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cycling the way of the roses; coast to coast across lancashire and yorkshire. rachel crolla. cicerone press paperback. 169pp illus. £11.95

the way of the roses

i have no statistical evidence to confirm my contention that the majority of bike rides seem to go up and down, rather than across. lands end to john o'groats, london to paris, manchester to london, london to brighton, londonderry to cork; i think you know what i mean. i'm sure i will now receive a deluge of e-mails pointing out the fallacy of my statement, but i have never been afraid of misapprehension, so we'll live with it for the time being. however, at the risk of stating the glaringly obvious, sometimes cycle routes run east to west or west to east, depending on how eager you are to catch the prevailing wind.

having said that, with the rise and rise of yorkshire in the velocipedinal firmament, fitting that particular county into any forthcoming bike ride, before it becomes a mere footnote in the uci's policy of mondialisation, strikes me as a particularly smart idea. which is why the arrival of rachel crolla's 'way of the roses', is remarkably timely, even for those who have no summer holiday leave left for 2018. adhering to the local mantra that winter starts the day after the islay annual show, held on the second thursday of august each year, by this weekend, we'll all be clad in winter tights, thermal jackets and overshoes before next monday happens along.

the way of the roses

this is the ideal time to plan next summer's cycling excursions, prior to the world road race championships paying a visit to yorkshire at the end of september 2019 (22-29). however, planting all your eggs in one basket (if you'll excuse the mangled metaphor) would be to create favouritism amongst the northern english counties. therefore, it seems only right and proper that this particular coast-to-coast either begin or end in the neighbouring principality of lancashire. 'spread the love' so to speak.

the author, who admits that her conversion to road cycling inhabits the 'slow and steady' approach, has devised a 170 mile route that, assuming, fitness, tenacity and sleek carbon fibre, could be undertaken in a single day. however, even those possessed of all of the above, could ease up for a few days and spread their eagerness over two, three, or five days, or chill out completely over six. in her introduction to the finely illustrated pages that follow, crolla asks the question "why do the way of the roses?". the answer, she replies, is that it's "...more road-bike friendly, has fewer sections on busy roads and more consistent signage.", than any other comparable uk coast to coast route.

the way of the roses

in this particular cicerone guide, the cycle route begins on the west coast seaside town of morecambe, ending 170 miles (247km) later at bridlington, having passed through ripon and york en-route. it transpires that three of the one-day routes that come as an added extra, depart from the above route, taking the avid cyclist through the surrounds of skipton and otley. with approximately 2500 metres of climbing along the way, the author contends that, based on experience, splitting the way of the roses into a three day extravaganza is the option likely to offer the most favourable of rewards. however, as always, you pays your £11.95 and you takes your choice.

the way of the roses

naturally enough, honed athletes that we are, splitting 247 kilometres into three portions, equals around 80(ish) per day. mere bagatelle for anyone who can watch an entire stage of the tour de france in a single sitting. however averaging about 25kph, would leave several hours per day in which to appreciate the many delights the region has to offer. who amongst us would forgo the opportunity to mimic the eric morecambe statue prior to departure, or to admire morecambe's seafront art deco midland hotel? to briefly return to a subject discussed but a few days ago, there's the cathedral at ripon to be visited along with the rather impressive priory at bridlington when the day is done (so to speak).

my only advice, not mentioned in the book, would be to arrange any prospective trip prior to the latter part of september 2019. rumour has it that peter sagan sprints for every speed sign along the way and that's bound to get tired real quick.

cycling the way of the roses

tuesday 14 august 2018

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................