Lincoln to Hull to Robin Hood's Bay!

[Perfectcircles]

Thanks Mock Cyclist, that looks like a nice alternative to the Hornsea sortie. I'm really looking forward to setting off. My plan is to do the ride over two days, stay the night in Robin Hood's Bay and jump on a train home from Scarborough the following day...alternatively I might cycle home!

[crazydave789]

I grew up there, it's rolling hills all the way, the A15 is a bit boring but saves time and the bridge might be a tad windy.

the bigger hills like staxton and cober you can ride around if you come inland it all depends on how much seaside you want and how soon you want to get there. past scarborough on the coast road you come off between scalby mills and burniston onto the old railway track which is cinder and goes through hayburn wyke, ravenscar and above robin hoods bay. there's a campsite just before the turn off on the coast road owned by my dads friend.

we used to pick up the old whitby line there, I think they have made more of it rideable now but it might be too much of a faff to find it as they built new estates all over the place but from looking at google maps you could pick it up behind sainsburys. more fun to go along the sea front though round the marine drive and down to the sealife centre and up the hill to the coast road.

if you want to cycle back then try a train to york from scarborough if you don't fancy coming over the moors to pickering (past the heartbeat set) malton york, then down the york selby cycle path - snaith - thorne - bawtry - clumber park route to nottyham. avoid doncaster though.

[keyboardmonkey]

I am going to make a couple of assumptions:

1. you haven't set off already!
2. this still stands, especially that in bold type:

I'd like to keep the route distance to no more than 160 miles, in fact the more direct the better (so long as it doesn't compromise the country road/lovely countryside principle I like to adhere to where possible) as I have an aspiration to do it in a single day once I've tested out the route over two.

On day ride of 160 miles (or more) I would respectfully suggest steering away from the plodding progress typically made on shared use surfaces such as the Scarborough to Whitby cinder track. I last rode that route more than thirty years ago, so I remember little from the journey other than that I did it with a friend on touring bikes. Incidentally, that section of the NCN popped up in the news just the other day. This may be worth a read:

http://road.cc/content/news/226467-mixe ... s-motorway

I appreciate that we all want different things from cycling but, personally, I would think it a pity to come to this part of Yorkshire on a road bike and bypass the splendid Yorkshire Wolds, the Howardian Hills and the dramatic scenery of the North York Moors. I've ridden sections - and the full length - of the track from Hull to Hornsea on my own, with my wife and with my young son. A pleasant enough excursion on to the Holderness Plain but, as with the other former railway track to Whitby, not somewhere I would send a cyclist looking to get from Nottinghamshire to North Yorkshire in a single day (although a pootle along the track from Robin Hood's Bay to the train station in Scarborough to get home would make sense).

So, this was my first attempt to plot this route a week or so ago. I did it without the benefit of my OS maps. It is almost certainly not the exact route I would take (I'm a little unsure of the section from Grosmont on to Robin Hood's Bay), but it gives an idea of how I would venture in to places of interesting scenery, lovely quiet roads in the Yorkshire Wolds and a few cheeky climbs on the Moors. At a whisker over 100 miles from the Humber Bridge to Robin Hood's Bay it is likely to be too long (how is the route to the Humber Bridge coming on?). A few kinks could be ironed out if necessary, though:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/15823789

Just remember it was effectively a draft version. I would create a revised route closer to 80 miles if necessary, but preferably only if I you were interested in following a similar, shorter route. Any more thoughts on getting a GPS device?

[crazydave789]

grosmont to robin hoods bay is big long climbs.

I think you can still take bikes on the NYM railway though so pickering to whitby on the train is a pleasant detour and charges you up for the ride over the hill.

[Badger_Pete]

Hi Perfectcircles,

I spend a fair amount of time cycling about on the Yorkshire Wolds. And regularly cycle from Hull via Burton Agnes to RSPB Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Head, (just north of Bridlington). Also a couple times a year upto Scarborough. As I’m the north east side of Hull the way I go is Wawne Skirlaugh, Sigglesthorne, Bewholme, Skipsea, Lisset, Burton Agnes ..

http://cycle.travel/map/journey/46754

That way is quiet traffic wise apart from the stretch from Skipsea to crossing the A165 near Lisset, which can be a bit busy at times, but I’ve never found it to be uncomfortable.

