The fifth of my Yorkshire Compass Rides was a two-day trip up to the northeastern extreme at Robin Hood’s Bay. Day 1 was a hot, cloudless summer day, and involved a nettle making a phone call, an anti-fracking camp, and the best coffee shop in Yorkshire. I’m doing this trip on my hardtail mountain bike,…
Author: Rob Ainsley
SW 2: Grange Moor to Saddleworth
Day 2 of the fourth of my Yorkshire Compass Rides was a morning of misty hills, the setting of a comedy that wouldn’t die, the magnificently bleak Saddleworth Moor, some awesome reservoir views, and a border that wouldn’t die either. From Grange Moor I headed on back lanes (pic) past the village of Lepton. This…
SW 1: York to Grange Moor
The fourth of my Yorkshire Compass Rides was a two-day trip out to the southwestern extreme in what is now Oldham. Day 1 involved Yorkshire’s old brewing capital, the site of England’s bloodiest battle, the tallest freestanding structure in the UK, and a psycho cat. I headed out south on a sunny afternoon on the…
Calderdale 2: Singing Ringing Tree
More fab cycle-route research round Calderdale. The Singing Ringing Tree is a moortop artwork outside Burnley. Its pipes turn the wind into a low moaning sound, much like me after the long climb up from the town.
Hebden Bridge: Hip operations
Hippy life in Yorkshire? I can promise you, having grown up through them, that the Swinging Sixties barely even wobbled in Hull, never mind swung. All that love, peace and alternative living may have gone on in the decadent south but it never made it north of Sheffield. So it’s a pleasant surprise to come…
Calderdale 1: Four seasons in a day
I’m with Tim researching bike routes round Todmorden and Calderdale, and we had a fabulous day today cycling the moors around Hebden Bridge. We had four seasons in one day: winter, spring, wintry spring, and midwinter. Rochdale Canal has fabulous scenery, and you’ll keep stopping to admire the views and take pictures. And search for…
E: York to Bridlington
The third of my Yorkshire Compass Rides was a wind-assisted glide through the Wolds to seaside Bridlington, and the eastern promontory of Flamborough Head. It included the area’s most scenic downhill, a Roman Road, a lighthouse-rich chalkberg, and a land train. There’s always something nice about returning home. Less so this morning, though, as I…
S: York to Harthill
The second of my Yorkshire Compass Rides took me south to the county’s most obscure extremity, and was a day of planets, power stations, pints, and a place called Wales. I rode south alongside a mirror-flat Ouse out of York and down the planets trail, a fantastic scale model of the solar system where the…
N: York to Redcar
The first of my Yorkshire Compass Rides was a glorious day offering some characteristic Yorkshire views – stately homes; the North York Moors; beaches with hardy bathers; closed factories; and penguins. I headed north out of York through the misty Howardian Hills (pic). They take their name from the Howard family, who still own much…
London: Emirates Air Line cable car
Researching a few London routes, and taking our bikes on the Emirates cable car over the Thames. Because we can. And because it makes sure we get the entire car to ourselves.