A good long ride today in very icy conditions, with solid frozen ground and a light dusting of snow up higher

this photo at Hameldown was a pivotal moment of today’s ride.. it was at this point that I realised that staying still for more than a few moments to take photo’s was making me feel very bloody cold in the howling wind.. so I hurriedly got moving again to warm myself up… leaving the camera on the snow at the side of the trail.. DOH! A mile or two further along, after showing off some rad skills to a large walking group as I slid down through the snow into Grimspound, I stopped to photograph a frozen stream, and realised what had happened.. the hike-a-bike back up the slope and the ride back down to here again was depressing enough to make me change my plans and head off south along the ridge to Widecombe..

very nice; my favourite is the last one – what camera & how did it cope with the cold of of interest? Just got a new dslr and wondering how it will cope with the cold??

Thanks.. I only post ’em up here as a bit of a ride report.. Was just a fairly cheapo Panasonic Lumix compact.. it was inside a little cheapo aftermarket case..

The only time it played up was when the lens cover didn’t spring open fully, but it was fine with a little flick.. 8)

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How was Dingly Dell and Smallacombe holding up out of interest

Beautiful pics there

Thanks Hugor

Si – I’m still avoiding Smallacombe, even writing about it now makes me cry like a little girl.. I went down the bridleway that leads from the top down to Leighon, which as a result of the floods now has a deep chasm running down the centre and a few more exposed rocks..

Down into Dingly Dell, the rain has also made a few alterations, but I remember thinking that if anything, there’s a few more straightforward lines through there now where rubble has been washed down and trapped in the gaps.. the hop onto the bridge at the other end is a few inches higher now too..

The ground was surprisingly hard and dry everywhere though..

Looks parky. & lovely,
Dartmoor’s on my wish list of riding destinations for 2013.

Great pics – when you say Hameldown do you mean you’re riding the Two Moors Way? Cheeky 🙂

Nice pics, what’s the riding like on Dartmoor? Is it just big tracks across the moors (ie you go for the views and the environment rather than thrills)?

And presumably it’s pretty boggy most of the year?

Is it just big tracks across the moors (ie you go for the views and the environment rather than thrills)?

There’s that but also lots of steep, heavily wooded valleys thick with rocky ‘n’ rooty singletrack. Tops do get pretty boggy after rain but plenty of wet weather alternatives.

mattjg – I echo what sprocketjockey says..

It’s worth having a guide to get the best out of it, but you can put together some very decent riding as long as you’re handy with a map.. I only stick up pictures of the pretty bits..

Two Moors Way? Cheeky

😳 usually I would stick to the bridleway from Natsworthy up and over to Grimspound.. it was rock hard up there though so I didn’t feel too bad.. 8)

I went with some friends to Dartmoor this summer and was kindly shown around by a local and his friends, superb weekend and literally can’t wait to go again for more exploring. Having a local guide was key to its success, made for a stress free 2 days riding. Best place i’ve ridden so far, not into steep rooty tech stuff but prefer good old fashioned xc stuff, superb views and very jealous of folk lucky enough to be living down there.

There’s that but also lots of steep, heavily wooded valleys thick with rocky ‘n’ rooty singletrack

And they’re lovely and frosty too! (at least they were yesterday)

Looks to have dried out a fair bit since I was last up there (but it’s raining again now, so it’ll be soaking again soon enough).

yunki:
Hameldown was a pivotal moment of today’s ride.. it was at this point that I realised that staying still for more than a few moments to take photo’s was making me feel very bloody cold in the howling wind

Hmm, I’ve had two instances of being properly [albeit mildly] hypothermic, and one was up there, on that ridge behind Grimspound. The raw wind was the thing that pushed me over from *just* being very cold and miserable to being muddled, stumbling, and being convinced that lying down for a sleep would be fine. 😕

nice pics (the second one reminds me of the hobbit/lord of the rings).

although i only rode on the k & a canal towpath to melksham i did see both a fox (crossing into a field with llamas) ans a kestrel at the same time.was well chuffed as i haven’t seen a fox for ages 😀

Lovely shots, very jealous. Hopefully back in 2013.

Yunki please stop putting up great shots of Dartmoor on here cos you’re making it look so bloody lovely we’ll have everyman & his dog down here riding around & we’ll never have the trails to ourselves anymore, plus I’ll have to drag Bigbloke and his mates around (again) next summer.

We all know it’s really flat as a pancake on Dartmoor with very boggy bits & only fireroads to ride on 😉