I really don’t want this to become some sort of running gag, but I still have no pictures. I went on a – for me – epic ride, I missed a chunk off the end but even then, it was ~17mi (originally planned as 20.33mi). Had a blast and plan on doing it plus the bit I missed again in the near future. I even stopped and took some pictures, but I’ve looked at those images and they just don’t look that good, and I have the same feeling about my pictures as I do about my writing, it’s got to be good, or I hate it. But for my writing it oozes out of my pores and invades my dreams, I could sooner stop breathing that coming up with stories. While photos are less common even when I’m looking for pictures to take, like today. I’ll work on it some more, try and get over the hump of not posting any.
But. The Ride:
Starting at the bridge in Austwick (some parking, handy for the pub, there is a loo, and the village shop might be open). Whole ride is on at worst rough grassy tracks but mostly gravel or tarmac. Only one section of road is a B road, even though you do cross it further up you’re on it then for about ~50m. I did the ride on a eMTB (with dodgy gears) I did have to push it a couple of times, but that is more to do with my own lack of fitness and less to do with the difficulty of the route.
GPX (can be provided, but I need to work out how to upload them to this site) – Link to map on OS site.
Go through the village passing the village shop on the right and the gamecock inn on the left, after the school turn left and go up the hill. Horribly steep bit of tarmac. Follow it up until you reach a cross roads with a track to the left and right. Turn left, this is Thwaite Lane and leads to Clapham (the one without a common). Follow this along until you reach a T or Y junction, turn right (straight on takes you to Clapham. This is Long Lane, it goes down and then up a horrible loose rock covered slope (even on electric I push up this). Eventually it makes it’s way up another steep/loose hill and opens onto a field.
Go right and up this field and through the gate, you’re now on the tops. Follow the track up and round or up and over the hill – both routes are viable, I just prefer going round. Bear left and head for the hills, if you start going down you’re going the wrong way. You climb slowly until you start dropping down a short hill to a gate. This is a great place on quiet days to have a piss stop, either in the gathering pen or through the foot gate (there is a path through it but it’s not popular).
Then go on through the main gate and into the next field. Follow the track down across this field, it crosses the path coming off Ingleborough for the Three Peaks walk which generally has people on it (though today the place was dead). Carry on straight across and follow the track through the gate, a fairly long downhill section (nothing to write home about for serious MTBers) for people not riding full squish. Through a couple of gates and then down to the main B6479 (Horton to Ribblehead road) at this point we’re upstream of Horton and not so far from Selside. The track doglegs along the road really only following it for ~50m before heading down toward the railway.
This is the famous Settle Carlisle railway, it’s much more fun to ride it than roll underneath it, especially as you have now entered the hell of gates. There seems to be a new gate every single time they builders of the path could shoehorn one in, including two going under the railway and two going over a later bridge. So under the railway then across a moonscape of shake holes, nice track though nice and flowy… coming down to an quite epic arched wooden bridge over the Ribble. Then follow the track up past an incredibly ugly barn and then up the hill to the road.
Here the route should go left toward High Birkwith, but due to time constraints I went right and followed the road down into Horton – it’s a nice road, very quiet and enjoyable to ride. From Horton you follow the B6479 down the valley to the turning to Helwith Bridge, it can be busy but today it was dead quiet I think I was only passed by about six vehicles. From Helwith Bridge follow the road down back toward Austwick. Once the nice wide section of road stops at the entrance to Dry Rigg Quarry, you drop down into a dip then back up onto the narrow road that leads down to Warfe and Austwick, begin looking for a marked lane off to the left.
This is I think marked as to Feizor, it’s part of a national bridleway of some kind. Go down here, there is a sneaky gate at the bottom of this ginnel so be a little cautious. From the head over the field avoiding wooly buggers, who infest these parts – seemingly all year round – until you reach a gate, go through this and up the track, another gate and you’re on the track at Low Bark (where you now are) and past High Bark further up the hill. Pedal up the track following the metalled road until you reach a gate. Go through this gate, up the hill once more, another gate, then you should be in Feizor Nick, which is a sort of pass between the upper Austwick valley and the village of Feizor. Run down through this little valley (I’m sure it has some complicated geological name). Be cautious as you come down into the village though as the gate can leap out at you a bit.
Unless you plan on stopping at Elaine’s Tearoom (on the right as you go down through the village) this gate will be the last stop before getting down to Austwick, there might be one blocking the top of the bridleway at the other end of the village, but I think that’s only shut when they’re moving the cows around.
The whole ride can be started/stopped at Feizor, Clapham, Horton, Helwith Bridge and adjust as you prefer and can find parking (During the winter/off season, starting/finishing in The Courtyard Dairy carpark is probably possible, though buying some cheese or a pizza either to snack on or to finish with would only be polite). I describe it from Austwick as that’s my start point. Horton probably has the best parking, and Feizor the worst. The route can also be ridden in reverse, but I think it’s probably ridden better as described, less fund down and less fun up.
And that is how not to write a brief blog post about my epic ride… but when I consolidate my ‘epic’ rides into a section detailing them it will help if they’re already written.