• A mud splattered face, I'm still picking specks of sand from the corners of my eyes...

  • The fun descent back towards SkiptonBAli had been sensible, glasses to keep the splashes of mud out of her eyes, while I had not...

  • The swooping sandy single-track across the top of Barden Moor

  • Lunch at the brilliant (and popular) cafe in Burnsall

  • The remains of Barden TowerBThere's also a posh restaurant here - not the sort of place that lets muddy mountain bikers in for lunch!

  • Ali and Laetitia at the road crossing on Halton Moor

Barden Moor

After a lovely meal (who knew vegetarian food could be so nice! :sarcy: ) with Ali, Richard, Jan, Bernard, and Laetitia on Saturday evening it was time to blow out some of the cobwebs, remember how to ride a mountain bike, and discover some of the Dales biking trails around Skipton. Ali led the way, she’s officially the Skipton area’s biking expert, while Richard, Laetitia, and I vied for least skilful rider behind. There were a fair few miles of road riding to get to the other side of Barden Moor for the main event, the long mostly downhill swooping ride back across the top of the moors. This section of tricky boulders, swooping sandy trails, and fast track was undoubtedly the highlight of the ride for me. Well, the highlight other than the fun company and the awesome lunch at the cafe in Burnsall. Although I understand that if we had been a little tougher and been able to extend the ride by about another five miles we’d have been able to beat the lunch stop with a visit to the cafe and (probably) the world’s best cakes at Bolton Abbey. The only minor niggle was that the knee I hurt on the many steep and long descents of the Rab Mountain Marathon a few weeks ago started screaming with pain near the end of the best bit – that fast downhill section. As I’ve always maintained, running is bad for you!

Halton Moor
Ali and Laetitia at the road crossing on Halton Moor
Barden Tower
The remains of Barden Tower
There's also a posh restaurant here - not the sort of place that lets muddy mountain bikers in for lunch though!
Burnsall
Lunch at the brilliant (and popular) cafe in Burnsall
Barden Moor
The swooping sandy single-track across the top of Barden Moor
The fun descent back towards Skipton
Ali had been sensible, she'd brought glasses to keep the splashes of mud out of her eyes, while the rest of us had not...
A mud splattered face, I'm still picking specks of sand from the corners of my eyes...

2 thoughts on “Barden Moor”

  1. Yeah – it was a brilliant day, and we were thoroughly knackered by the end of it. I was so knackered I forgot to help Pete put the bikes away – ooops! 😉 😉 😯
    Definitely recommend poached eggs and toast at Burnsall cafe. :yum: :yum:

  2. Are we to believe that you chose not to go a further five miles down hill to get the worlds best cakes? Running is clearly a lot easier on the knee than it is on the brain 😯

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