Mad March Breeze At Aykley Heads

Note change of plan due to adverse weather conditions

After some deliberation we’ve come up with a change of plan for Sunday due to the exceptional weather conditions. Instead of cycling we’ll take a walk, along some well travelled paths around Aykley Heads in Durham. We’re very familiar with this territory and don’t want to miss the opportunity of anyone missing out on their 4 ride goody bag as well as us always enjoying an excursion with all our Breeze friends. We’ll meet at 10am at the front entrance of County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL (plenty of parking) for a 3 mile walk with a refreshment stop at Crook Hall. Should be about 2-3 hours in total. We might even manage to practice our winter tree identification skills that we learnt a couple of weekends ago! Hope to see you Sunday.

Audrey and Jacki


We will do the bike ride below another date tbc
Sunday 4 March 10am 18 miles
Mad March Breeze to Rainton Meadows

Starting at Sherburn Leisure Centre we’ll pedal our way to Durham Wildlife Trust’s Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve where we can enjoy refreshments at the welcoming Meadows coffee shop. We’ll ride out via Pittington, Hetton le Hole, Hetton Lyons Country Park and Eppleton and back down to Houghton le Spring and Rainton Meadows. Our return will be a little more direct and shorter.

Most of the ride is off road including the Hetton railway path and bridleways east of Hetton which are mainly in a reasonable condition although there’s a few short stonier sections and some wet areas. So with the time of year we are likely to end up mucky! . There is a 2 mile stretch on-road between Sherburn and Pittington at the start and finish. However, this is not normally busy. For Durham this is a relatively ‘flat ride’ with just a couple of noticeable uphills.

It may be cold so please dress suitably for the weather - you will need decent gloves, a buff and extra layers and remember to bring a spare tube to fit your tyres. You are better to be overdressed as you can always take layers off.

In order for the ride to leave promptly, please be punctual so we can carry out bike checks, etc. prior to us setting off. Expect to be out for 4-5 hours in total.

For any queries please contact us at [email protected]. For any last minute cancellations on the day please text 07493808927 (note this phone is only for the day of the ride). If the weather is bad we will only contact you if we are cancelling the ride and will endeavour to do so by 9am on the day.

Audrey
[email protected]