Blood, Sweat and Gears
(occasionally, usually and always!)
Finding a suitable route to take children mountain biking is tricky. However, we’ve just had a weekend away and found two cracking routes that the Little Chaps really enjoyed.
It’s always hard to find trails that link up nicely, without long road sections. Build in the need to find off road tracks that are suitable for smaller wheels and climbs that are suitable for smaller legs and things get even more difficult to arrange.
When we walk with the Little Chaps, steep climbs
or descents are not too much of an issue, we know Pic: scoping out a descent on day 2
that we can just go a bit slower and allow more time
in the route planning. On a bike, the descent is basically the reason you are going so anything that gets too rocky, or too steep and technical has the potential to take the fun out of the day. Trail centres do solve some of these issues but we always feel that the best thing about the outdoors is the wilderness, away from the crowds and trail centres are definitely not that!
Our weekend along the A66 corridor, utilising the very northern slopes of the Yorkshire Dales and of the Howgill Fells has provided two great routes that fall into the Blue, or easy, category - ideal for a weekend of mountain biking with the Little Chaps.
Pics L-R: easy warm up trails, wide grassy descent, the race is on!
A free weekend and a good weather forecast always helps the soul when you get to about Wednesday of a busy week! The promise of a weekend in the van is a great opportunity to come back together as a family and to spend some quality time together. We found a great base for the weekend at Low Greenside Farm Campsite. This is a lovely little site (not that small, maybe 30 odd pitches), just to the South of Kirkby Stephen and ideally placed as we could do one of our rides straight from the van. There is a great eco set up - recycling, waste food composting and composting toilets - and great views of the fells in all directions. We could see a couple of our Dales 30 mountains from the site so I’m pretty sure we will be visiting again soon to tick those off.
Being able to start a route straight out of the site always makes for a relaxed start. No need to pack up and sort everything out, just get up, have breakfast, get the gear on and hit the trails immediately. A short warm up along a bridle way would see us join our main loop, heading North over the edge of Crosby Garrett Fell to the village of Waitby (just outside Kirkby Stephen. The return leg brought us over Smardale Fell to re-join the bridleway back to the campsite. See the full route description here.
Pics L-R: Mummy in the ford, Little Chap 2 checking the awesome descent, valley lanes
This is a brilliant route for children. The climbs are not technical (except for one short, steep section that we all really enjoyed) so a TowWhee is really useful. We were soon up the first climb and ready for the first descent. This is long and smooth. Grassy at first but joining a gravel track lower down. Fast and fun and ideal for building confidence, even on the smaller wheels (24” for Little Chap 1 and 20” for Little a Chap 2). We reached the bottom grinning from ear to ear. A road section followed with the interest of a ford. The Little Chaps took the bridge option but told Mummy and Daddy to be brave and ride through - no wet feet!
The next climb began steeply on the tarmac but we then went off road and continued up grassy slopes to the top of Smardale Fell. The descent from here was looonnng! A couple of twists and turns kept things interesting before a short, very rocky section near the bottom. Both the Little Chaps did very well to ride this section. Some fun, narrow bridleways took us back to the “warm up” section to return to the campsite.
We were really pleased with how this day went. The Little Chaps had a great day and really grew in bike handling confidence as the ride progressed. Keen for more mountain biking, we looked carefully at our day 2 plan and made some small alterations to maximise the fun.
Pics - our TowWhees were put to good use this weekend
Our tips for successful mountain biking with children:
Two short rides is better than one longer one. We’ve been tempted a couple of times to push the distance to pull a route together but each time we have just done something else. Tired Little Chaps just have accidents and then the confidence building has to start again. These 2 rides were more than enough for a weekend.
Remember it’s not just about smaller legs, it’s about smaller wheels too. Smaller wheels just can’t handle the rough, blocky stuff as well. They don’t go over it, they get bounced off it and it just makes it hard work for your Little One. Choosing smooth trails is important for their enjoyment. Think Blue graded trails for maximum fun.
