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Tyne Valley MTB newsletter: August 2014
www.tynevalleymtb.co.uk
You can improve mountain biking by being a member of Tyne Valley
MTB
A bridleway section of the Sweethope and Ray Fell route 9 of us
enjoyed one July evening
Hello members of Tyne Valley MTB and interested people, This is
the summer 2014 edition of the Tyne Valley MTB club newsletter. And
what a summer it’s been so far – many days of sunshine, warmth and
clear skies and DRY trails! Long may it continue but of course we
all know it can’t. The club has been active on your behalf on a
number of fronts as this newsletter reports including a Lake
District weekend in May, the North Pennines MTB Marathon in July,
many midweek evening rides plus a few day rides and much advocacy
work at all levels as well as working hard to implement the
Sandstone Way by MTB route in conjunction with Northumberland
National Park Authority (NNPA). Do please contact me if you need to
know more about anything that follows or you wish to make any
comments.
Expect details about a special club meeting in September to plan
for 2015.
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August 2014 newsletter contents
1. Membership 2. TVMTB route projects 2014 3. High profile fund
raising events 2014 4. Routes, rides & tours in 2014 &
2015
5. TVMTB: Working for you in 2014 6. News & views 7. Other
8. Finally…….
1. Tyne Valley MTB Membership 2014
Club membership rates remain the same. Since the Spring
newsletter, new members James Swabey, Rob Aubrook, Joey Stewart,
Jeff Richardson, Patrick Hazelhurst and Graham Bee have joined the
club.
Adults: £10 / under 16s in education & unemployed: £5 2
adults in the same household: £12 in total
New members: Please send your cheque made out to Tyne Valley MTB
to:
Tyne Valley MTB, C/o Peth Head Cottage, Juniper, HEXHAM, NE47
0LA
Or make a bank transfer to Lloyds Bank Hexham: s/c 30-94-19 a/c
18207260.
Please kindly send an email to info@[email protected] to advise
payment has been made New members are welcome and it’s HUGELY
important that existing members renew their membership to sustain
the route development work the club is undertaking on YOUR behalf.
NOTE: The club’s website has remained static but plans to address
this are beginning to take shape. It serves us just about
adequately in regard to funding applications and for first time
enquirers. Thanks again go to David Grundey for making changes when
requested but he can only do this when he is provided with the
information. A Facebook account would be useful but this takes
someone’s time to feed and respond to. Any volunteers?
2. Tyne Valley MTB route projects in 2014 Funding to the value
of £32,000 for the proposed Sandstone Way MTB route was finally
ratified in late Spring. This came from a variety of sources – a
Defra grant (much needed but the process was really heavy going to
say the least), a proportion was for valued contribution in kind
(me working for nothing), two separate sustainable tourism grants
(NNPA and the Northumberland Coast AONB), NCC Rights of way route
improvements and a grant worth £5,000 secured by TVMTB. Work has
begun to waymark the route and this will all be place by mid
September (once I’m back from the Alps tour). A support
infrastructure report has been completed and follow-up will take
place from mid August. The process to commission a route map is now
in train and also to create a website. Route improvements will take
place on the ground at a few chosen locations although more are
desirable. Once this has happened then 2 further tenders will be
issued to bring the route to readiness for an Easter launch. These
are En route business support & training and Monitoring set
up.
mailto:info@[email protected]
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Map and website sponsors are actively being sought so all
suggestions are welcome. The route will be available to ride from
mid September but the map may be held back until March 2015 in
which case route info will be via a gpx file. Best keep an eye on
http://www.cyclepad.org.uk/listing/The-Sandstone-Way or contact
Ted.
