It’s rare that I lack the motivation to get out my bike. Sometimes – as with this ride when I hadn’t been out for five weeks – I need the incentive of a ‘motor-assisted’ ride and a nice cup of coffee at the end. Occasionally, then, I will drive to a café, park up, do a ride then take refreshments when I’m done. There aren’t many places better to do that than the Fiddle Drill, Goodmanham.
This loop is less than 30 miles and is best done clockwise. Do park at the sizeable public car park down the hill from the Fiddle Drill, and past the pub – also recommended – so as not to clog up the car park at the café.
Continue reading Shorter Loops: Huggate from Goodmanham via Millington Dale →
My first recollection of this beautiful climb was on a ride to Whitby. After a gap of two decades I had sought out the local Cyclists’ Touring Club group whose route that day coincided with my own towards Malton, or thereabouts. After refreshments in Bell Mills outside Driffield I continued to keep up with the group despite having two full panniers of gear for a four-day mini-tour. I chatted away about how the oval chainrings of my Biopace chainset on my tourer definitely helped with low-gear efforts. Then it all started to go wrong. I think I may even have jumped off the front on the earlier, gentle slopes. Everyone went past me as I grunted up the deceptively strength-sapping climb. It just seemed to go on and on…
Continue reading Cycling Climbs: Cowlam from Driffield →
This 50-mile route is a skinny loop north out of Little Weighton up to Sledmere on the high Wolds. After the drag up to High Hunsley – the highest point on the southern Wolds – there follows a descent to North Newbald and the short sharp ramp of Stoneknowle Hill, and a crossing of the A1079 before another descent to Gardham. Aside from Stoneknowle Hill the noteworthy ascents on this route include Kiplingcotes Racecourse; North Dalton to Huggate; and Life Hill (between Wetwang and Sledmere), although ride buddy Rob described the terrain to Sledmere as being “fairly flat”. Crikey.
Continue reading Shorter Loops: Skinny Loop to Sledmere from Little Weighton →
The Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route is a scenic, 146 mile tour of the East Riding and North Yorkshire, taking in the coast along the way. It was opened in 2011 and I rode the then proposed route with ride buddy Steve one day in April of that year. Seven years on, and with a few revisions to the official route, I once again set off from Beverley Minster in a clockwise direction just after 6.00am with one other rider – this time Paul.
The spiritual start of the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route: Beverley Minster
I knew we would be deviating slightly from the prescribed course, north of Newbald, because on Stoneknowle Hill riders are pointed in the direction of a stretch of lumpy bridleway (more on that later). I wanted to otherwise follow the route as faithfully as possible, so naturally I strayed off the official course within about twenty yards of starting. It would appear that the short stretch of road running perpendicular to where we had started from – just outside the minster – was the same road I’d already travelled that morning. I thought it was further on when I plotted the route online and couldn’t make out the fuzzy yellow highlighting on the official map. Ahem. Maybe next time…
Continue reading Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route – June 2018 day ride →
A man of my advancing years really should know better than to even think about checking out his place on the Strava leaderboard for cycling climbs on the Yorkshire Wolds. And yet here I am with the first in a series of posts about these occasionally testing – but always scenic – ascents that start in the southern slopes of the Wolds with Brantingham Dale and extend to the climbs out of Filey on the North Sea coast.
Continue reading Cycling Climbs: Settrington Bank →
A chance meeting with an old footballing mate in the pub only ten days earlier meant I was in the car park of Halford’s in Beverley at 6am on the morning of Saturday 13th September 2014. Josh (the old mate) said that he was raising funds for Hull Ionians rugby club by taking on the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route 146 mile challenge in a day. He said that he was looking for riders to join them along the way and give them a morale boost for a few miles. I offered instead to do the full ride with them!
An early – and wet – start for the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route ride in aid of Hull Ionians
Once everybody arrived and stored bags in the support van we pedalled to Beverley Market Place for the official Grand Depart. A passing early morning pedestrian kindly volunteered to take a group photo. There were five riders (with one taking turns to drive the van).
Continue reading Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route – A Ride for Hull Ionians →
This web site is intended as a resource for those looking to ride the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route and the Yorkshire Wolds in general. It will contain ride reports, route suggestions & downloads, details of favourite café stops and other relevant information. Browse through the static pages in the navigation menu and check out the blog posts as they are posted from week to week. This web site was launched on Yorkshire Day in 2018.
A resource for cycling in and around the beautiful Yorkshire Wolds
