In 2022 a free car park opened just outside the eastern edge of nearby Huggate, that would make an ideal start point. This isn’t a long ride, but you would be forgiven for taking refreshments in the newly refurbished Wolds Inn afterwards. So here is a suggested route. What’s yours…?

If arriving by car I avoid parking in Thixendale itself – there’s not a lot of free space – instead using the public parking available in places such as Goodmanham and Warter, or here on the eastern edge of Huggate, although on this ride I started from slightly further afield

The photograph at the top of this post was taken on the descent of Huggate Road, a hill I would ordinarily prefer to climb. However, a priority here was to avoid going up some of the stiffer, busier roads so I dropped in to Thixendale after crossing the A166 that marks the boundary there between the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Here’s a quick summary of the day’s route option:

1. Descent of Huggate Road (preferred as an ascent, because it’s too steep and gravelly to best enjoy downhill)
2. Ascent of Water Dale* (preferred as an ascent, but great either way)
3. Descent of the ‘Fuller Gallery’ road* (preferred as an descent as it’s rather tight and twisty)
4. Ascent of Burdale (preferred for the same reasons as Huggate Road)
5. Descent of Fridaythorpe to Thixendale road (preferred for the same reasons as the ‘Fuller Gallery’ road)
6. Ascent of the road next to Thixendale Village hall (no real preference, but usually quiet, although a heavily rutted surface)

*The descent of the ‘Fuller Gallery’ road and the ascent of Water Dale – in that order – are part of the recommended, clockwise version of the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route.

Dropping in to Thixendale via the road from Fridaythorpe

So a taster of the roads around Thixendale. I had thought that the name of this village was derived from its position within six dales, but apparently there are sixteeen, which I suppose makes more sense. At any rate, if you would like a hilly, fairly contained route then this is one you might wish to consider.

If the embedded ride doesn’t display you can click here to open in Garmin Connect or view in Strava.

Also of interest, a former ride buddy’s comments on Strava about the ‘Thixendale Spider’:

Spider. Do each climb out of Thix. and straight back down to the village after each one. Make one of them much longer and your map on Strava looks like a Spider on a thread. Do all the possible climbs twice and you have “killed the spider”.

See also Clifton CC’s ‘Thixendale Spirograph‘, which I wouldn’t personally choose to do, but which is certainly thorough.

On subsequent undertakings of this route I have parked in Goodmanham and ridden from there. Crossing the busy B1248 – twice – and having to spring open the Dalton Park gate at the Pipe and Glass means that the route is not exactly suited to being a time trial course, but when time is short – or fitness levels low – I have used the gently undulating road to test my fitness – or confirm the lack of it. But the main purpose of this and the other Big Skies Bike Rides is to explore the wonderful Yorkshire Wolds by bike – and for the Market Weighton ride there is something of a pub theme going on…

From the car park in Goodmanham – the recommended alternative start point – I roll down the hill before taking the left turn at the outskirts of the village and cycling up and over the little bridge to the crossroads at the top. Market Weighton is to your right, but a left turn here puts you on the route proper and along the Kiplingcotes Valley.

It’s worth checking the weather forecast

Watch out for the pinch point as you pass underneath the impressive structure that once carried the now disused railway line through Lord Hotham’s land – the Hudson Way. A little further on is a crossroads – don’t turn left here yet. (There used to be a cafe to the right, that I can vaguely recollect, called ‘Granny’s Attic’. It is now a private dwelling and furniture store. Much of the old station building remains.)

Carry on along the valley floor and at the next crossroads take the sharp left uphill along the course of the Kiplingcotes Derby, reportedly the longest-running horse race still in existence. All the momentum gathered along the valley will have been lost on the tight bend – almost always sprinkled with gravel. A jab at the pedals gets you over the first few yards and you’ll soon be levelling to the starting point of this 500-year-old horse race.

Taking the next two right turns sends you downhill towards Dalton Park and over the cattle grid through the private estate road and the gate that opens at East Yorkshire’s premier gastro pub.

One day I’ll take up the offer – staked on to little posts around the village – and go inside St Mary’s church, its splendid steeple the inspiration for the Yorkshire Wolds logo.

Watch out for the ducks and their ducklings at Mere Lane, South Dalton when they spill out on to the road

Mere Lane takes you across the B1248 – there are good sight lines, but do take care – and on to Lockington, where you are invited to try fording the narrow waterway – and invitation I have always politely declined.

After Lockington a gentle uphill section brings the thirsty rider to the second of three pubs encountered – not including those in Market Weighton itself – in less than twenty miles. It’s a while since I’ve eaten there, but the Wellington Arms in Lund is particularly well regarded.

Wellington Inn, Lund

Follow the signs through Lund and take care again at your second crossing of the B1248, on to more gentle uphill capers past Lund House farm and up to the left-hand bend that signals a brief descent to the crossroads at the bottom of the hill. Try to stay on the big ring towards the next junction – I never can – and bear right back towards the starting point of your journey.

Once comfortably past the little dink at that last junction I’m back on the big ring and trying to get away with the chain deflection that comes with a 23T rear sprocket. Unless I surrender to a headwind I find that I’m engaged with a slightly unhealthy competition with myself to get to the top of the long and deceptive drag in as quick a time as possible. The summit or thereabouts is a crossing point for the Kiplingcotes Derby, but for us it’s a warm up for the long downhill stretch over Goodmanham Wold. Keep an eye out for the birds of prey often seen circling over the woods to your left and enjoy the views – but hover over your brakes – on the fast descent in to the village.

If, like me, you start in Goodmanham the ride could be over in not much more than an hour, but it’s not a race and you’ve got another potential pit stop in the Goodmanham Arms. If you don’t fancy refreshments in the pub – it has its own microbrewery, apparently – and haven’t tried it yet I recommend the Fiddle Drill – just within the village near the top of the hill and on your right – for a range of delicious food in a very pleasant and spacious barn conversion.

Big Skies Bike Rides: South Dalton, Lockington and Lund from Market Weighton .pdf map, an activity in Garmin Connect and as a Strava segment

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