Advice Sought. Edin, Longtown, Nr Darlo, York, Leeds, Hull, Newark & Notts

[Dave_C]

Hi,

Planning a DIY 600 for Saturday, what is the A67 from Bernard Castle to Darlington like please?

Speedway or nice backroad alternative to A66. I don't plan on riding along the A66!

EDIT:

Also the A19 from Tollerton to York, OK, or avoid?

Also, is my route to the Humber Bridge ok? I'm not sure which side to ride. The Forth Bridge closes each side every few years, currently open on the east side.

Cheers, Dave C

[Chris S]

We drove along there yesterday at about 4:30 pm, and we both agreed it would be fine for cycling on, though it was busier towards the Darlo end.

It's wide, with good sightlines, and after the initial climb out of Barnard Castle, is reasonably flat.

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[Feanor]

Dave,
Have a look at our 2014 Arrow route, it goes between Barnard Castle and Darlo by a slightly different route:

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/12660760

This route seemed to work OK for us.

[Karla]

I've ridden between Barny and Darlo plenty of times on the A67, it's fine.  It isn't a mountain track, but then neither is it the M25.  I suspect the OP is right and the A66 takes most of the load.

[Deano]

We drove along there yesterday at about 4:30 pm, and we both agreed it would be fine for cycling on, though it was busier towards the Darlo end.

It's wide, with good sightlines, and after the initial climb out of Barnard Castle, is reasonably flat.

Ahahahaha. Grant Bank is a 10%-er.

The A67's alright - chewy surface, bit busy, but alright. I'd always go via Whorlton - it's a couple of miles longer, but infinitely more pleasant.

[IJL]

I have ridden on that stretch of the A67 and its fine, however there are much nicer roads, Staindrop, Ingleton, Darlington on the B6279 is a much nicer ride but a bit further. 

[yorkie]

EDIT:

Also the A19 from Tollerton to York, OK, or avoid?

Cheers, Dave C

I personally would avoid the A19 from Tollerton to York and instead use the back road to the west of the East Coast Main Line as far as Shipton by Beningbrough, then probably the back road via Overton and the SusTrans route down the river to York.

This section of the A19 is a fairly narrow and very heavily used single carriageway road with heavy HGV traffic heading from Teesside and the North East to Hull.

Any more questions, feel free to ask!

[Dave_C]

Thanks for the replies folks.

Without giving away my home address, I'm riding over the Forth Road Bridge, through Edinburgh over the Granits to Innerleithen. Continuing down via Eskdalemuir, Longtown, Brampton, Alston, Bernard Castle, Skirting Darlo, Northallerton, North Cliffe, York, Cawood and to my folks on the East of Leeds. Mostly back roads but straight lines so I'm not meandering. Its a DIY 400. Setting off at a sensible time Saturday morning to arrive sensible time Sunday morning.

Though the weather is looking ok for the weekend, I am tempted to have a kip at my folks and leave on the bike again for Nottingham via the Humber Bridge to extend to a 600.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Cawood bridge will be closed at some point this summer

[Dave_C]

Cawood bridge will be closed at some point this summer

Thanks Mr Charly, Hopefully its open Saturday night/ Sunday morning. If not I'll nip down to Selby.

[madcow]

Thanks for the replies folks.

Without giving away my home address, I'm riding over the Forth Road Bridge, through Edinburgh over the Granits to Innerleithen. Continuing down via Eskdalemuir, Longtown, Brampton, Alston, Bernard Castle, Skirting Darlo, Northallerton, North Cliffe, York, Cawood and to my folks on the East of Leeds. Mostly back roads but straight lines so I'm not meandering. Its a DIY 400. Setting off at a sensible time Saturday morning to arrive sensible time Sunday morning.

Though the weather is looking ok for the weekend, I am tempted to have a kip at my folks and leave on the bike again for Nottingham via the Humber Bridge to extend to a 600.

]

I am assuming that you mean Topcliffe not North Cliffe , which is on the way to the Humber Bridge.

[yorkie]

According to http://www.cawoodparishcouncil.co.uk/bridge.shtml the Cawood bridge closure will be from 25th July to 1st September 2017.

[Dave_C]

I am assuming that you mean Topcliffe not North Cliffe , which is on the way to the Humber Bridge.

Correct,  thanks, I knew where I was going even if others didn't!! But I will be visiting North and South Cliffe the same day on my way to the Humber Bridge. 

If the weather is kind enough I may extend (before hand) and continue to Hull, over the Humber Bridge, then down Ermine St and Middle St to Newark and then along the river Trent to Nottingham.

[CrinklyLion]

I personally would avoid the A19 from Tollerton to York and instead use the back road to the west of the East Coast Main Line as far as Shipton by Beningbrough, then probably the back road via Overton and the SusTrans route down the river to York.

I'd agree with the back roads to Overton, which are lovely, but personally I go for the A19 from just outside the ring road - I generally avoid the Sustrans route by the river (which I tend to find very irritating) unless I'm cycling with children under about 10....

