A frosty spin through Hamsterley Forest then Teesdale's country roads

 

After a weekend of walking / hiking it was nice to get back out on the bike today. I was up and out early doors with a frosty start. I parked up at Hamsterley Village then dropped down and through Hamsterley Forest. The grass was pure white in the valley bottom with the Garmin reading minus -2 degrees and it felt like it. On the climb out of the forest over the moor the sun decided to poke its head out from behind the clouds. The roads were damp under tyre but not too bad. As ever over the open moor roads it was windy and fresh going and temperature raised to plus +5 degrees. I have added the route map at the bottom of the blog. All in just under 24 miles in 1hr 48mins with 2000ft of climbing. Below are a few cold and sunny snaps from the loop, enjoy and hopefully more soon. 

Fresh Goodies - Sidi 59 SRS Carbon Ground MTB Inserts 41/44 Black

 

I have a couple of pairs of Sidi mtb shoes that use these sole inserts and a new boxed spare pair also with the same inserts. I used my last spare set a while ago when I also replaced the spd cleats at the same time. Since Saddleback went bust trying to find any stock in the UK has been impossible. I signed up to a few stock alerts and I received an email from Condor Cycles saying they were back in stock. I needed the 41/44 size option and went for the black instead of the red colour this time. I checked a few days ago and both colours are now sold out already in 41/44 size. 

RRP £34.00, I paid £33.37 with £1.95 48hr Royal Mail p&p from Condor Cycles. 

A hilly mixed terrain ride around sunny Weardale inc Rookhope etc

 

For todays playground I headed over to Weardale for a spin. I took my Creo 2 again as I wanted to do a mixed ride of country back lanes and offroad. I parked up at Frosterley and headed up to Stanhope the back way then the back way to Eastgate. From Eastgate it was a road climb all the way to Rookhope. At Rookhope I took the offroad section of the old C2C up the climb and over the moors. Joined onto the road for a short while before dropping down onto the Waskerley Way. Then it was more climbing and descending over the moors to the back of Stanhope. Then it was back onto the country lane to Frosterley for a couple of miles. It was lovely and quiet as normal with only three cars passing me on the whole ride. I have some lovely low level sun and not too cold either. The wind on the tops was eye watering and slowing me right down. All in just over 25 miles in 2hrs 10mins with 2050ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride inc the route map, enjoy and hopefully more soon-