# Riding the North Riding, day 3



## taximan (12 Aug 2013)

*Day 3 Hardraw to Bungdale Head Farm.*

_Route Followed main roads through Wensleydale, Leyburn Masham, Thirsk, Sutton Bank, Scawton._
_Distance 55.5 miles_
_Difficulty Easy except for Sutton Bank_
_Weather Damp start, improved as the day wore on._
_Company, John_


After a night of showers, some of which were on the heavy side, we had a light breakfast before packing our gear, while most of the other campers were still in their beds, before setting out with no definite destination in mind other than a vague idea of finding a site somewhere in the Thirsk area. Yesterdays wind although not gone, had fallen away considerably, although sods law kicked in again and the wind veered so that we still had it more or less, still in our faces. I was still stiff after yesterdays efforts so it was with some relief that the first couple of miles were in general,downhill. The sky was heavily overcast and rain was always threatening but there were also occasional breaks in the cloud which was promising for later in the day. Wensleydale was one of my favourite areas fir cycling in back in the sixties when I first started to venture further afield than my home town and even after all these years it holds an attraction for me although it always seems to rain whenever I come. After a couple of photo stops we turned our bikes Eastwards, this was also the moment that we began to head for home and after a little consideration we decided to stick to the main roads for the time being because the traffic was very light at this time of day, we enjoyed a leasurly ride down the dale in the general direction of Leyburn and I found that Wensleydale is still as beautiful as it always was, and the lack of big climbs after yesterdays efforts made cycling even more of a pleasure. At Leyburn, we stopped for a bacon butty in the main street and very nice it was too. By this time we had shed our waterproofs and enjoying a bit of sunshine. When we were rested we carried on in the direction of Masham, again using the main roads. Traffic by now was heavier but very well behaved. I have to say that I can't recall a single instance of a motorist showing anything other than consideration during our tour. There were lots of other cyclists around too but almost without exception they were riding road bikes and travelling at about double our speed. At Masham There was quite a gathering of both motor & pedal cyclists enjoying refreshments at a caf'e so John and I had cake & coffee too. After we left Masham I could see the Cleveland Hills in the distance and we began to think of a camp-site for the night, but we did not see one until we reached the village of Carlton Minniot. We decided against stopping there and hoping to find a site a little closer to Thirsk, we continued on our way. When we did find one, it was for caravans only so pushing on through the town centre and onto the A170 we were confident of finding somewhere before too long. From Thirsk the road begins to rise gently towards Sutton Bank and I for one was now beginning to tire, but still no camping site. All too soon we were at the bottom of the bank and I was soon on foot pushing the bike. John is a lot fitter than I am and he was soon out of sight as I sweated, gasped, and staggered my way up much to the amusement of motorists sitting in their air conditioned boxes, I tried to cheer myself up by thinking that while they were stuck in a line of traffic descending the hill behind a large and very slow tractor, I was outside getting exercise and enjoying the fresh air but some how it didn't seem to work. At the bank top we asked at the visitor centre if there were any camp-sites nearby and we were directed to Bungdale Head Farm, about three miles away. At least it was three miles downhill, or so we thought. After turning of the main road for the first time that day we descended in fine style for perhaps two miles before turning of along an unmade road towards Bungdale Farm. the only problem was there was a stiff climb at the end of the lane just before what turned out to be a rather primitive camp-site.
a long way from anywhere. We could not find the warden so we pitched our tents and settled down for the night, then it started to rain......................... 





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## skyair (12 Aug 2013)

fantastic countryside photos,well done


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## Pat "5mph" (13 Aug 2013)

Enjoyed the pictures, well done on the milage and thanks for sharing.


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