Hi,

Of to stay with friends at Great Ayton over the weekend, and we’ll be staying in the area for a couple of days afterwards.

We ride a lapierre H/T tandem, and will probably visit Dalby one day. But are there any local routes that we can do without travelling (or not travelling too far), Don’t really want to ride really boggy tracks, nor super steep hills (unless it’s down 🙂 )

Gareth

Hiya, can’t really help but we stayed in Great Ayton a few years ago. Nice little place. I only ran round there so can’t comment about mtb routes. The Cleveland Way is nearby so maybe scope for some cheekiness there.

There’s a lot of good riding from the door in Great Ayton or Guisborough (my local trails now). This time of year there is a lot of mud around but plenty of decent double track that are well drained.

What sort time / distance are you looking for and do you want to start from Great Ayton or Guisborough? I can suggest a route if you want.

Absolutely loaddddssss of riding straight out of the door around there.

If you’re taking a tandem then the blue or red loop round Guisborough Woods would be a start (nice easy gravel fireroads). You can start at the Pinchinthorpe visitor’s centre just down the road from Great Ayton.

There’s also plenty of nice riding over the moors nearby (Kildale / Commondale).

Here’s a couple of rides at Guisborough..

Check out my 14.7 mi Ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/425719828

Check out my 14.1 mi Ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/354724410

You can get to them from Great Ayton no problem or as above start at Pinchinthorpe.

Also worth noting is that the red route at Guisborough has been decommissioned, all the elements are still just about there, but all the signage has been taken down.

Thanks for the great response

@tomd From great Ayton – prob about 10 max 15 miles in this weather – because it will take us longer than you! Double track sounds good. And we’re both recovering from colds/injury 🙁

@devash – didn’t know there were waymarked routes in Guisborough woods – got a Map? Googled like mad but can’t find anything…

@centralscrutinizer – thanks for those – I’ll download the gpx’s and have a look at them on the map.

@devash – didn’t know there were waymarked routes in Guisborough woods – got a Map? Googled like mad but can’t find anything…

The waymarked route was rubbish, to the point that it was 18 months or riding regularly with locals before I realised that one of the better descents was actually meant to be a waymarked climb!

super steep hills (unless it’s down )

Careful what you wish for in the woods themselves, the trail builders have a penchant for the vertical.

The moors themselves hold up really well over the winter as a lot of the trails are roads of some description or other varying from flagstone to rocky to crushed limestone.

The Cleveland way makes for a decent enough ride in places if you don’t want anything too technical (and don’t mind a few steps and stiles).

I haven’t got a map to hand but if you start in Skelton, head upto the road skelton Green, Priescrofts bridleway to Lingdale, road through village and straight out on the farm track to little moorsholme farm, to stank house farm, roadall the way down to the harbour wall in Skinningrove, then onto the cleveland way North to Saltburn (it’s a push up the cliff steps but that’s the only unrideable bit). From saltburn go up the zig zags and follow the (technically a footpath) trail into the woods and along the valley back to Skelton (more steps out the valley t the end, but only a few this time).

To extend it, make it a lolipop shape by taking the bridelway from Guisbrough via Airy Hill Farm. Which pretty much links up with the disused railway cycle trail through guisbrough town itself.

The waymarked route was rubbish, to the point that it was 18 months or riding regularly with locals before I realised that one of the better descents was actually meant to be a waymarked climb!

😆 I know exactly where you mean!

I’d stay clear of Guisborough at this time of year. Even some of the double track’s over there are mud baths at the moment. If I was going for a loop on tandem, I’d cycle from Great Ayton on tarmac to Kildale. From there, take the Cleveland way towards Clay bank . Before you reach the descent to clay bank turn right and descend towards Bank Foot (Ingleby incline). From there, return to Great Ayton via Ingleby Greenhow

Call in at Bike Scene in Guisborough & ask Craggsy where to go with a tandem. There’s a long time customer of theirs called Joe who rode/rides a tandem with his Mrs from Gizzy.

