Yorkshire Dales

[chickenstrip]

Heading off there for a few days camping tomorrow. No set plans apart from visiting a few places of interest to me, but can anyone recommend some good roads/routes to ride? Looking for a mix that takes in nice scenery, as well as roads just for the sheer pleasure of riding.

I've done the Middleton to Alston road (B6277) and seem to remember that was a good one but got chased away by rain last time I was up there, so didn't get much chance to see anything else.

Also any good cafes for coffee/bacon butty stops?

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

There's a cafe nr. Layburn called Manor, with a 'ride out guide' - worth a dekko:

https://www.manor-cafe.co.uk/
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[cheeseman]

I didn't think Middleton or Alston were part of the dales but could be wrong.

A great road is the one from Sedbergh through Hawes to Leyburn (A684).
I'm sure any of the roads from here down through the dales to meet the A65 or A59 will provide amazing scenery.

Further south is a route I often take to bypass Harrogate and avoid the A59 which heads from Ripley (stop for Ice cream!) through Pately Bridge to Grassington then down to meet the A59.

Enjoy your trip! Hope the rain keeps away this time!

Gareth

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Yeah the ice cream at rippley is well decent. Good roads around there too!
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[doggone]

You can't go wrong really, I try to avoid that main road to Hawes though.
There's several nice minor roads which go very high over from Wensleydale into Swaledale.
An altogether quieter dale, and you can go up Arkengarthdale to Tan Hill then back south and over Buttertubs Pass.

This probably won't suit anyone with a race-rep style bike as the roads are narrow, slow and bumpy.

90% of bikes visiting the dales seem to race up the A road to Hawes and back down the other one towards Skipton.
Thus missing most of the area, but seeing a great deal of the backend of caravans and such.

I would visit Richmond, Reeth, Tan Hill, and Hawes - by the most circuitous route I could devise.
Teesdale isn't in Yorks Dales but it's a good ride up to Alston via The Stang and Barnard Castle, then visit the cafe at Hartside Top on the route over to Penrith.
Could tie this in with Tan Hill and Swaledale

[G]

Most of the roads in the Dales seem to be pretty tight with stone walls - suited to supermoto riding, I'd say.

[chickenstrip]

Thanks for the replies fellas

Actually, I'm kind of going to be exploring the region Dales/North Pennines, so I guess some of the area isn't actually the Yorkshire Dales. First stop near Fountains Abbey if I can find a campsite near there.

I'm also keen on doing a variety of roads, from fast A road stuff, to more technical little lanes - quite happy to go up over the tops on a little country lane, as long as it's within the capabilities of road tyres. The Fazer has coped with many such roads in the Lake District and Wales.
Just going to explore more or less aimlessly, except there are a couple of castles and abbeys I want to visit too.

Any other good refreshment stops where bikes tend to congregate?

Forecast is looking pretty good at the moment - I'm actually hoping it's not too hot, as I don't want to be flaked out with no energy! (yes, I'm English, I'll never be bloody happy with the weather ).

[chickenstrip]

[ukdiceman]

[Northern Monkey]

Middleton to Brough is quite good fun. A little more open than some of the other roads round there
____________________
Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk

[spnorm]

The ice cream at Ripley is posh Mr Whippy sh*te - look out for Brymore ice cream instead as it's some of the best in the World The ice cream parlour in Reeth or the Brymore Dairy south of Masham are good places to sample it.

The best riding roads in the Dales are from Hawes to Ribblehead viaduct and then down to Settle. Just watch for the Scamera van, but the twisties are good fun at legal speeds.

The back roads are also fun if you're not on a sports bike e.g. Grassington to Hawes, Buttertubs Pass, but can be hard on the wrists if you have low bars and hard suspension.

Basically, it's hard to go wrong in the Dales provided you avoid the A59 and A65 when it's busy.

[kitty kat]

The fazer won't have any problem doing any of the roads mentioned, mine managed to travel fully laden with camping gear from Italy to France over some pretty amazing roads, one even had the hairpins up the mountain numbered (not sure if there was about 15).
I tend not to plan a route, but just turn off down some interesting looking roads and see where I end up. You won't end up 'lost' for long and you will probably ride some great roads as well.
Hartside cafe can be quite expensive, a plain egg mayo butty is over £2.50 . Tan Hill is also a good run and I think you can camp there, just watch out for the cyclists.

Enjoy

[chickenstrip]

All done, see account here:

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=293134