On Sunday Newtoncap and I got the train to York and then rode straight back. We had a quick glance at the Minster but that was about it.
With some rides it's hard to get to the end. With this one it was hard to get to the start. To start with we had trouble getting our bikes on the train due to a very wide family with about a million carrier bags who were sitting in the bike storage facility. We managed to move them on but not very far.
Then when we got to York we had to negotiate about 5 lots of stairs and a massive roadside jumble of tourists, taxis and buses before we could even get the wheels onto the road.
We headed out of York as fast as possible, up Haxby Road (very nice underpass under the ring road) as far as Wiggington where we stopped to take some pictures at Wiggington Village Hall. Then up the B1363 to Sutton, where we followed minor roads through Huby to Crayke (sat on a bench and had some sugary snacks while sad people in cars drove past envying us) and then on via Oulston to Coxwold. Lovely roads, friendly tailwind, excellent views.
Stopped at Kilburn to use the immaculate toilets then followed Route 65 to Northallerton. Sat on the grass near Kirkby Knowle for some chocolate and then had a massive bucket of coffee at Costa in Northallerton.
Got home just before 5 pm and in under 5 hours ride time which were my two unofficial targets for the day (we got off the train in York at 11.10 am but it took us about 20 minutes to get out of the station).
It was great to discover some new roads and to see route 65 in reverse (I've only done it north to south before) I would definitely recommend this route from York to Teesside (about 56 miles in total) Lovely sunny weather all day and Newt was very good company throughout. She not only listened with apparent interest to my endless cycling related anecdotes but also had plenty of her own (although I had far many more 'getting my bike onto the train' stories than she did).
A really good day out, even if it did seem mad at the outset to travel somewhere, just to leave as soon as we arrived. But riding the bike was the thing! This was not a sightseeing trip!
