What
a great day. 4 hills in perfect weather. No wind and clear skies. It was a fair
drive from Seathwaite to Thirsk, and parking proved a little problematic, but I
was away by 9.30 am. 10.00 saw me already well past the first hill, Boltby
Bank.
It was a great little climb from a beautiful village up onto the Moors.
The first part of the day was through some fantastic scenery, finishing with a
blast along the A172 to Carlton-in-Cleveland and the second climb of Carlton
Bank.
This was pretty busy, and it turned out that I’d just missed the local
hill-climb. From the top to Helmsley was thrirteen miles, and I spent most of
it chasing another cyclist, without success.
Across
the A-road, and then a drag past Ampleforth and I ended up at Kilburn, and
White Horse Bank.
The White Horse wasn’t visible from the road, but would be
perfect from one of the gliders from the soaring club at the top of the hill.
Back
over the A-road, a swift descent back down Boltby Bank and I was back in the car
and on the way to Rosedale Chimney.
The
guide said start from Rosedale Abbey, but Rosedale Abbey didn’t have an Abbey,
and the Chimney Bank didn’t have a chimney at the top. However, the climb was
great – tough and unrelenting with a final slope that felt pretty steep.
Lots
of treats today – pheasants, helicopters, biplanes and gliders.
Back
into the car- and onto York for an Astronomy course!
58
miles 1972 m of climbing
