Very flat, the Vale of York...

Skyreholme-Pateley Bridge-Knaresborough-Middlethorpe. 46 miles.

Click here for a map of the route.

A two day trip this time, practising navigating and carrying the weight of gear in the panniers, and a good excuse for a night away. We'd booked ourselves into Middlethorpe Hall just outside York for the night, just over 45 miles. It's a tough start in that direction, straight up almost immediately to Stump Cross and Greenhow on a long steady climb to around 1300 feet. We knew that once we'd done that, though, any serious climbing was over for the day. The hill down to Pateley Bridge is pretty steep (and there are temporary traffic lights half-way down at the moment, which might catch you unawares), and it's always difficult negotiating parked cars and pedestrians straying into the road as you ride up the high street. After Pateley Bridge it was a little up and down to Knaresborough, and we thought of stopping for lunch, since we were about to head into little back roads with no guarantee of somewhere to eat. It was only 12:45, though, so we decided to push on, heading for Little Ribston. Four fast miles later and we were there, but no pub. Another three miles on to Cowthorpe, no pub there either.

Finally, at Tockwith, a pub! It had been such a fast ten miles, though, that it was only 1:30, and we marvelled at how you can eat up the distance on such flat terrain. We had lunch at the Speckled Ox, a very friendly welcome and good food, then headed on past a couple of fields full of very free range pigs and frisky piglets. The last ten miles to Middlethorpe Hall were lovely, all on tiny quiet back roads through farmed land, past the incredibly picturesque open prison at Askham Richard and the agricultural college at Askham Bryan, and all completely flat.

The trouble with completely flat terrain like the Vale of York, though, is that you don't get a chance to rest your bum. Solo cyclists often rise out of the saddle to pedal for a while (known as 'honking'!), and this gives the bum a rest, reducing the possibility of saddle-soreness. Most couples don't tend to honk on a tandem, because unless you're very experienced it's difficult - you both have to stand up, and you have to do it at the same time, otherwise it's quite possible that you're going to fall off. We haven't even tried it - too scary yet. We can do standing up to rest the bum, though, and usually this is done after you've crested a rise, while you're coasting down the other side. When the terrain is completely flat, though, the tendency is just to keep pedalling, until you suddenly realise you can't feel your buttocks, and then when you do stand up it's like putting very cold hands into hot water and feeling them come back to life.

Romantic stuff this tandem-riding...