However going from the Humber Bridge, the route MockCyclist has mapped out, given your criteria, is the way I highly recommend you go. It does save you having to navigate through Hessle and the villages west of Hull (Analby, Willerby ect); even though the cycle route is signed from the Bridge to Beverly it can be a bit tricky even if you know the route !

For anyone on a “sight seeing” tour, MockCyclist’s route does miss Skidby Windmill (worth a visit as it does operate and mill to make flour). Also Beverly Minister, the town itself is very nice. As pete75 says an option for accommodation would be the Youth Hostel at Beverly Friary, where some parts of the building date from around the 14th century !

In my experience the NCN 1 route from Beverly to Scarborough (I regularly use parts of it to and from riding on the Wolds) is mostly very quiet traffic wise; on the stretch from near to Lockington to where you turn to the east and head for Hutton Cranswick you are likely to see more cyclists than cars. After where that lane passes through the farm at Bracken it used to have grass growing in the middle but they resurfaced it two years ago I think it was. There is a café near Hutton Cranswick at a garden centre just before the route crosses the A 164. That bit is also on the “Way of the Roses” route so the café is very welcoming to cyclists. If you wanted to alter the route very slightly there is also a café at Burton Agnes Hall.

The one change to MockCyclist’s route I would suggest; instead of going from Burton Fleeming up the hill to Hunmanby and joining NCN 1 there. In Burton Fleeming go as per the route from the cross-road near the Pub for a couple hundred yards then turn left at the Y-junction near the church. Follow that road across the next cross road onto NCN 166 along the valley to the tiny hamlet of Fordon. Then turn right and go up over the top and descend down to Flixton … then right onto the A1039 to rejoin the route and NCN 1 at Folkton.

http://cycle.travel/map/journey/46753

I went that way Friday last week on my way to Scarborough. It is only half mile longer and maybe 50 or so feet more climbing

Going that way avoids the road “White Gate Hill” up from Hunmanby, which in my opinion is the only road on NCN 1 or the other NCN / national cycle byway “NB” routes, in the Yorkshire Wolds area that I find is relatively busy with speeding cars ! My diversion keeps you on very quiet little lanes, apart from the 3/4 mile or so on the A1039; but that is 30 mph speed limit through Flixton village and 40 mph for a few hundred yards to where you turn off. To me not that unpleasant to cycle on, in fact more comfortable than the longer time on White Gate Hill (from Hunmanby) with some traffic speeding > 60 mph !

The other and main reason for going that way, is it will give you a slight flavour of one of the topography features the Wolds are famous for, that being narrow steep sided “Dry Valleys”, though to experience them properly you need to go to the Thixendale area. The route up to my suggested diversion and if you go via Humanmby shows you the rolling hill nature of the shallow side and top of the Wolds, which is of course very pleasant scenery. Though you will experience and descend the steep escarpment side which ever way you go !

From Scarborough on the “cinder track” once past Ravenscar the coastal views are stunning. When up there I tend not to do the full “cinder track” route. Up to Ravenscar a lot is cycling through a corridor of trees, pretty much the same as a lot of any other “rail to trail” route in the UK. Instead I use a road option that goes like this … leave Scarborough on the A165 through Scalby Mills to Burniston, then on the A171 to Cloughton. Even though main roads, the A165 part isn’t unpleasant and the bit on the A171 is through the villages. Then at Clougthton turn onto the minor road that leads through Staintondale. You can then either turn off and join the trail at Ravenscar and go past the Alum Quarry or carry straight on along Stoup Brow (above the quarry) and down the steep descent to the trail a bit further one.

http://cycle.travel/map/journey/46758

Sorry for been long winded, I hope the above is of use to you and others that are planning to pass through the area. I guarantee you will not be disappointed

[Perfectcircles]

Hi Keyboardmonkey and Badger_pete,

Thank you for the time you've spent coming up with route options. I like the idea of going through the areas you've mentioned although I wouldn't want to get caught out in too remote an area following a hideous experience on Bodmin Moor last month when I found myself in a monsoon with no chance of shelter and inadequate clothing! Are the N York Moors reasonably 'hospitable' and within striking distance of civilisation??

