We’re off to Ravenscar area for a week’s stay in a few weeks time so I’m starting to prep a list of things to do.

We can take the cinder track into Whitby and Scarborough of course, we’ll have a day or two birdwatching at Bempton / Filey, might go hiking up on moors, maybe take the steam train from Pickering perhaps

Anything else? We can take road tandem (if it’s repaired by then) or solo mountain bikes, or both – don’t like busy road rides but I’d hope there would be plenty of quiet lanes. Is something like this likely to be ok?

https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1250192

Any other suggestions? Any must-do MTB routes (Dalby would be nice and easy of course!)? We’d be looking for routes from 10 to 30 miles, depending on the effort involved

My only tip would be that, if you go to Helmsley to have a look around the castle and town, and very nice it is too, then the cream tea at Auntie Ann’s cafe is very nice. However, when the nice lady says “would you like one to share?”, say yes…

Falling Foss is nice. A little gorge walk and swim in the falls if that’s your thing.

Amazing riverside walks and decent cafe there as well.

Beach obviously

MTB and road wise there are loads. Hole of horcum, flyingdales etc.

OS is your friend loads to explore

Staithes is worth a visit.

Also Goathland which is on the North York Moors Railway and was the setting for Heartbeat and apparently the station featured at Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films.

Flanborough Head is worth a visit. In particular https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/north-east-england/yorkshire/north-landing-flamborough.htm North Landing. The Puffins will be nesting and if you have a wetsuit/bravery then swimming out with the puffins flying overhead is nice.

This walk is lovely if you fancy a day off the bike. Nice walk along the beach, fish and chips in Robin Hood’s Bay, then back along the Cleveland way to Ravenscar

https://www.walkingenglishman.com/northyorkshire15.htm

Nice suggestsions, thanks.

any route suggestionts for quiet lanes or MTB?

Was going to suggest lunch at the Lion at Blakey Ridge but it’s about 30 miles one way from Ravenscar. Seriously beautiful up there though, and loads of quiet lanes through the dales and tracks over the moors.

If a hilly 60 miler is too far (prob 80 once you get lost a few times!) then it’s worth driving over and parking somewhere to do a shorter ride. Maybe park somewhere like Grosmont, Egton Bridge (has a train station and small car park), or Glaisdale, then cycle up from there.

I can’t give you any specific routes I’m afraid, a mate grew up round there so we used to go and stay at his mums and just explore. Fantastic area. There must be loads on trailforks or similar though.

All of the above are good suggestions – it’s one of my favourite areas. We stayed at Ravenscar last year and rode a nice loop along the Cinder track and through the Moors – more gravel than MTB but a lovely day out. There are so many nice tracks in the Moors!

Ravenscar coast and NYM gravel loop

I’m afraid I don’t have any specific cycle routes but hope these suggestions help you plan:
I’ve done a great route from the Hole of Horcum that edges into Dalby Forest. It was before Strava so can’t remember exactly, although you do get watched going round Fylingdale. You can extend this by linking into Dalby, the cafe at the visitor centre is good and cafes in Thornton le Dale. Loop is similar to these I found online:
https://www.routeyou.com/en-gb/route/view/5574119/mtb-route/hole-of-horcum
https://www.trailforks.com/route/dalby-forest-and-the-hole-of-horcum/
I think we also added a loop towards Levisham from there which is also a possible add on.

There are mainly off road routes linking places and mapped as Moors to Sea routes which I think the route you linked to is base on:
https://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/enjoy-outdoors/cycling/moor-to-sea-cycle-network

The ice cream from Beacon Farm is good so potential cycle ride ‘destination’ and their ice cream is good if you see it in other shops.
https://www.beaconfarmicecream.co.uk/ice-cream-parlour-and-tearooms/

A lot of the lanes are steep (double arrow steepness) which may be easier on solo bikes than a tandem depending on how you are as a team but generally quiet away from the main Whitby to Pickering and Scarborough routes. The cinder track is an unsealed surface and can get slightly muddy bits but we’ve done all of it on a kiddyback tandem with 40 mmish tyres without any problems.

If you want to go car free for some of the trip then possible ideas below:
Worth considering cycling into Dalby from Ravenscar. You can spend the saved toll road money on cakes so big win!
NYM trains take bikes so you can cycle to Goathland or Levisham to get the train to Pickering for doing touristy stuff. Trains have old school luggage space (being old trains) so you may even get a tandem on so worth asking. Goathland can feel like a total tourist place after all the years of being in that cringy moors based 1960s soap that I fortunately can’t remember the name of.
The ‘normal’ trains from Whitby take bikes so you can start from Whitby and get the train East to do a one way ride home.
Boggle hole is great for rockpool wildlife (more sea snails and hermit crabs than you can believe). Turn off the cinder track and you can cycle right down to the beach although it is only accessible at low tide. The YHA has a big terrace and doubles as a beach cafe / bar. You could leave bikes there and walk into Robin Hoods Bay. Cycling down to the bottom of Robin Hoods bay would be a very steep push back up so worth considering leaving bikes by the roundabout at the top or walking from Boggle Hole.
If you want more corporate wildlife then the cinder track more or less goes past Sealife in Scarborough which is actually pretty good if you are outside school holidays and mid week.
Hayburn Wyke is a few miles South down the cinder path and is pretty. It’s in all the tourist info although my biased opinion would go to Boggle Hole first if there were a choice.
In Ravenscar you can often see seals on the rocks below the the village and the cafe by the Station does decent curd cake and there is a kiosk at the North end of the village sells ice cream etc. I’ve not been in the hotel.

There are loads more options further West on the Moors but this is a small selection of things on the East side and more than enough for a week. The only potential ‘issue’ with Ravenscar as a base it that it’s always going to be uphill to get home. Great views though! Hope you get lucky with the weather.

Lots of good riding round here:

https://www.yorkshirecyclehub.co.uk/

based in great fryup, I kid you not, near Danby. All but one of the bridleways rides well (danby bottom I’m looking at you) as does lots in between. The steeper stuff is out of gravel bike territory. Anyway, it the NY moors, there’s loads to go at. See also threads on Guisborough.