Route Advice: Humber Bridge to Bridlington

[Pale Rider]

Haha, yes, that road was OK but I wouldn't have fancied following it much further than we did, even on that fairly quiet Sunday. The 2 A roads that the OP might consider are actually not dissimilar to that road to Oswaldkirk - ok for a bit if necessary but best avoided for long stretches. Especially with the after-work traffic/gathering dusk that might coincide with his timings.

Wise words.

Going back to that B road, me and my mate Steve did the same stretch on our mini tour last year.

We joined at a T-junction a bit further back - several cars hammered past as we waited to make the turn.

So on a sample of two, that road is consistently unpleasant for speeding traffic.

 

[Aravis]

Thank you so much for all the information guys. A lot to digest. It does seem quite a difficult one to resolve. I do quite like the look of the Boothferry route, as quite a bit of the A-road (before and after Market Weighton for example) appears to be avoidable without adding much distance. I'm reasonably tolerant of fast traffic, for a few miles at least.

Ironically, if I could take my time, there seem to be loads of nice-looking minor roads and it looks like a great area to explore on a bike. Maybe there's a message for me there...

 

[EasyPeez]

Thank you so much for all the information guys. A lot to digest. It does seem quite a difficult one to resolve. I do quite like the look of the Boothferry route, as quite a bit of the A-road (before and after Market Weighton for example) appears to be avoidable without adding much distance. I'm reasonably tolerant of fast traffic, for a few miles at least.

Ironically, if I could take my time, there seem to be loads of nice-looking minor roads and it looks like a great area to explore on a bike. Maybe there's a message for me there...

Could you get away with doing it over 2 days and booking a cheap room somewhere either just south or just north of the Humber? It would allow you more flexibility with your route and more sightseeing along the way. You could then do a longer overall ride but on much nicer roads and with no urgency around meal stops/punctures etc.

 

[Aravis]

Could you get away with doing it over 2 days and booking a cheap room somewhere either just south or just north of the Humber? It would allow you more flexibility with your route and more sightseeing along the way. You could then do a longer overall ride but on much nicer roads and with no urgency around meal stops/punctures etc.

You may have planted a very useful seed. A few months ago I contacted a old friend (my best man in fact) who lives in Walsall nowadays. His wife is the Archdeacon, I learned, which came as quite a surprise. Whilst nattering away about cycling exploits he said I was welcome to kip at his place any time. So that could be a good option. Coming from that angle I'd very quickly find myself travelling along Kajsa Tylen's Strava routes which would see me up to Nottingham and a long way beyond. And I should be able to reach the Humber by early afternoon, pretty much perfect.

I like the idea of doing it in one as a once in a lifetime experience, but I may yet conclude it's beyond me. Foot pain, which I've found to be manageable up to 150 miles and is largely absent in cold weather, could be my undoing if I'm too ambitious, although it sometimes helps me forget that my legs are hurting.

 

[Aravis]

I ought to give an update. My wife has a couple of long shifts at the end of this week and understandably doesn't want to be driving up alone. So Gloucester to Bridlington as envisaged won't be happening. But I have clearance to put my bike in the car and to do one big day in East Yorkshire, and the journey home at the end of the week is also a possibility. That's a long way in the future though.

Now that the Met Office 5-day forecast extends to Saturday, it seems that there's a stiff north-easterly established for the foreseeable future, definitely not what I would've wanted! I mustn't take too much pleasure from that, as there will be plenty of people for whom it's unwelcome news (anyone starting LEJOG this week for example).

So I have to decide what to do with my day, which should become my century a month challenge qualifying ride. I think I'll give the North York Moors a miss. I quite like the look of the long straight road through the Castle Howard estate, which could be a nice feature to include in my loop. Something like this, which comes out at 123 miles, looks quite promising:

 

[Pale Rider]

. I quite like the look of the long straight road through the Castle Howard estate, which could be a nice feature to include in my loop.

I've done that bit a couple of times, once with @Julia9054 and @EasyPeez of this parish.

Pleasant stretch, although like everything else on that patch it's up and down.

The cafe at Castle Howard - in a courtyard - is suitably up market, that is, good but not cheap.

Lots of locally sourced this, and artisan baked that.

The serving staff were all well spoken young men and women who, I decided, were working there during their holidays from our better universities.

Polite middle class heaven - I rather liked it.

 

[Pale Rider]

And here's a pic - the cafe is on the left.

 

[EasyPeez]

I ought to give an update. My wife has a couple of long shifts at the end of this week and understandably doesn't want to be driving up alone. So Gloucester to Bridlington as envisaged won't be happening. But I have clearance to put my bike in the car and to do one big day in East Yorkshire, and the journey home at the end of the week is also a possibility. That's a long way in the future though.

Now that the Met Office 5-day forecast extends to Saturday, it seems that there's a stiff north-easterly established for the foreseeable future, definitely not what I would've wanted! I mustn't take too much pleasure from that, as there will be plenty of people for whom it's unwelcome news (anyone starting LEJOG this week for example).

So I have to decide what to do with my day, which should become my century a month challenge qualifying ride. I think I'll give the North York Moors a miss. I quite like the look of the long straight road through the Castle Howard estate, which could be a nice feature to include in my loop. Something like this, which comes out at 123 miles, looks quite promising:

View attachment 350405

Yours looks like a good route at first glance, though I must admit I don't have time to study it in any detail right now.

Another option, though slightly longer is this, which passes right by Brid - http://www.cycleyorkshirewolds.com/route/

It takes in some of the loveliest parts of the Yorkshire Wolds, though doesn't go as far west so wouldn't take you into the Howardian Hills around Castle Howard.

 

[Aravis]

I really ought to close this off properly.

Thank you all for the advice. I had one great ride in the area, which was indeed my century a month qualifying ride. But neither of the journeys up or down happened. Each day I would have faced a 15mph+ wind directly in my face for the whole ride, and they were well forecast, so the decisions weren't hard.

As it happens my car broke down (injector failure) while heading home on the M69. I am very glad my wife didn't have to deal with that on her own; it seems the wind god knew what he was doing after all.

I did ride a short section of the A614, between Market Weighton and Holme-on-Spalding-Moor. It was truly terrifying, and I'm generally traffic-tolerant.

I have another idea for a mega-challenge later in the year, which might possibly be of interest to others, so I'll start a thread in due course.

 

[EasyPeez]

Sorry to hear about the strong winds and car problems. Glad it all panned out for the best, even though you didn't get to do the rides you wanted to; hope you get chance to ride some of them in the future under better conditions.