A route that passes many attractions as it travels through the English countryside. There is a lot to see so I would allow plenty of time by having an early start.
Sandringham House is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's II private house and is where she likes to spend her winter. This route first passes the Royal Stud where the Queen has her race horses and then heads through the beautiful and well kept grounds of the Sandringham Estate. RP 9 is the junction where Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh had his car accident in January 2019.
The castle at Castle Rising sits just outside the estate. The castle has one of the largest, best preserved and most lavishly decorated keeps in England, surrounded by 20 acres of mighty earthworks. For more information and opening times, see the link below this review.
The route navigates around The Wash and crosses the county border from Norfolk into Lincolnshire. The Wash is one of the most outstanding coastal wetlands in Europe with its bleak, yet beautiful landscape of saltmarshes, mudflats and open water. The intertidal mudflats and saltmarshes are one of Britain's most important winter feeding areas for waders and wildfowl. The best time to see large flocks of waders is on a rising tide between September and early May.
At RP 22, you will be at the end of the runway of RAF Coningsby. RAF Coningsby is one of two RAF Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Stations which protect UK airspace (RAF Lossiemouth is the other). RAF Coningsby is home to two frontline, combat-ready squadrons and is the training station for Typhoon pilots. The road is so close to the runway that traffic lights will stop you for any jets that are taking off or coming into land! A good place for plane spotting.
The Lincolnshire Wolds are next, this is a wonderful area of countryside with some of the most beautiful, unspoiled scenery in Lincolnshire. There are rolling hills and hidden valleys, gentle streams and nestling villages. On a clear day, the Pennines to the west and North Sea to the east are visible from some of the hilltops. Most of the Lincolnshire Wolds was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1973, this designation means the landscape is some of Britain's finest countryside.
RP 25 passes close to the end of another runway, this time though it is for the Humberside Airport, but again, because the road is very near, traffic lights will stop you for aircraft movements.
The Humber Bridge is just 10 minutes from the airport. The bridge has a toll but it is free for motorcycles (cars £1.50 2019). Thebridge is a 2.22 km (1.38 mi) single-span road suspension bridge, which opened to traffic in 1981. When it opened, the bridge was the longest of its type in the world. You marvel at the size of the main cables as they droop close to the road deck in the centre of the bridge. This is also the county border from Lincolnshire to East Riding of Yorkshire.
Traveling through more beautiful English countryside and into North Yorkshire, you will have a chance to ride around England's only public road, road race circuit, Oliver's Mount. The challenging undulating track is situated just five minutes from Scarborough’s beach front, England’s oldest seaside resort. Many fans have likened the track to a ‘miniature TT by the seaside’. Barry Sheene named Oliver’s Mount as his favourite circuit. You’re more than welcome to ride a lap if you visit Oliver’s Mount outside of race days, please note that the speed limit around the whole site is 30 mph. The view of Scarborough is great from the top and this is where the route visits next.
Riding around the harbour you will have a good view of the ruins of Scarborough Castle high up on the hill and then a chance to stop for coffee on the beach front at the Oasis Cafe. This is regularly used by bikers and you are assured of a warm welcome. Just before Oasis is a sculpture of an over sized man sitting on an over sized bench. This is Freddie Gilroy & The Belsen Stragglers statue. The sculpture is based on a retired miner that the artist became friends with who turned out to also be one of the first soldiers to relieve the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of World War II. This piece of art is not just about Freddie Gilroy but represents all the normal people that were pulled out of an ordinary life and forced into a very extraordinary and dangerous one during the World Wars.
Onto the fishing town of Whitby next through the North York Moors National Park. The high ground and open moorland allow you to see for miles.
The remains of Whitby Abbey can be seen at RP 39. These haunting remains were the inspiration for the Count Dracula novel by Bram Stoker in 1897 after visiting the town. Riding over the River Esk on a swing bridge, you will see a statue of Captain Cook, the famous Royal Navy explorer who learned his seamanship in the town. Close by is the famous Whale Bone Arch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the whaling industry was thriving in the seaside town of Whitby. Dozens of ships braved the Arctic seas off Greenland to hunt these elusive leviathans for their lucrative whale oil. Many of the crews never came back and this arch is in to remembrance to them.
A short ride of about 45 minutes over more moorland will take you to a hotel in the middle of Middlesbrough ready to take on to the rest of your tour up the east coast of England tomorrow, starting with the Tees Transporter Bridge.