Cycling in Yorkshire
The York to Selby cycle route is about 15 miles, so 30 miles there and back. It is on the trackbed of an old railway line as far as Riccall, then on a mixture of back roads and a path by the side of the A19 for the rest of the way.
It's part of the Trans Pennine Trail and National Cycle Network Route 65. As you leave York, you're riding Cycle the Solar System.
The Google map above shows the bike route between York and Selby, starting from York Station.
Navigation files are available on Plotaroute, for your GPS device:
Note that Terry Avenue is closed from around 15th March 2021 for 18 months, and signed diversions will be in place. This affects the route from the City Centre, but not from Askham Bar, and is the reason for the York City Centre diversion route GPS file.
This video shows the route in about 5 minutes. It begins with the two different routes to the start of the Solar System bike path (from York City Centre and from Askham Bar).
You may start from central York if you bring a bike on the train, or hire a bike on arrival. There's a bike shop at York railway station, Cycle Heaven. They used to rent out bikes, but may have stopped now. For other options, see Bike Shops in York.
Turn left out of the station, then go down to the river Ouse on Tanner's Moat. Turn right on North Street which becomes Skeldergate after the junction with Micklegate, and reaches Skeldergate bridge.
Beyond Skeldergate bridge, the road turns into a traffic-free path past Rowntree park, and you arrive at Millennium bridge.
The route stays by the river beyond Millennium bridge, then turns up to the right on a fairly narrow alley. This is about as close as you get to a hill on the ride to Selby.
At the top of the alley, you come out on Bishopthorpe Road opposite Terry's Chocolate Works (main photo at the top of the page), where they made chocolate oranges. Turn left on a cycle path on the pavement for a short distance, then cross the road over to the Knavesmire racecourse.
The cycle path goes alongside the racecourse, across some fields, then next to the A64 for a very short distance. It meets up with the path from Askham Bar by the A64 Underpass, at the start of Cycle the Solar System.
There's free parking at Askham Bar, and it's close to the start of Cycle the Solar System. (Technically, you're only allowed to park here if you're going to the city centre, so make sure you do).
From the Park & Ride, head past the main bus station building (WCs here) towards the A1036 to York. You'll see blue cycling signs for the Selby route, directing you under the A1036.
After the underpass, there are views across a field to York College on the left.
A short distance further on, you come to the junction with the path from York City Centre. The Sun is just before the passage under the A64. This is the start of Cycle the Solar System.
Cycle the Solar System has scale models of the planets, the correct distance (proportionally) from the Sun and from each other along the path. (For more information about the planets, see York University's guide to the route).
The first planets from the Sun come in fairly quick succession. The phrase My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets can help you remember their order.
After a short stretch of railway path, the route takes you along the south western edge of Bishopthorpe - between the back gardens of a Brookside-style housing estate.
Back on the railway path, you cross the Ouse by Naburn Marina. I saw a pair of kingfishers here.
The bridge is topped by a sculpture called the Fisher of Dreams. The fisher has a bike and a dog, and a railway train on the end of the rod.
Naburn Station is very soon after the Ouse. It has an honesty café, with chairs and benches around, and a table tennis table.
There's also a model of the Cassini-Huygens space probe at Naburn Station. A notice explains that it was launched on 15th October 1997 and arrived at Saturn in July 2004 - uncannily similar to the schedule of a train journey I made from Birmingham to Hornbeam Park in those years.
After Naburn Station, you pedal across Naburn Moor. The path is great but it was built in 1985-7, in the very early days of the National Cycle Network, and its condition has deteriorated a bit. Tree roots have pushed up through the tarmac, creating multiple mini-speed bumps in places. Attempts are now being made to repair that damage.
After passing Naburn Wood and Moreby Far Wood, you reach the former Escrick Station, west of the village of Escrick.
The on-site information explains that when the York and Doncaster Branch was being planned in the 1860s, the Escrick Estate belonged to Lord Wenlock. The branch was for local trains, and to serve as a stretch of the East Coast mainline. In return for letting the railway run across his estate, it was agreed that London trains would stop at Escrick if Wenlock wished to get on board to go to the capital.
After Escrick Station you pass Heron Wood, where the Neptune model is located. Pluto and the Voyager spacecraft are just before the A19. The A19 took the railway trackbed at Riccall and Barlby, so this is the end of the greenway.
