FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - suggestions for 2011 please

[craigwend]

Sheffield to Hull 73 (reasonable) miles (AA routemaster add a good few extra for minor road) - but you get the 'big bridge' again http://www.humberbridge.co.uk/ - finish in the 'old town' of Hull http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museums or The deep http://www.thedeep.co.uk/ (lack of beach though )
or to Spurn Point http://www.spurnpoint.com/ & back for the adventure?

York again via - to add the miles Beverley http://www.inbeverley.co.uk/
> to Bridlington = 52 miles (AA add some etc)
York to (Via Bev) Scarborough = 69 miles (AA add some etc) -

I like them both; Brid closer to Home but Scarborough more quaint / old worldy

 

[Mr Bunbury]

Whitby is certainly a stunning location and Scarborough is a nice town that has plenty of facilities and a good rail link to York.

However, my best plan would be for York-Redcar/Saltburn. Just to the east of Middlesbrough, these would give a ~58 mile ride north from York. We could leave York along Huntington Road and through Strensall, Sheriff Hutton etc or else at that time of night, the B1363 through Wigginton should also be fine. A short trip on the A170 would take us to Helmsley and a possible halfway stop, followed by the main stretch of the trip, over the moors on the B1257. It's a lovely road and though there are hills, there's nothing too epic - certainly nothing too hard for a sub 100km ride. After another possible stop in Stokesley or Great Aayton, we'd pootle down to the coast and take in the industrial chic of that bit of the North Sea, taking lots of nice pics of ourselves with parked oil rigs in the background. After that, Redcar and Saltburn have their own stations and 'tis also a mere 10 miles to Middlesbrough, which connects with Newcastle and Manchester, and takes you to the East Coast mainline via York and Darlington.

I'm prepared to put in some donkey work on this. Simon, if you're interested, you should still have my contact details.

 

[Mr Bunbury]

My other thought was, how about a ride across the northern end of England? Carlisle - Whiteley Bay or Newcastle - Gretna are both about 65 miles. The ambitious could ride a few miles beforehand to turn it into a coast to coast route. That isn't my local area so I can't offer to organise, but it should be an elegant ride.

 

[marinyork]

As this thread is being flooded out with York suggestions (which I like, I just think they might be too hard) I think Derby, Darlington and Doncaster would all make perfectly good starting points. They all meet the rail requirements.

 

[rich p]

Eastbourne would be a decent place to finish.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Buxton to Prestatyn?

It's about 80 miles from the cultural capital of the Peaks © to the town with Britains first ever Kwik Save supermarket and birthplace of TwoJagsMcPrescott (no relation).

 

[Flying Dodo]

And here's another one for you, although this one would have some hills.

London to Hastings - 71 miles overall. Head out to Greenwich, and then south east through Chislehurst, Chelsfield, Sevenoaks, halfway stop in Tonbridge, Paddock Wood, Hartley, and then the almost straight B2244 down towards Hastings.

There are 3 trains per hour back to either Victoria or Charing Cross, plus another one going to Ashford and then to St Pancras on the HS1 (yes I'm working the HS1 in here again).

 

[blockend]

However, my best plan would be for York-Redcar/Saltburn.

Ye Gads! (Unless you're from either Redcar or Saltburn in which case both are fascinating destinations) I can see your thinking but it ends in Hartlepool or Billingham, neither lacking anything in authenticity but not quite Whitby - at least in the picturesque.

The difficulty is finding a seaside destination that still has mainline rail. Many have branchline access and the limited service that goes with it, few have walk-on rail facilities to the wider world.
Some new trains have more flexible carriage arrangements, I wonder if the TOC might be forewarned that a bunch of cyclists are hoping to travel on the early Saturday services. It would certainly expand the scope of resort destinations.

 

[blockend]

Buxton to Prestatyn?

It's about 80 miles from the cultural capital of the Peaks © to the town with Britains first ever Kwik Save supermarket and birthplace of TwoJagsMcPrescott (no relation).

Buxton is also the hometown of Dave Lee Travis.

 

[blockend]

The Saltersgate Inn at the Hole of Horcum would be a good mid-way stopping point too. Anyone know if it's open again yet?

Not last time I looked a couple of months ago. Maybe the North Yorks Moors Railway could see the benefit of early opening and bacon butty sales?

 

[marinyork]

Not last time I looked a couple of months ago. Maybe the North Yorks Moors Railway could see the benefit of early opening and bacon butty sales?

 

[dellzeqq]

I wonder if the TOC might be forewarned that a bunch of cyclists are hoping to travel on the early Saturday services. It would certainly expand the scope of resort destinations.

a very decent thought and one which has, thus far, got me nowhere....if you really want to despair about the condition of humanity then there are few surer ways of satisfying the need than to try and shoehorn bikes on to an otherwise empty train

 

[blockend]

....if you really want to despair about the condition of humanity then there are few surer ways of satisfying the need than to try and shoehorn bikes on to an otherwise empty train

Point taken. Ian Allen's British Railway Atlas exhausts those coastal towns still having something resembling a mainline railhead in a matter of moments.
For true despair compare and contrast to a pre-Beeching version. With guards vans. Doh!

 

[Soltydog]

For a cross the border fnrttc how about Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed. I did this last year as part of the coast & castles route, which was on some fantastic roads, with stunning scenery & would make an amazing night ride. The C&C route would be 100ish miles, but maybe someone with local knowledge could take some short cuts
Both stations have reasonable rail links which seems to be a major problem at many other north east coast locations

 

[Telemark]

For a cross the border fnrttc how about Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed. I did this last year as part of the coast & castles route, which was on some fantastic roads, with stunning scenery & would make an amazing night ride. The C&C route would be 100ish miles, but maybe someone with local knowledge could take some short cuts
Both stations have reasonable rail links which seems to be a major problem at many other north east coast locations

That would be a "FNCtC", if you made the effort to head north to the Forth briefly before heading inland!
If you don't follow the NCN1 slavishly (especially the first squiggly bit out of Edinburgh), you can definitely cut out a few miles, but not too many.
Also, the A roads east from Melrose onwards go in a much straighter line than the backroads used by the NCN1, but then again there's quiet-ish and then there's completely empty roads in the middle of the night.
There are other options to cut out a bigger corner or two ...

If somebody explained rough distance requirements, and what sort of stops are needed at what stage of the ride, we might be able to come up with helpful suggestions.

T