My good friend Chew had convinced me to pop my bivi cherry, join him and a bunch of blokes from the internet that I’d never met before, and ride all over Yorkshire all with the goal (or excuse?) of watching the Tour de France.

I scoured the forum and asked the long suffering Chew a dozen noob questions (he’s my main source of MTB advice also), I purchased a Stuart approved sleeping bag (thanks Stuart!) - a green “Force Ten” bag with an orange inside liner, I can’t remember the model or the numbers but green and orange are my favourite colours, what could go wrong?! I followed this up with a bivi bag, and numerous bags that I could attach to my push iron (as they call them round ‘ere). A mat loan from Chew and a last minute tarp loan from Composite meant I was good to go (cheers chaps). I brought a few things along to the start but left them at Chew’s house, I still regret leaving the cowbell behind.
P1060459 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

As I drive passed Chew’s I see a serious looking man unstrapping a carbon bike from his car, this guy means business! I cruise passed and grab some last minute fish & chips from the shop down the road, I may need the energy.

Chew played a good host, put on a brew and got the danish pastries out. I was introduced to everyone, and started to relax when I realised that everyone was friendly and chilled.

We set off, the group of nine was reduced to eight when a shifter mechanical meant MM-on-Point was stuck in one gear, which as luck would have it, was the wrong one for the terrain we were riding. We parted ways, carried on and rode some of the more industrial trials out of Halifax and headed upwards and northwards - scratching and stinging ourselves on the local flora as we ride.
P1060419 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

We ride over some great trails, leaving Calderdale and heading North. Some 35km or so later we arrive in Saltaire, a lovely Victorian village on the outskirts of Bradford, and head straight to the Boathouse inn for a pint and some food. As luck would have it, it was fishy friday; Fish & Chips and a booze of your choice for a tenner. Fish & Twice in one day - welcome to the North. After dinner we head up to Bingley moor, and carefully select a spot behind a wall and set up camp, and erect the tarps for the night; rain was forecast and arrived after we were tucked in. This was going pretty well!
P1060423 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

In the morning we cruise down to Ilkley town centre, crowds were already assembling, and the whole town is kitted out with yellow bicycles and red polka dots. Breakfast consumed we find a quiet spot just outside the town centre.

P1060449 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
Chew assumed position in the road, determined not to let any rider passed until they could recite a full verse of On Ilkla moor bah’t ‘at, whilst Zippy, his bro and I find a spot stood on the wall to watch from… [SELFIE WARNING]
P1060451 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

The racers eventually zoom passed, the atmosphere was fantastic. Prior to the peloton - children were riding the course to the cheers of the thousands of onlookers in the crowds, smiling from ear to ear, they won’t forget this in a while, it may spur them on to be the next Wiggo!

We’re in no rush so we grab some sandwiches and carbs and chill for a while.
P1060457 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

Shortly after we head up and over Ilkley moor, passed the iconic Cow and Calf and aim towards Oxenhope.
P1060475 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

We arrive and head towards the reputable fish & chip shop next to the cricket club. Yup fish & chips for the third time
Pic stolen from Composite

The midges are out in force, for some reason they really like me more than the rest of the group, by this point it's becoming a re-occuring joke that repellent is not needed when I'm in attendance. We ride to the top of the valley and find a spot where the wind is keeping them at bay.
P1060483 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
P1060487 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

Watching the sunset from my bivi was particularly lovely. Everyone agreed that I had been very lucky to get such a perfect evening on my first bivi trip.
P1060519 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

In the morning, we pack up and head to Hebden Bridge, a particular favourite riding spot of mine, and probably the mountain biking capital of West Yorkshire. After breakfast we head up to Stoodley pike; a challenging climb, with amazing views from the top, and a technical descent. Ragley should name a bike after this place.
P1060538 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
P1060552 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
P1060556 by Jaymoid, on Flickr


We head towards Cragg Vale, our viewing spot for the second day.
P1060601 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
P1060602 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
P1060560 by Jaymoid, on Flickr
P1060598 by Jaymoid, on Flickr

All that was left was to head back to Chew’s, taking full advantage of the closed roads we speed downhill, slipstreaming each other and passing lycra clad roadies.

