Contents
Introduction
Geology of the Dales
Human habitation
Wildlife
Getting there and getting about
Money
When to go
Accommodation
Food and drink
What to wear
What to take
Choosing your bike
Maps
Emergencies
Using this guide
Pateley Bridge
Link Route Leeds Bradford Airport to Askwith
Route 1 Nidderdale, Washburn and Wharfedale
Route 2 Brimham Moor, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal
Route 3 Masham and Burn Valley
Grassington
Route 4 Round Barden
Route 5 Malhamdale and High Limestone Country
Route 6 Malhamdale by way of Bordley
Route 7 Malhamdale, Silverdale and Littondale
Ingleton
Route 8 Dentdale and round Whernside
Route 9 Ribblesdale and round Ingleborough
Settle
Route 10 Dales and Tarn
Route 11 Langcliffe Scar and Malham
Reeth
Route 12 Tan Hill
Route 13 Wensleydale, Mallerstang and Tan Hill
Route 14 Richmond
Sedbergh
Route 15 Lune Valley and Barbondale
Route 16 Circuit of the Howgill Fells
Route 17 Barbondale and Holme Open Farm
Hawes
Route 18 The Big Cheese
Route 19 Semerwater
Route 20 Coverdale and Langstrothdale Chase
Leyburn
Link Route Northallerton to Leyburn
Route 21 Swaledale and The Fleak
Route 22 Aysgarth Falls
Route 23 Jervaulx Abbey and Middleham
Tour de France 2014
Route 24 Tour de France 2014 Stage 1: Leeds to Harrogate
La Vuelta a Dales
Stage 1 Settle to Pateley Bridge
Stage 2 Pateley Bridge to Leyburn
Stage 3 Leyburn to Hawes
Stage 4 Hawes to Muker
Stage 5 Muker to Sedbergh
Stage 6 Sedbergh to Settle
Appendix A Route summary table
Appendix B Useful contacts
Appendix C Campsites along the Vuelta a Dales
Appendix D Cycles on public transport
Appendix E Basic bike maintenance
December 2019
Link Access Sedbergh
Rail services are provided by Avanti West Coast (having taken over the franchise from Virgin West Coast in December 2019), Transpennine Express and Northern Rail. Cycle carriage policies of Transpennine and Northern are detailed in Appendix D of Cycling in the Yorkshire Dales. Avanti West Coast run trains between London Euston, Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh), North Wales (Holyhead) the West Midlands (Birmingham and Birmingham Airport) Manchester and many places in between. Trains can take up to four bikes. There is no restriction on folding bikes. There is no charge for reservations and these can be made at the time of buying your ticket, later at the station or by telephone.
www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk
Service Tel: 03445 56 13 94
Cycle Reservations Tel: 03455 28 02 53
August 2019
Updates
Sedbergh Link Route to be found in Download:
First Trenitalia will be taking over from Virgin in running the West Coast Mail Line from the 8th of December 2019 Contact details to follow
June 2019
Suggested link access to Sedbergh page 133 added to downloads.
May 2019
Stage 3: Cafe stops.
Zarina's in Kettlewell has closed alternative option is The Cottage Tea Room.
April 2019
Appendix D: Cycles on public transport
Transpennine Express now require 24 hours advance booking for cycles. Still no charge. Folding cycles no change. New trains being introduced will take 4 cycles. telephone reservations now use option 3.
Useful route maps as well as a detailed description of the route
The Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2014 was a phenomenal success for Yorkshire with 2.5 million spectators lining the route for the first two days when it passed through the Dales, a UK TV audience of 16.6 million and a global TV audience of a staggering 3.5 billion people. The Yorkshire Dales were shown in all their splendour which has resulted in an increase in tourism to the area. Tourists spent £1.9bn in Yorkshire in the year to March 2015, 7.5 per cent up on the year before and this has increased ever since due to the introduction also of the annual Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.
No wonder cycling in Yorkshire has taken off so spectacularly in the last five years and not a single weekend goes by without us seeing scores of Lycra clad riders passing through Otley and llkley on their way to the Yorkshire Dales to either follow parts of the Tour de France route or others of their own choosing. llkley Cycle Club now has over 2,000 members whilst Otley Cycle Club membership is over 500 and increasing annually.
Now Cicerone books have issued a new publication aimed at these riders from our local towns, and the rest of the UK, covering 24 circular routes in the Dales plus also a six day tour of the region. The book has eight towns or villages used as starting points - Pateley Bridge, Grassington, lngleton, Settle, Reeth, Sedbergh, Hawes and Leyburn plus also the route of the first stage of the 2014 Tour de France from Leeds to Harrogate, a distance of 129 miles rather than the direct route on the A61 of 16 miles! Each of these starting points has a minimum of two routes from them, with three of the starting points having three and Grassington and Leyburn having four. Distances range from 12 miles to 54 miles although some of these shorter rides are classed as Short Challenging which will test most riders. The rides are classified as Short, Medium or Long and categorised as Moderate, Hard or Challenging!
The final chapter is entitled La Vuelta a Dales and is a six-day tour starting and finishing in Settle with a total distance of 170 miles (272 kilometres) and 12,050 feet (4,350 metres) of climbing throughout. Overnight stays are in Pateley Bridge, Leybum, Hawes, Muker and Sedbergh.
There are 14 sub-sections in the introduction - Geology, Human habitation, Wildlife, Getting there, Money, When to go, Accommodation, Food and drink, What to wear, What to take, Choosing your bike, Maps, Emergencies and Using this guide. There are also five appendices at the end of the book - Route summary table, Useful contacts, Campsites along the Vuelta a Dales, Cycles on public transport and Basic bike maintenance.
The book has useful route maps for each of the rides as well as a detailed description of the route and is punctuated throughout with various photographs of scenes, buildings and villages encountered throughout the twenty four rides.
John Burland