Way of the Roses on a road bike

[Janeyb]

Just wondering if anyone has any advice to offer for necessary deviations on the Way of the Roses Route. We're riding Giant SCR 4 road bikes with 700x25 tyres. I've searched around and am getting mixed reports on whether the whole route it doable on a road bike.

Some say:

• WOTR route is one of the best ive done. Its absolutely perfect for Roadies, with really quiet country lanes for about 85% of the route. Pretty much all the way to Pateley Bridge we hardly saw any cars
• We just did the WOTR over 2 days in November all using 700c x 23mm tyres no problem

diversions people talk about are:

• • Avoiding the off road at Clapham (quick stretch on A65, then through Austwick)
  • Wharfe/Austwick there is a warning about a steep slope with rough surfaces
  • Clapham, Dunnington and Stamford Bridge - specifically Clapham Tunnels which are very rocky so suggest taking the 1 mile road diversion on A65 and from Dunnington down to Stamford Bridge is Bridleway across open fields.
  • WOTR sign posts thru York, they are almost impossible to follow once u r passed the Minster and you go on a section of cycle path once you are through and leaving , the surface isnt even good enough for a mountain bike with broken bottles all over and 3 inches of mud

• The fields soon after leaving York

 

[400bhp]

I have ridden it twice on a road bike, albeit we missed out york and ended up going to Scarborough rather than Bridlington (train connections much better).

Here's a couple of routes for you:

1. Tougher route we took on the 2nd time, through Dalby forest & starting in Carnforth (found a nice play to stay) http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=215892

2. Our original route: http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=209316

Any questions please fire away.

 

[Brandane]

diversions people talk about are:

• • Avoiding the off road at Clapham (quick stretch on A65, then through Austwick)
  • Wharfe/Austwick there is a warning about a steep slope with rough surfaces
  • Clapham, Dunnington and Stamford Bridge - specifically Clapham Tunnels which are very rocky so suggest taking the 1 mile road diversion on A65 and from Dunnington down to Stamford Bridge is Bridleway across open fields.
  • WOTR sign posts thru York, they are almost impossible to follow once u r passed the Minster and you go on a section of cycle path once you are through and leaving , the surface isnt even good enough for a mountain bike with broken bottles all over and 3 inches of mud

• The fields soon after leaving York

Hmmm...... I did the WOTR last year on a Tricross with 700 x 28 tyres. The only bit I would say was a bit ropey for a ROAD bike would be the section at Clapham as mentioned above, but even then it is probably do-able with a bit of care.

From memory, I can't recall the problem in York, but I think your post is referring to going from west to east. I did it east to west, and leaving York was very straightforward once on the path at the riverside. It was a bit complicated coming into York from the east but signing wasn't a problem. Having said that, it's always easier to find your way INTO a city centre than it is to find a specific route OUT . Certainly don't remember the muddy section with broken glass as referred to above.

Enjoy the trip, it is a cracking ride .

 

[rich p]

I did it 3 weeks ago and there is a section that involves muddy fields for a mile or two. I'll try and pinpoint where it is later. It would be doable in the dry on 25s but not after this rain. The signage is fine in York, as were the cycle paths out of the city although there is repair work going on after the Minster involving following a diversion through surburbia.
The paths into Yorkfrom the east were okay and a rather pretty route.

 

[DCLane]

I'm doing it in 2 weeks (just booked the train ticket up) and it'll be done on the road bike with 23's, since they've got the 11x28 gear on.

 

[Paul_L]

did it last year on a road bike with 23s.

We avoided the rocky section between Clapham and Austwick. This involves a short section of the busy A65 but it's ok.

We didn't avoid the section through the fields west of Stamford Bridge (going west to east). The weather was fine and the tracks were pretty hard. It wasn't ideal but do-able. We'll avoid this section when we do it again this year.

Apart from that the route is perfectly suited to road bikes.

 

[Danny]

As others have said the Way of the Roses is perfectly doable on a road bike.

The path through the fields between York and Stamford Bridge is a bit of a pain but only takes about 20 mins at most. I can recommend a good on-road alternative if you prefer it.