Leeds St Christopher’s Grand Depart Ride 3rd & 4th October 2013
by Jeremy Emmott
 |
| And we're off... |
As part of our club’s 75th anniversary celebration, nine of us
rode the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart route from Leeds to Harrogate.
The team was David, Richard, Chris (the younger), Rob, Alan
S, Jeremy, Angela, Ken and their friend Andy from Sheffield. John L. was team
driver, photographer and baggage carrier and also rode selected parts of day one.
Whist some clubs have followed the grand depart route precisely and done it in a day, we
decided we would take our time over two days and follow the most scenic and
traffic-free route.
Day One: Leeds to Hawes via Kidstones Pass
We set off from Adel taking quiet lanes past Eccup reservoir, picking up the A61 north of Alwoodley and following it to Harewood where we diverted through the grounds of Harewood House (a la route), to receive an aristocratic ticking-off for diverting from the public right of way.
Day One: Leeds to Hawes via Kidstones Pass
We set off from Adel taking quiet lanes past Eccup reservoir, picking up the A61 north of Alwoodley and following it to Harewood where we diverted through the grounds of Harewood House (a la route), to receive an aristocratic ticking-off for diverting from the public right of way.
We emerged onto the A659 and rode through Arthington and
Pool (where the road surface was a
disgrace) to Otley then crossed the river and followed the lovely back lane to
Bolton Abbey.
After refreshments at the Abbey tea rooms, we took the gated road
to Embsay and then joined the Skipton to Grassington road. From Grassington we
followed the pretty back lane to
Kettlewell and then up to Buckden for lunch at the excellent West Winds cafe.
 |
| Richard and David at the Summit of Kidstones |
Whilst visibility was poor from the outset, the rain had
held off until we reached Buckden. It started to fall gently on us as we set
off up our first major climb, Kidstones Pass. Giant Yorkshire puddings and
venison pie began to sit a little heavily in the stomach, but the climb was
less severe than anticipated and with the help of a fine new road surface, we
were over the pass and speeding down Bishopdale towards Aysgarth.
The heavens opened as we regrouped in West Burton to pass
through Aysgarth and reach the minor road to the North of the Swale, which took
us through Askrigg and finally, after 75 miles and wet through, to the
youth hostel in Hawes.
 |
| All set for the big climb of the day |
Day Two: Hawes to Harrogate via Buttertubs Pass & Grinton Lodge
That third pint at the White Hart seemed a less good idea the next morning as we looked out of the hostel windows at soggy sheep and yet more rain. The poor visibility at least meant that we could not see the climb we were facing after breakfast over Buttertubs Pass. John sensibly changed back out of his cycling kit and became full-time photographer for the day.
Buttertubs was every bit as brutal as reputed and it seemed
that whoever suggested that Leeds-Harrogate would be a sprinters’ stage of the
Tour must have been joking. The land apparently falls very steeply away from
the road at the top of the pass, but we saw nothing but mist. Rob’s
suggestion that we would have to do Buttertubs again (in better weather) was
not well-received at this point.
 |
| Lovely Views! The decent from Buttertubs |
After a cautious descent through the mist, we reached the pretty village of Muker whose village store sold good flapjacks and tea to take out. The rain had actually stopped before we left Hawes but started again now and the village pub looked very attractive.
Sadly, at 10.30, it was some time from opening. A sign on the door of a barn across the road from the pub read: “ If you are reading this sign, the pub is behind you”.
 |
| Reeth |
As we rode East down Swaledale, the weather gradually improved such that we enjoyed sunshine on
Reeth. [CUE PIC OF TWO SCOTTISH BROTHERS WITH GLASSES?] We took a breather on the
green there and looked across the valley to Grinton Lodge, the halfway point of
our next climb.
The climb out of Grinton was quite steep, but we were again
rewarded with a nicely resurfaced road, which levelled out after Grinton Lodge
before another kick upwards and then
gradually up to the top of the fell. By this time the visibility across
the Dales was glorious and we enjoyed another fast descent into a busy Leyburn
on market day. After regrouping at Leyburn we pressed on to Jervaulx Abbey
and lunch and a rest at the cafe there for which we were more than ready after the two big climbs of the morning.
With tired legs we left Jervaulx reluctantly but made good
progress on the pleasantly undulating A6108 through Middleham and Masham onto
Ripon.
 |
| At the summit of the Grinton Lodge climb |
The challenge in planning this route was to find a way of
avoiding the heavy and fast-moving traffic of the A61 after Ripon. There had
not seemed to be any real answer, but David devised a route via Bishop Monkton which cut out a good section of the
A61, but we then had to rejoin it, so plit up into tight groups of three and braved the heavy traffic until we reached
Ripley where we stopped for tea. At this point Ken peeled off to take a tough
route via Pot Bank back to Leeds to catch the 6pm train back to Sheffield.
On recent rides out to Ripley, we have been intrigued by a
new cycleway which crosses the road South of the village. David navigated us via this towards the
centre of Harrogate and we emerged near the station and Richard caught the
train back to Leeds. The remainder of the peleton rode on to the end point of
the Stage at the Stray, by which point we had completed just short of 60 miles
for day two.
 |
| End of the line: Stage 1 finish at the Stray, Harrogate |
To get back to Adel, there was still a fair bit of A61 to be
avoided, but with David’s ingenuity devising a magical mystery tour round the
Crimple valley, we found our way home via Kirby Overblow and a final climb up
Weardley Bank completing approx 75 miles for the day.
Tired legs and sore
derriere, but a grand couple of days out.