Author: Rob Ainsley

Day 3 of the River Derwent ride featured a lot of flooding, and… well, that was it, really. Flooding. But also a fascinating end, with an unexpected tour of a tidal barrage opposite a mighty power station. Now having switched to my touring bike, anticipating a day of tarmac on-road cycling, I resumed. The first…

Day 2 of the River Derwent ride featured the world’s biggest Yorkshire Pudding recipe, kamikaze hedgehogs, a fine old ruined abbey, and a satnav-cockup legend. Malton doesn’t make much of its position on the Derwent: no riverside cafes, promenades or costanera tapas bars. It’s equally uninterested in encouraging cyclists, to judge by the total absence…

River Derwent Source   Lilla Rig, North York Moors Mouth   River Ouse, Barmby Length   72 miles Towns   Malton, Stamford Bridge The fifth of my Rivers Rides was a varied three-day, 120-mile trip from remote moortop to muddy estuary along the River Derwent. Day 1 featured full-size plastic cows, a Dark Ages assassination, Cold War espionage, white…

Day 2 of the River Aire ride featured a river under a railway station, a tale of three power plants, more reminders of the county’s cycling pre-eminence – and a lot of mud, both under my wheels and at the mouth of the river. I was out bright and early along the canal, heading to…

River Aire Source   Tarn Foot, Malham Mouth   River Ouse, Airmyn Length   92 miles Towns   Skipton, Keighley, Shipley, Leeds, Castleford, Knottingley The fourth of my Rivers Rides was a splendid two-day, 100-mile trip from Yorkshire’s one-lake Lake District to its three-power-station powerhouse along the River Aire. Day 1 featured England’s highest lake, a disappearing river, stunning…