This years 200 went through a few iterations. Stuart varies the 200k route every year in a bid to show case the extensive good riding to be had in the area and to keep the challenge fresh. Really its just a big bike ride and the format takes you comfortably away from the whole idea of these being a 'race' and plants it firmly in the category of social. The final route was a flattened loop running east / west, just north of Skipton with a few cross-overs and subsidiary loops to make up the distance. This made for careful route homework to ensure you went the right way round all the loops. Its a good format as its nice returning to various points that you've previously visited and means that if you run out of steam, its easy to bail back to base.
According to Gpsies the final route was 192k with 3800m of climbing. Bikehike agreed on the distance but put the climbing up to 4000m - a chunk less than last years leg burner so hopefully fairly straightforward.....
8 of us lined up at 8am at Ryders Cycle Centre, after partaking of the included breakfast (Stuart does charge a fee for turning up to ride which covers breakfast and supper - a small price to pay for a days entertainment). On the word of go we headed off steadily up the hill through Embsay and over Bardon Moor. That's another nice thing about the 200 (and 300) there are a few familiar features which always get included so it doesn't feel too intimidating. My year of cycling has been a bit up and down - lots of good rides but a few injury niggles keeping me away from anything too epic. So my form was something of an unknown with only a few recent bigger rides hinting that I'd probably be fine. On that basis I made a big effort to keep the pace down in the early stages and this made the difference as I never really suffered too badly at any point in the ride.
The weather was fab - not the roasters of earlier in the summer but instead a far more pleasant combination of sun / clouds and north westerly breeze ensuring near perfect riding conditions. The heavy showers of the previous day had left plenty of puddles and a few damp bits but nothing to impede progress, just enough to make the bikes look like you'd been doing some real riding....
A trail quest was in progress in the hills above Malham and Settle so we rode through a large number of riders sporting map boards on bars and looks of confusion. I got a few odd looks from them and a muttered comment about my lights on a sunny day with daylight until 8. If only they knew....
I'd stopped in Settle for drink and snacks and after this I didn't see any of the others until much later in the day. After Settle is one of several monster climbs - tarmac but a real cricket bat job (you ride to the hill and it smacks you in the face). Thereafter it was a nice track descent and then various wee roads, quaint walled trails and smooth (former) roman roads. This is the appeal of the dales for me. In Scotland there is a tendency for it either to be smooth estate / forest roads or rad-core single track with not much in between. So its fab to ride wee stony / rocky / grassy tracks without having to fight tooth and nail for forward progress (I do like doing this too however).
Clapham provided my longest stop of the ride - about 15 mins - scoffing food from the shop and avoiding the temptation of several cafes. Definitely a change for me as typically I tend to go with a high pace / burn out / stop lots and for ages tactic. A chunk of road riding followed with a seemingly endless string of roadies coming the other way. At first I wondered if they were on an official ride but it was just a normal sunny Saturday in the Dales. I got a lot of funny looks, particularly as I bombed down hills towards them, stood bolt upright to give my backside a rest....
The café in Wray was roadie central so I carried on, not wanting to upset them with my filthy bike and smelly clothes. Out of Wray is monster hill climb number two and the biggest on the route. The good news was a stiff tailwind so I got up it OK and out onto the open moor of Salters Fell. This bit was a beauty and one I'd not done before - a big moor crossing in the sun on a good track with ace views.
After a bit more road bashing and more hoards of roadies (I saluted them all with a wave of the meat pie I was eating whilst riding no handed) it was into Gisburn forest and some trail centre stuff. To be honest I could not be arsed with this, I'm not a trail centre snob (OK I am bit) but this seems to be so far away from my concept of mountain biking and yet seems to be the 'main stream' for so many others. Several hundred metres of braking bumps and puddles did nothing to change this view....
Back on the road allowed me to eat more and contemplate the four remaining big climbs on the route. I felt pretty good but major thigh ache on the climb out of Long Preston suggested a pain fest was in the offing. In the event a second break outside the Settle Co-op, various high calorie drinks and a banana did the trick and on the pleasant but steep pull out of Settle I felt pretty good again and this persisted all the way over to Malham Tarn.
This whole section was a peach - a run along Mastiles lane (now much dryer than the morning) then a nice grassy descent, a bit of road then a lengthy plummet on gravel single and double track. Another grind back up the road to the same point and then another grassy burn up back to Mastiles lane, then back over the top to where you were an hour or so ago. Confused? It was easy, you just had to think Like Stuart - fun descents and easy(er) climbs.
Heading back along Mastiles lane for the third time it occurred to me that I would very likely bump into one of the others. Lo and behold a figure in the distance sporting a spotted (with pies) cycling jersey resolved itself into Bob. He looked a lot more chipper than the last time I'd bumped into him in the wilderness after he'd pulled out of the Highland Trail so we chatted a bit and then went our separate ways. The sun was starting to set but I managed the final trail / climb / divine descent into the valley floor in daylight.
Thereafter it was a highly pleasant mix of roads, trails and a bit of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towpath. The last trail was a section of disused railway line sporting some gargantuan puddles / lakes, a see saw and a section of railway sleepers(!) Actually used by the Landrover experience for testing vehicles - I predict this will be a grassy field next year given that they no longer make real 4WD's. Back to Ryders Cycle centre at a few minutes past 9pm.
I chatted with Stuart for a while then Mike turned up with tales of punctures, blagged tubes, cafes, roadies and bidets. Soon after George and Ian appeared then Bob. So we sat and drank tea and coffee, talked about the day and the fab weather. One guy was still out there and one had cut the proceedings short but all in all it was a great ride. This is one to be done year on year for me so long may it continue.
Afterword:- I checked my track on returning home - final distance was exactly 200k with 4400m of climbing....
Hi, Could you tell me a bit about the tent you use please? It looks like a tarp with a built in groundsheet and midge net. I'm thinking of getting a Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo or a Big Sky International Wisp Super Bivy which looks similar to yours.
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