TRAVEL writer Sarah Woods has cycled the globe compiling a list of the 50 greatest bike rides. A trek across the Yorkshire Dales is among her favourites. 

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The Northern Echo:

How did you come to cycling and what type of cyclist would you describe yourself as?

Sarah: While I was growing up, my dad was a dedicated amateur cyclist who competed weekly in time-trials and endurance races and pootled around on a tour bike in any free time.

I tagged along with him to Cycle Club socials and cheered him on at the side of the road on race days.

As soon as I was old enough he built me a bespoke bike using a Claud Butler frame. In the school holidays we cycled around the UK using an OS route map and a staying in Youth Hostel Association (YHA) accommodation.

I've always been around cyclists and owned a decent bike but I've never wanted to train and race as I'm the least competitive person on the planet.

My enjoyment from cycling comes from the privileged access it gives you to sights, sounds and the seasons: there are few better ways of exploring, meeting people and under the skin of a place than on two wheels.

I'm not super fit but I'm not risk adverse so I often take on rides that seriously challenge me. I don't shy away from long, gruelling climbs but mainly its because of the thrill of the downhill freewheel it offers as payback!

I love the feeling of the seasons on my skin as the surrounding scenery slowly unfolds before me when I'm in the saddle - it's in the blood, thanks to my dad.

What was the criteria a ride had to fulfil to make your top 50?

As you can imagine, it was incredibly difficult task that took some time and several drafts! I've criss-crossed the world in several difficult directions and when I started to tally up the distances I've covered it is vast.

So, first I jotted down all the great rides I'd done over the years and plotted them roughly on a worldwide map.

Then I pinpointed the routes that were still on my Bucket List. Finally I added a couple of destinations that had been recommended to me by cyclists I'd met along the way.

It gave me around 80 possibilities which I then narrowed down to give me an exciting mix of well-known established routes and more adventurous lesser-known cycle-ways across a reasonable geographical spread.

My final pick includes long cross-country rides, city routes and rural slogs together with mountains climbs, shorter loops and island jaunts. Expect a whole array of road surfaces, from slick asphalt and neat paved stretches to loose stones, mud and sand.

I'm really pleased with the final 50 as it represents some truly superb cycling.

Some of my favourite cycling forays didn't make the 50 for obvious reasons - for example, it was only 15 years ago that I raving about sightseeing Syria in-the-saddle.

What was it about the Yorkshire Dales in particular that made this a must for your book?

Sarah: In my opinion it would have been criminal not to have included the Yorkshire Dales in 50 Greatest Cycle Rides as the region offers home-bred cyclists and visiting cycling tourists alike a truly outstanding cycling landscape.

What was tricky was deciding which route to include as the possibilities are endless, especially for experienced riders keen to enjoy some challenging routes through some of Yorkshire's most-famous and toughest hills.

Yet, there is a ride for everyone in Yorkshire - whatever your level. I've passed families with young children along the beautiful long valley routes while the more undulating countryside trails to the east offer spectacular hill-climbs.

Can you tell me a bit about your ride?

Sarah: I chose the Way of Roses because I'm a real fan of coast-to-coast cycling and this route offers of plenty of big hills as it passes through both the red rose county of Lancashire and the white rose county of Yorkshire.

Linking the seafront of Morecambe on the Irish Sea coast with the North Sea Coast at Briddlington 170 miles to the east, the route skirts a beautiful stretch of shoreline and passes through historical market towns to underground caverns, bizarre rock formations and rolling hills.

A particularly appealing feature is that regular signage offers considerable cycling flexibility - you can cut the route short if you're running short of time or adapt it to do it in two to five days.

Lots of cyclists take a more relaxed pace as either a self-guided or independent holiday and travel west to east to take full advantage of a gusty tailwind - which is what I did too.

You don't need to be a skilled map-reader as there are instantly recognizable red and white roses pointing out the way, be it along traffic-free paths, on-road cycle lanes, country lanes and quieter roads.

As National Cycle Network Route 69, the Way of the Roses was created to celebrate 15 years of the National Cycle Network - I arrived from Cambridgeshire at Bridlington railway station with my own bike - though you can hire locally - as I felt confident that my robust touring bike could cope with a broad rugged breadth of Yorkshire.

The toughest climbs are between Settle and Brimham Rocks - a few miles east of Pateley Bridge - roughly between miles 35 and 65 - so be sure to top up your water bottle before you hit this stretch!

Of the 50 you write about, which ride was your favourite?

Sarah: Truthfully, I couldn't possibly single out one firm favourite as the book contains at least two dozen rides that are once-in-a-lifetime trips.

Having tackled the peaks of the Yorkshire Dales and the hair-raising descents in rural Cuba I really enjoyed freewheeling through tufted French vineyards and the Spanish countryside.

Of course scaling the rocky, cloud-topped tracks in the Himalayas and the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia were both unforgettable - but I also felt exhilarated having survived the traffic when cycling London!

Now you have cycled the 50 best, what is there left to do?

Sarah: There are still plenty of countries that I would like to explore more on bike including cycling the length of Panama.

As an isthmus that forms a land bridge between the continents of North and South America, Panama contains some extraordinary wildlife and is uniquely bisected by the famous Panama Canal.

Because it is a relatively small S-shaped squiggle it looks fairly innocuous on a map but it is a diverse landscape of humid rainforest, swamps, dry dusty plains, volcanic peaks and cool flower-filled highlands.

So far, I have cycled around Bocas del Toro - a palm-scattered archipelago just off the Caribbean coast.

In 50 Greatest Cycle Rides I detail two incredible routes in the neighbouring countries of Costa Rica and Colombia so my next two-wheeled adventure will be a Panamanian inter-oceanic trail - I can't wait.

What do you want people to get from your book?

Sarah: To feel inspired, enlightened and energised at just how much world there is that can be explored on two wheels.

  • 50 Greatest Bike Rides of The World is published by Icon Books and priced £8.99