Additional info: Further meetings of the Northumberland Cycle
Tourism group have taken place and in conjunction with
Northumberland Tourism and all main relevant bodies in
Northumberland, the new County Council Leisure, Tourism and Arts
Committee are now joined at the hip to fight the cause of
recreational cycling and cycle tourism. A key plank of this is to
ensure all cycle tourism-related funding, initiatives and
interventions are on message, value for money and focused on
lifting this aspect of cycling, which includes mountain biking, to
a much higher level than it currently is. To this end, a masterplan
approach has been agreed which this writer has made a significant
contribution to.
http://www.cyclepad.org.uk/listing/The-Sandstone-Way
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As long ago as last December this group agreed that the
Sandstone Way route would become an exemplar to demonstrate cycle
routes are implemented and managed which would go a long way
towards awakening the sleeping giant which cycle tourism has become
over the years in Northumberland through lack of direction and
management. Plans are now in place to put this right and for all
bodies to work as a team to achieve a common goal. There is a
proposal in train to braid the Reivers Cycle Route (RCR) which was
invented by this writer in about 1997. This is a fine route but at
the time it was opened, a one size fits all approach was deemed to
be the right way to present long distance cycle routes. Lack of
funding, nil management and almost nil interest from key parties
has caused this cycle route (and others) to gradually fall apart at
the seams. All of a sudden the RCR has been re-signed along its
original alignment most of which will hopefully benefit route
braiding when it is implemented in advance of a re-launch in Spring
2015. What is braiding? Braiding the RCR would provide a 100% all
tarmac route for road bikes signed west of Ponteland AND a closely
intertwined tracks and trails version starting at Tynemouth which
is off-road as much as possible as the scaled down map below
reveals.
Brace of Reivers Cycle Routes: On-road (blue) and off-road
(brown)
Two enjoyable sections of the RCR by MTB in mid
Northumberland
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The brown dotted line represents the cross-border route via the
Lonesome Pine and the Bloodybush toll road which is about to get
some TLC funded by a £14,000 which for some strange reason Sustrans
is providing the money for. I say ‘strange’ because they say their
remit is to focus on “where the most chimney pots are” and where
their skills set and momentum are centred so to unilaterally decide
to spend £14K in the outer reaches of rural Northumberland is
indeed strange – especially when there are so many other places on
‘abandoned’ main cycle routes in the county that desperately need
repair and improvement. FC is right to snap their hands off and all
passing MTBers will be the beneficiaries but the motive behind this
surprising gesture remains a complete mystery. Albeit entirely
unwittingly, Sustrans will have played a part in creating a quality
braided route for the RCR but it would be far better if they were
part of an agreed team approach which aims to improve cycling in
Northumberland rather than independently commit to interventions
without reference to the adopted masterplan everyone else is
working to. To summarise, it’s fair to say a ‘braid’ approach will
revitalise, much improve and re-launch the RCR to two new audiences
and very simply, easily and cheaply provide a second largely
off-road option for MTBers who will want to ride another long
distance trail having enjoyed cycling the Sandstone way. Plans to
add the new Brace of Dozen Dales Cycle Routes to this family – yes,
another braid product – in late Spring 2015 are also being
progressed. There will further updates in the Autumn newsletter but
the principle is shown below by this basic map. Note the optional
MTB loop shown as green dashes via Alston which will provide an
excellent two day ride in its own right. Note also the DD by MTB
shares the Sandstone Way between Alwinton and Hexham.
Brace of Dozen Dales CRs
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FYI: The Borderlands Cycle Route – one for the roadies This is a
new route for road bikes between Carlisle and Berwick on Tweed via
Longtown, Newcastleton, Bonchester Bridge, Kirk Yetholm, Millfield
or Wooler and Norham. It uses wonderfully quiet minor roads and
passes through beautiful scenery for its entire length of 105
miles. Once the Scottish referendum has taken place it is hoped the
three relevant local authorities will agree to support the
implementation of this route and other cross border routes. Cycling
has never been so popular and the Tour de France cycle race visit
to Yorkshire in early July 2104 brought about a level of publicity
and profiling for cycling the like of which the UK has never
seen.
