Having bought a mountain bike in 1992, I joined RSF soon afterwards as a means of enjoying some social riding. Living in Halifax, my local group then was the Yorkshire Group, which largely operated in the area just north of Leeds (Secretary Kevin Little lived in Rodley, ride leader Elizabeth Wagstaff lived in Bramhope) and occasionally further afield in the Southern Dales. At that time I was the only rider with a “mountain bike” – WITH FRONT SUSPENSION. Nowadays my front suspension is passé, everyone else seems to have full suspension, and I was recently on a ride where the majority of riders were on E-bikes – with full suspension, of course. 

Over the intervening quarter century the local RSF group structure has changed. The original Yorkshire Group sort of died a death, but fortunately for me the NPSP Group came into existence, the Lancashire Group was revived, and then Jane and Neville came up with a new Yorkshire Group. Fortunately for me that is, as Halifax is more or less in the middle of the areas covered by these three groups. 

I have always enjoyed riding with the “new” Yorkshire Group, and most years Jane and Neville have been kind enough to let me lead a ride or two for them. I have tended to favour the area of West Yorkshire immediately to the north of Leeds; wherever possible I try and start the ride within reasonably easy reach of a railway station as I like travelling by train. In recent years rides have been run from near the stations at Guiseley, Menston and Ilkley, although ensuring adequate (and, for certain RSF members, free) parking is always a priority. 

Choosing a route is not that difficult, as the area is well covered by off road guide books. Nick Dutton – Taylor’s “Mountain Bike Guide – West Yorkshire”, first published in 1993, introduced me to trails in and beyond my home area of Calderdale. More recently there have been Stephen Hall’s “Mountain Bike Guide – South Pennines of West Yorkshire and Lancashire” (2010) followed by Benjamin Haworth’s “West Yorkshire Mountain Biking – South Pennine Trails” (2012). 

A little while ago Mick Ely came up with the great idea of having half day rides starting at lunch time (avoiding the rush hour traffic) and finishing with a meal so people did not have to brave the evening rush hour. That is a particularly appropriate format for West Yorkshire rides, as the rush hour traffic in Bradford / Keighley (Leeds is less of a problem as you can avoid the city centre by using the M62 / M1) is notoriously bad. 

With all that as background, this ride started from the bridge over the River Wharfe at llkley (free parking, 5 mins from Ilkley Railway Station) and was ride no 15 “Ilkley North” in the Stephen Hall guide. After an unpromising morning – we set off at 1.30 pm – the weather was glorious – blue skies, sunshine, not a hint of rain. Although it was a bit breezy on the top of the moor. 

A link to the route is here Denton Ride and as a picture is worth a thousand words I will not describe it in detail. Suffice to say the first third was uphill, mainly on tarmac but then levelling out across the moor to Ellacar Pike; the second third was across the heather clad moor, initially on some ill defined and occasionally boggy single track (or whatever the expression is for “less than single track”), and then onto more solid and better defined tracks more ordinarily used by the vehicles associated with the principal economic activity of the moor – shooting grouse. The final third was all downhill beginning with a sketchy track between some field walls with magnetic properties, and ending on tarmac alongside Ilkley Golf Course. 

I reckon it was at least 95 % rideable – I did not become a mountain biker to have to push my bike for hours across unrideable terrain. But that did not mean it was easy – it is graded “Hard” in the guidebook. We finished at 5.00 pm. 

The views across the Wharfe Valley to the south, and across the Vale of York to the north were magnificent. Emley TV Mast was clearly visible, as was the power station at Ferrybridge. The heather was equally beautiful, acres and acres of a rolling purple carpet. 

We had six out on the ride; everyone was welcome but particularly Phil “Kermit” Spencer who made the considerable journey across from the Dark Side. We also had an international rider (Jane’s son in law Jon from the Basque Country, expertly piloting a bike he had never ridden before) and Nev himself was out recuperating from his recent prang. Plus Sol and Steve Lax. 

Thanks everyone for what I thought was a very pleasant day out. 

Reid Anderson