LIFE CYCLE ON THE SURFACE Better surfaces for Britain’s tatty railtrails don’t just benefit cyclists, says Rob Ainsley

Ifirst rode the Scarborough to Whitby railtrail in 2000. I was impressed by the fabulous coastal views, but not by the surface. In places it was muddy, rocky, or sliced through by water damage.

I’ve ridden it many times since, and if someone who cycled it back then returned to see it now, they’d be amazed at the difference. Because it’s worse. What should be Britain’s best leisure cycle path – 33km continuously linking two mustvisit resorts, with unique Robin Hood’s Bay en route – isn’t good enough. It’s officially named ‘The Cinder Track’, after the old railway’s bedding material. ‘Ugly Sisters Track’ would be more appropriate.

The welcome sign at the Whitby end says ‘The Cinder Track. Where will it take you?’. In our case, last year, the answer was ‘Scarborough A&E’. One of our group caught her front wheel in a tramline-like water rut and was thrown off, wrecking her knee. Fortunately, I was there to take command of the situation. I went straight to Ravenscar Hall Hotel to order tea and cake while someone else did the First Aid. And this is part of National Cycle Route 1.

I’m pleased to say that money is at last being spent on improvements: they’ve put up some signs saying ‘Caution surface very rough in places’.

Sustrans and the local councils are aware of all this. Indeed, their 2016 proposals on how to improve things are available online ( goo.gl/wUGhQk). From them we learn, for instance, that leisure cycling contributes £1bn to the British economy; that six times as many people daytrip by bike than do multi-day rides; that day trippers typically spend £20 per day locally, tourers £30; that every quid invested on cycle facilities produces six quid for the local economy...

To upgrade the Cinder Track to a Tarmac Track as they rightfully plan – a 3m wide surfaced strip, with 1m verge either side –

The welcome sign says ‘The Cinder Track. Where will it take you?’ In our case it was ‘Scarborough A&E’

will cost, a lot. Another online document, Paths for All ( goo.gl/j209MK), has example trail-building costs that suggest how much. The tarmac alone would be over £4m, not to mention drains or revetments or gabions or any other things that might be required, or help you win at Scrabble.

That’s a lot for a cash-strapped council to find. Especially when some people don’t even want the resurfacing. Amazing but true – there’s an online petition against it. They say it’ll create a deathtrap for walkers, as speeding cyclists hurtle along the newly smooth trail, freewheeling those long inclines that so challenged the old steam trains.

Except it isn’t, and they shouldn’t. Because £4m is loose change compared to an equivalent flagship road scheme: merely dualling nine miles of the A465 in Wales from Dowlais Top to Hirwaun for example (What? Where? Exactly) is costing £400m. They’ve found the money for that.

And the argument that Lycra louts would monopolise a properly surfaced track doesn’t wash with me, any better than my trekking bike washed after doing the muddier bits of the Cinder Track. It’s easy enough to construct semi-obstacles that don’t hold up leisure cyclists but which deter cavalier speeding. In my home town of York, a fabulous wellsurfaced railtrail connects the town to Selby 11 miles away, and there’s room for all – fast cyclists, slow cyclists, families with buggies, walkers, horses, people in wheelchairs... It works.

The last time I explored the North York Moors, the day before I wrote this, I could see approximately 26 million miles of gloriously scenic footpaths, forest roads, farm lanes and bridleways with surfaces similar to the current Cinder Track, where walkers and horse riders can explore at leisure knowing they’re unlikely to be in anyone’s target Strava segment.

Tarmac from Scarborough to Whitby would be a tourist boon: Britain’s best off-road leisure cycling experience, a multi-purpose resource for all. Showing that it would work would encourage similar developments elsewhere on our national network of dodgy-surface railtrails, developments that could help inject life and money into post-Brexit local economies.

If they do, I’ll see you in the Magpie Cafe queue in Whitby. Fish and chips and Black Sheep’ll be on me...