The proposed Tour of Cheviot and Kielder cycle route will be
launched when a Sportive following this route is held in summer
2015.
PLEA! Cycling is very popular and rising but a minority of
cyclists is doing our sport no favours by behaving inconsiderately,
even rudely, to other road users and landowners. Farmers will
appreciate your courtesy and thought! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do all
you can when out cycling or in conversation to be a good ambassador
for cycling by riding considerately, by taking all your litter home
(including banana skins and orange which take months to rot). And
please always pass horses slowly - first making sure you have been
seen and then exchanging a friendly greeting. Sadly, too many
cyclists don’t do this!
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3. High profile fund raising events 2014 The North Pennines MTB
Marathon took place on the 19th July 2014 ostensibly to raise money
for cycling projects in our area. It was co-ordinated and organised
for the club by members Paul Marshall and Roy Nicholson with help
from a small core of members. Here is Roy’s report…..
The inaugural North Pennines MTB Marathon has been and gone, and
without wishing to blow our own trumpet too much, it was an amazing
success! 125 mountain bikers aged between 9 and 66 braved the
forecasted thunderstorms - which thankfully never quite
materialised - to set off from Garrigill at 10am on Saturday 19th
July to head over the flanks of Cross Fell to Blencarn and back,
following one of three routes of varying length from 35km to 65km.
As the start siren blew the rain started to fall, and the majority
of riders who were signed up to the “Biggest” route set off up the
valley towards Tynehead and Moorhouse. They were shortly followed
by the “Bigger” (45km) and “Big” (35km) route riders, who took the
shorter route up the Corpse Road to Rake End Junction before
heading over Wildboar Scar. Blencarn Village Hall was the halfway
point for the shorter two routes, and it contained a huge amount of
food and drink to fuel hungry riders in the form of bananas, cups
of tea and vast amounts of cake from the local Merryvale Bakery in
Long Marton. Once checked in and fed, riders then set off back up
the fell in occasional sunshine, back toward Rake End. The
steepness of the climb and the boggy ground on top proved too much
for most. Once at Rake End, where those on the Biggest Ride were
due to turn back down to Blencarn for a second round of cake, all
but 17 of the hardiest riders decided that today they were beaten
by Cross Fell, and shot back down to Garrigill along with those on
the “Big” Ride. The brave 17 followed the “Big” route rode back to
Blencarn for a second attempt on the climb from Kirkland. Post-ride
legend has it that someone was witnessed riding the entire climb.
On return to base, many riders enjoyed a well deserved cup of
Allendale Pennine Pale Ale. It wasn't a timed race so there were no
winners and losers; the event was organised by the Tyne Valley
Mountain Bike Club purely as a back-to-the-roots, Big Single Loop
epic. In our eyes everyone that took part was a winner! The biggest
win for us was that every rider returned through the finishing arch
with a smile on their face, which is exactly what the event is all
about. Spot prizes were chosen at random. A set of Gloworm X2
lights worth £170 were given to Ian Woodcroft of Preston; three
vouchers from Paramo clothing were given to Richard Davis
(Sheffield), David Horridge (Bolton) and Laurie Wyatt (Hexham) and
gift packs of Allendale Brewery beer were distributed to 10 other
lucky riders. Event photography http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/,
http://tynevalleymtb.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Pennines-MTB-Marathon/239603412888357
http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/http://tynevalleymtb.org/https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Pennines-MTB-Marathon/239603412888357
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Extra special thanks go out to the route-marshals who spent the
day standing in the rain cheering riders and lifting their spirits,
the feed-station marshals who kept the cake and tea coming, and the
medics who patched up the few injuries. Finally, a massive thanks
to all those that braved the wilds of the fells - see you next
year! Possible dates for the event in 2015 are either the 4th July
or the 25th July.
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The event WAS a success but the truth is we needed more
volunteers to help beforehand, on the day and afterwards. Please do
your best to provide support next year!
