With The Lake District and The Yorkshire Dales on our doorstep - KDCS offers an exciting selection of cycle rides throughout the local area and beyond. There are social gatherings including slide shows, talks and supper evenings and members are kept up to date with cycling news and issues through this web site, emails and our Facebook pages. KDCS are an affiliated group of Cycling UK.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Ride Report - MTB Kirkby Stephen November 8th 2018

Hi KDCS riders,

 I keep looking at our web site but always feel that we are short of news on rides that have already taken place. So, here goes, a short ride report of our last Mountain Bike ride from Hartley nr Kirkby Stephen on Nov 8th.


The bike shop van

The ride started from Eden e Motion electric bike shop at Hartley nr Kirkby Stephen.
CA174JA. It was led by Mike Sunderland, KDCS MTB member, and the owner of Eden e Motion, Paul Clow. 14 kdcs riders turned up and then Paul and another friend joined the ride giving us a total of 16 riders. On arrival at the start we were welcomed by  coffee and sausage rolls for a pre ride treat.

Mike and Paul had organised a challenging mountain bike ride but with a generous addition. Paul had made available all the e bikes in his extensive stock for us to try, including three brand new 2019 Scott Genius full suspension bikes value £5000 each. Riders were encouraged to try these but, in addition, three lucky riders got them to use for the whole ride.

The route was Mallerstang, Wild Boar Fell, Pennine Bridleway, Fell End, Tommy Rd and back via Mallerstang valley , Pendragon and Lammerset, about 18 miles.

It was already raining as the ride got underway, the going was wet, muddy and slippery in places. We had only covered a couple of miles when Mike brought the ride to a stop informing us that he was going to treat us to some poetry readings along parts of the ride.

Mike reading poetry

The poems were written by poet Meg Peacock and there is one for each month of the year. They are carved into huge stones along the side of the tracks, and  reflect and celebrate the landscape of the Eden Valley. Even with the rain creeping down our necks these were humorous stops.

The climb up Wild Boar Fell was perhaps the highlight of the ride. It is a steep climb with a fairly rough and slippery surface and water crossing it in several places. The ascent is continuous right up to High Dolphinsty at about 1600 ft. Here we came to a stone wall which give us a little shelter from the strong wind and rain. Great place for lunch.

The ride down to the Mallerstang Valley was steep and slippery with mud covering the trail for much of the way. Then it was back via Pendragon and Lammerset. At Kirkby Stephen we took the disused railway track, now a beautiful walk / cycle way over the fabulous Podgill and Merrigill viaducts back to Hartley.

On arrival back at Eden e Motion Paul had organised a bike wash, then further refreshment, tea, coffee and lots of lovely sandwiches and cakes for us to enjoy
The bike shop at Hartley Fold

.
Despite the weather, it was a great day. Lots of fun, a challenging ride and huge generosity from our host Paul. Many thanks to our leader of the day Mike, for his unstoppable humour and fun enjoyed by all.

Paul would be pleased to meet any KDCS members who might be interested in buying an e bike. He has an extensive stock from many different manufacturers, and of course, lets you try before you buy.

Paul discussing bike options.


ps. I will tell you about some more rides in the future. Cheers for now. Bill.

Eden e Motion.  Web eembikes.com   Tel 07483 901529.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

47 ROUTES - updated

The routes page has been updated with 3 new rides and all the information and maps you will need to ride them.
Check them out at your leisure from the 47 ROUTES link on the home page or click below.


KDCS route 6e

KDCS route 6f

KDCS route 26c

Thanks to Mark B for the updated information and Andy G for route 26c.

Happy Cycling,
Dave W

Saturday, May 26, 2018

IMPORTANT INFORMATION 26.5.18

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on the 25.5.18 and many of you will have been approached by organisations you currently subscribe to advising you of the changes.

