Gisburn Forest Mountain Biking

Jack wanted to go mountain biking at Gisburn as part of his Birthday celebration. We set off early to make sure we'd find room in the car park, having to use 2 cars to get the bikes and all of us up to Gisburn. We arrived at 9am and easily found parking, there are several large car parks and the weather wasn't great so we needn't have worried about finding room.

First off we headed up to the training area and spend 15 minutes warming up, the kids did pretty well and enjoyed trying the different graded areas, Finlay was happy on Green and Blue, Jack was happy on Red and Black!!

We headed off as a family on the Blue Route and made good progress, we stayed together until I got a puncture! Thankfully I had a puncture kit, however I didn't have a pump. Someone soon stopped and lent me their pump (Many thanks!) and we continued on out way. The Blue route has a mix of single track in the trees and fire roads. Some of the bigger hills are on the Fire Roads and are a bit of a drag. Once we completed this we had a cup of tea at the cafe. Jack and me decided we wanted to do 'The 8' Red route. Finlay and Andrea thought it best to stay on the easier routes.

The first part follows the Blue route so it was pretty straight forward, we soon turned off and headed into th hills. Jack wasn't too confident to start with but soon got his head around everything and realized that he had the ability to do the route. We really enjoyed the long runs of single track, there are a few runs on the fire roads, the steep section alongside 'Hope Line' Orange Route did for me and I pushed my bike up the hill. Jack put his bike in the granny gear and rode to the top, laughing at me for being rubbish!

The further we went the more we enjoyed the ride. We passed the Whelpstone Crag Drop in (Black Line). It looked too much for us, maybe next time. We were soon at Hully Gully, Jack had been talking about this for months, however stood at the top he didn't have the confidence to do it. I told him that I'd not come all this way to bottle out and made him follow me. Soon as Jack got going he thought it was ace and really enjoyed the run, sometimes a pushy dad is needed!

We continued along the route, Jack was getting more confident and did the Black graded drop in on Swoopy, I stayed on the red route and avoided the huge drop! We headed back to the cafe and caught up with Andrea and Finlay. 

We had a late lunch and then headed back into the training area, Jack got too confident jumping and had his worst accident of the day! Finlay wanted to do the Blue route one more time so we went together. My legs were getting pretty tired but I kept on pushing on.

Altogether Me and Jack did about 30kms. We all had a really good day, made it home for tea. Jack and Finlay wanted to go to Nando's so after a quick shower and change of clothes we headed out for a well earned tea!

Jack Silver Chief Scout Award Presentation

Jack with the Mayor

When Jack moved on from cubs he got his silver award. It was a nice surprise when Jack got a letter from the Lord Mayor of Bradford inviting him to a presentation evening at the city hall. None of us had ever been into the main chamber where the council meet so we all looked forward to the evening.

Typically the weather was awful, wind and rain. After getting wet running from the car park to the entrance we were led to the main chamber. It was very busy and the only seats left were tucked away with a very limited view, so we moved upstairs to the public gallery, much better. The city hall is well looked after, everything is very traditional!

There were beaver and cubs from all over Bradford being presented with awards. All the kids sat on the green leather seats that the councillors use. After short speeches from the Mayor and the Scout District Commissioner all the kids were called up is turn to receive there framed awards and photographed with the Mayor.

Once everyone had been called up we were all invited to a reception in the banqueting hall. Jack had cake and pop and Andrea and me had tea and coffee.

It was a nice way for Jack to fully sign off from cubs. Typically leaving the car park on the way home I accidentally used a Bus lane and had to pay a £30 fine!

Grassington Camping

Kids on the Bridge.

Didn't leave home Until 5:30pm but made good time and arrived just before 7pm. We had booked onto the Caravan Club site just above Grassington, this was the second Caravan club site we'd visited this year. l was still in a lot of pain after the 3 peaks walk and I wasn't sure about how much walking l would he able to do.

We had some tea and then the kids rode their bikes around the site, it wasn't long before it came dark.

Saturday morning and we decided to walk into Grassington, thankfully my leg held up and we were soon in the village. We looked at a few shops and got some fish and chips, eating them while sat on one of the benches in the square. We spent more time looking around and headed to one of the many pubs, the Foresters Arms, the kids soon got board so we headed back to the campsite.

Big Wheelies.

For tea we headed to the Gamekeepers Inn that was just 5 minutes walk from the site. The food was very nice, the kids ran around and enjoyed the outside playground. Heading but to the van we settled in for the night.

Sunday morning, we had a bacon sandwich and headed home.The weather broke as we set off, heavy rain, we'd been pretty lucky.

Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walk

We've had this arranged for several months. All week we were keeping our fingers crossed for reasonable weather! All week at work the weather had been pretty poor and the forecast didn't look any better for our walk.

We all met up at the car park in Horton In Ribblesdale at 7:30am, several of Andreas friends from the Halifax Harriers and a few fiends from Queensbury. Everyone wrote their names and addresses on paper and pushed it through the letterbox at the Pen-y-ghent cafe, so that you can get a certificate to say you've done it!

Top Of Pen-y-Ghent

We headed off towards Pen-y-Ghent, the summit was shrouded in mist. It was very busy, at the steep part we had to queue, some of the people in front thought they were perilously close to disaster. I got sick of being polite and made my own route through the blockage. We soon got to the top, had a quick drink and headed down the path towards Ribble head.

It was still very busy and we had to queue over the styles as we headed through the fields. It was a long walk up the valley, but we were all in good spirit, chatting as we walked briskly up the valley. As we neared the railway an A4 Pacific steam train rattled past, if we had been 10 Minutes further along the path we'd have Sean the train on the bridge. When we got to Ribble Head the girls used the toilet at the Station Hotel. They did have to buy half a coke!

