1/2 day ride to Sandsend - John Coe - 1/5/21
Another good turn out for the half day ride to Sandsend via Sutton Bank visitor Centre.
It's not often that we are graced with the presence of a TV celebrity, but this Saturday we were, not only did we have John Cowles , Look North viewing figures apparently went through the roof after his appearance, not once, but twice :-)
Also we had Tim sporting the latest in hair fashion, the Tony Blair Mullet.
The balance of the group being made up of Chris kindly doing sweeper duties at the rear, Nando, on his immaculate machine, and only if he had listened at the pre-ride brief,..... the chance encounter with "mud" was a possibility :-)
Rounding off the group was Mark and yours truly.
The forecast wasn't the best and it certainly enter into the chilly / drizzling side as we got closer to Sandsend, so, bang went my planning, to go to the coast and avoid the damp stuff.
We departed the Sainsbury's car park at Monks Cross, and used that well worn route of mine as far as Shipton by Beningbrough, then toward Linton on Ouse, Alne, Easingwold, and from there onward to Husthwaite, Coxwold, past Byland Abbey, Oldstead and that lovely climb up to the gliding club, and eventually to the Visitor Centre for that refreshing T&P.
A reasonable first leg and pretty straight forward, so much so, it wasn't very often that the junctions needed to be marked, and traffic wise relatively quiet for a Saturday.
Suitably refreshed and relieved we headed back onto the A170, and our final destination.
I do like this route to the coast as it does involve a certain mix of roads, though Nando was certain that all the roads used had been B's or lesser, so thank the Lord we did a few A's, though to be fair it didn't involve any fjording or I may well have had a wee bit of ear bashing.
Anyway, ..... passed that well known abbey, Rievaulx, ..... and onto B1257, to Chop Gate,.... again very quiet heading in that direction, so, good progress could be made, Mark did bailout along the way, due to other commitments.
Then heading in a more coastal direction we boxed off Ingleby Greenhow, Battersby, Kildale, Danby, Lealholm and it did get a tad wet / cold, which was a pity.
Sandsend, was absolutely fine and not overly busy, plenty of socially distanced benches available for that well deserved packed lunch, the tide however was out, so no chance to dip those pinkies in the sea.
I thank all those who signed up for this half day, and though it may have been a well worn routing, I hope you enjoyed the adventure.
With the numbers reduced, Chris was good enough to lead myself and Tim to Fimber, and by jingo, was I for one ready for that Tea and stickie bun by the time we arrived.
All in all, a very pleasant half day and return trip home, and a perfect one to scrub those new tyres in :-)
Cheers
John
It's not often that we are graced with the presence of a TV celebrity, but this Saturday we were, not only did we have John Cowles , Look North viewing figures apparently went through the roof after his appearance, not once, but twice :-)
Also we had Tim sporting the latest in hair fashion, the Tony Blair Mullet.
The balance of the group being made up of Chris kindly doing sweeper duties at the rear, Nando, on his immaculate machine, and only if he had listened at the pre-ride brief,..... the chance encounter with "mud" was a possibility :-)
Rounding off the group was Mark and yours truly.
The forecast wasn't the best and it certainly enter into the chilly / drizzling side as we got closer to Sandsend, so, bang went my planning, to go to the coast and avoid the damp stuff.
We departed the Sainsbury's car park at Monks Cross, and used that well worn route of mine as far as Shipton by Beningbrough, then toward Linton on Ouse, Alne, Easingwold, and from there onward to Husthwaite, Coxwold, past Byland Abbey, Oldstead and that lovely climb up to the gliding club, and eventually to the Visitor Centre for that refreshing T&P.
A reasonable first leg and pretty straight forward, so much so, it wasn't very often that the junctions needed to be marked, and traffic wise relatively quiet for a Saturday.
Suitably refreshed and relieved we headed back onto the A170, and our final destination.
I do like this route to the coast as it does involve a certain mix of roads, though Nando was certain that all the roads used had been B's or lesser, so thank the Lord we did a few A's, though to be fair it didn't involve any fjording or I may well have had a wee bit of ear bashing.
Anyway, ..... passed that well known abbey, Rievaulx, ..... and onto B1257, to Chop Gate,.... again very quiet heading in that direction, so, good progress could be made, Mark did bailout along the way, due to other commitments.
Then heading in a more coastal direction we boxed off Ingleby Greenhow, Battersby, Kildale, Danby, Lealholm and it did get a tad wet / cold, which was a pity.
Sandsend, was absolutely fine and not overly busy, plenty of socially distanced benches available for that well deserved packed lunch, the tide however was out, so no chance to dip those pinkies in the sea.
I thank all those who signed up for this half day, and though it may have been a well worn routing, I hope you enjoyed the adventure.
With the numbers reduced, Chris was good enough to lead myself and Tim to Fimber, and by jingo, was I for one ready for that Tea and stickie bun by the time we arrived.
All in all, a very pleasant half day and return trip home, and a perfect one to scrub those new tyres in :-)
Cheers
John
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