Tour Of Yorkshire Day 2. Helmsley to Great Broughton

 Day 2  Helmsley to Great Broughton

On last years trip to Yorkshire porridge seemed in short supply. As this is my go to pre ride breakfast I struggle having to make do with a tiny box of something from the Kellogg variety pack selection which is the normal alternative. However the Black Swan came up trumps today with 330 kCal of porridge to set me up for the morning.

Looking at todays route it seemed like a stage for the punchy riders rather than the climbing specialists so I would have to be on the ball. However according to my garmin there are 11 climbs featuring 19 miles of up so even though it is not a long stage I had a strict 9.00 start planned. Sadly an over leisurely breakfast followed by Andrew and Ali trying to tune their bike gears put the start time under pressure but it was Big George insisting on completing his morning yoga set that really delayed things as once again pedals down was at nearly half past.

Pre start of day faffing as usual

The first climb of the day started right outside the hotel and was a long if not steep one. Whinging therefore stated early. The views were great on the way up but there seemed to be a cycling guest cycle and chatter meeting going on at the top with the emphasis on the chatter. I would clearly have to put away the encouragement whip and get out the cruel one if we were to get through today successfully.

Too much talking and not enough cycling

As we set off I was furious as my carefully planned eta was already under threat. However the shoe was soon on the other foot when I realised I had plotted the route over a couple of miles of off-road gravel. It was tricky going down a very steep bit on gravel although Andrew showed off his superior bike handling skills while the rest of us tentatively made our way down with breaks hard on.

And then disaster as Ali got a puncture. I obviously waited with him to make sure there were some good photos as the others pressed on.

Fortunately Ali is very good at sorting out punctures

It had already been a long morning so I was horrified to find we had only done 5 miles and the tricky climbs were ahead of us. Its all dales round here with the first to be tackled being Bransdale. It had some 20% sections which proved a bit challenging but the views were great. Fortunately it was cloudy and drizzle so no heat wave here as that would have added another unwanted dimension. 

When I got to the top there was no sign of my cycling guests so while I waited I decided to jump in the air.

There was plenty more ups and downs but it wasn’t until lunchtime we got to our so called mid morning cofffee stop so once again, showing my flexibility, I made it the lunch stop instead.

On some of the many ups and downs 

Lunch was at the Barn tea room in Hutton-Le-hole which I visited early this year during my time on crutches (which I may have mentioned before). It would therefore be a combined rating to see if it was better than my average cafe cycle visit. Remember I’ve done the maths and it needs to beat 6.9.

The staff were very friendly, the views delightful and the tea and cake excellent so it was no surprise to see it rated 7.63 and easily past the benchmark. Yorkshire cafes were certainly performing better than the 2021 selection.

Excellent tea and cake with our sandwich based lunch

On leaving Hutton-Le-hole it was straight up to Rosedale chimney. This is a very famous climb but only if you do it up from Rosedale village as that is steeper than our way which only got to 25%😱.

The way down Rosedale on the steep side it advises you to get off and walk down

The way down was very steep and I have never gripped my breaks so hard but it didn’t seem to slow me down much and I was mighty relieved to be at the bottom in one piece.

As tradition dictates then at the top Big George had announced  he needed a longer rest and shorter route so here his story ends for the day. Although I can reveal he did make it back safely.

For the rest of the group I had to crack the cruel whip if we were going to make our second cafe stop before closing time. Unfortunately the route went from one steep climb to another steep climb with the remains of the peloton being split apart. I had several long waits so was able to enjoy the scenery.

Waiting for the peleton as I enjoyed the views

Just as tea looked in the bag we first met a super steep hill.

Followed by an unexpected and impossible to ride (although once again Andrew did most of it) off-road section.

With a final crack of the whip we made it to tea shop with 15 mins to spare.

This time it was the Danby bakery on the edge of the village. Sadly it didn’t have great views as there were some houses in the way. I was too thirsty and tired to face my normal hot chocolate so we all had take away tea, bread pudding and flap jack as we sat outside.

