Tour of Yorkshire 2022. Day 3 Great Broughton to Hawes

                       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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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
Great Broughton to Hawes	79.5	11.7	6:49:19	1580
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
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

 

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