Whitby - Halloween?

[CrinklyLion]

My photos are indeed dreadful... but you might like these

[Arch]

I'm currently uploading my paltry collection of dodgy cameraphone pics, and hoping that others did better.  And REALLY hoping that someone got That Photo in front of the fire.

Do you mean this one?


DSCN2729 by Panticle, on Flickr

showing how our superb British infrastructure runs rings round the Europeans...

Or the Kim version:


DSCN2731 by Panticle, on Flickr

Of course once the littles were in bed, the Experts took over:


DSCN2738 by Panticle, on Flickr

The house was absolutely lovely. I couldn't live there, with views like this I'd never get anything done!


DSCN2746 by Panticle, on Flickr

And of course, there was that excellent long window, which could be looked up from the first landing, and down from the second...


DSCN2745 by Panticle, on Flickr

Fabulous weekend. Depsite a rotten cold which reduced my voice to a croak (not that it stopped me talking of course!) and apparently made me breathe like an asthmatic rhinocerous in the night, I had a fabulous time. Just the exact right proportions of sitting about doing nowt, and doing stuff, in excellent company. Some of it, awake!

[Mr Arch]

Three photos:

Arch and an Arch.


The contents of the fridges:
Cake!

Beer!


Typo in the beach graffiti:
Don't know if you can see it but it says 'Anarchy+Mercedes=smiliey face!


Big hole in the ground on the way back!

[tiermat]

That reminds me, SFUN asked me and SlowCoach what the Hole Of Horcum was.

My answer? "A hole" Ok, it was 04:00 and we had ridden 40 miles, and I was cold.  I don't think he missed the humour....

[Red]

Does anyone have a picture of Sven actually cycling? I'm not convinced you lot didn't just tow his sleeping form around and plonk him down for comedy photos.

Looks like a fantastic time was that, though! 

[LindaG]

(sigh)

Thanks for posting your pics folk, so us Workers can have vicarious fun!   

It look like the most stupendous fun.

[Kim]

Big hole in the ground on the way back!

Ah, so that's what it looks like.

It was dark, so I failed to spot it, otherwise I would of course have shouted "Hole!"

And I mean *seriously* dark.  I've been on plenty of moonless night rides on roads away from built-up areas before, but they were nothing compared to how seriously mind-bogglingly dark it was at some points on this ride.  I spent large parts of the night acutely aware that I was perched atop a bicycle, itself perched atop a planet, with nothing but a handful of LEDs and all-you-can-condense water vapour for company.  Anything outside the beams might as well not have existed.  It was more than a bit sinister.

[SlowCoach]

Does anyone have a picture of Sven actually cycling?

checks camera.... err, no - but I do have this one of him upright


this just goes to show that he can sleep standing on his feet as well 

[Kim]

I've just checked the tracklog, and discovered that Sven and I reached the top of the hill on the A169 just outside Whitby at 06:33, (shortly followed by mcshroom and SlowCoach) and didn't set off again until 07:17.  That much standing around in what can only be described as a cloud goes a long way to explaining why the prospect of a nice warm ambulance seemed momentarily tempting when those motorists stopped to offer assistance.   

[Mr Arch]

Ah, so that's what it looks like.

I had to check with Arch, as we approached it, that 'Hole of Horcome' was spelt without a W.  I was imagining something like the part of Snake Pass where you can see the Whole of Glossop!

[Arch]

It was dark, so I failed to spot it, otherwise I would of course have shouted "Hole!"

A joke made by the EldestCub when we stopped to look at it on the way home. He's obviously been hanging around with cyclists for long enough.

It is amazing, remembering last year, how one can utterly fail to see such a thing in the dark (becoz it's dark, innit).  But then on the Scarborough ride, I totally failed to see Lord Wotsit's Tower, despite the fact that we had a cake stop virtually under it. It was an astonishment on the way home!

[phantasmagoriana]

That was fun! As someone who does most of my cycling in and around the flatlands of York, the prospect of hills was rather scary, and I'm very glad I took the hybrid and finally got (lots of) use out of the 23" gear. Of course there were downhills too - going down Blue Bank in the dark, with not-that-great lights and a lack of trust in my brake fettling skills, was interesting - rather glad I went down last as I may have set a new record for the slowest speed travelled down a 1-in-4 hill.

MFWHTBAB's picture makes the Hole of Horcum look lovely - might have to do it in daylight sometime.

Thanks to all involved - especially tiermat for leading the ride, MFWHTBAB and CrinklyAuntie for the transport back to Scarborough, growingvegetables for the spare bottle of water when I stupidly left mine in the fridge (why on earth did I think chilling it was necessary? ) and CrinklyLion for cake! The house in Whitby was absolutely lovely, too.

[interzen]

That reminds me, SFUN asked me and SlowCoach what the Hole Of Horcum was.

My answer? "A hole" Ok, it was 04:00 and we had ridden 40 miles, and I was cold.  I don't think he missed the humour....

There is a local legend that states that the Hole was made by a stroppy giant¹, but really it's just a dirty great hole. The walk around the top to Levisham and then back through the bottom of the Hole is also very pleasant, even if the climb up the side is bastard steep.

¹ - http://www.wonderfulwhitby.co.uk/holeofhorcum.html

[Canardly]

That photo of that there Whitby cant be right. Its supposed to have dark grey horizontal wet stuff in the foreground eliminating all that crystal clear detail.

[Kim]

That photo of that there Whitby cant be right. Its supposed to have dark grey horizontal wet stuff in the foreground eliminating all that crystal clear detail.

Those of us who waited at the top of the hill on the A169 absorbed it all while the others were having an early breakfast