England : North Yorkshire York - Humber Bridge - York

[ColinJ]

I have just discovered that industrial action will be disrupting rail travel on the 8th so I might not have been able to make the original date anyway!

I've just examined my tracklog for last year to see where the time went on the ride ...

We were due to start at 10:00 but we set off 20 minutes late, at 10:20ish.

We took a 30 minute break at Goole which should really have been more like 15 minutes, so 15 minutes lost.

We stopped for 65 minutes at the bridge cafe but could have made that more like 45 minutes, so 20 minutes lost.

We spent 20 minutes standing about in South Cave for some reason so that was another 20 minutes lost.

20 minutes were lost to my puncture. I could have shaved a few minutes off the repair if I hadn't been cold and wet at the time, but you can never really account for mechanical problems - they take as long as they take!

We eventually got back to the outskirts of York at about 20:50, with about 102 miles covered.

Add about another 15 minutes to get to the Park and Ride car park if you came by car, so call that 21:05.

Take off the 1 hour 35 minutes lost and we would have arrived at 19:30, but take off another hour by starting at 09:00 and we'd be getting back at more like 18:30, unless of course there were mechanical problems again.

We have often managed 9-10 mph on my extremely hilly rides so we ought to be able to achieve much more than that on a flat route like this. In the original post, busdennis asked for an average moving speed of more like 15 mph (7 hours of riding), which should be doable providing we do not encounter horrendous weather conditions. I certainly think we should aim for at least 13 mph (8 hours of riding).

Allow ourselves a maximum on all stops of 1.5 hours and we would be looking at 8.5 - 9.5 hours total, assuming no mechanical problems so that would be arrive back 17:30 - 18:30 pm from an 09:00 start.

 

[Pale Rider]

I
We spent 20 minutes standing about in South Cave for some reason so that was another 20 minutes lost.

For what it's worth, I think that time was spent discussing/arranging the split for some to hammer it back in time for one of the car parks which was due to shut at 8 or 8.30pm.

 

[ColinJ]

For what it's worth, I think that time was spent discussing/arranging the split for some to hammer it back in time for one of the car parks which was due to shut at 8 or 8.30pm.

Ah yes - I remember that now ... I think the rest of us relaxed a bit too much once they had sped off!

I am going to have to reserve a bike space on my train back from York so I will have to try and get back in time for that, though I could try and sneak my bike onto a different one if I had to. I'll book it for the 18:45 if I can, but try to get on an earlier train if we get back before that.



Has anyone taken their bike on the train from York to Leeds without a reservation? It isn't a problem on many services but it might be on others.

 

[NorthernDave]

Ah yes - I remember that now ... I think the rest of us relaxed a bit too much once they had sped off!

I am going to have to reserve a bike space on my train back from York so I will have to try and get back in time for that, though I could try and sneak my bike onto a different one if I had to. I'll book it for the 18:45 if I can, but try to get on an earlier train if we get back before that.



Has anyone taken their bike on the train from York to Leeds without a reservation? It isn't a problem on many services but it might be on others.

If it's a Northern train they don't take bike reservations, it's first come first served and trains typically have two bike spaces. I have never had a problem getting a bike on a Northern train, but there is a first time for everything.

If it's a Trans-Pennine Express train you are meant to make a reservation and there are officially 2 spaces on their trains. However they are usually sensible and on @nickyboy 's Scarborough ride last year we put 4 bikes on without problem (friendly chat with the guard, all sorted) and a 5th bike was brought on board at Malton.
However, the TPX trains on a Saturday evening between York and Leeds are often crush loaded with revellers heading for the lights of the big city. This could cause you problems getting the bike on.

And if it's a Cross Country train then I've no idea as I've never used them!

 

[ColinJ]

If it's a Northern train they don't take bike reservations, it's first come first served and trains typically have two bike spaces. I have never had a problem getting a bike on a Northern train, but there is a first time for everything.

