The
Yorkshire Dales are a series of predominantly east-west rivers in Northern
England separated by high fells of dramatic limestone crags and moorland often covered
in purple heather.
The lower
levels of the Dales are divided up into arable fields by dry-stone walls, some
of which date back to Anglo-Saxon times.
Gushing
springs spew torrents of clear water from the karst limestone. These form becks (streams) that are quickly turned golden brown as they flow through the peat on their way
to the rivers below.
Old, old villages, in some instances dating back a thousand years or more, remain clustered on the rivers.
It was the
stark beauty of the Dales, and the steep climbs that separate them, that attracted
the Tour de France to the area for Le Grand Depart in 2014.
Some remnants
of Yorkshire’s enthusiasm for the tour remain.
A year
later, I fulfilled one of my “bucket list” goals and spent a couple of weeks in
the northern Dales (primarily Wensleydale, Wharfedale and Swaledale) revisiting
Stage One of the tour …. on a bike, of course. Sharon and I rented a house
in Middleham, where the Castle, built in 1170, had been the childhood home of Richard
III.
This then, was the base from which
my nephew Nick and I set off on our two-wheeled adventures.
Of course, cycling
up and down the valleys is not too difficult but to cross from one valley to another
involved climbs that are not unusually 25% and, on the corners, can be even
steeper. In some instances, these
gradients are configured in spectacular hair-pin bends; super-challenging to
climb and scary to descend.
I had rented a bike from a shop near Richmond. It
was a reasonable quality carbon Bianchi but alas, equipped with woefully unsuitable gearing.
Ideally one would have a 34/32 as the low gear for this terrain but my machine had only a
36/25. One of my more embarrassing
moments of the trip was on one notorious hill when I simply could not turn the
pedals. It was a case of get off or fall off.
The other
awkward incident was on a descent in wet weather when the brakes simply could
not bring the bike down to a safe speed. That resulted in an unfortunate
encounter with a bridge at the bottom where the turn was just too sharp. The
medieval structure won but thankfully only bruised knuckles resulted.
Rural Yorkshire
is a very bicycle-friendly part of the world.
Even in years long past, establishments welcomed cyclists as witnessed
by this old CTC sign.
Of course, morning
coffee with delicious “elevenses” is an essential part of a bike ride and many
cafes go the extra mile for customers who arrive on two wheels. For example, Zarina's
cafe in Kettlewell has a 10% discount for cyclists, good inventory of maps,
several bike racks, floor pump etc. etc. Most importantly, try their delicious scones
with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Five star.
Yorkshire
is having to replace a livestock-based economy with tourism though a few remnants
of the traditional way of life remain.
This grim manifestation of English rural life was a surprise: the results of the local mole catcher's
efforts. The use of traps had died out with the introduction of poison. However
when strychnine was outlawed in 2006, the traditional method of mole-slaughter returned.
Of course, recreation in the evenings usually centered around one of England's greatest institutions.
