I need to work on my fitness, so I eschewed the flatishness of the Vale of York to the east and headed northwest for Otley and a loop back along the Wharfe Valley. Today would include some hills.
Despite the forecast it was still a bit grey and nippy first thing, so I stuck with longs and layered up, for the bike to find it's own way up Coal Road.
Across to the A58, then Whin Moor Lane to Shadwell, up then down then up to Slaid Hill lights, before a right left wiggle onto Wigton Lane and towards Alwoodley Gate. There is a new "Your Speed Is..." sign here, but the rotters have put it on an uphill bit!
Straight on at the lights and onto Alwoodley Lane which is mostly up to King Lane, which mainly drops down to Golden Acre Park before climbing back up the hill.
Past the quarry and down the hill to Bramhope, thinking I've got a decent speed up only for a racing snake to fly past...
Onto Otley Road through Bramhope and all the way to the Dyneley Arms, where I had a wait at the traffic lights, before the long drop down into Otley, which was enlivened by two unnecessary close passes.
Through Otley and after another long wait at the traffic lights down and across the river and a pit stop at Wharfe Meadows Park by the weir.
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It was soon time to get back in the saddle and tackle the first notable hill of the day on the climb up to Farnley.
The good news is that I managed to avoid using the granny, but it was still hard work and slower than I've done it in the past, although I eventually reached the top and turned left and up again to Farnley itself, then on again to drop down and over the River Washburn and climb again to Lindley.
From there it's a combination of quiet little lanes out to the B6161 but they were still very wet under the trees and covered in gravelly run off in places so I lost traction a couple of times on the steeper climbs and had to take it very steady on a few corners, but made it unscathed.
The reward for this was the long drop down to the valley floor through Leathley and then along parallel to the River Wharfe to the A658 and across onto Castley Lane, which continues to follow the river all the way to Castley, oddly enough. This is another road that was absolutely filthy in places.
You climb up through Castley and switch back on yourself to keep climbing all the way to Weeton, where the road then drops down for the next village, Dunkeswick.
Through there and a brief squirt up a surprisingly quiet A61, taking the right towards Kirkby Overblow, but taking the turn towards Nearby, which you to the foot of Kearby Cliff.
The Cliff has defeated me every time I've tried to climb it, so today I turned off at the bottom and climbed up through Chapel Hill and Kearby Town End, which while not hugely easy, did at least give me a couple of spots to get my breath between climbs so I was happy to get to the top and turn at Clap Gate to head for Sicklinghall.
The road drops down nicely through there, then there is a mile or two of ups and downs before turning for Linton.
Across the Wharfe again and into Collingham, before tackling the final big hill of the day as I climbed up Jewitt Lane.
Much huffing and puffing saw me to the top and then along the ridge (still as muddy as ever...), stopping for a photo at the bench:
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Down the lane to East Rigton, where I stopped at the top of Rigton Bank for a final photo:
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Yep, the UK's premier cycling event is less than a month away.
Notice how we still have proper warning signs in Yorkshire too? None of that silly % nonsense round here.
Back onto Holme Farm Lane, then Milner Lane for the run down to Thorner, passing a chap stood next to an estate car with brown cardboard boxes all over the floor - Amazon? Definitely some sort of courier as he lived down to the stereotype a couple of minutes later as I headed down the hill into Thorner with a van coming towards me - revving his engine the courier flew past me, stamped on the brakes and swerved across me to the left and squeezed through a gap between the van and the banking that was about a foot wider than his car...
The van drivers face was a picture!
Anyway, through Thorner onto Carr Lane, the long drag up to the A58, down to Coal Road and the climb up there, turning onto local roads for the last mile or so to home.
41.41 miles (66.6km) in
3h 12m at an average of
12.9mph with
2,463ft climbed
Really enjoyed that, although it was hard work at times, with some decent hills climbed. Loads of cyclists out and about, and my first visit to Otley this year.
Not as warm as promised (average temp was 9.9C) but the sun didn't really burn through until I was almost home.
It's another metric half in the bank as well.
Lots of signs about warning of road closures for the Tour de Yorkshire next month, which seems to have come around again very quickly. Time to start calling all the local hills "
Cols" again
While the weather was definitely better, the roads are still absolutely filthy in places and my drivetrain was protesting noisily by the time I got home, so I've given that a clean and will lube it up shortly ready for tomorrows ride. Talking of which, the forecast looks pretty good for tomorrow and it should be a bit warmer still, so fingers crossed
And to end, the map:
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over the A607 back to the Wreake valley . Frisby on the Wreake ,Asfordby and climb number 2 Saxileby hill took it a bit steady on this one . At the top I noticed my average was still 17.6 miles with some nice flattish roads ahead . Pushing on now to see how quick I can do 50km .Past the mark in1 hr 45 17.8 mph 
. Fast descent into Wymeswold and on to Barrow and the average is over 18
but made it breathing quite heavily . Another fast descent in to Newtown Linford and home 50.1 miles at 17.6 mph sub 3 Hr 50 well happy with that 
