England : North Yorkshire York - Humber Bridge - York

[EasyPeez]

Good to meet you all on Saturday. I enjoyed the ride and the company and was pleasantly surprised not to get a load of ribbing for wimping out of the morning monsoon!

Looks like there's a track of some sort to South Ferriby Cliff, and Barton Cliff, where there's a car park.

It must be ridable from there past the nature reserve at Far Ings onto the minor road which takes us to the bridge.

If I'm thinking of the right bit, then this is correct. You can turn left onto Cliff Rd as you come out of South Ferriby. This is a tarmac lane which soon turns into a wide gravel track used by farm vehicles. It thins out into a footpath/bridlepath as it reaches the edge of the Humber, but bikes are allowed and regularly seen down there. Mostly mountain bikes it has to be said, but it's all compacted gravel so is fine to ride on road bikes with care. After a couple of miles of this, maybe a bit less, you have the choice to turn right onto Far Ings Rd which soon turns back from gravel to tarmac and takes you right into Barton, or you can stick on the slower but more scenic off road path right alongside the Humber, going along the back of Far Ings Nature reserve and then right under the bridge and around to Waterside and the cafe. My vote would be for the slow and scenic option.

Might be worth a look re @EasyPeez 's suggestion of a Minster route next year if we could do something - I'd be happy working to pull it together along with your suggestion of the quieter roads @ColinJ ?

I'm happy to help with this too if people are interested, and it wouldn't be a problem for me to do some scouting of options in the flesh.

Raywell House, Riplingham, South Cave

I don't like this bit at all to be honest. Our road club makes a point of avoiding this road due to speeding cars. My heart was in my mouth for a moment on Saturday when that peanut in the MPV/van came speeding around the corner towards @ColinJ and myself and almost lost it, sliding left and right with tyres burning before wrestling back control.

 

[EasyPeez]

PS - I'm with @Buck & @ColinJ on liking the odd hill to spice things up (though I'm no particular fan of the road out of South Ferriby and my preference would be for the flat Humber path option mentioned above).

When it comes to climbs and descents the two into North Newbald and South Newbald to/from High Hunsley are generally regarded as the hardest/most exhilarating (depending on whether you're going up or down) in the area. I'd highly recommend getting one or both of them into the ride, though this would be easier to work into a north of the Humber/Minster route than a bridge route.

 

[Littgull]

Some good suggestions @ColinJ. I might be worth checking what the surface of the TPT is like for those bits as I've come across comments outside of this forum that a lot of it is best ridden on an MTB.

 

[Littgull]

PS - I'm with @Buck & @ColinJ on liking the odd hill to spice things up (though I'm no particular fan of the road out of South Ferriby and my preference would be for the flat Humber path option mentioned above).

When it comes to climbs and descents the two into North Newbald and South Newbald to/from High Hunsley are generally regarded as the hardest/most exhilarating (depending on whether you're going up or down) in the area. I'd highly recommend getting one or both of them into the ride, though this would be easier to work into a north of the Humber/Minster route than a bridge route.

I really fancy the flat off road bit next to the river estuary. Nice suggestion @EasyPeez.

 

[Pale Rider]

I really fancy the flat off road bit next to the river estuary. Nice suggestion @EasyPeez.

Looks good to me, and the hill monsters among us would still get to do the steepest part of the climb out of South Ferriby.

Colin's route out of York should work, and it has the benefit of turning the ride into a loop, rather than the first and last 10 miles being repeated as they are at present.

What bothers me a little is lengthening the ride.

We got back in reasonable time, but we were pushing a bit harder than I would have liked on the road, and the stops were also against the clock.

My preference would be for a mid-morning coffee, but there was no time for me to finish a hot drink.

I stuffed my cheese and ham toastie lunch down as fast as I could, but still had to leave some.

York and the bridge are not going to get any closer together, but a valid route would be to keep north of the Humber after leaving Howden.

Obviously, we'd arrive at the north side of the bridge, but we can pop over to the lunch stop.

Colin's route to Howden, then north of the Humber to the bridge would, I reckon, clock close to 50 miles.

The bridge back to York is 40, so that would be best part of 90 miles - not a century, but still a decent length day ride.

About 15 fewer miles buys us an extra a hour or so, which would be enough to relieve the speed and time pressure.

