ESCAPE TRACKS: NORTH YORK MOORS BIKEPACKING

Where to go is a common conundrum for bikepackers; experienced or just starting out. Well-established wilder bikepacking routes are high on everyone’s lists, no doubt, but for an opportunistic overnight or weekend bikepacking escape you can’t beat riding from the front door, or taking the train to the end of the line and a) exploring somewhere new or b) then riding home. Train-lines make great spines for bikepacking trips because there are suddenly options for ducking out if things aren’t quite going to plan, or the weather is beyond bad. For this trip, we’d take option a) and jump on the train from our hometown – Sheffield – to the end of the line at Scarborough; gateway to the North York Moors – one of our National Parks that is rife for exploring by bike. We’d be following in the tracks of millions over the years, since the railway arrived at Scarborough in 1845, but also since the early 1600’s when the seaside town first became a fashionable spa town after the discovery of natural mineral springs and that ‘taking the waters’ in the South Bay ‘cured all ills’. Apparently.

Sat on the promenade, looking across Scarborough South Bay and the overcast horizon, things would have looked slightly different over the last millennia, albeit familiar. As with most history, it is said the Romans were first here using the coastal location as a signalling point in the late AD300’s, before the town was properly established by the Danes in the AD900’s. Scarborough Castle was built in the 1100’s, by Henry II, at which point the town really established; becoming a port and market town filled with sailors, fishermen and friars. Following a steady decline through the Middle Ages, it was in the 1700’s that Scarborough really found its place as a tourist destination…

Picture the scene from the mid-1600’s onwards – this South Bay filled with holiday-makers and day trippers; fishing fleets making their way in-and-out of harbour sanctuary. Importantly though, the beach littered with hundreds of wheeled Bathing Houses because, whilst it was fine for men to bathe as they pleased, women weren’t allowed and required what can be best described as a sea shed to swim.

Whilst still established today, Scarborough’s fishing industry is modest compared to yesteryear and, alas, we struggled to source any Woof (Atlantic Wolffish/Catfish) amongst the old tourist town’s cobbled streets. In the end, we settled for Scarborough Seabass and a handful of scallops (first world problems!) from the lively Market Mongers, who kindly threw more parsley and lemon than we would ever need in as they wrapped everything up for us. Bikes leant against towers of spud sacks and seafood cool-boxes in the Market Hall, we loaded panniers with all the ingredients for our seafood moorland feast, ready for the rocky road ahead.

Scouring maps to plot an ideal 100-kilometre mixed-terrain bikepacking route in and around the North York Moors is hard without intertwining sections of the already established Moor to Sea Cycle Route that “connects Scarborough, Whitby, Dalby Forest, Pickering and Great Ayton … on quiet roads, woodland tracks and bridleways, as well as along the line of the former Scarborough to Whitby railway”. So, Katie, Duncan and I would essentially ride our own edited version of that – the off-road eastern section of the loop along the coast also happens to pretty much be official NCN1 – a tiny piece of the official Dover to Tain/John O’Groats/Orkney cycle route.

It’s not long after leaving the bounds of Scarborough that you’re ‘out there’ – quickly amongst the outer rolling hills and forests of the Moors – let’s call it the Pre-Moors. Designated as a National Park in 1952, the North York Moors is a super mix of “moorland, coast, forest and dale” and we got to experience all on our bikepacking loop and, one thing is for sure here, bring your climbing legs. Whilst nothing is high (the highest point is on Urra Moor 454M+) there is never a let-up given the regularity of river-bottom valley roads and tracks. But, if traditional touring terrain is what you’re after, then look no further than this corner of England: quaint hedgerow lanes, chocolate-box villages with greens and pub signs swinging in the breeze, heritage train-lines, upland moors, lowland forest, and the coast for ice-creams and sandcastles under sombre skies.

Moorland makes up about a third of the North York Moors National Park – across all the higher areas – providing big panoramic views in every direction. Whilst swathes of purple just about still dotted our landscapes, we’d missed the vivid heather season; try August-September for the real spectacle. Nevertheless, the big empty expanses offer a haven for wildlife, riding bikes, and escape. In fact, the North York Moors felt remote and empty; like pedalling back in time for a day or two. Much more so than the similar looking Peak District or Yorkshire Dales National Parks; perhaps the time of year, or the sparsity of roads, tracks and settlements. Either way, it was exactly what us bikepackers seek. The only places that were bustling on our route were Scarborough and Dalby Forest MTB Hub/Cafe on day one, and Robin Hood’s Bay on day two. Dalby Forest – ‘Yorkshire’s Great Forest’ – is a great cycling stop-off, and any pennies at the cafe support Forestry England and the network of trails. Whilst we’re on this theme, Yorkshire Cycle Hub in Fryup is another gem to visit.

