# Way of the Roses; just done it!



## Brandane (7 May 2011)

Just home after an amazing 3 days doing the WOTR from east to west. Bike used was a Specialized Tricross kitted out with a small handlebar bag from Decathlon, and a Carradice camper saddlebag. I was travelling as light as possible as I had decided on using Bed and Breakfasts due to my liking for a comfortable bed and a decent breakfast!

Tuesday May 3rd was spent mostly getting from Ayrshire to Bridlington by train. From Largs to Glasgow, then Glasgow to Doncaster (ironically passing through York; the following days destination), and then another train from Doncaster to Bridlington. On arrival the sun was shining so I decided to head down to the starting point and get a couple of photos by the sign. I then headed off to my BnB which was quite near the town centre.







A decent nights sleep and an "ok" breakfast saw me on the road before 10am, heading for my next nights stay in York, a distance of about 60 miles according to the official WOTR map. A fairly easy day, mostly flat and with a favourable breeze blowing. Lunch was had at The Wolds Inn, a nice pub at the top of the days only gradual climb. The sun was still shining so I sat outside the pub and chatted to a couple of hikers.



A group of roadies came past going like a train, considering they had just reached the top of a fairly long hill! Arrived in York about 3pm, so went for a bit of touristy sight seeing before heading off to the BnB.





Thursday I knew was not going to be as easy as Wednesday! Looking at the map, there were a few climbs in store. To start with it was much like yesterday, nice and flat country lanes. Found a superb tea shop/bakers in Boroughbridge (Gilchrists) which sold amazing carrot cake! Decided to buy a couple of filled rolls from them (and another piece of carrot cake) to have for lunch at some point later on. The signing throughout the route is first class, with one exception. In Ripon town centre at the market square, after you have been sent round the one way system you see 2 sustrans signs, both for the WOTR but pointing in opposite directions! Obviously one is for eastbound, the other west. But no way for strangers to tell which is which. The road sign above gives a clue. It says Pately Bridge is to the left, and as I'm heading for Pately Bridge then I must go left? Wrong choice; but you realise that within 300 yards, when you are heading back the way you just came....





After Ripon you pass through the really nice grounds of Fountains Abbey, then start climbing up to Brimham Rocks.



Following that, there is a nice downhill into Pately Bridge. I had been warned about the climb out of Pately Bridge, so I had a stop there for ice cream; bananas, and peanuts; plus a lot of water! Then it was off up the hill. It fully deserves its reputation. 3 or 4 miles of gritted teeth, sweat, and swearing followed, but eventually I made it to Bewerley moor.



As my next overnight stop was to be in Grassington, I deviated slightly from the map route and headed along the B6265 into Grassington. Part of this involved a long downhill section where my speedo was showing 50.4 mph; a personal best for me, I think. The BnB in Grassington was a nice old farm-house near the town. A short walk into town followed, and a visit to the Devonshire pub for a beer or two! Then to the Forresters Arms for another beer and a huge plate of food before heading back for a good nights sleep.

Yet another cooked breakfast before heading off on the Friday morning. I felt as if today would be easier; it has to be if you're ending up at sea level! Plus it was "only" 50 miles today, with just the one big climb out of Settle. The weather wasn't looking too good though, and the wind had changed so was now coming from the south. Not long into the day, the rain came on. Not too heavy, but enough to let you know it was raining! It stayed on for about an hour as I climbed the hill over towards Settle.



By the time I left the cake stop in Settle it had dried out, and that was the only rain I saw during the whole trip. The route to Clapham was non eventful until the turn off just after Wharfe on the map. It takes you up a steep hill on a badly surfaced bridle path, over a rough track and then down another steep path with an even worse surface, into Clapham. All this to avoid about 100 yards of the A65!




Another stop at Clapham was called for after that, and a pub lunch washed down with a pint of Yorkshires finest. Then it was off on the home stretch through Hornby and over to Lancaster.





Not before another fairly energy sapping climb; of course!




I was pleasantly surprised with the route through Lancaster; mainly a riverside paved path.



Well sign posted and a distinct lack of broken glass (as would be expected in most large towns around my home area, along with stolen sustrans signage). The path continues through Lancaster right to Morecambe, and the FINISH LINE!!!!!





