Hunting High & Low

Being on tight curfews this Sunday meant no group ride for me & Neil, so instead we decided to spend a couple of hours hunting in the woods. The quarry was trails, both new (to us) and forgotten (by us). We've ridden around the woods a lot in the summer but tend to have trouble matching a trail to its start location, and some of the trails we hear mentioned on MTBG we don't know if we've done. "Secret Path", "The Chute" and the mythical "Deer Run" were top of list of places to find, and anything else that we saw on the way we'd commit to memory and (or so the plan went) to GPS. Unfortunately the batteries gave up in the GPS almost straight away and the spares that had been in my pack for months were dead too. No track logging for us then.
We were late starting too, Neil's Avid Juicy pads needed changing and he was having a bugger of a time doing it. Between us it took us 20 minutes by the road at Hutton to get them done. I defy them to come and show us how this job can be done "Tool-free" as their blurb states. I'm starting to get a real complex about this!!

Anyway, off we went, up Big Bird and Grey Road (our names) to come out on Hutton Moor. A quick sprint across the moor and then we're exercising our "Right To Roam" and looking for The Deer Run. While standing scouring the hillside for signs of trails some bloke starts striding towards us. Fearful of a confrontation with an irate walker we speed off across the moor again. A bit further on and we see signs of a trail and go to investigate. There's definitely been something going down here, but was it bikes? Looks a bit steep to us. Suddenly that bloke is behind us again. "Can't get bikes down there; too steep; we run down there though..." and off he goes, scampering down the hillside. Phew, no confrontation then, just some bloke out for a power walk in the wilds of the Cleveland countryside.

We track a bit further along and suddenly there it is, obvious signs of a trail dropping off the hillside. We follow it down and it's sweet, a nice bit of singletrack, not very technical but with some natural obstacles here and there to keep it interesting. It's a nice alternative to the usual muddy, rutted 4x4 way down, which we now name "The Pig Run" (Deer, Pig, see what we did there?). Towards the bottom we pass our jogger again and exchange pleasantries. That really is the best kind of walker.

Up to Captain Cooks now via the steep road climb and the fire break that brings you out half way up the climb to the monument. Up to the monument, once again failing the Nemesis Climb at the last couple of steps (we blame it on the slippery conditions again). Left at the monument and off down the steps where Neil decides to try a bit of trick cycling, sitting on the crossbar instead of the seat and taking the rather more tricky line down the ditch alongside the steps rather than on the steps itself. Hope he was wearing padded shorts.

Left at the end of the path and into The Tunnel, something we found last time out. A gorgeous bit of woodland singltrack that literally runs in a tunnel of trees. It's so dark in there you almost need lights in the daytime! The rock bridge near the start is a gem, and it's best not to think about the damage that might occur if you come off on it!

Left again onto track we were just on a few minutes ago, but this time instead of going up to Captain Cooks we head down towards Gribdale via another nice bit of woodland trail. This is one of our favourite bits of trail around CC and the drop off at the bottom has proved to be another nemesis for us until recently. Neil nailed it last time out and today was my turn as it was cleaned with contemptuous ease.

Up and over Great Ayton Moor then, back to Guisborough Woods to do more hunting. A sprint through the nice wooded section that parallels the track along the moor edge and we're back at the top of Grey Road (I think this is the very top of "Unsuitables", another place name we're unfamiliar with). We dive into the woods on the left here and follow a very muddy, slippery and very fun trail (that has alarmingly slipped away down the hillside in places) that eventually ends up on the main fire road. We follow this back along towards the Nab, head up towards the Nab for a bit and then turn right, back into the woods. At this point we're following black arrow posts which we presume means it was part of the old black run.

This trail branches off all over the place and we explore a few of them, but most of them seem to be taking a pretty quick route back to the fire road. We press on, eventually looping round and over the Gill to come back on the other side. More muddy, rooty track and we end up at a nice little drop off that will launch you into the tree at the bottom if don't get your turn right when you land. We size up the options - "What's the worst that can happen?" says Neil. I try not to think about what "the worst that can happen" could entail, while Neil makes the drop look easy. My turn then, and I'm wishing I'd paid more attention to that MBR "How to ride like a pro" feature about turns after drops! I totally bugger it up and don't get my turn in fast enough. A coming together of man, bike and tree looks inevitable until I manage to ditch into the rather softer looking banking by the tree. The impact has thrown my bar-end a few degrees off true, but better that than a collar bone or a neck.

Off we go once more, pretty sure that we've done "Secret Path", though not really sure just which part of what we've done that might be. So now we're looking for The Chute, but not before we've headed off to find another bit of trail that we know we've ridden just once before. Along the fire road, under the Nab and on, on, on, it feels like we'll soon be in Whitby. Eventually we drop off the main track, a few feet along a grassy trail and then off to the left into some more lovely woodland. This swoops its way back down to the fire road and the reward for our 3 minutes of fun is a slog back along this to the Nab again. Well, it keeps you fit.

So now The Chute. Off we go and we're not too far into it when it's Neil's turn to wish he'd read MBR. This month's "How to ride slippery roots" feature might just have prevented him ending up on his arse barely 100m into the run. We know we're on the right run because it's all so familiar from the videos we've been watching on YouTube and elsewhere. A quick stop for a photo opportunity on a good fast downhill straight with plenty of little drops and hops and we're off again. When we reach the little stone step section I have a somewhat "amateur" moment. For some reason my hand takes on a will of its own and applies the front brake right in the middle of the steps. An arse-over looks inevitable until the hand decides it's had its fun and releases the brake. The front wheel resumes motion and after a couple of feet of endo-ing, arse and seat resume contact. How thrilling.

So fun and games over, just the track back to Hutton now and then home to a warm bath. We're both knackered. 16 or so (no GPS, no stats!) miles of forest fun has taken its toll on the legs, more so than our usual XC runs. We've taken our eye off the clock too and have broken our curfew. We'll be in bother. It's been a brilliant day out though.