Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • Local riding – The Bingley Bash – is great!
  • tomj
    Free Member

    So I have a confession. Despite living only 7mike away or so I’d not done this ride or much local riding, thinking it was bound to be inferior to the Dales or Calderdale.

    So today with the car at the garage seemed a perfect opportunity to explore from the door. Over Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen to the canal towpath to pick up the Bingley Bash. And it was great. Not sure if it is in the top 5 Yorkshire rides (if I was coming from elsewhere) but great fun and superb riding.

    Quiet roads, rocky byways, pleasant farmtracks, woodland singletrack and moorland tracks. And a couple of bike parks. During the ride I saw wild moorland, pretty woodland, industrial heritage, world heritage, urban decay, urban regeneration and suburbia. And a lot of golf courses. All this within Bradford MDC area.

    I will be exploring some more!!

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    I like the bit that goes past the abbatoir. Holding your breath while you sprint past listening to the dying screams of porky the pig is good for training anaerobic power.

    It is a good loop though, albeit it’s the only ride where I’ve witnessed two women having a scrap by the side of the path.

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Where do you live?

    Baildon/Harden/Esholt has riding way better than the Dales and as good as Calderdale

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    tomj
    Free Member

    I didn’t notice the abbertoir! Did enjoy a nice bacon sandwich half way round though

    tomj
    Free Member

    I live near Otley but am guilty of ignoring the local trails and heading further afield. Seemed like there was a lot more to explore on Baildon and Harden Moor.

    Abd it saves trying to get a bike in a Mini!

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    I assume it’s some kind of meat processing facility – you can hear the plaintive moaning of livestock, high pressure hoses, and there is a hideous whiff of something being deliciously rendered. It’s just before Coldspring Mill on a very potholey side road.

    Some versions of the Bash do avoid this treat, mind you.

    stevehine
    Full Member

    Is there a definitive route map for the Bash ? Also how hard (easy) is it to get lost ? I’ve got a few hours to kill on a Saturday morning in a couple of weeks waiting for my car to be serviced; this could be a happy coincidence ! 🙂

    whitestone
    Free Member

    The basic one has been in various mags over the years. Depending on which way round you do it there are one or two bits that look like you are just heading into a housing estate and could be easy to miss. A search for “Bingley Bash GPX” should bring up something useful.

    whatyadoinsucka
    Free Member

    i keep meaning to head over here too, i love the oxenhope loop from ogden water above halifax, similiar part of the world, is this route in the west yorkshire mtb guide

    is this it

    Bingley Bash

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/bingley_mtb_route8.pdf

    This is the basic version, there are lots of variations.

    Most obvious are at point 4 (Bingley Road) you can turn right onto a BW, follow this down to a t-junction (rocky in places) then turn left and follow to rejoin the road just before the houses.

    You can also do lots of fun mucking about in the woods around point 2.

    (Abbatoir is helpfully titled ‘farm works’ just as you skirt around Cullingworth…)

    That other version seems to sacrifice a lot of the good stuff in St Ives in favour of the long slog up Altar Lane.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Dunno if it’s changed hands but The Guide pub was/is the meeting place for the local members of the BNP.

    A look at Google streetview and those works don’t look like any farm I’ve been on!  Very fancy security dog kennel with associated barrier at the entrance 😉

    P20
    Full Member

    I think the OP is on a different route than the bash listed above. I think it’s the route that goes Guiseley >Baildon Moor>Shipley Glen>canal>Idle>Esholt

    i can do that from the house but haven’t done it for a bit 😳

    tomj
    Free Member

    Actually I did a bit of both!! I did the classic Bingley Bash from the West Yorkshire guidebook – with a little addition over Black Moor near Haworth. But to get to Bingley I left Otley on the roads to Hawksworth and off road along the golf course to Baildon, over the moor and down Shipley Glen to pick up the canal towpath. On the way back I stayed on the canal then up through Esholt Woods to Guisley

    damascus
    Free Member

    Bingley bash is a funny ride. Every time I do it with someone new I get shown a different way. There are so many variations to it now.

    With experience, Ive learned to avoid alter lane and go for a cafe stop in St Ives instead. 😁

    drob59
    Free Member

    The climb out of Bingley up Altar Lane is indeed a killer and I second the cafe route. It’s my back yard all round there, some good hidden woodland stuff to be found round St. Ives I have even recognised some of this local terrain on Chris Akrigg’s videos. There is one scene where he wheelies through a small gap in a wall turns across the main road and hops across the top of the 2 large beams of a horse trap. Seeing some of the terrain for real made me realise how good he is and how good the local terrain is.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Tsk!Killer my ar**! Altar Lane’s a nice warm up.

    Simon
    Full Member

    Altar Lane is on my commute, it’s a good challenge but gets boring. Through Myrtle Park, then up Beckfoot Lane and then up through St Ives past the  golf club house then the top bit of Altar Lane is a good alternative.

    The traditional bash is OK but there are bits that can be improved.

    There’s a nice offroad alternative to the tarmac Bingley Road descent to Crossroads.

    And instead of going from Barcroft to Cullingworth go up Hardgate Lane and over Black Moor then across the moor behind the Flappit.

    And once you get to Smithy Lane at Wilsden instead of going up the bridleway to Lee Lane head through the woods at Sandy Banks. From there go and explore Cottingley Woods .

    Harden Moor and Moor Edge woods have some fun stuff to explore too.

    daern
    Free Member

    I assume it’s some kind of meat processing facility – you can hear the plaintive moaning of livestock, high pressure hoses, and there is a hideous whiff of something being deliciously rendered. It’s just before Coldspring Mill on a very potholey side road.

    I’d always been told it was a chicken farm, but all I can really say is that it stinks and I never, ever stop near it!

    Love the Bingley Bash, but not done it for a year or two now despite riding around Ogden Moor reasonably often. In current conditions, I suspect it’ll be as fast as it’s ever been. Must try to get a window in the riding diary!

    tomj
    Free Member

    I’ve just found it on google maps – looks like I did avoid it. When I got to the A629 at CrossRoads I went straight over on the bridleway to the B6144 then over the mood to Back Moor Lane and back over the Moore behind the Flappit quarry. So I missed that particular delight!

    Mugboo
    Full Member

    Listen to Simon, he knows you knows

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Thanks Tomj. As a result of Googling the Bash last night we ended up doing your full loop today. Tired but satisfied.

    tomj
    Free Member

    Wow – I don’t think I’ve ever inspired anyone before! Glad you enjoyed it. There’s some surprisingly good riding all within a stones throw of the urban areas

    nastybobby
    Free Member

    The smelly factory is a poultry processing place. It does stink, but when a lorry that’s removing some of the carcasses loses part of its load on the roads around the area the smell alone is enough to provoke projectile vomiting.There’s also a huge flock of cannibal seagulls that live in the surrounding fields. It was originally owned by a Mr Webb who lived in a very nice house off Haworth Road, complete with a tennis court and a seperate building in the grounds that housed a heated swimming pool. A mate’s mum lived with him in the 80’s, we used to absolutely love it when they went away for a month in the summer. Where there’s cheap chicken, there’s brass!

    beecoacc
    Free Member

    Every map I see always seems to have the route going the wrong way, missing the good downs and putting in some boring climbs. Maybe I should do my own version and post it up.

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