David Green is Bronte Wheelers cycling club secretary. Here he pens the latest in a series of 
articles about club activity

One of the most common problems for new riders is knowing where to ride.

For those completely new to cycling and with relatively low levels of cycling fitness, finding a route that is free from traffic and has few challenging hills but has some nice views can be a challenge in itself.

A good starting point is the Sustrans routes. Sustrans is a charity set up to promote sustainable transport, hence the name, and has identified and marked routes for cycling, walking, wheelchair users and horse riders.

Quite a lot of these routes are traffic-free and level and, therefore, excellent for those just starting out.

A good route for beginners is the Aire Valley towpath, which starts at Keighley and runs all the way to Leeds. There are plenty of places to stop and it is level. You can also use the website – www.sustrans.org.uk – to plan other routes.

The trick for people improving their fitness and skill is to plan a ride that provides the right level of challenge. When planning your own route, you need to think about where you want to ride and the level of challenge, either due to distance or number and severity of hills you want to build in. The volume of traffic also plays a big part in how enjoyable the ride will be.

One of the Bronte Wheelers, as well as local club cyclists’ tried and tested routes, is round the ‘duck pond’. The duck pond in question is at the junction of Grassington Road and Raikes Lane in Rhylstone.

This ride starts in Keighley and follows the old road to Skipton. There is a climb out of Skipton on Grassington Road, and then rolling road to the duck pond at Rhylstone, where you turn left towards Hetton. This is where the roads get a lot quieter.

At the end of this road it is left again through Hetton, past the Angel pub and then bear left towards Winterburn. From here there is a nice flat, quiet road – good for kids riding – to the junction at Eshton, and then left towards Gargrave.

Just after the Gargrave sign turn right on to Chew Lane, and follow past the village hall to the A65 across the staggered junction onto Church Street and up the steep climb towards Broughton. Left on to the main A59 for a short distance, then left towards Carleton, which is again a flat and quiet road all the way back to Skipton.

Turn right at the lights and follow the main road back to Keighley. This is about a two-hour ride and about 32 miles. You can vary the speed to increase or decrease any training load you want to build in, just take it as a nice scenic ride or do sections if taking the kids!