"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow................."

Well we have had 6 inches of mud followed by pouring rain so it only stands to reason that this weeks ride should have taken place in 12inches of perfect, fresh, powdery snow. ! With the thermometer dropping to minus 2 on the way to meet at the shop the only thing on my mind (apart from why did you have that second bottle of red wine you fool) was to remember to take heed of my own advice for once in my life. Winter gloves and Sealskinz socks. And how glad I was that I did. Preparing myself for fairly lonely ride around with Wayne I was pleasantly surprised to find two eager riders waiting in the shop, not put off one bit by the white stuff. And fella’s shame on you – while you were all hiding under the duvets waiting for the heating to come on and the missus to make you a nice cup of tea it was Debs and Hannah that braved the elements to show who really is the tougher of the sexes.

Both girls managed to combine their two favourite hobbies under the same roof, opting for a quick trolley dash around the shop (Hannah, winter gloves and Debs, tyres) whilst I stared in disbelief at the size and thickness of the Sealskinz socks I had just put on. The Elephant Man had daintier looking feet. My primary concern now was how to squeeze my newly developed Elephantitis into my MW50 summer boots that were already a little on the tight side. 10 minutes of cursing and swearing saw the Velcro finally fasten on both shoes and I embarked upon the walk out into the car park like a 18the Century Geisha with newly bound feet. Not a problem I thought – its a bike ride so fortunately I won’t be doing much walking.............. I was soon to regret that thought. The winter boots are on order – but its still not cold enough for full length leggings. The Ginger Prince and were still showing several inches of flesh on our legs – which turned a funny purple colour within a few minutes of setting off.

We had decided to ride and start low so headed out to Allerston which in the summer has some of the best, flowy single track ascents and descents around, particularly the final 2 mile descent back to the Cayley Arms car park though the trees. However today this had all been replace by snow. And a bloody lot of it. Needless to say our exit from the car park on the bikes was brought to a fairly abrupt halt several hundred metres later as we moved off the compacted snow on the road and into the virgin powder on the fire road. Now I am not saying that we like to make things tough for ourselves but you would imagine that when riding in snow the use of gears might come in handy? Well it seems that 3 of us forgot ours with only Hannah opting to have the luxury of being able to change up or down the cogs. Wayne, Debs and I had decided to bring the Singlespeeds out convincing ourselves that the low maintenance approach was the best way forward. What transpired over the next 1hr was pretty much ride a bit, push a bit, ride a bit, push a bit as we worked out way up on to the tops above Allerston. The snow was not only taking its toll on our progress, but on mother nature as well. Were we able to have gathered any momentum on the bikes this would have been cut short by the sheer number of trees which had fallen across the paths and roads, the weight of the snow on their branches bringing them down. This in its own right made for some interesting “hike a bike activity” as we clambered over the debris.

Once eventually on the top we pushed on along the single track, this time able to ride for quite long stints. Wayne led out at the front with me bringing up the rear, the two girls sandwiched in between us. Hannah took this opportunity to ensure that every low snow covered branch or tree she went under was suitably shaken with uncanny timing to ensure that it dumped its entire cold load on me as I passed under. Hannah you are a child and bears have very good memories......

Another 30mins of picking slowly along the single track, making way for the few ramblers who looked at us as though we belonged in Bootham, led us to the start of the descent back into Allerston. I should point out at this stage that we had been riding for about 1hr45minutes at this stage and Wayne had not uttered a single word. Apparently he was “just hungry”. It’s a shame alcohol calories don’t fill you up or he would have been plenty stuffed from the night before. The descent back down to the Cayley Arms took another 20minutes as we gingerly picked out way down through the trees before finally reaching the cars. Bikes packed away in record time we headed back into Pickering to the warmth of Russell’s Cafe for a damn good fry up. Perfect

Next week we will be aiming for fire and brimstone, or at the very least some form of volcanic eruption to make the ride interesting. See you all on Saturday.

Simon.