Clearly a route to be started immediately after breakfast — this tour of the wonderfully named Great Fryup Dale offers some interesting and varied mtb’ing that aptly demonstrates the
type of riding on offer in the North York Moors.
The opening leg sets the scene well, starting on tarmac before taking to dirt to hurdle the blunt north end of Danby Rigg. The drop into Little Fryup Dale is a tough and testing singletrack that holds few punches at the top. It would be so much easier if you could get a little downhill practice in first. Don’t worry if you need to walk the first few obstacles: it eases considerably as it goes.
Now comes the climb — steep and very long. You’ll be glad it’s all on tarmac. A left turn onto a good drive offers overdue relief for the lungs and legs, and from the lonely dwelling at Trough House, it’s the kind of rough moorland singletrack that the area is famed for. This contours sweetly round the head of the dale — dropping and climbing again before finally giving up a few contour lines to join the road over Glaisdale Rigg.
Singletrack gives way to firm shooters’ track now. And you’ve earned the long, fast drop into Glaisdale. Another climb awaits you; this one’s steep with a capital S. More climbing takes you up onto Lealholm Moor, where a long traverse gains Beacon Hill — the start of the final descent. Sadly it’s all on tarmac. But if you’ve got a computer fitted, this is a great chance to take it places it’s never been before.