A HUGE ‘well done’ goes to Paul and Roy for all the work they
did to make this event happen and very many thanks to the club
members who helped and / or were marshals on the day. Muchos
respect to club members Jonathan and Allen who rode the event and
for all the feedback received – lots went well but undoubtedly
there were lessons to be learnt. Sadly, after all the bills were
paid we only made a £150 or thereabouts but the event is now a fact
and hopefully next year the club will raise enough money to build a
trail section somewhere where it is needed. For example, £2,500
will build a little over 1 km of new singletrack on the Sandstone
Way.
Other fund raising events are in the pipeline – watch this
space!
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4. Routes, rides & tours in 2014 Evening, day and weekend
rides Only one route clearing evening took place although one or
two members did a lot more on their own. Wednesday evening rides
started on the 16th April and have taken place every week since
with notification going out by email. All are welcome including non
members for 2 ‘free’ rides.
Damn good ride 16/04 Salter’s Nick 23/04
Backa Prudda 07/05 Slaley & Beyond 14/05
Hexham south 21/05 Gorgeous gorge route 19/06
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Bolts Law 25/06 Heathery Burn & Beyond 02/07 ALSO BELOW
West of Simonburn 09/07 Belly up 23/07
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Sweethope & Ray Fell 30/07
Aydon & Abettin 06/08
Ali Tye continues to co-ordinate rides on Thursday evenings.
Always a hoot!
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A newbie’s impressions of Wednesday night rides Despite
reassurances beforehand from Ted that Wednesday rides were relaxed
affairs there were the usual worries - am I fit and skilled enough,
will I hold everyone up/get dropped etc? There wasn’t time
beforehand for a personal fitness regime so made do with stashing
bananas and energy bars and bringing along an OS map in case I
needed to bail out halfway round. So what have been my overriding
impressions? Firstly a great bunch of friendly non- competitive
guys to ride with. And yes I could keep up! Lots and lots of
expertise waiting to be shared of the terrain, routes and bikes,
especially notable being Ted’s encyclopaedic Northumberland off and
on road route knowledge. Although I love maps it is a real luxury
being guided and just being able to concentrate on riding and the
scenery and leave the route choice to the ride leader. This is
always flexible enough to cope with things like delays caused by
unexpected mechanicals etc. So far the group size has varied
between 6 and 14 and you tend to ride alongside and chat to
everyone at least once every evening - facilitated by the amount of
shuffling that goes on every time the group remount after going
through field gates. Stops are long enough to admire yet another
stunning Northumberland panorama and get a banana down but even
around the longest day there has been little daylight to spare at
the end of the rides. So now I always put lights in my pack, just
in case. These are not terrifying macho rides where things just get
faster and faster and more and more daring. For example there is no
shame in pushing uphill on those sections where the cows or erosion
have done their worst to the surface and made riding almost
impossible for all but the fittest and most skilled riders. I may
have been lulled into a false sense of some sort of Northumbrian
mountain biking idyll as every Wednesday evening so far has been
sunny and clear with amazing views. However I am sure future wet
and cold Wednesday evening rides, possibly with little visibility,
will be just as enjoyable.
Day rides & Half day Sunday rides take place according to
demand or opportunity. Only one weekend trip took place and was
thoroughly enjoyed by just 4 club members although lots of regrets
for absence were sent in. The route was Ravenglass to Ambleside in
sunshine and it was a cracker!
We rode the green route at a leisurely pace and thoroughly
enjoyed it.
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Future rides generally - please contact Tyne Valley MTB
organiser (Ted) if you fancy a particular route or if you would
like to lead a ride. This way your preferred route type isn’t
overlooked.
It is noted some members have commented the Wednesday evening
rides have become rather pacy and would be better if they included
1 or 2 more ‘catch your breath’ stops.
