Todays ride posted today - will wonders never cease?
Of course, todays ride was
@nickyboy's Leeds to Scarborough Spectacular, brought to you by @I like Skol. Last time I did this ride it was wall to wall sunshine, near tropical temperatures and a 25mph (at least) tailwind all the way there. So obviously today it was raining.
Anyhow, for reasons too boring to go into, I couldn't do the whole ride so was joining from the start and riding out to the first café stop at Mrs B's Lakeside Kitchen 'twixt Ryther and Cawood. This was also to turn into a day of three rides, mainly due to me being an idiot...
I'd lined a treat up for myself to get to the start, by cycling into the heart of the capital of the north via the Cycle Super Duper Highway - although I've cycled out of the city a couple of times using it, I've never used it to cycle in. I won't go into too much detail about the CSDH as it's mainly been said before, but large parts of it are shockingly bad considering they spend £1m/km on it, but it did at least get me into the fringes of the city centre where it simply stops dumping me on normal roads across to the Dark Arches, where we were all meeting.
As I arrived, so did another cyclist from the opposite direction - it was
@colly so we said hello, had a quick chat, then entertained ourselves watching a coach driver trying to manoeuvre round a seemingly impossible corner, being joined shortly afterwards by
@Kestevan who had cycled to the start - a mere 20 miles, putting my ride in to shame!
Anyhow, eventually the coach driver got round the corner
and we were joined by
@I like Skol and his son. I managed to end my ride on the Garmin rather than restarting it, so after a bit of faffery I got it going again and we were on our way through the back streets of the metropolis, following
@colly who took us swiftly out of the city and onto the route along Pontefract Lane.
Did I mention it was raining?
And due to peer pressure I was wearing shorts? And on my only bike without mudguards?
Anyway, traffic was light and we had a bit of a tail wind, so we were soon turning off the dual carriageway and onto the service road around the Temple Newsam estate, before tackling the first notable climb of the day up Pegasus Hill just as the mornings Park Runners were heading the other way.
Then it was across the field
in front of the house and up past the stables and along the Avenue, then into Colton, round the Selby Road roundabout and into Austhorpe and down the hill across the railway line.
A quick scoot up Pendas Way and we were onto Barwick Road and back out into the countryside and up the hill to Scholes, then the drop into Barwick where we nearly missed the turn, before getting back on track and popping out onto Cattle Lane for the long descent down to Cock Beck and the climb up the other side before the general lumpiness to Aberford.
Through there and up under the A1(M) to Lotherton Gates, before dropping down the hill to the Crooked Billet and starting the climb back up to Towton.
We paused for a moment at the Towton Battlefield memorial as it had started to warm up a touch and all but stopped raining, before carrying on through the village and taking the right onto Raw Lane and heading for Ulleskelf.
From there it's just a few miles up the road to Ryther, then almost before you know it we were at the café and time for a nosebag.
The breakfasts at Mrs B's are always good but it really hit the spot today and with good company around the table the stop seemed to pass in no time at all.
Unfortunately the break had allowed the rain to catch up with us and as the intrepid foursome turned right for Cawood and the route ahead, it was time for me to turn left and head for home, now into the rain and wind.
To be fair, I've ridden in worse and the first part of the ride, taking the back way into Church Fenton on Brackenhill Lane, was right enough if a bit damp.
Through the village and over the railway line, then the long straight to Barkston Ash, a spurt up London Road and left towards Saxton, taking Cold Hill Lane out of there under the crackling electricity cables, to drop down onto Copley Lane.
At this point I started thinking about making sure I got enough mileage in for an imperial half, but couldn't remember for the life of me what I'd recorded on the "first" ride before messing up with the Garmin. I'm blaming the cold, as I was starting to feel it at this point
Anyway, Lotherton gates, the long way round into Aberford (bit of extra mileage there) and back onto Cattle Lane for Barwick, through the village and continue climbing towards Scholes.
I toyed with the idea of heading through Scholes village and doing a long loop to home via the A64 and Skeltons Lane, but ruled it out on the basis that I was A) cold, B) wet and C) I thought I'd have enough miles in without doing it. So I took the left down Leeds Road, down the hill and over Cock Beck, then local roads up to home, enlivened by nearly getting "doored" about half a mile from home, but managed to avoid it and got an apology, so that's something.
Stopped the Garmin, hit save and into the house, just starting to shiver
Obviously, there are priorities in life, so I posted on here
, then had a hot shower followed by a brew and something to eat before looking at the ride stats to discover I was actually just under 3 miles short of an imperial half.
D'oh! 
So, as the rain finally started to abate, I got dressed in the clothes I should have been wearing this morning - longs, long sleeved Roubaix top and an actually waterproof jacket and set off again to get the necessary mileage in. Obviously the rain then stopped before I got two streets away and I ended up being overdressed and overheating, but I got the extra miles in.
51.36 miles (82.66km) and an average of
13.6mph and
2,119ft climbed across the days rides.
All in a good do, self inflicted problems aside. It's a shame that events conspired to reduce ride numbers this time, with the trains taking most of the blame, but this ride is a CycleChat Classic and will be back I'm sure. And it puts me beyond 2,000 miles cycled this year, which I'm quite happy with
Thanks to
@I like Skol for taking over from
@nickyboy and organising things, and to everyone for providing good company on a grotty day. I hope you guys managed to outride the rain as you headed east - enjoy your fish n chips and a well earned pint or two tonight
Apologies for the lack of photos, but my phone isn't waterproof
And to end, the main map:
.
. Lovely area to cycle round your brother in law dosnt avoid hills does he . Nice cafe stop at Dove cottage just outside plunger you turned right just before a steep hump back bridge it's just over that . I presume you stopped in the cafe in Clawson itself . Hope you had a good weekend .
