My Half Century

From Selby south and across the Humber

Well, the weather forecast was wrong, it turned out to be a glorious day, perfect for cycling; sun, blue skies and and almost no wind. I set off after breakfast with a big smile on my face hoping that my proposed fifty odd miles would be achievable, this was my longest planned ride so far. The geography was on my side, for the most part this bit of England is flat, the latter part of the ride has hills but nothing like I have previously encountered. 
The place I had chosen to spend the night was to the south of Selby and on the wrong side of the river, this meant I had to backtrack a bit to find a bridge. I cycled down Brown Cow Lane passing quite a few morning dog walkers, there seem to be an unusually large number of Greyhounds in this area. I suppose it may be a legacy from the days when coursing was still PC and the Waterloo Cup was run in Lincolnshire.
I easily found the cycle track which was a concrete surfaced farm track beside the River Ouse, the route follows the river deviating from time to time to return to the very quiet road, it passed through some pretty villages on the way, most too small to support a village shop or pub; the houses in the area are red brick, no stone here. The brick is mellow and weather worn, I love it.
Somewhere after about five miles I must have missed a signpost for the cycle route, it was somewhere in a field, I still haven't quite worked out where. The first give away was the self closing stile, I thought it was a bit odd for a cycle route? There is a photo of it  in the picasa album of this stage. To get through it I had to take off the panniers and lift the bike over the bottom ledge. The track appeared to run along the top of a dyke, which would be OK but it was very rough and rutted, and pitted with mole hills, fine if you are on a bare mountain bike, not so fine on a heavily loaded touring bike. On reaching the end of the dyke my thoughts about this being the wrong route were confirmed, another of those silly stiles and a big flight of steps up to the road! I unloaded the bike again and carried it up the stairs. I then consulted the map and returned to the cycle route by the shortest way possible, I don't think it actually cost me much time, I might have missed a pub, but no harm done.
I was by still well on schedule to achieve my fifty or so miles for the day. The ride progressed through the flat arable farmlands of south Yorkshire, acres of oil seed rape, potatoes, beans, beet, flax and grains. I was quite surprised to see lots of big irrigators, hasn't it rained enough? The railway line makes use of these flat lands a adjacent to the river and I cycled across numerous level crossings, they have improved the crossings for cyclists, they are really smooth  and bike friendly. I also crossed a bridge over the busy M62, a reminder of how much nicer it is to be in the back lanes rather than the motorway lanes. One more crossing, a lovely old lock at Weighton, serving the Market Weighton Canal. When it was built I imagine it was in regular use carrying produce from the town to the river and on to the port at Hull, it now looks functional but not as though it is regularly used.
Getting closer to Hull the geography was changing, there were hills appearing, the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, this would slow me down a bit. One hill in particular did, I took another wrong turn, up a very pretty track through deciduous woodland. It was steep, I carried on to the top, having to get off and push only to reach the top to confirm my fears, wrong way. I enjoyed the ride back down and managed to find the right turning.  Onward towards Hull and the villages appear to be more affluent, big German cars, beautifully manicured gardens, huge houses and glamourously attired ladies of leisure. I guess these are the dormitories for the successful businessmen of Hull.
The Humber Bridge (opened in 1981) in now in sight, it is huge. It is also very high and I have to get up there somehow. The map makes it look as though it should be fairly straightforward. I managed to miss another sign and only rediscoverded my way with the help of a very nice young (they are all young now) policeman on a mountain bike; they are sometimes around when you need them. On arrival at the start of the bridge cycle path there are two alternative routes, which one to choose, no clues, except one appears to have a no cycling sign! I consult a passing cyclist who says they both end up in the same spot on the other side but the way he was going was the less windy, as good a reason as any to follow him. The no cycling sign applied to the road, not the path by the way, silly me.
The remainder of the trip was unremarkable, only about five miles, a bit of a climb with a nice downhill into Barnetby le Wold to find my bed for the night.
I had managed 55 miles in just over six hours, I was pleased with the day but resolved to do a shorter ride tomorrow.