Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
Holmfirth and Saddleworth
September 23, 2006, England
Holmfirth
The weather in September can be fickle at times, beautiful sun one minute, horizontal rain the next but today the weather was sweet, fluffy clouds, bright sun, but with a tinge of autumn in the air, life is good. Talking of fickle, it seams as though we have a few members in the team that either cannot be arsed to ride, don’t have time, don’t like mountain biking, taken up hopscotch, off-ground tick or den making, who knows? who cares? I have given up caring (small extract taken from Hodgson’s Reeth report and a slight dig) but today at least I am riding.
Myself, Auld Yin, Twin Pin, Downhill Maniac and Landlord assemble at Digley Reservoir car park, take the obligatory pre-ride photo and set off up that “bitch of a tarmac climb” that makes you curse and swear but gets the legs warmed up nicely. Turning off the A635 we hit a rocky bridleway that leads us across Meltham Moor to a grassy, rutted decent that can catch you off guard. Thankfully today no one “ate dirt” and we all descend with grins on our faces and a warm tingling inside/down our shorts. As we hit tarmac once more, new member Team Landlord (fresh faced new kid on the block) starts buzzing tyres; does he know what he has let himself in for? Does he know the consequences of his actions if he did this on a full FanyLion ride? Steve; lube up the hamsters, clean the romper suit, dust off the gimp mask.
As tarmac becomes a rocky bridleway once more, we hit the grassy slog up to Wessenden Moor that we all hate. It’s long, it hurts, it's agony, but all good for your fitness and with Twin Pin up front we are soon regrouping at the top. Auld Yin is not his usual self after a bout of “shitting through the eye of a needle” and he is off the pace.
A quick breather and we set fly down a wicked short bridleway to the A635 once more and then traverse left onto the Kirklees Way dodging cattle in the process. FanyLion’s friend “Faff™” rears its ugly head again and I encounter two punctures in the space of 100yds and use up four inner tubes.
As we climb back up to Digley Reservoir once more, we take a route down the steep grassy embankment off the reservoir and embark on a bit of sessioning on steep drop to a small brook and with an “escape to victory” climb over a barbed wire gate; we all agree to indulge in some afternoon tea via Holmbridge. Yes, you did read that right Hodgson, it is a nice day so we are going to have some afternoon tea and you were not there to stop us. Penny Lane teashop in Holmfirth serves up the trail fodder we need so we soak up the late September sun…..pass me a scone please dear.
The road climb back out of Holmfirth sees Downhill Maniac kiss a Mercedes Benz bonnet and lands up on the deck, thankfully he is ok and we and we all chuckle at what happened. As we climb up to White Gate, DHM’s Tomac Eli spits its left crank off and with plenty of Faff™ it is fixed and we climb up to Daisy Lee Moor and then a take a cracking rocky bridleway descent through a small coppice where Twin Pin punctures and Landlord (having swapped bikes with Auld Yin) bizarrely takes the most radical/extreme line I have ever seen down a rock step down and goes clean over the bars. We all noticed it coming…he didn’t…we all laugh…he’s ok.
As we drop down Rake Dike to the A6024 Twin Pin punctures again and we descend back with Auld Yin more on form once more to Digely Reservoir pack up the cars and head to the Clarence Pub to rendezvous with Sarah (Cycle Diva), Hodgson and his daughter Abi.
Saddleworth Moor
After a hearty meal the night before at the Church Inn with Sarah, Woody, Jude and Julie (note, only Auld Yin feasting on Steak and Chips™), Sunday morn dawns a bit grey, overcast and threatening as we all tuck into bacon and egg sarnies served up at Sarah’s parent’s house. With Team Woody, Team Mark and Team Cycle Diva riding today we have a good turnout and we are soon heading over to DHMs to the trail head but as soon as we get Faff™ out of the way the heavens open (and I mean open) and in 10 seconds flat we are all piss-wet through. It doesn’t look good I thought but we all set off “siiiiinging in the rain, just siiiinging in the rain, what a glorious feeeeeeling I’m haaaappy again!” Who let Mary Poppins in the team? and the “out of Mosley tarmac climb” is a bitch and we are all soon stripping off with the sun eventually beating down on us we dry out and take a wicked decent past Stamford Golf Course with Auld Yin back on form. Cutting along a piece of sweet loamy single-track along the railway line; we hit Uppermill and take a tarmac climb past the Church Inn pub up to Running Hill Head which just goes on and on and cuts the pack; but with Twin Pin up front and Team Mark close behind we are all looking good.
As we pick up a bridleway overlooking Diggle we take a pic of us in an “album front cover pose” and take another long grassy climb cutting across Saddleworth Moor to Ravenstone Rocks, where we take a grassy sheep track,. Team Woody has a “comedy stack over the bars moment” and Cycle Diva takes a tumble but comes out unscathed and we eventually reach Alderman’s Hill. After admiring views across Dovestones Reservoir and beyond we drop down from Alderman’s Hill past the war memorial and take true classic decent; ruts, sheep, rocks, dirt, it has the lot and as I agree with Twin Pin…Cycle Diva is a good Mountain Biker (Sarah this is true and I have told you this many times).
As we take the grassy decent off the Dovestones Resvoir and back into Greenfield; Team Mark feels free to somersault over the bars. Looking a bit dazed, he declares he’s had enough and leaves us all to finish the four-mile tarmac slog back to DHMs.
As we all say our goodbyes, I reflect on what a good weekend it was. We had encountered more punctures than ever before, we had encountered more Faff™ per amount of riders than ever before and above all, I am a lucky git having a mountain biking chick.
A good weekend for the memory bank,
Team Starkey
OUT.
Riders present
Sat:
Downhill Maniac
Starkey
Auld Yin
Twin Pin
Landlord
Sun:
Downhill Maniac
Starkey
Auld Yin
Twin Pin
Landlord
Cycle Diva
Woody
Mark
Enjoyment level
Very good indeed.