18th August 2013 - Day 3 - Dunnington to Bridlington

The last day was a 60 mile death ride!

Actually - not really. It was going to be a very easy day. The weather was looking great and it was totally flat bar a small blip in the middle of the day and and even smaller one at the end!

As every other day started, we packed our bag to be transported, packed the gear for the bike, filled up the water bottles and headed off for breakfast.

Some cereal and scrambled egg made a change from the other days. Davey had some cereal and then asked for sausages with 2 slice of bread so he could have a sausage sandwich. What he got was 3 triangles of bread and 3 sausages. Not to be robbed of his sausage sandwich, he used a triangle of toast for the other sandwich and meticulously cut the sausages so they fitted in the sandwich with no overhang and no wastage...I was amazed - hence the look

We got on our saddles rather gingerly - though it wasn't long before we had settled down to what can only be described as a rather gentle, pleasant ride in the sunshine.

As we got to the climb of the day, we realised it really wasn't all that bad. It was pretty long and a gentle slope with a few small steep bits thrown in to keep the body temperature up.

We stopped for a bit to take a few photos of the locals. It seems I wasn't the only Scot living south of the border!

Once at the top of our huge climb, it was an equally long, gentle descent. With the wind at our backs, we were rolling along at 20-25mph without having to really touch the pedals. We were going well for speed, time and ease of ride.

Before we knew it - and much to our amazement, we reached Driffield. We had planned to stop at Driffield for Lunch, but when we planned this, we had no idea we would be there by 11:30!

We were stationed many years ago at Driffield (or an army camp not far outside the town) as Junior Leaders doing our HGV training. From what I recall we were often banned from the town - the local lads didn't take too kindly to a bunch of soldiers acquiring the local resources (that's as polite as I can put it) but we still went down town.

It hadn't changed much and I wish (now I had revisited the old place) that I had taken some pictures - but alas - we had a schedule...our train out of Bridlington was at 14:30 (or was it 15:00) and there wasn't another one for an hour (or was it two!)....anyway - we were aiming to be at Bridlington at 14:00.

We decided to jump in a wee cafe and have a bite to eat. Davey had beans on toast (yes Davey - people do eat beans on toast AND for breakfast!) and I ordered a sausage bap. Well - imagine my surprise when this garnished delight turned up at the table...

We were in stitches. I'm not much of a salad love, but even I could've come up with something a bit more lively looking. And also - who has a salad with a sausage bap!?

After 30 minutes, we decided to head off. 17 miles to go and all mainly on single track back roads.

The end of the ride is always the weirdest. You've just covered 170+ miles and you suddenly realise - you're not entirely sure what the end looks like or indeed exactly where it is!

We cycled along a very busy front until we came across a couple of bikes and riders standing beside a sign that looked familiar - the end of The Way of the Roses!

It was beautiful. Not just the sign - but the weather and Bridlington itself.

We had a few people come up and chat to us asking how the ride was...it was nice.

Also - one lad we saw at the end was the same guy we saw at the beginning - the one that Davey took a photo for!

Davey popped off to the shops to buy the Mr Whippy's and we ate them at the seafront before saying goodbye to the other riders and Bridlington and headed for the train station to get the train to York.

The night out in York was not only to be uneventful but pretty slow paced. Pretty much every pub was almost empty - bar the "local pub for local people" we visited where as soon as we walked in we realised we had made a grave error of judgement! We left after our pints which we drank swiftly.

Whilst historic, York left alot to be desired in the nightlife stakes. It was certainly not a patch on Newcastle last year!

And that was that - it was over. Another lads trip for charity and a great one too.

The stats for the day were:
Trip Distance 58.16
Trip Time 3:59:17
Avg Speed 14.58mph
Max Speed 36.21mph

My MapMyRide profile for the day is here


Davey was King of the Mountains again - well done Davey.

It really was a great trip though. Good fun - good weather - great company - and a good route. We had a brilliant time. Thanks Davey.

We mentioned other trips but, as last year, nothing was set - so we left the trip leaving next year open - though Davey did say if I don't get down to 16 stone I'm not invited - and he seemed quite adamant about that. So I have some work to do.

The ride was in aid of St Helena's Hospice - a local charity in Colchester. Their site is here and you can always still donate at my JustGiving webpage here

Thanks for reading - and Davey - I'll see you on that trip next year!