Once through Dalby, ’twas onwards to Levisham and the open moor upland plateaus for the evening and overnight camp. The villages of Lockton and Levisham are as traditional as it gets here – all built of the local sandstone and topped red/orange pantile roofs – finished off with old phoneboxes and pubs/cafes on the green, of course. Thankfully both the unexpectedly ace Lockton Tea Rooms, and The Horseshoe Inn lights were on and inviting – “three ales, and three portions of chips to takeaway please, barkeep”…

Scallops
Oil
Salt
Lemon
Parsley
Asparagus
Butter

White-Fish Fillets
Flour
Beer
Oil
Salt
Pepper
Lemon
Parsley
Chips*

*(ride via a pub :))

Following pints and chats with locals interested in bikes and kit, off we pedalled somewhere quiet as dusk began to fall – our hot pub potato bounty wrapped in a couple of tin-foil layers and stuffed in jackets to keep warm. That smell, all the way to camp. The chips would be unwrapped once our scallop and asparagus starter had been wolfed down, to go with our fish goujon main. As the famous dark skies descended on our Levisham Moor wild camp spot, nothing but comfy heather, the roaring sound of a gas burner battling a gentle breeze, the silhouetted ruins of an 1830’s shooting lodge, and sight of the trainline disappearing in the valley bottom below. The train-line is a section of the North York Moors Railway (NYMR) – a heritage railway between Pickering and Whitby that has been kept running after closure during the Beeching Cuts. A good spot for Francis Bourgeois to signal for some echoing valley train tones. Further research suggests this area of the moor is also known as Corn Hill Point because these grassy pastures were ploughed and used for growing crops during the Napoleonic wars.

Since seeing the trains from up high, Levisham Station was the first time we saw the North York Moors Railway up close and personal – signal-box visits and tutorials whilst sharing teas in polystyrene cups with the local volunteer enthusiasts all awaiting the steam train to come through that morning. That would be another hour, unfortunately, so we made do with watching the diesel train pass through, and then continued over Levisham’s heritage level crossing and on our loop to Robin Hood’s Bay.

Several challenging contour-crossing lanes later, and we were back on the high upland moors again – High Egton and Wheeldale Moors – whose Roman Roads criss-crossed over beck and gill. Up high for a short scenic while, and we were speedily dropping back down through the northern Pre-Moors, via Egton, to the tourist hotspot of Robin Hood’s Bay. Once again linking up with the Moor to Sea Cycle Route. Now then, if you wanted another fine example of the Moors’ vernacular, the postcard coastal village of Robin Hood’s Bay has it in buckets and spades; an idyllic location to savour seafood and sup a paired white-wine at the water’s crashing edge. How does the ice-cream van get to the adjacent beach? 

A word of warning: enjoy the descent into Robin Hood’s Bay because the ride back up-and-out is akin to a Hill Climb Championship, complete with pavement crowds cheering you on as they themselves make their way into the charming coastal abyss on foot. Rather disappointingly though, no one has a cowbell or pot & spoon to clang in encouragement. In all seriousness, it would make a great, snappy Hill Climb course; the ‘Monaco’ of cycling events, maybe.

The Adventure Disc is Bristol-based Temple Cycles’ steel (Reynolds 725) bike to take you anywhere – traversing rough terrain, keeping pace on tarmac, or touring through hills and gravel. They call it their Swiss army knife and, after two days of riding all sorts of terrain loaded with bikepacking bags / panniers across the North Yorks Moors, we can’t argue with that. A capable, lovely ride.

Whilst the frame stays the same across the model, the Adventure Disc 1 is their top-specced bike build, in terms of group-set, wheels and finishing kit – currently £2.75K (Jan 2022). Small changes across the bike then filter down to their most accessible variant – the Adventure Disc 3 which rides in at £1.61K. I (Stef) rode the Adventure Disc 1; Katie rode the Adventure Disc 2, purely based on sizing availability at the time of the trip:

Continuing the train (and Beeching Cuts) theme, from Robin Hood’s Bay you can easily join the off-road ‘Cinder Track’ that hugs the coast all the way back to Scarborough. It was the old railway line that transported passengers and goods between Whitby and Scarborough before being decommissioned in the 1965 cull, so it has an easy grade for cycling and, with the North Sea to our left for 20-kilometres, made for a scenic end to our two-day bikepacking adventure.

Where could you take the train to?

Bikepackers
Katie Kaestner
Stef Amato
Duncan Philpott

Photos
Duncan Philpott

Words & Illustration
Stef Amato

Partners
Brooks England (‘Scape’ Bags)
Temple Cycles (‘Adventure Disc’ Bikes)
Northern (Train Travel)