We went over to reception where the breakfast room was and found half our team already there. Sally had discovered when she checked in that the establishment was owned and run by a couple who were originally from Barlick and Earby. She had helped the lady with a planning application years ago when Sally was on the council and the lady was with her first husband in Barlick so Sally was instantly recognised when she walked into the building! It’s a small world as they say and no getting away from Barlickers.
A teapot was on the table within a couple of minutes and my full English and toast rack in front of me within another 10. Strange as it may seem, there are not a lot of stopping places for food between Pocklington and Bridlington so we all made the most of our breakfasts as the source of the next meal could potentially be a bit open ended.
We agreed over breakfast to be ready for transport back to Dunnington at 9.30am. We returned to the room and packed up but left all the cases in the rooms, there was no rush for checkout and as we were effectively cycling back up to Pocklington it made sense for us to crack on with the ride and our support team would return to the Motel, sort the bags and repack the vehicles after dropping us off.
Fifteen minutes later we were back in Dunnington, bikes were unloaded but we found that Linda’s bike had inherited the second puncture of the trip.
This was soon sorted with a replacement tube.
Bike sorted we gather for our group photo before setting off.
The puncture took about 15 minutes but we were now on the road heading back to where we had just come from. We soon discover though that stopping short of our target the day before was probably the best decision we had made on the entire trip.
Within a mile of leaving the village the route goes definitely “off road” as it traverses three farms on field tracks and pretty rough green lanes, some of the tracks were directly through the middle of large arable fields and the impact on an already battered rear end was quite traumatic to say the least. I had recharged with painkillers but they had no effect against the terrain we had to cross for the next three miles. Julie and Martin found it particularly hard going on their road bikes as the overnight rain (although it was fine by then) had left the tracks quite muddy with a lot of puddles mixed in with the lousy surface. It took us the best part of half an hour to traverse the farmland it was very heavy going and not something that we would have wanted to hit after our 74 miles of the previous day. It’s marked on the map as “unmade track, give way to pedestrians and horse-riders” the latter probably the reason for the state of the route.
Finally we returned to a metalled surface just as we entered Stamford Bridge and we had made up the delay by the time we got back to Pocklington. Everyone seemed to be up for it knowing it was the last day. Leaving the town we soon find ourselves on a single track lane, it’s a good solid surface that gently undulates but starts to rise with a long drag of an incline into Millington Wood Nature Reserve. We are heading into the Wolds and the route follows the contours of the gently rolling hills, nothing too steep but all the inclines are long. We have picked up a headwind and the strange thing seems to be that no matter which way the lane seems to wind the wind was always in your face. We are heading for Huggate which is the highest point above sea level of day three; it’s no higher than 225m but it takes long time to get to the meagre altitude. Halfway up to this lofty height we rounded a bend to find Ian waiting at the side of the road in what looked like a former quarry working at the side of the lane. It was like seeing a mirage and very welcome, he had refills for our water bottles and more bananas than Sainsbury’s. We took 15 minutes here and were rewarded with dozens of vintage motorbikes passing us. Lots of early single cylinder BSA two stokes with elongated oblong tanks. The smell of Castrol R was divine as they rode past us and pocka pockad up the hill. There must have been 30 or more that passed us. Beezers, Enfields, James, an early Vincent and a Brough Superior part of the mix as well. All immaculately maintained and still fit for purpose.
After pegging up the long drag to Huggate you do get the bonus after a short levelling of the top of a reasonable downhill. Before we carry on we found all our support team and vehicles in one place at the same time so a good photo opportunity of support "in the wild".
From left to right: Vicki, Ian, Brian, Sally, the two canines belong to Catherine and Kate, Oscar on the left and Finlay on the right, they enjoyed the ride as well.
We are heading for Driffield , the lane crosses the B1248 and after another mile or so you arrive at Kirkburn where you see a road sign for Driffield at 1 mile. Way of the Roses though has not finished with you here and instead of directing you straight on it send you due South for a mile then East for a mile then North for a mile and a half eventually arriving at Driffield the long way round. The amazing thing about this is that the route is only round the periphery of two massive cereal fields. Both planted with corn which is higher than our bikes with riders.