 

[EasyPeez]

I've had a first stab at a 5 Minster route. Unfortunately it doesn't meet @Pale Rider's preference for a shorter ride - in fact it's slightly longer than Saturday's route - so I/we'd need to work on lopping off a few bits here and there if the consensus was to aim for a sub-100 miler.

As NCN route 66 runs York-Hull north of the A1079 and NCN 65 runs York-Hull south of the same road, I've borrowed liberally from both; this means that most of the route would be on small country lanes, with some dedicated cycle paths featuring too. The bit between York and Riccall, for example, is a rather pleasant, long section of tarmac off-road path which crosses the middle of the racecourse and then later on includes a scale representation of the solar system as you cycle along.

I've included a steep climb on the way to Hull and a big descent on the way back out - these are the aforementioned roads around South/North Newbald. Omitting these would be one way of shaving off a few miles if people are put off by the distance. But they are good hills...

Hull at 55 miles would be the obvious lunch stop. Plenty of good options around the newly gentrified marina. Howden at 26 miles and/or Market Weighton around 82 miles both have good coffee stop options. Two of the best pubs in the known universe also feature on this route, in Beverley (Nellie's) and Goodmanham (Goodmanham Arms), though I'm not sure taking in a couple of pints of ale en route would help our finish time...

See what you think, anyway. I'm happy to scrub bits off and add in changes if people want to make suggestions. October would be my first opportunity to do this ride, but next Spring might be a better bet for daylight hours ; either way there's plenty of time to natter about and refine it.

Both links are for the same route, but the first one should hopefully allow you to see info on the road/path type inc. info on the type of surface by just clicking on the route at any point, as well as showing cafes, pubs and shops. Underneath 'route tools' you can bring up a 2D or 3D elevation graph and if you click on 'key' (tiny link in top right of screen next to OS copyright sign) you can see how the different line colours relate to surface types.

http://cycle.travel/map/journey/46038

https://www.strava.com/routes/9807195

Of course, this route would be far more convenient for me if done from Hull to York and back, but I'm guessing that wouldn't be anyone else's preference?!

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Buck]

Looks good Andy. I'd be up for that. The ride on Saturday for me was 107 so that is nothing more.

Happy to start anywhere - guess the challenge is train journey options for the likes of @ColinJ etc.

With planningtimes/dates a later finish would be ok - this week for me was an unfortunate diary clash !!

 

[ColinJ]

I wouldn't really want to be any later than we were on Saturday - it was nearly 10 pm by the time I was home and showered, and I ate later than that!

A Hull start would be a bit too far away from my point of view. Even with my railcard the fare would be over £17 and I would be spending over 5 hours on trains ...

Don't let that stop you organising the Minsters ride from Hull though. I wouldn't be upset at missing it because I have several other rides lined up.

As for an alternative Humber Bridge route ...

[Raywell House, Riplingham, South Cave] I don't like this bit at all to be honest. Our road club makes a point of avoiding this road due to speeding cars. My heart was in my mouth for a moment on Saturday when that peanut in the MPV/van came speeding around the corner towards @ColinJ and myself and almost lost it, sliding left and right with tyres burning before wrestling back control.

I must have been in my own little world because I didn't notice!

I don't like encounters with speeding traffic either, which is one reason that I wanted to avoid the B1228 to Howden - we had 2 HGVs go past us too close and too fast in the rain.

When it comes to climbs and descents the two into North Newbald and South Newbald to/from High Hunsley are generally regarded as the hardest/most exhilarating (depending on whether you're going up or down) in the area. I'd highly recommend getting one or both of them into the ride, though this would be easier to work into a north of the Humber/Minster route than a bridge route.

How about this - Melton, Welton, Riplingham, Riplingham Grange, High Hunsley, South Newbald, Hotham,

What bothers me a little is lengthening the ride.

We got back in reasonable time, but we were pushing a bit harder than I would have liked on the road, and the stops were also against the clock.

My preference would be for a mid-morning coffee, but there was no time for me to finish a hot drink.

I stuffed my cheese and ham toastie lunch down as fast as I could, but still had to leave some.

York and the bridge are not going to get any closer together, but a valid route would be to keep north of the Humber after leaving Howden.

Obviously, we'd arrive at the north side of the bridge, but we can pop over to the lunch stop.

Colin's route to Howden, then north of the Humber to the bridge would, I reckon, clock close to 50 miles.

The bridge back to York is 40, so that would be best part of 90 miles - not a century, but still a decent length day ride.

