up in Brompton

From Brompton, we headed along the busy A684 towards Osmotherley. We had another break and enjoyed looking around this picturesque small town.

The beautiful small town of Osmotherley

Soon after Osmotherley we headed offroad for the first time and enjoyed the descent from Scarth Wood Moor, although Hedd lost his water bottle.

Nev tackles the first offroad descent of the day on Scarth Wood Moor
Hedd at the bottom of the Scarth Wood Moor descent, without his water bottle!

From here, we followed the Cleveland Way for a while and stopped for yet more food. After another onroad section we passed Scuddale Hall and headed steeply uphill for the rather uninspiring drop to Chop Gate, where we managed to persuade the pub to open.

Matt on the muddy descent to Chop Gate

Now all we had to do was climb back up onto the moor and find the Lion Inn (http://www.pubnetuk.supanet.com/lioninn/index.htm), which allows camping for coast to coasters only. This turned out to be quite a big ask. It was really hot by this stage and we were relieved that part of the climb was through East Bank Plantation and therefore in the shade.

Hedd fords Bilsdale Beck before the climb across Urra Moor to Round Hill

Hedd half-way up feeling the heat!

Following a short push/carry between the top of the plantation and the moorland plateau, we made it. Now we just had to cover a few easy miles on a disused railway line, and we'd be at the pub!

The last few easy miles of the day on disused railway

Before too long, the Lion Inn came into view - a very welcome sight. It was about 6pm so we had time for a celebratory beer in the garden before pitching the tent in an adjacent field.

Job done - time for a beer!

We were all in celebratory mood, just one day (the easiest) left. We decided that we deserved a substantial meal in the resturant and a few too many beers.

A celebratory meal and a few too many - the Lion Inn