In June, I`m riding the Coast to Coast (Scarborough to Morecambe) with the TRF, off road on greenlanes. To balance this, (why not) in July me and my brother in law are going to ride coast to coast on road, Morecambe to Scarborough. We are planning to over night in Scarborough, not because we will have done high mileage, we could probably do this ride in a long day, but because it will be a good craic, a few beers and a laugh. Now here`s the problem, every guest house I`ve tried so far has a two night minimum booking. The search has been narrowed down because, I would prefer my bike is parked off road and the room is cheap. Anyone have any recommendations? I wanted to wing it and take our chances of getting somewhere when we get to Scarborough but that is a risky strategy apparently. Camping by the way, is a big fat NO WAY!!!
Given the current settled weather have you considered buying a tent and staying out under the stars..... ...Oh never mind Good luck by the way, sounds great.
Airbnb to the rescue. Got a twin room in a house in Scarborough including breakfast, £31 each. I`ve had a chat with the hostess??? and she seems really nice, she said we can put our bikes in front of their car on the drive. I`d never even heard of Airbnb before, must get out from under my rock more often. My girlfriend just told me about someone booking through them and they ended up staying in a shipping container!!! I think she`s trying to spook me. In truth, as long as my bike was safe then it`ll all be good.
Likely they did! But pictures on site of room normally. Its often just someones spare room! Look out for sly cameras...wanking is bound to get you an invite back
I`m camping for two nights when I do the TRF Moors & Coast in September. Glorious September sunshine last year, hoping for more of the same.
Good advice, they have my address so they can send me the royalties. Easiest 15 seconds work I`ve ever done
Did the Coast to Coast off road with the TRF last week. Really good fun, thanks to having a bike with compression and not riding injured. Day 1, Wednesday. Met up at the Watermark Cafe, Scarborough, 60 riders in total. Set off at about 09:30 heading for Scottish Corner, in rain and fog. We stopped for a break near Malton. One of the guys in my group realised he`d lost his phone, luckily his mate had a phone finder app, it still took us an hour and a half to backtrack to find it, laid on the floor next to the tree he`d crashed into earlier. We did about 250km in total, muddy lanes, rocky tracks, a couple of stream crossings that were usually no more than a trickle and an 8 mile blast along the Rutland Rigg. I was blasting along nicely when I hit a deeper than I thought puddle, drenched in muddy water, it also went inside my helmet and filled my goggles, zero visibility at 50 or 60 kph on a rock strewn track focuses the mind I can tell you. We pulled into the Travel Lodge at about 19:00, soaked and muddy, I felt bad for the staff but they seemed to take our filthy state in good humour. I didn`t fancy the 15 minute walk in the rain to the nearest pub so had an early night instead. #oldandboring.
Day 2, Thursday. Woke up to more rain, but no fog, huzzah!!! About to set off from Scottish Corner. The weather had thinned our numbers down from the 60 (fool)hardy soul from the day before. The route for today had to be changed because there were a lot of stream crossings planned, streams that had now become rivers, a real shame but dealing with a drowned bike in three feet of water is a royal pain in the arse, so common sense prevailed. We did check out a couple of crossings but they were deep. We did about 150km mostly on lanes and fast rocky tracks, fun but still felt disappointed with the route change. We consoled ourselves on the last few fast tracks by playing the "ride through a puddle as fast as you can to soak the rider nearest to you" game. A good laugh until my 20year old bike grew tired of this and began misfiring and sometimes coughing and spluttering to a halt, this made me an easy target but a quick squirt of WD40 and a couple or three kicks soon had me back in "the game." We pulled into Morecambe about 16:00-ish That was that, done. We still had to get back to Scarborough for my mates van but we had booked a camping pod at Lancaster for the night, ride back Friday.
Day 2, continued. The Lurve Pod The Lurve Pod was right next to a pub, The Golden Ball. Proper planning this time, none of the 15 minute walk in the rain to the nearest pub shite from the previous night, I mean right....next.....door . We got a bit of crap from wives, girlfriends and daughters about the Lurve Pod but it was ok. My mates wife advised me to make sure he had three pints and he would be snoring all night and I would be safe. Mission accomplished, if you were wondering
Day 3, Friday. Woke up, honour intact, to pouring it down with rain. Our route back. Breakfast was served at the pub at 10:00, we were on the road by 08:30, so breakfast in Hawes. Up to now, my "grimest time on a bike" was riding back from Germany, in the rain, 2013. Not anymore, now it`s Ingleton to Hawes, 2019. Rain, cold, fog, hyperthermia, frostbite, trench foot..... I suffered them all on that 30 mile hell road. The only living thing we saw were sheep, I honestly thought if I could catch and kill one, I could empty it out and wear the fleece as a jacket. So very relieved when we pulled into Hawes. We stopped at a little cafe called the Bay Tree Cafe and Bistro, delicious full breakfast and a cuppa, a life saver. The owner was lovely, she didn`t even complain as her carpet got wetter and wetter around the table we were sat at, everytime I apologised she just said it was ok and not to worry. The rest of the ride to Scarborough was good, my mates bike will do 50 mph so that was the pace, still raining but ok, bit of sunshine at Helmsley and Thornton Le Dale. Stopped in for a look around at Mathewsons Auctions at Thornton Le Dale, if you watch Bangers and Cash on tv then you know who they are. My mate was reminiscing over two XR3I cabriolets, I took a liking to a huge green goddess fire engine, just for commuting and going to the shops you know Back to the Watermark Cafe at Scarborough for a cuppa and cake at about 14:30. 600km in total, brilliant few days, bikes,good laughs, new friends and a few beers. Definitely up for this again for next year.
