Breezing to Bishop for Cake

Breezing to Bishop for Cake
- Sun 9th May at 10:30am
- 20 relatively flatish miles.
Start at Wolsingham Road Car Park, Brancepeth
what3words: gravy.buzzards.narrowest

This ride is one of our favourites. A relatively flat route for the area, with a few small undulations along the way.

We will start by taking a gentle tootle along the old railway lines from Brancepeth and then down Scripton Gill to Sunderland Bridge. From there we will make a short climb to Croxdale, on to Tudhoe and through the woods to Spennymoor and Jubilee Park. We will then be joining the Auckland Way and cruising along to Bishop Auckland where we hope to be able to make a brief stop for coffee and cake at the Auckland Cupcake Company. Once refreshed, we will cross over the River Wear via the Newton Cap (Eleven Arches) viaduct and rejoin the lines at Kynren for a leisurely ride back through Willington to our starting point in Brancepeth.

The ride will generally be along decent off road routes with a few short sections on quiet road. A hybrid, gravel or mountain bike would be the best choices for this ride.

In order for the ride to leave promptly, please be punctual so we can carry out bike checks, etc. prior to us setting off. Please make sure your bike is in working condition and bring a spare tube to fit your tyres. Expect to be out for about 3-4 hours.
As always we can’t predict the weather so please dress suitably. You are better to be overdressed as you can always take layers off.

For any last minute cancellations on the day please text 07534515471 (note this phone is only for the day of the ride) otherwise use the option to cancel when you log in to letsride.co.uk. If the weather is bad we will only contact you if we are cancelling the ride and will do so no later than 8am on the day by putting a message in the ‘conversation’ tab in the ride. You should receive a notification by email if there is a message. If you have not heard from us we are still riding.

In view of COVID-19 we will be taking this into account with our ride leading and we will follow govt. guidelines. Please note the following:
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• We will not share any equipment so please be organised and bring your own items eg drink, spare inner tube, tyre levers and pump, sun cream and hand sanitiser.
• You should pay particular attention to your bike being in good working order before attending a ride so as to minimise risks and disruption to rides.
• We will ride taking social distancing into account. At the time of writing British Cycling recommend riding 1m+ apart.
• Participants must not attend a ride if they have COVID-19 symptoms or have been in contact with anyone with symptoms
• Anyone who develops COVID-19 symptoms during a ride must inform a leader.
• Anyone who develops COVID symptoms after a ride must contact the leader who will inform British Cycling HQ who will then contact everyone who attended the ride.
You can contact the leader directly via the ‘Message Ride Creator’ tab in the ride posting on let’s ride unless you have their direct contact details already.

Look forward to seeing you.