Gallery Pictures: http://www.cpcnw.co.uk/travelog/2013-07-C2C/
Route: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/244724001
Total Distance: 171miles, Total Climbs: 4,622ft
[all pics below are also clickable!]
I had been watching the weather for the last month and already missed one good week of more or less continuous fair weather so I wasnt going to miss another. All the sources [Metcheck, XC Weather, Weather Online] looked favourable and the combination of good weather predictions and the fact that work has gone somewhat dead was an opportunity knocking too loudly to ignore.
I booked a ticket on Trans Pennine Express from Liverpool to Scarborough for £26 one way. Theres nothing like commitment! The following day was spent assembling various bits of kit and getting my bike rack mounted, tent checked etc. I got about 5 hours sleep so was ready very much in time with everything double checked and set off for the Southport to Liverpool train on the Northern Line, a single ticket being £4.70
Got off at Central went up to ground level and walked acorss Liverpool to Lime St Station a full five minutes early for the previous train to
mine lol! With an hour to wait it was already starting to get pretty hot, even in the
shade of the station!
Trans Pennine trains have space for 2 bikes, 3 at a push and other people with bikes don't
seem to mind chucking them against your nice paintwork so it's a good idea to sit as close
as you can to your pride and joy to keep a check on things! Its also a good idea to reserve a space for your bike!
Journey time was 3 hours 22 mins and I arrived in Scarborough in amazingly bright sun and
swealtering heat. Down to the sea side for the traditional front
wheel dip and the beach was quite busy. Scarborough seems like a nice
lively seaside town to visit and it was so tempting to have spent more time there.
However, I wanted to make Helmsley by tea time and had a nice little 30 miler to do....
As usual the first 15 minutes of any ride from an almost sedentary state is a bit of a
shock to the system. Add to that the tea time traffic and even a country A road can seem
somewhat stressfull. However things soon quietened down to rolling hills passing
fields covered in red poppies, something I havent seen since my early childhood.
The most notable aspect of this early evening ride though was the heat. Sure, I had waited
for good weather, but this was stiffling and trying to keep a steady 17mph with sweat
literally dripping off my forehead into my eyeballs wasnt quite what I had ordered!!!
I was passed by two roadies who said hello but by 7pm I was pretty much on my own coming
into the market square at Helmsley where a lazy afternoons trickle of tourists
and a few locals quaffed the last of their real ales before toddling off
home for dinner.
Still no time to waste and a camp to setup, headed off towards Threshfield then Sproxton
and the Golden Square Caravan Park
I setup
camp by around 8:30 and had dinner; a large museli bar, half a bag
of mixed fruit and nuts and two large mugs of tea. The Lidl Everyday Essentials brand
of mixed nuts are great for cycling. 200gram packs that dont burst easily and very
nutritious / filling!
The Golden Square turned out to be a super quiet site and I got a great sleep which meant
I was up and packed away early with one mission for the morning - to get a picture of the
white horse near Whitestonecliff.
This proved somewhat more difficult than I had hoped. Firstly, my map taken from a budget
garage style large AA roadmap did not have quite a good enough resolution to help me make
some route decisions on the ground. So I actually lost the first hour of cycling to a
mistake, 30 mins there, and 30 mins back to virtually the same place I started from - that
hurt!
And I only realised at around the halfway point so it was either keep going in a loop or
turn around. It made more sense to keep going and I eventually got to the white horse but
not without a considerable hill climb. I have to say also I did wonder if it was worth the
effort. It looked kinda dirty and in need of a tidy up. Even from the air it looks more like a childs drawing than I imagined
and not quite as good as this one near Osmington
Following getting a few pics on a somewhat cooler day with slight overcast I got on with
navigating minor roads and small villages making my way westwards and avoiding A roads on
the way to Rippon.
I saw four deer leaping the wall in front of me, seeing I was coming at them, hesitating
slightly and then leaping the wall on the other side fo the road!
