Yorkshire Ridings

The three Ridings – North, West, East – are the historic divisions of Yorkshire. My ‘ridings’ are bike trips exploring England’s largest county – my home – as defined by its traditional borders.

Read about them below, and be inspired to discover this fantastic part of the world on two wheels.

Rob Ainsley

Yorkshire Coast

Four days in November 2024 where Yorkshire meets the North Sea: beaches, cliffs, fishing villages, seaside towns, disappearing roads, and remarkable scenery. See map of route

Day 1: Redcar to Whitby
Day 2: Whitby to Bridlington
Day 3: Bridlington to Kilnsea
Day 4: Kilnsea to Spurn

Slow Dales

Research trips updating the Bradt Slow Travel Guide to the Yorkshire Dales in summer and autumn 2023

Kirkby Stephen – Malham – Masham –Nidderdale – Sedbergh – Swaledale – Three Peaks – Wensleydale – Wharfedale

Yorkshire Places

Rides in 81 quirky places: giants, narrow alleys, white horses, tiny ferries, fairies at the bottom of the garden…

Barkston Ash – Barnsley – Barwick – Beverley – Bingley Arms – Bishop Wilton – Bradford – British Library – Buttertubs – Castle Howard – Cockayne – Coldstones Cut – Cottingley – Dean Head – Driffield – Easingwold – Eboracum – Emmerdale – Greenwich Meridian – Filey – Football – Goathland – Goodmanham – Halifax – Hambleton Drove Road – Harrogate – Haworth – Hebden Bridge – Helmsley – Hessay – Holgate Windmill – Hornsea Mere – Huddersfield Canal – Hull – Hunmanby – Ilkley – Ingleton – Kilburn – Kiplingcotes – Kirkdale – Malham – Markenfield Hall – Market Weighton – Marston Moor – Masham – Mastiles Lane – Middlesbrough – Middleton – Millington – Morley – Norber – North Cave – Nun Monkton – Ouse Gill Beck – Pocklington Canal – Pontefract – Ripon – Rudland Rigg – Rudston – Rufforth – Scarborough – Semerwater – Sheffield – Solar System 1, 2 – Swanland – Skipsea – Tan Hill Inn – Thirsk – Thornborough – Thorne – Wakefield – Wentworth Woodhouse – Wharram Percy – Whitby – Whitton Island – York

Tile Maps Trail

York to Middlesbrough via bike, train – and nine* historic railway maps

In the early 1900s, North Eastern Railway installed 25 elegant tile maps of their network in stations across Yorkshire and north-east England. Nine survive in their original locations, York’s being a notable example.

The networks proudly displayed on the maps were devastated by 1960s cuts, but the ceramic cartography remains as a testament to both the confidence of pre-WW I Britain, and the post-Beeching railway landscape.

In April 2023, I visited all Yorkshire’s nine maps on public view in stations: six originals and three replicas. I travelled by train (along the lines that survived) and bike (along the courses of those that didn’t).

Day 1: York, Beverley, Bridlington, Hunmanby
Day 2: Scarborough, Whitby, Pickering
Day 3: Whitby, Saltburn, Middlesbrough

*In 2024, these were joined by three new replicas: in Driffield, Cottingham and Filey stations.

Tile Maps 4: Driffield

The theme tune for the ride is my guitar arrangement of Flanders and Swann’s ‘Slow Train’. Hear it

My article about the ride appeared in the Sep 2023 edition of Yorkshire Living. You can subscribe to see the magazine free online.

Two-Quid Trundles

Bargain bus trips with a folding bike to 15 destinations under the £2 Flat Fare Scheme of 2023–24

Castle Howard: Bridleway Revisited
Goathland: Time travel pub
Goodmanham: Fired up
Helmsley: Star line-ups
Hull Cycle Museum: When bikes rained
Kirkdale: Secret micro-Minster
Markenfield Hall: Home sweet 14c-home
Market Weighton: Col du Tour de Bretagne
Masham: Genuine fake Druid’s Temple
Middleton: World’s oldest railway
Oulston: May the Foss be with you
Ripon: Up secret valley, down rabbit hole
Thornborough: Henge fund
Wharfedale: Timewarps with JBP
Whitby: Gothic Horror Hill

Yorkshire A to Z, and B to B

Two End-to-Ends of Yorkshire in May–June 2021.

The A to Z went north up the west side of the county, from the first place alphabetically (Abbeydale in Sheffield, down on the southern border) to the last (Zebra Hill near Richmond, up by the northern border). This was a leisurely four-day ride of about 150 miles through magnificent Pennines and Dales scenery, on my tourer.

The B to B went north up the east side, linking two famous bridges: the Humber, down by Hull, and the Transporter, up in Middlesbrough. This was an equally leisurely two-day ride of 90 miles through equally magnificent Wolds and Moors scenery, on my offroad tourer.

River Rides

Yorkshire’s eight main rivers ridden from source to mouth in 2018–2020. The Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe, Aire, Calder, Don and Derwent all flow ultimately into, or become, the Ouse not far from York. Their dales and valleys cover the county.

The rides were 50–130 miles of 2–3 days, on a variety of bikes: folder, trekker, tourer…

Compass Rides

In 2017 I enjoyed eight rides that each followed a compass direction directly from my home in York – in the centre of the county – to the cyclable extremity of the historic border.

The rides were 60–100 miles of 1–3 days, on either trekker or tourer…

Top Ten Quirky Yorkshire Phone Boxes

White, green and rainbow coloured booths; libraries; museums; historical rarities; even a bike repair station… Yorkshire has some remarkable phone boxes for cyclists

York Route Guides

Leisure rides round York, with maps, photos and info.

Dick Turpin Trail In search of Swift Nick
York Monopoly Ride the board game’s squares
Inexplicable York The city’s most bizarre sights
York Bridges All nine in one lovely ride
York Lakes and Ponds Hidden gems great for picnics
York Orbital The city’s bike-path ‘inner ring road’