Rideout to Blanchland

Helen and I went out with NUKB last Saturday on a rideout to Blanchland. The rideout was planned and led by DocB. I decided as the weather looked pretty good all day that it was a good time to try out the ZX-9R.

 

We meet up at Clitheroe services at 8:00am and then set out on the A59 to Skipton. Just after Skipton we turned left onto the B6265 and headed on up to Kettlewell where we stopped for a brief comfort break. We left Kettlewell and immediately dropped onto the goat tracks over North Moor and then joined the A684 into Leyburn. In Leyburn we then took the A6108 towards Richmond. Before we got to Richmond we turned left onto minor roads and headed over High Moor and through Ravensworth before turning left onto the A66. We then headed up the A66 before turning right and heading into Barnard Castle for a brew. Helen also visited a craft shop and bought a porcelain pig, which she has named Barnard (even though it is a sow).

 

We left Barnard Castle and headed on the B6278 heading for Egglestone. We continued on the B6278 through Egglestone and headed over Egglestone Common and then Bollihope Common. We then arrived in Stanhope and after crossing the river once again continued on the B6278, shortly after leaving Stanhope we turned left and went over Edmondbyers Common and into Blanchland for lunch.

 

Here is some previous on-board video footage that I shot on the B6278 earlier in the year.

B6278 to Blanchland on Honda VFR800 Vtec from Cavturbo on Vimeo.

 

We left Blanchland on minor roads and went over Hunstanworth Moor and then dropped down into Lintzgarth. We then went over Lintzgarth Common before arriving in Westgate. We then had to make a slight detour to avoid a ford before going over Langdon Common. We then joined the B6277 and headed into Middleton-in-Teesdale for ice creams.

 

We left Middleton-in-Teesdale on the B6276 heading towards Brough, passing by Selset Reservoir. In Brough we joined the A685 to Kirkby Stephen and then headed on the A683 to Sedburgh. Once past Sedburgh we continued on the A683 to Devil’s Bridge. We stopped at Devil’s for a brief break before joining the A65 towards Settle. After Ingleton we turned onto minor roads and went over Clapham Common and past Stocks Reservoir. We then continued on minor roads to Sawley and then joined the A59 to Clitheroe. We then proceeded home via the A56/M66.

 

The ZX-9R performed perfectly all day and was fairly happy on the goat tracks we went on today. It was also pretty comfortable and the 200 mile rideout didn’t seem to cause me any problems either.