The route to Rippon was easily doable and a very enjoyable. Arriving at Rippon cathedral I was welcomed by the sound of a fiddle
player! This was yet another interesting place that would have been tempting to
spend more time in and with thoughts of a future visit I headed off for dinner at Pateley Bridge.
Now this is where the cycling started to get a little more interesting with some decent
hill climbs and 35 mph free rides. And a lesson to be learnt - don't start blustery
descents with your shirt vented as its possible that a bee could get draughted in, trapped
and sting you! Yep, it happened - what to do at 30 mph try and get bee out or hold on to
your handlebars and avoid potholes / death?
I thought the latter option was the more wise and am paying for it right now with a skin
irritation / reaction to the sting!
Finally after the drama I arrived with hot brakes at Pateley Bridge where there is a nice sandwich shop. Bought cheese
salad butty, a banana and an apple for about threee quid and sat on the main street
watching the traffic including a full carbon roadie attacking the steep hill. That was the
best part of the days ride out of the way and in good time so I had lunch and 40 winks and
waited in the shade for the heat to go off somewhat.
The lady in the sandwich shop mentioned 'that hill' - but I hadnt envisaged what was in
front of me. Leaving for Grassington and attempting the climb out of the village took 3
attempts and after the 3rd I gave up and decided to push the rest of the way up! If you want
some hill training, go to Pateley Bridge and ride towards Grassington.
In truth it just about killed me off but at least it was the highest point on the entire
ride over and done with at 1319 ft above sea level. This meant that the remainder of the
ride was mostly downhill and at some hair raising speeds, just tipped 39 mph at one point!
But even at Grassington I had to find Wood Nook Caravan site, which is actually some way outside the
village. It has a nice view and flat pitches, good facilities and a shop
that sells real ale.
So, at this point the mileage on my Cateye was ;
Scarborough to Helmsley = 38 Miles
Helmsley to Grassington = 62 miles
Yep, total fluke but a ton up already! And the site at Grassington had some friendly folk
who werent shy in coming over for a chat including a guy on a Triumph
Speed Twin!
I had a fairly good sleep, not up quite as early this time, but to a gloriously sunny day!
The minor road from Grassington, through Cracoe / Hetton / Flasby and into Gargrave is amazing. I met several other cyclists coming the other way
all waving and saying hello. I took the Marton Rd to Bank Newton / Stanton / West Marton and into the back of Barnoldswick. From there I took the Brogden Lane up and over all the way into Chatburn to Hudsons on
the old A59 - stopped for a cup of tea and talked routes with the owner. It was the
best mornings cycling I have done in years and it was worth doing for that section alone
[Grassington > Chatburn]
The rest was easy, B6243 all the way into Longridge, another great B road although there was some farm traffic
and heavy vehicles it did not ruin the enjoyment. Stopping for a drink in a
shelter I met a retired gentleman with a Titanium
Van Nicholas!
The same B road continues right the way into Preston and what made the last hours so nice
was the fact that all the time you are dropping in elevation towards the coast with the
last hill at Penwortham it was a flat ride in the afternoon sun into
Southport.
My
Cateye said: 171.5 miles and although I took ages deliberating over my route with MapMyRide there
is conflicting opinions. I suspect the bike computer is closer to the truth. If you add
the ride to the train station, the ride from the train station to the seafront at
Scarborough and a few other diversions where I made navigational errors etc
Costs
Single from Southport to Liverpool £4.70
Single from Liverpool to Scarborough £26.00
Both Campsites (@ £8 pp pn) £16.00
500 ML of Meths for my spirit stove £3.49
2 x 1Litre of Milk £2
1 x Real Ale + Crisps £2.80
Total £54.99
Food
4 x Oats So Simple [Golden Syrup Flavour]
6 x McAllisters Rough Oat Biscuit Packs
2 x 200gm Bags of Fruit and Nuts
1 x Cheese Salad Sandwich
2 x Large Flapjacks
1 x Snickers Bar
1 x Banana
1 x Apple
Return Weight: 86Kg