Cycling Cultures: Hull

Bob’s Bikes is a friendly bike shop in Hull and owner Stu, also a Sustrans officer, has been organising some fantastic bike rides for charity. This year an adventurous group managed to cycle the Transpennine Trail both ways – a total of 430miles. Congratulations to Stu and the many volunteers who made it possible. They raised £3000 for charity. More about the 2010 ride here .

Stu has just announced details for the 2011 event:

Hi all!
The time has come to launch my charity ride for next year. It will take place on the weekend of the 26th August and will finish 450 miles later on Monday 8th september!

We will be departing Tobermory on the Island of Mull, West Scotland on Sunday 28th August and travel through Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Dumfries, Gretna, Carlilse, Penrith, Bowness on Windermere, Skipton, Harrogate, York,Sselby and finishing in Hull in East Yorkshire on Monday 8th September.

The route is road biased this year, to accomodate for more riders and a gentle ride. But it is routed so we can have challenges through the mountains.

This is not a race! This will be marshalled and supported. I am in talks with hotels and production companies as we speak, so I can post more info when things are signed and sealed.

The monies raised will go to a charity of your choice.

There will be costs involved, but I am begging and pleading for freebies to make it as cheap as possible for all. Any interested peeps, give me a shout!

This year we completed the Transpennine trail both ways! 430 miles mainly off road, so this should be a doddle! LOL

Towards the end of my time in Hull, I was lucky to go on a long leisurely cycle with the Larks and Owls cycle group. Initiated by Gisèle, the group is largely an unorganisation of cyclists who occasionally meet for random rides around Hull. She describes them as:

“Cycling around Hull, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. About 30 miles every few weeks. Not hectic but not slow. Goldilocks rides.”

On Saturday (26.6.10) we cycled over the Humber Bridge, had a beer and some dubious crisps (Shrimp Fries suitable for vegetarians!) in a local pub, and then cycled back again. It was a lovely way to end my month in Hull.

A few weekend’s ago (13.6.10), I cycled from Hull to Hornsea along the Trans Pennine trail with volunteer Sustrans Rangers. It was threatening to rain in the morning but it held out for the duration of the ride. We shared the trail with walkers (some with dogs), cyclists, an occasional runner, a few horses (with riders) and a mobility scooter. Everyone was riding a mountain or hybrid bike, except me. I was on my skinny tyred road bike. I coped pretty well as the trail is well surfaced for the most of the way. There was only a short length of gravel where I had to slow down and really concentrate to stop from wiping out.

We stopped along the way at an Open Farm to eat cakes and admire the vegie garden and free range chooks. We stopped at other times for rangers to kindly fix a cyclist’s loose seat and to clear debris from the path. We arrived at Hornsea in time for lunch and collectively consumed a mix of sandwiches, tea, chips, pasties and Tunnock’s snowballs at the cafe on the edge of the Mere . Ok, I was the only one to eat a Snowball.

Hull to Hornsea with Sustrans Rangers from Kat Jungnickel on Vimeo .

Muisc is “Computer” by State Shirt and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Yesterday I cycled from Princes Quay to Bransholme and used the Foredyke Route, a quiet leafy and relatively smooth off road cycle path, for most of my journey. I have been on this track many times over the last few weeks, but usually I jump in and out of it as I criss-cross the city for interviews, rides and meetings. It is used by cyclists and walkers, many with dogs and in my experience, everyone is fairly considerate of other track users. Cyclists approach walkers slowly and walkers, if they are in the way, swiftly move to one side. Likewise, dog walkers rein in their pooches or direct them out of the way of danger. Much like a country town, people on the track tend to say hello to one another or wave.

I attached a handlebar camera and took a photo every five seconds. The blurry shots are the result of the camera bumping on the handlebars when the bike hit uneven ground. They represent the texture of the track. The images also provide glimpses of my wayfinding tools. Not knowing exactly where to exit via sight alone, I regularly checked my map and, at points, cycled with it in my right hand. When I was sure I had overshot my exit I referenced my location by GPS on my phone. Those very familiar with the track might also notice a few backtracks when I missed a point.

Music is Cool Aberrations by General Fuzz – licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Princes Quay to Bransholme from Kat Jungnickel on Vimeo .

I was lucky to spend nearly four hours with an interviewee today. We cycled for nearly two hours. We talked for over an hour and a half. I then took a portrait of him and his bike. All of it was incredibly valuable for the project. The guided tour was eclectic and fascinating. We cycled the historic edge of the city via the docks, along busy industrial roads to quiet green cycle tracks. We looped East Park. We crossed through the city. We looped Pearson Park. We finished at a cafe on Newland Avenue. Phew. And the rain mostly stayed away. It was good.

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On Saturday I carried out one interview in Beverley and then one in West Hull. I’d decided to cycle around for a while and take some pictures, and I had the cycle map to help me navigate. I’d started off in West Park where there was a group using an exciting range of bikes including the “Twister” that Kat and I had tried back in May. Then I headed up through Princes Street (where there was a street festival on), through the Avenues, Chanterlands Avenue, and Orchard Park. Wound up at the Big Tesco on the Beverley Road where I discovered I’d dropped my Hull cycle map on route…

Looking at the A-Z streetmap I still had (which doesn’t show cycle routes), I saw there was a path marked along the Hull River and decided to give it a go, figuring I could always walk the bike. I started on Raich Carter Way, going under the underpass and heading South. Here’s a map of my route with some pictures – quite an intriguing mix of industrial sites viewed from behind and housing estates, still with quite a lot of greenery. It reminded me of the River Lea and canals in Hackney. And almost deserted on a sunny Saturday.

Kat and I went on a ride on Wednesday 12th May with the Beech Holme tandem club. The ride was circular, starting from HERIB on the Beverley Road, heading up North to Arnold and part way back turning East to come back into the city on the Holderness Road.

As we cycled out of North Bransholme and left the Hull urban area the sun was starting to set. Looking forwards you could see the agricultural landscape and behind us were the lights of Hull.

The map below shows the route we took with a few pics to illustrate.

We didn’t leave the Bay Horse in Arnold until around 10:15 (having arrived there around 9pm) and by then it was properly dark – and quite cold. This time I was on the front of the tandem and apparently I wiggle my shoulders, which affects balance! If you’re new to tandem riding, it’s also hard to remember to alert the back rider before you do anything surprising.

Along the lanes people can ride two abreast, with the lanes quiet and the minibus tailing us to keep us safe from the rear. It is a very sociable ride as riders can talk to their tandem partner or to other pairs. The rhythms of tandem riding differ from the rhythms of solo riding – like balance, they must be negotiated between rear and front riders. For the skilled, like many of the front and rear riders present that evening, this is part of the unspoken pleasure of riding tandem – for the less skilled, like me, it is rather more conscious!

Rachel and I are spending a week in Hull from Monday 10th to Sunday 16th May and I’m planning on cycling there from London. The idea is that I might gain insights into cycling in Hull by arriving by bike, rather than arriving by train and then cycling around. I aim to cycle to all our fieldsites and I hope that in documenting these experiences (fieldnotes, photos, GPS, film etc), I will find new ways to connect them together.

Another aspect of this journey is my choice of accommodation along the way. I plan to stay with cycle tourers contacted via Warmshowers.com , a website that helps facilitate hospitality for cycle tourers. Although it is not a great name, it is a terrific community. Previous experience of doing this has been rewarding in terms of garnering local knowledge, cycling stories and new friends.

The plan:
Journey length: 230 miles
Miles per day: 70-80 miles
Duration: 3 days
Stopovers: Bedford, Newark-On-Trent, Beverley