Sunday 26 August 2012

Way of the roses ~ Day 3 ~ Dunnington (York) to Bridlington!



 Third day saw us setting off on a bright day with patchy cloud on a predominantly flat run on quiet back lanes through Stamford Bridge and Pocklington.

The lane from Pocklington ran through a country park valley alongside a dried out river bed which was lovely. Midway along this lane we came across a herd of special breed cattle, one of whom had just given birth minutes earlier to a calf! The calf was still being cleaned by it's mother but already trying to stand on very wobbly feet.

A short hill climb through Huggate and then some blisteringly good roads where we were at last able to motor to reach Driffield in time for lunch having done 33 miles.

The last time I was in Driffield was about 25 years ago to record a couple of tracks with a band I used to play with at 'Lambs to the Slaughter' studios. Thinking about it, we're still waiting to hear back from them but I've not given up hope yet of getting signed up with a major record deal...

The final 20 miles to Bridlington were great knowing that we'd almost done.

More single track lanes around acres of flat fields around arable farm land and criss crossing the railway line via level crossings.

Two miles from Bridlington with the sea in sight Dom got a puncture... Unbelievable!

A short delay whilst we got it fixed and then a victory lap through the narrow streets of Bridlington Old Town (where we later went to celebrate :-).

We arrived at the finish line about 4.30pm having completed the route and covered 184miles in total!

A huge sense of achievement! :-)

The map below from my Garmin GPS shows our full route and this link should give the full details for those interested ~ http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215676135

All in all the Way of the Roses coast to coast route is fantastic and one I'd definitely recommend ~ http://www.wayoftheroses.co.uk/

It's well sign posted and with the accompanying map an easy route to follow (apart from our detour to Ingleton on day one! ;-)

We met some great people en route including a few cyclists we kept bumping into along the way... A couple of German guys on road bikes who spoke better English than us! A couple of guys on Mountain bikes from Oldham and a group with a tour guide on mountain bikes. The group were great we got covered in mud together on one stretch of road between Ripon and York, but the guide was a bit pretentious and obviously felt he had something to prove. I hope his dashing off and leaving them to catch up didn't spoil it for them.

As well as being a right royal expedition for us, my main reason for doing the challenge was to continue the fundraising for the RNLI. As things stand I'm well on track to raise about £1,800 which is way ahead of my initial target. The donation page will remain open until November so not too late to add to that total if the mood takes ~ http://www.justgiving.com/Daves-RNLI-Coast2Coast-Cycle

I can't thank everyone who supported me enough... But a special thanks to Dom who I had a great laugh along the way with... A true mate!

1 comment:

  1. Good read, all helpfull info. Myself and two mates are doing the run in July, can't wait!
    Cheers Bryn

    ReplyDelete