Take. Away tea and bread pudding from Danby

Once again it was a 7 plus rating making it 3 out of 3 for Yorkshire.

My remaining cycling guests were keen to know what was left to go and were relieved it was just two short climbs. But as we left Danby I spotted we were heading for an off road section so plotted a route around. As it turned out it was a rather long bonus climb and the off road bit would have been flat and easy. Well done me.

Bonus climb as opposed to the easy flat off-road section you can see below

It was fairly easy going with the last 10 miles climb free so we got to our hotel bang on my most pessimistic ETA.

Tomorrow is a long day of miles but with only two climbs. However they come right at the end. Big George has already planned his alternative route.

Todays route

Trip Stats

Route	Miles	Average Mph	Time on Bike	Metres climbed
York to Helmsley	38.4	13.4	2:51:50	484
Helmsley to Great Broughton	58.22	10.6	5:28:29	1991
Great Broughton to Hawes
Hawes to Pateley Bridge
Pateley Bridge to York
Totals

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	6.9	7.65	7.9	7.6	8.1	7.63
Danby Bakery		7	8.1	7.4	7.2	7.43
The Mustard Tree Café, Hurworth
No.15 Coffee House, Barnard Castle
&Then Tasting Deli, Kettlewell
Tea on the green, Bolton Abbey
Café Chez Nous

 

Tour of Yorkshire 2022. Day 1 York to Helmsley

Day 1 York to Helmsley

Once again its time to leave the relative flatlands of Norfolk and head to more bumpy scenery up North. The purpose of this trip will be to see how the average cycle cafe stop in Yorkshire compares to the average ones in my local domain. Last year I used science to compare the two areas but this did not go to plan or lead to the awarding of the Nobel prize for science as I expected, so I clearly need to up my game. 

To do this I have developed a more sophisticated model, increased the sphere of cafes to be tested and packed an extra cycling guest for more accurate cafe ratings. Science doesn't get better than this and I think the Nobel prize is in the bag.

I've done the maths and of the 297cafes I have reviewed in the Norfolk and North Suffolk region then their average rating is 6.90. Can the 8 cafes I have selected to visit here this week beat that. Well lets find out.

The route covers the North York Moors and the Yorkshire dales.

The route. Stars are cafes and houses are overnight stops

Today we left Norwich at a respectable 8:30 with me and Andrew (who is notourisly hard to please) in one car and Ali and Big George in another. This is a cycling trip so lets pick up the story from when we have parked up in York, faffed about packing and re packing bikes and eventually set off towards our first cafe stop a few miles away. And don’t forget what goes on tour stays on my blog.

My group of finely tuned cycling guest ready for le grand depart.

We made our way out of York into the suburbs where todays only cafe stop would be. It was the Curious coffee company cafe (CCCC) in Haxby shopping precinct. We had hoped to sit outside but someone had fainted in the heat and were hogging two of the outside tables as staff and customers gathered round with ice and water to try and revive her. Fortunately I managed to shuffle them up a bit and we could then squeeze on a table so no harm done.

I waited until after the fainty lady had gone to take the cafe photo

But how did the CCCC compare with one of my regular cafes. Apart from fainty people cluttering up tables and it being in a 1970s style shopping street then Atmosphere and Ambiance was good thanks to the friendly staff and pleasant vibe. My hot chocolate was very good (for some reason they said they hadn’t sold many hot chocolates today) and not Cadbury’s of which most of last years Yorkshire cafes provide 🤮.

My hot chocolate and double decker brownie

They had a very brownie biased cake selection as apparently they were famous for them and you could also have them with chunks of chocolate bars on top. I was torn between Bounty and Double Decker (which I didn’t realise was still a thing) but then remembered Bounty’s are horrible so went DD. It was nice but not spectacular.

Big George, the only coffee drinker, didn’t like his drink so all in all CCCC scored 6.92. Which was 0.02 better than my standard cafe average. On reflection I thought it was probably 0.02 better proving that science got it right again.