Brilliant couple of days on my Ducati, ride to Morecambe, then to Scarborough and then home. Set off yesterday morning in the rain, not impressed. I`d taped a piece of paper with the rough directions onto my tank, that blew off and was lost somewhere on the M180. Brilliant start. The rain had just about stopped by the time we got to Ferrybridge, a coffee and croissant cheered me up a bit. The rest of the motorway to Morecambe was dry but blah, nuff said. Got to Morecambe about 10:30, dry and sunny but my freshly washed and polished bike was a mess. Now for the fun bits. Heading for Hawes. The stretch of road from Ingleton to Hawes, that I`d suffered on a month or so ago, was dry and bathed in sunshine, bliss. Even stopped off at Ribblehead viaduct. Two sportsbikes heading down a rough track must have caught the many ramblers by surprise, friendly waves instead of wanting to burn us at the stake, even the most rabid ramblers love the sound and sight of a Ducati. The sight of my mate following on his Honda will have pissed them off again though.
Had a bite to eat in Hawes then on to the Buttertubs Pass. Rode to just outside Thwaite, then turned around and rode back. We stopped near a monument and got chatting to a couple in a Morgan car. I mentioned how, I loosely know a guy who owns one of the venues I used to compete off road at, he`s in the Morgan Owners club and has hosted some car events. When I told them his name they said " oh yes, we know him very well." Even on a high road in the Yorkshire Dales, it`s still a small world. Apart from one suicidal sheep, the Buttertubs was good, brilliant scenery. Onwards, ever East. Not long after stopping for fuel, I pull up at a junction somewhere near Thirsk. My mate, Sam, pulls along side me and gives me the international sign for I need a pee, waving what looks like a giant invisible fire hose at me. I shake my head and give him a thumbs up, I toy with the idea of riding on for a bit to make him suffer but, I pull off the main road and down a lane. "She" then spends an age wandering up and down looking for a suitable spot before dropping panties and squatting down for a girly tinkle. Bloody Honda riders!!! He got his revenge just outside Helmsley. As I was accelerating, a bloody pigeon flew straight into the front of my helmet, an explosion of feathers and one side of my visor has been pulled from my helmet. Sam has seen the whole thing, between bouts of hysterical laughter, he tells me the pigeon just flew off, minus a lot of feathers, as if nothing had happened, my visor is in one piece but the quick release catch on my helmet is broken. I manage to get the visor back on, it`s loose but as long as I don`t have it fully open it`s ok. Sam tells me again how he wishes he had a go pro. £20 for a new catch, bloody pigeons.
Made it to Scarborough, no wrong turns and an absolutely brilliant day out. The road I wanted to get to the North Bay was closed, Scarborough council had put one diversion sign out, it looked like this route took you to the North Bay via Whitby. We turned around and headed back to go through the town centre, this wasn`t as bad as I thought it would be. Stopped at the Watermark Cafe for the now obligatory cuppa and cake. Now on to the house we were staying at. We found this place through AirBnB. I can`t compliment Sarah, Micheal and Alfie, their big German Shepherd cross, enough for making us feel welcome. Alfie is 19 months old and can rest his chin on the dining room table, obviously crossed with a donkey. On arrival, Micheal offered to put our bikes in the back garden but a tight turn at the side of the house made this impossible with limited steering lock. Back to plan A, parked under the front room window with Micheal`s car blocking the drive. The view outside.......... Was a lot better than the view inside. We had a walk down to the sea front for a bite to eat and a few beers. Micheal and Sarah gave us directions for the quickest route, Sam said he knew a shortcut. We didn`t get lost apparently, just the shortcut was blocked by the sea!!! This didn`t bode well for the ride home the next day, Sam was leading.
Took the coast road South, then picked up the B1242 to Withernsea for a spot of lunch. Ended up sat in the sunshine, next to the best bike, with a sea view, eating fish and chips. Can it get any better. We did just short of 400 miles in total. It was Sam`s first bike trip and we had an absolute blast. Yes, we probably could have done it all in a long day without staying over in Scarborough, but where would be the fun in that?