[Pingu]

Barnard Castle welcomes crap driving 

[Karla]

For getting into York I agree with Crinkles: stick to the west of the A19 until either Shipton or Skelton, depending on how much you like traffic and how hurried you are.  Like this.  For reference, I have a parent in a home in Shipton so cycle up and down that stretch of the A19 all the time.  I'm not dead yet so it can't be that dangerous, but it isn't exactly the most inspiring stretch of road in the world.

[Dave_C]

Hi Folks,

Many thanks for all the replies. I had thought of doing a DIY by GPS mandatory route, but by putting in the convoluted places along the route I can get it over the min distance required, 601km. The Google maps route is pretty much where I plan to ride, so if I do off course I'll only be penalised in distance My actual route is over by ~13km but I've tweaked it for quiet routes avoiding main shopping streets and visiting so may Coops I should name this 'Tour de Coop'.

Here is my forecast route, feel free to give me any suggestions, but I'm pretty much happy with this, and I've ironed out all the niggles where RideWithGPS tries to take you up cul-de-sacs where you don't quite get the road you intend, and those annoying parallel routes along paths where the main road runs straight and true etc....

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20029952

Innerleithen   72km
Crosslee (Ettrick Water)   96km
Eskdalemuir   121km
Longtown   163km
Brampton   180km
Alston   211km
Middleton in Teesdale   246km
Bernard Castle   262km
Croft on Tees   294km
Northallerton Tesco   315km
York Tesco   373km
Garforth   409km
Howden Coop   457km
Brewers Fare   490km
Brigg Tesco   513km
Kirton in Lindsay   526km
Saxilby Coop   557km
Collingham Coop   575km
Newark   585km
Manor Tea Shop   595km
Digby Ave   613km

[Karla]

The bits around York:

Suggestions:

1) Coming into York, don't use the cyclepath by the river, stick to the A19.
2) Don't turn right at Cawood, go straight on down the B1222 to Sherburn, then straight on if you're happy rejoining your route at Ledsham or else bear right if you really want to go to Garforth.
3) Go via the Tesco Extra on the outskirts of York if you want, but I'd personally turn left off the A1036 soon after you join it, at Scarcroft or Knavesmire road, and ride out of town to Bishopthorpe on Bishopthorpe Rd.

[Dave_C]

The bits around York: Suggestions:

1) Coming into York, don't use the cyclepath by the river, stick to the A19.

Good spot, its frustrating when RWGPS does that.

2) Don't turn right at Cawood, go straight on down the B1222 to Sherburn, then straight on if you're happy rejoining your route at Ledsham or else bear right if you really want to go to Garforth.

I'll be there around midnight, so may take you up on that.

3) Go via the Tesco Extra on the outskirts of York if you want, but I'd personally turn left off the A1036 soon after you join it, at Scarcroft or Knavesmire road, and ride out of town to Bishopthorpe on Bishopthorpe Rd.

I'm giving myself a last opportunity to get some grub before I get to my folks house.

Many thanks!

[Karla]

Around midnight I'd want to keep to the road and avoid the railway path.  YMMV but you'll pass two Sainsburys Local stores (Blossom Street and Bishopthorpe Road) that are both open until midnight if you take the road route.  Have a good ride.

[Pingu]

Good spot, its frustrating when RWGPS does that.

Set 'Optimize for' to DRIVING when editing a route.

[Deano]

over the Granits to Innerleithen.

Why is that called the Granites?

[Exit Stage Left]

There's a road leading to a derelict quarry near the top of the main climb. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.7792026,-3.0376925,3a,75y,243.26h,86.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKVqGMU-NtENu7MeNAHEPgg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en


My money is on that being a source of granolithic chippings for road surfacing, there may have been a sign at that point to the quarry.

[Cyclops]

There's a road leading to a derelict quarry near the top of the main climb. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.7792026,-3.0376925,3a,75y,243.26h,86.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKVqGMU-NtENu7MeNAHEPgg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en


My money is on that being a source of granolithic chippings for road surfacing, there may have been a sign at that point to the quarry.

It was the only granite quarry in this part of Scotland. One other theory is it referring to the Broadlaw Granite. The story of the Piper's Grave (the next pass before Innerleithen) is far more interesting although there's some debate that he might have been going from Peebles to Lauder which would have been a damn silly route to take in this case.

[Pichy]

There's a road leading to a derelict quarry near the top of the main climb. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.7792026,-3.0376925,3a,75y,243.26h,86.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKVqGMU-NtENu7MeNAHEPgg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en


My money is on that being a source of granolithic chippings for road surfacing, there may have been a sign at that point to the quarry.

It was the only granite quarry in this part of Scotland. One other theory is it referring to the Broadlaw Granite. The story of the Piper's Grave (the next pass before Innerleithen) is far more interesting although there's some debate that he might have been going from Peebles to Lauder which would have been a damn silly route to take in this case.

He was pished though, wasn't he?