Our favourite coffee and cake stop in Hull Trinity Market.

Scarborough to Whitby

A picturesque, and a times treacherous, 35 km ride through the Yorkshire Moors.

The North York Moors is

• a special place
• one of Britain’s extraordinary places
• an upland area in North Yorkshire

The Cinder Track follows the former railway from Scarborough to Whitby. In parts it is in a terrible condition, so much so that it is nothing more than a mud bog, There are plans to improve the track and spend some money that it desperately needs. Surprisingly, there are local objections to widening the track.

In its current conditions you need to double the time you expect to complete the track in. I do not have any photos of the worst paths. We were just trying to stay on our bikes.

I would highly recommend eating at a pub along the way. Whitby is a tourist town and if the weather is fine will be over-crowded.

The views, however, make this ride a must do.

Resources

• More details about our ride are available from Strava
• We used the GPX file from GPS Cycle and Walking Routes.
• More information about the Cinder Track from Scarborough Council

Hull to Hornsea

On the second day we followed a disused railway from Hull to Hornsea.

Hornsea is:

• a small seaside resort
• known for its blue flag beach
• well known for its pottery
• an acquired taste
• an up and coming town.

There was no major towns along the way on this path, only minor villages. We tried to to stop of for coffee and cake, but it’s only open seasonally.

The ride was only 27km. As usually the urban path in Hull needs a bit of repair, but as we got out onto unsealed path it became better. The Hornsea rail trail is part of the trans-Pennine trail and represents the eastern end.

In summary, quite a beautiful and relatively relaxing ride.

We caught up with the relatives for lunch in Hornsea. Then folder our bikes back up to take the bus back back to Hull.

Resources

• You can get some more details about our ride from Strava.
• We download the GPX from GPS Cycling and Walking Routes.
• Tourist information about the trail.

Hull to Driffield

Kingston-upon-Hull is the central location selected for the Slow Tour of Yorkshire. According to Google Hull is

• a port city in East Yorkshire
• the perfect place to bring up a family
• one letter away from Hell
• officially one of the world’s most congested cities
• setting the benchmark for its young entrepreneurs
• becoming a greener city
• a UK city of culture

The first day of the slow tour of Yorkshire saw us complete a lazy 61 kms to Driffield via Beverley. This route followed off-road paths through most of urban Hull and then followed very quite country lanes.

We had great weather and accomplished some quite good speeds given the tailwinds we benefited from.

To Beverly

A few minutes out of the old-town of Hull we were pleasantly surprised to find off-road paths. This tools us through must of the busy parts of Hull. Not a bad thing given we set-off during peak hour.

The suddenly we’re in cabbage territory.

We’re did that substation come from?

Then out of nowhere Beverly Minster appears.

Obligatory morning tea at a tea house was required as reward for the first half of the ride.

To Driffield

Thus far, based on the photographs it’d be reasonable to expect that we had fine weather all day. Well not quite. Just outside of Beverley it started to rain.

But fear not the rain did not last for long.

After the rain and considerable time of a slight incline, the rain disappeared and there was a glorious decline and tail winds. That perfect combination that cyclists dream about.

We had lunch at Hutton Cranswick which fortunately timed itself with another downpour. We thought we had dodged a bullet only to find Helen’s bike had pulled off a flat tyre. YEAH!

Backroads to Driffield and a major flour milling operation. We made it to our Northern train back to Hull.

Resources

• We found this ride in the Pocket Guide – Discover Cycling in Yorkshire.
• The GPX route for bicycle computer can be found from GPS Walking and Cycling Routes

Helen has already posted on this one. But given its a rainy day in Hull. I thought I would add some of my own photos and comments.

The ride started at Ukimafunado station and we then followed a vehicle free route along the Ara-Kawa river prepared by our friend.

Cafe Via

For lunch we stopped at Cafe Via a cycling cafe. Which has great food and coffee, friendly hosts and a relaxing location. Unfortunately, we’ve heard they were flooded by the massive typhoon that just hit Japan. Our thoughts are with them and hope that they are well and that their business recovers speedily.

Ice cream

Our ride continued to a farm that makes very fine Japanese ice cream. I had the very best of Japanese flavours – Matcha and Red bean.

Kawagoe

Kawagoe is a popular edo-period town near Tokyo. It takes ordinary people 30 minutes or so to get there. We took a little longer by bike. This was our first visit. We enjoyed the little time we could spend here this visit. I am sure that we will be back – on our Bromptons on way or another.

Thank you too our friends in Japan.

Today is wet. A no ride day. We’ve decided to venture to new places beyond the city centre. This time we’re lunching on Newland Avenue.

It is close to Hull University. The street is filled with cafes and shops that attracts University types. Today, I am eating VEGAN cauliflower and chickpea curry @ the Barista Cafe. This is being washed down by some fine Belgian Beer.

Helen is enjoying a piccolo latte and peas and cheese. I can tell you they taste good too. This one comes from the “all day” breakfast menu. Almost feels like home.

We were motivated to come to Newland Avenue by the search for a good bakery. We found one! Maybe some pictures in our next post?

Yep, can barely make decisions as my body tells me it is 3am in the morning but my eyes tell me it is 6pm in evening.