We had stopped for a little while before circumnavigating the field systems as Catherine had received a text from our support team which was just running in front of us to say that our planned lunch stop at the White Horse in Hutton Cranswick (which was halfway round the field system) was not going to happen. The team tipped up at the pub to find it open for beer but food had been cancelled for the day. Vicki was doing her phone thing again with Google and was trying to find us and alternative place to eat. She managed to find that the local garden centre had a café facility so the team quickly checked it out, found it fit for purpose and advised us of the slight detour.
Our riding group had become slightly split up over the last 5 miles or so possibly looking forward to the promise of food not far up the road. We had split into two groups of five with the leading group comprising of Jack, Will, Julie, Martin and Peter and the rest of our pod about a mile behind.
When we arrived at the garden centre café though only three from five of the leading group had arrived before us, Jack and Peter were missing. Sally was out in the lane keeping an eye out for them as she was not sure if they had received the message about the change of lunch venue. It transpired that Peter had taken two wrong turnings and Jack had tried to catch up with him to set him on the right track. He could see him make the first mistake when about 400m ahead but by the time he had caught up to the same point he was nowhere in sight. He carried on trying to catch a glimpse of him ahead but to no avail. It became obvious that if he continued to chase they were both in danger of becoming lost, neither had one of the route maps so Jack rang in to report that Peter was temporarily lost in the lanes of the Yorkshire Wolds, he then backtracked to where he had last seen Peter go wrong and continued on in the right direction. By the time he had made it to the garden centre, Peter had just arrived himself having done about a 7 mile detour to get to the village. Jack had done a similar amount on the chase and eventual backtrack; both were ready for their dinners!
The café had quite a good selection of homemade sandwiches, toasties, light and full meals on the menu. I settled for the Steak and Ale pie with chips, garden peas and gravy.
One of the other members of our group who had arrived before us was having it and gave it the thumbs up. The prices were very reasonable and all the meals were very good. We spent about an hour at the garden centre.
Mick having 40 winks after his dinner.
Sally had taken advantage while she was there and bought one or two items from the adjacent very comprehensive Garden Centre. We were 147miles into the route at that point with a good meal inside each of us, we decided that this would be the last stop until we reached or destination.
Back on the bikes we pressed on through Driffield, Nafferton, Lowthorpe, Harpham and Burton Agnes. We had crossed the main railway line to Bridlington once at Hutton Cranswick but the route zig zagged across the line no less than another 6 times between there and Burton Agnes. Throughout the afternoon the headwind had been picking up in speed and severity. It was hard going despite the route being predominately on the flat but increasingly exposed as we got nearer to the coast. There was little respite and you just had to keep a constant cadence up as if you stopped so did the bike. A bit of a lull when we entered a covered section when the route ran through a wooded area for a short while, emerging at the other side on the highest point of the track there was a large telecommunications mast in the field adjacent to the road, a good indicator that this was the last incline we had traversed reinforced by the fact that we got our first site of the sea.
The ground fell away in the distance and we could see the rooftops of houses. Gulls were audible in the sky above. Another slight downhill and the lane joined the A614 which leads down into Bridlington. The route enters via a Northern approach and then drops down and joins North Marine drive where you can join the promenade via quite a steep ramp.
Heading south along the prom for about half a mile you reach the Eastern end marker of the Way of the Roses.
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No one raced but we all arrived as a peloton all within the space of the final minute of our 170 mile journey, it felt good.
All the riders at journeys end..
That's the way home son.
Dad and lad.
After a multitude of photos and a wee drop of bubbly provided by Vicki and Sally we loaded the bikes into the van. It had been a very good trip with good camaraderie and mutual support, the route is challenging in parts but traverses beautiful countryside. The weather was kind to us over the weekend with only a brief spell of rain overnight and for a short while early on Monday morning. We had a celebratory supper from the very popular chippy in Wetwang on the way back home. Ian unloaded the bikes back down at Rolls and any that were not going home on bike racks were secured in the Social Club for the night. Jack picked both our bikes up the following morning.
It was very enjoyable weekend, painful in places but worth the effort for a very good cause.
