Pedal Power Kick Starts Yorkshire Coast Summer Season

A new two-day gravel bikepacking event has kick started the summer tourist season on the Yorkshire Coast, attracting cyclists from all over Britain.

Route YC, the organisation behind Yorkshire’s ultimate road trip, teamed up with Dirt Dash Ltd to stage the first Kinesis UK Yorkshire Coast Dirt Dash last weekend (13th-14th July).

Starting and finishing at YHA Whitby, with a campsite at Humble Bee Farm, the inaugural bikepacking gravel event showcased 98-miles (157 km) of dramatic scenery of the Yorkshire Coast, North York Moors National Park and Yorkshire Wolds.

Earlier this year, Route YC launched a network of 12 new cycling routes on the Yorkshire coast to help visitors create their cycling adventures in 2024 and beyond.

The organisation teamed up with the UK’s leading adventure cyclists to design, develop and launch the new routes, including Mark Beaumont and Jenny Graham.

While the weather was not like summer, we had a successful event with positive feedback from our riders, who enjoyed the social atmosphere of the Yorkshire Coast Dirt Dash. The event is not timed. And while every rider navigates the course individually, we had people teaming up and making new friends.

For me it is that inclusive nature that makes the Dirt Dashes different. Mixing that with the dramatic scenery of the Yorkshire Coast and the warm welcome from everyone we worked with, is an ideal combination. Route YC offers some of the most inspirational coastal and countryside scenery in the UK, as well as a huge variety of terrain to suit most kinds of cyclists.

The new Route YC cycling routes range from 9 to 260 miles in length and have been specially designed to help visitors of all ages and abilities explore the Yorkshire coast and countryside on gravel, touring and road bikes.

A choice of three long distance routes and nine itineraries that can be completed in a single day are available. The main circular route will start and finish in Scarborough and is suitable for gravel bikes. Several day trips will start in the Yorkshire coast towns of Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea, and the North York Moors village of Grosmont. The collection of routes is completed by a bikepacking weekender route starting in Whitby and a cycle touring route from the ferry terminal in Hull to Staithes.

We’re really excited to be offering people a variety of new ways to create their own adventure on the Yorkshire Coast as part of our new cycling campaign for 2024, encouraging visitors to think about more sustainable and eco-friendly ways to travel and immerse themselves in local experiences, as well as enjoy the best local food and drink along the way.

The Kinesis UK Yorkshire Coast Dirt Dash event has fitted well into our efforts of attracting cyclists from around the UK as well as internationally, with a choice of easily accessible transport links, including the Hull Ferry Terminal as well as the national rail network connecting Scarborough and London Kings Cross in just three hours.

The new Route YC cycle routes have also been developed in partnership with navigation and route planning app, Komoot.

Route YC is already working with over 250 tourism leisure and hospitality business members, local community groups and industry partners across the region to help extend the season and bring visitors to the area to boost the local economy. The initiative is being geared towards promoting reasons to visit Route YC from October to March, showcasing areas that can accommodate visitors in the quieter season, as well as highlighting the opportunities for wellness getaways off-season.

The Yorkshire Coast Dirt Dash will return in summer 2025, with the date being announced soon. More information can be found at www.dirtdash.cc

To access the new cycle route itineraries and to plan your two-wheel adventure on Route YC, go to www.routeyc.co.uk/cycling