Filming 'Roots Riding Uplift Day' Promo Video

8am and the phone's ringing, It's Saturday morning and I've been up about 15 minutes. My head is pounding and the activities of the night before start streaming back into my head. Knowing I was to be up early to meet the Roots Riding team and a few trusty comrades, I really shouldn't have been drinking like there was no tomorrow, because there was - and it was here.

James is on the phone, the van is outside, everything is loaded and ready to rock and roll! I stepped outside into the fresh air and think, today is going to be a long day!

The sun was shining all the way up to the Yorkshire Dales and the first stop was Embsay. We arrived just after 10am and thats when it started. Snow! It was cold, wet and snowing hard, but that wasn't going to stop us. This day had been planned for months. The banter in the van (I say banter, I mean mockery of my freshly shaven head and blatent intoxication of alcohol) had worked us up and we were ready. Ready to ride hard!

We set off over the Moor and headed down the bridleway, into what seemed like the eye of the storm. We were soaked and freezing, yet cheerful and full of conversation, most likely because we didnt have to ride up to the top of the Moor to start with! A novelty to start a ride up a hill! Straight to the good stuff! After all, thats the whole point to why we were there that day!

Let me tell you a bit about Roots Riding. A good friend James, who I have known for a long time, wanted to showcase what's on our doorstep and get people out enjoying what we enjoy regularly. Having a huge passion for bikes, and working in the industry for nearly 10 years, James wanted to combine his love for the bikes, with his passion for the Yorkshire Dales. So he took the gamble and escaped the ratrace, to live the dream by working for himself and doing what he loves. After months of preperation, learning new skills, qualifying as a guide and countless miles in the Dales, putting together the very best of mountain biking trails for others to enjoy, that was it. Roots Riding was born.

So back to the Moor. After 5 miles or so on bridleway and singletrack we descended to the first check point. On the way down, Nick the cameraman had taken position and captured us all perfectly descending a steep farm track to the road where a warm van and friendly faced driver was waiting with a flask of coffee and some fresh banana cake.. just what the doctor ordered! James loaded the bikes away and we were off! The heaters were on full, drying out gloves and coats and we made our way further up into the Dales. No messing around here, this is all about the riding!

We were weaving up narrow, dry-stone wall lined country lanes cutting out a really tidious road climb, that most people would have to ride to get to the next section. Thanks Roots Riding, saving my legs and energy to have all the fun going in my favourite direction: down! We were out and on the bikes in no time, through a gate and we were off. This time, no snow! Infact the sky had brightened up, and we were off on to a narrow techy rock section that seemed to contour the mountain endlessly.

Nick came with us this time, wanting to really capture what this whole exercise was for. Which he did, perfectly! The day went on, more descending mountains, back to the van,  more banana cake, then driving to the next location, and so on. All the best bits were captured on film and were ready to be put together into a video.

My hangover had gone, a great day was had by all, I'd ridden alot of what the Yorkshire Dales had to offer and I had done it all in one day! Mint.

Here is the finished video, so you can see for yourself what an excellent day it was!

If this looks like your kind of thing, I can't recommend Roots Riding enough. Contact James on the link to his website above and see what he has to offer. Mention reading this, and there may be some banana cake in it for you too!

Thanks for reading.