Overall it was an amazing weekend, I’m still buzzing from the high! Everyone who came along was a great laugh, the riding was superb and the tour atmosphere was so vibrant, I’m not from Yorkshire but I’ve never been so proud to call it my home for the past 14 years.

A final and big thanks goes out to Chew - who had planned the perfect route; his local knowledge of the trails plus the time and effort that went into planning it meant we were in the right places, at the right time, with grins and mud on our faces.

~ James

p.s. Few more pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaymoid/s ... 598641953/

p.p.s. Stuart, please can you change my username to ‘MidgeMagnet’, it seems much more appropriate now.

Looks like a good time was had by all ... and Chew's got a new hat

James, a great summary and good to meet up with everyone. I'm still buzzing, and it felt strange not to jump straight on a bike this morning. Thanks for the sun cream, it saved my face big time.

The atmosphere, weather, cracking riding and good company just made it - I still have the grin :)

Chew, thank you for your local knowledge, the effort in planning and sorting the weather

Mart

Nice write up James

Really enjoyed that trip, will post a few photos etc. when I get a chance, but all I've been able to do so far is upload the GPS logs...

Fri, Sat: http://www.strava.com/activities/162772496

Sun: http://www.strava.com/activities/162772475

Some more photos here (hope the linky works)

https://plus.google.com/photos/10086274 ... 6235210401

Thanks for sharing the routes Chris.

Brilliant photos Mart, you even got one of the yellow jersey looking straight at you! This one of the climb up to stoodley pike deserves a showcase too, great composition.

Bloody Hell ... that's a scary picture

JimothyPisspipe wrote: Brilliant photos Mart, you even got one of the yellow jersey looking straight at you!

Just left my finger on the button as the peletom passed. Ended up with around 90 photos of the riders
Kittel (in yellow) just happened to be on the right side. Couldnt see any other big names they must have snuck past hiding

Great write-up & pics!

Thanks for letting us tag along with you in Ilkley, was good to meet some more members & put a few more names to faces

It was a great weekend, best trip of the year so far for me.

I have written up my full ride report here: http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... yorkshire/

There is a video to come but it could be a little while.

Here's a few pictures (more on my blog):

How did you chaps like my Hometown?

Although I didn't join the Bivi group, I went up to see the "Le Tour" and it was bloody brilliant!

C'mon, which one of you lot drew the nob?

Wish I was there .. holiday got in the way and I had to settle for seeing 'something' that was allegedly the sprint for the finish in London, across a sea of heads from a vantage point 5ft up a tree. Goes without saying that Yorkshire looks 100x better : )

Brilliant few days - thanks for sorting the danish pastries Chew
Really enjoyed my first time riding in Yorkshire, great company and atmosphere and good to put names to faces and meet some new people.
A few photos from the weekend...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99percent ... 203256729/


TdF-Bivi-1 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-18 Panorama by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-22 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-34 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-38 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-46 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr

Saturdays breakaway - Jens V having a bash

TdF-Bivi-49 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-54 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr


TdF-Bivi-59 by 99percentchimp, on Flickr

Thanks, looks like tons of fun
A shame we don't have such a community of bike packers in switzerland. Saying that, I'm out for three days to the borders of the swiss national park - with a good friend

Finally got around to uploading a few photos from this trip. Thoroughly enjoyed it, first proper ride on the Cotic since I built it, so learnt how it handled etc. loaded up, but fairly happy with my setup - only unused kit was spare tube and the battery recharger that didn't recharge

Great company, good casual riding over some lovely bits of Yorkshire. Weather held out pretty well all in all, bike behaved well and despite a couple of years not riding a rigid, it was actually spot on. Second night bivvy was textbook and probably the best overall combination of view/weather conditions/comfort/Good Nights kip that I've ever had.

I took a few photos/vids with the GoPro, battery only lasted Fri/Sat as I got a bit trigger happy, so no photos from sunday. Anyway, here's the flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZN7VvT

Thanks to all who have posted all the photos, some really good pics. I didn't realise there was so many taken! Loved the camp set up ones, totally forgot to take any then.

Great write up too Neil - you did well to remember so many places in Yorkshire, unless you cheated and checked the maps/gpx

MidgeMagnet wrote: Great write up too Neil - you did well to remember so many places in Yorkshire, unless you cheated and checked the maps/gpx

How very dare you to suggest such a thing!





Of course I looked at the maps.