Histon to Whitby Tour Ride Report, July 2021 - HIBC

Report by Dan Mace

Day 1 – Histon to Grantham

Six HIBC cyclists set off from the pump in Histon on 23 July 2021, destination Whitby in North Yorkshire.  Setting off up the busway and through St Ives and Hemingford, it felt like a Sunday club ride.  Familiar roads and paths soon gave way to new roads and villages.  We rode across the Rutland Water dam, after chatting to some of the Rutland Cycles staff in their ‘home’ environment, and headed up to Belvoir Castle making the café with 10 minutes to spare.  From there we finished the day along the Grantham canal, ducking under the bridges and finding our first Premier Inn a few hundred metres from the tow path.

Day 2 – Grantham to Hull

Lincoln Cathedral sits on a hill and has three high towers.  It is very distinctive, and we spotted it 9 miles off.  The problem was that the wind was dead against us and so, although the ride was flat, they were a hard 9 miles.  And to get to the cathedral we climbed our first proper hill.  Refuelled in Lincoln we went through the Lincolnshire Wolds on quiet roads and down to the Humber Bridge.  It’s the world’s longest bridge that cyclists can cross — 2.2.km.  An impressive end to the day.

Day 3 – Hull to Kirkbymoorside

After a quick visit to Halfords in Hull to lubricate Dom’s freehub, we headed into Beverley and from there into the Yorkshire Wolds.  Another fine ride with a long steady ascent to a lunch stop at a bikers’ (motorized) café in Fridaythorpe.  After lunch came shorter, sharper climbs (we’d entered North Yorkshire), a fine ascent of a dry valley reminiscent of the Derbyshire Dales, and then a fast descent into Malton before we crossed 25km of flat land to Kirkbymoorside.  Just a pity the wind was still against us.  That’s the downside of not riding a round trip.

Day 4 – Kirkbymoorside to Whitby – on-road and off-road options

Into the hills proper as we crossed the North York Moors.  The ascent from Kirkbymoorside was great — not too steep followed by a high moorland road with wide views.  Craig’s on-road route took in several 33% descents followed by 25% ascents.  I lost count of how many we did.  We regrouped with Chris (who’d taken the off-road route through Dalby Forest) at Robin Hood’s Bay before a final ride along the gravel railway track into Whitby.  We finished in style, on the beach and into the sea — minus bikes.

Tour vital statistics:

• Distance: 443km in 4 days (138, 132, 113, 61km)
• Total ascent: 4189m
• Steepest hill: The aptly named Lousy Hill in the North York Moors. Only need to ride this twice to be the Strava Local Hero
• Best cake: Sconejack in Beverley.  50/50 mix of scone and flapjack.
• Mechanicals: 3 — 1 puncture, 1 Mavic freehub death squeal, 1 broken spoke
• Fastest km: 65s (55km/h) descent into Malton
• Longest bridge: Humber
• Raindrops: 0
• Sunshine: Lots
• Wind: NNE 0-20km/h — could have planned this better
• Cafés: 9 (King’s Cliffe Bakery, Wymondham Mill, Belvoir Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, Great Limber Village Shop, Beverley Deli, Fridaythorpe bikers’ cafe, Robinhood’s Bay fish ‘n’ chip café, Mister Chips by the Beach at Whitby)
• Sea swims: 1