Heading out tomorrow on a sneaky day off (work can GFI !) but just wondered what peoples opinion is of this route/area.

It’s a 49km ‘Killer’ route from the VP Yorkshire Dales/South Dales Mountain Biking book.

Anything I’m missing or any diversions people think I should take ?

Mastilles lane can be a mess, but has had surfacing and a vehicle ban I think

Mastilles lane can be a mess

.. up hill too. Look forward to that then !

That’s a great route, it’s long and you’ll know you’ve done it! It’s all good to go and mastiles is fine. The climb out of arnclife coat always makes my eyes water a bit and there is no tech on it but it’s a good day out. Enjoy. If your using that guide my fave is to do page 19 and 79 back to back, that makes for a toughy!

This is the first route i did back in 1987 on my rockhopper,i did it with a pal on a muddyfox bigfoot 2,we did it the other way round and i cursed him all the way (a 15 years old colourful language,lots of knob head getting bandied about)we went back the following weekend and did it with the amazing descent into Kilnsey(i popped a spoke there in Jan this year )i love riding that route ,im jealous as i live in East Sussex on the flatest part of the entire world Romney marsh ,Enjoy my home riding spot its a beauty .

Going up Mastiles Lane is good but a waste of painfully gained height coming down IMO. The BW that goes off NW at the gate then drops down to the road to Arncliffe and is cool, brill & ace.

Food & pint in The Falcon, Arncliffe recommended.
Enjoy the ride; its a special place.

^ what mrelectric said

I did it 20 year ago & not been back since but I bet nothing’s changed !,I still remember Mastiles lane tho …wot about motorbikes are they still Ripping it up ?..

This is a local of mine and fine in wet although terrible in slushy snow (see forecast). I start from kilnsey, parking on the big bridge over the river just south of the start of mastiles. This gives the mastiles down as the last part and the cafe at the trout farm is good for post ride brews.

Starting this way you can ride past settle if you are short of time, just cutting through the upper part if the town.

Conditions right now are saturated ground so come with tyres and pressures to help.

Mastiles lane is without motor bikes as far as I can say. Zero issue for MTB.

Have fun

Cheers for all the advice.

Everything sorted and I’m going no matter what the weather.

A James – that 19 & 79 looks good, I’ll definitely give it a go.

The BW that goes off NW at the gate then drops down to the road to Arncliffe and is cool, brill & ace.

Is this the BW that follows Gordale Beck and Cote Gill down to Arncliffe & Hawkswick Cote. The route map has me coming back that way after Mastiles Lane IE anti clock wise from Kilnsey. Better the other way round then ?

Just checked the map: yes, that’s it: from Street Gate to Hawkswick Cote. Deffo do it other way round!
No idea why anyone would say to go DOWN Mastiles and up that BW?! Did I miss something?

Good surface on most/steepest bit of Mastile. It was mostly frozen when I went 2 weeks ago but some snow on th BW; good luck with the surface.

There was another post on this FYI.

mrelectric – Thanks again. Checked the book definitely has it coming up Cote Gill not down. Just checked the Good Mountain Biking Guide too. The recommended route from Stainforth is across the top and climb up Cote Gill to Malham Cove !

I’ll take your word for it and do it your way. The OS contours look far better your way too. Anything described as old school ‘cool, ace, brill’ has got to be worth a go 😀 !

No probs. Stan BB above agreed too.

Yes, DOWN to Arncliffe Cote and UP Mastiles Lane.

🙂

Double post…

live close to there. hope you are ready for some snow we had some overnight.

c

Still rideable ? Just about to set off.

Very very snowy! About an inch of slushy in Skipton, must be much, much more in the Dales.

Sorry if this reaches you too late!

He’s gonna wish he’d stayed in bed

😀

Nah, he’ll be back telling us it was superb, not 20 miles of slushy snow…

Sorry if this reaches you too late!

Hmmmmmm much too late !

Bright sunny day when I set off from home. The second I turned off the M6, bleak skies and sleet. Some of the back roads leading to Settle were a bit dodgy and I was beginning to contemplate carrying on to the Lakes instead, but 2 miles out from Settle the white stuff disappeared and I just had some rain to contend with.

So off I set. Bit cold and wet but all very ‘could be worse, I could be at work’.

I reckon the white stuff started falling just before Mitchel Lane. By the time I got onto Stockdale Lane the snow was a good 3″ thick and when I got to the gate at the end some of the drifts were calf deep. By the time I got to Kirkby Fell all the snow was almost knee deep, it was bike hike only and if it wasn’t for the GPS I wouldn’t have had a clue where the trail was. The snow was driving hard too and drifting on one side of the bike and me.

I then did something I very rarely do. I did the sensible thing and jibbed the rest of the route. It really did feel stupid to be up there. You know you’re in bother when no other human or animal is up there with you. I headed across Nappa Cross and headed back down to Settle.

By the time I got down to Clay Pits Plantation the snow was almost gone again but **** me what a muddy slidy mess that last section was.

So here I am, p1ssed off and deflated having only just finished cleaning up all sh1te off the bike and gear. Some birthday ride that was !

I won’t be defeated though and I’ll certainly be back.

Ridable…

Getting Grim…

Bollox…

I don’t know how close you all live to Settle but if you heard a loud ‘for forks sake’ echo off the Blua Crags around 12:30pm… that was me.

God it’s lovely up there in the snow though.

A day on the bike is never wasted. Honest. Good on you for giving it a go. I would have checked into the Settle Down Cafe for a few hours then headed home.

Settle Down Cafe for a few hours then headed home

I had a warm sweet chilli pie from the butchers next door to the 3 Peaks Bike shop. Strangest pie I’ve ever had but welcome none the less.

Face hurts this morning ! Either wind chill or snow blindness.

As they say… life is an adventure !

Is it not better to come down Stockdale and Mitchel Lane from the top at Malham Cove etc, and climb up the road past Clay Pits Plantation IE do the bottom loop in an anti clockwise direction too ? You’d only be missing off the last grassy/muddy descent into Settle and you’d be gaining one long descent to Settle all the way from the top.

I’ve usually ridden Settle to Clay Pits, Gorbeck, Black Hill (if dry) to Malham Tarn Centre. Street Gate & BW to Arncliffe Cote via Cote Gill. Back to Street Gate via Mastiles Lane from Kilnsey. BW to Langscar Gate & Pikedaw. Then down Stockdale Lane to road. Descend Lambert’s Lane to top of Mitchell’s Lane then drop down to The Lodge farm. Follow road down to Hayman Laithe & turn right. Follow track past Fishcopy Barn back into Settle.

btw I was on walking Pen-y-Ghent yesterday. The gale force wind, very deep snow, spindrift and whiteout conditions made for an interesting day. Helped a couple who were a bit disorientated on the upper slopes

It’s been beautiful today 😉