About 15 fewer miles buys us an extra a hour or so, which would be enough to relieve the speed and time pressure.

I was actually thinking that a few extra miles on top of my proposed extra miles and we'd have ourselves a '200' (km).

I liked being able to whiz along for a change rather than grovelling up steep hills! I can see that nobody wants to be rushed but OTOH it is one of the few routes that we do where it isn't too hard to crack on. I think it was the weather that made 15 mph feel harder than it should have done. Without that headwind it would have been easy.

I do like your idea. I wanted to go to the cafe at the bridge and I wanted to cross the bridge so I'd stuck with the idea of going south of the river. It hadn't even occurred to me to cross the bridge twice ... I actually didn't like most of the route from Howden to Flixborough that much but thought that it was a necessary evil to get to the bridge. Doing the double crossing of the bridge would solve that!

I've just plotted a route from Howden to the cafe via the north side of the river, including more sections of the TPT where necessary. That is almost exactly 50 miles from York to the cafe and about 47 miles back. Anybody wanting a full imperial century would easily be able to make up the difference somewhere.

Here's a rough map of my new suggested route. It uses some more sections of the TPT so they would need checking out, not only for the quality of the surface but also to see if there any barriers which might stop @Pale Rider (or anyone else) getting a big e-bike through.

Outward leg in purple, return leg in red.

The route starts at York railway station and heads south past the racecourse to Bishopthorpe and then uses a short stretch of the Trans Pennine Trail to get over the Ouse [NEEDS CHECKING].

Then: Nayburn, Deighton, Escrick, Skipwith, South Duffield to Hemingbrough. Another short stretch of the TPT would take us to Barmby on the Marsh [NEEDS CHECKING], and from there head east to Howden.

Then Kilpin, Laxton, Yokefleet, Faxfleet, and back onto an offroad part of the TPT as far as Broomfleet [NEEDS CHECKING].

Then Ellerker, Brantingham, Elloughton, Welton, Melton, North Ferriby and then the TPT from Ings Lane to Cliff Road Hessle [NEEDS CHECKING], under the bridge, then loop round, climb up to the bridge and nip over to the cafe on the south side.

After the cafe stop, back over the bridge ... Swanland, Welton, and then an alternative climb/descent to avoid the South Cave rat run - Riplingham, Riplingham Grange, High Hunsley, South Newbald, Hotham, South/North Cliffe [ @EasyPeez - IS THAT OK?].

Next -Everingham to Scamland. A small change then, pretty much for the sake of variety ... turn R just before Melbourne and head north through Thornton to Allerthorpe Common, then head west to pick up the original route on the B1228 just north of Sutton.

Stick to the original route from there back to York: Elvington, and get on the A1079 at Grimston. Follow that into York and head clockwise round the ring road back to the station.

It would be another long flat route with some moderate mid-ride lumpiness. The profile looks like this:

I'd propose that we skip the first stop altogether - we would get to the lunch stop with 12 miles less riding so without the Goole stop (we wouldn't be going to Goole!) we would be getting there the best part of 90 minutes sooner.

What do y'all think of this one?

 

[EasyPeez]

I must have been in my own little world because I didn't notice!

We were on an uphill section and you were on a single speed - I think there's no shame in the fact that you were doing your best 'Chris Froome stares at his stem' impression at that point!

I don't like encounters with speeding traffic either, which is one reason that I wanted to avoid the B1228 to Howden

Yeah, I've made sure my Minster route avoids this road and, for as far as possible, the B1230 out the other side of Howden.

Melton, Welton, Riplingham, Riplingham Grange, High Hunsley, South Newbald, Hotham,

Sounds good to me. Should be both quieter and more interesting scenically. Lovely church with a moat in Welton and some nice tree cover around there.

I can't help with the TPT sections as it's ages since I rode the length of it (on an MTB) and can't recall which bits are smooth and which not. I could go and check some out though if you wanted. I was at Broomfleet last night, but had been doing 21mph average for 2 hours non-stop in a chain-gang at that point, so was in no fit state to notice anything about my surroundings!

Apart from that I think your tweaked route looks good and I'd be well up for joining in again if you can keep me in the loop as to dates. I'd likely try to get the train to York to join you from the start next time, or stay with friends in Escrick and jump on board there.

Cheers.

