Day 3 Great Broughton to Hawes
As todays cycling guests staggered into breakfast the only thing on their minds (apart from if there will be porridge, there was ) was how much up today. The good news was garmin says there was only 3 official climbs (although it included the famous buttertubs) and a third less up overall. It was the longest stage in miles though so I wasn’t expecting an early finish.
Today we would also be staying at a youth hostel which will be an experience I haven’t enjoyed for nearly 50 years.
Big George had already declared he is going a shorter way so will form no part of todays action but should help guarantee we get away on time, which, despite some last minute bike faffing, for once we did.
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| Last minute bike faffing |
Apart from the head wind the first 20 miles of todays route were standard fare apart from the odd pretty Yorkshire village we could have been cycling anywhere with no major hills to tackle.
So we were soon at our first cafe stop. I have tried to include a range of cafes to compare in my Norfolk v Yorkshire science test so I had chosen the mustard tree community cafe at Hurworth.
As you would expect from a cafe run out of a Methodist church hall then the staff were very friendly but the hot chocolate was Cadbury’s (as always I give it a 5 and had a pot of tea) and the cake selection was neither large or particularly effective.
However it was what it was but didn’t reach the 6.9 needed to better a typical Norfolk cafe.
The next part of the ride to Barnard Castle should have been much the same as we battled the wind across some very pleasant countryside but then we came across a sign saying the cycle route had been diverted collectively we decided to ignore it. Unfortunately we came across this.
There was no option but to go back and it was a long detour (although it did have the bonus of an extra climb) taking us 45 minutes to get back to the other side of the bridge and adding 90 minutes to our eta.
When we eventually got to Barnard castle we had done 50 miles into the wind but the drama hadn’t yet started.
No 15 was a small cafe attached to the book shop next door. It was mainly vegetarian and vegan which was good but again Cadbury’s seemed the hot chocolate offering, which is not. Neither Andrew or Ali could face a hot drink or cake so I had both, which were good.
Although not an exceptional stop it comfortably met the Norfolk cafe benchmark.
Barnard Casrle itself was a bit disappointing as a place after all the publicity it got recently but we did get one good view of the castle.
It was now just 26 miles to go but we were entering the dales so all bets were off. It start with a lovely long drag up where we met lots of sheep.
It then turned into a several mile off-road section. I suddenly felt really proud of how well I was doing so inevitably fell off my bike and now have a sore elbow to contend with.
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| End of off road section |
After that section and another steep bit I was a long way ahead so my bike decided it wanted a lie down.
While it rested I decided to jump in the air.
A lot more up took us to tan hill home of the highest pub in England but there was no time to stop as we pressed on to todays finale a climb over buttertubs pass.
At this point I told the others it was Everyman for himself as first one to the youth hostel will get the last en-suite room.
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| Going up Buttertubs as seen from the bike |
I took no prisoners and was up and over in 16 mins which puts my 6542 on the Strava leaderboard and 6th quickest today (out of 7).
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| Top of Buttertubs as witnessed by some sheep |
It was down hill all the way to the youth hostel and the en suite was all mine.
Today had been on the brutal side but with another 18 miles on the climbometer tomorrow things can only get better.
Route | Miles | Average Mph | Time on Bike | Metres climbed |
York to Helmsley | 38.4 | 13.4 | 2:51:50 | 484 |
Helmsley to Great Broughton |
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Great Broughton to Hawes | 79.5 | 11.7 | 6:49:19 | 1580 |
Hawes to Pateley Bridge |
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Pateley Bridge to York |
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Totals |
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Cafe ratings
Cafe | Hot Chocolate Quality | Guest Hot Drink Quality | Cake Selection | Cake Taste Quality | Atmosphere and Ambiance | Total |
Curious Coffee Company, Haxby | 7.6 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 6.92 |
The Barn Tearoom, Hutton le Hole |
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Danby Bakery |
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The Mustard Tree Café, Hurworth |
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No.15 Coffee House, Barnard Castle |
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&Then Tasting Deli, Kettlewell |
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Tea on the green, Bolton Abbey |
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Café Chez Nous |
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