KDCS uses very basic information that you have supplied such as name, e-mail, telephone and address so that we have a record of membership numbers and to enable us to communicate with you with details of rides, social events etc. Our aim is to only provide you with useful and relevant information. Our website is password protected and can only be accessed by some key members of the committee.

We do not generally pass on any of your information ( the exception has been basic ride leader details provided to CTC ( now Cycling UK ) for ride leader cycling insurance purposes. You will be aware that when we issue the monthly newsletter and other e-mails we blind copy to ensure that members are not made privy to other members contact details.

We need to have your up to date details to enable us to to continue to update you with the news.

All current members have been sent an e-mail this week advising of the action YOU need to take if you wish to continue receiving information from the club. You were asked to reply YES to the e-mail if you wished to continue receiving the information and that if we did not get your consent we would have to remove your details from our mailing list.

Thank you to those that have responded. Not all have so this is a reminder that you need to take urgent action if you wish to receive our updates. Once your details have been removed you can rejoin KDCS by visiting the website and clicking on the ‘join free ‘ link on the top scroll bar. You will be asked for relevant information and once received you will then be automatically enrolled and receive communications from us.

Steve Warner

Chairman 26.5.18




Friday, April 06, 2018

YOUR CYCLING CLUB NEEDS YOU

TO ALL KDCS CLUB MEMBERS - A PLEA FROM THE COMMITTEE YOU WILL KNOW FROM ANNE’s MONTHLY E-MAILS THAT SHE HAS BEEN ASKING FOR RIDE LEADERS. WE DO NOT WANT TO HAVE WEEKENDS WHERE THERE ARE NO RIDES AND THE MAKE IT UP ON THE DAY OPTION IS NOT ONE WE WISH TO PROMOTE. WE THEREFORE NEED ALL MEMBERS TO VOLUNTEER TO LEAD RIDES OF YOUR CHOICE OR FROM THE RIDES LIST ON THE WEBSITE IF YOU PREFER AN EASY OPTION. TO HAVE THE SAME SMALL GROUP OF VOLUNTEER LEADERS CONSTANTLY PROVIDING THE SERVICE IS NOT SUSTAINABLE AS THEY TOO HAVE OTHER COMMITMENTS AND THIS WILL RESULT IN MORE AND MORE WEEKENDS WITHOUT A RIDE. WE RECOGNISE THAT THOSE WHO HAVENT LED A RIDE BEFORE MAY FIND IT A BIT DAUNTING AND IT DOES CARRY SOME RESPONSIBILITY BUT REST ASSURED MOST OF THE RIDERS WHO JOIN US ARE EXPERIENCED RIDERS AND FOLLOW THE CODE OF CONDUCT AND CYCLING ETIQUETTE. WE HAVE A GOOD TRACK RECORD OF TROUBLE FREE RIDES SO RISKS ARE SMALL. ADDITIONALLY WE HAVE THE CYCLING UK ( CTC ) RIDE LEADERS INSURANCE OF UP TO 10 MILLION POUNDS TO PROTECT ALL RIDE LEADERS, BACKMARKERS ETC. WE WILL ALSO OFFER TO PROVIDE AN EXPERIENCED SUPPORT LEADER TO SUPPORT YOU ON YOUR FIRST OUTING SHOULD YOU WANT IT. ALSO CTC HAVE SUPPORTING INFORMATION ON THEIR WEBSITE SETTING OUT THE SIMPLE ADVICE TO FOLLOW. CAN I THEREFORE ASK YOU ON BEHALF OF ALL OF THE COMMITTEE TO OFFER UP YOUR TIME TO LEAD RIDES AND TO SEND ANNE BROOKS THE DETAILS AS WELL AS WHETHER YOU WANT TO TAKE UP THE OFFER OF SUPPORT. THANK YOU - Steve Warner 6th April 2018

Thursday, February 08, 2018

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN - 8th February 2018

There is now a dedicated Chairman’s news page which can be found on the top bar right hand side.  Please click on the page to see a note outlining the outcomes from our first committee meeting held on the 29.1.18.