Another night at a BnB, then the train home up the west coast line today. A fantastic trip altogether, and not something I would have even contemplated a year ago. So what's next? Hmmmm....................


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## vernon (7 May 2011)

Congratulations!

I might be doing the ride in June.


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## phil_hg_uk (7 May 2011)

Well done, I just ordeded the sustrans map for this the other day.

Can you post the details of the B&B's you used please.


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## Soltydog (8 May 2011)

Good write up. I'm setting off tomorrow to do it west to east, but i'm sure i'll encounter more rain than you did


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## ComedyPilot (8 May 2011)

Soltydog said:


> Good write up. I'm setting off tomorrow to do it west to east, but i'm sure i'll encounter more rain than you did



Pics and a write up will be required


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## ComedyPilot (8 May 2011)

+1 for what the others have said - nice write up.

Now the bug for touring has been caught, get abroad, get a tent and explore.


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## Fran143 (8 May 2011)

Sounds like you had a fantastic time, pics are good and the weather looks great.....lucky you!! Whats next? 

F.


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## Angelfishsolo (8 May 2011)

+1


Fran143 said:


> Sounds like you had a fantastic time, pics are good and the weather looks great.....lucky you!! Whats next?
> 
> F.


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## vernon (8 May 2011)

ComedyPilot said:


> +1 for what the others have said - nice write up.
> 
> Now the bug for touring has been caught, get abroad, get a tent and explore.



A C2C proved to the be precursor for:

LEJOG
JOGLE
Walney to Wear
Another C2C
Channel to Med
St Malo to Nantes to Beaune x 2
Yorkshire Dales Cycle Way

Over the past six or seven years. All of them were cycle camping tours.


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## Brandane (8 May 2011)

phil_hg_uk said:


> Well done, I just ordeded the sustrans map for this the other day.
> 
> Can you post the details of the B&B's you used please.



Bridlington (£35):
http://www.ivanhoeguesthouse.co.uk/

York (£42):
http://www.cliftonbr...esthouse.co.uk/

Grassington (£40):
http://www.bridge-en...co.uk/page1.asp

Morecambe (£35):
http://www.berkeleymorecambe.co.uk/

EDIT: All the above have secure places to keep your bike.


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## Telemark (8 May 2011)

Thanks for the great write-up & photos!

"Where next" ... hehe ... the bug has bitten  

T


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## Brandane (8 May 2011)

Fran143 said:


> Sounds like you had a fantastic time, pics are good and the weather looks great.....lucky you!! Whats next?
> 
> F.



A small idea at the moment; which might grow into a bigger idea once I recover from WOTR is....... Scotland from end to end . Mull of Galloway lighthouse to Dunnet Head. First of all I need to know if I can use front panniers on a bike with carbon forks, as this would be a camping trip. Will start a new thread re this. Done a wee bit of research into this and it is about 450/500 miles , maybe biting off more than I can chew but if I take my time it should be ok......


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## vernon (8 May 2011)

Brandane said:


> A small idea at the moment; which might grow into a bigger idea once I recover from WOTR is....... Scotland from end to end . Mull of Galloway lighthouse to Dunnet Head. First of all I need to know if I can use front panniers on a bike with carbon forks, as this would be a camping trip. Will start a new thread re this. Done a wee bit of research into this and it is about 450/500 miles , maybe biting off more than I can chew but if I take my time it should be ok......



I don't recall seeing any posts saying that it's possible to use front panniers on carbon forks whenever the subject's raised.

What's wrong with using panniers on your rear rack?


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## Brandane (8 May 2011)

vernon said:


> What's wrong with using panniers on your rear rack?



I do use panniers on the rear rack, but I reckon to carry a tent, sleeping bag, mattress (I have a Thermarest self inflater so it's light enough), and all the other bits 'n' pieces required for a 500 mile trip I will need front ones as well. The weight distribution factor would come into it as well. I have done a short camping trip before, using only rear panniers, and it was a bit of a nightmare not having any weight at the front!


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## lowrider73 (8 May 2011)

Just looked at your write-up and the photos, which are really good. the Way of the Roses is one ride I want to do on a double crossing, the other being the Walney to Whitby route. I will probably start at Bridlington and most likely to do the ride in August time.


