Dales Divide. anyone having a go ?

[Verena]

Good luck

[ton]

failure for me . had to be rescued after 80 miles.
started feeling unwell on thursday, maybe should have stayed at home.
i fear i may have a virus, hopefully not THE virus.

[redefined_cycles]

failure for me . had to be rescued after 80 miles.
started feeling unwell on thursday, maybe should have stayed at home.
i fear i may have a virus, hopefully not THE virus.

Sorry to hear that Ton. Hopefully you'll still have plenty of story to tell over them 80 miles. Looking forward to it.

Get well soon btw

[thenorthwind]

failure for me . had to be rescued after 80 miles.
started feeling unwell on thursday, maybe should have stayed at home.
i fear i may have a virus, hopefully not THE virus.

Such a shame after all the prep. Not wasted though, next year, other events - you'll have learnt loads. Hope you get well soon.

[whitestone]

Hard luck Tony. Get well soon.

Looking at Trackleaders if the leader, James Craven, keeps up his current pace then he'll be finished by midnight He's only 100km to go.

[ton]

the blokes who ride stuff like this at such pace are truly incredible.
at the start i was talking to Karl, and that was the last i saw of him, he is now at scarborough.
about 20 miles in Andy Bennett passed me, he started late. never saw him again. he is nearing scarborough.
both of these blokes are miles faster, stronger and fitter than me obviously, yet someone like the lad who is leading must be on a very different level. just amazing really.

[boxelder]

I rode for a while from Osmotherley to Northallerton with James Craven - I'd taken the shortcut from York. He'd had 20 mins sleep, but didn't think it was enough, so had a 5 min nap at Northallerton 🥴 He looked worried when I caught him up (having missed out the 140Km through Scarborough). I short cutted to miss the rain, but still had it for last 2-3 hours. Felling very sorry for those still out in the Dales. It's very wet and cold with it. I could have stayed dry if I hadn't had 12 hours in the bothy .

[boxelder]

Just read back - bad luck Tony. You got the best 80miles if that any consolation. Proper Minging weather now.

[boxelder]

A lot of folk on drops and 40mm tyres, which must have been very punishing. Jason Black passed me at about 7 last night at the bothy and looked battered on 40mm. A lot of minimal packing too - hope everyone's safe out there.

[Bearbonesnorm]

A lot of folk on drops and 40mm tyres,

I noticed that. Stuart Rider posted a short video clip of riders coming through (somewhere) and at first it appeared that there weren't any mountain bikes present.

[ton]

some of those tracks in the dale must have been horrendous on 40mm tyres.
a guy on a fancy blue cinelli racing bike had 3 punctures before we even reached ribblehead.

[slarge]

Some gravel bikes maybe up for sale soon?? Mtb is just so much more comfortable and controllable off road.

[Wotsits]

Looks like Angry Bennett has either been in the bookies all day, or he's made use of the train station opposite..

[boxelder]

Looks like Angry Bennett has either been in the bookies all day, or he's made use of the train station opposite.

5:2 on KB and TC stopping at a bothy. That next CP is one and has a flushing loo. The last one is near the sharp right turn a few Km on. That section is harder work than Cam High Rd (or maybe the bothy night snacks and beers increased gravity?).

[Wotsits]

With finding a sympathetic landlord not really an option atm, a bothy would be the next best thing.

Really wouldn’t like to be stuck out in this weather overnight after riding in it all day..

[redefined_cycles]

Really wouldn’t like to be stuck out in this weather overnight after riding in it all day..

But don't KB and AB enjoy that sort of thing type 2 must be gerting boring for em, they want proper type 3 these days I suspect

So glad I'm not out there pretending to like the north yorkshire moors and what have you

[redefined_cycles]

*I really should work on my deep breathijg exercises and making my sentences longer without commas

[Wotsits]

Karl is our resident matador!

[In Reverse]

Yeah I binned it off at Scarborough yesterday. Had an angry welt of skin on the gooch that wasn't getting any better and wasn't too chuffed at the thought of riding on it in damp shorts for annother 36 hours. Clocked the forecast for today (wind, rain, misery) so I'd already been wavering. When I rode past the station and discovered there was a direct train to Manchester leaving within the hour my mind was swiftly made up. Having ventured out a couple of times today, including going back up to Arnside to pick up the car, I'm happy that I made the right choice - it's grim out.

Good to see Karl still going. I rode with him for a bit yesterday and he was having a right old whinge about not being fit enough, having sore shoulders/arms/legs. No surprise to see he's heading towards the finish.

Managed to lose my phone within the first two hours so apologies if anyone was sending me messages of encouragement or otherwise.

[Wotsits]

Is that your first big multi-day on your new bike? New saddle/set-up probs?

Nordy was convinced you’d hit the boozer to make up for all the lost pub-time in lockdown!

[In Reverse]

A lot of folk on drops and 40mm tyres,

I noticed that. Stuart Rider posted a short video clip of riders coming through (somewhere) and at first it appeared that there weren't any mountain bikes present.

Yeah gravel bikes must have outnumbered mtbs by 2 or 3 to 1, by far the most I've seen at a bikpacking do. I suspect the first day's riding over the Dales has recalibrated a few people's ideas of what "gravel" can mean in the UK though...

Youngest crowd I've seen at one of these events too. Loads of people having their first go.

[In Reverse]

Is that your first big multi-day on your new bike? New saddle/set-up probs?

Nordy was convinced you’d hit the boozer to make up for all the lost pub-time in lockdown!

There might be a bit of that in it Jase but I think it was more just down to bad arse maintenance tbh.
I was ill on the first night and had to stop at 10:30pm and pile straight into the bivvy and asleep. Slept in my shorts which is always a big no-no for me.
Forgot to put any cream on at all yesterday.
Got a bit of a soaking late afternoon and after that could feel my skin being sandpapered away for the next couple of hours. I think I stopped just in the nick of time.

Probably a good thing the pubs were all shut mate...

[benp1]

Top work everyone

Gravel bikes have massively increased in popularity and made events like this feel like an opportunity for many riders. I haven't seen the terrain but on anything bumpy/rocky it must be bloody tiring. Unless they're at the drop bar mtb end of the scale

[Wotsits]

There might be a bit of that in it Jase but I think it was more just down to bad arse maintenance tbh.
I was ill on the first night and had to stop at 10:30pm and pile straight into the bivvy and asleep. Slept in my shorts which is always a big no-no for me.
Forgot to put any cream on at all yesterday.
Got a bit of a soaking late afternoon and after that could feel my skin being sandpapered away for the next couple of hours. I think I stopped just in the nick of time.

Probably a good thing the pubs were all shut mate...

Unlucky pal
Sleeping in my shorts is a big no-no for me too. May as well swap the saddle for a cheese grater the following day!

Sounds like you weren’t quite ‘on-it’ & you did well getting to Scarborough

[In Reverse]

Sounds like you weren’t quite ‘on-it’

Needed a couple of pints.