A sunny spin through Hamsterley Forest then a road loop over Teesdale

 

Its like the weather is on repeat at the moment. Another overnight ground frost with the grass white and the Garmin reading 0 degrees on this morning ride. I opted for a short trip out in the van and parked up at Hamsterley Village. From there I drop down the road to Bedburn and into Hamsterley Forest. I ride through and out of the forest and onto the B6278 to Hilltop, Egglestone. The forest was lovely and quiet and never seen a sole and just one bird, not sure where all the wildlife had gone. The road back to Hamsterley village was just as quite apart from the short steep uphill section on the B6282 which is always a busy stretch of road. The wind was not too bad and the views over Teesdale in the sun was unreal. All in 24 miles in 1hr 46mins with just under 2000ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the loop, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

An early more blast in the sun around Houghall woods to see the Bluebells.

 

Another cracking sunrise so I decided to get an early morning ride down to Durham city centre, over to Maiden Castle and a blast through Houghall woods. The blue bells are out in full bloom and is lovely to see them in the streams of sunshine through the trees. We have had no rain so the trails are still lovely and dry. I even managed to ride up the middle track through the woods which is normally knee deep in mud. There was an overnight ground frost with the Garmin just hovering above 2 degrees. The paint on the Trek was glittering away in the sun through the ceramic spray. There was a few others out but it was not that busy. No wind today so was more comfortable to ride in. All in just under 17 miles in 1hr 28mins with 1000ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon before the Bank Holiday three days of rain forecasted! 

A local ride of mixed terrain from gravel to tarmac in glorious sunshine

 

I had a day off the bike yesterday as I felt well rough but went out a walk around Waldridge fells in the afternoon. 

Today there was another lovely sunrise but then it clouded over so I delayed going out on the bike until the sun came through again. I had worked out a rough route in my head the night before and started on that by hoping onto the old railway line at Langley Park and headed over to Stanley Crook. I have attached a route map at the bottom of the blog if you are interested. Everywhere was lovely and quiet with just a few others out. The offroad sections are still bone dry and dusty. I wanted to get some more climbing in so did five climbs in total, some on the roads and some on the gravel. The wind has come back again and the return leg and descents were freezing cold. All in just over 36 miles in 2hrs 45mins with 2500ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon-