The beginning of a North Sea adventure

One of the things I love most about bikepacking is being able to start directly from my front door. No bike travel bags, no dismantling the bike to fit it into a box, no stressful train transfers. Just pack the bike, clip in, and start riding. That isn't possible for every destination, but for this trip to the UK, it worked perfectly thanks to the ferry connections.

The plan was simple: spend two weeks cycling along England's east coast and enjoy the ride. After more than 1,000 kilometres of cycling along beautiful coastal routes and through the countryside, visiting village pubs, drinking endless cups of tea and facing a few unexpected challenges, I came home with something more: the desire to continue the North Sea Cycle Route.

Philine Hols
Santos Cross Lite

Route selection

With two weeks of holiday ahead, I was looking for a route that combined beautiful scenery with straightforward logistics. The English east coast turned out to be the perfect choice for this trip. Much of the route follows the North Sea Cycle Route (NSCR), which is a well-marked route, and GPX files are widely available.

The UK is known for many things, and reliable sunshine is not one of them. The forecast showed a bit of everything: sunshine, wind and plenty of rain. The forecast, combined with the limited number of campsites along the route, convinced me to leave my camping gear at home. I would travel a little lighter and spend my nights in hotels, pubs and guesthouses.

With my Santos Cross Lite half-loaded, I cycled from my hometown of Utrecht to Hoek van Holland, boarded the daytime ferry to Harwich, and the adventure began.

More variety than expected

The UK was far more beautiful than I expected. One day I was cycling through quiet countryside on tiny lanes lined with British hedges, the next on gravel tracks through nature reserves or old railway trails overlooking the sea. The National Cycle Network was a pleasant surprise, often taking me away from busy roads and into nice places.

The coastline constantly changed character. Wide sandy beaches near Wells-next-the-Sea, colourful harbour towns like Whitby and Scarborough, rolling farmland and dramatic cliffs. Some stretches were surprisingly quiet, making it feel as if I had the route entirely to myself.

One of my favourite sections was the Cinder Track between Scarborough and Whitby, with beautiful sea views, gravel paths and plenty of sheep smiling at you along the way.

Learning to appreciate British weather

If you're cycling in the UK, the weather is part of the experience. Over those two weeks, I had pretty much everything: sunshine, drizzle, heavy rain, thunderstorms, hail, strong headwinds and glorious tailwinds. There were days when I arrived at my accommodation soaked to the skin and immediately threw both myself and my cycling clothes into the shower.

Some evenings were spent finding creative ways to dry clothes and shoes for the next day. It certainly made me appreciate a warm shower, a dry room and a good meal. After a wet day on the bike, those simple comforts felt like real luxuries.

A few unexpected situations

No cycling trip is complete without surprises, and this one was no exception. During a rainy day in Norfolk, I managed to get two punctures. As it was already late in the day and the bike shops had closed, I carefully headed towards one in King's Lynn the next morning. I almost made it. Just twelve minutes before arriving, I got a third puncture, so the final stretch was on foot.

Fortunately, the shop was open, and I stocked up on plenty of spare tubes. Less fortunately, while fitting the new one, I immediately punctured it myself while using a tyre lever. Apparently there really is a reason experienced cyclists tell you not to use those.

Looking back, I'm actually glad it happened. After changing a tube so often without the tyre levers, I felt much more confident fixing punctures on the road. Hopefully, I won't need those skills too often in the future, but it's reassuring to know I can.

Not all surprises were mechanical. One morning, Komoot guided me back to the route via what looked like a normal gravel path. It turned out to be a very adventurous bridleway, complete with shoulder-high vegetation, hike-a-bikes up muddy hills and river crossings on foot. It was tougher than expected and definitely not the fastest way to get back to the route. However, it was quite an experience and a good reminder that bikepacking trips don't always go exactly according to plan. Sometimes the unexpected routes end up showing you places you would never have discovered otherwise.

The small moments that stay with you

The highlights of a cycling trip are not always the famous sights. Sometimes it's the gentleman who joined me for my morning coffee, who informed me that I was eating my scone several hours too early in the day. Or it's three local women who stop for a chat and offer to take my picture. Sometimes it's arriving at a hotel just before a thunderstorm and discovering the pub downstairs is hosting a Sunday roast night. And sometimes it's proving that I really can cycle back out of Robin Hood's Bay after descending into the village on roads approaching 30% with a packed bike.

Even my planned rest day wasn't really a rest day. I ended up cycling to Goathland, visiting the train station known from the Harry Potter films, and spent most of the day enjoying the beautiful (and hilly) scenery around the area.

Travelling by bicycle creates opportunities for these moments. You move slowly enough to notice things, stop more often and naturally end up talking to people. Those encounters became just as memorable as the landscapes and the wildlife encounters along the way.

More than just a cycling holiday

When I arrived in Newcastle and boarded the overnight ferry back to the Netherlands after more than 1,000 kilometres of cycling, I felt very satisfied with the trip. The English east coast had delivered everything I had hoped for: beautiful scenery, varied routes, friendly people and plenty of adventure along the way.

Somewhere during those two weeks, the idea started to grow that perhaps this shouldn't be my only section of the North Sea Cycle Route.

The beauty is that there's no rush. Some of the other sections may be a bit more challenging from a logistics perspective, but that's something to figure out another time. For now, I can highly recommend the English section to anyone looking for beautiful coastlines, quiet roads and plenty of variety.