13/06/2026
Saturday Ride Report 13th June
Meeting at Roberttown Community Centre this morning were Graham, Ian, Jason, Jackie, Stephen and myself, Ken. Numbers were down as seven or eight were cycling the charity ride, “The Big Ride Home”, supporting those experiencing homelessness or in crisis and a number were on an organised Audax ride.
So Plan A was to cycle on a lovely, scenic route through Queensbury, Keighley, Silsden, Addingham to Bolton Bridge for our cafe stop. Well the stiff, gale force winds put pay to that ride as it is usually quite breezy on the Queensbury roads on a calm day.
So Plan B, the backup plan, a new cafe stop for our club, The Maltings Tea Room at South Milford. A little unfortunate for Ian and Graham as it meant back tracking for them as we made our way to Shaw Cross. From there it was our usual ride to Castleford and onto Fairburn through to South Milford for our stop at The Maltings. We had wind assistance all the way. Jackie and Steve left us at Castleford as they needed to be back home early afternoon. The cafe was very welcoming, gave us excellent service and food and one which we would go back to. As we hadn’t planned the route beforehand we came up with the route home over eggs, beans, bacon and toast.
Plan C was the route back to South Milford and then on to Ledsham and Ledston for a return to Castleford. Ian and Jason, after a slight hiccup, led us along the Castleford Greenway which brought us onto the Aberford Road near Stanley. Then it was a drag against the wind through Outwood, Carr Gate, East Ardsley and Country Basket to Shaw Cross where we split up for cycling home.
For the most part we either had the breeze with us or we were able to shelter from the wind especially along the Castleford Greenway. Excellent navigation by Ian on the return journey and brilliant shielding against the breeze by the strong riders Jason and Graham.
Not the advertised RCCC Ride but Plan B worked out well for us, very light traffic, quiet roads once past Castleford and traffic free Greenway. Just a note; it is important to put a comment on page or on our WhatsApp group so that we know who is cycling in case we need to change the route due to the weather. This way cyclists will not be left behind or not meeting us on the route or at the advertised cafe stop. So we had a great ride out today and hope the rest of our Roberttown Club members had an equally enjoyable day out.
