I felt warm and cosy when the alarm went to wake me up. I was surprised to see ice on the inside of the tent. Outside was misty but I could see a clear sky above. I wasn’t in too much of a rush as I thought I’d catch an early afternoon train from Hull to get home. I was away before 09:30am and continued north along Ermine Street. I reached the A1077 all too soon and was now off the relatively quiet roads and back with the heavy vehicles. As the road turned to the east I was riding by the south bank of the River Humber and in the distance could see the Humber Bridge through the morning haze. Through South Ferriby there was a climb up towards the A15 Trunk Road which is the road that the Humber Bridge carries. I wasn’t going that far and turned left down Gravel Pit Road and Far Ings Road to the cycle access point for the cycle lane over the bridge. I stopped to take in the view before setting off across the bridge. Being a sunny Saturday morning there were plenty of cyclists, runners and walkers about.

The Humber Bridge, opened in 1981

Riding over the bridge is an amazing experience and it was 2009 since I was last here. The only way of judging the centre of the bridge is by looking at where the suspension cable almost meets the decking.

The bridge took 9 years to build and was opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is free for pedestrians and cyclists but cars pay £1.50 each way. In 2006 the vehicle charge was £3.00.

When opened in 1981 the bridge held the record for the world’s longest single-span suspension bridge. It is now the sixth longest single-span suspension bridge but remains the longest single-span in the world that one can cross on foot or by bicycle.
The centre span is 1,410 metres (0.88 miles) and the total length is 2,220 metres (1.38 miles).
It opened to traffic in June 1981 and in just over 3 months 1,000,000 vehicles had passed over. The 100 millionth vehicle passed over in Feb 2002.

The Humber Bridge from the cycleway

Drax Power Station is near Selby.
It was opened in 1974 and supplies about 7% of the United Kingdom's electricity.
This photo was taken from the window of the coach that took me to Selby Railway Station.

On the north side the cycle path meanders into a large car park with no indication which way to go for Hull. I found my way to the Ferriby Road and turned right to head for Hull Railway Station. Riding through Hessle I was glad I was on the bike as I was able to ride along Prestongate which is pedestrianised. I found my way to the railway station where I arrived at 11:50am. Inside I went to the ticket counter and was told there were no trains due to engineering works. The nearest Rail Station I could use would be Selby, about 30miles to the west. There was a replacement bus service but the ticket man didn’t think I d get my bike on but it was worth asking anyway. I wheeled my bike to the far end of the station and asked the coach driver. He must have taken pity on me as he let me put my bike in the coach baggage compartment. There wasn’t much of a wait and the bus left about 12:05. He had to call at several Rail Stations on the way so it took 1hr 30 mins to get to Selby. I bought a £14.40 ticket to Blackburn.

Selby Railway Station

The first part of my journey was to Leeds so I caught the 14:07 train to Manchester to change. In Leeds I had to change platforms for the Blackpool train to Blackburn. I saw the escalator heading up to the higher walkway and decided to try and get my bike up it. I’d underestimated the weight of my panniers and didn’t put my brakes on properly. As I set off upwards the bike toppled backwards, pushing me backwards to somersaulted down the escalator. Luckily a station attendant was at the bottom and hit the stop switch in the escalator. I got a few bruises down my left side but the bike seemed OK. I didn’t feel the bruising at first but started to get uncomfortable later in the day. I refitted my panniers and used the lift, which I should have done in the first place. I got to Blackburn without incident then cycled home.

Bike rack on the train to Leeds