North York Moors

There’s a nice circuit around Cropton Forest which has a nice enough outward leg, and an awesome inward leg with a section of slightly downhill singletrack with occasional rock obstacles (SE724955 to743903).

The section beneath Wainstones from the café on Carlton Bank (NZ523030) (seems acceptable to park if you eat there afterwards) to the bottom of Clay Bank (NZ573033) is a fun rollercoaster ride in either direction. From the middle of this section, a push up to Cold Moor (NZ553018) is just about justified by the fun descent to Chopgate (NZ997558). Clay Bank itself (NZ573033 to579029) is a push up, and a nervy decent on very steep (but at least not loose) cobbles. The approach to the top Clay Bank across the western crest of Urra Moor from SE577997 is indistinct, and hence unridebale. The rest of this moor provides some scenic yet technically easy doubletrack, with one further fun descent into Cockayne (SE634986 to 626983).

Dalby Forest has an unavoidable entry fee of 7 quid, and unlike many similar locations, it doesn’t seem possible to avoid this by parking elsewhere. The long red circuit is on our tick list; the one time we went we got tempted off the excellent red by an easy looking bit of northshore on the black. Unfortunately, after the northshore ends, it returns to its original form which is loose natural trail – not really worth it with all the high quality man made trail in the vicinity.