Ride to the sun and back
The world is full of great journeys. You can walk the Inca Trail, swim the Mekong Delta, or drive along Route 66. But these are just a stroll in the park compared to cycling the solar system.
Such a unique challenge invites all manner of questions. What sort of tyres are best for outer space? Is it easy to buy chain lube on Neptune? And, considering the route covers a distance of 3,666 million miles, should I take a packed lunch?
Info
Address Sim Balk Lane, York YO23 2BB, york.ac.uk/solar/ | Public Transport By car: take Tadcaster Road (A1036) south to Sim Balk Lane; parking available. Various buses from city centre to the York College stop nearby; bus 3 to nearby Askham Bar Park & Ride | Tip Several pubs near the route serve homemade food, including the Marcia in Bishopthorpe (29 Main Street) and the Blacksmith’s Arms in Naburn (Main Street).
The good news is, with fair weather and a working bicycle, you can cover the whole thing, from Pluto to the sun, in an afternoon. That’s because York’s version of the solar system has been packed into just 6.4 miles.
It’s a genius idea. Constructed over six months in 1999, the solar system scale model sees each of the planets placed in their correct relative position along a cycle path south of York, created on the old route of the East Coast mainline railway. The scale is 575,872,239 to 1 – which means that for every 100 metres you cycle, you cover about 57 million space kilometres. According to this conversion, you can ride along at about 10 times the speed of light. So check your brakes are working before setting off.
As well as the planets themselves – and the sun, made out of two fibreglass hemispheres recovered from a disused septic tank – there are plenty of other interesting landmarks along the way. These include the old steam-powered swing bridge at Naburn. It once carried the Flying Scotsman on its way north, and is now home to Fisher of Dreams, a giant angler created from steel rods by artist Pete Rogers.
The route doesn’t stop at Pluto. A little further along is a model of Voyager I, the first man-made object to leave the solar system. But a word of advice: don’t try to cycle on to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. At this scale you’d have to go a distance equal to one and three-quarter times around the Earth to reach it.
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