Be prepared (big bag time!). There’s quite a lot to take out when you consider everyone’s coats, jumpers, food, water and spares/tools. A good reason to wait for good weather!
On that note - Wait for dry trails. It’s just not worth going out in the gloopy mud. Small wheels and small legs can’t get through it. Unfortunately this means waiting for the British weather to provide a dry spell to harden the trails - I promise you it is worth the wait! Try some of our brilliant walking routes whilst you wait!
Feed, feed, feed. Biscuits hit the spot every time. Little Chap 1 hit the wall on day 1 as we got the second climb. A couple of biscuits and, zoom, he was off, all the way to the top!
Take a TowWhee! Such a great tool for getting your kids out mountain biking. Also, it keeps you fit and strong and gives you a workout on short rides. See our review here.
Ride your bike lots! Just get out and ride - the Covid-19 lockdowns were difficult but did provide us with lots of short bike rides. These really built bike confidence and bike strength for the Little Chaps. Even riding for an hour a week (evenings, weekends etc) really builds bike skills. If you are in North Leeds, try our Local Loops to Roundhay and Meanwood Valley.
Be realistic (this one is a bit of a WildWaysWildDays mantra!). I think we say this a lot, maybe that’s just to remind ourselves! These considerations have helped us all to get something from the day and left us wanting more which is exactly how it should be.
Day 2 dawned not quite as bright and sunny but, importantly, still dry so we packed up and headed back East towards Barnard Castle for our second ride of the weekend. A slightly shorter ride for Day 2 but still high on the thrill factor for the Little Chaps. Starting in Barningham, about 5 minutes from the A66, this trail heads up onto the moors before descending on grassy slopes and returning along valley tracks. See the full route description here.
Pics L-R: easy start, shooting tracks on the top, starting the descent
A short climb through the village before heading off road onto tracks. Another ford was avoided by the Little Chaps on the bridge and braved by Mummy and Daddy. No wet feet but Mummy managed to drop her sunglasses! A shooting track that was a bit rocky and blocky (but this will soon bed in and be fine) led us over the moor to a short road section before another blocky shooting track took us back onto the moor. Clearly the tracks have just been "improved" for the landrovers but they will bed in soon and become smoother and easier. As it was, we just took our time and the Little Chaps found it good training in line choice (always look for the positive outcomes!). The track ends abruptly and the going becomes grassy which was easier on the Little Chaps’ wheels. The start of the descent needed some careful navigation to find (pretty much as marked on the map but the grass really hides the trails sometimes!). Initially steep, the Little Chaps went carefully at first but sped up as it mellowed and their confidence grew, before turning across the side of the moor. Full of confidence, the Little Chaps zoomed down another couple of downhill sections to the road. Another short road section took us onto some valley bridleways that lead past some Lime Kilns (we always stop at Lime Kilns! The Little Chaps love a bit of old industrial architecture) and back into Barningham.
Pics clockwise from top left: the descent continues, admiring the view, valley tracks, loving the industrial architecture
So, to sum up, what a GREAT weekend! It was great to see the Little Chaps really grow in confidence in their bike handling skills. Little Chap 2 in particular has really suddenly got to grips with mountain biking and I’ve never seen him so pleased with himself at his own achievements as he rode down stuff he wouldn’t have ridden down only a few weeks ago. Little Chap 1 just loves being out on a bike and his climbing ability and strength are really building.
I think the real success of the weekend was the trails. They were exactly what was needed for a successful mountain bike trip with children - wide and grassy with good grip, nothing technical but enough lumps and bumps to choose an interesting way and to push their own skills at their own pace. Plus, more than enough interest could be found for Mummy and Daddy to have a bit of a play - we definitely didn’t feel like we missed out on the action! We’ll keep on scouring our maps, trying to link up the straightforward sections because we can’t wait for some more family mountain biking...
Pics - we love camping in the van!
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