Wetherby to Filey 5 June, Coast to Coast 8-10 June.

In the clouds and into the wind   

Ian Wood reports

Leeds to Filey

Antony Brumby, Mal Davidson, Alan Bodell, Colin Abbishaw and I rode out to Wetherby from Rothwell/Leeds and met Roy Cannon, Richard Barker and Ian Lazenby at the racecourse on Saturday morning – and although distraught that our ‘patron’ Fred failed to show the Seacroft peloton set off up the 168. As Mal says we “felt the fear” (of being without Fred) but “did it anyway” (set off).

We surged past the field – only to have to surge past the same riders again and again and again as we punctured, broke a front mech, and stopped at a bike shop, at each drinks station and at the lunch tent.

Although I was particularly gratified with my walk up the last 100 yards of Settrington Bank I was even more impressed by Mal encouraging Antony to draft behind a tractor on the 168 by pushing him in the back and yelling “FASTER!!” in his ear. We just failed to catch the tractor before it turned off, the farmer intimated by the sight of Fred’s domestiques pounding after him.

We all reached Filey in around the four- hours- on- the- bike mark. Full credit goes to Richard and Ian L for going off the front and beating the rest of us into Filey (by giving it some “pasty and beans”). Full credit goes also to the bloke towing the boat, the woman in the Astra, the man in the Escort and the bus driver for so narrowly and skilfully failing to bring down Alan, Roy and I in the space of 100 yards.

Alan, Antony and Colin and I then set off for Pickering, sheltering under a tree we were impressed by the monsoon shredding off its leaves. A great chance to practice our bit and bit technique (not a Malcolm Cowgill approved four up) down the 170 and then into Pickering for 4.45 with 117 miles in.

Riding in the clouds

Antony was again on the bike for seven on Sunday morning, Roy had arrived 15 minutes earlier and Colin had decided to ride back to Bob Jackson’s stuck on the 42 with his broken mech. Alan, Antony, Roy and I set off up a damp Swainsea Lane and over a misty Wheeldale Moor, on the way passing through Stape (the Village That Time Forgot Part One).  We made it to breakfast in Grosmont after two fords, two nerve shredding descents and enough climbs for each of us to wish for a spare pair of legs.

The 20% hairpin climb out of misty Grosmont to misty Egton, enhanced by Alan’s chain nearly unshipping and a blond bloke on a mountain bike practising track stands in the middle of the road, made me long for Cancellara’s bottom bracket motor. The blond bloke did suggest that Alan might like to pop in to use his spanners – at least that’s what I thought he said.

The four of us failed to catch the lamb dinner which skittered across the road in front of us on the cloudy descent into Danby but we really did appreciate being passed in the mist by the local chain-gang on Oakley Walls.

Roy was practising his role as the rep for the Castleton chamber of commerce (“Yes, the newsagents is shut”, “No, we don’t know when it’ll re-open”, “No, we don’t know where you can get a paper”) when Alan revealed that 20 out of the last 27 miles had been uphill. And then it got worse.

The cloud thickened on the way up to Ralph’s Cross. By the time we were considering the planned descent off Blakey to the Lowna Road we couldn’t see each other unless our wheels were touching. Surprisingly, we chose the descent into Rosedale because, although the road was closed, it was the only available way out of the clouds. After all, Penny Pot Lane had been closed during the Harrogate Nova reliability and we all still got through. As we dropped down through the clouds we lost sight of each other again – though we could clearly see the road closed signs and the plastic crash barriers.

The clouds, hills and retail advice session had prevented me from droning on about local and family history. So I hadn’t been able to tell the others about the night my Dad once woke up in the late 1920s to find that half a mile of the moorside opposite his house had slipped 50 yards down towards Rosedale. Not too much of a surprise then to find that the road was closed because half of it had washed away. Still we all got down out of the clouds, through the mist, through the drizzle and into the cafe in Rosedale.

And so back to Pickering – barely 50 miles out of the 80-odd planned – but at least cloudless, safe and wet. We’d all recommend the Pickering BnB and the cafes in Grosmont and Rosedale. Respectively they were: Laurel Bank BnB, Hazelwood House and Abbey Tea Rooms.

On Monday Alan and I rode back into Leeds – the 60 mile back route through Castle Howard – avoiding the crater near the Strensall live firing range where the army had taken out the cattle grid with a mortar round (although the sign by the road did say “collapsed culvert”). Sensibly, Roy and Antony had already gone home by car.

Up the Solway and into the wind

Up to Cumbria on Tuesday, with the bikes on the back of Pete’s car, for Whitehaven-Newcastle. Top tip when driving down into Whitehaven: watch the traffic and not the wind turbines. That way you’ll avoid the on-coming cars more easily. BnB at Glendale House (excellent).

On Wednesday good surfaces all the way – with exceptions listed below – on a mixture of back lanes, short stretches of main road and some dedicated traffic-free cycle paths (it’s a Sustrans route). Alan, Colin and I determined to practice our bit and bit routine again and to figure out how to best use and communicate with the support vehicle.

Cycle path almost all the way up to Workington, one puncture and sound Cumbrian advice about getting across the Derwent avoiding the two washed away bridges. The headwind started around Maryport and didn’t really stop until just outside Carlisle. Even bit and bit we could only average 11mph into what must have been a 25 mph headwind. Truly awful. Wonderful scenery and great cycling country but try to pick a day when the wind’s from the west.

Met up with the support vehicle in Silloth (the Village That Time Forgot Part Two) and were delighted to find all the roads in the place cobbled (see previous comments about Cancellara). Around Cardurnock the forest of electronic listening masts took out all three computers for 10 miles – a relief as we couldn’t see just how slowly we were rolling.

We never saw Carlisle as the route took us on a mixture of grass track, strada bianchi and lumpy hardcore almost all the way to Rickerby. If you’ve any doubts about your tyres or your backsides I’d advise using the main road through Carlisle instead. Alan and I run Continental 4000S tyres at 120 psi, never punctured and our backsides are made from the finest tanned West Yorkshire leather.

Then a short blast along the 69 into Brampton to the Art Gallery Cafe for excellent sandwiches and what looked like a bucket of coffee each. Back onto the classic way-marked route from Brampton to Haltwhistle and into the toughest hills of the day. The route climbs out of Brampton and then follows very steep drags around Greenhead. This section is probably the best bit for spotting intact sections of the Roman Wall – not that any of us gave a stuff about the Romans by this point.

We still took the classic route out of Haltwhistle but at Bardon Mill we opted for fast TT down the 69 into Hexham.  At this point we were just 26 miles short of Newcastle.  117 miles out from Whitehaven, according to the route guide, our mileage lower because of the two stretches of main road we’d followed. We reckoned that with the puncture and the headwind we were about two hours short of our projected time. By this time it was half past seven, we had no lights, it had started to rain and we decided to take another overnight - Coach and Horses pub (do not stay here).

We rolled down into Newcastle on Thursday morning (Colin punctured his rear Panracer again). Fabulous route along the Tyne and fantastic cafe in the old Baltic Flour Mill (just over the Millennium Bridge in Gateshead). Ten and a half hours on the bike, 143 miles in according to the route sheet (deduct a few for our TT on the 69).

Top tips: get the Sustrans route map (Hadrian’s Cycleway) and pick a day with no headwind. I got through nine bottles on the ride and countless energy bars – so if you choose this route, and you have the option, use a support vehicle. Or you could, as the map suggests, do it in three days!

Back into the vehicle and back to Leeds. Now the End 2 End in eight days looks achievable.