At last, I got to The Point. Which is where my odyssey down the Yorkshire coast finished today, at the end of Spurn Head: the four-mile-long sandy spit, at times no wider than a tennis court, which wanders recklessly out into the North Sea from the bottom right-hand corner of East Yorkshire. See map of route...
The crumbling coast between Bridlington and Kilnsea is the fastest-disappearing in Europe. Riding it is a sobering experience. Roads and lanes end abruptly on a literal cliff-edge, blocked off by concrete slabs that get moved regularly, wearily, back with every new collapse. Caravan pitches, farmland and houses tumble into the sea after every storm. It’s...
As I cycle my own Yorkshire coast ride, I’m seeing plenty of publicity – in the form of posters and banners – for Route YC. It’s a set of road trips, no doubt inspired by the success of Scotland’s NC500, for cyclists and drivers to explore the Yorkshire coast. And, as it happened, in the...
Yorkshire thinks it has the biggest and best of everything, and that includes its stretch of coast. So this week I’m cycling the 120-ish miles where North and East Ridings meet the North Sea, from Redcar down to Spurn Head as close to the coast as I can, via rugged cliffs, fishing villages and seaside...
These are exciting times for Tile Map fans. The ceramic wall charts show the North East’s rail network circa 1910. Up to 2024, nine railway stations in Yorkshire had one on display, some original, some replicas (such as Hunmanby’s, installed in 2021). I cycled them all in 2023. Nine… until now. Because today Driffield unveiled...
Earlier this year I cycled between Britain’s biggest and smallest churches, Liverpool Cathedral and St Trillo’s, Colwyn Bay. (You can probably guess which is which.) So on this sunny day I couldn’t resist doing the Yorkshire equivalent, riding from its largest – York Minster – to the smallest, forty-odd miles to the east: the tiny...
York is not short of images. The Minster, the City Walls, the Shambles, the pubs, the TikTok tourists queueing three hours to buy a ghost-shaped pepperpot. But there are many lesser-celebrated, quirky things to marvel at. I list them on my Bizarre Sights Guide to York on this website. My favourite of the lot is...
Never say Nevers. I’d originally planned to ride all the way to Nevers, sixty-ish k further up the Loire, so had accomm and my transport back home booked there. But with another terrible weather forecast, and the prospect of riding all day into a sleety headwind with no great scenic reward, I decided that a...
Autumn turned up while I was asleep. This morning was misty and cold, and I had to warm my hands around my breakfast tea mug before they worked well enough to take down the tent. There’s an end-of-season feel: several campsites along the way shut early for the year because of rainy weather and dwindling...
Orléans looked splendid in this morning’s sunshine. The city’s most famous son is a daughter: Joan of Arc, defender of the French Nation, who played a big role in the Siege of Orléans in the 1400s. She is commemorated in many ways, such as a cannabis shop called the Marie Jeanne d’Arc CBD. I think...
This is the website of cycling writer Rob Ainsley. Read about End-to-End touring (and other rides) in York, Yorkshire, Britain, and round the world. Enjoy lively travel writing, lots of photos and plenty of humour. (And no ads!) ♬ Hear my music for classical guitar inspired by bike rides
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Rides right across Britain, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, N Ireland, Isle of Man, Faroes, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Taiwan…
Britain side to side: C2C, Way of the Roses, Hadrian’s Wall, W2W, Trans Pennine Trail, Reivers… Plus rhyming rides: Barmouth to Yarmouth, Poole to Goole, Barrow to Jarrow, Mull to Hull…
Exploring Britain’s greatest county end to end, top to bottom, and side to side: from grand rivers, moors and dales to quirky curiosities in villages and towns, plus York route guides…
Route research all round Britain, plus the King Alfred way; Spain’s Camino de Santiago; South America; every place called Bath in the world; riding the Monopoly board; Quirky London, and more…
Some of my published pieces (books, columns, talks, podcasts, fun stuff mostly about everyday cycling and cycle-touring) and recent works for classical guitar…