I am planning a trip with some mates over the bank holiday weekend. For various reasons we seem to have decided upon going to Somerset.. (Cider tasting might have cropped up… )

Anybody know any good routes around there?

We are starting in Weston Super Mare but that is as far as our planning has got…

Quantocks is all you need…

You could base yourselves at a campsite at Porlock, loads of good trails between Dunkery Beacon and the sea round there. Although on some of the climbs there are swarms of big fat flies waiting to go in your mouth as you gasp for breath!

Exmoor
Quantocks
Mendips

All within 1h of WSM via the M5, weeks of exploration, much of it brilliant. Get some OS maps.

you have to ride the Qs ……..

Quantocks, take cake to feed one of the locals and they might show you around (knottie and Sharki?). They can probably even recommend some zider stops en-route.

If you can’t find a local you might get some interesting squiggles on a map to follow.

There’s a few guidebooks of the areas knocking around but none come close to proper local knowledge.

I’d try and stay further south than Weston. as you’d have to drive to get anywhere decent and it can be murder on a bank holiday.

Thanks for the help.

We will be cycling and cheeky camping so i am trying to work out some kind of circular route, but one that will include some fun stuff (although we will have camping gear with us so nothing too exciting..

Starting in Weston and the cycling down the Mendips sounds good, before stacking up some flat miles then working up through the Quantocks and then back along the coast.

If any locals have any nice sections they might be able to point me to on a map it would be greatly appreciated. Am searching the interweb at the moment for any good route info but not come up with much yet

Ahh now I get you.

I would ride straight to the Qs on country roads, camp somewhere and go riding for 2 days, then packup and ride back. See if you can’t get the Qs mob to guide you – they’re paid in cake.[dibbs, knottie8, sharki, et al]. If you get the OS map, you’ll quickly work out that all the combes at the north-west end have ace descents – many with variants. The great wood is more tricky and local knowledge is needed to find the choice stuff. The Qs are 100% weatherproof too.

If you’re doing the Mendip (my patch), roughly follow the West Mendip Way eastward until you get to Black Down/Rowberrow. Camp, mess about on the trails, ride back next day. Not so weather proof.