Most of the riders arrived at the Skyliner by 7.00 am

and we met the rest en route to give the full ride complement of–

Alex, Andy, Decs, Gav, Ian, Jason, John, Jude, Julie, Mal and Pete

Route planning had been done by Capt Andy and Mike drove the support car.

The initial route was A63 out to the Boot and Shoe and then down through Sherburn and Cawood, skirting York with our feed stop at Langton:

Mal and Jason punctured between Stamford Bridge and Langton but the sarnies and pies supplied by Directeur Sportive Mike more than compensated. Capt Andy had thoughtfully planned this stop so that we had access to toilets with soap and hand towels - though Jude’s amused that Mal chose to ride his bike the 50 yards from the car to the toilet block

Whilst Andy and I conclude that it really does look like a back brake that Jason’s got there:

We lined up to set off again

Just down the road we tackled the first steep climb of the day – 17% through and up out of North Grimston and onto the top of the Wolds. Magnificent views – north and west across the bowl of the Vale of York towards the Howardian Hills and the North Yorks Moors. East towards the coast. Beautiful day – warm and sunny with a slight breeze. Excellent cycling in excellent company.

Deciding not to draft the tractor this time

Two abreast at speed through the villages of East Yorkshire, following in parts previous routes (York 100, Wetherby- Filey and our recent C2C). Marred only by my puncturing in Muston as the tyre rolled off the rim on a downhill corner. As Mal said – good job it hadn’t happened coming down off the Lauteret.

John and Sylvia provided great signage to their excellent lunch:

A cornucopia of food – sarnies, crisps, cake bars, energy drink. And, amazingly, our very own toilet tent

Grateful thanks to both John and Sylvia

Nice slow pedal down to the front for the shot to prove we did all make it to Filey:

Mal decides wisely to stay in Filey with Norma to visit his cousin whilst the rest of us set off towards Brid. The main road proves to be too busy and so, at Pete’s suggestion, we turn off for Sledmere. Pete insists “there’s only a few lumps and bumps”. And so there are. Rolling riding towards Mike, the car and pork pies:

Having completed respectively their longest and their hardest rides ever Julie and Alex decide to get in the car for the rest of the journey from Sledmere. Pete leads the way up to Fridaythorpe and then down Garrowby Hill – the traffic lets up long enough for us to enjoy an unrestricted descent. Unfortunately, John punctures at the moment he achieves his highest speed of the day. He then punctures again on refitting the tyre (pinch flat) and then punctures for a third time just as he reaches Stamford Bridge. He claims Alex’s wheel from her bike on the back of the car.

From here it’s a slog into the headwind with Pete doing sterling work on the front as the magnificent eight return through York, Stillingfleet, Cawood and Sherburn (obligatory stop for huge Snickers bar from the Mini Mart for me).

And so, tired but pretty content we arrive back.

A long and fulfilling day in the saddle.

And of course it has to be asked; “When’s the next epic?”