The Club 2104 Alps tour takes place as outlined below
MTB Alps 2014 8 ride days
Austria: Gastein Tal to Hinterstoder
Friday 15/08 to Sunday 24/08
This year we plan to fly from Manchester to Munich airport then
stop over to ride at Leogang* en route over the Gross Glockner Pass
to complete sections we missed riding in 2013. We then head into
the Dachstein range of mountains which we circumnavigate rather
than cross due to its glacier and high craggy profile. We then wend
our way through this very picturesque area riding selected sections
of the Dachstein MTB Loop Tour to end our 2014 tour ideally placed
for where in 2015 we will start in our final leg of the Great
Alpine Chain route by MTB between Geneva and Vienna. Our last night
will also place us relatively close to the motorway which will take
us back to Munich airport for the flight back to Manchester.
All days are planned to be door-to-door riding although 2 days
will involve a transfer by minibus at some point. As ever, our
overnights will be memorable. Ruth Marlee has agreed to cheerfully
drive the support minibus once again for our 2014 tour. We will
ride two bike parks – info below…
*http://www.salzburgerland.com/en/trendsport/bike-parks/bikepark-leogang.html
^http://www.salzburgerland.com/en/trendsport/bike-parks/mountainbikepark-wagrain.html
Alps by MTB tours in 2015 The last section of the Great Alpine
Chain Route by MTB (GACR) will be completed during the last week in
August 2015 and end at Vienna with excellent singletrack trail
riding right up until the last day. It certainly looks like enough
club members are up for a SECOND Alps tour by MTB in 2015 and
several have already made a commitment to this. The proposed date
is Saturday 11th July to Sunday 19th July which is the week before
the schools break up – important to some. The route is yet to be
finally decided but with the experience of the GACR to call on, the
plan is to ride one of the very best parts of it again because it
is SO good. Take a look at these websites for flavour of the upper
limit stuff!
http://www.altarezia.biz/video/?p=no&id_video=30108881&hd=si
and
http://youtu.be/ZrikONR7yLA (short version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG6-jhQHPFM (8 minute version)
There’s lots of easier fast flowing stuff and many miles of high
mountain trails are served by lifts. This not for profit trip
always costs what it costs with all riders paying an equal share.
The guideline sum to budget for is £1,000. Please let Ted know if
you are interested in taking up a place and plan to pay a deposit
of £30 in early September.
http://www.salzburgerland.com/en/trendsport/bike-parks/bikepark-leogang.htmlhttp://www.salzburgerland.com/en/trendsport/bike-parks/mountainbikepark-wagrain.htmlhttp://www.altarezia.biz/video/?p=no&id_video=30108881&hd=sihttp://youtu.be/ZrikONR7yLAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG6-jhQHPFM
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Image by Dan Milner
5. TVMTB: Working for you in 2014 The following meetings and /
or commitments are attended / undertaken on your behalf:
Northumberland Joint Local Access Forum
Northumberland Rights of Way Liaison Group
Northumberland Joint Access Users Group
North Pennines Access & Recreation Advisory Group
Various relevant Parish Councils meetings
Public Inquiries – new access
Prudhoe Green Infrastructure Group
Archival research at Woodhorn County Records office
International Mountain Biking Association
Dukeshousewood – user conflict resolution PLEASE DON’T RIDE THE
PATHS WHEN IT’S MUDDY AND BE AWARE OF, AND CONSIDERATE TO, ALL
OTHER USERS AT ALL TIMES!
Funding for cycling projects continues to be applied for.
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/6357681/
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6. News & Views a) With input from Pete Laing, the
internationally famous Scottish MTB trail builder, FC in
conjunction with Hamsterley Trail Blazers have reconstructed the
erstwhile rooty section of Pikes Teeth so that I flows really well
(although one or two berms on the steeper section could have been
longer).