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## vernon (8 May 2011)

Brandane said:


> I do use panniers on the rear rack, but I reckon to carry a tent, sleeping bag, mattress (I have a Thermarest self inflater so it's light enough), and all the other bits 'n' pieces required for a 500 mile trip I will need front ones as well. The weight distribution factor would come into it as well. I have done a short camping trip before, using only rear panniers, and it was a bit of a nightmare not having any weight at the front!



I abandoned the use of front panniers several years ago and found that I can carry everything in two rear panniers and a bar bag. The tent gets bungeed across the top of the rear panniers. 

Using only rear panniers forces you to be more disciplined about what you take with you. There used to be a lot of stuff that I'd bring back with me that never saw light of day on a two week tour.


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## Brandane (8 May 2011)

vernon said:


> I abandoned the use of front panniers several years ago and found that I can carry everything in two rear panniers and a bar bag. The tent gets bungeed across the top of the rear panniers.
> 
> Using only rear panniers forces you to be more disciplined about what you take with you. There used to be a lot of stuff that I'd bring back with me that never saw light of day on a two week tour.



That's encouraging. I don't really want to carry front panniers if possible. Might consider getting a bigger bar bag to spread the weight if I can get away with that.


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## vernon (8 May 2011)

Brandane said:


> That's encouraging. I don't really want to carry front panniers if possible. Might consider getting a bigger bar bag to spread the weight if I can get away with that.



There's a lot of folk who swear by taking four panniers citing weight distribution as justification. I fell for that line of argument until I took just two panniers on a C2C and found everything worked just as well.

Looking at your photos, you've got a decent sized saddlebag and bar bag. A couple of decent sized panniers will do the job nicely if you are disciplined with your packing list.


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## HelenD123 (8 May 2011)

Great write up. I'm hopefully doing the WOTR on the next Bank Holiday weekend.

WRT front panniers, I had four full panniers for my Canada trip and struggled to see how I could reduce the load. Then last weekend I just took two not full panniers on the rear, tent on the rack and a bar bag. I didn't feel I was missing anything.


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## phil_hg_uk (8 May 2011)

Brandane said:


> Bridlington (£35):
> http://www.ivanhoeguesthouse.co.uk/
> 
> York (£42):
> ...



Thank you for that, a great write up with very useful infomation, someone should make this a sticky so anyone dong this can find it.

I havent decided exactly how long I am going to try to do this in but lucky for me I live in harrogate so I would probably try to stay the first night at home rather than in york as you did then do the rest over 1 or 2 days depending how I feel. 

Just havent decided how I going going to get to and from the start/finish.


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## wormo (10 May 2011)

Well done on completing the route. I completed the route on Saturday. Beautiful countryside and very well signposted. Would recommend anyone to do it.

Can recommend the following accomodation

Lancaster - Premier Inn
Grassington - Black Horse Inn
York - Premier Inn
Bridlington - Marton Grange Country House

Arranged meal deals at Premier Inns - £22 (3 course evening meal/drink & all you can eat breakfast)

On way into Bridlington, there is a gypsy camp which has roaming dogs all of which went for us. Not pleasant at all. Also may be because of time of year a lot of restaurants had finished serving by 8pm.


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## Garz (11 May 2011)

Loved the write-up Brandane!

I'm looking forward to reading the next adventure!


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## davefb (11 May 2011)

hmm innnteresting... Loverly weather for it as well  . Now, just have to get permission slips from the boss


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## Soltydog (12 May 2011)

