Northern England and Scotland (2003)

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My wife and I went on our honeymoon to northern England and Scotland where we did a lot of sightseeing (York, Fountains Abbey, Durham, Edinburgh, Roslyn Chapel, Traquair Castle, Hadrians Wall, and the Lake District) as well as biking and hiking in the North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Scottish Highlands and Border Country, and the Lake District. If you are interested in cycling in Scotland check out the Cycling Scotland web site - it is a great resource for biking routes in Scotland.

North York Moors:

Our first bike ride of the trip was in the North York Moors. We started in Hutton le Hole, rode over Chimney Bank down to Rosedale Abbey, on to Rosedale Head, and returned to Hutton le Hole along Blakey Ridge for a total of 18 miles. It is not a long ride but has some pretty tough climbs. It is definitely a good idea to ride this loop in the counterclockwise direction so that you do not have to bike up Chimney Bank (1:3 grade!). It was a spectacular ride with almost no traffic and gorgeous views over the North York Moors. Goldeneye Map Guides makes excellent bicycling maps and we used their North York Moors Cycling Map.

North York Moors National Park, Yorkshire, England

North York Moors National Park, Yorkshire, England

Chimney Bank, North York Moors, Yorkshire, England

The steepest road I have ever been on (1:3 gradient) though luckily we were going down it!

Yorkshire Dales:

We did a bike ride in the Yorkshire Dales starting in Aysgarth. We biked to Askirgg (were the TV show All Creatures Great and Small was filmed), on to Hardraw and up to the Buttertubs. We were originally planning on continuing to Muker, Grinton, Redmire, and back to Aysgarth but the weather was getting colder with rain threatening so we decided to head back before it got worse. The road up to Buttertubs has several very steep sections (10-15 % grade) but the views are fantastic. After our ride we also went and visited Fountains Abbey.

Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire, England

Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire, England

Scotland:

We stayed for a few days in Edinburgh, Scotland at a great B&B, the MW Townhouse. We rode frequently in Holyrood Park (right across the street from our B&B) as well as in the Trossachs region in the Scottish Highlands. There is a paved road halfway around Loch Katrine in the Trossachs that is only open to bikes and pedestrians and has great views of the Highlands (check out the Cycling Scotland website for the Trossachs ride. We then drove down to Traquair Castle in the Tweed river valley (just south of Edinburgh) where we spent one night and biked along the Tweed Cycleway route. Along the way to Traquair Castle we saw Rosslyn Chapel, which is very interesting with an amazing amount of interior carvings with Pagan, Christian, Jewish, and Masonic symbolism.

Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Scotland

Loch Katrine, Trossachs, Scotland

Loch Katrine, Trossachs, Scotland

On the way up Ben Lawers, Scottish Highlands

Little green man of Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland

The Apprentice Pillar, Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland

Traquair Castle, Scotland

Gates of Traquair Castle, Scotland

Lake District:

Our last stop was Keswick, in the Lake District. We had gorgeous weather and did a ride around Derwentwater as well as a ride along Crummock Water, Buttermere Lake, and up the pass between Knott Rigg and Robinson Crags (very steep road, barely made it to the top!). We again used the Goldeneye cycling map of the Lake District.

Buttermere, Lake District, England

Buttermere, Lake District, England

Heidi enjoying some well earned ice cream after a hard ride.

Buttermere, Lake District, England

Another incredibly steep climb up the pass between Knott Rigg and Ribinson Crags that went on forever (I barely made it to the top in my lowest gear, a 42x25).