The route continues. There's a short stretch of shared use path by the A19 just before Riccall, protected by metal railings. Then you take Main Street through Riccall.
After Riccall, you're on a shared path by the A19 again, with a welcome grass verge buffer between you and the traffic. All main roads should provide walking and cycling paths like this one.
At the edge of Barlby there's a daft End of Route sign; the route doesn't end, it continues through the strung-out village of Barlby. There's a little bit more traffic here.
At the other end of Barlby, you come to a roundabout junction on the A19. The quality of cycle provision continues its downward spiral: the signed route is a mud path up to Ouse Wall.
Ouse Wall is part of the flood defences, with the river on your right. There's a very narrow rough stone and mud path that's popular with dog walkers. It's quite nice, but very low grade cycle infrastructure.
This route ends in backstreets among terraced houses, from where you can take River Street back to the A19.
An alternative to Ouse Wall would be to take the main A19. There are quite a few business yards with big trucks entering and exiting, and not many people would be comfortable sharing the road with such dangerous vehicles.
The pavement on the right hand side is shared use. It's about 1m50, half the recommended minimum width, and right next to oncoming traffic, but it's not too awful. As soon as the houses start it chucks you off, back onto the road.
Either way, you end up on the A19 just before the Toll Bridge over the Ouse. Cross the bridge (you don't have to pay a toll). The bridge leads to the centre of Selby.
Selby is a market town with an impressive Abbey church.
On the Google map and SatNav files, I've sent you left on Park Row to Selby Park. There are some bike stands in front of the Park Pavilion, and benches in the park for a picnic.
Alternatively, stay on the A19 past the Abbey to Selby Market Place. There are cafés on the roads either side of Market Place - Finkle Street/Micklegate to your right, and James Street/Market Lane to your left.
Go back the same way you came.
The Solar System is one of eighteen bike rides in Bike Rides In and Around York.
There's a city tour of York by bike, family rides, road rides, and mountain bike rides.
The book is packed full of history, and there are lots of colour photos, including wildlife photography showing some of Yorkshire's spectacular animals and birds.
Available in paperback - find out more about Bike Rides In and Around York.
This railway was the York and Doncaster Branch, built by the North Eastern Railway.
It ran between York and Doncaster via Selby, and opened in 1871. As well as serving local trains, it was part of the East Coast mainline.
Read more about the history of the railway on Railway to Greenway.
The main problem with the surface of the Solar System Greenway path is tree roots disrupting it, and creating clusters of small, aggressive, mini-speed bumps. A repair and maintenance plan was adopted in 2020.
Trees which have grown too close to the path are now being removed, and the roots under the path cut. At first, patch repairs to the surface attempted, but in Autumn and Winter 2021-2, proper resurfacing is happening.
There are continuing efforts to control invasive Himalayan balsam.
Fruit trees are going to be planted near Bishopthorpe, because going back centuries there were orchards there. Where the path runs by grassland, the tansy plant will be added to attract the tansy beetle.
The Solar System Greenway is fantastic, but as you approach Selby the quality of the provision drops dramatically. The worst infrastructure is on the outskirts of Selby.
It should be obvious that it's totally inappropriate to go from a hard surface suitable for all bikes on most of the York-Selby route, to a narrow mountain bike path on the final Ouse Wall section to Selby.
Also, the chicane barriers create an obstacle for some bikes (tandems, hand cycles, cargo bikes), and according to the up-to-date guidance they should not be used.
The alternative is the shared use pavement by the A19, but it fails to meet Cycle Infrastructure Design guidance because:
To quote the Foreword to Cycle Infrastructure Design, "too much cycling infrastructure is substandard, providing little protection from motorised traffc and giving up at the very places it is most needed. Some is actually worse than nothing, because it entices novice cyclists with the promise of protection, then abandons them at the most important places."
Selby should encourage people to visit by making proper provision for bikes, not deter people with a 'we couldn't be bothered to build a proper path, so you'll have to make do with rubbish' approach.
Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale is a book of family, mountain and road bike rides.
"This guide is a wonderful companion whether you ride alone, with family or friends. Don't set out without it."
Read more about Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale.