Comments for Cleveland Way Long Loop

We rode this route on a day of fantastic autumn weather (20/10/07) which meant great views all the way round. The first leg out along the Cleveland way is great - a nice warm up, no real climbs so the avg speed is good. The bit at Harfa Bank farm is a bit ify because the nice farmers seem to have removed all traces of Bridleways and signs. However things get better and the climbing starts after that. The riding is all good from then with the ride along Arnsgill Ridge producing a smile. It then goes horribly wrong at Lane House, you leave the road and cross the fields to the stream - the Bridleway is long gone and you have to climb a barbed wire sheep fence to cross the river - then its a trek up Hawnby Moor with your bike on your shoulder in Knee high heather - again no track at all. We followed the GPS, and without it we'd have had no chance. An hour later we managed to get to the top and found the gravel track. I'd recommend you leave Hawnby Moor off this route, the climb is horrid and the track at the top nothing special. Stick to the road and miss the moor - especialy if its bad weather. The rest of the ride is great after that. We enjoyed this route alot except for the walking at Hawnby moor. We ride once or twice a week so are not really mega fit (although we're both ex-roadies so we don't hang about)and we took this route easy to start with, and had a few breaks for sarnies etc. The route took us 6 hours total, with 4hr30 spent moving (according to GPS). I reckon you could knock at least 45mins off that if you missed the hike in the middle out. We rode after a period of dry weather so the trails were mostly mud free, but I could see it being a mud fest in places after a week of rain. Overall a great day out. Thanks for the route, we'll no doubt be trying some more off here. Lee