I'm hoping to tackle the two day version when we get a spell of decent weather perhaps later in August. I'm finalising a potential route up to Hull along the Trent Valley past Gainsborough and turning right at Alkborough along The Humber to the bridge. I've yet to invest in a GPS device but I intend to before I set sail again - I'm leaning towards perhaps a more advanced Garmin (I have a basic Garmin Edge 500 which doesn't really offer much in terms of navigation but I'm familiar with Gamin Connect on-line).

If after the two day tour I can refine the route and get the distance down to something vaguely possible in a single day I'd like to have a crack at it at some point - I think I'd do it with a pal (without panniers etc) and ask my wife to drive ahead in a 'supporting' role just in case it's a bit over ambitious!

Thanks again.

[KTHSullivan]

Hi,

I am local to "route 1" from Lincoln to the Humber bridge, however I consider that the route negates some of the better lanes and views and villages in the area after Market Rasen. The route I suspect was not strictly thought out and may have been put together in somewhat of a hurry.

Unless you are a dedicated aficionado of black berry picking and bog snorkelling I would seriously avoid the off road section marked on the OS map to start at "Grasby Bottoms". Far better off turning right at the crossroads and heading to Kirmington picking up route 1 to the bridge a little further north of the A180.

If you need any further info drop us a line

TTFN

[Badger_Pete]

Hi Keyboardmonkey and Badger_pete,

Thank you for the time you've spent coming up with route options. I like the idea of going through the areas you've mentioned although I wouldn't want to get caught out in too remote an area following a hideous experience on Bodmin Moor last month when I found myself in a monsoon with no chance of shelter and inadequate clothing! Are the N York Moors reasonably 'hospitable' and within striking distance of civilisation??

Hi again Perfectcircles,

Sorry for not replying to your question before now.

The top of the North York Moors is relatively remote but not too far from civilisation. To give an idea of distances; from Grosmont to Pickering is 16 miles, over half of that is very exposed open Moorland with no shelter until to get to the Forest. Going Egton Bridge to Rosedale Abbey is about 8 miles, once you have climbed to the top, (about 1000 feet over 2 ½ miles !) that is all on exposed Moorland.

Not the place to be if the weather closes in and you don’t have appropriate clothing !

The last time I was up the weather forecast lied and the rain started just as I set off from Grosmont. As I ride a Toruring Bike with Panniers I had my full waterproofs, an extra layer, food – flask ect, so it wasn’t a major issue for me. In a strange sort of way it was enjoyable as I got to really appreciate how bleak Moors can be, in contrast to the nice picturesque purple heather covered landscape on a sunny day in late summer.

For your up and coming ride going over the eastern side of the Wolds and via Scarborough along the coast is the way to go. But for a future ride going over the high Wolds, via Malton to Pickering then over the Moors, as Keyboardmonkey suggests, would be a fantastic ride to do. From the Humber Bridge to RHB (doing a quick look on “Bike Map”) would be about 82 miles with a total 4500 feet of climbing, so very doable especially on a unladen road bike with a support vehicle.

[PJ520]

Beverley youth hostel is a good place to stay -15th century Friary next to the Minster.

I second that, it's wonderful. Good to know it's still open I stayed there a few years ago doing more or less the same route. And while you're in Beverly visit the pub that's still gaslit - makes you realize what a dingy world our grandparents lived in. If you stay at Boggle Hole and want to go the easy way to Robin Hoods Bay make sure you get the tides right!

[pete75]

[ And while you're in Beverly visit the pub that's still gaslit - makes you realize what a dingy world our grandparents lived in.

The White Horse aka Nellies on Hengate.