If it's a Trans-Pennine Express train you are meant to make a reservation and there are officially 2 spaces on their trains. However they are usually sensible and on @nickyboy 's Scarborough ride last year we put 4 bikes on without problem (friendly chat with the guard, all sorted) and a 5th bike was brought on board at Malton.
However, the TPX trains on a Saturday evening between York and Leeds are often crush loaded with revellers heading for the lights of the big city. This could cause you problems getting the bike on.

And if it's a Cross Country train then I've no idea as I've never used them!

The 18:15 and 19:15 trains are TPT, the 18:45 and 19:45 are CrossCountry. It sounds like booking the 18:45 is the best bet, with an option to try and squeeze onto the 18:15 if we get back in time (or the 19:15 if we are late!) ...

 

[ColinJ]

PS It only costs me 5 pence more for a return ticket than it does for a single - how crazy is that! (With my railcard - £12.60 return or £12:55 one way.)

 

[gbs]

I am glad this ride has not been lost. I will not cast a vote re dates but I will hope that the consensus date is possible for me.

 

[SpuddyJones]

I was planning to do the Manchester to Blackpool ride this Sunday, but need to tick off the 100miler from my bucket list - this ride could be the perfect opportunity for me. I am confident I can manage the pace.

How many people are doing this?

 

[ColinJ]

I was planning to do the Manchester to Blackpool ride this Sunday, but need to tick off the 100miler from my bucket list - this ride could be the perfect opportunity for me. I am confident I can manage the pace.

How many people are doing this?

It was supposed to be the 8th but it is now being postponed until the 15th, 22nd or 29th because lots of people can't make the 8th include busdennis, the original organiser. You could still do Manchester to Blackpool and then come along on this ride when it happens

Read back through the thread to see what we are discussing..

We are still trying to confirm the new date so add your choices of date below. If we can make it the 15th, that would be good because other rides are coming up and I'd prefer not to push those back too far.

 

[ColinJ]

How about making it simpler - I suggest Saturday, 15th July ... How do you all feel about that?

If we go for that date then we could always delay it to the 22nd or 29th if the weather turns out horrid on the 15th. If we go for a later date which turns out horrid but earlier dates were good, that would be somewhat annoying!

 

[EasyPeez]

I can't make the 15th. Hope you all have a good ride. Do let me know if you end up putting it back to 22nd. Cheers.

 

[ColinJ]

I can't make the 15th. Hope you all have a good ride. Do let me know if you end up putting it back to 22nd. Cheers.

I'll 'tag' you if it does to make sure that you know.

Not knowing the date is becoming a bit of a problem for me because I have 2 or 3 other significant rides to do in July, including a 4 day tour with a friend. Once the date for this ride has been finalised, I can start a new thread for one of the other rides.

 

[Slioch]

Decision time. Come on chaps - time to bite the bullet. Col's doing his hardest to keep this ride alive, so the least we can do is show some decisiveness.

How about the 22nd. Reading back through the posts, it seems that is a date most can make????? (Although I could equally do the 15th or 29th as a fallback position if necessary).

 

[ColinJ]

If we do go for the 22nd, I can squeeze one of my other rides in on the 15th so that would be fine for me but I will need to start a thread for that ASAP.

I'll try tagging everyone left from the original list who hasn't already said that the 22nd would be ok ... How about the 22nd @busdennis, @Buck, @Littgull, @Oldfentiger?

Buck - we should be able to round in time for you to be back by 7:30 pm. If it looked like we were going to be holding you up then you could always go on ahead on the ride back from the bridge, as several riders did last year.

 

[Littgull]

Hi Colin,

If there is a ride on the 15th July I would have to give the Humber Bridge ride on the 22nd a miss as with being away separately this weekend it would mean I was 'disappearing' on my bike for 3 consecutive Saturdays all day. I'll see what has transpired regarding rides and dates fixed when I return from being away this weekend and l'll be in touch.