Got back home yesterday after doing it this week & would recommend it to anyone & everyone.
We left Morecambe about 1ish on Monday & headed for Stainforth. About 5 mins after setting off it started to rain & we got a little wet, but then the weather improved a little & although there were some threatening clouds the weather stayed mostly dry. There was a few gentle climbs, but nothing too bad, although it did have me wondering how I'd cope with the bigger climbs on the 2nd day. We avoided the steep, poor surface at Clapham & just stayed on the main for 1/4 mile or so with no problems. About 30 mins before arriving at Stainforth, the heavens really opened & by the time we arrived at the Craven Heifer (£30each) about 4ish we were soaked through. Luckily the open fire was roaring away & dried shoes & kit quite quickly  The CH was a great place to stop, good food & nice ale. I was particularly fond of the Nutty Black & at only 3.3% vol could consume a larger qty than I normally would on a tour  There wasn't much else to do in Stainforth, so we settled in the pub & made an evening of it.
The second day was a little kinder to us weather wise, some occasional very light rain, but that was quite welcome & kept us cool. The first big test of the day came really early on, leaving Settle, that was one hell of a climb & came a little too soon in the day after a big breakfast & everyone doing the route seemed to be walking at some point. Shortly after this climb my bike felt a little strange at the rear end & after checking I found a broken spoke which had left the rear wheel slightly out of true  After checking on the map, next bike shops en-route were Skipton (which added a 16 mile detour) or Ripon which was very near the end of the day. I opted to see if it would hold out until Ripon, but it was constantly nagging on my mind. There were quite a few testing climbs on the 2nd day & a real test of my fitness which is nowhere near where it was last year  Around lunch time we came to Stump Cross Caverns, so we called in there to the tea room, where we had the most amazing cherry & almond scones At this point most of the tough climbs were over so we were looking forward to some decents. The decent into Pateley Bridge is very 'testing' It's very steep & twisty so brakes were thoroughly tested down here & think I wimped out at 30mph & kept braking. We arrived in Ripon around 3ish, so I called Moonglu bikes to see about a replacement spoke. They said they were too busy to fix it, so I got directions to buy a spoke & fix it myself . On arrival there, they asked if we were doing the WOTR & then took pity & fixed the wheel up. Excellent service & far better job than I would have managed & much quicker too, so if you need anything around Ripon way I'd recommend the guys at Moonglu. We then made good progress onto Boroughbridge where we were booked into the Lock House (£30 each) for the night. Chris greeted us on arrival with coffee & cakes  despite calling earlier in the day to say that she may be out, but would leave the conservatory open for us. Very nice coffee & cakes they were too, a great place to stay with nice comfy rooms. Quite a nice spot to stay for a night, quite a few pubs & plenty of options for tea, we opted for the Grantham Arms just over the road & had a nice meal. Most of the pubs seemed to serve Black Sheep & Theakstons, which was nice.
After a good breakfast in the morning we set of for the final day in sunshine, only for it to rain within a few minutes, although the rain didnt last too long. The final day was pretty flat, although with all the hills in the previous days, my legs were tired & even gentle slopes were a little testing and aching on my tired legs. Once we got to Beningbrough we were on familiar ground & knew the way home, even if we did get a little lost off route in York. We made good progress through the day, before stopping for lunch at Pocklington. From Pocklington we decided to head towards home, rather than Bridlington, as we've ridden the rest of the route a few times, & though Morecambe to Mappleton had a better ring to it & was about 15 miles less 

A really good ride, a little testing, but really enjoyable, some great roads & scenery. I think we could have pushed on a little further & conquered the climb out of Settle on the first day though. There's plenty of b&bs in the many villages en-route & loads of cafe/cake stops if you wish to participate in that kind of thing 
We travelled to Morecambe by train & there were 2 of us & another couple from Leeds with bikes, but we were all fine on the train, but this may not always be the case.
Over the 3 days I did 177 miles, 9195ft of climbing in just under 15 hours riding time.
Didn't take too many snaps, but there's a few online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/50762220@N05/


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## evilclive (12 May 2011)

Brandane said:


> The route to Clapham was non eventful until the turn off just after Wharfe on the map. It takes you up a steep hill on a badly surfaced bridle path, over a rough track and then down another steep path with an even worse surface, into Clapham. All this to avoid about 100 yards of the A65!



Yeah, I would strongly recommend avoiding that track. Fine on the MTB, but on a bike set up for road touring it's tedious and in places unrideable.

It's possible to do the climb from Austwick up on tarmac - go to the Townhead road, rather than climbing up the bridleway, but it's all unnecessary.

OTOH for a more scenic ride I'd go over the Trough of Bowland rather than the Keasden road, which avoids that decision altogether :-)

(I live in Settle...)


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## shirokazan (14 May 2011)

ComedyPilot said:


> Now the bug for touring has been caught,* get abroad, get a tent* and explore.


...though not necessarily in that order.  

Besides, there's plenty of good touring to be had here in the UK too.


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