Pickering to Cloughton

34 miles (55km)


Scarborough Castle

James says:

After skipping yet another 'full english' breakfast (is it any wonder half the people here are enormous ?) we bid our jolly hosts farewell and rolled out. Through Pickering and then out onto country lanes quickly joining a beautiful bridle way, up along a river most of the way up to a mountain bike park on the edge of the moor. From there I watched somewhat forlornly as hundreds of mountain bikers bounced down purpose built and graded single track all across the hillside. We however do not have mountain bikes, even if sometimes it seems like it, so up fire road the hill we span past huffing and puffing english folks who did not have a full touring kit on their bike.

The climb up to the top of the moors was long but even and eventually we were floating our way back down the other side. A bit of a cross country slog along a muddy track lead to a very steep bitumen descent down a narrow lane cheated us out of most of the fun of enjoying our descent, then we rode through the most beautiful wet forest before coming into Scabrough itself (Henry says it was the 100 acre wood). A quick trip to the castle which was in the middle of World War II, a fly over from an original WWII paradrop plane and then the final leg up to Cloughtown where we're staying tonight.

After riding mostly off road today, tomorrow should be an easy spin up to Whitby along the coast before we tackle the north side of the moors on Monday.

Today it didn't rain.


Scarborough Foreshore (complete with bathing boxes)

Alex says:

After skipping yet another 'full english' breakfast (is it any wonder half the people here are enormous?) we bid our jolly hosts farewell and rolled out, through Pickering and then out onto country lanes. These quickly joined a gate-infested bridle way full of puddles, up along a river most of the way up to a mountain bike park on the edge of the moor. We watched dozens of mountain bikers do their thing, occasionally passing us - I got immense satisfaction in passing them on the longer ascents. It did involve a lot of huffing and puffing.

The climb up to the top of the moors was long but even and eventually we were death-gripping our way back down the other side. A nasty cross country slog along a boggy track led to a very steep bitumen descent down a narrow lane: losing all my precious, hard-won altitude in one long descent that was too steep for me to properly enjoy the free-wheeling. Then we rode through a wet forest along a track that was, for reasons completely opaque to me, largely paved with bricks at all bizarre angles (which was not, to James' disappointment, a Roman road). Finally we came into Scarborough itself; it was nice to see the sea again, and they have a spectacular coastline. We took a quick trip to the castle (not much left of it), which was in the middle of World War II; the most exciting bit was a fly over from an original WWII Dakota. The final leg was to Cloughton, to a pub where we're staying tonight.

After riding mostly off road today, tomorrow should be an easier spin up to Whitby along the coast before we tackle the north side of the moors on Monday.

Today it didn't rain.


Dirty Argo