Ay Up Yorkshire Sportive, 100, 82, 52 Miles, Sat 12th Oct

Starting your day at one of the best looking racecourses in the country, the Ay Up Yorkshire Sportive will take you immediately east to explore some of the low land areas of Yorkshire before sending you to tackle the infamous White Horse Bank.
The first town to cross your path will be that of Boroughbridge, touching on the River Ure then shortly after, you’ll cross the River Swale for the first time. From here you continue east on some rolling terrain through the town of Easingwold and on to our first split, where epic riders head south while standard and short route riders push north.
Epic riders get one last chance to push up their average on some more flat miles before the hills approach. As you return north from the loop you will come across the Howardian Hills AONB, winding your way through this beautiful landscape heading ever northward to rejoin the rest of the riders and enter the North Yorkshire Moors National Park via the Abbey village of Ampleforth.
From this point on you really start to get a sense of the history of the area, passing by Ampleforth College and Byland Abbey with more to come. At the southernmost tip of the National Park, short riders head out west for home while epic and standard riders head north to tackle the climb up to the White horse and the top of Sutton Bank.
Then comes a flat section across the top of the Hambleton Hills before dropping down to the picturesque ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, crossing the river Rye twice before climbing to the top of Sneck Yate Bank, followed by a steep descent out of the Yorkshire Moors. After a quick bimble through Thirsk, you then continue south to rejoin the short riders for the last few miles of gentle terrain as you head for home.