The grooved valleys, sinuous rivers and panoramic passes make the verdant Yorkshire Dales one of Britain's showcase cycling regions. No wonder the 2014 Tour de France kicked off with its screenfilling scenery. (They enjoyed closed roads, but the cycle.travel website offers a very close alternative route on some of the Dales' many quiet, picturesque back lanes.) Rugged farms, robust market towns, and cyclist-friendly fireside pubs and cafes help, too.
There are at least three dozen named dales in this imposing north-western chunk of Yorkshire, just about every one a cycling joy. Candidates for the grandest include Swaledale (fjord-like in its upper reaches between Keld and Muker); Wharfedale (most cinematic, with film-set Kettlewell, Grassington, and Bolton Abbey); and Wensleydale (broad and lush, with vivacious market town Hawes, and All Creatures Great and Small's Askrigg). You'll likely have the off-radar ones to yourself: quiet Coverdale; Kingsdale with its secret caves; or Littondale and its wonderfully remote pub.
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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GANARY A COALMINE
The James Brown tune 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' comes on the radio, filling the coach, and does nothing for my pre-event nerves as I sit surrounded by serious-looking, wiry, tanned men in Lycra. It's 6.30am, pitch black outside and I'm feeling very out of my depth as a relative newcomer to the world of clipless pedals and hurting for fun. Last night's stress dream involved being very unprepared to get married and being handed my great-grandmother-in-law-to-be's hideous silver dress with lace trim to wear minutes before the ceremony was due to start. I'll let you psychoanalyse that one.
BORDER PATROL
British travel writer Tim Wild heads on a pilgrimage to Arizona's gravel Mecca, and isn't disappointed
COLD SNAPS
Chris Lanaway dons the deepest winter thermals for the Abloc Winter Challenge in southern Sweden
Master Age-group racing
Tips to keep you on the race course as you get older
Guava Spot Force AXS
£4,950 Big-value, Barcelona-born bike that hits the spot for gravel riding
Seasonal disorder
Pinpointing the start of the cycling season is no easy task, writes Ned
Ride all winter
10 scientifically proven ways to bolster your immunity
Joined-up thinking
Connecting more rail stations to the NCN is long overdue
Castelli Gabba
Castelli’s breathable, close-fitting yet waterproof and windproof jacket marked a watershed in cycle clothing
Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
