Hi Singletrack.

I’ve got a 44 week contract for a job down near there and is looking for a room to rent. Anyone got any ideas?

If you’re taking a bike, I’d recommend somewhere Stamford way, riding still pretty rubbish but it is the best side, also nice Stamford is a nice town to be in

I’ll be taking both bikes mtb(XC) and road bike. I’ll be cycling to work which is near Holme Fern

Fen roads are flat.

And straight.

And always into a headwind.

They are the roadie equivalent of a Dementor….they suck every last ounce of joy out of your soul.

But there is some lovely road riding in the Stamford/Oakham area.

I would assume more road than mtb?

Don’t take your MTB.

Once you get across the A1, there is really nice village/quite roads. If you can be based around Stilton, Folksworth, Sawtry sort of area then you’re doing ok.

When riding, head out to Oundle and it’s really nice round there.

Where would the nearest decent mtbing be? Driving wise.

Weeeeell.

Wakerly/Fineshade, is supposed to have some stuff. The after that it’s Chicksands/woburn, but not sure what’s left over there, then it’s 2hr drive territory with either Cannock Chase, or Peaks.

I will concur with Jamie where the good road riding is, but there is a fair amount you can link together with bridleways for mountain biking nothing really exciting. I would try going out with the local mountain biking group on a thursday evening. Facebook group

There’s some OK MTB stuff at Wakerley. Also got Thetford and Sherwood each about 75 minutes away.

Another local MTB group – https://m.facebook.com/groups/356852637706765 – we ride at Wakerley locally, but do regular group trips away to ride other stuff (all went up to Stainburn on Sunday for example).

I quite like Wakerley for offroad and the drivers in Rutland tend to be fairly considerate as they are acclimatised to a lot of cyclists on the road. Cycling aside, it’s a great area to be in but stay outside Peterborough.

I will concur with Jamie where the good road riding is, but there is a fair amount you can link together with bridleways for mountain biking nothing really exciting. I would try going out with the local mountain biking group on a thursday evening. Facebook group

There’s a Peterborough MTB group? Well I never.

When I were a lad growing up in Deeping, a lap of Rutland Water was considered rad to the power of sik. Or something.

A lap of Rutland Water on a late summer’s evening is quite nice.

Jamie. There are two! https://www.facebook.com/groups/453036034783348/

And that’s even without our Wakerley crew too.

Peterborough’s a veritable hub of MTB gnariness.

It bad for crime? I will leave my mtb at the work area and my road bike in the car but i’ll commute each day

Like everywhere else, there are nicer areas and dodgy areas. If you are living outside the city itself I’d have thought you’d be OK.

Going back to the OP most of the villages in that area are nice. Folksworth, Stilton, even Yaxley is okay these days if your just looking for a room to rent there is the suburb of Hampton which is quite large but well taken care of for amenities and well appointed and plenty of house shares.

Hampton would be a convenient location, but as far as I can tell it is like a car park/housing estate as it seems to be full of young professional couples who all have two cars, but only one parking space.

As mentioned, somewhere like Yaxley, Stilton, Sawtry would be good or perhaps somewhere near Ferry Meadows; The Ortons area – just avoid Orton Goldhay/Malbourne area.

You could also look a bit further afield like Market Deeping/Deeping St James, but that will up your commute by quite a bit. But, rental accommodation is well priced around there.

As for riding, particularly on the road Jamie’s arrow map is a good guideline. Peterborough seems to be placed on this borderline of good/bad road stuff. If you go East it will invariably end in headwinds, boring straight roads and you will potentially lose the will to live.
Go west though and you have lots of villages and even the odd hill here and there. Towards Stamford/Oakham/Rutland water there’s some good riding.

Regarding off road – can’t really comment around Peterborough as I just don’t bother. Most of the bridleways round my way seem to just be dead ends.
I ride Rutland fairly regularly. It’s a good fitness loop, just make sure you get there early at the weekend and out before the families arrive and do a good job of getting in the way.
There’s Thetford about 1hr 20 mins away, Wakerly is OK but gets very boggy in wet weather and Cannock is quite a bit further afield.
I live just north of Peterborough and can get to Hope for a Peak district ride in about 2hrs 20mins.

I am also surprised there is a Peterborough mtb club on Facebook!

I am also surprised there is a Peterborough mtb club on Facebook!

To be fair, they are called the hill seekers.

It does make sense from an economics point of view, though. Better to have 3-4 like minded souls, sharing petrol costs when driving out of the ‘boro.

*double post*

Get an OS map and get exploring. It’s that sort of off road riding rather than the gnar. Lots of interesting things to find off road (I found what was RAF Kings Cliffe and the last place Glen Miller’s band played a public concert!) if you get out and look.
P’boro itself is an interesting place – in a ‘look, a really awful city’ kind of way.