In Ripon: Dallowgill

July 1, 2024

i was doubly disappointed to have missed biking up to the moors yesterday in my aborted bike ride: disappointed because it looked like the most attractive day ride from Ripon, and disappointed because yesterday’s weather was ideal. Today’s is nothing like that, with rain and winds forecast for much of the day beginning in late morning. I don’t want to lose my only chance though, so I break my usual sluggish morning routine and after a quick cup of coffee and pastry I’m out the door by around 7:30 - by far my earliest departure in months.

The ride I’ve mapped out is a 25 mile out and back, turning back at the end of the road that penetrates the deepest into that ridge east of Pateley Bridge. Workwise it looks like a good choice for the conditions: weary legs and a west wind that promises to strengthen as the day goes on. There are some short rollers involved, but over all it’s a 12 mile gradual hill climb, not unlike my ride up to the Scar House Reservoir two days ago. The ride gains 1,200 feet in 12 miles, but the grade is modest except in a few brief spots where I’ll steeply drop and then climb to cut across a stream. The only more questionable stretch will come in the last mile, when the asphalt ends and a rocky trail continues up to the crest. I’m hoping the surface of that mile is reasonable enough that I can bike it, but if not I’ll lay the bike down somewhere and walk the rest of the way. I’d really like to get far enough so I can look across to the other side.

And then of course there’s the unknown of the weather conditions I’ll end up dealing with. I’m hoping that rains will hold off until I’m back but at least if they come in earlier I’ll have the wind at my back and making good time as I mostly coast back home.

So as I said, I leave around 7:30. Rachael leaves about an hour later on the walk she’s mapped out for herself, but we’ll come back to adress that in a separate post. For now it’s just me, the bike, the road, and the lonely moor.

Our street. Our apartment is on the first floor above the green awning. The blue sky looks encouraging, but it won’t last long.

The moor’s the thing today so other than a few brief stops I bike through the preliminary miles, stopping for just a few shots as reminders of what the rest of the day was like. The ride is as straight forward as I expected, very quiet with a relaxed gradient most of the way.

I’m in a hurry to get to the moors before the rains arrive, but I have to stop for this floral display in the Spa Gardens before I’ve even left town. It’s an interesting design patterned to look like a Bailey Bridge, honoring the time when Ripon was the testing and training site for bridges used in WWII.

Ok, we’re on track now. After the first busy mile leaving town it will be a quiet ride the rest of the way.

About five miles in I get my first view of the target: the ridge on the horizon.

The short bridge across the small River Laver, at Laverton.

At Laverton, stopped to take a photo of the bridge. I like this shot too though, because it gives a good perspective of what many of the public footpaths are like here. You can see the sign for it on the right, with a gate through the wall just off frame to the right. You can hardly make out the path itself though, which is little more than an indentation in the grass.

Keeps the traffic down. Fortunately I had the lane to myself for the whole stretch.

The minuscule village of Dallow is the last settlement before the moors. It sits at the top of a narrow greenbelt along its slight stream, the Darrowgill. For me, the interesting part of the ride starts here. Not far past it I’m startled when a curlew swoops down and lands in the middle of the lane in front of me and quickly takes wing again when he sees he’s not alone. It’s not long before I leave the last of the stone walls behind, cross a livestock grid, and start encountering sheep blocking my path. Suddenly there’s something of great interest everywhere I turn.

#262: Red grouse, another lifetime first.

I’ve been wondering if the heather would be in bloom again when we return to the North York Moors in another week. From the looks of this I think our chances are good.

For the next two hours I’ll see only one vehicle up here: a pickup hauling a trailer with an enclosed box of sheep out for a ride.

Most or all of the sheep up here are labeled with a bright right horn.

Nearing the source of the Dallowgill, which originates here in this moor.

I’ve been going slow for the last mile but then I really slow down when I come to the end of the pavement. I’d been hoping the surface for the final mile would be reasonable enough for me to bike, and it is - but only a short distance. After that it’s too rocky and rutted for the ride I’ve brought along. I’ll stick with it for about a third of a mile, biking short distances when I can and then dismounting again, but I finally give it up, lay the bike beside the road in the bracken, and walk the remaining 3/4 of a mile until I finally decide it’s time to turn back.

#263: European golden plover, my second lifer for the day. Together with yesterday’s tufted duck, that’s three in two days!

OK, this is stupid. It should be safe enough here until I get back.

I’m really curious about this long line of evenly spaced structures. Theories? Hunting blinds maybe?

Fantastic, well worth the walk. We’re looking here across the Nidd Valley. lately Bridge will be somewhere off to the left, and straight ahead but down about a thousand feet and not visible from here are Ramsgill and the Gouthwaite Reservoir.

The road such as it ends here but the path continues on steeply down into the valley. It looks like you could just keep walking all the way down to Ramsgill but that’s not my plan. For one, there’s the knee problem. I’ve done well enough to get this far but do need to get back to the bike.

For the other, I’m losing the weather. I’m feeling a few drops here and there at first when I turn back to the bike, the wind now blowing from behind. The precipitation gradually starts picking up a bit and I move on from wondering if I’ll get back dry to wondering just how wet I’m going to be when I get there.

Fortunately this is as bad as it gets though; and a half hour later after I’ve gotten back to the bike and hike/biked it back to the asphalt it’s still just misting. I stow away the camera in a zip lock and make good time the rest of the way - it doesn’t take long when it’s downhill nearly all the way and you’ve got the wind at your back. After a mile or two I seem to have gotten ahead of the weather and it’s basically dry the rest of the way in.

I was pretty sure the bike would still be here, with those guard sheep on duty.

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Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 2,474 miles (3,982 km)

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