The White Rose cycle route

If you're thinking bicycle, you can now think Yorkshire. RON GODFREY discovers why

When the 172-mile White Rose cycle route linking York with Hull and Middlesbrough was formally opened with fanfare and razzmatazz, the un-trumpeted truth is that there would be little that wasn't already there before.

What will be celebrated, however, is a new psychology, a new perception, a new freedom. Suddenly the disparate squiggly lines on the map which for years had been available to ride locally are being joined. And springing into focus will be a vital piece of a national jigsaw forming a 3,500-mile cycle network throughout Britain which will be launched in June 2000.

It comes at a time when cycling has never been more popular both as a healthy pastime and a transport solution. Witness the 30,000 cyclists expected to converge on Knavesmire, York, from all over Britain for the Cyclists' Touring Club Rally over three days from June 18, or the 50,000 expected into the city over the four-day Millennium rally starting June 22, 2000. Hardly surprising that York is second only to Cambridge as the nation's premier cycling city.

Yes, there will be stunning new milestones on the White Rose route, each of them intricate sculptures in their own right; yes, there are other sign improvements and revamping of potentially dangerous crossroads. And yes, there will be new detailed maps showing not only the cycle routes on roads and traffic-free paths, but also places of interest to visit (and sup at) along the way.

That is only to be expected, but totally new is the notion that from now on the big North Sea ferry companies will be able to market heavily to attract boatloads of cyclists from the continent to ride the new route from entry point at Hull docks to at least York if not to Teesside.

Already P & O Ferries, which offers passengers between England and the Continent free bicycle travel, is researching the opportunities presented by the new route with cyclists in Holland and Belgium.

And the link-up is bound to help York Tourism Bureau and the whole of the Yorkshire Tourist Board to promote a two-wheeled version of all their attractions.

The full details of the formal opening of the route have not yet been finalised by Sustrans, the charity whose name is derived from the phrase Sustainable Transport and whose task is to design and build traffic-free routes, for cyclists, walkers and people with disabilities.

"But it could be here," says David Hall, Yorkshire manager of Sustrans, armed with foldaway bike and a determined smile against an icy gale.

'Here', is precisely 14 miles from Selby, 53 from Hull and 1 miles from York city centre as recorded on one of the new, modern sculpture-like mileposts where the White Rose route cuts through open meadow between Terry's factory and Knavesmire.

Called "the Fossil Tree", this milestone is one of around 1,000 throughout the route and is based on an unusual design by sculptor John Mills, with friezes depicting layers of fossils representing different ages right up to the top layers of fossilised cars with leaking oil tanks.

It also includes ornate discs from which cyclists can take brass rubbings for a Millennium time trial competition. "Get enough brass rubbings and you can send away to Sustrans to get a sort of DNA model to unravel the mystery of time," says David.

So what can cyclists riding off the boat at King George's Dock at Hull expect from The White Rose route?

David says: "They have the choice of following the trans-Pennine trail alongside the Humber to Selby and then along the old Selby-York railway line to England's ancient capital.

"Or they can travel from Hull to Cottingham and Beverley and then via lanes to Market Weighton, Pocklington, Stamford Bridge and through Osbaldwick to York.

"Hopefully they will stay in York awhile and spend money before cycling north along the Ouse bank to Beningbrough Hall. More quiet lanes and a shared bridleway takes them to Easingwold.

"Now there are more choices - either they can stay in the Vale of York by taking the route to Thirsk. Or, more challengingly, they can ride to the Hambleton foothills exploring Byland Abbey, near Coxwold.

"From there cyclists can either continue along a route which wriggles around the foothills, or take the more challenging way via Kilburn to Sutton Bank, taking them to the hilly North York Moors National Park.

"All three routes meet up in Osmotherley before the descent into Swainby, over the Cleveland Plain to Middlesbrough."

The paths are all open, although signing work is still being carried out by North Yorkshire and East Riding County Councils, while special traffic calming work at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe is due for completion this month.

David says: "This will be an interim route which means that there will be aspects we hope to improve on such as road crossings at Stamford Bridge, Beverley and north of Swainby."

He also wants to resolve the problem of linking the route eventually with Thirsk and Northallerton, but meanwhile no safe way could be found through. "We'll get there," he says.

PICTURE:David Hall, Yorkshire manager armed with foldaway bike with the sculpture-like milepost where the White Rose route cuts through open meadow between Terry's factory and Knavesmire