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/HamsterleyBLACKTrail.pdf/$FILE/HamsterleyBLACKTrail.pdf
The revamped tearoom and visitor area is superb and a new bridge to
link the carpark with the Grove Link Trail will be in place in
September. Well done to all concerned.
b) New Lake District trail The Langdale Trail between Ambleside
and the head of the Langdale Valley was opened in July. It’s a
shared use function trail that provides a very useful off-road
route between these two locations. c) The proposed Acomb ‘Rails to
Trails’ application is still ongoing but has had to take its place
in the queue for my time. Please refer to the Spring newsletter for
the overview of this project. d) The CTC is leading the lobbying
for suitable footpaths to be used legally with the same access
rights as Bridleways – for more info see
http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaigning/views-and-briefings/public-footpaths-england-wales
and for more info on access see
http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaign_policies/category/820 e) Old maps
This brilliant link http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/ was sent to us
by Sue Rogers our pro-active access colleague in the British Horse
Society (BHS) and it is free! For anyone interested in maps, this
will provide many happy hours of browsing.
7. Other a) Watching the Tour de France come through on two
consecutive days in early July was FANTASTIC!
b) Thanks to Alan Mitcham for sending this in
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=685741498150994&set=vb.100001454510814&type=2&thea
ter
http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaigning/views-and-briefings/public-footpaths-england-waleshttp://www.ctc.org.uk/campaign_policies/category/820http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=685741498150994&set=vb.100001454510814&type=2&theaterhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=685741498150994&set=vb.100001454510814&type=2&theater
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Finally! PLEASE provide your support where it can make a
difference - you can’t renovate a house if you stay on the outside
just occasionally looking in through the windows (even if just
playing in the garden is your thing)!
Please contact Ted for more info about anything in this
newsletter
Remember, if you ride – you need to support & build
Here’s wishing you lots of good peddlin’
Ted Liddle Tyne Valley MTB - Voluntary Organiser 01434 673038
[email protected] / www.tynevalleymtb.co.uk
You will improve mountain biking by being a member of Tyne
Valley MTB
Without access there is no mountain biking!
More cycling Info! Nothing will change the status quo for
cycling unless local authorities start to do things differently in
order to actually make it safer and easier for people to cycle for
all types of reason – for utility, health and wellbeing and for
recreational and tourism reasons. “Despite the clear need for
radical infrastructure improvements, local authority planners
remained narrow and risk averse” Graham Titchener: Tour de France
legacy officer
STOP PRESS
Cyclist dies after collision with car in Chollerton
A cyclist has died after being involved in a collision with a
car on a road in Northumberland. The man, who has not yet been
named but was in his 40s, suffered head injuries in the crash, on
the A6079 near Chollerton, on Saturday afternoon. Northumbria
Police said the driver of a Ford Fiesta involved in the collision
was unhurt. A spokesman said the cyclist was taken to Newcastle's
Royal Victoria Infirmary, where he later died.
mailto:[email protected]
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COMMENT: Culpability isn’t known at time of writing and lots of
questions need answers. At least the journalist reporting this
tragedy avoided falling into the trap of calling it an accident
because it’s not known if it was an accident whereas it is known it
was a collision. This is exactly why traffic police and rescue
services always attend ‘incidents’ and never presume to call them
accidents. It would be good if the rest of the media and the
majority of solicitors woke up to this. BRAKE, CTC and significant
others define an accident as an event that is unpreventable,
unpredictable and unavoidable which makes complete sense. All
cyclists will be much saddened to learn of a death to one of our
own no matter what type of bike the man was riding. My challenge to
you is to think how visible you are to vehicle drivers in your
fashionable black MTB kit – especially on dull days.
Uina Schlucht: Could be included in the second Alps by MTB tour
in July 2015 M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myh6UV10Ug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myh6UV10Ug (short suicidal
version)
WALKING ROUTE SECTIONS LIKE THIS ALWAYS SEEMS A GOOD IDEA!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myh6UV10Ughttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myh6UV10Ug