Wednesday 10 August 2011

Travelling by train


Yesterday I took a trip with my Dad on the train to Carlisle via Newcastle, and coming back via Leeds on the Settle and Carlisle railway passing through the Yorkshire Dales national park. Although I didn't bring my bike on this trip, I did see some very nice and desolate scenery around Ribbleshead viaduct that I made a point to come back to in future. The more cycling-related part of the journey came upon my arrival to Leeds. Just outside the station there is a new cycle shop called Cycle Point that wasn't open when I last went to Leeds (a few years ago now). Anyway this shop appears to be a one-stop shop for bicycle accessories for commuters, leisure cyclists or anyone simply passing this way on a bicycle. As well as having some 'imperfect' bikes for sale starting at £60, there is also a selection of leaflets and a cycle map of the whole Leeds area to show people the possibilities for other journeys around the area, as in the above example.

As can be seen above, the map shows the route for the journey and a key for whether the route is on-road or off-road. The route above is from Spofforth to Thorpe Arch via Wetherby, which is appealing since it follows a former railway route, yet there is no rail station at any of these places. Having looked on a larger map, it appears the nearest rail station to Wetherby is Knaresborough. Having considered Knaresborough to York as a possible route before, but noting it is via a main road, I decided that Knaresborough to York via the route in the leaflet would be a nice choice whilst avoiding the main road and getting the chance to pass through some country lanes.

So now I have several possible ideas for routes for my next ride, which I am planningto do next week - the possibilities are as follows:

Gargrave-Malham-Settle
Grantham-Melton Mowbray-Grantham
York-Wetherby-Knaresborough
Sheffield-Hathersage-Hope-Edale

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