A Day at the York Cycle Festival and a ride on the Solar System Trail

Peter Huxford and Ken Groom from York Greenways, sampling the TPT Trail Ale on the Friday evening.

Tempted by the promise of a pint of Trans Pennine Trail Ale and a ride along the York Solar System Trail section of the TPT, I travelled over to the York Cycle Festival on Saturday. 

Held between 20th and 22nd June, the Festival was a family-friendly event at York Racecourse on Knavesmire and offered a variety of activities, including led-rides, cycle related stalls and entertainment, talks, live music and refreshments, with the option to book a lightweight camping pitch for those who wanted to stay overnight. 

I arrived on a bright Saturday morning and was guided by friendly volunteers to the Festival Info Hub to register for my ride which was the 20-mile return trip along the Trail to Riccall, led by TPT and York Greenways Volunteers, Peter Huxford and Ken Groom.  

After completing the easy registration process, I made my way to the Yorkshire Bus Bar to meet Chris, who had agreed to sell the TPT Trail Ale and other Yorkshire beers from the Nook Brewhouse in Holmfirth. I was greeted with the good news that the beer was proving popular, with a barrel already sold to campers on the Friday night. 

With a coffee and bacon and sausage butty in hand, I took a walk around the numerous cycling related stalls running around the perimeter of the Festival area before heading to the meeting point for the Solar System Ride. One of many rides over the weekend, Peter started by welcoming the group of cyclists of all ages and explaining the route, promising tea and cake made by the fabulous Riccall Women’s Institute if we made it that far. 

The York Solar System Trail is a scale model of the Solar System, spread out along 6.4 miles (10.2km) of the old East Coast mainline railway where you’ll find scale models of all the planets in our solar system, as well as models of the Cassini and Voyager spacecraft. It was created by three scientists at the University of York as the result of a Royal Society and British Association Millennium Project and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The route was purchased by Sustrans and opened in 1987 and forms part of Sustrans National Cycle Network (route 65) and the Trans Pennine Trail.

Just after 10:45 am, 25 cyclists headed off across York Race Course and soon reached the Sun, the first of many features on the Trail. We stopped frequently for Peter to describe special features along the way, notably the Fisher of Dreams, a sculpture made from galvanized steel rod at Naburn. 

After around 5 miles, we took a break at the Trust Hut, located by Naburn Station, where some of the group headed back. The rest of us cycled on to Riccall, reaching our destination just over an hour and a half (including breaks) from when we started.  

The WI cake and coffee were just what the doctor ordered, and just as good as Peter had promised, and raising valuable funds for St Leonards Hospice. On the return journey, we stopped at Brunswick Organic Nursery, a charitable and community-focused enterprise, located right on the Trail at Bishopthorpe. 

Back at the Race Course, I finally got to enjoy that much-anticipated pint of TPT Trail Ale and was delighted to bump into TPT/Sustrans Rotherham Volunteer Group Coordinator, David Bright, and his wife, Diane and to hear about their cycle ride to the Festival from Rotherham, before loading my bike into the car and heading back home to Holmfirth. 

It was a lovely event, not as hot as I feared, with a little bit of rain just to freshen things up. Thanks to Peter and Ken for their fabulous company and insights during our ride along the Solar System Trail. 

Robert
Date: 27th June 2025