The York Cycle Rally & Festival
The friendly cycling get-together on York's Knavesmire, now part of the York Cycle Festival!
The City of York Council is carrying out flood resilience work around the Millennium Bridge, from this week, and over the weekend of the Rally. Pease be aware that there will be barriers around, although we are assured that the bridge will remain open for walkers and cyclists and other non-motorised modes of transport.
As you might have seen, in the previous post, there have had to be a few tweaks made to a few of our Guided Rides. Two of these are due to planned road works on a short section of the Solar System Greenway, but another has arisen due to a bridge on a Public Bridleway being deemed unsafe. In order to get the most up-to-date gpx files and route maps, we ask that riders check the Rides web page or the Rides display in the Information Hub.
Photo by courtesy of Lynn Bland.
We have been informed, by the City of York Council, that a short stretch of the Solar System Green way will be closed for resurfacing, over the period of the Rally. It has necessitated a diversion, using Sim Balk Lane, to avoid this. This will also impact on those of you cycling to the Rally.
The Guided Ride to Linton Lock has been moved from the Sunday of the Rally to the Saturday. This is because of businesses offering refreshments being closed on the Sunday ,and the ride leader’s other commitments at the Rally. Our apologies for any disappointment caused.
Many of the Rally’s wonderful volunteer ride leaders are busy riding and testing their Guided Rides over the next couple of weeks. Inevitably, they are coming across potential problems in some areas, and therefore some of the routes are having to be tweaked.
For this reason, if you are planning to go on any of our rides, we ask that you check at the signing-in point in the Information Hub, or on the website when uploading the route to your phone or gps.
We have discovered that Doyly’s Tearoom is closed on Sundays, and so it has been necessary to move the Retro Ride to Saturday.
We hope that this will not disappoint those of you riding lovely older bikes!
400km Audax at the York Cycle Rally : Summertime Blues
400km cycling event starting from York Knavesmire. Controls at Thirn, Hawes, Appleby, Watson Hall, Castle Carrock, Mickleton Village Hall, Barton Truck Stop and York Knavesmire., plus 3 information controls.
A well-supported midsummer 400 with hills, but not a hilly ride. Campervan control at Thirn, and two village halls with food to see you through the darksome overnight section. Starts and finishes at York Cycle Rally.
The route takes in the cycle paths south of York and crosses the Ouse at the Bridge of Dreams, twice across the Wharfe before heading west into the Dales with a campervan stop and food at the eastern end of Wensleydale, then to Hawes and an evening ride over Mallerstang Common, into the Vale of Eden.
Lanes along the edge of the Pennines take you to a village hall at Castle Carrock where a warm welcome and hot food await.
The route then heads east of Eden and hopefully not to the Land of Nod, as it’s across to the Tyne Valley through Alston while the good folk are abed and over Yad Moss to a second village hall at Mickleton, with an optional bag drop and limited sleep space. Plenty of food, though.
Finally, it’s out of the hills to Barton Truck Stop World Heritage Site and across the Vale of Mowbray on your way back to York with a final section along the river path to get you back to the Knavesmire.
This ride will be for you if you like: being fed at the side of the road or at village halls, bridges, rivers, County Durham, Cumbria and Yorkshire. There’s a lot of Yorkshire.
This ride will not be for you if you don’t like: cycle paths, crossing the Pennines at night in midsummer with shooting stars across the sky (possibly), Barton Truck Stop World Heritage Site.
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2024
Distance: 400 km in 26 hours and 40 minutes
Time: 11:00 to finish by 13:40 the next day
Starting from: York Knavesmire
Fee: £30.00
Closing Date: Enter soon as entries may close early if event is full
NON-MEMBERS are welcome but need to register first (audax.uk) This is free – we ask you to do this so we can verify your contact details. You only need to register once and can then enter multiple events or in future convert to paid membership.
Organiser: Dean Clementson
Email: dean.clementson@icloud.com
We are delighted that the popular “Tour de York”, led by an expert Club Cyclist, will be featuring on this year’s Rally Guided Rides Programme.
This 68 miles long route will take riders through lovely countryside as well as pretty villages whilst circumnavigating the City of York.
An added bonus is that all who complete this ride are awarded a special commemorative sticker! Don’t forget to sign up, in advance at the Rally’s Information Hub.
If you enjoy an informative ride, then this one could be for you!
One of our excellent guided ride leaders has devised an interesting and entertaining ride exploring the life and times of George Hudson, who was known as “The Railway King”. Never far from controversy, George Hudson was a key figure on the development of the railways in and around York in the early C19th.
Numbers for this guided ride will be limited to 15, and you will need to sign up, in advance, in the Rally Information Hub.