5B Day 2 – Cycling and Caving

Caving

We woke up this morning to torrential rain and hail, which was not a great omen for our caving plan. Too much rain means that the cave at Selside becomes flooded and is too dangerous to enter. However, the area has plenty of other options and so our instructor moved us to another cave closer to the Ribblehead viaduct. A slightly lower and tighter cave meant a more challenging experience, especially due to pools of water filling wellies. Mrs Hawkhead and Mrs du Preez were impressed with everyone’s resilience. Harry and Alex especially deserve mentions for helping their classmates (although Alex’s ‘reward’ was to have the contents of his welly accidentally poured over his face by Mrs du Preez!).

A full gallery of photos from the cave can be found here.

Cycling

Cycling at Gisburn Forest looked in doubt with the forecast of thunder storms so we kept a close eye and ear out, but the worst we experienced were a couple of heavy showers and some hail. We were very well dressed so kept warm and dry-ish. Luckily, we also had plenty of sun and so the cycling was an enjoyable experience where everyone could challenge themselves without worrying about being cold and wet. In the morning, the whole group kept more or less together to complete a route approximately 12km long. There were numerous twisty sections, along with wider climbs that meant the 2 hours flew by. There were extra challenge sections for those that had the best control. The afternoon group were split into two, based on confidence. Mr Harris accompanied the more confident, while Mr Beevers and Mrs Cave stayed nearer the visitors’ centre and practised brake control and changing gear to suit the gradient and terrain. Rayyan and Kasim showed their strength in the morning and Yasmine was crowned King of the Mountain in the afternoon. However, everyone excelled and improved their riding skills.

A full gallery of the cycling can be found here and here.

This evening

Due to the weather and soaked footwear, the night walk and planned trip to the church was cancelled this evening. Instead, a map lesson was given, with the terrain outside the window and the features of an OS map discussed with the group due to walk. The games room was also opened and the class enjoyed playing table tennis and pool.

Photos of the children relaxing can be seen here.