Leeds made its fortune from wool and cloth, then from engineering and trade, and the evidence is in the arcades. The Victoria Quarter, with its glass roof and stained-glass windows, the Corn Exchange, an oval hall of iron and stone, and Kirkgate Market, where Marks & Spencer began as a penny bazaar, all reflect the confidence of the Victorian city. Today it is the biggest legal and financial centre outside London, and a university city with a young crowd, which gives the evenings plenty of life.
The canal and river, the Aire, run through the city, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which links the Pennines, starts here. A short way out, the old mills along the river are being turned into flats, galleries and cafes, and the Royal Armouries Museum on the waterfront holds one of the great national collections of arms and armour.
For riders, Leeds sits conveniently between the Yorkshire Dales to the north and the Peak District to the south. The ride from here heads across the Pennines toward Cheshire, to Jodrell Bank, where the Lovell Telescope, a steel dish seventy-six metres across, has been listening to the sky since 1957. The roads across the hills, such as the A62 over Standedge or the Snake Pass, are among the best in the north of England, with open moorland, long views and plenty of bends, though the weather up there can be fierce, with rain, wind and low cloud in any season, so dress for it.
Fuel is easy in Leeds and in the towns of the Pennine foothills, but the high moors have few stations, so fill the tank before you climb. Locals will recommend a Yorkshire pudding with gravy, a pork pie or fish and chips, and a pint of the local bitter. Leave before the morning rush, which backs up on the Aire valley roads, and keep a close eye on the surface after rain, when the hills run with water.