Maps 100 & 101

Today I reached the major milestone of 100 OS Landranger maps and, in doing so, also completed my 14th coast to coast crossing of the country. That means, for the first time, there are now fewer coast to coasts left than I have already done! We also crossed the Yorkshire Wolds from west to east today and enjoyed another dry day of very little traffic. And to cap it off, we went to the seaside at Bridlington! That is a full working day.

Actually, it was not too hard, as days of cycling go. We enjoyed a following breeze all day as we rode in a pretty much straight line across the OS maps from west to east, between South Stainley, where Andy’s friends were such wonderful hosts, to Flamborough Head. It turned out that this was a very convenient route and it kept us out of the way of most of the traffic and all of the bigger roads. It was all very pleasant and mostly quite rural. The small towns and villages seemed affluent and all looked like nice places to live. If I’m being really honest, the countryside wasn’t especially pretty today, and certainly not compared to the days that came before it. We found ourselves crossing the Vale of York, which is flat and an area of mostly arable crops. But it was all very enjoyable cycling. We seemed to make good time and the terrain was gentle. The miles flew by as we passed first through Boroughbridge, where the Great North Road crosses the River Ure, and then paused for morning coffee by the attractive green in the centre of Easingwold, surrounded by handsome brick buildings.

At the next outdoor table to ours at the cafe was a small group of youngish cyclists who looked, and almost certainly were, a lot fitter than us. One, a female pediatric doctor from Scotland, was talking about whether to cycle her 18 mile commute over the moors in winter to Barnsley from Sheffield, and back when her shift ended after midnight. Even she sounded doubtful. She said she has a Sonder bike the same as mine, and 5 other bikes to choose from; but that range of options doesn’t overcome the weather or the lack of daylight. Then a man joined our table and told us his son was calling in today while cycling from Liverpool for a business meeting in Oslo! And people think I am mad.

The morning continued much as it had started until we reached Castle Howard and found ourselves on long straight roads, flanked by avenues of large trees, heading under archways and up to tall obelisks. This is a landscape on a grand scale and the estate reaches almost into the very pleasant market town of Malton, Yorkshire’s self-styled food capital.

Malton is a really attractive town; but seemed rather quiet this Sunday lunchtime. The bar advertising Yorkshire Tapas was closed, so we found somewhere in the historic market place that did fancy stews from all over the world, and had a hearty lunch for a very reasonable price, along with a coffee-and-cacao beer from Saltaire. Most enjoyable.

After Malton we had a bit of a climb up onto the top of the Wolds, but it wasn’t anything to panic about and set us on a road that seemed to just keep going in an easterly straight line all the way to the sea, about 30 miles away. We passed through a series of wolds villages and they were all very nice. They had a consistent look about them, typically including a broad main street with wide grassy open spaces, perhaps a small stream running along parallel to the road, attractive houses and an inviting pub. One had a shop that specialised in doll’s house interiors. Another had a very fine duck pond. In between, we rode between hedgerows past fields of crops, always with a general sense of being in an elevated position, but without having immense views.

And then, before we knew it, we were in Flamborough. It had been a dry but mostly cloudy day, but there were clearly showers about near the coast. As we turned to cycle the last mile or so to the lighthouse on Flamborough Head, a large rainbow formed a welcoming arch against a dark sky. Closer to the end of the road we saw people walking inland towards us in waterproofs. Very wet waterproofs. But when we got to the lighthouse, the rain had finished. The sun came out and shone on the cliffs and the crashing waves. it was a fitting end to a wonderful 4 day journey from map 95 to map 101, and I would happily do it again.

And then it was time to go to Bridlington, 4 miles down the coast, where we just managed to buy some fish and chips and still make the 1740 train to Sheffield by about 2 minutes. Seamless. And 2 hours saved. Phew. And 3 hours later we were back in Hathersage, ready to do it all again in the morning. It can be a relentless business, this adventure cycling.