Our assault on the route of stage 1 of the Tour de Yorkshire did not begin brilliantly.
There was the brutal headwind, naturally, and rain and exfoliating hail. But that’s par for the course in a northern English April.
It was being told to “piss off” by the grinch in a Bridlington cafe - who went on to threaten to “manhandle” one of my teammates (a 5ft 2in woman) out of his premises – which really took the shine off our grand départ. Her crime? To wheel her bicycle into the empty cafe to look at the map I had unfolded on a table. It is of course a proprietor’s prerogative to not allow bikes inside. But swearing and threats of violence don’t really attest to the cycle-friendliness of the East Yorkshire seaside town, which has won the honour of staging the start of the inaugural Tour.
The three-day stage race, which begins in Bridlington on 1 May, is a reward from the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s international governing body, for Yorkshire’s magnificent hosting of the first two stages of last year’s Tour de France. Some of the world’s best riders are expected to line-up on Bridlington seafront for the 174km first stage, which makes its way through Dalby forest, up on to the North York Moors, via Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay to Scarborough. Most of the route is marked with yellow and blue bicycles, locked to lamp posts at turning points and displayed outside businesses along the way.
Eight of us from my all-women club, Team Glow, decided to tackle the stage over a weekend, stopping over in Whitby (137km in) at the delightful Backpackers Hostel, right on the harbour, and then riding beyond the finish at Scarborough back to our cars in Bridlington. Before we set off I stayed overnight at the friendly Rags Hotel in Bridlington (£42.50 per person per night). It’s seen better days, but the rooms are currently undergoing refurbishment.
It is possible to tackle the stage as a one-day, round-trip from Scarborough, skipping the first 30km. You could also join the route at East Ayton, which is where the landscape starts getting nice anyway. We had a pit stop there at the lovely tea room at Walkers Fish Restaurant, close to the road leading to Dalby Forest, the site of the day’s first categorised climb.
THE CLIMBS
Côte de Dalby Forest
This is the short, steep road listed on Strava (the online running and cycling community) as the Bickley Gate climb, which leads up into the forest, with one hairpin. The sign at the top warns there’s an average gradient of 16% but the tour organisers have it at 8.9% over 0.6km. It’s a lung buster, but nice and sheltered and the hill is over before you’ve had chance to question what on earth you’re doing with your life.
Côte de Rosedale Abbey
No, this is not the legendary Rosedale Chimney Bank, the ridiculous, chain-snapping climb east of Rosedale Abbey. It’s the 8.5km ascent from the village up onto the stunningly bleak Moors. The organisers bill it as 7% for 2.8km but there are much steeper bits on the bottom section and the whole thing is so exposed that head and cross winds can be a real problem. Some of my club were white-faced after the very hairy descent into Castleton, having nearly been blown into the path of speeding cars.
Limber Hill
The organisers don’t even class this as a proper climb, hence the lack of côte, but it’s the only one I couldn’t get up without pushing. There’s a 33% sign at the top of Limber Hill, which rises up above the pretty village of Glaisdale. Strava reckons it’s an average of 15.9% over 0.3km. We were so knackered at the top that we took a shortcut to Whitby, sacking off two official climbs - Côte de Grosmont (0.4km at 16.9%) and Côte de Briggswath (1.3km at 6.2%). Instead, we turned left at Egton to join the A171 to whizz down to sea level at Whitby.
After fantastic fish and chips and pints of local ale at Trencher’s restaurant, opposite Whitby station, we pedalled around the harbour to the Backpackers Hostel. Run by a very patient Swedish lady and her British husband, they have a boat shed to store bikes and charged us a very reasonable £19 each for bunkbeds in spotless dormitories sleeping eight (the YHA up near the Abbey wanted £30 for beds in bigger dorms). Breakfast isn’t included, so we filled our boots at Java on Flowergate, a steep pedestrian street on the station side of the harbour. The portions are huge and well-priced, but it’s only small, so ring ahead if you’re turning up with a big group.
Looking back, it was perhaps unwise to approach the most dastardly climb of stage 1 with such full bellies…
Côte de Robin Hood’s Bay
We also made the mistake of consulting the OS map beforehand and were aghast to see four gradient arrows within just 1.5km. It’s got an average gradient of 10.3% over 1.5km but there’s a 25% sign near the start, which if anything seemed to be underestimating the gradient. This will be where the race is won on 1 May.
From there, the official Tour route just follows the horrible A171 to Scarborough. We were going to avoid it but were put off by yet more evil gradient arrows on the alternative routes, plus the fact it was absolutely chucking it down. But I’d definitely give it a swerve unless you enjoy nearly having your handlebars clipped by motor homes rattling past at 60mph.
By the time we reached Scarborough, we were too cold and wet to really revel in our achievement. Instead, we squelched our way into The Corner House Tearoom in Scalby Road, bringing the average age of customer down by a good 40 years. What a lovely little cafe: they brought rounds of hot chocolate, gave us tea towels to dry our sodden feet, didn’t complain about us dripping on the table cloth. And no one told us to piss off.
• Accommodation at Rags Hotel in Bridlington was provided by East Riding of Yorkshire Council