I’d stay clear of Guisborough at this time of year. Even some of the double track’s over there are mud baths at the moment. If I was going for a loop on tandem, I’d cycle from Great Ayton on tarmac to Kildale. From there, take the Cleveland way towards Clay bank . Before you reach the descent to clay bank turn right and descend towards Bank Foot (Ingleby incline). From there, return to Great Ayton via Ingleby Greenhow

I disagree. Plenty of tandem-suitable riding at the mo (was there last weekend).

I’d suggest this as a route if you want 10 miles from Great Ayton:

http://my.viewranger.com/route/details/MTEzNTg5

I’ve started it at the station. It’s mostly on good tracks. It takes you to the top of Captain Cooks monument which might be a push for a bit but worth it for the views. The descent is a good path except the first 20m which is quite steep. These are technically footpaths but other than weekends you’ll get no bother.

What tomd posted joins onto my routes.
Conditions on those trails will be perfectly OK.

Thanks everybody – more great ideas.

Plenty of tandem-suitable riding

is a difficult to qualify statement – we get lots of “You’re doing that on a tandem” type statements 🙂

I need to look at the map now….

@jimbob – that looks good – about 12 miles? And presumably you could extend that by following the Cleveland trail to where it crosses the road at Claybank- then descend towards Inglby Greenhow – which has a pub (at least on the map 🙂 )

The Dudley Arms. Nice food as well

Some stunning riding round there. I was going to suggest finishing on the dirt jump place just north of ayton until I read your post a bit more carefully

Hey @tomd – thanks for the route. Got it printed but how do you download a gpx?

@nosedive – we’ve been seen playing in the bikepark at Glentress….you can get air (just) on a tandem….

I think if you register (free) for viewranger you can download it. Wen you click on the route there’s a “menu” tab on the top right that gives a link to export to gpx.

Edit – I’ve sent you a private message on here. I can email you it you send your address.

I thought that too – I’ve got a free membership of viewranger – but it only allows me to print the pdf. I’ve mailed you.

I don’t know if the messaging works I didn’t get anything. Stuck the gpx here anyway:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1EeMIC8XQQZVmlwLVl1V1JLUEk

Well, after a very wet and cold weekend, we got out today and did tomd’s route in glorious sunshine. Bit challenging in places (!) but a great route. Posting this from the Royal Oak in great Ayton celebrating a super afternoon.

It’s good that you stayed here long enough to get the nice weather and have a decent ride. The weekend was atrocious.

Just thought I’d wrap this up.

As said above on Tuesday, we did the tomd route around Rosberry, and up to Captain Cooks monument. Good tandem route – only one push up – on part of the ascent to the CC monument. And there was a really wet rocky descent, which we thought we’d save for a drier day!

Following day we rode the Moor 2 sea route from Great Ayton to Danby – mostly road ( 🙁 ) but a nice bridleway section, and we added another one into/out of Danby. Just over 26 miles, and 750m of climbing. Thankfully pretty much all downhill for the second half of the return journey – ending in the Royal Oak again.

Thursday we went off to Dalby, and had limited time so rode the blue and got to the start of Riggs & Dales red. Really enjoyed it, though the steep rocks drops we’ll save for another day when we’re padded up properly.

Unfortunately, at post 32, exiting the section though the fences we got it slightly wrong, and caught the stokers bars. We both went down very heavily. Sally broke her collar bone, I’m just pretty battered. Very nice ranger (Emma) rescued Sally whilst I rode the tandem back to the centre, and then off to Scarborough casualty.

We’re home now (in itself a bit of a saga), and recovering.

Again a big thank you for everybody’s suggestions – Sally is really impressed with how people pulled together ideas for routes and rides

PS The tandem seems OK……

As long as the bike’s ok! 😉

Get well soon Sally.