Time for lunch on Whernside.

l knew my knees would cause me trouble and my right knee was starting to hurt so l took some pain killers. Heading out of the valley past the viaduct we followed the train track on the start of the walk up Whernside. A couple of the girls were struggling with their feet and changed socks. We took the opportunity to have a few snacks. As we climbed the steeper parts of the path my knee was giving me more jipp. By the time I got to the top l was struggling, more pain killers. I was wondering how l could manage to walk all the way back!

Heading down the Steep path l started to work out strategies around keeping pain at bay. From here on didn't stop walking, just kept plodding on. At the Hill Inn a couple of people went to the toilet , l walked through. gradually people passed me but I caught up with every one at the top of Ingleborough. As we walked back off the top of the mountain we caught up wits the last few of Our fiends.

Done It! Top of Ingleborough

I gritted my teeth and kept going. Thankfully my left knee was still good. By now I was walking like Quasimodo, keeping my right leg straight swinging it around the side! It was a long way back to Horton In Ribblesdale. We all trudged along, by now we'd stopped talked, we did stay together. We arrived back at the Cafe taking 10 hours and 10 minutes!

The cup of tea did just the trick. The last of our friends arrived 20 minutes later.We all did the Walk, no one bailed out!

It took me a couple of days to get my knee to appoint where I could get comfortable. No long lasting damage, but to me doing all 3 peaks in one day makes 3 nice walks into a chore!

Jack at Velodrome Manchester

Jacks second visit to the velodrome, he was a little less anxious. The session was very different. All the kids were on the track at the same times so Jack pretty much got 3 hours of track time. I enjoyed watching the session. I could see that Jack was having to push pretty hard, he was one of the smallest.

At the end of the session all the kids did a one lap time trial was pretty cool to see Jack on the track all by himself. Jack did an 18 second lap, he was 11th out of 15.

Afterwards Jack said he'd not really enjoyed the session and had found it hard. Hope this hasn't put him off!

Nayburn Lock, York Camping

Didn't leave home while 5pm On what looked like a very busy weekend. The Leeds Festival and York Races both meant the roads would be very busy. With this in mind I decided to avoid the A64 / A1 and instead ure the M62 and A19, this was a good decision and we arrived at 7 30pm.

At the Railway Museum

Saturday morning and the kids made friends with the kids in a caravan next door. We decided to ride our bikes into York there is a really good bike route using a disused railway for a large par of the ride. Jack - and Finlay convinced our neighbours to go to York on their bikes. The Father of the kids was a little concerned about the distance into town. I said it was all flat and a pretty easy ride. We set off and within a few miles it was obvious that he was struggling, the kids found it easy, the ride went right part the race course which was very busy. we had to take care on the last stretch as we were at the side of a busy road. Our new fiends looked shattered. We headed to a nearby Pub and got some drinks.

After this we left our new fiends and headed to the railway museum. Jack used to be obsessed with trains when he was little. Weve visited the museum before, but it made sense to visit as several A4 Pacifics were on display. They are commemorating 75 year. Mallard, Dwight D Eisenhower and Dominion of Canada were on display. Me, Jack and Finlay thought this was brilliant, however Andrea sat on a bench and fiddled around with Facebook on her phone.

Once we'd seen enough trains we headed back into the town centre and had a late lunch at Pizza Express. From here we walked around the shops, Andrea enjoyed this but we were a little board. We re-traced our steps back to the camp-site and I put the BBQ on. Our new friends looked Shattered but admitted they they needed to do more exercise. After a few beers it vas time for bed.

York Races

Sunday was another busy day, Fiends came over to join us for the day. Again we rode our bikes into town, this time we spent time is the Park, walked around, this to we struggled to find a Pub that wasn't very busy, it was a bank holiday weekend. We ended up in a beer garden at a Witherspoons. Returning to Nayburn we headed to the''Blacksmiths Arms"for a meal. Steak was the order of the day, we all lived it!

Monday morning I went for a short bike ride with Jack, he'd made up his own route and wanted to show me around. After a look around the Lock beyond the camp site it was time to pack up and head home. Another good weekend. Decent weather and good company!

White Rose Youth League Cycling Round 8 - Richard Dunn Sports Centre

We'd missed the 7th race when we were on holiday and the kids hadn't spent much time on the bikes while we'd been away!

First up was Finlay for his time trial, he did 1.53.1 which was good enough for 2nd. Jack had a tough race, ended up on his own, he ended up 11th, Jack finished really strong, it was a shame he didn't speed up one lap earlier as he'd have caught a couple of kids in front of him.

Finlay had a good race, I don't know how he manages to stand up all the time and not got tierd. Again Finlay came second is his class.

This was the last race for 2013, so next year Finlay will be moving up to the 'D' group. Jack will stay in 'C', so he should do better next year.

Finlays Time Trail Results - Under 8's
Round 1 - 2min 7 - 3rd Place
Round 2 - 1min 58 - 1st Place
Round 3 - 1min 47 - 1st Place
Round 4 - 1min 58 - 3rd Place
Round 5 - 2min 3 - 3rd Place
Round 6 - 1min 57 - 2nd Place
Round 8 - 1min 57 - 2nd Place

Finlay Under 8's race
Round 1 - 2nd Place
Round 2 - 1st Place
Round 3 - 1st Place
Round 4 - 3rd Place
Round 5 - 3rd Place
Round 6 - 1st Place
Round 8 - 2nd Place

Jack Under 12's race
Round 1 - 15th Place
Round 2 - 15th Place
Round 3 - 13th Place
Round 4 - 12th Place
Round 5 - 7th (not sure about this!)
Round 6 - 11th Place
Round 8 - 11th Place