From here it was a mere 34 miles and 3 small climbs to Helmsley on the hottest day of the year and boy did my cycling guests whinge about the heat. I don’t like to talk about it but I was forced to remind them that I once did an Ironman in 40 degree heat, although that didn’t seem to help.

Cycling Guests whinging about the heat

However we did enjoy some typical Yorkshire villages and lovely views so they did agree it had been a fine afternoon of cycling really.

Personal highlight was seeing castle Howard where Brideshead revisited, Downton, Bridgeton and every episode of Antiques road show were filmed. None of which I’ve seen although I am a fan of Fiona Bruce who I believe lives there.

From here it was just a short ride in Helmsley and the prolog of the tour was over. Tomorrow we start the ride proper with some big hills to climb and 2 cafes to visit on another warm day.

Todays route

Trip Stats

Route	Miles	Average Mph	Time on Bike	Metres climbed
York to Helmsley	38.40	13.4	2:51:50	484
Helmsley to Great Broughton
Great Broughton to Hawes
Hawes to Pateley Bridge
Pateley Bridge to York
Totals

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
Hutton le Hoe
Danby Bakery
The Mustard Tree Café, Hurworth
No.15 Coffee House, Barnard Castle
&Then Tasting Deli, Kettlewell
Tea on the green, Bolton Abbey
Café Chez Nous

 

All roads lead to Holt (Treehouse community cafe, Holt)

The Tree House,

Holt,

Mon-Fri 09:00-2:00,

Highly Recommended

Back in May, when I was first riding again after my 7 weeks on crutches (not sure if I’ve mentioned my knee injury before🤔) Ray wrote to me and suggested I check out the Treehouse community cafe in Holt. I thought I had replied thanking him for the suggestion as I added it to my cafe recommendations list.

So, a couple of weeks ago, when Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) said he could only manage a short ride, due to an urgent afternoon appointment, it was no surprise when he suggested Holt as our destination (as he always does). However rather than go to one of the usual suspects I now had Rays suggestion up my sleeve. 

I showed Andrew where it was in Holt and he quickly said he knew where it was (he didn’t).

On the way to Holt (again)

We have ridden from Hard to Please House in Aylsham to Holt more times than I’ve had cake served on serviettes so I won’t bore you with the details other than say once in Holt Andrew unsuccessfully guided us around the town looking for the treehouse community cafe for sometime before I insisted on asking Dr Google. The Doctor knew what he was talking about and we soon found our destination in the middle of a housing estate.

Outside the Treehouse in Holt

The barista was extremely friendly although rather surprised I wanted a hot chocolate on such a hot day. However this was nothing as Andrew requested a cortado which is the latest poncing coffee fad. The poor lady had not heard of it but pointing to her lovely coffee machine she said she was prepared to give it a go if he could give instructions. 

Once he had explained the number of shots, amount of milk and order it was all put together we picked our cakes and went to the out the front, outdoor seating area.

Andrew was rather shocked when I explained they were a community cafe staffed by unpaid volunteers and weren't expected to be able to produce fancy coffee for hard to please customers.

When it arrived he was very apologetic for his actions before telling her although it looked nothing like a cortado it did indeed taste like one, which I think she took as a compliment.

Excellent drinks and cakes in the out the front, outdoor seating area

My hot chocolate was pretty decent as were the cakes and it was nice to be away from the tourist cafe area of town. I would certainly highly recommend a visit and they may even have a cortado on the drinks menu.

Coincidentally later that day I happened to notice I had never replied to Rays original message (rude) but was now in a position to rectify my oversight by telling him I’d now actually gone there (nice save). If anyone ever has any suggestions of new cafes to visit let me know and I’ll try and check it out.

Next week I'm off to Yorkshire for a weeks imaginary racing with Andrew, Big George and Ali meaning plenty blogging action from me to clog up the cloud with even more.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.1	7.2	7.6	7.4	7.9	7.24

Route

Click here to download 32 Mile Alysham Holt loop GPX file for your GPS