 

[ColinJ]

We were on an uphill section and you were on a single speed - I think there's no shame in the fact that you were doing your best 'Chris Froome stares at his stem' impression at that point!

Yes, it does take a bit of concentration climbing on that bike!

I can't help with the TPT sections as it's ages since I rode the length of it (on an MTB) and can't recall which bits are smooth and which not. I could go and check some out though if you wanted. I was at Broomfleet last night, but had been doing 21mph average for 2 hours non-stop in a chain-gang at that point, so was in no fit state to notice anything about my surroundings!

It would be great if you (and/or someone else local) could take a look at those TPT sections. There is the quality of the surface to think about, and also whether they might become waterlogged after heavy rain. In fact, some stretches are very close to the river so I wondered if a high tide might affect them?

Pale Rider had problems getting his e-bike over a footbridge on my Cheshire ride. It made me wonder whether the TPT might have awkward anti-motorcycle gates? In terms of manhandling the bike, it seems halfway between a mountain bike and a small motorbike so a gate like that could be a serious obstacle.

Apart from that I think your tweaked route looks good and I'd be well up for joining in again if you can keep me in the loop as to dates. I'd likely try to get the train to York to join you from the start next time, or stay with friends in Escrick and jump on board there.

I don't think that I will be doing the bridge again this year, but perhaps we could bring it forward next year to the Spring? As long as we have > 10 hours of daylight after 08:30 we should be okay. Say, after 25th March?

 

[Pale Rider]

Colin's north of the Humber loop looks good to me.

I suspect the Trans Pennine Trail around Brough is not suitable for bikes because most of the online routes send you north at that point to criss-cross the A63.

Even the cycle route section of the Trans Pennine Trail website does that.

While it would be handy if @EasyPeez could have a look at some point, it's only two or three miles so hardly critical to the success of the ride.

Spring next year is worth a go, particularly as our last two attempts at doing the ride in summer have been a less than conspicuous weather success.

We ought to get around the shortened route in less time, and I'm not bothered about doing the last few miles into York in impending darkness if we get delayed.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed...l=53.749378224473936,-0.5784878195189549&z=13

 

[ColinJ]

I found THIS article which supports what EasyPeez said about the road to South Cave. It also mentions the TPT from Hessle to North Ferriby and says that it is 'a very pleasant route'. There is a photo showing one of the barriers that I mentioned at the end of the path - Rob, do you think that you could get your e-bike through those gates/barriers?

 

[Pale Rider]

I found THIS article which supports what EasyPeez said about the road to South Cave. It also mentions the TPT from Hessle to North Ferriby and says that it is 'a very pleasant route'. There is a photo showing one of the barriers that I mentioned at the end of the path - Rob, do you think that you could get your e-bike through those gates/barriers?

The A-gates are no problem.

I suspect the article refers to the stretch of the Trans Pennine Trail east of the bridge towards Hessle/Hull.

According to the website map, you cannot cycle further west of the bridge than North Ferriby, where you are shunted north, even though the trail continues.

 

[ColinJ]

The A-gates are no problem.

Good!

I suspect the article refers to the stretch of the Trans Pennine Trail east of the bridge towards Hessle/Hull.

According to the website map, you cannot cycle further west of the bridge than North Ferriby, where you are shunted north, even though the trail continues.

I thought the whole TPT was supposed to be suitable for bikes!

As for west of North Ferriby, my new route comes down from the north to get onto the TPT there.

 

[Slioch]

Evening all. I've ridden all of the suggested routes north of the Humber, so can respond to the open questions about TPT route suitability.......

The TPT from York down to Selby follows the course of an old railway, and is tacmac'ed throughout (spellcheck please!) The bit where it crosses the Ouse at Naburn is wide enough to take two locomotives side by side, so no issues there (Google "Fisher of dreams" to see what it looks like). The whole route is entirely rideable & Pale Rider will have no issues with his bike with gates or whatnot..

The TPT from Hemingbrough to Barmby barrage is not tacmac'ed, but is a firm stony surface. There may be the odd patch of mud after rain. I have ridden this on skinny tyres on my carbon with no issues. The unpaved stretch is about 3/4 of a mile long. The gates at either end are wide enough for Pale Rider.

And the TPT from Faxfleet to Broomfleet is gravelled on a firm surface. It is wide enough to take vehicles. Again, it is dead easy on skinny tyres provided a modicum of care is taken. Again, no issue with narrow gates.

All excellent route suggestions.